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Having lost six of his last nine matches on tour, including from 5-2 and match point up against Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters on October 30, three-time Major champion and former world no. 1 Andy Murray has today announced splitting from longtime coach Ivan Lendl for a third time after their partnership didn’t prove fruitful as it has done in the past and the 2024 campaign nears.
Continue reading “Andy Murray splits from Ivan Lendl for a third time after poor end to 2023 season”
Novak Djokovic didn’t have the easiest week on his return to tour-level action, being on the brink of defeat on three consecutive days but holding his nerve to reach another final, where he reclaimed a title he knows well: the Paris Masters 1000 trophy, his penultimate event of the 2023 campaign. Grigor Dimitrov was a deserving finalist this week, but ran out of steam in a straight-sets scoreline.
Continue reading “Paris Masters: Djokovic earns record-extending seventh title after Dimitrov win”
Having only featured once – in Davis Cup play for Serbia – since clinching his 24th Major title at Flushing Meadows on September 10, world no. 1 Novak Djokovic began as he means to continue this week with a straight-sets win (6-3, 6-2) against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, after a whirlwind 24-hour period has seen two of the tournament’s top three seeds beaten elsewhere in the draw. Continue reading “Paris Masters: Djokovic wins clean after Alcaraz, Medvedev stunned in round two”
Six-time Major champion Boris Becker announced Thursday he’ll return to the tennis circuit as Holger Rune’s new coach, having served an eight-month prison sentence last year for failing to hand over assets and trophies, repaying debt after being declared bankrupt five years earlier. While the headlines will surround the German right now, the talented Dane needs more than new voices in his ear hopeful he can stop stuttering form as the season draws to a close. Continue reading “Holger Rune needs more than a returning Boris Becker to arrest his alarming slump”
After surprising many to reach the Stuttgart final back in mid-June, more injuries proved Andy Murray’s bane as the former world no. 1 struggled for consistency before eventually finishing his season with a frustrating loss by the departing Gilles Simon at the Paris Masters on October 31. He’s fully focused for 2023 and amid fitness concerns, is targeting a more active schedule.
Continue reading “After returning to world’s top 50 and with wife’s blessing, Andy Murray plots busy 2023 schedule”
Holger Rune, who saved three match points in the tournament’s first round, had nerves of steel under immense pressure to secure a recovery three-set victory over 21-time Major champion Novak Djokovic to cap a whirlwind week at the Paris Masters. Meanwhile overnight, Caroline Garcia pipped Iga Swiatek’s conqueror Aryna Sabalenka to win the WTA Finals in Texas.
Continue reading “Record-breaker Rune stuns Djokovic in Paris; Garcia bests Swiatek slayer Sabalenka to win WTA Finals”
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”
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