Both players started the match strong, with Tsitsipas pulling some harder punches with his returns. Unsurprisingly for the Greek, he managed to claim a break point early in the first set after a show-stopping return display.
Despite the Greek having the upper hand, Zverev managed to come back almost immediately to break the Greek and once again level out the set.
Tsitsipas has now won six out of seven matches against Zverev, increasing his lead over the German young gun. Following this sudden burst of energy, Zverev managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat and challenge Tsitsipas again on his service game, ultimately claiming another break point. Zverev won the first set 6-4.
Tsitsipas’ unlucky game form continued to the next set where he was close to losing another service game, yet managed to pull it back in his favour. The two remained on an even playing court in the set.
Alexander Zverev has been crowned the champion of the Mexican Open. Photo: Twitter
Battling hard up until the final few games, Zverev managed to pull off a desperate and skilful return game to earn a break point. Coming up to Zverev’s final service game, all hope looked lost for the Greek until he managed to force three deuces and, miraculously, make the set level again.
This hope for Tsitsipas was almost dashed away by the second-seed who, in the next game, brought the the Greek to five deuces. Despite Zverev’s best efforts, the game went to a decider 13th game.
Zverev went on to dominate the decider game 7-3, winning the set 6-4, 7-6.
Residents in 18 suburbs across the state’s Mid North Coast and in Northern Sydney have been told to pack their bags and flee to nearby evacuation centres as heavy rain caused flood waters to inundate towns and homes.
People living along the Hawkesbury River were ordered from their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning with fears the river could rise as much as 12 metres by lunchtime, cutting off power, water and other essential services.
“What that means is that another 4000 people may be asked to evacuate in and around that Hawkesbury region and parts of western Sydney,” ms Berejiklian said.
Emergency services minister David Elliott said disaster declarations for 16 local government areas will allow impacted residents to access assistance immediately.
Mr Elliott also issued a warning for people to not drive through floodwaters or put themselves at risk.
“The unnecessary risks that are being taken by these motorists is beginning to wear thin on the authorities,” he said.
“With the damage that has been done across the road network in this state, a fatality is getting more and more likely.”
Dave Soury with his dog Scout at North Haven, south of Port Macquarie, which was inundated with flood waters on Saturday. Photo: Nathan Edwards/Daily Telegraph
More than 1500 people across NSW have already been told to leave their homes as “life-threatening” flood waters threaten to inundate the areas and evacuation centres hit capacity.
Residents in low-lying properties along the Mid North Coast including at Port Macquarie near Settlement Point, the Lower Macleay, Kempsey, Wauchope near Kings Creek, Rawdon Island, Macksville CBD, Kings Point, Bullahdelah, Laurieton, North Haven, Dunbogan, Taree CBD, Dumaresq Island, Cundletown and Wingham were also told to evacuate.
North Haven, south of Port Macquarie was inundated with flood waters on Saturday. Picture: Nathan Edwards/The Daily Telegraph
Some residents are being told to prepare to stay overnight in evacuation centres or at friends and family’s homes as already drenched suburbs brace for more rainfall.
“For communities given an evacuation order, we are asking them to follow the directions of authorities on the ground,” an SES spokesperson said.
“For anyone asked to evacuate we do encourage them to have an emergency kit ready to go with medication and important documents they may need for a couple of days should they be unable to return home.”
Creforce: the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is the dramatic story of the second Anzacs and their role in one of the biggest battles in the military history of Australia, New Zealand and its Allied forces during World War II.
The book is written for children 10 and up and explores the real-life adventures’ and misadventures of more than 14,500 young Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were sent to the Greek island of Crete under the second formation of the Anzac Corps, to help defend it against Nazi Germany.
“The story of the second, largely forgotten Anzacs in Greece and Crete during World War II is one that is also, largely untold. It’s an extraordinary story and one that is relatively unknown, despite it being one of the biggest in Australia’s and New Zealand’s military history,” Melbourne-based journalist and Stella Tzobanakis said.
“The people of Crete and the Anzacs fought together, lived and survived together defending the island against the Germans.”
Greek and Australian soldiers in Athens. 1941. Colour by Christos Kaplanis
On 20 May 1941, Hitler launched Operation Mercury, the invasion of Crete which involved the first major action by paratroopers and the first large scale airborne invasion in history. Hitler expected to capture the large island easily, but what he did not expect was mass resistance from the people of Crete.
A fierce 10-day battle followed where Anzacs and the people of Crete fought side-by-side to defend the mountainous and rugged island. But by the 11th day, Crete fell to Germany. The Anzacs were left stranded on Crete. The people of Crete; prisoners of war. A four-year war game of ‘hide and seek’.
It was a ‘game’ that lasted four years and involved the people of Crete risking their own lives to shelter the Anzacs, help keep them alive by avoiding capture and starvation, and help them escape. The bonds forged between the Anzacs and the people of Crete during this moment in history have lasted a lifetime.
“These events, these stories are significant and deserve more recognition and awareness,” Tzobanakis said.
“They are stories to be remembered and honoured.
Photo: Australian War Memorial / 006818.
“They are part of our story and they are unforgettable.”
Creforce: the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is one of the first and possibly the only published books to tell the whole story of the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete, for younger readers.
The book includes never-before told, first-hand accounts of those that lived through the battle, and reveals the author’s personal Anzac story, discovered whilst writing this book.
It also weaves in the battle stories of extraordinary and real-life characters’ including:
Roald Dahl: the famous British novelist and children’s author who was a fighter pilot.
Charles Jager: the 20-year-old amateur lightweight boxer from Richmond, Melbourne who loved the racetrack and Greek classical stories.
Charles Upham: the educated sheep farmer turned valuer from New Zealand who was single-minded, perservering, swore a lot and hated injustice.
Reginald Saunders: the 19 year-old soldier who was the first Aboriginal Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army.
Horrie the Wog Dog: the little terrier who became an unofficial mascot. He was smuggled into Greece, evacuated, bombed off his ship and carried messages for the Allies, and
the people of Crete: who have been likened in the book to Ned Kelly for their outlaw-style tactics as part of the Cretan resistance.
Its release coincides with Anzac Day (25 April 2020) which marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Its release also aligns with the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Crete (May 2020) and the lead up to the global campaign, the 200 year anniversary in 2021 of the Greek War of Independence.
On March 21, 1821 the Greek revolution began with the siege of Kalavryta, where Greek warriors fought and made the city the first Greek town liberated from the Ottomans.
The Greek chieftains were led by Sotiris Charalambis, Asimakis Fotilas, Sotiris Theocharopoulos, Ioannis Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Soliotis and Nikolaos Petmezas. They had taken a small cannon from the Monastery of Agia Lavra and besieged the city fortress.
The Turks under the command of Ibrahim Pasha Arnaoutoglou barricaded themselves in three towers and expecting military help from Tripolitsa. Such military reinforcements never arrived, and the Greeks succeeded in their conquest.
Agia Lavra monastery in Kalavryta.
The Monastery of Agia Lavra in Kalavryta, which housed Greek revolutionists 200 years before the war of 1821, became the starting point for the battle against the Turks. Paleon Patron Germanos, the bishop who declared the Revolution against the Turks, raised the first Greek flag in the monastery. This became the banner of the revolution and was raised on March 25, 1821 to officially declare war.
After taking Kalavryta, revolutionaries moved towards Patras where Greeks were facing heavy resistance by the Turks. The brave Panagiotis Karatzas drove them back to the fortress in Patras and once again controlled the countryside of the Peloponnese.
Historian Nikolaos Papadopoulos had described the liberation of the city as follows: “It was dusk when approximately 200 warriors arrived at Kalavryta and started the battle for the liberation of the town. Soon the battle spread out as the rebels took over the Turkish officials’ towers, making the town their own. This was the first victorious battle and Kalavryta was the first free Greek city.”
“In the years of Turkish rule, Kalavryta was the largest city in the Morea and numbered 40,000 residents. The Turks stayed around the current monastery of Agia Aikaterini, where they had built two mosques.”
The people of Kalavryta remain proud that their city and monastery became the birth place of the Greek War of Independence.
The interior ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe want their EU partners to share the burden more equitably.
“We can no longer be punished for our geographical position,” Malta’s Byron Camilleri said Saturday, summing up his position and that of his colleagues from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain after they met in Athens.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas joined part of the meeting, Schinas is coordinating the commission’s work to revise the European Union’s pact on migration and asylum.
Greece’s Minister of Migration and Asylum Notis Mitarachi makes a statement following a ministerial meeting in Athens, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
Ministers from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain created a “MED 5” group last year in an effort to present united front and influence the new EU pact.
Their demands are threefold: better cooperation with the countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia where most Europe-bound migrants and asylum-seekers come from; greater willingness by other EU member nations to accept newly arrived migrants; and a centralized European repatriation mechanism overseen by the EU’s executive commission.
More than a thousand people protested in solidarity with migrants and refugees in the center of Athens on Saturday. The timing was intended to coincide with the officials’ meeting.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, attends a ministerial meeting in Athens, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)
Southern European countries with extensive coastlines have borne the brunt of arriving asylum-seekers hoping to enter the EU. Most Europe-bound migrants travel by boat on dangerous maritime smuggling routes, either from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands or across the Mediterranean from north Africa.
The ministers discussed whether Turkey played an active role in pushing migrants toward Europe in contravention of a 2016 migration-control between the EU and Turkey.
Cyprus’ interior minister, Nikos Nouris, said most of the migrants arriving in his country enter from the the Turkish Cypriot-controlled northern part of the island nation. He called for Turkey to accept inspections on its southern shoreline by Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency.
Bakaliaros (Cod) skordalia is a Greek traditional dish that has become synonymous with the celebration of Greek Independence Day on March 25 or Palm Sunday.
This Palm Sunday, we share our secret recipe.
Bakaliaros. Photo: Akis Petretzikis.
Bakaliaros Skordalia Recipe:
Serves: 4
Time: 45 minutes (24 hours soaking the fish in water).
Cut the cod into portions, remove skin, rinse to remove salt and place in a bowl and cover with water. If cod is not a fillet make sure to remove all the bones. Drain and change the water every 3 – 4 hours for at least 24 hours before preparing.
Beat one egg white into meringue. In a bowl add the flour, corn flour, (baking powder instead of egg white), salt and pepper, fennel fronds, the beer, the olive oil and lemon juice and start mixing adding the water gradually, until you have a thick batter. Do not add all the water as you may not need all of it. Mix in the egg white and place the batter in the refrigerator for an hour.
Dip the cod into the batter and fry on both sides in hot olive oil. Serve with delicious garlic dip (skordalia).
Skordalia. Photo: Serious Eats.
Ingredients for the Skordalia:
3 medium potatoes, boiled
2 – 3 cloves garlic, depending how strong you want it
½ tsp sea salt
Freshly grated black pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Finely chopped parsley or spring onion, for decoration
Directions:
In a food processor or a blender, puree garlic with 1/3rd of the olive oil or use a pestle and mortar and puree the garlic with the salt (without the olive oil).
Boil the potatoes until soft.
Transfer them to a bowl and mash them with a fork or a potato masher. They do not need to be completely pureed.
Add the olive oil while the potatoes are still warm, the garlic puree and salt, if using the first method, or garlic paste, pepper and mix well. Add vinegar or lemon juice gradually, taste and adjust.
Stereotypes haunt us, stimulate our every thought to think of people on the street as gray figures, twisting around the light, like living ghosts, who were at fault for something and found themselves there.
In recent years, after an overwhelming economic recession that has hit Greece, our fellow human beings living on the streets have increased significantly, creating a suffocating situation for them.
Despair is visible if you take a walk in the centre of Athens. This hopeless tour in a dystopia touches the last blood drop in your body, which a few years ago seemed out of place for our country.
But where despair grows, a little hope “blooms”, with… “Emfasis” in the human being. Maria Karra, with a multifaceted work abroad, decided in 2013 together with her collaborators, to establish the non-governmental organization “Emfasis”, which gives an unequal battle every day in the streets to ensure humane conditions for all those who need it.
This effort is assisted, as we have emphasized many times in the “Greek Herald” by “THI Australia”, which helps with donations to mitigate the effects that people face in the streets, to relieve them but most importantly to empower them and lead them to self-sufficiency.
“Emfasis” started operating 8 years ago, when Maria Karra, who lived abroad, received unpleasant messages about the situation that prevailed in Greece.
“At the height of the financial crisis, the alarm bell sounded from Greece that things were not going well. You cannot imagine how out of place this sounded to me because I was abroad and often had to deal with difficult situations with minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia or missions to Africa.
“Suddenly, I heard that my homeland, Greece, was in need of humanitarian assistance. I was so surprised that I started coming to Greece as a volunteer to form a personal opinion and not to rely on the opinions of others.
“At the same time, I started sending financial aid, both to myself and to the network that I had personally developed, in order to contribute to the improvement of hospital care.
“So we came to a point where we had to put a framework in this aid for reasons of transparency. I received legal advice from acquaintances in Greece and we started saying that we would make a small civil, non-profit organization, so that we could channel donations transparently.
“I could never have imagined that after 8 years we would have this discussion. That our effort will have become an “octopus” of humanitarian support and empowerment” says Maria Karra to the “Greek Herald”.
The multiple forms of homelessness and deterioration
Today, after 8 years of operation, Maria Karra explains, the situation has not improved.
“I cannot express in exact words what is happening out there. The first thing I would like to explain to the readers of the “Greek Herald” is that the concept of homelessness has now taken multiple forms.
“It is not the stereotypical image of the grandfather with the beard, in a cardboard box, with a piece of paper that says I am homeless. We have always had this perception that the man on the street has nothing in common with us.
“People on the street are all these people, who for their own reasons, do not live in a safe situation.
“The numbers of homeless people are of concern and remain dangerously high and sometimes we have some terrible outbursts that worry us.
“These outbreaks mainly affect the elderly, something we have been pointing out for a long time. During this period of crisis, they have preferred to expose themselves to the danger of homelessness, having given their home to their son, daughter, grandchildren”, says Mrs. Karra, undressing the problem that currently exists in Greece.
Recently a very bad storm, named “Medea”, hit Greece and put the team of “Emfasis” on “red alert”. “For the” Emfasis” team, the bad weather gave a different dimension to the problem, as we deal with people on the road.
“It causes us a sense of concern for people who are exposed, who are unable to live in a state of security. They have the instinct of survival. They are overwhelmed by such insecurity, that they can not have the same feelings as us”, says Mrs. Karra, who describes exactly what her team does to relieve and empower people in need.
“In the last 1.5 years we have distributed used mobile phones to people who are completely abandoned and have nobody to take care of them. Without communication today you are essentially doomed to isolation.
“Now, when the weather is bad, the whole “Emfasis” team is on standby. We make sure we have the necessary survival items, which can be canned food, packages with masks, blankets, sleeping bags, toiletries and antiseptic wipes.
“We save lives every day thanks to the help of THI Australia”
Maria Karra believes that respect, is the beginning of improving the situation. “I am optimistic. Positive steps have been taken by both government and citizens during this time,” said the founder of “Emfasis” underlining the catalytic role of “The Hellenic Initiative Australia”.
“They are pillars of “Emfasis”. They have also moved us as a team with their contribution.
Seeing the difficulties we are facing during the pandemic, THI Australia contributed with the so-called “Winter Appeal”, which gave us the additional financial opportunity to be able to place people in great need in a temporary accommodation.
“We can also immediately cover their nutritional needs in supermarkets, with gift vouchers so that they can get out of their isolation and shame, and socialize again.
“Also, if someone needs immediate blood or dermatological tests with this THI sponsorship I can meet that need right away without having to wait weeks or months. We also immediately cover their transportation costs.
“So you see how important THI’s last financial injection was. Indeed, we save lives every day.”
The passionate Maria Karra, who has offered so much with her tireless diligence, also addresses an appeal to the Greeks of Australia. “I want to remind all of us that we can not do something in the best possible way if we are not in good psychological state.
“What I want to stress to the expatriates in Australia is that every financial aid we receive is aimed at empowerment. We do not want in any way to maintain or institutionalize people but to push them to take the necessary steps to be able to stand on their own two feet “, says the Founder of “Emfasis”.
Stergitsa Zamagia-Hill: “THI Australia will continue to help Greece for as long as it is needed”
The “Greek Herald” also contacted “The Hellenic Initiative Australia” to record its own point of view in this collaboration. The CEO, Stergitsa Zamagia-Hill accepted with great pleasure to talk to us:
“Emfasis stood out as a small charity in Greece that was making a real difference through its street work concept. First brought to our attention by a young THI Australia intern who had volunteered with “Emfasis”, and then followed by conversations between Maria Karra and THI Australia Directors, Nick Pappas and Peter Abraam, culminated in the first grant of $35,000 in 2018. ”
“Having volunteered with the “Emfasis” street work team on several occasions, the professionalism and empathy of the amazing staff, social workers, psychologists and volunteers, who listen and work hard to build trust with the vulnerable people they strive to support, has been inspiring.”
“We are delighted that our partnership has continued until today and more than 3,800 individuals have benefitted from our support,” said Stergitsa
“We congratulate the “Emfasis” Foundation for their stellar contribution in improving the lives of so many vulnerable people since the beginning of the financial crisis in Greece.”
“THI Australia will stand by Greece and its people as long as the need remains.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas ended the dream run of qualifier Lorenzo Musetti on Friday night for a place in the Abierto Mexicano Tecel presentado por HSBC final.
Top seed Tsitsipas didn’t let the Italian settle and completed a 6-1, 6-3 victory in 79 minutes for a place in his 13th ATP Tour final (5-7), where he will face second-seeded German Alexander Zverev.
“Matches like this are really important and I’m happy to be playing like this,” said Tsitsipas.
“Acapulco has been treating me really well and the fans have been giving me love and support. We’ll definitely see a lot from Lorenzo in the future, he has a wonderful one handed backhand and creates lots of opportunities. He showed his level this week.”
Zverev beat fellow German Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 7-6(5) earlier in the day.
“I am really looking forward to the final. Sascha is someone I’ve played against in the past and it’s never easy. We’re both really hungry and we’re both very competitive.”
Tsitsipas was simply unstoppable on the night. Musetti tried to play his own free-flowing game, yet an early five-game streak saw the Greek start to gain an early lead, yet was held off by the Italian.
Musetti continued to use the drop shot as an offensive weapon and attempted to draw Tsitsipas to the net as a target to strike past, but after seven matches this week, the Italian continued to make costly errors. At 3-3 in the second set, Tsitsipas broke serve after Musetti could not control a powerful forehand at the net.
Tsitsipas extended his stay in Acapulco, completing his fourth victory, when Musetti hit a short backhand into the net.
The Greek, who barely put a foot wrong, won 22 of 26 first-service points and struck 17 of 23 winners off his forehand. He will now look to capture his sixth ATP Tour crown on Sunday against Zverev.
Musetti will break into the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday.
Hundreds of stranded residents have been rescued from their homes and cars in NSW, as a “life-threatening” downpour that has triggered record-breaking floods heads to Sydney.
Rainfall and flood records are tumbling in NSW as greater Sydney braces for the possibility of “significant flooding”, 7News reports.
The lower Blue Mountains are expected to see the worst of the rain on Saturday and into Sunday.
A house can be seen floating along the Manning River on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Credit: Twitter
For greater Sydney, much will depend on exactly where the rain falls and what happens when Warragamba Dam, the city’s main water source, begins to overflow on Saturday afternoon and dumps more water into heaving water courses.
“Based on our current modelling, we’re thinking that we might see some minor flooding at Penrith and North Richmond later today,” Bureau of Meteorology national flood services manager Justin Robinson told reporters.
People in Port Macquarie fill up sandbags ahead of expected floods. Credit: NSW SES Port Macquarie Unit/Facebook
Major flooding has hit several towns along the NSW mid-north coast, with those in low-lying properties around Taree, Dumaresq Island, Cundletown, Central Wingham and Wingham Peninsular ordered to evacuate on Saturday morning.
Evacuation orders were also issued in Kempsey, Port Macquarie, North Haven, Dunbogan, Camden Head and Laurieton on Friday.
The State Emergency Service has responded to more than 3200 calls for help since the wet weather began, including 335 flood rescues overnight.
‼FLOOD EVACUATION ORDER‼ Low lying properties on the Lower Macleay
‼Evacuate by 8:30pm
NSW SES is directing people within low lying properties on the Lower Macleay to evacuate the high danger area.
That is a “huge number”, NSW SES spokesman Andrew McCullough said.
“A lot of those jobs are for people who are stuck in their houses, caravans, animals isolated by floodwater, people stuck in cars – it’s really for a wide mix of things,” he said.
The bureau warned of intense rainfall “potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding” and damaging winds averaging 60-70km/h with gusts exceeding 90km/h.
While the rain will be “substantially heavier” than what Sydney copped earlier this week, it will not be of the same intensity that hit the mid-north coast on Thursday and Friday.
Emanuel Skorpos was recently appointed the new Regional Manager and Coordinator of the Greek Welfare Centre of SA, heading the Seniors Citizens Program in Port Pirie and The Mid North.
“The Greek community of Port Pirie is aging and our elderly citizens’ needs only increase with time. With this program we want to ensure that all members receive tailored services to be able to live a safe and protected life in their family home for as long as they can.
“Some of them require personal care and others assistance on a casual basis, but they also need to feel cared for and protected. We will make sure that everyone is looked after,” Mr Skorpos tells The Greek Herald.
The Greek Welfare Centre of South Australia – St Philothei (GWC) began its activities at the Port Pirie and Mid North region of South Australia in August last year.
More than 200 kms north of Adelaide, the region is home to the Church of St George, the oldest Orthodox Church in South Australia and one of the oldest in Australia and a long-established Greek community of about 300 members.
“Leaving remotely can be challenging at times due to the language barrier or the fact that older people don’t drive and they often need to visit specialists in the city.
“The strategy is to see this Program rolled out successfully across the region. Not only for the Greek but for the wider community,” Mr Skorpos says.
“It is very important to be able to provide a program that meets the needs of the remote communities and their elderly members.
“I am confident with the support from our CEO Father Jeremy Krieg and our established certified team we will provide a service that will set a new precedence for this kind of care and support for our ageing communities across regional South Australia,” he concludes.
According to the state government’s ‘Plan for Ageing Well’, more than a quarter of all South Australians aged over 50 live in regional areas and the state’s total population projected to be over 50 within the next four decades will surpass the 42 percent mark.
