Category: Tennis

LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz was confirmed on Monday as the youngest player to break into the ATP top five since Rafael Nadal after the teenager reached the Hamburg final over the weekend.

The 19-year-old Spaniard is the youngest man to achieve the feat since his illustrious compatriot first climbed into the top five in 2005 while still 18.

Alcaraz failed to win the clay-court title in Germany, though, losing to Italian youngster Lorenzo Musetti on Sunday despite saving five match points.

Musetti rose 31 places to 31st in the rankings and is now set to be seeded for the US Open, which starts on August 29.

Daniil Medvedev remains the world number one, with Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic seventh after the grass-court Grand Slam tournament was stripped of ranking points for banning Russian and Belarusian players.

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GSTAAD: Matteo Berrettini put the brakes on Dominic Thiem’s impressive return to the courts on Saturday crushing him 6-1, 6-4 in the semi-finals here.

The Italian world number 15, playing his first tournament since having to withdraw from Wimbledon with Covid, made short work of the 2020 US Open champion, putting him away in just 77 minutes.

It has still been a good week for the Austrian who has slipped to 274 in the ATP rankings after a year of setbacks, including a wrist injury, depression and Covid. This was his first semi-final in 14 months.

Berrettini goes forward to his eleventh career final and is bidding for a third straight title after wins on the grass at Queen’s and in Stuttgart.

In Sunday’s final, he will meet either the French Open finalist and defending champion on the Gstaad clay, Casper Ruud, or the world number 40 Albert Ramos-Vinolas who meet in the second semi later on Saturday.

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LONDON: The top Serbian seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic confirmed on Friday that he will join Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray in Team Europe for the upcoming fifth edition of Laver Cup 2022.

Djokovic, fresh from capturing his seventh Wimbledon title earlier this month here, will be returning to compete in the fifth Laver Cup, scheduled in September.

The former top-ranked Tennis player will be seen in action here after the second edition, held in Chicago.

The Big 4 are in for London. Djokovic will join Nadal, Murray and Federer as teammates to defend the Laver Cup on Team Europe at The O2. pic.twitter.com/VoMFTBLsM3

— Laver Cup (@LaverCup) July 22, 2022

 

The 21-time Grand Slam champion claimed that he is ecstatic to be joining Team Europe which features his usual rivals Federer, Nadal, and Murray.

“I’m really excited to be joining Team Europe again for the Laver Cup at London’s O2 arena in September,” Djokovic stated.

“It’s the only competition where you can play in a team environment with guys that you’re normally competing against and to be joining Rafa, Roger and Andy – three of my biggest all-time rivals – it’s going to be a truly unique moment in the history of our sport,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Laver Cup, named after the Australian tennis legend Rod Laver, is played on a dramatic black court. The three-day team competition pits six of the best players from Europe against six of their counterparts from the rest of the World.

Team Europe are yet to fill in two more spots in their line-up whilst Team World so far consists of Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, America’s Taylor Fritz and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.

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MELBOURNE: Former top-ranked Tennis player and Australian Open champion Ashleigh Barty has put an end to the speculations making rounds on the internet regarding her switching to Golf and pursuing a professional career in the sport.

Barty, who put a shocking end to her professional Tennis career, weeks after becoming the first Australian to win the Australian Open after a gap of 44 years, was seen playing Golf after her retirement.

The three-time Grand Slam champion has been a passionate golfer, having won the Brookwater Golf Club women’s title in 2020 and participated in the Icons Series exhibition in the United States in April.

As a result, rumours began to circulate that the multi-talented Australian may take up Golf professionally.

In an interview with a Melbourne radio station, however, Barty refuted the speculations thoroughly and made it clear that she will not play professional sports ever again.

“You guys just can’t accept that I don’t want to play professional sport anymore. I love golf, it’s a hobby of mine. It will not be my profession, I have no intention of making it my profession but I hack around once a week if I can,” Barty said.

“There’s no need, there’s no desire for me to play professional sport, particularly golf. I love it as a walkaround with my girlfriends and friends but yeah, not for me,” she added.

It is pertinent to mention here Barty has also played professional cricket as she made her mark in the inaugural season of the Women’s Big Bash League. She represented Brisbane Heat in nine matches and scored 68 runs at an average of 11.33.

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BELGRADE: The top Serbian seed Novak Djokovic, who edged past Nick Kyrgios in a four-set victory to claim his seventh overall and fourth consecutive Wimbledon title on Sunday is likely to miss the forthcoming US Open, scheduled next month.

Former top-ranked Tennis player Djokovic, who was deported from Australia in January and could not defend his title following his stance on vaccination status, is likely to miss another grand slam.

As the 35-year-old has profusely refused to get vaccinated a number of times, is unlikely to partake in the forthcoming grand slam as the Wimbledon champion may not be allowed in the country, while is hoping for positive news.

“At the moment I can’t go to the United States, I’m hoping for positive news, but there’s not a lot of time, I don’t know, hope springs eternal,” he told Serbian broadcasters RTS.

“I’d like to play the US Open but if it doesn’t happen it’s not the end of the world, nor the first Grand Slam I have to withdraw from.

“It’s important to me to stay healthy, physically and mentally, so I can still play for a long time and the chances to do so will certainly come,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that Djokovic, with his seventh Wimbledon title, has inched closer to the Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the list of most grand slam titles. The Spaniard tops the list with 22 titles, while the Serb is just one away with 21.

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LONDON: Kazakhstan Tennis player Elena Rybakina produced a scintillating comeback in the Wimbledon final against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur to lift her maiden Grand Slam title.

In an exciting final, Rybakina displayed nerve of steel as she made an astounding comeback from a set down to claim the most prestigious title in world Tennis as she defeated Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The No.3 seed Jabeur, who made history on Thursday by becoming the first woman from Tunisia, Arab, and Africa to reach a grand slam final, started her first final on a high as she displayed complete control over Rybakina in the first set.

Rybakina, on the other hand, wasted no time as she quickly bounced back in the second with precise groundstrokes and turned the tables and forced the match into the decider.

The unseeded Rybakina, fuelled with momentum, then displayed the same performance in the final set as she completely outclassed Jabeur to seal a scintillating victory with an astounding comeback.

With her remarkable victory, Rybakina has become the youngest Wimbledon champion after Petra Kvitova in 2011.

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LONDON: The defending champion Novak Djokovic roared back to thump Britain Cameron Norrie in the second-semi-final 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up the Wimbledon final clash with Nick Kyrgios.

The Serb has moved one victory away from winning his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title and a seventh overall as he sank his Britain opponent Norrie with his aggressive and precise groundstrokes.

In an enduring semi-final, the defending champion found tough competition from Norrie, who forced him to ante his level up as the latter ran away with the first set after sheer dominance.

Djokovic, on the other hand, wasted no time in bouncing back in style, increasing his intensity, demonstrating great touch from all angles, and beginning to find his spots on serve as he turned the tables in the second set to level.

The Serb continued to attack in the third set as he made the most of the drop in intensity of Norrie’s groundstrokes’ power and took a decisive lead in the match by claiming his second set.

The fourth and final set of the match, then followed the same pattern as Djokovic kept testing Norrie with his aggressive approach and soon went on to claim the victory.

Following this victory, Djokovic will now face Australian Kyrgios in the final, who received a walkover victory from the Spaniard Rafael Nadal as a result of his abdominal injury.

The former world number one has now won 27 consecutive matches at Wimbledon, and a 28th victory would give him his fourth title in a row.

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LONDON: The Spaniard Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday to withdraw from Wimbledon after failing to recover from his abdominal injury.

Nadal, who battled out the injury in the enduring quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz on Wednesday, has announced his withdrawal from the tournament in a press conference.

“I have to pull out of the tournament. As everybody saw yesterday I have been suffering with the pain in the abdominal area. I have a tear in the muscle,” he said

Spaniard’s semifinal opponent Nick Kyrgios, as a result, has received a walk over to the final where he will face either the defending champion Novak Djokovic or Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

Nadal was seen struggling with the injury during the hard-fought quarterfinal victory over Fritz, which lasted four hours and 21 minutes. The Spaniard also took medical time in the second set and returned to the court and recovered twice from a set down to claim a hard-earned victory.

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LONDON: No.3 seed Ons Jabeur carried on her astounding Wimbledon run as she thumped Tatjana Maria 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to become the first Tunisia player to book a Grand Slam final berth.

In-form Jabeur, fuelled with momentum, drew an early lead for herself as she broke Maria 2-1 to start the proceedings on a high before extending her lead to 5-2 and did not face a break point before claiming a straightforward first set.

The second set, however, drew a contrasting result as Maria pushed Jabeur on the back foot with her aggressive approach and nullified the latter’s lead by claiming the second set 6-3.

Maria’s exceptional comeback forced Jabeur to recollect herself and it seemed to have worked for the Tunisian as the World No.2 completely dominated Maria in the third set to claim a historic victory.

Following her qualification to the Wimbledon final, Jabeur has become the first Tunisian, Arab, and African woman to reach a grand slam final.

World No.2 will now face Elena Rybakina in the final, who claimed a straight-set victory over Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 to book her final berth.

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LONDON: Rafael Nadal overcame an injury to beat Taylor Fritz and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for an eighth time on Wednesday, keeping alive his dream of a calendar Grand Slam.

The second seed lost the first set and had to take a medical time-out in the second but raised his game to win 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/4) in a match lasting four hours and 21 minutes.

Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, will play maverick Australian Nick Kyrgios for a place in Sunday’s final.

He admitted he was suffering from an abdominal problem.

“For a lot of moments I was thinking I would not be able to finish the match but the crowd, the energy, thanks for that,” said the Spaniard.

“I honestly enjoy a lot playing these kind of matches in front of you guys. I can’t thank you enough for the support.”

A pumped-up Nadal raced out of the blocks to take a 3-1 lead but then lost five straight games to the 11th seed to lose the first set.

The players swapped breaks in the second set but Nadal was not moving freely and when leading 4-3 he sat down on his chair, shaking his head at his team.

The trainer came on before Nadal left the court for a medical time-out to treat what appeared his injury.

When he returned, Fritz served out to love, with Nadal’s movement still looking hampered.

But the Spaniard twice held serve comfortably to lead 6-5 and a backhand volley into the open court sealed the second set, to roars from the crowd.

Nadal, 36, was now moving more freely but the pendulum swung again early in the third set when the two-time Wimbledon winner double-faulted to hand his American opponent a break.

The trainer returned, this time to attend to strapping on his Fritz’s left thigh and the American resumed playing, breaking again to take the third set.

There were five breaks in a topsy-turvy fourth set as both players struggled for consistency on their serve but Nadal came out on top to level the match.

The first six games of the deciding set went with serve before Nadal produced a backhand drop-shot winner to break after a hard-fought seventh game.

Fritz broke back straight away when Nadal netted with a backhand.

The set went to a tie-break and Nadal seized control, racing into a 9-3 lead and completing the win on his second match point.

Nadal, who has already won the Australian Open and the French Open this year, is halfway to the first calendar Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969.

He is also bidding to win his 23rd Grand Slam title and equal Serena Williams in second place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam singles titles. Margaret Court is the leader on 24 titles.

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