Sabalenka, Zverev eye French Open semis after Djokovic withdrawal

Sabalenka, Zverev eye French Open semis after Djokovic withdrawal
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus serves against Emma Navarro of the US during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Jun. 3, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 05 June 2024
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Sabalenka, Zverev eye French Open semis after Djokovic withdrawal

Sabalenka, Zverev eye French Open semis after Djokovic withdrawal
  • “When you finally get there, to your goal, it actually gives you so much confidence in yourself,” the Belarusian said
  • Zverev and De Minaur, playing in only his second Slam quarter-final, will face off for the remaining last-four spot against Ruud

PARIS: Aryna Sabalenka eyes a place in a seventh consecutive Grand Slam semifinal when she takes on Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva at the French Open on Wednesday, with the schedule diminished following the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic.
The other two singles quarter-finals on Court Philippe Chatrier see Elena Rybakina face Jasmine Paolini and Alexander Zverev play Alex de Minaur in the night session.
World number two Sabalenka, who is still on course to meet rival Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final, has not failed to reach a Slam semifinal since lifting her first major title at last year’s Australian Open.
“When you finally get there, to your goal, it actually gives you so much confidence in yourself,” the Belarusian said.
Sabalenka has powered through the draw so far without dropping a set, including a 6-1, 6-2 dismantling of Andreeva’s older sister Erika in the first round.
However, 17-year-old Mirra, the youngest woman to reach the quarter-finals since 2005, could prove a tougher nut to crack despite having failed to win a set against Sabalenka in two previous meetings.
“Of course, we will add a few adjustments,” she said. “We will change something, because the way I played last two times didn’t work.
“I don’t have anything in my head, so I hope my coach will help me with it.”
The winner will play either former Wimbledon champion Rybakina or Italian 12th seed Paolini for a spot in the final.
Rybakina will be a strong favorite to progress, but the 28-year-old Paolini will be full of confidence after an excellent year which has seen her fly up the rankings.
“Before was, like, ‘I cannot win these matches’. I have to, I don’t know, do a miracle,” Paolini said after beating Elina Avanesyan to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
“But now I step on court, and I say, ‘Okay, I can have my chance’. I have to play well, of course, but I have chances.”
Djokovic had been due to face Casper Ruud in a repeat of last year’s final, but the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s title defense was abruptly ended by a knee injury he suffered during his dramatic last-16 victory over Francisco Cerundolo.
Media reports suggested Djokovic was set to undergo surgery, which would put his participation at Wimbledon and potentially the Paris Olympics in doubt.
Jannik Sinner will now usurp Djokovic as world number one next week and the Italian goes up against Carlos Alcaraz in Friday’s men’s semifinals.
Zverev and De Minaur, playing in only his second Slam quarter-final, will face off for the remaining last-four spot against Ruud.
German fourth seed Zverev will be targeting a fourth straight Roland Garros semifinal after making the last eight for the sixth time in seven years.
He needed five sets to beat Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, before fighting back to defeat Holger Rune in another decider in a last-16 tie which finished at 1:40 am local time — the second-latest finish in French Open history.
“I’ve played a total of eight-and-a-half hours over the last three days so I need to recover,” said Zverev.
“I need to do everything possible to be ready for the quarter-final match.”
Zverev is playing under the shadow of an ongoing trial in Berlin over allegations of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.
Australian De Minaur, seeded 11th, had never even got past the second round in Paris before this year, winning just three of 10 matches.
“It’s one of my best Slam results. Looks like I’ve converted myself into a clay specialist,” De Minaur said.
There will be a first-time French Open men’s champion on Sunday, with Ruud the only man left in the draw who has previously reached the final.


Djokovic ‘shakes rust off’ to make third round of Shanghai Masters

Djokovic ‘shakes rust off’ to make third round of Shanghai Masters
Updated 05 October 2024
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Djokovic ‘shakes rust off’ to make third round of Shanghai Masters

Djokovic ‘shakes rust off’ to make third round of Shanghai Masters
  • The Serbian beat American Alex Michelsen in a thrilling two-set match that finished 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (11/9)
  • Sinner dispatched Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-4, while Alcaraz made short work of China’s Shang Juncheng, winning 6-2, 6-2

SHANGHAI: Novak Djokovic said it took time to “get the rust off” as he fought through two tiebreaks to make his way into the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.
The Serbian beat American Alex Michelsen in a thrilling two-set match that finished 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (11/9).
Meanwhile Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz showed why they were top in the world as they raced through to the next stage with confident straight-set wins.
Sinner dispatched Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-4, while Alcaraz made short work of China’s Shang Juncheng, winning 6-2, 6-2.
Four-time Shanghai champion Djokovic did not have it quite so easy against 43rd ranked Michelsen.
Introduced as the “Greatest Of All Time” as he walked onto the court, he received a rapturous welcome from the packed stadium.
But Michelsen started the first set strongly, breaking Djokovic early and going 1-4 up — to the displeasure of the crowd, fully behind the 37-year-old former world number one.
To their delight, the Serbian levelled, and then hit his stride in the tiebreak, winning it 7-3.
The reverse happened in the second set when it was 20-year-old Michelsen’s turn to catch up to take it to the tiebreak.
Djokovic admitted to being “surprised” by Michelsen.
“It took me a little bit of time to get the rust off and to start feeling better on the court,” he said.
“I was very glad to keep calm when it mattered in both tiebreaks.”
The crowd, already in a frenzy after Djokovic spoke Mandarin at the end of the match, went wild as he showed off a new trick — a sentence in the Shanghainese vernacular.
World number one Sinner has said he is not in a “comfortable” situation thanks to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appeal a decision by tennis authorities to clear him of wrongdoing after he twice tested positive for a steroid in March.
His recent blistering winning streak was broken by Alcaraz in the China Open final on Wednesday.
But there was no tiredness on display from either player on Saturday, with 23-year-old Sinner looking completely unruffled in the first set against the 93rd-ranked Daniel.
Daniel fell behind again in the second set and despite rallying halfway through to gently test Sinner, the Italian kept his cool, ending the set 6-4.
“I had only one practice session yesterday but I felt very comfortable on the court,” he said after the match.
Sinner will face Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Sunday.
“It will be a tough one tomorrow, very physical, because me and Tomas know each other quite well now,” he said.
Earlier, arch-rival Alcaraz also looked comfortable throughout, breaking in the first game, with teenager Shang unable to make much headway against the world number two.
Despite their enthusiasm for Shang, the crowd could not resist Alcaraz’s charm.
At the Spaniard’s encouragement, they broke into loud cheers when he won a particularly exciting rally in which he hit a tricky backwards shot to keep the point alive.
“I just had one practice then was straight into this match, so to be able to show this level in the first match, I’m just really proud,” 21-year-old Alcaraz said after the match.
Alcaraz will next face another Chinese player, wildcard Wu Yibing, who beat 25th seed Nicolas Jarry in the second round.
The tournament lost its second top-ten player on Saturday, as Andrey Rublev fell to 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, joining Norwegian Casper Ruud on the notable casualties list.
The Russian, a finalist at last year’s Shanghai Masters, roared in jubilation after winning a tiebreaker to take the first set.
But 65th-ranked Mensik broke Rublev in the first game of the second set, and again in the fifth to draw even.
The Czech then came from behind in the third to beat the world number six for the second time this year, with a final score of 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3.


Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova

Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
Updated 05 October 2024
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Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova

Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
  • The American former US Open champion beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to close on an eighth title
  • In the other semifinal, Karolina Muchova disappointed the 15,000 crowd to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4

BEIJING: Coco Gauff fought back from a set down to battle into the China Open final on Saturday setting up a showdown with party-pooper Karolina Muchova.
The American former US Open champion beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to close on an eighth title.
The 20-year-old faces Muchova after the 49th-ranked Czech silenced a capacity Beijing crowd to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in straight sets.
Sixth-ranked Gauff has struggled for form in recent months and split with coach Brad Gilbert after her US Open defense ended in the last 16 in a blur of double-faults.
Gauff struggled again with her serve against Badosa, racking up 11 double-faults.
But she belatedly found a semblance of top form to down the former world number two in two hours, 20 minutes.
With a new coaching set-up in place, Gauff said that she had not really expected to be in the final.
“Has this week been my best tennis? In moments, yes,” said Gauff, the youngest player to reach the China Open decider since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
“I think today I reached some levels where I was playing my best tennis. Obviously, that’s not the case for the whole match.”
The 19th-ranked Badosa broke in the fifth game of the first set as Gauff’s problems with her serve resurfaced.
The eighth game was mammoth, with Gauff finally converting her eighth break point, and she celebrated by putting both arms in the air.
The jubilation was short-lived, as Badosa broke back immediately and sealed the set on her third set point when Gauff overhit a simple forehand return.
Badosa broke once more to start the second set and Gauff was in danger of losing her cool, whacking the sole of her foot with her racquet as she fell 2-0 down.
Gauff recovered her poise to twice break the Spaniard and take the set against a suddenly rattled Badosa.
It was the first set Badosa had dropped in Beijing and Gauff took that ascendancy into the deciding set as her opponent faded fast.
Gauff’s only title of the year so far came in Auckland in January.
In the other semifinal, Muchova disappointed the 15,000 crowd to beat a subdued Zheng 6-3, 6-4.
The Czech is the lowest-ranked player to reach the Beijing final since the tournament began in 2004.
Last year’s French Open finalist toppled top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals on Friday.
She eased through the first set against Paris gold medalist Zheng and was unrelenting in the second to ram home her advantage.
Serving to stay in the tournament, the 21-year-old Zheng dug deep to save two match points in the ninth game, but the reprieve was only very brief.
The 28-year-old Muchova was inside the top 10 this time last year but did not play for nearly 10 months after having wrist surgery.
She is pursuing only the second title of her career.
Gauff has won both their previous two meetings, most recently in the US Open semifinals last year on the way to clinching her first major crown.


World’s best female tennis players heading to Riyadh next month

World’s best female tennis players heading to Riyadh next month
Updated 04 October 2024
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World’s best female tennis players heading to Riyadh next month

World’s best female tennis players heading to Riyadh next month
  • The first professional women’s tennis event to take place in the Kingdom runs Nov. 2 to 9
  • ‘We’re excited to begin a new chapter for tennis in the Kingdom,’ said Saudi Tennis Federation president Arij Mutabagani

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will welcome some of the world’s top tennis players — including Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus — next month for the Women’s Tennis Association Finals in Riyadh.
The championship will be the first professional women’s tennis tournament to take place in the Kingdom. It will run Nov. 2 to 9 at King Saudi University in Riyadh.
The top eight singles players and doubles pairs from the WTA will face off in the season-ending event, which will decide the 2024 champions. The tournament is the first of a three-year contract between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation, with the Hologic WTA Tour’s flagship event making Riyadh its home through to 2026.
Saudi Tennis Federation president Arij Mutabagani said: “We’ve seen the passion that our young population has for the game, and our aim to inspire 1 million (people to take up) tennis by 2030 is progressing rapidly, as seen with the recent WTA community engagement programs that were rolled out across the city last week.
“With just 30 days to go until the world’s top female tennis stars compete here in Saudi Arabia for the first time, we’re excited to begin a new chapter for tennis in the Kingdo,” he added.
With WTA World Number 1 Swiatek, and 2024 US Open champion Sabalenka already confirmed for the season finale, the stage is set for a thrilling spectacle. Tickets are on sale via webook.com
The WTA Finals Riyadh is a key element of the STF’s plans to inspire participation in tennis across Saudi and is the latest international sports event to take place in the country. It is also part of the WTA’s aims to grow the game worldwide and inspire a new generation of girls to take to the court.
In recent weeks, WTA Finals tournament director Garbiñe Muguruza and community ambassador Judy Murray made the trip to Riyadh to kick off the WTA Community Engagement clinics supporting the STF’s efforts to inspire a new generation of Saudi tennis stars.


Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
Updated 04 October 2024
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Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
  • The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Tomasz Wiktorowski
  • The world number one has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies

WARSAW: World number one Iga Swiatek on Friday confirmed she has split with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and as a result would not compete in next week’s WTA tournament in Wuhan, China.
“After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways,” Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
“After an important change in my sports team, I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan,” she later said in a post on the X account of the Chinese tournament.
“I’m really sorry for fans in China and those who wait to see me play, but I hope you understand that I need some time.”
After her US Open quarter-final defeat in September, Swiatek also withdrew from the prestigious Beijing 1000 WTA tournament in which she was the defending champion citing “personal matters.”
“I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together,” Swiatek said of fellow Pole Wiktorowski.
“His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.”
Swiatek said she has held “first talks” with possible new coaches, adding: “I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.”
The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Wiktorowski, and has held the world number one ranking since November 2023.
She has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies.


Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight

Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
Updated 04 October 2024
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Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight

Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
  • World number two Aryna Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row
  • She won titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time

BEIJING: The 49th-ranked Karolina Muchova stunned top seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to reach the China Open semifinals on Friday.
The Czech player won 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-4 and faces China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen or 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva for a place in the final.
Last year’s US Open champion Coco Gauff plays Spain’s former world number two Paula Badosa in the other semifinal in Beijing.
World number two Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row, claiming titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time.
The Belarusian previously had trouble though with Muchova, who this time last year was inside the top 10 before injury struck.
US Open semifinalist Muchova had won the last two meetings between them with both going to a deciding set.
This encounter proved to be just as tight as Sabalenka’s hopes of usurping Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings took an unexpected hit, having been a break up at 4-2 in the deciding set and seemingly on course for the last four.
“The conditions here are so tough, it can go one way or the other. There was a couple of great returns from her, she got the momentum and started playing more aggressively,” said Sabalenka, who will play at the Wuhan Open next week.
“It was a really high-level match and she played some unbelievable tennis.”
Three-time major champion Sabalenka faced three break points at the start but she held firm, then had a sniff herself on her opponent’s serve at 2-1, but Muchova similarly refused to buckle.
The hard-hitting Sabalenka had set point on Muchova’s serve at 5-4 but surrendered the opportunity when she rattled her forehand wide on the Czech’s second serve.
Muchova double-faulted to give Sabalenka another chance to wrap up the first set but again she failed to take it.
The Czech had two set points in the tiebreak and grabbed the second at the end of a thrilling rally to go a set up.
It was the first set 26-year-old Sabalenka had dropped since the third round in New York.
Sabalenka started the second set brightly to break for 2-1 and broke once more on the way to sealing the set with comparative ease.
Neither could hold serve in the deciding set before Muchova, who at one point had appeared to be wilting in the face of her opponent’s superior power, found another gear to clinch the match in two hours, 46 minutes.
This time last year 28-year-old Muchova was ranked ninth in the world having reached the French Open final and semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
But her 2023 season ended after the US Open because of wrist surgery and she did not play for nearly 10 months until returning this summer.
Sabalenka felt she should have been more aggressive in the match, but said: “I was really close to winning today, but things didn’t go my way and I can only be proud of myself,” she said.