Tennis News
World No 3 rallies from 0-3 down in second set
21-year-old wins first title since this year’s French Open
Coco Gauff reeled off four straight games to beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 and win the Wuhan Open on Sunday in an all-American final.
The 21-year-old Gauff won her second title of the year – her first was the French Open – and she now has 11 career titles.
Continue reading...Qualifier earns 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in final
Becomes lowest-ranked player to win a Masters 1000
Valentin Vacherot closed out one of the most shocking big tournament runs in the history of professional tennis by becoming the lowest-ranked player to win a Masters 1000 title as he roared back from a set down to defeat his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and triumph at the Shanghai Masters.
There is little precedent for so many of Vacherot’s achievements over the past two weeks. At No 204, the 26-year-old had only narrowly entered the qualifying draw, where he was the second-lowest ranked direct entrant, due to a number of late injury withdrawals. He is also the third qualifier to win a Masters 1000 title in the 35-year history of the format and the first Monégasque player in history to win any ATP title.
Continue reading...Qualifier and world No 54 to meet in historic match-up
Vacherot becomes lowest-ranked Masters 1000 finalist
The Shanghai Masters will witness one of the most astounding climaxes to any tournament as two cousins, Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech, extended their shock breakthrough runs with monumental wins to face each other in the final.
Vacherot continued his fairytale by toppling an injured Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 to become the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 finalist. In his first match against a top-five opponent, the Monégasque world No 204 maintained his composure as Djokovic appeared to struggle with his left gluteal muscle from early in the first set.
Continue reading...Daniil Medvedev is one of a growing number of leading players who say that the balls have become unpredictable and are affecting their game
It did not take Daniil Medvedev long to realise he was in serious trouble at the French Open. As he tried to find a way past Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first round, Medvedev simply did not feel comfortable on the ball.
With his prospects of advancing in one of the biggest tournaments in the world dwindling, the 29-year-old settled on a drastic solution. Medvedev requested completely different strings when he sent his rackets for restringing mid-match, switching from a hybrid of natural gut and polyester strings to a full polyester setup.
Continue reading...Remembering where to be 365 days a year, even if it means the doping control officer pressing the doorbell at 6am, can weigh heavily on players
During a particularly mischievous period of his life, many years ago, a 21-year-old Gaël Monfils returned home from a long night of partying at 5.45am and after a quick dash to the bathroom fell asleep. Minutes later he was woken up by a doping control officer at his front door: “I’m dying in my bed and somehow I hear the guy come. Barely. I’m dead and he’s coming,” says Monfils, laughing.
One of the requirements of being an elite player is providing your location for an hour each day as part of the anti-doping whereabouts system, which allows the anti-doping authorities to conduct unannounced out-of-competition doping tests. For years the Frenchman, like most other players, has assigned 6am as his usual hour, a time he is certain to be at home or in his hotel room.
Continue reading...Serbian made to work in straight-sets win over Bergs
World No 204 takes out Rune to reach the last four
Novak Djokovic battled past a spirited Zizou Bergs 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals for a 10th time, setting up a clash with surprise package and the world No 204, Valentin Vacherot.
In challenging conditions, Djokovic was made to work harder than the scoreline suggests by his Belgian opponent, who registered more winners than the four-time champion but was undone by unforced errors.
Continue reading...Australian beats Nuno Borges 7-5 6-2 to reach 50 victories this year
World No 7 to face Daniil Medvedev in last eight as draw opens up
Alex de Minaur has hailed the milestone 50th tour-level victory in his best ever season as “amazing” after easing into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters.
But now the Australian No 1 hopes his win – a 7-5 6-2 win over Portugal’s Nuno Borges – is just a staging post on his way to what could be his first ever ATP Masters 1000 triumph.
Continue reading...Every year players are pushed to their limits in a sport that chases the sun. But the number of retirements, withdrawals and injuries this season has been shocking
Jannik Sinner had tried everything but after baking for two and a half hours inside the suffocating sauna of Shanghai’s stadium court, he was finished. Even around midnight, the humidity was still so oppressive that Sinner had spent the final 20 minutes of his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor cramping, panting and in considerable pain. Eventually, he could not even walk properly. Midway through the final set, the 24-year-old hobbled slowly to his chair using his racket as a crutch and terminated the match.
Those scenes were representative of the Shanghai Masters so far as, throughout the past week, so many players have wilted in brutal conditions. Terence Atmane and Hamad Medjedovic both retired after struggling with the heat. Francisco Comesaña appeared close to collapsing and he had to be helped mid-match by his opponent Lorenzo Musetti. Despite the benefit of competing at night, Novak Djokovic repeatedly vomited in two consecutive matches and there were times in his fourth round win over Jaume Munar where he too looked as if he had reached his limit.
Continue reading...Briton retires when trailing 6-1, 4-1 against Ann Li
Novak Djokovic vomits on court but wins in Shanghai
Emma Raducanu’s brutal run of form and luck in Asia continued at the Wuhan Open as she retired because of illness from her first-round match at the WTA 1000 event, while trailing 6-1, 4-1 against the American Ann Li.
Raducanu is the latest player to crumble in tough conditions across China, with temperatures rising to 31C with 67% humidity in Wuhan on Tuesday afternoon.
Continue reading...Russian-born star has ‘hit a wall and can’t continue’
She promises to be back in 2026 and ‘ready to rock’
Australia’s women’s tennis No 1 has put her career on hold for the rest of the year stating “mentally and emotionally I am at breaking point”.
Daria Kasatkina, who switched nationality from Russia to Australia earlier this year, immediately becoming national No 1, blamed the “emotional and mental stress” related to that change, the strain of not seeing her family and the relentless schedule of the tennis circuit.
Continue reading...Heat and humidity force Italian out in third set
Amanda Anisimova wins China Open in Beijing
Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor, the 27th seed, after suffering from cramps in humid conditions while trailing the Dutchman 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2.
In the final weeks of a long, arduous season for all, the conditions in Shanghai have been severe this past week, particularly on Sunday as players tried to compete in 90% humidity. Many struggled badly.
Continue reading...American trounces compatriot 6-1, 6-2 in semi-final
Zverev: organisers are favouring Alcaraz and Sinner
Amanda Anisimova continued a stellar season in which she has finished as runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open by advancing to her second WTA 1000 final of the year, outclassing Coco Gauff, the defending champion, 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the China Open.
Seeded third in Beijing, the 24-year-old American now has a 2-1 edge in her head-to-head record against her compatriot Gauff.
Continue reading...Briton overwhelmed 6-3, 6-4 by the Czech world No 27
Kartal leapfrogs Boulter as GB No 2 after tournament
Sonay Kartal’s impressive breakthrough run in Beijing came to a difficult end as she was overpowered by Linda Noskova, who eviscerated every last ball and played a stellar match to reach the semi-final of the China Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win.
The defeat ends the most significant tournament of Kartal’s career to date as the 23-year-old Briton showed, with a series of excellent performances in one of the biggest events in the world, that she has the game to trouble the best players in the world, reaching her first WTA 1000 quarter-final with a superb three-set win over Mirra Andreeva, ranked No 5, for her first victory against a top-10 player.
Continue reading...Victory in Beijing sees Briton reach quarter-finals
Jannik Sinner clinches his third title of 2025
Sonay Kartal put together the best performance of her burgeoning career to outlast the world No 5 Mirra Andreeva across three gruelling sets, winning 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 after two hours and 25 minutes to reach her first WTA 1000 quarter-final at the China Open.
The victory in Beijing marks Kartal’s first defeat of a top 10 opponent, a statement result as she rises up the rankings. Standing at just 5ft 4in (163cm) in a sport dominated by strong, imposing athletes, one of the most common questions surrounding Kartal’s career has been whether her game is too underpowered to trouble the elite. The Briton’s efforts on Wednesday provided a convincing answer to those questions.
Continue reading...Sublime Spaniard beats world No 4 in straight sets
But he pulls out of Shanghai Masters to ‘rest and recover’
After consoling his opponent and embracing his team at the end of another successful week on the tour, Carlos Alcaraz had just one thought on his mind. He immediately sought out a pair of scissors to finally remove the extensive bandage wrapped tightly around his left ankle.
Having started his week in Tokyo by rolling his ankle and being unsure about whether he would continue, Alcaraz ended it with his eighth title of the season as he overcame a spirited fight from a physically hampered Taylor Fritz to triumph at the Japan Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win.
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