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Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Evans not ready for goodbye yet
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter examines former British number one Dan Evans's future. In a season which became known as the year of retirements on the ATP Tour, former British number one Dan Evans had his own thoughts about how long he had left playing. Andy Murray deciding it was the right time to stop dominated the talk in British tennis last year, while his fellow Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also brought the curtain down on their careers in 2024. At Wimbledon in June, Evans spoke about the awareness he had of coming towards the end of his career and the "stark reality" of not being able to compete at the same level he once did. So it is telling Evans - who turns 35 in less than a fortnight - is still ploughing on, albeit largely on the ATP Challenger Tour which sits below the main tour. Less than two years ago, he was ranked a career-high 21st in the world, but is now 190th after briefly dropping outside of the top 200 earlier this year. "I'm enjoying playing tennis - I'm not enjoying where my ranking is, of course," Evans told the BBC 5 Live Tennis programme last week. "I'm still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don't think I am." Evans, competing in a Challenger event in Bordeaux this week before focusing on French Open qualifying, certainly still is a tennis player. Dropping down a level demonstrates his clear love for the sport and, perhaps, a determination to spend as much time on court as possible having being banned for a year in 2017 after testing positive for cocaine. Making the decision to stop playing professional tennis is, for many, the hardest they will make. There is no 'perfect' way to say goodbye. Former world number one Murray, who retired after playing Olympic doubles with Evans in Paris, knew it was the right time. It did not stop floods of tears - from the 37-year-old Scot, Evans and plenty more watching on - as the curtain came down at Roland Garros. Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open title, retired several weeks later at his home ATP event in Vienna. After seeing his career derailed by a debilitating wrist injury, the 31-year-old Austrian's intuition told him it was not worth carrying on any more. "Tennis had been my whole life since a very young age so I was fighting against this inner feeling and hoping it goes away again," he told BBC Sport. "But instead of going away or getting weaker, it got stronger and got way more into my head. "Once I made the decision there was a mix of negative and positive emotions - sadness, fear but also a little bit of happiness and looking forward to the time after." Evans knows the time is coming. But, for now, his inner feeling is to keep plugging away with the belief he can still compete. "I'm still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100 and that's my goal," he added. "It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up." Jannik Sinner is back. The world number one, banned for three months after failing two doping tests, received a hero's welcome as he returned with a win at the Italian Open. Iga Swiatek's troubles continued as the four-time French Open champion suffered another early clay-court exit in Rome. Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk praised Daria Kasatkina's "courage" in switching nationalities from Russia to Australia. The next rankings will not be released until next Monday, following the conclusion of the combined WTA-ATP event in Rome. However, we already know Swiatek - whose Rome title defence ended in the third round - will drop outside the top three for the first time since March 2022. The live projections also show Jack Draper has a chance of moving to a new career-high of fourth in the world. With Taylor Fritz losing in the second round, the British men's number one will move above the American if he continues to win in Rome. With the Italian Open played over a fortnight, the action at the Foro Italico takes centre stage again this week. However, there are several tournaments on the ATP Challenger and WTA 125 tours - the tiers below the main tours - worth keeping an eye on as players look for more clay-court time going into the French Open. Britain's Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal are competing in the Paris 125, where the field is led by world number 17 Amanda Anisimova. The pick of several ATP Challengers is the Bordeaux tournament. A host of top-50 players - including huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard - are joined in the draw by three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who opens against British number four Billy Harris. Draper and Emma Raducanu continue to fly the British flag in the Rome singles, with both players reaching the last 16. Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Kartal were knocked out in the second round, while Boulter fell in round one after drawing 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In wheelchair tennis, there was success for Great Britain at the World Team Cup - the sport's flagship event which is the equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. Britain's junior team claimed their second World Team Cup title in three years after beating the United States - the defending champions - in Turkey. The nation also claimed two bronze medals after the men's team and quad team won their medal play-off ties. With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the next. As part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the sport. As well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars are. You can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone. Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Evans not ready for goodbye yet
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko examines former British number one Dan Evans's future. In a season which became known as the year of retirements on the ATP Tour, former British number one Dan Evans had his own thoughts about how long he had left Murray deciding it was the right time to stop dominated the talk in British tennis last year, while his fellow Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also brought the curtain down on their careers in Wimbledon in June, Evans spoke about the awareness he had of coming towards the end of his career and the "stark reality" of not being able to compete at the same level he once it is telling Evans - who turns 35 in less than a fortnight - is still ploughing on, albeit largely on the ATP Challenger Tour which sits below the main than two years ago, he was ranked a career-high 21st in the world, but is now 190th after briefly dropping outside of the top 200 earlier this year."I'm enjoying playing tennis - I'm not enjoying where my ranking is, of course," Evans told the BBC 5 Live Tennis programme last week."I'm still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don't think I am."Evans, competing in a Challenger event in Bordeaux this week before focusing on French Open qualifying, certainly still is a tennis down a level demonstrates his clear love for the sport and, perhaps, a determination to spend as much time on court as possible having being banned for a year in 2017 after testing positive for the decision to stop playing professional tennis is, for many, the hardest they will make. There is no 'perfect' way to say goodbye. Former world number one Murray, who retired after playing Olympic doubles with Evans in Paris, knew it was the right did not stop floods of tears - from the 37-year-old Scot, Evans and plenty more watching on - as the curtain came down at Roland who won the 2020 US Open title, retired several weeks later at his home ATP event in seeing his career derailed by a debilitating wrist injury, the 31-year-old Austrian's intuition told him it was not worth carrying on any more. "Tennis had been my whole life since a very young age so I was fighting against this inner feeling and hoping it goes away again," he told BBC Sport."But instead of going away or getting weaker, it got stronger and got way more into my head."Once I made the decision there was a mix of negative and positive emotions - sadness, fear but also a little bit of happiness and looking forward to the time after."Evans knows the time is coming. But, for now, his inner feeling is to keep plugging away with the belief he can still compete."I'm still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100 and that's my goal," he added."It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up." Jannik Sinner is back. The world number one, banned for three months after failing two doping tests, received a hero's welcome as he returned with a win at the Italian Swiatek's troubles continued as the four-time French Open champion suffered another early clay-court exit in Marta Kostyuk praised Daria Kasatkina's "courage" in switching nationalities from Russia to Australia. The next rankings will not be released until next Monday, following the conclusion of the combined WTA-ATP event in we already know Swiatek - whose Rome title defence ended in the third round - will drop outside the top three for the first time since March 2022. The live projections also show Jack Draper has a chance of moving to a new career-high of fourth in the Taylor Fritz losing in the second round, the British men's number one will move above the American if he continues to win in Rome. With the Italian Open played over a fortnight, the action at the Foro Italico takes centre stage again this there are several tournaments on the ATP Challenger and WTA 125 tours - the tiers below the main tours - worth keeping an eye on as players look for more clay-court time going into the French Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal are competing in the Paris 125, where the field is led by world number 17 Amanda Anisimova. The pick of several ATP Challengers is the Bordeaux tournament.A host of top-50 players - including huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard - are joined in the draw by three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who opens against British number four Billy Harris. Draper and Emma Raducanu continue to fly the British flag in the Rome singles, with both players reaching the last Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Kartal were knocked out in the second round, while Boulter fell in round one after drawing 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia wheelchair tennis, there was success for Great Britain at the World Team Cup - the sport's flagship event which is the equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King junior team claimed their second World Team Cup title in three years after beating the United States - the defending champions - in nation also claimed two bronze medals after the men's team and quad team won their medal play-off ties. What is Second Serve? With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Naomi Osaka inspired by Andre Agassi's comeback as she embraces clay court grind
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka said this year's clay court swing feels different as she enters it with momentum, having picked up wins and confidence in the recent weeks. Osaka beat Slovenia's Kaja Juvan 6-1, 7-5 last week in the final of the L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo, a WTA 125 tournament, to win her first clay-court title at any level. It was also her first WTA title since becoming a mother in July 2023. 'I wanted to rack up experience on clay. I didn't really have too much of an ego playing that tournament,' Osaka told reporters after defeating wild card Sara Errani 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open on Wednesday. 'I'm okay playing on Court 16 if I have to anyways. The reason I came back wasn't to play on centre courts all the time, it's because I really enjoy the game.' READ | Sinner returns from doping ban to great fanfare at Italian Open Osaka said her decision to drop down to play in Saint-Malo was inspired by American great Andre Agassi, who rebuilt his career in the late 1990s by competing on the ATP Challenger Tour. 'I remember reading (Agassi's) book. There was a moment where... he was saying he was flipping his own scoreboards. Someone came and yelled, 'Image is everything!' I would say that section of the book crossed my mind more,' she said. The former world number one has often struggled on clay, having never gone past the third round at the French Open, where she is set to feature in the main draw later this month. Osaka plays ninth seed Paula Badosa in the Italian Open on Thursday. 'I feel like clay is very strength-reliant,' Osaka said. 'It's something that I prioritised this year and I think it's working. I'm going to keep pushing forward that way. I'll let you know what happens in Roland Garros.'
The Star
08-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Tennis-Osaka inspired by Agassi's comeback as she embraces clay court grind
(Reuters) -Four times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka said this year's clay court swing feels different as she enters it with momentum, having picked up wins and confidence in the recent weeks. Osaka beat Slovenia's Kaja Juvan 6-1 7-5 last week in the final of the L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo, a WTA 125 tournament, to win her first clay-court title at any level. It was also her first WTA title since becoming a mother in July 2023. "I wanted to rack up experience on clay. I didn't really have too much of an ego playing that tournament," Osaka told reporters after defeating wild card Sara Errani 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open on Wednesday. "I'm okay playing on Court 16 if I have to anyways. The reason I came back wasn't to play on centre courts all the time, it's because I really enjoy the game." Osaka said her decision to drop down to play in Saint-Malo was inspired by American great Andre Agassi, who rebuilt his career in the late 1990s by competing on the ATP Challenger Tour. "I remember reading (Agassi's) book. There was a moment where... he was saying he was flipping his own scoreboards. Someone came and yelled, 'Image is everything!' I would say that section of the book crossed my mind more," she said. The former world number one has often struggled on clay, having never gone past the third round at the French Open, where she is set to feature in the main draw later this month. Osaka plays ninth seed Paula Badosa in the Italian Open on Thursday. "I feel like clay is very strength-reliant," Osaka said. "It's something that I prioritised this year and I think it's working. I'm going to keep pushing forward that way. I'll let you know what happens in Roland Garros." (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Edinburgh Reporter
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Edinburgh Reporter
Jacob building up to Wimbledon
Edinburgh tennis pro Jacob Fearnley is reaping further benefits from the outstanding start to his career – world No 509 a year ago, and now he is pushing the top 50 – with a direct acceptance announced for one of the top Wimbledon warm up tournaments. It has been announced that the former Colinton junior and Merchiston Castle School tennis graduate will play in the Lexus ATP 250 tournament in Eastbourne from June 21-28. 'I made my ATP Tour debut in Eastbourne last year, so this is an event that is special for me' Jacob, the British No 2, told the Lawn Tennis Association website, adding: 'I love competing on the grass, I think it's a great surface for my game so hopefully I can challenge for more success this year. 'Getting to compete in front of your home fans is always an incredible feeling and being on the south coast in Eastbourne makes it one of the most unique events in the calendar. 'Winning the title in Nottingham last summer, in my first tournament out of college, gave me a huge amount of confidence and it's helped me get where I am today. I love competing on the grass, I think it's a great surface for my game so hopefully I can challenge for more success this year.' Jacob Fearnley Fearnley burst on the scene last summer after winning his first ATP Challenger Tour title in only his first event out of college in Nottingham. The 23-year-old came through qualifying to become the fourth Briton to win the trophy, which helped him secure a wild card to Wimbledon. Not only did Fearnley pick up his first Grand Slam win on his singles debut at SW19, he went on to take a set off seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Centre Court in front of a packed out crowd. The Texas Christian University graduate has soared up the rankings ever since. He finished the 2024 season with four ATP Challenger titles and broke into the ATP top 100 in just his first six months on tour. So far this season, he's had his best run at a major to date – reaching the third round at the Australian Open, made his Davis Cup debut for the Lexus GB team in Japan and qualified for two ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid. He's now up at a career-high ranking of world No.68. Now with a full season under his belt, more experience on the grass and having established himself on the ATP Tour, Fearnley will be one of the players to watch in Eastbourne this summer. For the moment Jacob's pre-occupation is the clay court season with direct acceptance to the upcoming Italian Open followed by the French grand slam event. In Rome he will want to cast aside any frustration from bowing out of the Madrid Open against Grigor Dimitrov when, in a second set tie-break to level the match, uncharacteristic errors undermined his display at critical times including two backhands into the net and an overhit forehand to give the Bulgarian his conclusive match point. In some respects one that got away after battling his way back into the match with the aid of an exquisite backhand smash and a superb stretch volley but Jacob can take encouragement from running the experienced former ATP Tour champion so close and knowing he is more than comfortable in such company. Like this: Like Related
