Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka said she had plunged into a "deep dark hole" during her three-sets defeat to Russian Diana Shnaider in the quarter-final of the French Open on Wednesday where opportunities slipped away from world number one. He took the first set in windy conditions, made a strong start to gain control of the second and led by 5-3 before Shnaider began her fightback and won ten games on final score 3-6 7-5 6–0. The four-times Grand Slam champion aimed to regain her mental

Naomi Osaka, perhaps has lost a match at a Grand Slam that would have left her too devastated to take on the world. But the former world number one has a different view of setbacks after conquering her mental health problems, stepping back from tennis and embracing motherhood. Even after her 7-5, 6-3 fourth-round loss to top seed Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open, Osaka departed Roland Garros feeling encouraged — not disheartened. Key Takeaways from Osaka's French Open Campaign Motherhood and Mental

While Carlos Alcaraz continues to dominate as the “Prince of Clay” with back-to-back French Open titles in the post-Rafael Nadal era, another young Spanish star has started turning heads at French Open. Away from Court Philippe Chatrier, where Nadal built his legendary legacy, 19-year-old Rafael Jodar made an impressive Roland Garros main draw debut with a dominant 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic. Key Highlights from Jodar’s French Open Debut Jodar looked confident and aggressive throughout the match, showing the same fearless

Tennis champs to protest "low pay" with media duties limit ahead of French Open, a source said on Wednesday. Players, who remain unnamed, will only talk to the press for 15 minutes on media day at Roland Garros before pulling out of interviews with Grand Slam tournament's TV rights holders (according to a source) During a row over prize money, Jannik Sinner earlier this month demanded that the Slam events show "respect" to players. Players have strongly stated that they are presently only

Jannik Sinner cruised through into the Italian Open last 16 on Monday with a straight-sets win over Alexei Popyrin to maintain his first title hopes in Rome, 6-2, 6-0. The reigning world number one, also needed a little over an hour to win his 25th consecutive match as the Greek rolled past Australia's Popyrin and set up an all-Italian derby in the next Round with Andrea Pellegrino. Another qualifier, Pellegrino, 29, ranked just 155 in the world but who had never previously competed

The world number six became the first American to take home a clay title higher than ATP 250 level in more than two decades, igniting excitement for the French Open. For tennis fans, it was one of those moments that seemed totally lost on the whole world but for years they will quietly look back and say — anyway. Sunday in Munich felt like that moment, even if it wasn’t yet time to say it out loud. Ben Shelton, an impressive 23 years

For a second consecutive week, meticulous preparation formed the backbone of Jannik Sinner’s breakthrough Monte Carlo Masters success when his defeat of Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final not only returned him to the summit of the world rankings but also sent out an early signal for the remainder of the clay season. Sinner was widely set to miss Monte Carlo after completing the "Sunshine Double," winning hardcourt titles at Indian Wells and Miami, to recharge his batteries but the 24-year-old Italian wanted to

Fueled by the cheering of Filipino fans, Alexandra Eala made a sensational start at the Linz Open in Austria on Tuesday, defeating its home bet Julia Grabher, 6-4, 6-3. Jabir’s straight sets win in her opening match here on clay this season puts her through to the last 16, where she is ranked world number 46. The Filipina sensation will next face the former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, whom she defeated a year ago when she gained notoriety with her run to

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina on Wednesday set up a blockbuster semi-final at the Miami Open in a repeat of their Melbourne grand slam decider. Defending champion Sabalenka fended off big-hitting 45th-ranked American Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-4. World No 2 Rybakina overcame fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, a runner-up to Sabalenka last year, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. They will be back on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium — home of the N.F.L.’s Miami Dolphins — vying for a place in the final.

Jannik Sinner made ATP Masters 1000 history on Monday evening, when he rolled to a clean 6-1, 6-4 win over Corentin Moutet at the Miami Open presented by Itau. With his no-nonsense third-round victory inside Hard Rock Stadium, the Italian has won 26 consecutive sets at the Masters 1000 level and passed Novak Djokovic for the most ever, which had been set at 24. Sinner had matched that mark with his victory in the second round on Saturday in Miami before surpassing it

An hour after his first disastrous attempt at extinguishing the best player in the world, Sebastian Korda walked back up to the baseline to serve for his fourth-round roller coaster against Carlos Alcaraz again. The American might have been expected to feel his tension all the more intensely, to collapse even more spectacularly, but his will prevailed. Korda maintained his head and retained his nerve in front of his home crowd, in his home state, no less to deliver the biggest upset on

Former champions Andrey Rublev triumphed in a battle of former winners when the Russian star defeated Ugo Humbert 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The 2022 champion, Rublev dealt with a spirited showing from the 2024 Dubai winner to continue his good form having reached the semifinals at the Qatar Open last week. Earlier, Canada’s top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime recovered from a shaky beginning to beat French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi in

Steve Riley, who was in his early 20s when he first came to the UAE from the UK in the 1980s. The Briton quickly secured a position at Al Ain Hilton, before moving to Dubai Sheraton. But beyond his work, what stands out for Riley about the UAE is tennis. “I played a lot in the community tennis tournaments in Dubai before and even won the Dubai Tennis Open,” Riley said. This time, however, Riley was in Dubai for a different reason. Riley

In a first round clash of title-holders from the previous two editions of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Ugo Humbert beat Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets 6-4 7-5. Humbert, the left-handed Frenchman, won the Dubai title last year but was going in as defending champion after winning it here on Centre Court in 2019. Tsitsipas continued to make unforced errors, and on Tuesday Humbert was rewarded for the better consistency. “It’s nice to return where I won a tournament, but today

Just over a day after Stan Wawrinka spoke candidly about his friendship with Roger Federer in a press conference, the legendary Swiss turned out at the Dubai Tennis Stadium to support his friend. Federer’s eyes trained on the action from the Royal Box, Wawrinka, who is retiring after Wimbledon this year, rolled back the years with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Lebanese wild card Benjamin Hassan in Monday’s opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Hassan, who was born in Germany,

Elina Svitolina is over the moon to be back in the semifinals of a special tournament. Wed to French tennis player Gael Monfils, Svitolina recently made a heartwarming comeback into the WTA top 10 since she had given birth to their daughter Skai. Svitolina, who is a two-time champion at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, is now just two victories away from winning the tournament for the third time. On Thursday night, the 31-year-old staved off a ferocious wafts from Croatian Antonia Ruzic to secure a

Filipina sensation Alexandra Eala extended her fairytale week with a straight-sets victory over grizzled Romanian Sorana Cîrstea 7-5, 6-4 to advance into the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. It was also another full house that received the crowd favourite Wednesday night. And the 20-year-old didn’t let her adoring Filipino fans down, storming to victory on Center Court in a match-up that could turn into a mouthwatering quarterfinal against two-time Grand Slam winner US sensation Coco Gauff. The defeat followed a stunning win over world

Elina Svitolina got a walkover win when her round of 32 opponent, Paula Badosa, had to quit because of an injury, Svitolina said it wasn't how she wanted to win. She was up 6-4 when Badosa stopped due to a thigh problem, joining many others who've had to pull out of the tournament. Svitolina smiled when asked about her next match against Belinda Bencic from Switzerland. They’ve both been in the news lately for getting back into the top 10 after having kids.

If Belinda Bencic was ailing, particularly after withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi Open with an illness on her own doorstep, she did an excellent job of bucking the pain as she wore little more than a warm smile and flashed the victory sign to thousands of fans who serenaded her for selfies. The 28-year-old even took it a step further by posing for an adorable picture with a male admirer, who gave her his one-and-a-half year-old so she could hold him in the photograph. To

Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina have created history by becoming the first mothers to be ranked in the WTA Tour's top 10 at the same time, with the governing body calling it "an incredible moment for women's sport". Switzerland’s Bencic re-entered the top 10 for the first time since September 2023 in January as she was absent from the court after that date throughout her break to have daughter Bella. On Monday she was joined in the new rankings by Svitolina, mother of young Skai after