Sramk-ova for ‘Danimal’ as Slovakia stuns USA
DESPITE bringing a half-strength side to the Billie Jean King Cup, few would have predicted that super power tennis national the United States could not get past Slovakia in the first round of the knockout stage. However that was exactly the case with the world number fives suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to the 10th […]
2024 BJK Cup Finals preview
TWELVE teams remain in the hunt for the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup title, which kicks off overnight with the first of the knockout matches. While four nations – Canada, Australia, Czech Republic and Italy – have a first round bye, another eight are battling it out to reach the quarter finals. We take a […]
Around the Tour: Mirra magic as Kenin curbed
IN THE wake of the respective WTA and ATP Tour 1000 events in Wuhan and Shanghai that were won by tournament top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner respectively, a lot of the lower ranked players headed to tournaments across the globe. In today’s Around the Tour, we take a look at the sole 500 […]
Kreuger’s Nightmare on Grandstand eliminates talented teen
AN eye-catching performance from Ashlyn Krueger turned into a nightmare for talented Russian Mirra Andreeva as the American put the 21st seed to the sword and waltzed into the third round with a 64-minute demolition job. In front of home fans, the 39th ranked 20-year-old gave an indication of what she is capable of, winning […]
2024 US Open preview: Women’s singles
LAST year’s US Open threw up plenty of surprises for the women’s singles, with American young gun Coco Gauff riding a wave of support to claim her first Grand Slam title in a come-from-behind victory. Can she go back-to-back or will another top star stand up and lift the trophy aloft? Top eight seeds Gauff […]
Mixed doubles means more mixed up expectations
IF there is one thing to learn from the mixed doubles draw at the 2024 Olympics, it is that rankings are often nothing more than just a number. American third seeds Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz learnt this the hard way, losing to their northern neighbours Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets. The […]
Czeched out: It’s Schmiedl-ova for Wimbledon champ
GIANT-KILLING Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova is the major surprise packet through to the 2024 Paris Olympics medal matches with a straight sets victory over ninth seed and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Already a Olympic gold medalist in doubles, Krejcikova’s quest for a singles medal is over at the final step, losing in the quarter finals. […]
Rankings don’t mean much with surprises aplenty in mixed doubles
THE Mixed Doubles competition of the 2024 Olympics got underway at Roland Garros overnight, and right out of the gate the surprises came. German pair Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev found out the hard way that their number one ranking was merely a number after they succumbed to Czech pair Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac […]
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 […]
ITF Juniors wrap: Samsonova reaches quarters in Monastir
CZECH 15-year-old Laura Samsonova headlines the ITF Juniors wrap for the first week of February after the 2008-born young gun reached the quarter finals of the W15 event in Monastir. Turning 16 in March, the Junior Girls’ world number four picked up a couple of wins along the way, including a double-bagel of another youngster. […]
