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: 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 […]
Around the Tour: Saito strikes on debut in Osaka
JAPANESE teenager Sara Saito had a WTA Tour debut to remember, picking up an upset win over Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in Osaka overnight. The junior girls world number two earned a wildcard into the WTA 250 event and played her first main draw match against the 22-year-old world number 62, coming away with the […]
Sorribes Tormo survives four-hour marathon in Beijing
SPANIARD Sara Sorribes Tormo survived the fourth longest WTA Tour match in Open era history with a come-from-behind win over Chinese wildcard Gao Xinyu in an epic four-hour and 15-minute battle at the China Open in Beijing. In what can only be described as a battle of attrition, the 104th ranked Sorribes Tormo came back […]
Osaka crushes Jabeur to reach Toronto second round
BUILT up as the match to watch in the first round of the National Bank Open, former world number one Naomi Osaka made light work of ninth seed Ons Jabeur en route to a dominate 6-3 6-1 victory in just 72 minutes. Osaka returned to her preferred hardcourt surface and picked up her fifth Top […]
Dart on point in all-Brit battle
IN A hard-fought come-from-behind battle, world number 100 Harriet Dart spoiled the party of British number one, Katie Boulter. Despite 71 ranking places separating them, both players know each other’s games intimately and put on a show on Court 1, with the lower ranked compatriot winning 4-6 6-1 7-6 in two hours and 57 minutes. […]
Spaniard shocks Wimbledon defending champion
IN ONE of the biggest upsets in some time at Wimbledon, and certainly the largest shock of day two, world number 83 Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro knocked out defending champion and sixth seed Marketa Vondrousova in the first round of the Grand Slam event. Vondrousova was one of the favourites to take out the title […]
Niemeier makes most of second chance to upset Sakkari
GERMAN lucky loser Jule Niemeier has won in front of her home fans, grinding out a two-and-a-half-hour marathon victory over top 10 talent Maria Sakkari in Bad Homburg. The world number 96 ripped open the WTA 500 draw with a win over the top seed, defeating Sakkari in a come-from-behind win, 2-6 6-2 7-6 in […]
Around the Tour: Draper downs defending champ
TOP-RANKED Brit Jack Draper produced the biggest upset of his career by downing world number two and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at the Cinch Championships in London overnight. Draper won in a tight two-set contest 7-6 6-3 to put Alcaraz spot at number two in the world in threat ahead of Wimbledon. Prior to the […]
Around the Tour: Demon hits roadblock as Rublev rolled
AFTER celebrating his second ATP Tour title of the year just two days earlier, Australian Alex de Minaur fell to Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round of the Cinch Championships in London. The new world number seven looked to be cruising after the first set with a 6-1 triumph, before Musetti found his rhythm […]
