WTA Tour hypothetical: What if they had Next Gen Finals this year?
THE ATP Tour’s Next Gen Finals are a highly sought after event to show off the best young talent coming through the men’s competition. In past years, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner have triumphed, leading them onto successful years the following seasons and beyond. As it stands, the WTA Tour does not have a Next […]
Kontaveit survives double-break and match points against Alexandrova in Ostrava
ANETT Kontaveit has exacted a come-from-behind win over unseeded top 30 Russian, Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the Ostrava Open. Trailing by a set, Kontaveit managed to steady with an important second set, then held on in a nail-biting decider to come away with the 4-6 6-2 7-6 victory. The final set was […]
Slovenian teenager stuns Kerber to claim first French Open win
SLOVANIAN teenager Kaja Juvan has stunned one of Roland Garros’ title contenders by defeating former world number one and Grand Slam winner, Angelique Kerber. The German star was expected to advance fairly comfortably against her 19-year-old opponent, but instead in just her second French Open match, Juvan claimed the win in a 6-3 6-3 upset. […]
Tough day at Strasbourg sees tiebreakers aplenty
DAY three of the Internationaux de Strasbourg saw the beginning of the Round of 16, with the two top seeds of the day in second seed Elina Svitolina and fifth seed Elena Rybakina heading through to the quarter finals. Qualifier Zhang Shuai and Jil Teichmann joined the duo in the next round after respective wins, […]
Horror day on clay for US as seeds stumble ahead of Roland Garros
IF you were a United States fan turning in to watch your competitors run around on the clay at the Strasbourg International, then by the end of the first round you would have been deeply disappointed. All five American hopes were bundled out in the first round, including seeds Amanda Anisimova and Sloane Stephens. Both […]
Top seeds return convincingly to Rome International
THE beginning of the Italian Open Round of 32 saw a couple of intriguing results, and while all seeds bar one head through to the Round of 16, there were very little straightforward matches played out. Also on day five, Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams went head to head in a delayed first round match, […]
Rybakina destroys Alexandrova as Bolsova piles on more pain for Riske
KAZAKH young gun Elena Rybakina has taken just 61 minutes to take apart fellow top 30 player, Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in a stunning role reversal. Just a fortnight earlier, Alexandrova defeated Rybakina in straight sets at the Western & Southern Open, with the 21-year-old winning just one match in her past […]
Osaka survives Kostyuk scare to book fourth round berth
FOURTH seed Naomi Osaka is through to the Round of 16 at the US Open after knocking off teenage Ukrainian, Marta Kosyuk in three sets. The match lasted two hours and 33 minutes before Osaka could safely advance through to the fourth round. The 18-year-old Ukrainian won a second set tiebreaker and forced Osaka onto […]
Garcia stuns top seed Pliskova to book third round US Open spot
CAROLINE Garcia has caused the boil-over of the US Open by defeating top seed and world number three, Karolina Pliskova in straight sets today. The unseeded Frenchwoman made her way into the third round at the Grand Slam with a 6-1 7-6 victory, winning the last five points of the match after the Czech seed […]
Martic survives thriller to advance through to US Open Round of 64
PETRA Martic had some nervous moments but eventually came up trumps in a three-set win over former top 30 player, Tereza Martincova. Not the easiest of first round matches, Martic came from a set down to post the 5-7 6-4 6-2 win in two hours and 27 minutes. The Croatian, who was a top eight […]