Category: Tennis

World number one Aryna Sabalenka took down fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets in Monday’s night-session match to reach the French Open quarter-finals.

Sabalenka produced an impressive display, hitting 39 winners and 12 aces, against a battling Osaka to win 7-5, 6-3 and reach the last eight for a 14th consecutive major tournament.

The Belarusian is the only Grand Slam champion left in either the men’s or women’s singles draws at Roland Garros.

She made it three straight wins against Osaka this year, having lost their only previous meeting at the 2018 US Open.

Sabalenka will next take on Russian Diana Shnaider as she continues her bid for a maiden French Open crown and to banish the memories of her painful final defeat last year by Coco Gauff.

Japanese star Osaka, again sporting the sequined gold dress she likened to the Eiffel Tower at night, has to make do with her best-ever run in Paris, ending in the last 16.

It was the first women’s match to feature in the French Open night session since 2023, after a run of 32 consecutive men’s ties which drew repeated criticism of tournament organisers.

Aryna Sabalenka has previously criticised the lack of women’s matches under the lights, saying last year that the WTA stars “deserve equal treatment” to the men.

“I hope that this is the beginning, today’s match. It’s like we open up that door for woman night sessions,” she said Monday.

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The players traded early breaks in a power-packed opening, before Sabalenka levelled the first set at 2-2 with a service hold featuring three aces, the last with a second serve.

The set stayed on serve until the 11th game, when Sabalenka made her move with a blistering backhand winner to bring up two break points, with Osaka netting on the first.

The top seed closed it out in style with a ruthless hold to love.

Osaka gamely managed to hang onto her serve early in the second set, staving off a break point in a marathon game to lead 3-2.

Sabalenka had only dropped six points in her previous seven service games, but was pushed hard by Osaka in game six before eventually holding with a clever drop-shot.

That proved to be a crucial moment, as Osaka’s resistance was finally broken in the next game, a brilliant low volley at the net helping Sabalenka put one foot into the quarters.

An Osaka double-fault brought up match point two games later, and Sabalenka sealed victory with a brutal return.

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Serena Williams confirmed her return to tennis after an absence of nearly four years on Monday, with the American great set to play women’s doubles at Queen’s club later this month.

The 44-year-old has not played competitively since a third-round loss at the 2022 US Open left her one short of the all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, jointly held by Margaret Court and Novak Djokovic.

Williams shared a video on social media of herself on a tennis court containing the caption: “Guess everybody heard the news”, with her phone buzzing rapidly in the background.

A post from the seven-time Wimbledon champion said: “Good news travels fast.”

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement from tournament organisers.

“Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career, and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

The women’s event at the London tournament starts on June 8.

Williams’ imminent return has been touted since it was revealed in December she had re-entered the anti-doping programme — a prerequisite to play on the tour again.

The American denied she was planning a competitive return but rumours have swirled over the past few months that she was on her way back.

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She has now been given a wild card for the women’s doubles at Queen’s, reportedly alongside young Canadian Victoria Mboko.

Djokovic predicted a return for Williams in March and a number of players have spoken about the subject at the ongoing French Open.

“I think it’s good for me. I’ll be very entertained,” said Naomi Osaka, who famously beat Williams in the 2018 US Open final, when asked if she would watch a comeback match from Serena.

Coco Gauff, who lost in the third round of the French Open on Saturday, said she would love to face Williams for the first time.

“Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen, and we’re delighted that she will be making her return to tennis at the LTA’s HSBC Championships,” said WTA tournament director Laura Robson.

“Women’s tennis made a historic return to the Queen’s Club last year and now we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court.”

The former world number one said in 2022 she did not want to use the word “retiring” but instead explained she was “evolving” away from tennis.

The American spent 319 weeks at the top of the world rankings and won 73 singles titles on the WTA Tour.

She also won 14 major Grand Slam doubles titles with older sister Venus Williams, who ended a 16-month hiatus from professional tennis last year.

Venus said the “only thing” that would have made her being.

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Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca clinched a dramatic four-set triumph against Casper Ruud in the French Open last 16, backing up his win over Novak Djokovic in style.

The 19-year-old powered his way to a 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-2 win in the night match at Roland Garros to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final, where he will face Czech youngster Jakub Mensik.

Fonseca showed a different side to his game after coming back from two sets down against both Dino Prizmic in round two and Djokovic on Friday.

He held off a battling Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, in a gruelling contest that lasted three hours and 55 minutes and finished at 12:27 am local time on Monday morning.

“It was tough, Casper plays good here, he’s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here on this court,” said Fonseca, who hit 51 winners in another exciting display.

“It was tough in the beginning but I played well in the important moments in the first and second sets.”

After Rafael Jodar’s victory over Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday, Fonseca’s win means it is only the fifth time in the last 40 years two teenagers have reached the quarter-finals of a men’s Grand Slam competition.

He is the fourth Brazilian man to reach the Roland Garros last eight in the Open era, and the first since three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, who was watching on from the players’ box on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“I just try to be me on court, try to be happy, try to hit winners, try to hit good shots, try to be entertaining,” added Fonseca, the 28th seed.

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Ruud was quickly put onto the back foot by Fonseca’s ferocious hitting and had to stave off three break points in the fourth game.

The vocal Brazilian fans dotted around Chatrier were on their feet again though in game 12, as Fonseca brought up a second set point with a brilliant backhand up the line before Ruud found the net.

The momentum was firmly with the teenager and he broke in the second game of the second set with a rasping passing shot, but Ruud hit back straight away.

The Norwegian started to put Fonseca under pressure, but the youngster saved five further break points in the set, including three in a marathon 11th game.

Ruud had to dig deep himself to force a tie-break, seeing off two set points on his own serve.

A dramatic breaker saw Ruud see a 5-2 lead slip away, miss three set points and then Fonseca finally take it with a blistering forehand.

Ruud showed all his battling qualities in his attempts to extend the match, saving break points in two separate games and then picking the perfect moment to break and force a fourth set.

Fonseca immediately refound his range, though, moving quickly into a 2-0 advantage.

Ruud’s resistance was finally broken when he dropped serve again to slip 4-1 behind, and Fonseca wrapped up victory on his first match point with a deft volley.

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Four-time former champion Iga Swiatek endured a miserable birthday as she was eliminated from the French Open fourth round on Sunday by Marta Kostyuk.

The Polish third seed went down 7-5, 6-1 to the 15th seed from Ukraine.

Kostyuk, the Madrid Open winner, moved into the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.

“I’m still in shock to beat such an unbelievable player who won four times here and I lost four times to her before this, I never took a set off her,” 23-year-old Kostyuk said.

Swiatek will now go another year without the title she first won in 2020 and then three times consecutively between 2022 and 2024.

With her fourth-round exit, it was the joint worst performance at Roland Garros for the 25-year-old, equal with the last-16 departure she suffered on her debut in Paris seven years ago.

The first set went on serve until the seventh game when Swiatek pounced on Kostyuk’s service to move in front.

From there, the Pole’s own delivery deserted her as the world number 15 hit back to level before the pair again exchanged another pair of breaks.

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Kostyuk then dug in to hold and force the former world number one to try and serve to stay in the set.

Two Swiatek double faults gave Kostyuk the chance to claim the opener and she did with a low cross-court backhand that whizzed past her opponent at the net.

Swiatek swiftly departed the court at the interval in a bid to regroup.

She came back out firing as she immediately nosed ahead with a break to 15.

But Kostyuk was not to be denied as she sealed a three-game streak with a bruising forehand winner past a stranded Swiatek to lead 3-1.

A stunning rally concluded with a reflex volley at the net that Swiatek could not equal. In the next game a dominant Kostyuk held to love to move Swiatek to the brink.

The match was up for the six-time major winner as Kostyuk consistently pinned the Pole back with her powerful groundstrokes to win the final two games.

Kostyuk will face either seventh-seeded compatriot Elina Svitolina or Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic for a spot in the semi-finals.

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World number one Aryna Sabalenka eased into the third round at the French Open on Thursday with a 7-5, 6-2 win over France’s Elsa Jacquemot.

Sabalenka snatched a tight opening set with a break in the final game and then swept Jacquemot aside to set up a meeting with Australia’s Daria Kasatkina.

The Belarusian has reached the final at five of the past six Grand Slams. She finished runner-up to Coco Gauff at last year’s French Open.

The 67th-ranked home hope Jacquemot pushed Sabalenka for long periods on Chatrier but ultimately could not live with the Belarusian’s power.

Sabalenka, chasing a fifth Grand Slam title and first at Roland Garros, will next take on Daria Kasatkina.

“She’s a fighter. She’s putting all of the balls back. You have to really work for each point, especially on the clay court,” Sabalenka said of Kasatkina.

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Reigning champion Coco Gauff also booked her place in the last 32, seeing off Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif 6-3, 6-2.

The American, who could face Sabalenka in the semis in a rematch of last year’s final, got the better of a scrappy match featuring 11 breaks of serve.

“It was a physical match, a tough match, my patience was really tested today,” said Gauff.

Naomi Osaka edged closer to a possible last-16 meeting with Sabalenka after reaching the third round for the first time in seven years by beating Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6 (7/1), 6-4.

The four-time Grand Slam champion will face a tough test from American teenager Iva Jovic on Saturday after the 17th seed thrashed compatriot Emma Navarro 6-0, 6-3.

Sixth seed Amanda Anisimova, who lost the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year, progressed when her opponent Julia Grabher retired after losing the first set 6-0.

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Jannik Sinner said he ran out of energy and “hit the wall” as his 30-match winning run came to an abrupt halt in the second round of the French Open on Thursday.

World number one Sinner, the red-hot favourite at Roland Garros this year, suffered a dramatic five-set defeat by Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo after a sudden collapse on another sweltering day in Paris.

Sinner appeared to be cruising to victory, holding a two-set lead and a commanding 5–1 advantage in the third, before completely unravelling and sliding to a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 loss.

“I had no energy today. That can happen. Nobody is a robot,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion, who complained of dehydration and dizziness, saying he felt as though he might vomit.

The Italian left Court Philippe Chatrier to receive medical treatment while serving for the match. He returned minutes later, but Cerundolo sensed his opportunity against an ailing opponent.

“I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy,” added the 24-year-old Sinner. “I was very, very flat, you know, the whole body. I don’t remember [the] last time I felt this weak.”

“I woke up this morning, didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the points very short. In the beginning, I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just kind of hit the wall.”

Sinner revealed he began to fade halfway through the third set as temperatures once again climbed above 30C during a record-breaking heatwave in France.

But he refused to blame the conditions for his unexpected exit, his earliest at a Grand Slam since he lost at the same stage here in 2023.

“It was warm, but not crazy warm,” said Sinner. “Really, it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.

“I don’t want to take anything away from him (Cerundolo). He played a very solid match.”

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Jannik Sinner arrived in Paris on the back of winning all three of the clay-court Masters titles, with his odds of completing a career Grand Slam enhanced further by the absence of injured rival Carlos Alcaraz.

Instead, it was another bitterly disappointing ending at Roland Garros for last year’s runner-up, who held three championship points 12 months ago before losing to Alcaraz.

“It’s tough to accept because of the position I’ve been in and everything considered, but yeah, now I have a lot of time to recover,” said Sinner.

“I won’t play any tournament on grass before (Wimbledon). Now I really need some time off, recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again.

“As I said, at the beginning of the year, this (the French Open) is my main goal here. A very early exit it was not what I was looking for.”

For Cerundolo, who goes on to play Martin Landaluce in the last 32, it was just the third Grand Slam match win of his career.

The Buenos Aires native didn’t blink as Sinner tried to gamely hang on, Cerundolo putting away the struggling top seed to pull off a monumental upset.

“It’s tough for him (Sinner). I think I was a little bit lucky,” said Cerundolo. “The match was almost lost.”

“I started to notice that something wasn’t good, because I mean, he was beating me pretty easy,” he added.

“Tennis is about being in the present day and being better in that match. He’s number one in the world because he’s the best every day. (It) just happened this day. I was better this day.”

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Jannik Sinner succumbed to an apparent bout of heatstroke and a remarkable Juan Manuel Cerundolo comeback to crash out of the French Open on Thursday, blowing the men’s tournament wide open, before Aryna Sabalenka bids to avoid a similar fate.

The world number one was cruising when leading by two sets and 5-1 in the third set before suddenly struggling with his movement as he lost 18 points in a row.

Sinner took a medical time-out, complained of feeling “dizzy” and left a sweltering Court Philippe Chatrier for treatment, but after returning still slipped to a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 loss to world number 56 Cerundolo.

“I was little bit lucky, I feel sorry for him,” said Cerundolo.

“I don’t know what happened, he was cramping, maybe the pressure. I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.”

Sinner suffered his earliest exit from a Grand Slam since the 2023 French Open, as Cerundolo completed one of tennis’ biggest shocks in recent years and set up a last-32 tie against either Spanish youngster Martin Landaluce or Czech Vit Kopriva on Saturday.

The unseasonably hot weather has caused problems for players all week in Paris.

Czech Jakub Mensik collapsed on court with cramps after his win on Wednesday, while Novak Djokovic called for matches to be moved to later in the day.

The 24-year-old Sinner was the latest to wilt under the blazing sun, seeing his 30-match winning streak, after taking titles in Rome, Madrid and Monte Carlo, Miami and Indian Wells, come to a shuddering halt.

The Italian will now have to wait until next year, when injured rival Carlos Alcaraz will likely be back in action, for his next chance to complete the career Grand Slam.

The top seed was in total control and romping towards the most routine of victories before he suddenly started to struggle physically, losing three consecutive games to love.

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He asked the chair umpire what his options were when 0-40 down in the next game, before being evaluated by a physio, saying he felt dizzy and needed to vomit.

Sinner gingerly returned to the court after treatment to applause from the crowd but continued to melt in the 32C heat and departed the stage again after Cerundolo took the set.

After a nine-minute delay, the cramping Sinner hobbled back out but quickly saw the fourth set slide away as Cerundolo levelled the tie.

The unheralded Argentinian appeared inspired by the opportunity to knock out the world’s best player and raced to victory against his deflated opponent, who was left bent over double after every lengthy rally.

The underdog was left to celebrate a sensational win after clipping away a forehand winner to reach the third round of a Slam for the first time.

“I tried to play my best, I’m going to keep trying to play my best. The clay is my best surface and I hope to be ready for the next match,” added Cerundolo.

Sinner’s compatriot Flavio Cobolli, the 10th seed, reached the third round for a second successive year with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over China’s Wu Yubing.

He will next face American Learner Tien after the 18th seed fought back to defeat world number 151 Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

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Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the French Open for the first time in seven years Thursday with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka will next take on American teenager Iva Jovic as both players attempt to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros for the first time.

Osaka, seeded 16th, retrieved an early break against Vekic and then broke back again when her opponent was serving for the first set.

The Japanese star dominated a tie-break and came up with the decisive break late in the second set to put away the 72nd-ranked Vekic.

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Osaka’s run to the US Open semi-finals last year is the only time she has made the second week of a major since her last Grand Slam triumph at the 2021 Australian Open.

The former world number one returned to the courts in early 2024 after a year out following the birth of her daughter.

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Aryna Sabalenka opened her Roland Garros campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Tuesday.

The world number one overcame the sweltering conditions to book her spot in the round of 64 in just over 75 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The only blip for the four-time Grand Slam champion as she returned to winning ways on clay after a surprise early exit from the Italian Open was her failure to serve out the win, but she promptly broke the world number 50 in the next game before rubbing an ice bag over her face and exiting the court.

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“Happy to be back, thank you for the support. It’s a hot day, thank you so much for staying and don’t forget guys, stay hydrated,” Sabalenka told the spectators on centre court as a heatwave continues to roll over Paris for the start of the tournament.

“I think we all feel pressure… But I’m used to it so I know how to ignore (it),” the Belarusian top seed added as she began her latest attempt at winning a first title at the French Open.

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Elena Rybakina eased into the second round at Roland Garros on Monday with a comfortable opening win over Slovenian Veronika Erjavec.

The second seed needed just 74 minutes on a scorching Court Philippe Chatrier to seal her passage through the round of 128 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

“I’m really happy with the win of course, there are things to improve but today it’s really hot,” Rybakina said on court, before reminding the spectators to make sure to stay hydrated.

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“It’s tough conditions but I’m happy things worked, and I’m looking forward to the next match.”

Rybakina will next take on Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva as the Kazakh seeks to win her second Grand Slam of the season, following her success at the Australian Open in January.

Despite disappointing runs in the WTA 1000-level events immediately preceding the French Open, the 26-year-old has already lifted a title on clay this season in Stuttgart.

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