Djokovic beats Hurkacz to win 100th title at Geneva Open
GENEVA, Switzerland, May 24 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic battled from a set down to clinch his 100th tour-level title by beating Polish sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(2) at the Geneva Open on Saturday.
The Serbian, who turned 38 on Thursday, becomes just the third man in the Open Era to win 100 ATP titles after American Jimmy Connors and Swiss Roger Federer.
Djokovic's last title came when he won gold at the Paris Olympics last year.
The latest triumph comes at the perfect time as the record 24-times Grand Slam champion bids for a fourth crown at the French Open, which starts on Sunday.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘Boultercanu' serve doubles delight as women's tennis returns to Queen's
Moments before Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter walked on to court one to add a touch of pizzazz to a historic day at Queen's Club, a lady carrying an empty Pimm's jug went to go for a refill. 'I'm sorry but if you leave, we won't be able to let you straight back in,' she was told by a steward. 'You will have to queue.' The woman thought for a moment, looked at the packed stands, and returned to her seat. It turned out to be a wise decision. And not just because the queue to see the British pair – or 'Boultercanu' as the press had already anointed them – was snaking halfway around Queen's Club. For when the action began, Raducanu and Boulter proved to be an instant sensation as they walloped the doubles pair of China's Jiang Xinyu and Taiwan's Wu Fang-hsien 6-4, 6-2. But it was not only the quality of their play in their first match together that stood out. There were also plenty of laughs, high fives and jokes, which continued at the press conference afterwards. Asked whether they might be tempted to also give the doubles a whirl at Wimbledon, Raducanu played it straight. 'We're just going to keep trying to do as best as we can this week and take it from there.' But before she could go on, Boulter interjected: 'Scrap what she said,' she laughed. 'We're going for the Wimbledon title.' 'I was actually very nervous before the match,' added Raducanu. 'Probably more nervous than the singles, because I just didn't really necessarily know what to do. But Katie made me feel so comfortable, and I'm just so pleased to get a win on the board.' The only pity was that many fans on the first day of women's tennis at Queen's Club since 1972 were unable to watch, as the match was played in front of 1,000 spectators on court one rather than on the Andy Murray Arena, which holds 7,700 seats. 'I think it is very swear-word annoying,' one spectator, Helen Millinersaid as she waited outside. 'I booked tickets for the Andy Murray Arena months ago, and was hoping to see Radders and Katie on there, especially given it is such a historic day. I tried to get on to court one to see them, but the queue was incredibly long,. I was told it would take an hour to get on.' A spokesperson later explained the decision was down to contractual issues obliging the WTA to put predominately singles matches on the main court. Court one was so intimate that when Raducanu filled her water bottle after the first set, she was able to have a quick chat with some of the spectators that were less than a metre away from her. Not that she minded. 'I love playing on those smaller, outside courts where you really feel the support and the crowd gets into it,' said Raducanu, who showed no signs of a back spasm that had interrupted her preparations. 'I was filling my bottle up, and I was literally having a chat in the stands, because that's how close it is.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Those hoping to see the match on TV were also left disappointed as the BBC showed Sonay Kartal's match against Daria Kasatkina instead. But Kartal, who has moved into the top 50 in the world, certainly lived up to her billing as she played one of the best matches in her career to beat the world No 16 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. 'I was excited to be the first Brit on the Andy Murray Arena,' Katal said. 'I think it's an incredible court and the packed crowd was right behind me exactly when I needed it. I loved every second. It was super special.' Having a WTA 500 women's tournament is not the only change at Queen's this year. For the first time, there are also no line judges. It means that when a player hits a ball out, the crowd hears pre-recorded voices collected by the Lawn Tennis Association from its members and partners. Not that it was entirely successful. Several times when the ball clattered into the net, a cry of 'Out!' was heard. For the first time, spectators have colour-coded stickers under their seats. A green sticker means they can leave while play is going on. But if they have an orange one, they can only move at the end of a game. Red means they can only do so at a change of ends or a set. The good news for those coming to Queen's on Tuesday is that Boulter and Raducanu will be back in action in the singles – with Boulter kicking things off against Ajla Tomljanovic before Raducanu faces Cristina Bucșa. And, yes, both matches will be on the Andy Murray Arena.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Why are line judges no longer used at Queen's?
You might have noticed something missing from the courts at Queen's Club this year - where have the line judges gone?A familiar sight around the edges of the courts for decades, the men and women who shout "out" and "fault" have been replaced by electronic line line calling uses cameras, computers and sensors to track a ball and is used by tennis umpires to judge whether a ball is in or season the men's tour - the ATP - has adopted the technology across all of its events, while the WTA - the women's tour - has also been using it at many of its events. A combined men's and women's event, such as Queen's, offers an easy opportunity for the technology to be used across the two tournaments. The ATP said the move to electronic line calling was to "optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces".A new women's event at Queen's started on Monday, while the men's tournament follows at the same venue a week later. What about Wimbledon? Wimbledon will end its 147-year use of line judges this summer, relying solely on electronic line technology will be in place for qualifying and the main Garros is the only Grand Slam tournament that still uses line judges and players are not allowed to use electronic replays to challenge human French Open want to maintain traditions synonymous with the 134-year-old tournament and are unwilling to lose human article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team. What is Ask Me Anything? Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio. More questions answered... Why female tennis players are returning to Queen's after half a centuryWhen does the tennis grass court season begin?Why does French Open not have electronic line calling?
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Czech Lehecka opens grass campaign with win in Stuttgart
June 9 (Reuters) - Rising Czech force Jiri Lehecka began his Wimbledon build-up in impressive fashion with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open on Monday. The eighth seed, whose last match on grass was in the Wimbledon fourth round in 2023, quickly got up to speed to overpower Bonzi, firing down 13 aces. Lehecka, 23, will face 2023 Stuttgart runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff next after he thumped down 30 aces during a 6-4 6-4 victory over Italy's Matteo Arnaldi, his first win against a top-50 opponent this season. American sixth seed Brandon Nakashima came through a battle against Britain's Jacob Fearnley, winning 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1. Top seed at the ATP 250 event is Alexander Zverev. Action also began at the Libema Open in Den Bosch with two-time runner-up Jordan Thompson beginning another run with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
