2020 Palermo Ladies Open preview: WTA Tour returns in Italy
FOLLOWING the withdrawal of world number two Simona Halep and would-be second seed Johanna Konta, the 2020 Palermo Ladies Open field, which kicks off the recommencement of the WTA Tour on Monday, is wide open. As it stands, Petra Martic is the highest ranked player confirmed to play at the event, and given her recent […]
Tournament rewind: 2019 Palermo Ladies Open
TALENTED up and comer, Jil Teichmann surprised all when she took out the 30th Palermo Ladies Open last year, coming through victorious in the final against raging favourite and top seed, Kiki Bertens. In that match, Teichmann won 7-6 6-2 in an hour and 52 minutes on the Italian clay. She played a consistent game, […]
Is Jannik Sinner the next top 20 star?
HEADING into last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, Jannik Sinner was ranked the lowest and considered the biggest underdog in a group that included Frances Tiafoe, Mikael Ymer and Ugo Humbert. Defeating the first two and narrowly losing to the third, Sinner progressed through to the semi-finals where he took down Miomir Kecmanovic before stunning […]
WTA Tour returns: Who, where and when?
WHILE the world still battles the 2020 global pandemic that is COVID-19, it might be difficult to imagine an international sport that stretches every continent going ahead. But that is exactly the case for the WTA and ATP Tours that start in the next month. While the ATP Tour kicks off later in August, the […]
Opinion: What would a WTA Tour version of the Laver Cup (Williams Cup) look like?
IN yesterday’s opinion article, we took a look at the current format of the ATP Tour’s Laver Cup, a team tournament which pits Team Europe off against Team World. We analysed how the current method is not the best way to have the closest contest, and some alternatives that the Tour could look at to […]
Opinion: Is there a better way to run the Laver Cup?
MANY tennis fans love when the best of the best come together and face off in a huge week of action whether it be at Grand Slams or Davis Cups, or especially the ATP Finals series. One unique idea that began in 2017 was the Laver Cup, which pits the best ATP Tour players against […]
Five ATP/WTA players who might have benefited from the Tour lockdown
NO ONE would have enjoyed not being able to play out the ATP and WTA Tours since March. But there might have been a select few for whom the break came at the perfect time be it through injury or form. Bianca Andreescu (CAN) Still ranked at number six in the world, the Canadian 20-year-old […]
The Big Three: What separates them on court?
NOVAK Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have commonly been referred to as the ‘Big Three’ and for good reason. The ATP Tour’s elite of the past 15 years have collected a whopping 267 titles between them, of which 56 are Grand Slams. They occupy the top three spots on the ATP Tour records for […]
The Rise and Fall of American men’s tennis: Where to from here?
FOR the first time since the 1970s when the Open era commenced, the United States have gone through a decade without a representative holding the number one ranked position. Long considered a tennis super power, the United States have had Jimmy Connors of the 70s, John McEnroe through the 80s, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and […]
Spanish Conundrum: What does the future of Spain look like for the ATP super power?
FOR the past two decades, Spain has been the most dominant nation on the ATP Tour. Between 2000-2012, the European nation won five Davis Cup titles and finished runner-up twice in that time. Aside from a stunning World Group relegation back in 2014 when they lost to Brazill in the playoff, Spain has never been […]
2020 WTA Nature Valley Open / ATP Stuttgart Open fantasy tennis: Garcia goes back-to-back as Medvedev wins Stuttgart title
CAROLINE Garcia has gone back-to-back in Nottingham, while Daniil Medvedev has enjoyed a triumph at Stuttgart to round out the week of fantasy tennis competitions. The French talent has not had a consistent year this year, but she backed up last year’s 2019 victory with a 2020 trophy. Taking on the top seed and tournament […]
2020 WTA Nature Valley Open / ATP Stuttgart Open fantasy tennis: 2019 Nottingham finalists to battle it out in 2020 semis
HALF of the semi-finalists in both Nottingham and Stuttgart are seeds after the eight quarter finals were completed across the WTA and ATP fantasy tennis tournaments today. Top seed Petra Kvitova won through to the semi-finals with a convincing straight sets win, setting the tone for the day’s action. The Czech world number eight knocked […]
