Category: Tennis

• ‘No compelling justification’ for not submitting a sample

• ‘Unpredictable testing is essential to protect clean sport’

Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon singles champion, has been banned from professional sport for four years after she refused an anti-doping test.

According to an independent tribunal, Vondrousova provided “no compelling justification” for declining to provide a sample after being notified at her home by a doping control officer in December. The 26-year-old is suspended from all professional events until 21 June 2030.

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• Seven-time champion, now 44, continues on-court return

• She will also compete in doubles with sister Venus

Serena Williams will make a stunning return to singles competition at Wimbledon after being announced as the tournament’s final wildcard on Sunday.

Wimbledon will mark Williams’s first singles appearance in nearly four years after retiring from the sport at the 2022 US Open and it marks a dramatic escalation in her comeback.

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• 28-year-old is first US player to win at Halle since 1993

• Tiafoe will climb to No 19 as Wimbledon nears

Frances Tiafoe beat fellow American Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 to win the ⁠Halle Open on Sunday, sealing the biggest title of his career and becoming the first American since 1993 to lift the ATP ⁠500 grass-court trophy.

Tiafoe ⁠set the ​tone early, breaking serve in the opening set and remaining composed on his own delivery to keep Fritz from settling. He carried ⁠that momentum into the second set, again striking early and dictating from the baseline to wrap up the win and snap a seven-match losing streak ⁠against Fritz since his first victory in 2016.

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Serena Williams’ appearance plus Raducanu and Boulter doing so well put the men’s event in the shade this year

One of the more amusing sights at the Queen’s Club tournament each year comes before even entering the grounds. On the first day of play on Monday, a deluge of spectators invariably descend on Barons Court station, just 150 metres from the entrance.

So many people passing through a tiny London Underground station naturally means long queues at the barriers. That congestion is not helped by many of them comically pausing in front of the gates to frantically search for their debit cards or desperately try to unlock their phones.

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Former world No 4 backs best man at his wedding to reignite Raducanu and hopes to entice Jannik Sinner to join Team Europe at the O2

“Tennis is in a good place, but I think it could be better,” says Tim Henman when asked about the state of the sport that has consumed most of his life. He will soon outline ways tennis could be improved but, first, it helps to remember that the 51-year-old played in six grand slam semi-finals, including four at Wimbledon, won an Olympic silver medal and became No 4 in the world despite constant gripes from part-time tennis supporters who wrongly said he lacked the grit of an elite player.

Yet grit filters through Henman’s memories and explains why he loves tennis while always striving to reach a better place. We meet at the Queen’s Club and the elegance of the venue provides a stark contrast to the series of cheap B&Bs where Henman lived, down the road in Earl’s Court, for two years at the outset of his career. Money was tight then and sometimes four young players could share a single room.

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• Former British No 1 is axed after 23 years at the mic

• ‘I am lucky to have the best gig in sports broadcasting’

Andrew Castle has confirmed that Wimbledon this year will be his last at the commentator’s mic, the former British No 1 leaving the “best gig in sports broadcasting” after more than two decades as the BBC makes changes to its coverage.

The 62-year-old, who will remain in post as the All England Championships get under way on Monday, told the Times: “It’s been a hell of a journey. I can’t say I have enjoyed every minute because there have been moments of pressure and controversy, but it has been a huge privilege.

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• Williams sisters have won six doubles titles at SW19

• French Open finalist Chwalinksa awarded wildcard

Serena and Venus Williams will rekindle their doubles partnership at Wimbledon this month after receiving a wildcard into the women’s doubles draw. The All England Club announced the recipients on Tuesday morning in one of the most highly anticipated wildcard announcements in recent memory considering Serena’s return this month after four years of retirement.

Serena, a seven-times singles champion, did not request a singles wildcard and the 44-year-old has remained coy about whether she plans to return for singles. Venus, a five-time singles champion, has also not received a singles wildcard. Venus has competed on the tour since her debut in 1994, only stopping due to health-related issues. She turns 46 on Wednesday.

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• Representatives say increase is ‘a signal of intent’

• Tennis stars had boycotted media at French Open

Wimbledon will avoid the threat of player protests after representatives of the world’s top players welcomed the significant prize‑money increase offered by the All England Club.

“Leading players from the ATP and WTA Tours welcome Wimbledon’s 2026 prize money announcement as a genuine and significant step forward – the 20% increase is the largest single-year uplift in the tournament’s history and a meaningful signal of intent,” the player group said in a statement.

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• Mboko forced out with knee injury after heavy fall

• Williams’ focus now shifts to Berlin wildcard spot

Serena Williams’s first tournament since coming out of retirement has ended prematurely after her partner Victoria Mboko was forced to withdraw from the Queen’s Club tournament after injuring her knee when slipping on the grass in her singles match on Wednesday.

Williams made a sensational return to competition at 44 after a four-year absence on Tuesday alongside Mboko as the pair defeated the third seeds Nicole Melichar Martinez and Erin Routliffe 7-6(2), 6-2. The pair were scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Laura Siegemund on Thursday afternoon.

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• All England Club announces 20% rise from last year

• Increase unlikely to appease tennis player group

Wimbledon has announced the biggest prize money increase in the history of the Championships, but this significant rise still may not be enough to appease the demands of the top tennis players in dispute with the grand slam tournaments.

The All England Club revealed a prize-money purse of £64.2m, a 20% increase from last year and a £10.7m rise. There have been rises across all rounds, with the men’s and women’s champions receiving £3.6m prize money this year while players who lose in the first round will receive £80,000.

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• Mboko forced to retire in singles match at Queen’s

• Duo are due to play next on Thursday evening

The future of Victoria Mboko’s doubles partnership with Serena Williams was plunged into doubt after the Canadian was forced to retire in her opening singles match at the HSBC Championships in London.

Williams, 44, made her comeback to tennis on Tuesday, securing a win alongside Mboko in their first doubles match.

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Alexander Zverev finally secured his first grand slam title with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 victory over Flavio Cobolli

Our players, in the locker room together, are ready … and here comes Cobolli. This is the biggest moment of his life: he’ll never have experienced anything like this.

Five weeks ago, Cobolli beat Zverev 3 and 3 in the semis at Munich. It’s true that, subsequently, the outcome was reversed in Madrid, but that was on a much faster court than Chatrier – which is more similar to the one in Germany.

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Aryna Sabalenka suggested she would prefer to quit tennis after losing 6-3 5-7 0-6 to Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals of the French Open. The world No 1 said she lost track mentally in the second set and couldn't get back into the game from that point on

• Sabalenka says she wants ‘to quit tennis’ after shock French Open defeat by Shnaider

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