Dutch dash dream Rafa retirement party
THERE was no room for sentiment from the Dutch at the Davis Cup Finals, with Netherlands sending off 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal by eliminating his Spanish side in the quarter finals. Going down to the deciding doubles tie, the experienced doubles talent of Wesley Koolhof worked well with Botic Van de Zandschulp against […]
2024 Davis Cup Finals preview
EIGHT nations will vie for glory in the 2024 Davis Cup Finals that kicks off overnight in Malaga. Headlined by reigning champions Italy with world number one Jannik Sinner named for his nation, the only element that tops it is the fact that 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will bid farewell to tennis at […]
Czech mate: Aussies win Davis Cup tie 3-0
AUSTRALIA has one foot in the knockout stages of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals after whitewashing Czech Republic 3-0 in the green and gold’s second group stage match overnight. Following on from a nail-biting 2-1 result against France, the Australians had it far easier against a wounded Czech side who once again saw Tomas Machac […]
2024 Davis Cup Finals preview: Group A
NEXT week the 2024 Davis Cup Finals kicks off with the round robin portion of the tournament and in the lead-up to the event, we preview each of the four groups. In today’s preview, we analyse Group A to see which of the four nations might advance to the knockout stage in November. NATIONS: 1st. […]
Czechia claims top gong in historic mixed doubles win
CZECHIA is the toast of mixed doubles tennis at the Paris Olympics, after Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac proved too strong for China’s Xinyu Wang and Zhizhen Zhang in the gold medal match. In a match that lasted about an hour and a quarter, the Czach duo ultimately prevailed in the third set tie breaker […]
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 […]
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 […]
PREVIEW | 2024 Davis Cup Qualifiers
HALF of the 24 nations doing battle in the 2024 Davis Cup Qualifiers this weekend will secure their spots in the Davis Cup Finals later this year. Four nations have already acquired safe passage into the 16-team finals series, with the remaining 12 to come from the winning nations of the qualifiers. We preview this […]
Doubles Dutch allows Norway into final eight
A STUNNING last gasp hurrah from Dutch dup Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs has sensationally allowed Norway a place in the quarter finals after a thrilling finish to Group F. In what was the closest group in Sydney, Croatia had taken the tie with two singles wins – after a shock loss to Norway the […]
China finds Czech mate in clean sweep
CHINA stunned Group E’s top ranked nation in Czech Republic with a 3-0 clean sweep over higher ranked opponents. Though the Asian nation was regarded as a dark horse coming into the tournament, few could have predicted that China would breeze past one of the tournament favourites. Zhizhen Zhang had the first big challenge up […]