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 […]
Czech it out: Samson stuns Siniakova
CZECH wunderkind Laura Samson wasted no time announcing herself on the big stage against a quality opponent, shocking her far more experienced compatriot Katerina Siniakova in front of home fans at the Prague Open overnight. Samson – who turned 16 in March – is a former junior girls number one, and shortened her surname this […]
Shnaider competes set with clay title in Budapest
RUSSIAN young gun Diana Shnaider has shown her all-court versatility by winning her third career title – all in 2024 – at the Hungarian Open. By winning in Budapest, Shnaider has now won on each of the three main surfaces – hard, grass and clay – with her claycourt success overnight coming against Belarusian Aliaksandra […]
Around the Tour: Osaka breaks grass drought
FORMER world number one Naomi Osaka cruised to her first win on grass court since the 2019 Birmingham Classic, taking care of Belgian Elise Mertens at the Libema Open. Osaka won 6-2 6-4 at the ‘s-Hertogenbosch event in the Netherlands, needing 69 minutes to knock off the 32nd ranked Belgian. Holding a wildcard at the […]
Déjà vu as Muchova downs Maria in Paris opener
FOR the second successive year, Czech Karolina Muchova has knocked off Greek talent Maria Sakkari at the French Open, grinding out a 7-6 7-5 victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen to advance to the Round of 64. After defeating Sakkari in the second round last year at Roland Garros, Muchova double down on her efforts against […]
Sabalenka steals near-impossible victory
BELARUSIAN sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka produced one of the most incredible come-from-behind victories in history to stay alive in the US Open. Trailing 2-6 1-5 in the second set, Sabalenka was all but done and dusted during her match against unseeded Estonian, Kaia Kanepi. Then, in the blink of an eye, Sabalenka only conceded three […]
Crafty Cornet rolls reigning champ Raducanu
LAST year’s US Open winner, Emma Raducanu is out of the 2022 edition after falling to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in straight sets on day two of action. Cornet won with a few extra breaks to serve to advance through to the second round 6-3 6-3 in an hour and 42 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium. […]
Daria dashes into Granby semis
AUSTRALIAN Daria Saville has booked her place in the WTA Tour’s 250 event in Granby, Canada, storming to victory in the quarter finals over China’s Xiyu Wang. Saville showed no mercy in dropping just three games – and recorded a second set bagel – to run out a 6-3 6-0 winner over the 75th ranked […]
French resistance in Winston-Salem
IT WAS a good day for the French fans in Winston-Salem as their three hopes all won through to the Round of 16, two of them featuring upsets against seeded opponents. Experienced campaigners Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino both knocked off younger talents Lorenzo Musetti (fifth seed) and Emil Ruusuvuori (ninth), while the 10th seed […]
Murray moves through; defeats Stan the Man
GIVEN the tennis world has been consumed by the ‘Big Three’ over the past two decades, it might be easy to forget the two who are perhaps the most unlucky from the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Having shared in a number of Grand Slam victories in their own right, the […]
