Demon dares to dream as Ruud, Rublev gets rolled
AUSSIE Alex de Minaur‘s hopes of a maiden ATP Finals birth are within his own control after Russian Andrey Rublev suffered a spectacular second round defeat at the Paris Masters overnight. While Rublev went down to Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in two tiebreakers, de Minaur overcame Cerundolo’s compatriot Mariano Navone, 7-5 6-1. Coming into the ATP […]
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: Saito strikes in Osaka
PROMISING Japanese teenager Sara Saito is through to the quarter finals on WTA debut in her home tournament. The 18-year-old and former junior world number two upset talented fifth seed Elina Avanesyan to book her place in the last eight of the WTA Tour Japan Open. Saito had to work hard early, saving two set […]
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 […]
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. […]
Top seed Demon dashes into second round
TOURNAMENT favouritism did nothing to distract top seeded Australian Alex de Minaur at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, winning in a tight straight sets match over Belgian Zizou Bergs. For the first time in his career, de Minaur was the number one seed, and he did well against a plucky Bergs, winning 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter finals […]
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 […]
Djoker shrugs off Spaniard to reach third round
WORLD number one Novak Djokovic needs to reach the 2024 Roland Garros final in order to retain top spot, and so far, so good for the Serbian star after her rolled Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets. In a one-sided match, Djokovic had a challenge early in the first set, but won 14 of […]
Stan the Man too good for Sir Andy
FANS were treated to a battle of Grand Slam champions in the opening round of Roland Garros overnight, with 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka proving too strong for Great Britain’s Sir Andy Murray. The Swiss veteran won 6-4 6-4 6-2 in what will likely be the last time the pair meet on the French […]
Rafa reigns supreme over plucky Bergs
SPANISH superstar Rafael Nadal was forced to fight back from a set down to overcome determined Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs in the first round of the Rome Masters overnight. The former world number one is a 10-time champion at the event and only lost one of his past 18 opening round matches in the Italian […]
