Category: Tennis

• Rapper risks six figures on world No 1 at Flushing

• Drake Curse looms after past tennis losses mount

• Sinner in quarters, faces Italian rival Musetti

Drake is betting big on Jannik Sinner, wagering $300,000 on the world No 1 to win the US Open.

The rapper known for placing big bets on sporting events – and often losing them – posted on social media the screenshot of a betting slip from Tuesday afternoon. The six-figure gamble pays $507,000 if Sinner captures his fifth major championship and second at the US Open.

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• World No 1 takes just 81 minutes to complete win

• Italian has 25 straight wins at hard-court grand slams

Jannik Sinner claimed his quickest grand slam victory with a brutal destruction of Alexander Bublik in the fourth round of the US Open.

The world No 1 had looked a little vulnerable in the previous round, when he dropped his first set of the tournament to Denis Shapovalov, but he needed just an hour and 21 minutes to race to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win against Bublik.

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• Australian No 1 too good for Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi

• No 25 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime awaits in quarter-final

It took until the second week of the US Open for the No 8 seed to be given a slot on one of the US Open’s three show courts, but having finally been granted a premium placing Alex de Minaur has wasted no time putting on a show.

In truth the Australian No 1 did not play at his best, but he did not need to as his opponent, Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi, made a slew of errors.

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• Polish businessman Piotr Szczerek says: ‘I made a grave mistake’

• Majchrzak had given cap to boy in crowd after five-set victory

Moments after the tennis player Kamil Majchrzak celebrated the biggest win of his career at the US Open last week, he handed his cap to a beaming young boy. What happened next sparked tears, outrage, a detective hunt across social media and, finally, a grovelling apology.

It came from Piotr Szczerek, a millionaire businessman from Poland, who had snatched the cap out of the boy’s hand and stuffed it into his bag. Videos of the incident showed the youngster looking deeply upset and asking: “What are you doing?” while Majchrzak – who was oblivious to the situation after his five-set victory against the ninth seed, Karen Khachanov – walked away.

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• Serb oldest man to reach all major quarters in one season

• Djokovic will face Taylor Fritz in next round

Novak Djokovic was cruising with a big early lead in his US Open fourth-round match on Sunday night when his neck started bothering him.

Djokovic was ahead of qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 4-0 in the first set, when he hit a nicely angled volley winner to go up 30-love. The 24-time grand slam champion immediately grabbed at the back of his neck and started turning his head. Djokovic repeatedly stretched his neck and flexed his right shoulder between points, as he dropped two games in a row. But he soon regained the upper hand against Struff, who was trying to get to a major quarter-final for the first time.

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• American misses first grand slam singles quarter-final

• Townsend had become huge crowd favorite in Queens

A tearful Taylor Townsend suffered a heartbreaking fourth-round loss at the US Open after Barbora Krejcikova astonishingly saved eight match points.

Townsend’s dramatic week has been one of the stories of the tournament so far, with the American becoming headline news after her second-round opponent Jelena Ostapenko confronted her courtside and accused her of having “no education” and “no class”.

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• Auger-Aliassime beats Zverev in four-set thriller

• Zverev suffers earliest New York exit since 2018

Felix Auger-Aliassime stormed into the last 16 of the US Open on Saturday night with a rousing comeback win over world No 3 Alexander Zverev, knocking out one of the title favorites 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Canadian 25th seed had not reached the second week in New York since his semi-final run in 2021 but summoned some of the best tennis of his career to secure a first grand slam victory over a top-five opponent. The match stretched to three hours and 48 minutes and finished shortly before midnight, delaying the night session that followed.

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• Australian leads 6-7 (9) 6-3 6-4 2-0 when Daniel Altmaier retires

• Women’s 15th seed knocked out in 6-0 4-6 6-3 loss to Naomi Osaka

Alex de Minaur has surged into the US Open second week for a fifth time with a business-like win over wounded German Daniel Altmaier.

Australia’s last player standing once more, De Minaur recovered from a set down to progress after Altmaier retired injured when the Demon was leading 6-7 (9-7) 6-3 6-4 2-0 on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

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• Serbian beats Briton in four sets in his best performance of tournament

• But he says his struggles with his body and movement are ‘frustrating’

At a time when Novak Djokovic could really benefit from some straightforward wins to ease through the early rounds of his final grand slam tournament of the year, nothing has come easily in New York. But under the bright lights on Friday night, Djokovic held off an impressive Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round of the US Open with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3 win in his best performance of the tournament so far.

The victory makes Djokovic, 38, the oldest man to reach the last 16 of the US Open in 34 years – since Jimmy Connors in 1991. He also ties Roger Federer for the most grand slam fourth round appearances in history with 69 appearances. “These kind of matches and performances always give me hope that I can go far, challenge the best players in the world,” Djokovic said.

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• Latvian criticised for saying Taylor Townsend had ‘no education’

• Ostapenko strongly denies US Open comments were racist

Naomi Osaka has condemned Jelena Ostapenko’s comments during her courtside confrontation with Taylor Townsend at the US Open.

The incident on Wednesday has been one of the most talked-about of the tournament, with Ostapenko accusing the American Townsend of having no education and no class after their second-round match. The comments, which Ostapenko justified as a reaction to Townsend not apologising for a shot that hit the top of the net, have prompted accusations of racism.

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• Former world No 3 beaten by Daniel Altmaier at US Open

• German deployed underarm serve in fourth set

A frustrated Stefanos Tsitsipas took exception to his opponent’s tactics after blowing a match point and exiting the US Open in the second round courtesy of a five-set loss to Daniel Altmaier on Thursday.

The 7-6 (5), 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat means the former world No 3 Tsitsipas will end the season without playing in the third round of a grand slam for the first time since 2017.

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• De Minaur and Kasatkina keep hopes alive in New York

• Four other Australians crash out in second round

Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina have expressed relief for different reasons after saving Australia’s blushes with contrasting second-round US Open victories in New York.

As Alexei Popyrin, Adam Walton, Tristan Schoolkate and Maya Joint all crashed out, De Minaur hit the go button in a straight-sets victory over Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki.

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• Williams wins first women’s doubles in decade

• Partners with Fernandez to stun No 6 seeds

• Raucous crowd backs 45-year-old on Armstrong

Venus Williams insists she is not a good doubles player. The 14 major championships she and Serena won together tell a different story.

Without her younger sister by her side, Williams showed Thursday she’s still got it. Williams won a women’s doubles match at the US Open for the first time in more than a decade, teaming with Leylah Fernandez to defeat the sixth-seeded pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner move into round three, likewise Naomi Osaka, Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey Rublev

Goffin has broken back against Musetti and they’re now 4-4 in set one. On Grandstand, Rublev is giving Boyer all he can handle, forcing break points that he can’t quite convert. Oh, and Swiatek survives break point to lead Lamens 3-0, I don’t imagine this match will detain us all that long.

Also a set up are Sakkari, 6-3 against Bondar; Alexandrova, 6-2 1-1 against Wang; and Kalinskaya, 6-1 1-1 against Putitnseva. Meanwhile, Swiatek breaks Lamens for 2-0, already looking monstrous; it’ll take something significant to beat her here, but both Gauff, her potential semi-final opponent, and Sabalenka, the defending champ and no 1 seed, are capable of that.

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