Category: Tennis

• American forgot to adjust payments after changing banks

• Celebrates getting truck back with win over Elmer Moller

Tommy Paul was pleased to come back to win his first-round match at the French Open on Sunday, but perhaps not as thrilled as he was to discuss regaining the truck he lost when he accidentally missed some payments.

The 12th-seeded Paul eliminated Elmer Moller of Denmark 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 at Court Simonne-Mathieu on a day that alternated a light rain and heavy wind with sunshine.

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Aryna Sabalenka opened her French Open campaign with a straight-sets win over Kamilla Rakhimova on the first day at Roland Garros

On Lenglen, Svitolina is serving for the first set, 5-1 up on Sonmez; on Mathieu, a fine backhand return, dipping cross, is too good for Paul, whose volley floats long, and that’s a break for Moller, the 21-year-old lucky loser, who leads 3-2 in the first.

On TNT, they’re talking about Sabalenka, who sounds full of it as she discusses her ambition to win on clay. Her Aussie Open defeat to Madison Keys will have stung her badly, though – earlier in her career she was the one who choked – and as soon as she’s put under serious pressure, we’ll see whether the wound has healed.

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• Joint outplays Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-2 in Rabat final

• New world No 53 to play compatriot Ajla Tomljanovic in Paris

Australian tennis has been given a major boost on the eve of the French Open after Maya Joint was crowned a WTA tour title winner in Morocco at the age of just 19.

Joint collapsed to the clay in joy in Rabat on Saturdayafter outplaying Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-2 in the Morocco Open final.

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• Djokovic beats Polish sixth seed 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)

• Only Connors (109) and Federer (103) have more men’s titles

Novak Djokovic became the third man in the Open era to reach 100 career wins, surviving a three-set thriller against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the Geneva Open.

The Serbian great, seeded second, needed three hours and five minutes to turn back the sixth-seeded Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) and win at the clay-court ATP 250 event. Djokovic was down 2-4 in the final set but a break of Hurkacz in the eighth game got the match back on serve. Djokovic prevailed despite 52 winners by Hurkacz, which included 19 aces.

This story will be updated

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• 19-year-old into decider after Ajla Tomljanovic withdraws from semi

• Australian pair to meet again in first round at Roland Garros

Teenager Maya Joint’s remarkable rise has scaled a new peak with the brilliant young Australian prospect reaching her first WTA final in Morocco, just days before making her French Open debut.

In what was seen as a clay-court dress rehearsal after the Australian pair had also been drawn to meet each other in the first round at Roland Garros, 19-year-old Joint came out on top in her last-four encounter with Ajla Tomljanovic at the Morocco Open in Rabat on Friday.

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• 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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