Category: Tennis

• Briton forced to withdraw from Auckland Open
• Raducanu: ‘I picked up a niggle and won’t be ready’

Emma Raducanu has sustained another frustrating injury setback at the beginning of the new tennis season as she was forced to withdraw from the Auckland Open before her scheduled first-round match becuase of a back injury.

Raducanu, who was seeded sixth, had been due to start her season on Tuesday in Auckland against Robin Montgomery of the US but the 22-year-old has been nursing a back injury in recent weeks. Her back pain did not abate enough during her preparation, forcing her to withdraw from the tournament.

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Author of William Hill award-winning book The Racket does not miss life on tour as world No 129 but holds no bitterness towards the game

Conor Niland laughs and, without hesitating, rejects the idea that he misses the intensity of competition which shaped and sometimes deformed his life as a professional tennis player who reached a high of No 129 in the world. “No,” he exclaims. “I found myself waking up with butterflies in my stomach on the morning of the William Hill [Sports Book of the Year award] and thinking: ‘I haven’t felt this in a while, and I don’t particularly miss it.’ I don’t think anyone enjoys butterflies that much.”

Niland scrabbled around on the Futures and Challengers tours, those brutal circuits of hell for players outside the top 100 where intensity is often defined by the need to win a match to earn enough money to pay a hotel bill or book a plane ticket out of Astana or Delhi and fly to the next tournament in the hope of climbing the rankings. The dream of becoming an ATP regular has now been replaced for Niland, who retired from tennis in 2012, by a very different dream which saw him deservedly win the Sports Book of the Year last month for The Racket.

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• Britain face Australia after victory over Argentina
• Kazakhstan reach quarter-finals of mixed team event

The British No 1 Katie Boulter admitted she was dreading the prospect of playing against her fiance, Alex de Minaur, after leading Great Britain to victory over Argentina in the United Cup.

Boulter beat Nadia Podoroska in straight sets in Sydney, then paired up with Charles Broom in the doubles to win the tie after Billy Harris had lost his singles rubber to Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The 28-year-old could come up against De Minaur in a mixed doubles match when Britain face Australia on New Year’s Day.

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Novak Djokovic admits it is strange sharing insights and secrets his new coach Andy Murray, previously one of his biggest rivals. Djokovic is aiming to win the Australian Open for the 11th time next month and will be working with former Wimbledon and US Open champion Murray.

• Djokovic admits sharing tennis secrets with new coach Murray feels ‘strange’

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• World No 7 will train with former rival at Australian Open
• Veteran still critical of Sinner and Swiatek doping cases

Novak Djokovic admits it has been “strange” to have Andy Murray working as his coach but believes he will benefit from one of his greatest rivals taking a “fresh look” at his game.

The 24-time grand-slam winner also spoke of his frustration at being “kept in the dark” over Jannik Sinner’s doping case, accusing the game’s authorities of double standards and a lack of transparency.

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• Australia defeated 2-1 despite de Minaur’s emphatic 6-1, 6-4 victory
• Australia next United Cup tie is against Great Britain on Tuesday

Australia only have to point to recent history to know not to be disheartened by their opening night 2-1 loss to Argentina in the United Cup.

Alex de Minaur notched the only victory against Argentina, the world No 9 putting on a devastating display to beat Tomas Etcheverry 6-1, 6-4 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena in 75 minutes.

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• Australian has accepted provisional suspension for anti-doping breach
• Thompson to play with Chris O’Connell at Brisbane International

The doping ban of Australia’s two-time doubles grand-slam winner Max Purcell has been described as “a joke” by his US Open-winning partner Jordan Thompson.

The 26-year-old Purcell was provisionally suspended over an alleged violation of tennis’ anti-doping program. The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Monday that Purcell had voluntarily accepted the suspension, after admitting to a breach relating to a prohibited method.

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• World No 2 tested positive for trimetazidine in August
• Swiatek insists all anti-doping cases are treated the same

Iga Swiatek says she feared a more negative reaction to her doping ban, and insists that all such cases in tennis are treated in the same way. The Pole was handed a one-month suspension in November after a positive test for trimetazidine, which the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted was caused by contamination of a medicine Swiatek was taking for jet lag.

It was the second high-profile doping case to hit the sport this year after the men’s world No 1 Jannik Sinner’s two failed tests, for which he did not receive a ban. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) appealed that decision and Sinner may still be suspended, but Swiatek is not expecting a similar outcome.

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• British No 1 suffered hip problem in pre-season training
• ‘What’s most important is that I can have a long career’

Jack Draper faces a race against time to be in top physical shape for the Australian Open next month after suffering a hip injury during his pre-season training.

Having already cancelled plans to travel to Villena, Spain for an intense pre-season training block with Carlos Alcaraz due to his hip, last week Draper withdrew from the United Cup, his first scheduled event of 2024, and opted out of the Davis Cup tie slated for the weekend after the Australian Open in Tokyo.

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• Australian doubles star accepts provisional suspension
• ITIA yet to specify length of ban or any details of breach

Australian tennis player Max Purcell has been provisionally suspended over an alleged violation of the sport’s anti-doping program.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Monday that the two-time doubles grand slam winner had voluntarily accepted the suspension, after admitting to a breach relating to a prohibited method.

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• 16-year-old is one of Australia’s most highly rated juniors
• Bernard Tomic also among local players given wildcards

Cruz Hewitt, the teenage son of tennis great Lleyton Hewitt, has received a wildcard for the Australian Open qualifying tournament as he pushes for a grand slam debut. Hewitt, 16, will attempt to reach the main draw for the first time 28 years after his father debuted at Melbourne Park as a 15-year-old.

The junior world No 107 debuted in the junior competition last year and was knocked out in the first round. One of Australia’s most highly rated juniors, Hewitt is expected to feature in the junior tournament again but will look to step up his transition to senior tennis in 2025.

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• Former bitter rivals are now firm friends
• Kyrgios has played just one ATP match since 2022 US Open

Nick Kyrgios will team up with Novak Djokovic at the Brisbane International after crediting the former world No1 for motivating his return from serious injury. Once bitter rivals but now firm friends, Kyrgios and Djokovic plan to play doubles at the Queensland tournament, which gets under way on 29 December.

The pair will use the event to warm up for next month’s Australian Open, with Kyrgios using an injury-protected ranking to secure a direct entry at Melbourne Park. The Australian posted the announcement on Instagram, using a photo of himself and Djokovic walking on to court ahead for their 2022 Wimbledon final which he lost in four sets, writing “Doubles at Brisbane. See y’all there”.

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British player has had time to reflect and wants to embrace enjoyment on and off the court in 2025

Emma Raducanu arrived in South Korea this September determined to end a complicated season with a strong Asian swing, her favourite time of year. She had started well, winning two matches at the Korea Open, only to suffer an all-too-familiar setback. Raducanu retired from her quarter-final match in Seoul with a foot injury that would sideline her until the final week of the season.

That layoff would prove to be a significant moment in Raducanu’s continued development. During her time off, she visited her grandmother in China, brushed up on her Mandarin Chinese, and she also flexed her creative muscles. Most importantly, however, another enforced layoff also gave her time to reflect frankly on the decisions she has made in her young career.

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