Category: Tennis

• Djokovic pulls out of Turin finale with unspecified injury
• Nadal will retire from tennis at Davis Cup next month

Novak Djokovic has announced his withdrawal from ATP Finals due to an unspecified injury, marking the end to his 2024 season.

Djokovic pulling out means that for the first time since 2001 there will be no member of the ’big three’ present at the ATP Finals. While Roger Federer has been retired since 2022, Rafael Nadal will retire from professional tennis at the Davis Cup in Málaga later this month. Djokovic, however, has said that he currently has no plans to call it a day.

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• Year of ill health and ailing form is ending on low note
• Sabalenka through to semi-finals with win over Paolini

As Elena Rybakina trailed Zheng Qinwen by a set and a break in their tight group-stage tussle at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Monday, the odds were not in her favour. Still, she fought hard, retrieved the break and as her confidence grew, her own serve, one of the most destructive weapons in the sport, fell into place. Rybakina rolled through four successive games to force a final set.

That sequence of play from Rybakina was a reminder of the high level she has produced to establish herself as one of the leading players on the WTA tour, but this time it was fleeting. She was visibly fatigued in the final set as Zheng regained control and secured her first win at the WTA Finals, closing out the match 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-1.

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• British No 1 beaten 6-1, 6-2 by 20-year-old Russian
• Boulter excited after reaching career-high ranking of 23

Katie Boulter’s strong run in Hong Kong came to a brutal end on Sunday as she was thoroughly outplayed in the final by top seed Diana Shnaider, who dismantled the British No 1 6-1, 6-2 to win her fourth WTA title of the season.

Boulter, the second seed, was outgunned from the beginning by a brilliant Shnaider, a strong left-hander with a vicious, heavy forehand. As Shnaider continually took the first strike and forced Boulter into uncomfortable positions around the court, she exposed the vulnerable points of Boulter’s game. Boulter overpressed, she lost confidence in her serve and she had no alternative plan against a relentless opponent.

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• British No 1 battled to 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Yuan Yue
• She will rise to at least 23rd in world rankings on Monday

Katie Boulter had many reasons to be apprehensive about her form in the final stretch of an arduous first full season at tennis’s highest levels. However, even as she travelled from city to city struggling to re-establish herself, the British No 1 continued to work hard each day, remaining optimistic and giving herself opportunities to find her best level again.

In her last individual tournament of the season, Boulter has been rewarded for her resilience and grit. She pieced together another brilliant performance on Saturday in a quality tussle against Yuan Yue of China, eventually closing out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win to reach the Hong Kong Open final.

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