Cirstea’s giant-killing run continues
ROMANIAN veteran Sorana Cirstea is on the verge of a return to the Top 100 after amassing her third Top 20 victory in a fortnight overnight. The 34-year-old Cirstea – who turns 35 in April – fought through a tough challenge against second seed and world number 13 Diana Shnaider in Austin to book her […]
Radu-can-do advances to Dubai second round
SNAPPING a four-game losing streak, British wildcard Emma Raducanu won her first match since the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Greek talent Maria Sakkari, 6-4 6-2 in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Sakkari’s form of two wins from her past five was not much better, but in a battle of two players desperately […]
Sun rises in Abu Dhabi
A DOMINANT display from New Zealand 2024 big improver Lulu Sun was the standout result from day one of the 2025 WTA Abu Dhabi Open. The Kiwi-born – but has represented Switzerland and even Croatia prior – completely dismantled French wildcard and former Top 5 player Caroline Garcia 6-1 6-3 in 77 minutes to snap […]
Swiss star sees positive return to Grand Slam action
FORMER world number four Belinda Bencic has made a winning return to Grand Slam tennis, toppling 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko in yesterday’s first round action. On her return from maternity leave, it may have taken Bencic six match points but she ultimately prevailed in straight sets 6-3 7-6. In a match littered with double faults […]
Azarenka overcomes Joint pain
TWO-TIME Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka got more than she bargained for coming up against 18-year-old Australian wildcard Maya Joint, with the Belarusian former world number one needing three sets to shake off the fearless teenager at the Brisbane International. Though the 10th seed is also a two-time Brisbane International winner, she was the one […]
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 […]
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: Upstaged in Antwerp; upsets galore
THERE was no shortage of upsets across multiple ATP and WTA Tour events overnight, but the major results came in Antwerp where three of the lower ranked players took out the top three seeds. In what was a dismantling day, number one seed Alex de Minaur, number two seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and number three seed […]
Around the Tour: US Open winners set for quarter finals clash
A TANTALISING quarter finals clash between US Open champions Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu awaits in ‘s-Hertogenbosch after the pair won their respective Round of 16 matches overnight. Osaka, who holds four Grand Slams – all on hard court – three more than Andreescu’s sole 2019 US Open title, will face the fellow wildcard on […]
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 […]
