Category: Tennis

• Briton loses 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-0 to American world No 7

• Defeat echoes loss against Krejcikova in Seoul

For the better part of two hours on court at the China Open against one of the toughest possible opponents, Emma Raducanu’s varied, steadily improving game was in full flow. She seemed to be moving confidently towards one of the most impressive wins of her career.

When it was time to close out victory against the world No 7 Jessica Pegula, however, Raducanu simply crumbled under pressure. After her positive start, Raducanu’s time in Beijing ended in a catastrophic loss as she failed to convert three match points before losing 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-0 to Pegula in the third round.

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• Italy claim 2-0 victory against 18-time champions

• Win takes Italy’s tally to six titles in women’s competition

An inspired Italy successfully defended their Billie Jean King Cup with a 2-0 victory over record 18-time champions the United States on Sunday, taking their own tally in the premier women’s team competition to six titles.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Jasmine Paolini both won their singles matches to help their country triumph in Shenzhen and prolonged the American wait for another title after their previous success in 2017.

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• Keothavong’s team suffer 2-0 defeat by United States

• ‘I feel like my motivation’s back and it’s there every day’

Great Britain’s wait to get their hands on the Billie Jean King Cup will continue after they exited the tournament with a semi-final loss to the United States.

Sonay Kartal was first to step on court in Shenzhen, China, facing Emma Navarro and going a set up early on with a 6-3 success, but losing the next two sets 6-4, 6-3 to leave Great Britain 1-0 down.

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The sporting superstar walked away from success and adulation at 26 – much to everyone’s bemusement. He opens up about his secret life and the depression, cocaine, overdoses and aggressive cancer that almost killed him

‘I’m a person who doesn’t say very much,” Björn Borg says with a wry smile. Which may be the understatement of the century. Borg, the greatest tennis player of his day, has spent 42 years saying nothing since he announced his retirement at the age of 26.

When he broke that news in 1983, it was one of the biggest shocks in the history of sport. Not simply because he was at his peak, but also because he was the rock star tennis player – beautiful, mysterious and followed by a flock of teenybopper fans. When Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz triumphed in the US Open earlier this month, aged 22, he became the second youngest player to have won six major tournaments. Borg beat him by four months.

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• Tennis legend told diagnosis was ‘really, really bad’

• Borg also recalls drug use after early retirement

Björn Borg, the five-time Wimbledon tennis champion, has said he is taking life “day by day, year by year” after his “extremely aggressive” prostate cancer diagnosis.

The former world no1, who won 11 grand slam titles before retiring aged 25, revealed the diagnosis in the final chapter of his autobiography, which will be published this week in the UK and next week in the US. The Swede is in remission, having had an operation in 2024, but described the diagnosis as “difficult psychologically”.

Read Bjorn Borg’s interview with Simon Hattenstone on theguardian.com from 4pm UK time on Thursday

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• British No 1 beats Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-4 amid delays

• Captain Keothavong called BJK absence disappointing

Emma Raducanu overcame the frustration of lengthy weather-related delays to beat Jaqueline Cristian in the opening round of the Korea Open.

The contest had been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed because of rain, and more wet weather then caused another substantial delay on Wednesday. But Raducanu and Cristian were finally able to take to the court and it was the British No 1 who came out on top 6-3, 6-4 after a tussle lasting two hours and two minutes.

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• Aleksandar Vukic loses final decider against Raphael Collignon 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3

• Earlier De Minaur defeated Zizou Bergs and Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson won doubles

Australia’s men’s tennis stars have suffered Davis Cup despair, falling a set short of completing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the 125-year-old competition.

A day after overcoming severe cramping to defy Alex de Minaur, unfancied world No 91 Raphael Collignon wore down late stand-in Aleksandar Vukic 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 in the deciding rubber to lead Belgium to a pulsating 3-2 second-round qualifying triumph in Sydney.

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• Norrie beats Olaf Pieczkowski as GB see off Poland

• Germany, France and Argentina reach final eight

Cameron Norrie defeated Olaf Pieczkowski of Poland 6-4, 6-4 to secure Great Britain’s place in next year’s Davis Cup qualifiers. Norrie’s assured victory over the world No 484 established an unassailable 3-1 lead for Great Britain after they were forced to recover from the setback of starting the day with an unexpected defeat.

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool, the Wimbledon doubles champions, were upset 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) by Karol Drzewiecki and Jan Zielinski to present Norrie with the task of overcoming Pieczkowski to avoid a decider on the final day.

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• World No 8 and Jordan Thompson suffer singles losses in Sydney

• Belgium take 2-0 lead over Australia in second-round qualifying tie

Tennis officials have been branded “barbaric” as Australia slumped to a shock 2-0 deficit in a dramatic start to their second-round Davis Cup qualifying tie against Belgium in Sydney.

Lowly ranked Raphael Collignon overcame severe cramping to upset world No 8 Alex de Minaur 7-5 3-6 6-3 in a three-hour, 12-minute epic before Zizou Bergs beat Jordan Thompson 7-6 (4) 6-4 in Saturday’s second singles rubber.

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A fantastic performance from Carlos Alcaraz set him up to win his second US Open and sixth grand slam title

More from Bryan.

An hour before Sunday’s US Open men’s final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the boardwalk from the Mets-Willets Point subway to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was quiet, punctuated only by bursts of fans spilling out of the No 7 train every few minutes.

Among them stood Emma Kaplan, a 33-year-old executive assistant from Brooklyn, distributing flyers that read “The Fall of the Trump Fascist Regime.” She was joined by three members of RefuseFascism.org, one hoisting a poster that declared “GAME, SET, MATCH! NOV 5, FLOOD DC. TRUMP MUST GO!”; another’s sign demanded the shutdown of ICE and “the whole Trump fascist regime.”

As waves of spectators streamed past, a heavy security presence shadowed the scene – NYPD, Parks Department officers, Homeland Security agents and the Secret Service. Some fans nodded quietly in approval. Others made their opposition clear.

“Oh my bad, I voted for him,” one man muttered.

“Maga! Make America great again!” shouted another, a 22-year-old from Long Island who said he would happily back Trump again.

Kaplan brushed off the jeers.

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• Trump will appear on big screen during national anthem

• Broadcasters asked ‘not to show any disruptions’

US Open broadcasters have been asked not to show any negative crowd reactions to Donald Trump at Sunday’s men’s final.

The president is expected to attend the match between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in New York, with security at Flushing Meadows being heightened in preparation.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime saw off Alex de Minaur and Amanda Anisimova avenged her Wimbledon thrashing by Iga Swiatek, to reach the semi-finals

Now an easy hold for Demon, and though it’s possible one of these takes three tight sets, the sense is that we’re settling in for a good few hours. Let’s hope so: we’ve had too many one-sided matches these last 10 days and we’re due a classic. That said, I really enjoyed the beating Osaka put on Gauff, with Muchova v Kostyuk probably my most enjoyed match so far. Meantime, Felix nails an ace for 40-30, then spanks a forehand into the corner. But De Minaur hoists a moon-ball of a lob and the overhead goes into the net; at 1-1 deuce, here comes pressure … quickly alleviated with a monstrous serve and follow-up overhead. That’s a really good sign, given what happened in the previous point, and when the Demon nets, he leads 2-1 in the first, on serve.

Auger-Aliassime holds to 15, looking pretty good while doing it. He’s into the match and looks good and businesslike. And for extra points, he’s got Daffy Duck on his shirt.

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