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Day 4 was fun. 18-year-old Next Gen champion Joao Fonseca made a jolt with a straight-sets win over Andrey Rublev 24 hours earlier, but besides that, there wasn’t much to speak of as the first-round matches were finally concluded. The same couldn’t be said as round two began, with seven seeds falling across both draws while another teenage talent made noise in a memorable night session. Continue reading “AUS OPEN 25: Sabalenka tested, Bencic-Osaka set as Draper relishes the moment”
Casper Ruud was pushed into a five-set battle on day one, while #29 seed Linda Noskova became the first seed to fall as heavy rain proved an ever-present theme on Day 1 of this year’s Australian Open tournament, headlined by straightforward straight-set victories for defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and men’s dark horse Alexander Zverev in the night session on Rod Laver Arena. Continue reading “AUS OPEN 25: Sabalenka, Zverev smiling into second-round as Major underway”
Reilly Opelka and Naomi Osaka suffered injury scares on the eve of this year’s Australian Open, as their respective final appearances had to be cut short in Brisbane and Auckland respectively – seeing history made for a pair of rising Europeans who haven’t always got the shine their talent deserves at the top. Continue reading “Opelka and Osaka undone by untimely injuries in finals, Sabalenka streaking”
Taylor Fritz had an interesting line post-match after a seemingly straightforward 6-4, 6-4 win over China’s Zhizhen Zheng in the United Cup, saying: “I started to believe my average level would be enough to beat many top guys, feeling back in the flow again from the end of last season,” an ominous sign given how well he was performing in the second-half of 2024. Continue reading “United Cup: Fritz feeling in the groove, Rybakina to watch as AO prep continues”
Three notable names have confirmed they will not feature at this season’s Australian Open, headlined by last year’s quarterfinalist Barbora Krejcikova. A pair of former world no. 1-ranked players in Caroline Woznaicki and Karolina Pliskova also withdrew, a week before the tournament’s main draw begins.
Continue reading “AUS OPEN: Krejcikova’s lingering back issue forces her into unwanted withdrawal”
Jannik Sinner’s uneasy wait continues after WADA appealed his exoneration following two positive drug tests and now, five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek has accepted a one-month suspension after testing positive for heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) – the ITIA accepting contamination of a non-prescription medication (melatonin) she’d taken for jet lag and sleep issues. Continue reading “Iga Swiatek accepts one-month ban after testing positive for drug trimetazidine”
Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka. Now it’s the turn of world number one and reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek as the latest top player searching for a new coach before the 2025 campaign begins, having announced her split from Tomasz Wiktorowski after three successful seasons together. Continue reading “Coaching carousel continues as Swiatek splits from Wiktorowski after three years”
Ahead of her Beijing exploits, 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff has announced she’s added another component to her coaching team as the 20-year-old eyes an early pre-season of sorts between now and the season’s official end in November after splitting from Brad Gilbert this month — Matt Daly will accompany the American’s longtime coach Jean-Christophe Faurel. Continue reading “WTA Beijing: Gauff refreshed, adds Matt Daly to coaching team after Gilbert split”
Jessica Pegula banished her Grand Slam quarterfinal hoodoo in the best way – fittingly on home soil – yet one more task awaits her as history beckons tonight: beating Australian Open champion and world no. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her in Cincinnati three weeks ago and will be fired up to deliver after falling short in the Flushing Meadows finale against another American last season. Continue reading “US Open 2024: Pegula backs up Swiatek scalp with gutsy Muchova recovery win”
The pre-US Open parties and media duties have been completed, top-ranked players spending valuable time on court practising and getting acclimatised to the conditions while the last hopefuls from across the globe battle out for a main draw qualifying berth are now set in stone. Today marks the beginning of the year’s final Major and with that, more questions than answers as usual. Continue reading “US Open 2024: Main draw analysis across both tours, as year’s final Major begins”
Having endured an inconsistent season across all surfaces, 2022 US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe will hope he’s peaking at the right time of this calendar year on home soil after recovering from a set down to reach his first Masters 1000 final – where he’ll play world number one Jannik Sinner tonight, after a similarly gutsy win over the distance against Alexander Zverev. Continue reading “Cincinnati: Tiafoe’s turn of form continues, books M1000 final vs. Sinner”
Andy Murray’s final hurrah – injury permitting – Novak Djokovic testing his limits again less than a month after knee surgery, new world no. 1 Jannik Sinner looking to unseat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz while Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter fly the Brits’ flag in an intriguing women’s draw. Will any Americans make some noise? How about youngsters with little to lose? Continue reading “Wimbledon 2024: Draw analysis as SW19 beckons again with storylines brewing”
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