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What a day of finals action. USA swept Italy in the inaugural United Cup, before American teenager Coco Gauff and world no. 5 Aryna Sabalenka both prevailed in straight-sets to clinch their first WTA singles titles since May 2021 while Novak Djokovic recovered from the brink – match point down – to eventually overwhelm Sebastian Korda to win his 92nd ATP title. Continue reading “USA secure United Cup, Sabalenka and Gauff win clean while Djokovic saves match point to pip Korda”
Jessica Pegula ended a four-match losing streak against the world no. 1, while Martina Trevisan played spoiler to sting Greece as the United Cup semi-finals got underway. Elsewhere, there were big wins for Sebastian Korda and Linda Noskova, while two first-time finalists will play each other in Pune. It’s always fun to get a Djokovic-Medvedev matchup too, right? Continue reading “USA and Italy lead in United Cup semis, Noskova-Jabeur and Djokovic-Medvedev confirmed”
Maria Sakkari called this one of the best weeks in her career. Jessica Pegula spoke for team USA, stressing their excitement for what’s to come. Poland are deadly in unison and we’re only halfway through: the United Cup’s final four nations were sealed after a manic day’s action – with a few surprising results as expected across tour-level tournaments elsewhere today. Continue reading “Tennis: United Cup’s final four teams confirmed, Rybakina and Andreescu lose in Adelaide and more”
There were straight-set victories for Matteo Berrettini, Maria Sakkari and Stan Wawrinka among others but the big story came in the evening as home favourite Jason Kubler recovered from a 5-0 second set deficit to overwhelm world no. 27 Dan Evans and secure Australia’s first-ever United Cup triumph, on an eventful second day of group action at the tournament. Continue reading “United Cup: Berrettini, Sakkari, Wawrinka all prevail before Kubler clinches big win for team Australia”
After battling from a perilous position against Andy Murray on Monday, the retiring Gilles Simon extended his retirement party with a rousing three-set win over Tokyo champion Taylor Fritz, hours before Maria Sakkari became the first woman to secure a WTA Finals’ knockout stage berth after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Aryna Sabalenka – though the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story.
Continue reading “Simon stuns Fritz to extend his retirement party; Sakkari into semi-finals with Sabalenka win”
Novak Djokovic began the defence of his Paris Masters title with a hard-fought round two victory against a stubborn Paris-born American in big-serving Maxime Cressy, 11 hours after Aryna Sabalenka recovered from the brink and battled stomach pains to beat two-time Major finalist Ons Jabeur in a three set rollercoaster on Day 1 at this year’s WTA Finals. Continue reading “Djokovic downs Cressy at Paris Masters; Sabalenka recovers to stifle Jabeur in WTA Finals”
Aryna Sabalenka will play Iga Swiatek, keen to erase her 0-3 H2H record this season in Thursday’s US Open semi-final after the pair earned contrasting straight-set wins over Karolina Pliskova and Jessica Pegula. Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe will look to make more history after taking down Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev: he plays Jannik Sinner’s conqueror Carlos Alcaraz on Friday, having watched a 5-hour epic unfold into the early hours between the pair.
Continue reading “Day 10 – US Open 2022: Sabalenka-Swiatek, Tiafoe-Alcaraz in semifinals after Sinner-Alcaraz epic”
Caroline Garcia’s formidable form continues, after outplaying Emma Raducanu’s conqueror Jessica Pegula early and holding firm as the American’s level later improved in a 6-1, 7-5 win over the world no. 8 – her third against a top-10 player in 2022. The Frenchwoman plays Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals for a chance to contest her third WTA 1000 finale this weekend. Continue reading “Cincinnati Open: Garcia grinds past Pegula, faces Sabalenka in Saturday’s semi-finals”
Emma Raducanu’s memorable week at this year’s Cincinnati Open was ended in the early hours, as American no. 1 Jessica Pegula showcased her aggressive ball-striking, variety and defensive abilities to leave the US Open champion tactically unstuck – winning 7-5, 6-4. She’ll play an in-form Caroline Garcia on Friday, looking to make successive WTA 1000 semi-finals. Continue reading “Cincinnati Open: Pegula outwits Raducanu in competitive contest, Garcia awaits in quarter-finals”
Less than 24 hours after putting a comfortable victory over departing legend Serena Williams on her ever-growing CV, US Open champion Emma Raducanu added another legend to her resume with a 6-0, 6-2 Cincinnati win over two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka. Continue reading “Cincinnati Open: Pegula next in R3 for Raducanu, after cruising past error-strewn Azarenka”
US Open champion Emma Raducanu started fast and drew errors aplenty (19-1) from a sluggish Serena Williams display on her Cincinnati debut tonight, as the 19-year-old kept composed, as the 19-year-old kept composed in their first and only competitive meeting. Next she’ll play another legend she grew up watching: two-time Major champion Victoria Azarenka. Continue reading “Cincinnati Open: Raducanu dismisses patchy Serena showing in straight-sets on Cincy debut”
Rafael Nadal withstood a spirited Denis Shapovalov comeback to oust the Canadian in five sets, before Matteo Berrettini similarly held firm under Gael Monfils’ pressure in a night session showdown lasting almost four hours, becoming the first Italian ever to reach this tournament’s semis. Elsewhere, Ashleigh Barty made quick work of her last-eight clash with Jessica Pegula and now faces another American in Barbora Krejcikova’s conqueror Madison Keys on Thursday.
Continue reading “Australian Open 2022: Nadal-Berrettini, Keys-Barty semifinals set as Day 9 excites”
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