Zheng seizes control to take out Uchijima in Tokyo
A DOMINANT purple patch when 5-4 down in the first set lit the flame of top seed Qinwen Zheng in Tokyo as the Chinese talent won the last nine games of the match against local hope Moyuka Uchijima to reach the Pan Pacific Open quarter finals. Uchijima took it up to Zheng early, was no […]
Felix eyes Basel three-peat by Baez beating
BASEL has always been a source of success for Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, and now the eighth seed is into the Swiss Indoors ATP 500 event second round in 2024. Auger-Aliassime is a back-to-back winner at the indoor hardcourt event having won the past two years and is now just four wins away from completing a […]
Bia’s back allows Bibi boost into Tokyo quarters
THERE was a sense of empathy coming from one side of the net to the other when injury-prone Bianca Andreescu shook hands with second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia after just three games. Haddad Maia suffered a left back injury and had to retire at 0-3 down in the opening set of the pair’s Pan Pacific […]
No Thiem for sentimentality as Darderi dashes “last dance”
THERE has been no shortage of tennis legends retiring in 2024, and Austrian star Dominic Thiem joined fellow Grand Slam winners Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on the sidelines after his career came to an end in his home nation overnight. Coming into the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the Austrian – who had more […]
Katie Boults into Tokyo second round
BRITISH ninth seed Katie Boulter wasted no time in dismissing Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon to race into the Round of 16 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo overnight. The sole seed in action, and only match that did not contain a local Japanese hope, Boulter needed just 77 minutes to get past Hon 6-1 […]
Zverev zooms past future star in Vienna
WORLD number three Alexander Zverev has made light of former junior boys world number one Joel Schwaerzler in the opening round at Vienna after the top seed dismissed the teenager in straight sets, 6-2 6-2. Zverev – who enters the tournament as favourite without Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz there, only needed 67 minutes to […]
Turkish qualifier upsets Pole in Tokyo
AN EARLY upset on day one saw Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez take out seventh seed Magdalena Frech to reach the second round of the WTA 500 event in Tokyo. Sonmez – ranked 148th in the world – defeated Frech 1-6 6-4 6-3, coming back from the brink to post the victory in an hour and […]
ATP Tour winners: RBA winds back the clock
SPANISH veteran Roberto Bautista Agut has snapped a two-year drought to claim the European Open ATP Tour title, defeating talented Czech Jiri Lehecka in straight sets. Bautista Agut collected the 12th title of his career, winding back the clock with a performance for the ages in Antwerp, winning 7-5 6-1. The 36-year-old became the second […]
WTA Tour winners: Lamens storms to maiden title
DUTCH qualifier Suzan Lamens is officially a WTA Tour title winner after defeating fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell in a comprehensive 72-minute rout at the Japan Open overnight. Lamens had a tournament to remember, with the world number 125 ending up favourite in the final despite being a qualifier, destroying Birrell 6-0 6-4. There was always […]
Around the Tour: Ito crafts third straight upset
ADMITTING she has not got “any power” and she is “skinny”, Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito has made a name for herself in Osaka. The 188th ranked Japanese hope knows where her strengths and weaknesses lie, and focuses on what she can do, rather than she cannot, leading her to a quarter finals appearance in the […]
