Category: Tennis

The 163-page PTPA lawsuit contains some valid and not-so-valid criticism of the professional tours and major events

The Professional Tennis Players’ Association came into existence on the eve of the 2020 US Open and at the height of pandemic restrictions. After an inauspicious start, the association co-founded by Novak Djokovic has spent time building its professional structures, finances and player support while trying to gain influence in the sport. The PTPA ostensibly functions as a players’ union, but it is not legally recognised as such, since players are classed as independent contractors rather than employees.

As the PTPA’s numerous attempts to gain a seat at the sport’s decision making table have been rebuffed, often vigorously, by the leading governing bodies – the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the four grand slam tournaments – it became increasingly likely that their acrimonious relations would lead to litigation. The PTPA’s decision to initiate a lawsuit against the ATP, WTA and ITF on Tuesday, while naming the grand slams as co-conspirators, marks a dramatic intensification of its campaign for players’ rights. It also comes as no great surprise.

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Changes in WTA tour means the days of child stars are gone, which is why 17-year-old’s achievements are so significant

There are two teenagers in the top 100 of the WTA rankings at the moment. Women’s tennis, in some ways, was built on the success of its child prodigies – Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and the Williams sisters – who audaciously stormed towards the top in their youth, demanding attention.

Those days are long gone. Between the improved depth, physicality and professionalism at the lower levels, possibly a more sparse talent pool and the WTA’s age eligibility rules restricting the number of tournaments a child can contest, it is increasingly more difficult to flit up the rankings so early.

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After his success at Indian Wells Masters 1000, the next step for the world No 7 must be to challenge for grand slam titles

In the joyful aftermath of his triumph in Vienna late last year, the deep satisfaction Jack Draper felt from his rapid progress prompted him to look ahead. Draper does not often think about his specific goals, preferring to simply focus on his daily work, but the ultimate objective was clear. He saw himself in the mix at the very top of the game, chasing down the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. He believed he was not so far from doing so.

After a series of sublime performances over the past 10 days secured for Draper his first Masters 1000 at Indian Wells, the 23-year-old is now even closer. Not only has he reached No 7 in the ATP rankings by defeating four top-15 opponents in succession, including a stellar semi-final win against Alcaraz, he has positioned himself as a top contender for years to come. If Draper can continue to keep significant injuries at bay, there is no reason why he cannot compete for and potentially win grand slam titles.

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• Briton now world No 7 after 6-2, 6-2 victory
• Mirra Andreeva, 17, wins women’s title

In the aftermath of the most brilliant win of his career, a grimy, gutsy three-set triumph over Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper had less than 24 hours to compose himself and refocus in order to close out an extraordinary series of performances with the title he craved.

One of the toughest mental challenges for a professional tennis player is to back up a monumental win, yet on Sunday afternoon in California, Draper cleared that obstacle with ease. He closed out his incredible run in the desert with his most dominant performance of all, completely overpowering the 12th seed, Holger Rune, 6-2, 6-2 to win at Indian Wells for the first time.

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• British No 1 defeats defending champion 6-1, 0-6, 6-4
• Draper to face Holger Rune after he beat Daniil Medvedev

Of the four previous times that Jack Draper and Carlos Alcaraz had stood across the net from each other, half of their meetings had ended with a distraught Draper aborting the match due to injury. While Draper attempted to keep up with the most successful player of his generation, their rivalry underlined the biggest obstacle in Draper’s career: his own physical frailty.

Physically, mentally and in every other category, however, the British No 1 has dramatically improved over the past year as he has established himself as one of the very best players in the world. Amid a fortnight that has showcased the best tennis of his life, Draper held his nerve in a turbulent, chaotic tussle to close out a remarkable 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 win over Alcaraz and reach his first Masters 1000 final at Indian Wells.

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• Andreeva defeats Swiatek 7-6, 1-6, 6-3
• Sabalenka crushes Keys 6-0, 6-1

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beat defending champion Iga Swiatek 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the Indian Wells final for the first time as she sets her sights on back-to-back WTA 1000 titles.

After a tight first set, the 17-year-old Andreeva was flawless in the tiebreak, leaning over and letting out a roar when she enticed a forehand error from Swiatek on set point.

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• Ukrainian upsets local hope Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
• Will next play Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in quarter-finals

Elina Svitolina said she had received an outpouring of support from Americans after the US president Donald Trump’s extraordinary clash with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last month.

Svitolina thanked Americans for their “unwavering support” and “compassion” in a social media post on Sunday after beating Danielle Collins in the third round of Indian Wells. After defeating another local hope Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday to move into the quarter-finals, Svitolina told reporters she had received solid support at the tournament in the California desert.

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• Australian eases to 6-4 6-0 win over Hubert Hurkacz
• De Minaur will next face 25th seed Franciso Cerundolo

Australia’s top-ranked tennis player Alex de Minaur cruised into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. The world No 10, who is seeded ninth for the ATP 1000 event in the California desert, scored an impressive 6-4, 6-0 win over Hubert Hurkacz.

The spoils had been shared at one win apiece in previous meetings, with the Pole taking out their last clash back in 2019 on the red clay in Madrid.

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• Briton trails 4-1 in first set but roars back to win 7-5, 6-4
• Jamie Murray ‘proud’ after reaching doubles milestone

Jack Draper survived a scare to defeat Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-4 and book his place in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells for the second time in his career.

The British No 1 trailed 4-1 in the first set against the world No 937 but a rare moment of frustration inspired his fightback to claim victory in two sets. Trailing 4-2 and on the Brooksby serve, Draper threw his racket to the floor but followed his outburst by winning the next three points as he clawed his way back into the match.

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• Norrie loses 6-3, 7-5 to American 10th seed in third round
• Former British No 1 hits double fault on match point

It has been three and a half years since Cameron Norrie departed the Indian Wells Tennis Garden having shocked the tennis world by winning one of the most important trophies in the sport. A rise into the top 10 of the ATP rankings and a Wimbledon semi-final followed soon after.

Despite two extremely positive earlier performances during the past week in the desert, Norrie remains a considerable distance from reproducing his success of old. The 29-year-old was outclassed in the third round of Indian Wells by the No 10 seed Tommy Paul, whose greater weapons and confidence in the decisive moments earned him a 6-3, 7-5 win.

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• Five-time champion loses 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in second round
• Jack Draper sails to 6-4, 6-0 win despite tough draw

Novak Djokovic’s difficult start to the season continued on the North American hard courts as he crashed out of Indian Wells with an extremely poor performance in his opening match, losing 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the second round to the world No 85, Botic van de Zandschulp.

Despite producing arguably the best performance of the year in his four-set victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open, Djokovic has now lost three consecutive matches since that triumph. The thigh injury Djokovic suffered during his win over Alcaraz forced him to retire from his semi-final against Alexander Zverev and then he fell in the first round of the Qatar Open last month to Matteo Berrettini.

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• Briton goes down 6-3, 6-2 to Moyuka Uchijima
• Indian Wells defeat follows difficult few weeks

After an extremely difficult month in which she was pursued across tennis tournaments in Asia by an obsessive spectator, Emma Raducanu struggled to find her range and rhythm on her return to competition and was comprehensively defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Moyuka Uchijima of Japan in the first round of the Indian Wells Open on Thursday.

Over the past few years, the organisers at Indian Wells have marketed the tournament as Tennis Paradise, a reference to the handsome mountainous landscape that surrounds the court and its warm, sunny weather. In reality, though, the conditions are often some of the most hellish on tour. Along with the slow conditions because of the dry, dusty desert air, gusty wind can make it incredibly challenging for all players.

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• Saudi Public Investment Fund pays for programme
• 320 players can take up to 12 months off and access IVF

The Women’s Tennis Association has become the first international sports body to introduce up to 12 months of paid maternity leave for players, in what it has hailed as a defining moment for women’s sport.

Under the new policy, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, players will also get access to grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF.

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• Former world No 1 won US Open and French Open singles titles
• Stolle helped Australia win three straight Davis Cups from 1964

Australian tennis great Fred Stolle, a former world No 1, dual grand slam singles champion and three-times Davis Cup winner, has died at the age of 86.

To modern-day fans, Stolle will be best remembered for his colourful commentary and anecdotes after featuring on TV for almost 50 years. To old-timers and aficionados, Stolle will be regarded as a giant of the game during the halcyon days of the 1960s when Australia ruled the tennis world and Stolle ruled some of the country’s finest ever players.

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Banned world No 1 casts a shadow as tour returns to tournament at which sequence of events began that led to punishment

Early on during his stay in the California desert a year ago, Giacomo Naldi allegedly reached into his treatment bag one morning and accidentally brushed his left finger across the blade of a scalpel used to remove calluses, immediately drawing blood. Two days later, after Naldi had removed the bandage from his finger, his colleague Umberto Ferrara suggested he use the over-the-counter ointment Trofodermin to treat his healing wound.

Naldi and Ferrara were in Indian Wells as Jannik Sinner’s physio and fitness trainer respectively. According to Sinner and his team, as Naldi began to use the ointment to treat his wound while also conducting his daily treatment on Sinner without gloves and Sinner undertook two doping tests in the subsequent two weeks, these events put into motion the most high-profile anti-doping case in tennis history as he twice tested positive.

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