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Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Injured Ruud criticises 'rat race' ATP points system
Norway's Casper Ruud has criticised the ATP's ranking system by describing it as "like a rat race" which forces players to compete with injuries. Ruud, a two-time runner-up at the French Open, suffered a second-round exit on Wednesday, losing 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 to Portugal's Nuno Borges. The seventh seed won the first set comfortably, but struggled towards the end of the match with a knee injury that he has been carrying since April. "It's been with me actually the whole clay season on and off," he said. "As we know, it's a hectic clay season, and I decided to kind of push through it doing some anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers to try to get rid of it, which has helped to a certain degree but not enough. "I will have some more time now to let it heal and rest for a long time." Ruud said it is difficult to take time off on the ATP Tour to allow an injury to heal. "It's kind of like a rat race when it comes to the rankings as well," he said. "You feel you're obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events." BBC Sport have approached the ATP for comment. The ATP and the women's WTA Tour have mandatory requirements, meaning players must appear at a set number of tournaments each season. The top-ranked ATP players are required to participate in eight of the nine mandatory Masters 1,000 events each year, with Monte Carlo the only exception. Ruud missed Monte Carlo - the first big clay-court event of the season - but he played at the Italian Open in Rome after winning his first ATP Masters title in Madrid. The world number eight also feared that he would miss out on defending ranking points, which are used to decide where a player is seeded and whether or not they can gain direct entry into a tournament. "You feel like you lose a lot if you don't show up and play, both economically, point-wise, ranking-wise and opportunity-wise," Ruud added. "It's a questionable system because on one hand you don't want to show up injured, and you maybe give the spot to another one." Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Times
Jack Draper on verge of passing Djokovic in rankings after biggest clay win
Jack Draper is on the brink of overtaking Novak Djokovic in the world's top five after easing through to his first ATP Masters quarter-final on clay at the Madrid Open. The British No1 dominated his fourth-round match on Wednesday, seeing off Tommy Paul, the world No12 from the United States, 6-2, 6-2 in 67 minutes. It marks a significant step forward on clay as his first win against a top-20 opponent on the surface after losing his previous seven. At present ranked No6 in the world, Draper now has a tremendous chance to claim a new career-high position. Victory against Matteo Arnaldi, the world No44 from Italy, on Thursday would move him up to No5 above Djokovic, who left the door open through his
South Wales Argus
30-04-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Jack Draper worthy British number one, says Andrew Castle
The 23-year-old became the new British No.1 for the first time in his career in June 2024 and has since bolted up to world number six following his first ATP Masters title in Indian Wells. Partnered with a semi-final appearance at the 2024 US Open and a Stuttgart victory on the ATP Tour, Draper was crowned 2025 male Player of the Year at the LTA Tennis Awards, presented by Lexus for his efforts across 2024. And having now cemented himself as one of the most exciting British tennis players to watch, Castle believes that it has been a rise made possible by a blend of natural gifts and determination. "I've known Jack since he was a whippersnapper and now he's very much not," he said. "He's a genuine top 10er and Indian Wells winner. "I still have people coming up to me, those casual sport observers and asking if he's going to 'make it'. I mean he's already done that and he's not just made it, he's bolted. "But it all happened so quickly for him. Technically he's gifted but physically he's worked on exactly what he needs to. "James Trotman his coach has done an unbelievable job getting him to where he needs to be now." Castle himself only saw a career high of world number 80 in June 1988 and having known Draper since he was a junior player, noted that he's not against giving the current British number one a bit of light-hearted stick. "When he got to 80 in the world, which was my highest ranking, I texted him and joked that I didn't think he would break 80," he said. "Of course, I knew he would in about three days which he did and since then he's just flown up the rankings." The annual LTA Tennis Awards, presented by Lexus, highlight and celebrate the incredible achievements and contributions of people in tennis and padel across Britain. First launched in 2015 by former LTA president Cathie Sabin OBE, over the past ten years, the awards have illustrated the depth of service and talent within the tennis community and serve as an inspiration to others to get involved in the game. The winners, selected from more than 2,000 nominations across 25 different categories, were all acknowledged for their outstanding contribution to tennis in 2024. Draper was named Male Player of the Year, with Katie Boulter taking the female equivalent, Alfie Hewett named Wheelchair Player and Henry Patten the Doubles Player of the Year. "2024 was an amazing year for me – and one I will never forget," Draper said. "Reaching the semi-finals of the US Open along with winning my first ATP Tour title in Stuttgart in June was not just special for me, but all of my team. "I had a great run at Queens, and I look forward to seeing all the British fans there again, where hopefully I can have another good run." To find out more information about the LTA Tennis Awards, presented by Lexus or for information on how to play, coach, volunteer or officiate in tennis, head to: The Official Home of Tennis For Britain | LTA
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Are the 'mini Grand Slams' working?
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko weighs up the pros and cons of the extended Madrid Open. With the two-week Madrid Open reaching the halfway point, it is the perfect time to revisit a thorny issue in several ATP and WTA tournaments across a fortnight has caused some controversy – and it's debatable how successful the move has thinking was the elongated events would have greater gravitas - essentially creating 'mini Grand Slams'.According to ATP and WTA bosses, that meant increased financial opportunities for more benefit would be players having days off between matches, allowing for better recovery and, in theory, more high-quality in turn, would be more engaged and media coverage would increase, creating a buzz around them like the existing four many, it has not panned out like players are certainly divided. In Madrid, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek both responded positively when asked what they said she enjoys the longer format because she can "rest" physically and mentally between matches, while Swiatek added she doesn't "think about it anymore".But the top stars – the ones who go regularly deep in these draws – are the players more likely to benefit from the days further down the chain have voiced recent lawsuit lodged by the Professional Tennis Players' Association – which claimed to be on "behalf of the entire player population" – said that "instead of providing professional tennis players more rest between tournaments to endure a longer season, the ATP and WTA have given them less".It was also telling that Novak Djokovic, who co-founded the PTPA, gave a lengthy answer about the subject in his pre-Madrid news about Carlos Alcaraz saying he felt like a "slave" to the game, Djokovic referenced the negative effect of the extended events."Now we essentially don't have four Grand Slams - we have maybe 12 Grand Slams. It's a lot," he of the nine ATP Masters are now played over a fortnight, along with six of the 10 WTA first week of the combined Madrid Open - a mixture of qualifying and main-draw matches - felt like a slow main stadiums at the Caja Magica were rarely full, although the grounds were swelled by hundreds of children on school trips. For many of those further afar, the disjointed scheduling can seem illogical and difficult to anything change?ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi is committed to the format and, while the WTA insists the circuit is always under review, its chair Steve Simon also believes the structure does not increase seems, as Swiatek basically said, everyone will just have to get on with it. Emma Raducanu again had Mark Petchey in her coaching box at the Madrid Open. The British number two says she is happy with the "informal" arrangement". Will Carlos Alcaraz be fit enough to defend his French Open men's singles title? The injured Spaniard hopes so, but is unsure whether he will be able to play beforehand after pulling out of strange times continue for Novak Djokovic. The 37-year-old says losing his opening match of a tournament for the second time in a row is his "new reality". While the rankings are not updated until after Madrid, the live standings show a few interesting Diana Shnaider is set to reach a new career high - and could break into the top 10 for the first time - if she goes deeper than the last the men's rankings, Russia's Andrev Rublev will drop out of the top 10 after his Madrid title defence ended in the last 32, while Italy's Lorenzo Musetti is provisionally into the top 10 for the first time. Most eyes this week will remain on the latter stages of the Madrid prizes will be handed out at the weekend, with the women's singles final on Saturday and the men's on will also increase over the coming days on another big story - Jannik Sinner's the men's world number one, is set to make his return from a three-month doping ban at next week's Italian Open. World number six Jack Draper has led the British charge at the Madrid Open and was one of three men to reach the last Norrie has found a timely return form after winning his first ATP main-draw matches since Indian Wells, while Jacob Fearnley - playing only his second tour-level clay-court event - came through three British women who directly entered the main draw - Katie Boulter, Raducanu and Sonay Kartal - all won their opening matches before falling in the second Jones fought through qualifying to reach the first round where - playing for the third straight day - she lost a tight battle to 2024 Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana playing alongside Daria Kasatkina, lost in the doubles first round, as did Olivia Nicholls with partner Tereza Mihalikova. 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.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mensik upsets Djokovic to win Miami Open
Czech teen Jakub Mensik celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia to win the Miami Open ATP Masters title (AL BELLO) Czech teenager Jakub Mensik upset Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) to win the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. The 19-year-old, ranked 54th in the world, claimed his first title on the ATP Tour and denied Djokovic his 100th professional title. Advertisement The final was delayed by almost six hours due to heavy rain and when the players emerged it was clear that Djokovic had an eye infection. Mensik started strongly breaking Djokovic's first serve game to go 2-0 up and the tall, big-serving Czech was dominating until, at 4-2 Djokovic broke back when Mensik found the net. The set remained on serve from then on, but in the tie-break Mensik's powerful serve, with two aces, put him in charge from the outset. He opened up a 5-0 lead and although Djokovic fought back the youngster sealed the set with an overhead volley. It was the first set that Djokovic had lost in the entire tournament. Advertisement The second set was a nip and tuck affair with neither player able to break. Once again Mensik's power proved decisive in the tie-break and when Djokovic went long on a return to hand him victory he fell to his back. The match between the 37-year-old Djokovic and Mensik was the biggest age gap difference in a Masters 1000 final and the biggest age gap of any tour-level since 1976. sev/bb
