Category: Tennis

• Ukrainian lauds former Russian for switching nationality to Australia
• 22-year-old makes point of shaking hands with world No 15 in Rome

Daria Kasatkina’s switch from Russian tennis to play for Australia has been given a stamp of approval from her Ukrainian conqueror at the Italian Open.

Marta Kostyuk, one of the women’s tour’s in-form players, has made a high-profile point along with many of her fellow Ukrainian players of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents after matches in protest at the invasion of her homeland.

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• World No 1 defeats American 6-3, 7-6 (3) in final
• Sabalenka has 4,000 point lead at top of rankings

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff to win her third title of the season at the Madrid Open. The world No 1 won 17 points in a row early in the contest but had to save a set point in the second set on her way to a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory at the Caja Mágica.

It is a third title in the Spanish capital for Sabalenka, who lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2023 before losing to Iga Swiatek 12 months ago. The Belarusian now has a lead of more than 4,000 points over her stuttering rival in the rankings, although the result does mean Swiatek stays ahead of Gauff at No 2.

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• British No 1 takes only 77 minutes to win 6-0, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek jeered in 6-1, 6-1 defeat by Coco Gauff

Jack Draper will overtake Novak Djokovic and climb into the top five of the world rankings for the first time after demolishing Matteo Arnaldi in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. Draper needed just 77 minutes to see off the Italian, who beat Djokovic in the second round, 6-0, 6-4, with a stunning first set in which he lost only 10 points.

The British No 1 is the only top 10 player remaining in the men’s tournament and is now just two matches away from claiming a second Masters 1000 title in two months. Draper’s rapid rise to the top of the men’s game kicked off with the Indian Wells title in March and has accelerated on clay, which has been considered his weakest surface.

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• World No 1 is set for Rome return after three-month ban
• ‘For a moment, I thought about giving up everything’

Jannik Sinner had admitted he considered giving up on tennis earlier this year in the aftermath of his anti-doping case as he struggled to handle the criticism and doubts from his colleagues on the ATP tour.

“When I arrived in Australia in January I was uncomfortable, also because it seemed to me that the other players looked at me differently. For a moment, I even thought about giving up everything,” Sinner told the Italian TV station RA.

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• World No 5 to skip ATP Tour event before French Open
• Serb will arrive at Roland Garros with lone win on clay

Novak Djokovic has reacted to his run of poor form by pulling out of the Italian Open in Rome next week. The 24-times grand slam champion is on a three-match losing streak, having crashed out of the Madrid Open after defeat by Matteo Arnaldi.

Tournament organisers announced on social media that Djokovic would not be playing in the Italian capital, with the Serbian writing on Instagram: “Rome, I will miss you. I hope we meet next year.”

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• Australian beats Denis Shapovalov after blackout delay
• Straight sets win sets up clash with Lorenzo Musetti

Alex de Minaur has charged into the fourth round of the Madrid Open with a powerful performance as electricity returned to Spain.

The Australian No 1 took less than 90-minutes to defuse the big-serving Canadian Denis Shapovalov with a straight sets 6-3, 7-6 win on Court Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

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• US Open doubles champion admits exceeding limit for an IV infusion
• 27-year-old says he has developed a nervous tic because of the case

Grand slam doubles champion Max Purcell has accepted an 18-month ban for breaching anti-doping rules, with the Australian saying he has developed a nervous tic and anxiety because of the case.

The 27-year-old entered a voluntary provisional suspension in December after admitting to breaching Article 2.2 of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program “relating to the use of a prohibited method”.

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• Australian No 1 seals 6-2, 6-3 win Lorenzo Sonego
• Djokovic suffers third straight loss in 6-3, 6-4 defeat

While Alex de Minaur looks more comfortable and impressive on the clay with every passing match, the great Novak Djokovic seems to be losing his magical powers on the red stuff.

For while Australia’s No 1 kicked off his Madrid Open quest with a clinical 6-2, 6-3 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday, all the talk at the Caja Magica surrounded another dismal first-round defeat for Djokovic, whose quest for 100 titles took another savage hit.

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After opposing the war in Ukraine and coming out as gay, the 27-year-old made a ‘tough’ choice to change nationality

Over the past three years, Daria Kasatkina has slowly come to terms with a painful truth: the country she was born in, grew up in and represented to great success in the most prominent women’s sport steadfastly rejects her existence.

Four months after Kasatkina came out as gay in 2022, the Russian government enacted a slew of laws aimed at cracking down on and criminalising homosexuality. Last year, Russia began to convict individuals charged with displaying pro-LGBTQ+ imagery. While travelling the world for her profession, already competing under a neutral flag in the grim shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 27-year-old spent much of her time ruminating over whether it was time for her to depart.

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• 19-year-old is youngest Australian to win a match at WTA 1000 level
• World No 78 beats Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in first round

Australia’s teenage tennis sensation Maya Joint has eclipsed one of Ash Barty’s records by earning her first WTA 1000 match triumph at the Madrid Open.

On her tour-level clay-court main draw debut in the Spanish capital, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted local wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2 2-6 6-4 for a third win in three days.

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• The 54-year-old is a former world No 1 in tennis
• He’ll play mixed doubles as the pickleball US Open

Former tennis world No 1 Andre Agassi will make his professional debut in the fast-growing sport of pickelball next week when he teams up with top ranked Anna Leigh Waters for the mixed doubles at the US Open Pickleball Championships.

Invented in 1965 by a group of American friends, pickleball is a fast-paced paddle sport similar to tennis and badminton played on smaller courts using a perforated plastic ball, and interest has skyrocketed in recent years.

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Britain’s wheelchair tennis legend shares how the sport helped her accept her disability and her dreams of greater access across the world

“There are thousands of people out there that have a disability. Just because you have one doesn’t mean you have to stop living,” says Lucy Shuker as she calmly reflects on her journey of more than two decades and the message she hopes it conveys. It is fair to say Shuker has embodied those sentiments in full. At 44 years old, she has been an unceasing presence at the highest level of wheelchair tennis, making her one of the most successful British players.

This journey began with life-changing adversity. Aged 21, shortly after graduating from university and passing her driving test, Shuker was involved in a motorcycle crash that left her paralysed from the chest down. She spent 10 months in hospital as she tried to come to terms with the reality that three-quarters of her body no longer worked.

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• ITIA responds after reminder about anti-doping rules
• Mark Petchey says that the statute is ‘unacceptable’

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has come under fire after it issued a reminder about anti-doping rules, saying players chosen to give samples must remain in full view of chaperones if they choose to take a shower first.

In a note sent to players via the tours that has found its way on to social media, the ITIA said although it had worked hard to ensure that showers after matches can amount to permissible delays to doping control it was not an “entitlement”. It requested players opting to freshen up first to strictly adhere to the requirement to stay in full view of the chaperone observing them at all times, and that failure to do so would be taken extremely seriously by the ITIA.

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