Category: Tennis

Double champion unlikely to be at SW19 this year but is enjoying helping Britain’s next generation of tennis players

Andy Murray has always had a way of creating alchemy on a tennis court. But, even in retirement, he is discovering new tricks. For more than an hour he has little kids from West Byfleet junior school transfixed as he coaches them through the joys of mini-tennis. There are swings and wild misses, gentle advice and high fives. In fact Murray is so locked in, he even makes his familiar power-exhale noise while he gently lifts the ball over a tiny net.

In short, he is a natural – even if he doesn’t quite see it that way himself. “I think they were just buzzing to get a few hours out of the classroom to be honest,” he says, typically self-effacing, as he chats during a quick break. “But it’s great. I love seeing kids on a tennis court having fun.”

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• British No 1 knocked out by teenager Maya Joint

• Australian world No 51 wins 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)

Emma Raducanu says she needs to get her “head in the game” before Wimbledon starts on Monday after falling just short of a comeback against the Australian teenager Maya Joint at Eastbourne.

The British No 1 looked dead and buried in her battle with the youngster, trailing 5-2 in the deciding set. But she produced an inspired spell, breaking Joint three times when she was serving for the match to set up a tie-break.

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The American accepts Wimbledon might be the best chance for him to win an elusive major title at 27, and says being ‘a bit delusional’ has helped him in elite tennis

“That’s the only reason I really want to be playing,” Taylor Fritz says of his quest to win a grand slam tournament as he counts down the days to Wimbledon. Fritz, the world No 5, made the US Open final last year but he believes Wimbledon offers him the best opportunity to claim that elusive prize. He is 27 and, with each passing year, the pressure of his ambition grows.

Asked if he would feel an emptiness at the end of his career if he doesn’t win a slam, Fritz admits the truth: “I probably would. I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it.”

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• British player wins 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 in first round

• ‘I’m very, very happy to come through that’

Emma Raducanu fought back tears after resuming her Wimbledon preparations by battling back from a set down to beat the US’s Ann Li in the first round of the Eastbourne Open.

Amid blustery conditions, the British No 1, who missed last week’s Berlin Open as she managed a back problem, triumphed 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

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• All England Club to recognise retired double champion

• Statue will also mark 150th anniversary in 2027

Sir Andy Murray will enjoy a permanent legacy at Wimbledon after the All England Club announced they would be unveiling a statue in his honour at the 2027 championships.

Debbie Jevans, the chair of the AELTC, said that the club had been working closely with Murray and his team and would reveal the sculpture at the championship’s 150th anniversary in two years’ time.

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Carlos Alcaraz survived a second-set scare, beating Jiri Lehecka in three to win Queen’s for the second time

Lehecka to serve, ready … play.

Our coverage has, finally, started, and our players are out. Lehecka will have to start well, but if he can he’s a live dog.

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Tennis’s great disruptor speaks on his highs and lows on Centre Court and the BBC’s ‘very strange’ decision to leave him out of the commentary box

Wimbledon runs through Nick Kyrgios’s tumultuous career with a mysterious force full of pain, glory and controversy. It is a tournament defined by history and restraint but, for Kyrgios the disruptor, it is also a place pitted with dark despair and sunlit magic.

The Australian has spent a night in a psychiatric ward while playing at Wimbledon and also been served with court orders and lawsuits during and after the 2022 championship that ended in him pushing Novak Djokovic so hard in a memorable final. But he has since struggled with injury and he will miss his third successive Wimbledon this year.

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• Gauff stunned by qualifier Wang at Berlin Open

• French Open champ makes seven double faults

• Wang to face Badosa after career-best grass win

Newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff was stunned on her return to action Thursday, losing to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-3 at the Berlin Open.

The second-ranked Gauff, who won at Roland-Garros less than two weeks ago for her second Grand Slam title, amassed 25 unforced errors and seven double faults in her loss to Wang.

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• Man given restraining order in Dubai on ticket waiting list

• All England Club employs fixated threat specialists

Emma Raducanu’s stalker has been blocked from buying tickets for the Wimbledon Championships this month in the public ballot, it has emerged.

Security staff at the All England Club discovered that the man, who has never been named, was on the waiting list when they did a re-sweep of the ballot, after he was given a restraining order in Dubai in February.

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• Australian No 1 swept aside by big-serving Jiri Lehecka

• First round exit leaves de Minaur short of match practice

Alex de Minaur has crashed out in the first round of Queen’s leaving Australia’s big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grass court grand slam severely undercooked.

The Australian No 1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained.

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• World No 1 downplayed American’s victory

• Sabalenka says she did not intend to attack opponent

Aryna Sabalenka says she has written to Coco Gauff to apologise for the “unprofessional” comments she made after her loss to the American in the final of the French Open.

Speaking to Eurosport Germany, Sabalenka said her remarks after her defeat by Gauff at Roland Garros this month were a mistake. In her post-match press conference in Paris, Sabalenka had suggested that the result was more due to her own errors than to Gauff’s performance.

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• British player talks about receiving toxic messages

• ‘I don’t think there’s anything off the cards now’

The British tennis No 2 Katie Boulter has lifted the lid on the level of abuse aimed at some players and revealed she and her family have received death threats.

Boulter shared her experiences with BBC Sport to highlight the issue of players receiving toxic messages online. The 28-year-old’s examples included a message telling her to buy “candles and a coffin for your entire family” with a reference to her “grandmother’s grave if she’s not dead by tomorrow”, one stating she should “go to hell” as she had cost the poster money, and another stating “hope you get cancer”.

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• Former world No 1 reveals second child with husband Garry Kissick

• Parents welcome arrival with photo of their baby in a white beanie

​Retired Australian tennis star Ash Barty has announced the birth of her first daughter, Jordan.

Barty and her husband, golf professional Garry Kissick, already have a son, Hayden, born almost two years ago.

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Tatjana Maria, a qualifier, beat Amanda Anisimova, the No 8 seed, to win the first women’s tournament at Queen’s since 1973

Ready … play.

Apparently Anisimova was practising this morning and had someone hitting slices at her. That makes sense, but it won’t be the same as what’s in store for her on court this afternoon. Thing is – and as I type, there’s another “slice and dice” – the match may, in fact, be decided by how her excellence on the return matches up with Maria’s excellence on serve.

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• British No 1 loses Wimbledon seeding as a result

• Confident of playing at Eastbourne

Emma Raducanu will miss next week’s Berlin Tennis Open as she continues to manage a back problem. The 22-year-old has been struggling with her back since competing in Strasbourg last month before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss to Zheng Qinwen at Queen’s Club on Friday.

After the match Raducanu said: “It’s been lingering for the last few weeks and I have had back issues before. I think it’s just a vulnerability of mine. I’m not overly concerned that it’s something serious, but it’s something that’s very annoying and needs proper and careful management.”

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