Latest news with #ATP1000
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Casper Ruud knocked out of French Open and reveals he's been injured all clay-court season
Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud became the biggest causality of the French Open so far as the seventh seed was knocked out by Nuno Borges. Ruud struggled with a knee injury and won just one game in the final two sets as Borges progressed to the third round with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 win. The Norwegian took a medical timeout and received treatment on his left knee after the third set but carried on playing on the Court Suzanne-Lenglen. However, he did not win another game as the Madrid Open champion suffered his earliest Roland Garros exit since 2018. Ruud reached the French Open final in 2022 and 2023, losing to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and was beaten in the semi-finals last year by Alexander Zverev. He won the biggest title of his career in Madrid by beating Jack Draper in the final of the ATP 1000 event and then reached the quarters in Rome, where he was thrashed by Jannik Sinner. But Ruud, 26, then revealed he had been carrying the knee injury for a 'couple of weeks' and had been taking pain-killers to get through matches. Ruud said he first felt the pain at the start of the clay-court season in Monte Carlo and had a scan during the Madrid Open as he went on to win the title. He said he was avoiding certain movements on court but took nothing away from Borges. Ruud also said he considered quitting during the match. 'It's a slam, I love this tournament,' Ruud said. 'Looking back, I tried my best to continue. I mean, just try to avoid the shots that are hurting. 'But towards the end, there were also other movements that started hurting, so it wasn't ideal. I asked for the physio after the third set, hoping he could maybe make a change. 'Then quickly I was 0-4 down in the fourth. I was thinking anyways, might as well finish, we're two games away.' Borges, 29, recorded his first victory against a top-10 opponent and the World No 41 advanced to the third round of the French Open for the first time in his career. 'I was fighting a lot especially that first set. I felt completely drilled. He was playing with a huge intensity and I wasn't handling the situation the best. It was too much for me. 'I kept trying and I realised he started to slow down a little bit. Obviously he wasn't a 100 per cent today, or I'm sure the result would not have been the same. But I'm still proud of how I battled. 'From the beginning until the end, I gave myself a shot and I got lucky. 'I realised he wasn't moving too well to the sides. I thought he was still quick moving to my drop shots. I tried to open up the court a bit and I got some more free points. 'I thought, if I stay aggressive I will have a good chance. In the end I thought I played really consistent and really solid. I'm really happy. It's a big milestone for me to reach the third round.'
Mint
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Mint
French Open 2025: Who to watch for at Roland Garros
Mohamed, remember when tennis was easy?" Alexander Bublik needled chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani during a changeover in his round of 16 match against Jakub Menšík at the Madrid Masters last month. 'Like five years ago it was super easy to play tennis. A bunch of random people in the top 50, barely moving. Now this guy is not even top 5, not even top 10. F*** is that?" Though Bublik's entertaining tennis took him to World No.17 last year, the Kazakh is known more for his histrionics and sometimes controversial comments. But in Madrid, where he duly went on to lose 3-6, 2-6 to Menšík, the 27-year-old provided an incisive commentary on the changing landscape of men's tennis. A few years ago, it was a handful of players, namely Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who dominated the sport, leaving the rest fighting for scraps. But the end of the Big 3 era means every player believes they are in with a fighting chance for the big prizes. Infused with this new sense of self-belief, the younger generation is hitting the ball bigger and bolder than ever. They are not bowing down to the established world order. Teen sensation Menšík blindsided everyone by racing to a title win at the Miami Masters, an ATP 1000 event that sits just below the Grand Slams in the sport's tournament hierarchy. The 19-year-old owns a powerful serve and has the big groundstrokes to dictate play from the baseline. He put them to great effect in Miami, blowing past more seasoned players like Arthur Fils and Taylor Fritz in the earlier round. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic to win his first tour title. Menšík fired 14 aces and faced just one break point against the best returner in the game to win in two tie-break sets. Also read: From local courts to global dreams: India's women are rewriting tennis from the ground up Menšík's triumph in Miami has created a definite buzz, but he is not the only one to defy odds and take coveted titles this year. Just two weeks before the Czech's breakthrough performance, Briton Jack Draper had snagged the Indian Wells Masters title. On the long clay stretch, Carlos Alcaraz won in Monte Carlo and Rome, Casper Ruud in Madrid. Alexander Zverev ruled in Munich; Holger Rune claimed the crown in Barcelona. There are no set narratives, no overwhelming favourites anymore. It's anyone's game now. CIRCLE OF LIFE That sense of flux can be felt most keenly on clay, at its showpiece event, the French Open. The former kingdom of Rafael Nadal. No athlete has ever dominated a tournament quite like 'Rafa" ruled Roland Garros. Fourteen titles, five in a row from 2010-14, a 112-4 win-loss record. Nadal was singular in his pursuit for greatness on terre battue (beaten earth), the most attritional playing surface in the game. That was another way of saying the most tedious surface, till Nadal came along in all his gladiatorial glory. Sleeveless T-shirts, cut-off pants, bulging biceps and flying locks. In the end, it was time, and not a young challenger that snatched away his crown. Having started his incredible run at Roland Garros with a title win on debut in 2005, Nadal was knocked out in the first round by Zverev last year. When the 2025 French Open begins, on Sunday, it will mark the first time in 20 years that Nadal is not in the reckoning. However, the 38-year-old, who retired from the sport in November, will still make the trip to Paris. The Grand Slam will honour Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, and his legacy with a special ceremony on the opening day. It may also remind us that Nadal was an anomaly in history. And a tough act to follow. In the run up to the 2025 French Open, responsibility to carry the torch forward has been foisted upon the top two players in the world—Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz and Sinner are not only the leaders of the new generation, but they also split the four Grand Slam titles in 2024. While the Italian clinched the hard-court majors, Australian Open and US Open, Alcaraz won the European Slams, French Open and Wimbledon. Sinner defended the Australian Open title earlier this year, but it hasn't been all smooth sailing for him. The Italian, who was caught in the doping net last year, as he twice tested positive for banned anabolic steroid clostebol, was finally suspended for three months this season. It had already been deemed that Sinner did not have 'intention to dope" and was thus given a reduced sentence. The timing of the ban could not have been better—tidily positioned in the window between the first two majors of the year. His ban ended just before the start of the Italian Open. During his time off, Sinner was not once knocked off his World No.1 pedestal. Cheered on belligerently by his home crowd at Rome's Foro Italico, Sinner showed very few signs of his three-month exile. A blazing 6-0, 6-1 win over Ruud, who was fresh off his Madrid triumph and is a two-time French Open finalist, was the highlight of his dominant run in Rome. It took an extraordinary performance from Alcaraz to stop Sinner in the final and snap his 26-match winning streak. With a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over Sinner, the Spaniard ended the run up to the French Open the way he had started it—win an ATP 1000 Masters title triumph. 'Today I started the match really well," Alcaraz said of the Rome final. 'Tactically since the beginning till the last ball, I didn't lose the focus, which is great for me…I didn't do a roller-coaster." It was just the kind of result he needed as he prepares to defend his French Open crown for the very first time. Alcaraz comes from a long line of Spanish conquerors in Paris, but he doesn't have a game tailored for clay. He is a little more adventurous, likes to make the play rather than waiting, deep in the trenches, for his rivals to make mistakes. The Spaniard's bravado and versatility has already brought him four Grand Slam titles. But winning last year's French Open, a rite of passage for any good Spanish player, would have taken a weight off his back. Only 22, Alcaraz could be gearing up to building his own legacy in Paris. Also read: Against the odds: Meet the next generation of India's women tennis players This year's Roland Garros though feels the most open it has been in years. Not only because Sinner-Alcaraz are yet to ascend the level of consistency that set the Big 3 era apart, or because the second rung of players will come at them hard, but also because the last of the old guard is quickly fading. Djokovic stands on the brink of history, unsure of his future. The 38-year-old is one major short of becoming the most successful Grand Slammer, one tour title away from completing a tally of 100. But those milestones are looking too far. He hasn't won a Grand Slam title in over a year, and his last big win came at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Serb began the European clay-court swing with two straight defeats and is reeling. '(This is) kind of new reality for me, trying to win a match or two, not really thinking about getting far in the tournament," he said after losing to Alejandro Tabilo in Monte Carlo. 'Things are different, obviously, with my strokes, with my body, with my movement. But that's, I guess, the circle of life and the career. I will try to make the most out of these new circumstances, particularly on Grand Slams, where it counts the most. I'm not going into Roland Garros as one of the main favourites. Maybe that can help, I don't know, we will see." SHIFTING SANDS The balance of power also seems to be shifting in the women's field. Iga Świątek, the French Open champion in four of the last five years, hasn't quite recovered ground since coming back from a doping suspension at the start of the season. Though she never enjoyed autonomy on hard courts, Świątek dominated the clay season. In 2025, however, she didn't even make the final in the three tournaments she played on the red dirt. While Jeļena Ostapenko stopped her in Stuttgart, Coco Gauff handed her a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing in Madrid semi-final while Danielle Collins swept past her in Rome. The Pole enters Roland Garros at World No.5, the lowest she has been ranked since 2022, and a crisis of confidence. In her absence, the list of challengers for the French crown has grown. World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka leads the WTA Tour with three titles and six finals so far this season. Even though Sabalenka's big-hitting game is somewhat muted on clay, she powered through to the finals in Stuttgart and won the title in Madrid. Then there is Jasmine Paolini, who captured the double crown at the Italian Open and Gauff, who reached the finals in Rome and Madrid. A little left of the field is Qinwen Zheng, whose most glorious moment came at Roland Garros last year, not at French Open but when she won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Chinese player scored another statement win over Sabalenka, in the Italian Open quarterfinals, to remind of the threat she poses. The one player though that has re-energised the women's field this season is Mirra Andreeva. The Russian prodigy proved her mettle on the big stage as she clinched back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. The 17-year-old has the firepower to unsettle the biggest names in the game, but what sets her apart is her tactical maturity and flexibility, drawing comparisons with the great Martina Hingis. Andreeva defeated four Grand Slam champions—Markéta Vondroušová, Elena Rybakina, Świątek and Sabalenka—during that dream run. It may only be a matter of time before she joins their elite club. Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter based in Mumbai. Also read: Tennis: Who will replace Rafael Nadal as the master of clay?
Hindustan Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
At Rome, Jannik Sinner showed he's back in business
Mumbai: Ahead of his first sighting in competitive tennis after the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner had entered to play the Hamburg Open, an ATP 500 tournament in the week leading into the French Open. It was a back-up deviation should it take the world No.1 some time to get started again at the ATP 1000 in Rome. Three days ago, he pulled out of Hamburg. Sinner has played enough in Rome. And, won enough to get his feel back after returning from a three-month forced hiatus to a doping suspension. At times, it looked like that feel from a player who hadn't lost a match since September last year never went away. Like when he bagelled world No.7 Casper Ruud winning a staggering 25 of 32 points in the first set of the quarter-final and wrapped him up 6-0, 6-1. All Ruud could do was smile and sum it up as 'kind of next level s**t'. At other times, it looked like that level was going through dips of inconsistency from a player who has made dazzling consistency his forte over the last season. Like when he turned up cold against Tommy Paul in the 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 semi-final, or in the final against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday where Sinner was locked in the battle through the tight first set before loosening his grip. Those little inconsistencies could be due to lack of enough match time, as the Italian highlighted after the final. Yet, overall through the week in Rome in terms of his level and mindset after three months of inactivity, Sinner was more close to the Sinner of old than away from it. With the season's second Grand Slam starting on Sunday on the Parisian red dirt, it puts the Australian Open champion back as among the top contenders for the French Open. 'I am closer than expected (after the return), in a way of everything,' Sinner said. 'Very happy about this tournament. It gives me hopefully the confidence to play some good tennis also in Paris.' Comebacks for elite athletes after a considerable time off can often carry an air of unknown. More so in Sinner's case, where he was on a three-month pause despite being healthy. The body can recharge, but the mind can wander in overtime. Five-time Slam winner Iga Swiatek, away on doping suspension for one month late last year, has returned to the tour looking a shadow of the player she was and admitted to feeling anxiety around the entire episode. Sinner too has spoken about having considered taking a break from tennis while his lightened ban became a topic of debate. Some athletes, however, can seemingly flick a switch upon return, no matter the physical or mental toil they've been through in the sidelines. Out injured for three months, Jasprit Bumrah took little time at putting batters at the mercy of his class again in the Indian Premier League. On a forced break for three months, Sinner took little time in finding his reaction time, court movement and range of strokes again. The 23-year-old built it up gradually through the first three matches against relatively easier opponents in Rome, and hit — to quote Ruud again — 'next level s**t' in his first big comeback test. It helped that the Italian, whose ban came into effect in February, could begin training in April. In its early days, Sinner told Italian broadcaster RAI that he had sessions where he felt good and some where he felt 'a drop'. His competitive resumption sort of mirrored that. 'Some matches (I played) incredibly well, some matches could be better,' Sinner said. 'There are some things, like we saw today (in the final), what we have to improve if we want to do good in Paris.' That is likely to happen with more game time. Rome was a better-than-expected restart. Paris, despite his comparatively underwhelming French Open record, could await a more polished Sinner. Alcaraz, the defending champion and his biggest rival, knows that. 'The level he played here is insane, after three months without any tournaments,' the Spaniard said of Sinner. 'If he's winning in Roland Garros and going farther, he's going to feel even better. He's going to be a really dangerous player in Paris.'
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
How Jack Draper can claim huge French Open boost against Carlos Alcaraz
Jack Draper is through to back-to-back quarter-finals at clay-court ATP 1000 events for the first time, and can move up to a career-high ranking of World No 4 if he wins his next match at the Italian Open. It's going to be tough, as Draper will be playing French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, but the British No 1 won his last match against the Spaniard on his way to triumphing at Indian Wells this season. The sixth meeting between Draper and Alcaraz will be the first to be played on clay, so it's going to be unlike anything Draper has faced previously, but there will be a big reward on the line if he can advance to the semi-finals. Should Draper win, it will move him above Taylor Fritz into the top-four of the ATP Rankings and will see the 23-year-old enter this month's French Open as the fourth seed. That would mean Draper would not be able to face any of the world's top three - Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and defending champion Alcaraz - until at least the semi-finals at this year's Roland Garros. Draper has pushed himself to the limit physically and mentally in reaching the Italian Open quarter-finals for the first time, which comes after his impressive run to the Madrid Open final earlier this month. Draper battled from behind to beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the last-16 on Tuesday, setting up another high-profile meeting with the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz. The 21-year-old leads the head-to-head 3-2. Draper won their last meeting in the Indian Wells semi-finals, while Alcaraz progressed when they clashed at the Australian Open earlier this year when Draper retired after going two sets down. "I'm giving myself the best chance to be there every point,' Draper said. 'I'm in the quarter-finals now and there's no time to be tired any more. I've got to keep on pushing hard every point and I will do that."
Independent Singapore
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Jack Draper smashes racquet, then goes on to win and reach Italian Open last 16
ITALY: Jack Draper admitted he let his frustration and emotions show during a fierce match against world No. 92 Vit Kopriva in the third round of the Italian Open. Despite the Briton winning with a final scoreline of 6-4, 6-3 in Rome and earning a spot in the last 16, Draper lost his temper midway through the second set. While leading 3-1 and with a chance to break serve again, the athlete missed four break points, smashed his racquet several times into the clay, and then angrily threw it down next to his seat. With this, Draper told Sky Sports: ' I'm human, we don't always wake up feeling great.' He added: 'I get out of bed, and I feel so angry some days, but I've got to play a tennis match, and I've got to go through those ups and downs too… I've played a lot of tennis and lots of matches, and I'm getting used to that, my ranking is going up, and I'm getting to compete week in, week out, and it's taking some getting used to from a mental and physical perspective.' 'I want to keep going, but sometimes it's difficult to always be perfect. The more I'm playing, the more my confidence is building.' Highlights of the match Draper had a tough challenge against Vit Kopriva, whom he deemed an 'unknown player'. Kopriva was playing in his ATP 1000 event debut and had never gone this far in the competition. Draper's solid serving helped him win the first set 6-4. Moreover, Draper broke Kopriva's serve to go ahead 4-3. There were only three break points in the whole set, and Draper took advantage of his opportunity. Kopriva got a chance when Draper served for the set, but Draper stayed calm and finished it off to take the lead. After losing his temper and smashing his racquet, Draper won three of the next four games and sealed the win with a third break of serve in the match. Draper expressed: 'It was a tough match, especially against a guy who is a bit unknown, but he's won a lot of matches here… I felt a bit low on energy, my feet weren't working as well as I wanted them to, but I tried to fight hard and find a way.' 'The frustration boiled out a bit too much in the end, but I stayed at it and came through,' he added. In a social media post, Draper shared: '💯 on the board' Netizens commented on the post and said: 'Keep strong. You have lots of support', 'Congratulations, Big Man! Keep pushing! ❤️', and 'Great fight Jack👏👏👏We, all huge fan of you are proud of you very much🙌🙌🙌Let's go Jack🔥🔥🔥❤️❤️❤️' Moving forward in the tournament, Draper will now face Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who earned his first-ever top 10 win by defeating ninth seed Holger Rune in three sets.
