Latest news with #DubaiTennisChampionships
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Teenager Andreeva out of Stuttgart Open in last 16
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva went out of the Stuttgart Open as she lost in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last seed Andreeva, who has already won two titles this season, lost 6-3 6-2 against unseeded Alexandrova in just over an 17, became the youngest champion at a WTA 1000 event in February by winning the Dubai Tennis Championships, before triumphing at Indian Wells in she was unable to wrestle control of the match from Alexandrova, 30, who claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this will play American third seed Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals after she thrashed Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-1 fifth seed Jasmine Paolini beat unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-1 7-5 to reach the last eight for the second successive will play the winner of Thursday's match between American fourth seed Coco Gauff and Germany's Ella seed Aryna Sabalenka will play Belgian Elise Mertens in the quarter-finals after Anastasia Potapova withdrew before their last-16 match with an final last-eight tie sees Polish second seed Iga Swiatek take on either American seventh seed Emma Navarro or Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, with the pair set to play later on Thursday.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Swiatek wins first match after verbal abuse incident in Miami
Swiatek wins first match after verbal abuse incident in Miami Poland's tennis player Iga Swiatek celebrates defeating Croatia's Jana Fett during their women's singles round of 16 match of the Stuttgart Open Tennis tournament. Tom Weller/dpa World number two Iga Swiatek booked a spot in the Porsche Grand Prix quarter-finals with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win against Croatian qualifier Jana Fett on Wednesday. This was Swiatek's first game after she was verbally abused by a man while training at the Miami Open in March. Advertisement Her team described the man as "aggressive and taunting" and the incident was reported to tournament organizers WTA. Ahead of her match in Stuttgart, the player said that WTA helped he to "react quickly" and that she "felt safe.". Swiatek's experience came a month after Britain's Emma Raducanu was targeted by a stalker at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Swiatek's run in Miami ended after a shock 6-2, 7-5 quarter-final defeat to wild card Alexandra Eala. She's making her fourth appearance in Stuttgart and she has never failed to make the quarter-finals or better. Last year, she went out in the semi-finals after a defeat to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Croatia's tennis player Jana Fett in action against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their women's singles round of 16 match of the Stuttgart Open Tennis tournament. Tom Weller/dpa
BBC News
08-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rublev hopes for 'really long' Safin partnership
Andrey Rublev hopes his coaching partnership with Marat Safin will last a long time - but it depends if the tennis icon will "enjoy it or suffer".Russian world number nine Rublev has teamed up with compatriot Safin for the European clay-court a former world number one, won the US Open in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005 before retiring four years 27-year-old, as Safin did during his playing career, has struggled to keep his emotions in check on court and credited the 45-year-old with helping him with his mental health. Safin was notorious for his temper, estimating he smashed 700 racquets, external in his career and once playing a tournament with two black eyes after a fight in was defaulted from the Dubai Tennis Championships last year for unsportsmanlike conduct and has previously injured himself with his own racquet."He had his own struggles that he went through and I was always afraid to ask [about] those things, but I always wanted to," Rublev told the ATP Tour website., external"When I found out he was looking maybe to work in tennis, it was like 'OK, I have to at least [try]'." Rublev has yet to win a Grand Slam, having lost 10 times in the first tournament with Safin will be the Monte Carlo Masters, where he faces Gael Monfils on Wednesday."Marat is someone that was inspiring me since I was a kid," Rublev added."I'm just trying to listen and to try new things. We'll see how it will work, or what it will bring, or what's going to happen."I hope for a really long partnership, but it depends if he enjoys working with me or he will suffer."Because if he feels I'm not listening, I don't think he will waste his time."
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the endless rebirth of tennis on clay, and the beauty of a swept court
Few players indulge in the metaphors of clay-court tennis like Stefanos Tsitsipas. The crushed red brick is both a field of play and a canvas. With every set, and every match, that canvas is swept clean, offering an opportunity to paint a new picture or to tell a new story. 'A cleansing of the soul,' the Greek said of the process, a few years back at the French Open in Paris. When he walks onto a clean red clay court, the footing of his youth, Tsitsipas feels a sense of peace. An opportunity for rebirth. Advertisement He feels it in this part of the year more than any other, with the arrival of the European clay swing and with it the Monte Carlo Masters, the tournament where Tsitsipas so often thrives. More importantly, he is certain that he has put all the pieces into place for another push toward the top of the sport that he looked set to rule, before its contemporary legends stayed his rise and its newest champions overtook him. New racket. New coach. New attitude. After more than two years of results that disappointed him and turmoil within his team, he feels a new hope. It accompanies him to Monaco, for a tournament that Tsitsipas has won three of the past four years and where he will likely need a decent result to solidify the spot he has regained in the top 10 of the ATP rankings. 'I feel more joy being on the court, playing,' Tsitsipas said in an interview in California last month. 'It just feels good playing regardless of what's gonna happen. It feels good trying to find a solution, trying to fight on the court, being out there, in my playground, the one that I go out and play in.' This was days after he had won his first tournament since last year's Monte Carlo Masters, by capturing the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates. Tsitsipas mostly flowed to that title, but also found resilience when he needed it, outlasting Matteo Berrettini of Italy and Karen Khachanov of Russia in tight three-set matches. This was the way it was always supposed to be for the Greek, 26, who burst on the scene seven years ago. The shoulder-length, dirty-blond hair held down with a headband. The ball flying off his strings. The whip of a one-handed backhand complementing two lightning bolts, in his serve and his forehand. If Greek mythology had included a tennis player, they probably would have looked something like Tsitsipas. Advertisement The sport looked there for his taking. But he never quite got there, suffering painful losses to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and especially Novak Djokovic like so many of his contemporaries, despite beating them in some of his best moments. And just when those foes receded and it looked as if respite was coming, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz appeared to steal the future away. Through it all, Apostolos, his father, coached him. There was turmoil there too, with ugly exchanges between the Tsitsipases during matches and allegations of illegal coaching. On several occasions, Tsitsipas tried to bring in another coach, most notably Mark Philippoussis, the Australian ex-pro and a Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist. Inevitably, Apostolos would return, though he had never really gone away. Then, last summer in Montreal, their professional relationship decisively fractured. After a surprise defeat to Japan's Kei Nishikori, then the world No. 576, Tsitipas said he was 'disappointed' in his father's work. 'I need and I deserve a coach that listens to me and hears my feedback as a player. My father hasn't been very smart or very good at handling those situations,' he said. Rock bottom arrived a few weeks later, with a first-round loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia at the U.S. Open. Tsitsipas said that day that he barely felt the urgency to fight, and he needed to figure out why. Behind the scenes, Dimitris Chatzinikolaou, Greece's Davis Cup coach who has known Tsitsipas since he was a child, was trying to rebuild his support team. It would eventually include a physiotherapist from Patrick Mouratoglou's academy, where Tsitsipas often trained during his youth. One of his cousins, Konstantinos, would serve as his fitness trainer. 'We started from zero,' Chatzinikolaou said during a recent interview. Advertisement Chatzinikolaou's theory is that Tsitsipas needs complete trust in the people around him to feel confident and comfortable on the court. But before that could arrive, he had to get healthy. There was lingering soreness in his back and in his shoulders. Only when that was fixed could they start to work on his mentality. For Chatzinikolaou, the will to fight and the belief in one's game isn't something to be switched on when a tournament rolls around. 'Stefanos was always a gladiator, but I think somewhere he lost that,' Chatzinikolaou said. 'To bring this mentality, to fight every month, to fight for every point, this comes from the daily training, the daily communication.' In California, Tsitsipas said that he began to buy into his new program sometime around October last year. He began to feel the joy on the court again, but big wins remained elusive. At the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, Italy, he was an alternate — a body to fill in if anyone in the top eight had to drop out. They didn't. This year's Australian Open brought not joy, but instead more frustration, in the shape of a first-round loss to Alex Michelsen, the unseeded 20-year-old American. Tsitsipas realized there was one more radical step he could take: A new racket. Chatzinikolaou said that despite all they had been through, switching equipment was probably the most important — and difficult — change that Tsitsipas could make. 'It's a courageous change, and that courage comes with rewards,' he said. For several years, even as he could feel the balls becoming less lively — something that many players have complained about — Tsitsipas had refused to try another racket that would provide more power without sacrificing control. For contractual reasons, Tsitsipas can't say much about what his new racket gives him that his old Wilson Blade did not. More pointedly, he can't say which racket it actually is. The profile — and an uncovered logo on the stringing machine in Dubai — suggests a Babolat Pure Aero 98 model, which Alcaraz also wields. Advertisement 'I haven't switched in more than 10 years, and I feel like that's also closed-minded from my side,' Tsitsipas said of his mindset regarding his equipment. 'I just had to discover and kind of get something new out there because I felt like there were a lot of things I was missing, in terms of how I can extract potential out of my game.' There have been other tweaks, too. Tsitsipas has been trying to make his backhand less vulnerable, especially on his return. Chatzinikolaou has him trying to take the ball a little earlier, which allows him to be more aggressive with the shot: something he can do with the new racket. 'I'm pretty sure the entire tour was talking about my returns being an issue, and it's something that I won't deny myself,' he said. 'It was definitely not working.' He is also tossing the ball a little further forward on his serve, allowing his body to move into the shot more. Despite the short-term success in Dubai, it's all something of a work in progress. Tsitsipas is hoping that it can all come together on his favorite courts, first in Monte Carlo and then through the rest of the clay season, when he gets those daily reminders of the possibility of rebirth. He knows there are no guarantees. Maybe he wins a fourth Monte Carlo title. Maybe there is more pain ahead. 'There will never be promises, regardless if you're the best player in the world or not,' he said. 'But there's joy in knowing that I'm exactly where I want to be, how I want to be. It's a definition of freedom to me.' (Photos: Daniel Cole / Associated Press)
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Emma Raducanu finds her tennis – and some levity – after fixated behavior ordeal in Dubai
Barely a month after one of the toughest experiences of her life, Emma Raducanu achieved the second-best result of her young career. The quarterfinals of the Miami Open, a WTA 1,000 event just below the Grand Slams, is the furthest Raducanu, 21 has gone at a big tournament since winning the U.S. Open aged 18 in 2021. Raducanu came within a set of reaching the semis in Florida, but ultimately succumbed 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 to America's world No. 4, Jessica Pegula. A doctor checked a faint-looking Raducanu's blood pressure and pulse towards the end of the second set, with the Brit having gone from 5-2 up to 5-4 before receiving medical attention. When the WTA rankings are updated March 31, Raducanu will be in the world's top 50 for the first time since the summer of 2022. In Miami, she beat two top-20 players, including getting past the world No. 10 Emma Navarro for her third-ever top-10 win. Incredibly, it is the first time since that U.S. Open run that Raducanu has won four matches at the same event. Advertisement This all seemed extremely unlikely a month ago, when Raducanu was still processing what happened at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates. On February 18, a man, who was later described as exhibiting 'fixated behaviour' toward Raducanu, sat courtside for the start of her match against Czech world No. 14 Karolina Muchová. Raducanu spotted him and approached the umpire in tears during the second game, retreating behind the official's chair. The man, who had approached Raducanu the previous day, and had given her a photo and his contact details, was escorted away by security. He was then banned from WTA Tour events and was given a restraining order, according to Dubai authorities. Raducanu finished the match and ultimately lost in two tight sets, but she had a huge amount to process afterwards. She was in two minds about whether to play her next event at Indian Wells, Calif., weighing up the possibility of taking a break from the sport. On February 26, she decided she would fly to the U.S. from London the following day, figuring that she'd be better off giving it a go at one of her favourite tournaments. A few days after arriving, and with two security guards in the room, she spoke to a small group of reporters about the incident in Dubai. 'I literally couldn't see the ball through the tears, I could barely breathe,' she said. 'I was playing Karolina, and I can't see the ball. Then the first four games kind of ran away from me because I was not on the court, to be honest. I'm not really sure how I regrouped. Advertisement 'I'm here because I feel a lot better now.' She added: 'It was a very emotional time and after the match I did completely break down in tears, but not necessarily because I lost. It was more because there was just so much emotion in the last few weeks of the events happening and I just needed that week off to take a breather.' The previous few weeks that Raducanu referenced were eventful in themselves. No sooner had she reached the third round at the Australian Open in January, posting impressive wins over Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova, than her trusted coach Nick Cavaday stepped down because of health concerns. Suddenly coachless, she promptly lost her next three matches, ending that run with the win over Greece's Maria Sakkari in Dubai that set up her match with Muchová. Raducanu's search for a new coach saw her joined in Indian Wells by the experienced Vladimir Platenik on a temporary basis. Platenik was available at late notice after splitting with Lulu Sun, who beat Raducanu on her way to last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals. They had one practice session before the Brit's first-round match against Moyuka Uchijima on March 6, in which Raducanu was well beaten 6-3, 6-2 by an opponent vastly more equipped to handle the windy, high-bouncing conditions. Advertisement That loss was Raducanu's sixth in seven matches, but there was little sense of panic. One former British player, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships in tennis, said after the Australian Open that they felt Raducanu was playing at a top-30 level. 'Add in a serve,' they said, after Raducanu's reworked motion often misfired badly in Melbourne, 'and it's top 20.' Alexandrova and Anisimova both won the first event they played after losing to Raducanu at the Australian Open, while Muchová reached the Dubai semifinals after beating her. Following her early exit in Indian Wells, Raducanu began preparations for the Miami Open with Platenik. A veteran coach who has worked previously with top-10 players like fellow Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova and Daria Kasatkina, Platenik had clear ideas about what he wanted to work on with his new charge. Raducanu's serve was a particular focus, a shot that she had struggled with all year since tweaking her back during the off-season. In her three matches at the Australian Open, Raducanu served 24 double faults and was broken 16 times in six sets. Advertisement 'We improved the serve with a higher toss because she had some problems there and with the second serve, her toss was too high for a kick serve,' Platenik said in a phone interview last week. They watched a lot of video footage of other players, with Andy Murray a reference point for how to absorb opponents' power. Platenik name-checked Mirra Andreeva, the champion in Indian Wells and Dubai, as someone who is able to find the right balance between offense and defense. Footwork was also a big focus. 'Emma was getting this very, very quickly and is clearly super talented,' Platenik said. 'I never had a player improve so fast.' At a news conference in Miami, Raducanu said that their partnership had delivered 'some really good work,' adding that she has been 'getting some benefits on the match court right now.' Advertisement But after two weeks of working together, Raducanu called Platenik to tell him his services were no longer required. Platenik said there were no hard feelings from his end, adding that Raducanu cited 'feeling stressed' when she called him to explain why she was making the change. A statement from a spokesperson for Raducanu said: 'Emma has utmost respect for Vlado and the work they started but it wasn't quite heading in the right direction.' Raducanu has no compunction about moving on from a coach if they are not giving her what she needs. Previously, she has felt that some coaches have not been at the required technical level; in this case, it appeared to be more of a chemistry issue for a player who generally likes to work collaboratively rather than with someone more prescriptive. Chemistry matters a lot to Raducanu, who puts a huge amount of importance on having people around her she knows and can trust. She has gone back to working with people she knew when she was a junior on a few occasions, including Cavaday, who first coached her when she was 10. Platenik himself worked with her for an even briefer trial than this one, back in 2020. Platenik had also given an interview to Slovakian publication Dennik N the day after taking the job, which he admitted 'stressed' Raducanu. Platenik said in the interview that he had considered previous offers to coach Raducanu to be 'coaching suicide' and made the first public reference to the role of her father, Ian, in appointing her coaches. Advertisement Feeling safe and comfortable was particularly important for Raducanu after what had happened in Dubai, and it proved to be an important factor in her impressive run in Miami. The day after parting ways with Platenik, Raducanu thrashed Japan's Sayaka Ishii 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the Miami Open, dropping her serve just once and only hitting one double fault. Two days later, Raducanu picked up her first-ever hard-court win against a top-10 player by outlasting Navarro, a player with an outstanding three-set record. Given Raducanu's many physical issues over the last few years, it was a significant victory against a durable player, one that underlined the importance of fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, who joined the team at the back end of last year. The way Raducanu scrapped against Navarro stuck out to those watching. 'For me, the best bit about Emma's year is the way she's been out there competing,' Tim Henman, who mentored Raducanu during her U.S. Open win, said during a video interview this week confirming his appointment as a vice-captain for the Laver Cup, the international team event. 'She's getting stronger physically, and when you're that good if you keep doing the right things, keep working in the right areas, the results will come. I've never had any doubts about her ability.' Former British player Mark Petchey, who Raducanu has known for many years, and Jane O'Donoghue, a long-term friend and former LTA coach, were watching on from her box. 'This week I have amazing people who have known me for a very long time,' she said in a news conference. 'I feel very secure and happy and wanting to fight for them, as well.' Advertisement The mood in the group was light, with Raducanu playing American football, football and cornhole during her warm-ups, and playing spikeball with her team just before going on court. In her on-court interview after beating an injured McCartney Kessler 6-1, 3-0 (retired) in the next round, Raducanu said: 'I'd say I'm a bit of a free spirit, so I don't need restrictions or being told what to do. 'I think when I'm being really authentic, that's when I'm playing my best.' Having reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over world No. 17 Anisimova, who was also suffering physically with blisters, Raducanu returned to the theme. 'I've come a long way in the last week,' she told Sky Sports. Advertisement 'I think since Indian Wells, I wasn't necessarily feeling great about my tennis, about everything. But this week, I have some very good people around me that I trust, and so I have had fun off the court as well. 'That's extremely important for me, who's just very expressive. When I play my best, I'm definitely authentic, true to myself and creative. And I feel when I'm boxed in into a regimented way, then I'm not able to kind of express myself in the same way.' Raducanu used her backhand slice to disrupt Anisimova's rhythm, with the American coming off a grueling three-set win over Mirra Andreeva. It offered a reminder of what Raducanu's statements about creativity and expression can translate to on court when she is feeling free, something that was on full display when she won the U.S. Open title and made elite players like Sakkari and Belinda Bencic look lost on court. It was on display again in her quarterfinal against Pegula, as Raducanu roared back against a player who hits flat and true when in flow but can be hustled into mistakes. Ultimately, the U.S. Open finalist was too strong, but given where she was a month ago, Raducanu will take a lot of positives from where she is now. She still needs a coach but at least has a platform to build on for the rest of the year. Raducanu will be No. 48 in the world on March 31, with a puncher's chance of moving up the 16 places she needs to be seeded for Wimbledon, her home Grand Slam. Advertisement Raducanu's next event is the Billie Jean King Cup, where she'll be part of the Great Britain team up against Germany and then the Netherlands in The Hague on April 11 and 12. Her de facto coach for that weekend will be the British team captain, Anne Keothavong, who via the U.K. Lawn Tennis Association told reporters that Raducanu had shown a combination of competitiveness and freedom against Pegula that bodes well for the rest of her season. After that, her team will at some point change again. Petchey and O'Donoghue have other commitments, so won't be able to join full-time. A British Tennis Center coach, Colin Beecher, has worked with her in the last few weeks, but is not expected to work with just one player at a time; Cavaday remains in touch. Even if they will not be in her box forever, Raducanu has learned what works for her from her short time with Petchey and O'Donoghue, which includes reining in some of the intensity in her preparation. 'The first section of this year, I would be so locked in,' Raducanu said in her news conference after beating Anisimova in Miami. 'Every warm-up would be an hour long. By the time I played the match, I was quite tired. That's something that we adjusted this week, bringing more fun elements into it, shortening certain things, and adding things that are outside the box. 'Playing a game, getting a good sweat on, laughing. Then you go onto the court feeling a lot more relaxed, and every part of you is just looser.' After what happened in Dubai, Raducanu had also deactivated her Instagram, which she would often use to update fans on her progress. Off the back of Miami, she brought it back, posting a photo of her sitting on some. Florida sand. The caption read, ' thank you miami.' Raducanu's relaxed demeanour there on and off the court, and what it might mean for her tennis, is as striking as her quarterfinal run. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
