Category: Tennis

• British No 2 went out 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 after long medical break
• Djokovic wins first match of season on clay in Geneva

Emma Raducanu suffered an injury scare before the French Open as she went out of the Strasbourg Open.

The 22-year-old left the court during the second set of her second-round match with American Danielle Collins for treatment on a back problem, though appeared to recover. Having won the first set, Raducanu was 5-0 down when she called a medical timeout before returning to the court 10 minutes later. Although she was able to finish the match, she lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to Collins.

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• Father and coach of former tennis world No 4 died on Friday
• Player shares ‘conflicting and complex emotions’ after 10-year estrangement

Damir Dokic, the estranged father and coach of former tennis star Jelena Dokic, has died.

Jelena confirmed in a social media post Damir died last Friday, saying she had “conflicting and complex emotions and feelings” about the news.

In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service on 1800 737 732. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

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Roger Federer saw it as a ‘panic shot’ but the drop shot is back in vogue thanks to a greater understanding of its effectiveness

A little more than two years ago, Daniil Medvedev was working his way through the early rounds of the Miami Open when he noticed a distinct shift in his opponents’ tactics. A few days earlier, he had been convincingly beaten in the Indian Wells final by Carlos Alcaraz, who dismantled him with a relentless stream of drop shots. Suddenly, everyone was hitting drop shots against him.

“A lot of guys maybe saw the final, so they started to do only drop shots against me,” says Medvedev, smiling widely. “It’s not the same. It’s like: ‘OK, continue doing it. I’m there.’ Against [Alcaraz], I’m not there.”

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• ‘Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – we tried’
• Djokovic will work with fellow Serb Dusan Vemic

Novak Djokovic says he and Andy Murray felt they “couldn’t get more” out of their short-lived partnership. The 24-time grand slam title winner parted ways with his former on-court rival Murray last week following six months working together.

Djokovic has entered the Geneva Open as a wildcard as he builds towards the French Open, which begins on Sunday.

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Tennis is a ‘fun hobby’ for the doubles player looking to add to titles he won at Wimbledon and the Australian Open

It’s slightly unusual to hear Henry Patten – along with Harri Heliövaara, reigning men’s doubles champion at Wimbledon and the Australian Open – call tennis a “fun hobby”. But then you spend time in his company and realise he is slightly unusual.

Patten, 29, was not supposed to be a professional, never mind a grand slam winner. Though he played county level as a child, he enjoyed various sports as a teenager before a tennis scholarship to Culford School in Suffolk – “I don’t know how we weasled that!” – inspired him to attend college in North Carolina, where he read economics.

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• Former world No 17 wins through to second round of qualifying
• But five other Australians lost on day one at Roland Garros

Australia’s 15-strong band of hopefuls in French Open qualifying has been trimmed by a third after the first day at Roland Garros. Bernard Tomic led three players into the second round, but five lost with seven still to enter the fray.

Jason Kubler and Maddison Inglis also won in Paris as they seek to join the 14 Aussies already guaranteed a place in the main draws. Qualifiers need to win three matches to secure their places.

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• Arthur Ashe Stadium will be overhauled as part of project
• Project will not use public funds or taxpayer money

The site of the US Open will undergo an $800m transformation, the US Tennis Association said on Monday, with a “top-to-bottom” modernisation of the famed Arthur Ashe Stadium and a new player performance center planned for the sprawling Queens campus.

Work at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be completed by the 2027 US Open, with construction taking place in phases to avoid any interruption of the 2025 or 2026 editions of the tournament.

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• Raducanu beats world No 17 6-1, 6-3 in Strasbourg
• ‘I’m starting to like clay more,’ says British No 2

Emma Raducanu continued her impressive clay-court form as she swept aside the sixth seed, Daria Kasatkina, in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

The British No 2, who won three games on the surface for the first time in her career last week as she reached the last 16 of the Italian Open, beat the world No 17 by a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 scoreline.

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• Home favourite wins 6-4, 6-2 at Foro Italico
• Paolini is first Italian to win women’s singles in 40 years

Jasmine Paolini became the first home winner of the Italian Open for 40 years with a dominant victory over Coco Gauff. The 29-year-old, who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon last year in a breakthrough season, delighted the fans at the Foro Italico with a 6-4, 6-2 success.

No Italian had won the singles titles in Rome since Raffaella Reggi in 1985, but Paolini thoroughly merited her triumph. Jannik Sinner could make it a home double when he faces Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. “It doesn’t seem real to me,” Paolini said. “I came here as a kid to see this tournament, but winning it and holding up this trophy wasn’t even in my dreams.”

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• Australia’s No 1 regains focus to beat Hugo Dellien 6-4, 6-4
• De Minaur will play 12th-seeded Tommy Paul in last 16 in Rome

An overhead in tennis normally means being lobbed but it was a different aerial intervention that troubled Alex de Minaur in Rome.

The Australian No 1 was progressing well towards the last 16 despite the distraction of an unwell spectator when his match with Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien was interrupted by a flypast by the Italian Air Force’s acrobatic team, the Frecce Tricolori (Tricolour arrows).

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• Ukrainian lauds former Russian for switching nationality to Australia
• 22-year-old makes point of shaking hands with world No 15 in Rome

Daria Kasatkina’s switch from Russian tennis to play for Australia has been given a stamp of approval from her Ukrainian conqueror at the Italian Open.

Marta Kostyuk, one of the women’s tour’s in-form players, has made a high-profile point along with many of her fellow Ukrainian players of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents after matches in protest at the invasion of her homeland.

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• World No 1 defeats American 6-3, 7-6 (3) in final
• Sabalenka has 4,000 point lead at top of rankings

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff to win her third title of the season at the Madrid Open. The world No 1 won 17 points in a row early in the contest but had to save a set point in the second set on her way to a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory at the Caja Mágica.

It is a third title in the Spanish capital for Sabalenka, who lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2023 before losing to Iga Swiatek 12 months ago. The Belarusian now has a lead of more than 4,000 points over her stuttering rival in the rankings, although the result does mean Swiatek stays ahead of Gauff at No 2.

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• British No 1 takes only 77 minutes to win 6-0, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek jeered in 6-1, 6-1 defeat by Coco Gauff

Jack Draper will overtake Novak Djokovic and climb into the top five of the world rankings for the first time after demolishing Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. Draper needed just 77 minutes to see off the Italian, who beat Djokovic in the second round, 6-0, 6-4, with a stunning first set in which he lost only 10 points.

The British No 1 is the only top 10 player remaining in the men’s tournament and is now just two matches away from claiming a second Masters 1000 title in two months. Draper’s rapid rise to the top of the men’s game kicked off with the Indian Wells title in March and has accelerated on clay, which has been considered his weakest surface.

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• World No 1 is set for Rome return after three-month ban
• ‘For a moment, I thought about giving up everything’

Jannik Sinner had admitted he considered giving up on tennis earlier this year in the aftermath of his anti-doping case as he struggled to handle the criticism and doubts from his colleagues on the ATP tour.

“When I arrived in Australia in January I was uncomfortable, also because it seemed to me that the other players looked at me differently. For a moment, I even thought about giving up everything,” Sinner told the Italian TV station RA.

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• World No 5 to skip ATP Tour event before French Open
• Serb will arrive at Roland Garros with lone win on clay

Novak Djokovic has reacted to his run of poor form by pulling out of the Italian Open in Rome next week. The 24-times grand slam champion is on a three-match losing streak, having crashed out of the Madrid Open after defeat by Matteo Arnaldi.

Tournament organisers announced on social media that Djokovic would not be playing in the Italian capital, with the Serbian writing on Instagram: “Rome, I will miss you. I hope we meet next year.”

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