Category: Tennis

• Williams to play 33rd WTA season at age 45

• US star given wildcard for January’s ASB Classic

• Former champ joins Osaka in Auckland field

Tennis great Venus Williams plans to play for a 33rd straight season on the WTA Tour, starting in Auckland in January.

Organizers of the ASB Classic in New Zealand said Wednesday that the 45-year-old Williams would feature at their 5-11 January event.

• Australian tennis star to meet Belarusian in December in Dubai

• ‘I’m not just here to play, I’m here to entertain,’ says Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios, Australian former Wimbledon finalist, is to play women’s world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in an exhibition match in Dubai.

The clash evokes memories of the 1973 Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs – which King won in straight sets in the Houston Astrodome and was later the subject of a Hollywood movie.

Elena Rybakina qualified for the semi-finals after she came from behind to beat Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova came from behind to see off Madison Keys – who is out

Rybakina again finds herself behind on serve and, down 15-30, hits a decent forehand. But forced to come in and volley, she’s tentative, dumping into the net, and must now face two further break points. This time, though, she finds the booming deliveries she needs to make deuce, and from there she closes out for 3-1 Swiatek.

Swiatek consolidates easily, sealing the deal with an ace, and you can feel her intensity assaulting you through the screen. She leads 3-0, and Rybakina needs to keep the head while finding some first serves.

World No 3 seems to have taken a step forward in linking up with Gavin MacMillan but double faults at the WTA Finals shows there is still work to be done

For a brief, hopeful moment in the middle of an intense tussle with her compatriot Jessica Pegula, it seemed as if Coco Gauff had found her way. Gauff had struggled in the first set of their opening match at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Sunday, but then she dug deep and slowly turned the match around. The American reached set point on her serve at 6-5 in the second set.

Gauff then proceeded to hit three double faults in a row, which allowed Pegula to retrieve the break without touching the ball. Not a single attempt was even close.

• Pole eases to 6-1, 6-2 opening victory in Saudi Arabia

• Keys commits 38 unforced errors on return from injury

The second edition of the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia began with the familiar sight of Iga Swiatek brutally laying waste another of the best players in the world. The six-time grand slam champion demolished Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2 in their first match of the group stage.

Swiatek had been struggling in recent tournaments, fatigue seemingly setting in at the end of a draining 10-month season. However, the Pole had three weeks to regroup after her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open. She looked fresh and locked in from the beginning, affirming her status as one of the favourites alongside Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, by serving extremely well and putting Keys under relentless pressure off both wings with her weight of shot and defence while offering few mistakes.

Sabalenka and Swiatek head to Saudi finals after epic year yet organisers remain dire at marketing their product

The final weeks of the women’s tennis season showcased one last twist in the furious race to determine the qualifiers for the WTA Finals. Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, finally caught fire after a year of near misses, bulldozing through her opponents to win a title in Ningbo, China that solidified her spot in Riyadh among the eight best players in the world.

Just as significant as Rybakina’s qualification, though, was its consequences for the player she usurped. Mirra Andreeva, the 18-year-old prodigy who won WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells this year, had seemed like a sure bet to qualify in singles for the WTA Finals. Her failure to do so underscores the fact that this year has been the toughest and most competitive women’s tennis season in years.

• British No 2 recovers to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in second round

• Alcaraz’s fine run ends with tally of 54 unforced errors

Cameron Norrie produced the greatest win of his career as he recovered from a set down to topple the world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Although he has defeated Alcaraz on two previous occasions, Norrie’s triumph marks his first ever victory over a reigning No 1.

• Mixed year ends with Melbourne seeding up in the air

• British No 1 pulls out of Tokyo and Hong Kong events

Emma Raducanu has brought an early end to her season following physical struggles in China. The British No 1 had hoped to put together a strong finish to 2025 to guarantee herself a seeding at the Australian Open in January but that is now up in the air.

There is good news on the coaching front, though, with Francisco Roig reaching a deal to continue their work together in 2026.

• Briton went down 6-3, 4-6, 1-6 to Zhu Lin

• Raducanu called for trainer twice for treatment

Emma Raducanu again struggled physically in a first-round exit at the Ningbo Open to China’s Zhu Lin, raising questions over the rest of her season.

The British No1 was back on court a week after retiring from her opening match in Wuhan with dizziness in hot and humid conditions. She posted a picture on social media from a doctor’s office and said she felt better but she faded after winning the opening set against Zhu and slumped to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.