Analysis, features, news plus more – on European football and sports galore!
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”
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”
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”
Mirra Andreeva celebrated her 17th birthday on Madrid clay by earning a quarter-final berth at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time, backing up her second career top-10 win – over Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova – with a similarly gritty victory to knock out Jasmine Paolini 24 hours later. Continue reading “Birthday girl Andreeva’s maturity in Madrid a welcome sign for years to come”
After consecutive night sessions fell flat, Gael Monfils relished his role as the party starter on home soil and recovered from a seemingly improbable position to beat Sebastian Baez in a near four-hour thriller on Philippe-Chatrier. Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev both won clean while world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev was stunned by Brazil’s 23-year-old Thiago Seyboth Wild. Read on, for more… Continue reading “French Open 2023: Monfils-Baez exceeds expectations as Day 3 full of surprises”
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”
Novak Djokovic recovered from 5-2 down in set one and emerged without enduring a three-set battle against another determined Frenchman, setting up another intriguing clash with Denis Shapovalov. Coco Gauff avenged a defeat three years in the making, before Emma Raducanu tearfully withdrew after sustaining a freak ankle injury midway through her R2 match… Continue reading “Tennis: Djokovic, Gauff edge their way to tight victories while Raducanu retires with ankle injury”
2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu recovered from a set and early break down to prevail against a Czech teenage talent, after ATP Finals champion Novak Djokovic was tested in parts but his quality proved too much to handle as both players kicked off their respective 2023 seasons with contrasting victories in their first-round tournament matches. Also, the business end of the team-centric United Cup is hotting up, and there were a few surprises elsewhere… Continue reading “Djokovic, Raducanu begin their 2023 season with contrasting victories as warm-up events continue”
Withdrawn from the Nottingham tournament with another niggling injury earlier this month, doubtful for Wimbledon… the knives are well and truly out in force for the US Open champion. Are these high expectations and criticism justified, or should we err on the side of patience? Continue reading “Okay, do we need to have the Emma Raducanu conversation yet?”
There were routine R1 wins for the sport’s two world no. 1s, sandwiched between a welcome return for the King of Clay. Elsewhere, the women’s defending titlist was stunned by a determined Frenchwoman on home soil, before two Major winners almost 15 years apart in age both showed steely resilience, recovering from precarious situations to seal their R2 berths. Continue reading “French Open 2022: Swiatek, Nadal, Djokovic all progress; Krejcikova, Kontaveit ousted”
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