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Texas A&M product Austin Krajicek gets silver medal in Olympic tennis

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Texas A&M product Austin Krajicek gets silver medal in Olympic tennis


PARIS — Matt Ebden’s 2024 Olympics started with his first singles match in more than two years — a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Novak Djokovic as a fill-in after other players pulled out of that event. A week later, back in his element as a doubles player, Ebden will leave France as a gold medalist with partner John Peers.

Ebden and Peers won Australia’s second tennis gold medal in Summer Games history on Saturday, beating Texas A&M product and Allen resident Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8 in a match tiebreaker in the men’s doubles final. Olympics doubles uses a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker in place of a traditional third set.

“I knew this would come up,” Ebden said when asked about the way his Summer Games began. “Last night, I did think of it. I was actually dreaming of an Instagram post, like: ‘How it started; how it’s going.’ … Swipe right, and there’s a gold-medal photo.”

Ebden and Peers trailed by a set and 4-2 in the second before breaking Ram’s serve to begin the comeback. Their tennis gold follows the one won for Australia by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in men’s doubles at Atlanta in 1996.

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“It’s trippy. It’s more than a dream. I didn’t even dream of winning a gold medal growing up or whatever,” Ebden said. “The last few years, I had great success on the doubles court. It gave a lot of belief and confidence coming in here.”

He is a 36-year-old doubles specialist who has been ranked No. 1 in that event and has won two Slam trophies in men’s doubles and one in mixed. In singles? Until facing Djokovic — “My main goal in that match was just not to get injured,” Ebden joked Saturday — he hadn’t competed in a tour-level, main-draw singles match since June 2022.

Djokovic said he thinks the rules should be changed so someone like Ebden does not wind up on the court in singles at the Summer Games.

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Olympic medal tracker: See how Texans are faring at the 2024 Paris Games

Ebden hasn’t even had a singles ranking since he was No. 970 the week of May 29, 2023. But he already was in Paris to compete in men’s doubles and so that made him available for the singles competition when 16th-ranked Holger Rune of Denmark pulled out because of a wrist injury.

When Saturday’s match ended, the children of Peers and Ebden climbed out of the stands to hug their fathers. Ebden draped a replica gold medal around the neck of his son, whom he then tossed in the air and caught.

Peers, who won a bronze in mixed doubles with Ash Barty at the Tokyo Games three years ago, said his oldest daughter has been saying she wanted a gold. Now she can bring it to school for show-and-tell.

“They’re going to be talking about this one,” Peers said, “until we’re 100.”

Peers has been No. 2 in doubles and owns one Grand Slam title each in men’s doubles — which came by beating twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the final of the 2017 Australian Open — and mixed doubles.

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The 40-year-old Ram, who is based in Indiana, was trying to become the oldest player to win an Olympics tennis gold — for men or women, in singles or doubles — since the sport returned to the Summer Games in 1988.

He and Krajicek, a 34-year-old who lives in Florida, also were trying to become the third U.S. duo to win a men’s doubles gold. The most recent had been the Bryans at London in 2012. The brothers were in the stands Saturday — Bob is the country’s men’s tennis coach in Paris, and Mike has been serving as a hitting partner and helping coach doubles.

Instead, Ram and Krajicek — who eliminated Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals — will head home with silvers.

Later Saturday, another American duo, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, won the bronze with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic. Machac and Katerina Siniakova won the gold in mixed doubles on Friday night.

Find more Olympics coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Austin, TX

Where to Eat and Drink in Rosedale in Austin

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Where to Eat and Drink in Rosedale in Austin


A prawn dish at Gràcia Mediterranean.
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Gràcia Mediterranean

Though it’s easy to mistake portions of Austin neighborhood Rosedale for other nearby neighborhoods (it’s not Allandale, Hyde Park, Brentwood, or Bryker Woods), the central northwestern neighborhood is full of great dining and drinking options. There are Bill’s on Burnet with huge burgers and Green Bay pride, upscale highly rated tasting menus of Craft Omakase, and everything in between, from tacos to dosas to banh mi. With that in mind, here is Eater Austin’s dining and drinking guide to Rosedale.

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For the purposes of this map, this guide focuses only on businesses located north of West 38th Street, west of Burnet Road, east of MoPac, and south of Hancock Drive. Check out Eater Austin’s guides to nearby neighborhoods Brentwood and Allandale, as well as our other neighborhood dining guides.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.



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Texas

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Texas


AUSTIN – A federal trial is set to begin Monday over claims that supporters of former President Donald Trump threatened and harassed a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Texas four years ago, disrupting the campaign on the last day of early voting.

Democrats on the bus said they feared for their lives as Trump supporters in dozens of trucks and cars nearly caused collisions, harassing their convoy for more than 90 minutes, hitting a Biden-Harris campaign staffer’s car and forcing the bus driver to repeatedly swerve for safety.

“For at least 90 minutes, defendants terrorized and menaced the driver and passengers,” the lawsuit alleges. “They played a madcap game of highway ‘chicken’ coming within three to four inches of the bus. They tried to run the bus off the road.”

The highway confrontation prompted an FBI investigation, which led then-President Trump to declare that in his opinion, “these patriots did nothing wrong.”

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Among those suing is former Texas state senator from Fort Worth and Democratic nominee for governor Wendy Davis, who was on the bus that day. Davis rose to prominence in 2013 with her 13-hour filibuster of an anti-abortion bill in the state Capitol. The other three plaintiffs are a campaign volunteer, staffer and the bus driver.

Videos of the confrontation on Oct. 30, 2020, that were shared on social media, including some recorded by the Trump supporters, show a group of cars and pickup trucks — many adorned with large Trump flags — riding alongside the campaign bus as it traveled on I-35 from San Antonio to Austin. The Trump supporters at times boxed in the bus, slowed it down, kept it from exiting the highway and repeatedly forced the bus driver to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, the lawsuit says.

On the two previous days, Biden-Harris supporters were subjected to death threats, with some Trump supporters displaying weapons, according to the lawsuit. These threats in combination with the highway confrontation led Democrats to cancel an event later in the day.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, accuses the six defendants of violating the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” an 1871 federal law to stop political violence and intimidation tactics. It alleges the defendants were members of local groups near San Antonio that coordinated the confrontation.

The same law was used in part to indict Trump on federal election interference charges over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Enacted by Congress during the Reconstruction Era, the law was created to protect Black men’s right to vote by prohibiting political violence.

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Francisco Canseco, an attorney for three of the defendants, said his clients acted lawfully and did not infringe on the free speech rights of those on the bus.

“It’s more of a constitutional issue,” Canseco said. “It’s more of who has the greater right to speak behind their candidate.”

Judge Robert Pitman, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is set to preside over the trial. He denied the defendants’ pretrial motion for a summary judgment in their favor, ruling last month that the KKK Act prohibits the physical intimidation of people traveling to political rallies, even when racial bias isn’t a factor.

While one of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, argued his group had a First Amendment right to demonstrate support for their candidate, the judge wrote that “assaulting, intimidating, or imminently threatening others with force is not protected expression.”

“Just as the First Amendment does not protect a driver waving a political flag from running a red light, it does not protect Defendants from allegedly threatening Plaintiffs with reckless driving,” Pitman wrote.

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A prior lawsuit filed over the “Trump Train” alleged the San Marcos Police Department violated the Ku Klux Klan Act by failing to send a police escort after multiple 911 calls were made and a bus rider said his life was threatened. It accused officers of privately laughing and joking about the emergency calls. San Marcos settled the lawsuit in 2023 for $175,000 and a requirement that law enforcement get training on responding to political violence.



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Austin Chronicle's Hot Sauce Fest helps benefit Central Texas Food Bank

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Austin Chronicle's Hot Sauce Fest helps benefit Central Texas Food Bank


Most of Austin enjoyed the break from 100-degree weather Sunday, but a couple of hundred others decided to sweat it out at the return of the annual Hot Sauce Festival.

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“Normally, it’s a scorcher, but I have to say we got really lucky today,” said Sarah Wolf. “I think it’s the coolest weather we’ve had in the history of the Hot Sauce Festival.”

For hot sauce lovers, it only makes sense to kick the heat back up a notch

“It’s got 1 percent reaper pepper,” said Boerne Brand Hot Sauce.

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“Oh wow, yeah, that’s bold,” said Adrian Leal, one of the many hot saucers fans at Far Out Lounge and Stage Sunday. “I would say definitely smokey, tasty.”

The Hot Sauce Fest brought makers from all over Texas, and even a few from out of state, like Eddie Stankiewicz, who owns Stanky Sauce in Orlando.

“Historically, my favorite is my pineapple habanero ghost pepper sauce,” said Stankiewicz.

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This is his 3rd year at the festival.

“The spice community in Texas, in general, is huge, it’s one of our most shipped-to states in the country,” said Stankiewicz.

But for others, it’s their very first time. Lisa and Bob Jansen moved here a year ago and were excited to finally attend.

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“I liked the peach habanero, and the other one was great too,” said Lisa Jansen.

“I like the various flavors here behind the hot sauce,” said Bob Jansen. “They were really good. We’re gonna come back and probably get some of these.”

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Every ticket spreads some love to the Central Texas Food Bank.

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“It’s just an ideal fit for a foodie fest like the hot sauce festival, and so we love this partnership with them,” said Wolf.

Wolf, with the Austin Chronicle, said Hot Sauce Fest is one of their largest fundraisers for the food bank.

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Since its start, it’s helped provide a sizzling 1.25 million meals.

“Being able to come to someone else’s community and help them, you know, give back that’s a pleasure, it’s an honor for us,” said Stankiewicz.

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It’s a cause certainly worth taking the heat for.

“You see that they really like to push themselves to try new sauces, you see friends egg each other on when trying like the Carolina Reapers or the ghost pepper sauces,” said Wolf. It’s just fun to see people’s reactions. That’s why these shows are so popular where you eat spicy things right? It’s just really good people-watching.” 



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