
WTA roundup: Iga Swiatek earns milestone win at Bad Homburg
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 5, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
Fourth-seeded Iga Swiatek overcame a slow start against another former World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, to win 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
Poland's Swiatek notched her 300th career tour-level win and first of the grass-court season after being down 4-1 in the first set to Belarus' Azarenka. Swiatek converted 4 of 8 break-point opportunities and saved 4 of 6.
Top seed Jessica Pegula dispatched the Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 16, while second-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini won a battle with Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (8), 7-6 (6).
Fifth-seed Emma Navarro ousted four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan, 6-4, 6-4. In one last Round of 32 match, Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4.
Lexus Eastbourne Open
Czech second seed Barbora Krejcikova fought back by saving two match points with British wild card Harriet Dart serving at 5-4 in the third set and went on to win their first-round grass-court match in Eastbourne, England.
Krejcikova, the 2024 Wimbledon champion, won 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5, compiling five aces and converting 6 of 7 break points. Dart converted all four of her break-point opportunities in the match lasting two hours, 40 minutes.
Seventh seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain dropped the first set before roaring back to defeat Ann Li 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1. Third seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia topped Brit Sonay Kartal 6-3, 7-6 (2), and sixth-seeded Peyton Stearns won in straight sets over Brit Mingge Xu 6-3, 6-4.
Australian Kimberly Birrell upset fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-4. Fifth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland retired in her match when trailing Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-4, 4-2. Eighth-seeded Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia won in straight sets, as did Brit Jodie Burrage. Russian Kamilla Rakhimova and France's Varvara Gracheva went three sets to record victories.
--Field Level Media
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Cricket-Chase ready to lead much-changed Windies as Australia look to the future
FILE PHOTO: Cricket - 2025 ICC World Test Championship Final - South Africa v Australia - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - June 14, 2025 Australia's Pat Cummins and teammates walks out of the Lord's Pavilion to mark the beginning of Day 4 Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo (Reuters) -Change will be a key theme for both the West Indies and Australia in their upcoming three-test series in the Caribbean with the visitors set to field a remodelled batting line-up and the hosts being led out for the first time by Roston Chase. Pat Cummins suggested Australia were due a top-order reset after their loss to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month and the skipper said their line-up to face West Indies shows they are looking to the future. Australia have brought in teenager Sam Konstas to open the batting with Usman Khawaja and added Josh Inglis to the line-up, while they will be without the dropped Marnus Labuschagne and injured veteran Steve Smith for a series which marks the start of both teams' new WTC cycle. Both Konstas and Inglis have played only two tests, the former opening the batting against India in Melbourne and Sydney last season, and the latter batting in the middle order in Sri Lanka earlier this year. Australia could lose as many as half a dozen test regulars to retirement after this year's Ashes series with the likes of Khawaja, Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all in their mid to late 30s. When asked about the changes ahead of the first match beginning in Bridgetown later on Wednesday, Cummins told reporters: "You look forward to what the next couple of years are going to look like. "I think part of that's a keenness to get Sam and Josh into the squad, into the playing 11. You start looking at what the batting order might look like for the next couple of years. I think that's part of the reset. "And your goals change a little bit obviously. We're starting on zero points, so it's a bit of a mental reset. You block out the last couple of years and then start again." Cameron Green has retained his place at number three despite scoring only four runs and facing just five balls in the WTC final, with Cummins saying he viewed the 26-year-old all-rounder as a long-term option in the slot. "He had a test match where it obviously didn't go to plan," he added. "Think he only faced three or four balls, so the message is not to look into that too much. We're really happy with where his game's placed and I dare say we'll get a decent run of number three." SCARS Spin-bowling all-rounder Chase, who last played a test match in March 2023, will have his work cut out for him as he takes charge of a much-changed West Indies side who finished second bottom in the previous WTC cycle. "You can expect positive cricket from us," Chase, who succeeded Kraigg Brathwaite as captain in May, told reporters. "We're looking to play with a bit more flair and bring back that Caribbean style to the game, and we're looking forward to making the Caribbean nation proud. "It's still test cricket, so you still have to have some type of patience, so it'll (be on) the guys to mix their aggression with that patience." The sides last met in a two-test series in January 2024 which ended all square after West Indies claimed a shock eight-run victory in the second test in Brisbane - their first test win over Australia since 2003. "I hope there are some scars," Chase said. "If they're still thinking about that match going out there on Wednesday, that would be very good for us – that will be part of the job done for us." (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
With Kipyegon, Nike hopes to break a record - and win back women runners
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Nike is betting its endeavor to help Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon run a mile in under four minutes will recapture the attention of women consumers who have been looking elsewhere for running shoes and clothes. Industry experts and women runners say it will take more than a bold spectacle to draw women back to the brand. Kipyegon's attempt, branded "Breaking4", set for Thursday at the Stade Charléty in Paris, is part of new CEO Elliott Hill's efforts to pull Nike out of a sales slump and improve its image. From 2021 to 2024, Nike's share of the global sports footwear market dropped from 28.8% to 26.3%, according to Euromonitor International, with consumers defecting to smaller, newer brands like On and Hoka. Nike's popularity has slipped with women in particular. Sales of Nike Women products grew just 4.4% over that three-year period, while Nike Men sales grew 13.5%. Nike has been "obsessed with getting women back" since at least 2021, said a former Nike manager who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. Understanding its female consumer base and how to draw in more women has been a key internal priority as Lululemon and others have eaten into its market share among women, the person added. Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike declined to comment on those details. But Chief Innovation Officer John Hoke told Reutersthe company is doubling its investment in research on women athletes' anatomy and biodynamics versus 18 months ago. Hoke declined to disclose the amount of that investment, but said in an interview that the company's Sports Research Lab historically "had over-indexed on males, so what we are doing is we're now right-sizing." Kipyegon will wear new track spikes that are lighter than those she wore to win 1,500-meter gold at the Olympics last year, a running suit with 3D-printed beads to minimize friction, and a 3D-printed sports bra Nike says is more breathable than anything on the market. Mindful that track spikes are a niche product, Nike is putting its marketing emphasis on the bra, in development for more than two years, which it expedited for Kipyegon's run, Hoke said. Prototypes have been tested on other Nike athletes, including WNBA star Caitlin Clark, he said, adding that the company plans to market it commercially by 2028. Nike's goal with Breaking4 is to attract the attention of serious runners, says David Swartz, an analyst at Morningstar. But whether and when the publicity will translate to sales is unclear. Nike has launched a line of running shoes and clothes in Kipyegon's name, but the people most likely to buy them may not overlap with Breaking4's target audience. Angelina Monti, a Pittsburgh-based physiologist who, at 23, has already competed in 17 marathons, says she's intrigued by Kipyegon's effort, but isn't likely to base a purchase on it. LESS GROUNDBREAKING The market is more competitive now than in 2017, when Nike held its last unofficial record attempt - Breaking2 - in which athletes Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese attempted to run a marathon in under two hours. None succeeded at the time, but Kipchoge did break two hours in a subsequent 2019 attempt and the hype created around the Vaporfly shoes he wore helped Nike's market share in running climb to a record high. The Vaporfly, first introduced in 2016, included a carbon plate to help runners go faster for longer, and sparked a "super shoe" race among sports brands. Nike's innovations for Kipyegon's attempt seem less groundbreaking, experts say. "The suit seems to be quite unique and envelope-pushing, whereas the footwear just seems to be a better version of what she has run in in the past," said running shoe designer Richard Kuchinsky. Still, "it's nice to see (Nike) invest in a woman, even if this one feels more of a stretch than Breaking2," said Alison Wade, a former college track & field coach and creator of Fast Women, a newsletter dedicated to women's competitive distance running. Nike has announced several initiatives focused on women since Hill took over, including the "After Dark Tour" series of half-marathon and 10-kilometre races in seven cities around the world. But as it tries to regain credibility with women, it starts at a deficit. In April, the company agreed to settle a 2018 lawsuit from female employees alleging widespread workplace discrimination. Nike's partnership with Kim Kardashian-owned Skims drew criticism from some former employees for its emphasis on products to make women "feel strong and sexy." The partnership has yet to launch a product. Any record Kipyegon sets on Thursday would be unofficial, as she will have pacers and won't be in an official competition. Running experts are skeptical Kipyegon can break a four-minute mile, which would require shaving 3.1% off her previous record. "But," Wade said, "maybe Nike has something up its sleeve and it'll turn out we were all wrong." (Reporting by Helen Reid in London and Nicholas Brown in New York, Editing by Lisa Jucca and Bill Berkrot)


The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Australian teen sensation Gout betters his own 200m national record
Athletics - Ostrava Golden Spike Meeting - Mestsky Stadion, Ostrava, Czech Republic - June 24, 2025 Australia's Gout Gout celebrates winning the men's 200m REUTERS/David W Cerny OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) -Australian teenage sprinter Gout Gout crushed the 200 metres field in his first senior race abroad on Tuesday, bettering his own national record by two hundredths of a second to finish in 20.02 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike. The 17-year-old ran a textbook race in his European debut at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in the Czech Republic, crossing the line 0.17 seconds ahead of Cuban Reynier Mena, while Briton Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.60) was third. "I feel good. New personal best, new national record in my first European race," the Queensland schoolboy told reporters. "I don't feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it's just me by myself and what I've got to do — my favourite thing, and that's to run. "So, I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that ... Get some more races in me and (the 20-second barrier) will drop for sure." Gout has drawn comparisons to Jamaican great Usain Bolt and he made headlines in December when he broke Peter Norman's national record that had stood for 56 years in 20.04. He ran a 19.84-second 200 and 9.99 seconds in the 100m at the Australian national championships in Perth in April but a strong tailwind rendered both illegal. His performances were strong enough, however, to earn him a spot on Australia's team for the World Championships in Tokyo in September. (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Neil Fullick)