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Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Indian Wells brings Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek different tennis challenges
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, Indian Wells dominated the tennis world, with 2024 champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek suffering similar fates but contrasting futures. Elsewhere, there was a top-10 reshuffle on the ATP Tour, three American women lining up in the WTA Tour top five and some retirees getting a nice new tournament. Alcaraz and Swiatek arrived in Indian Wells as heavy favorites. They lost in three sets in the semifinals and their conquerors, Jack Draper and Mirra Andreeva, went on to win the titles. It would be easy to draw parallels, but other than coming up short on a court where they are generally masterful, Swiatek and Alcaraz are at very different spots in their quests to reclaim their top form and top ranking. That starts with their headspace. Swiatek swatted a ball towards her box in frustration during her semifinal. She looked frustrated during recent defeats and against Andreeva, as when they met in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, she failed to convert numerous inroads on her opponent's serve into break points and games. Swiatek has routed all comers and lost tight matches to eventual champions for most of the year, but the level she expects from herself is even higher. Alcaraz wasn't happy with his loss to Jack Draper either, but he was frustrated with how he went into the match more than how he played it, despite an aberration of a first set. He dominated the second and looked ready to roll through the third, before umpire Mohamed Lahyani fluffed a double-bounce call against Draper on a key point. Draper appealed both the decision and the idea that the call had affected Alcaraz through video review. He was successful on both counts and the delay checked the set's momentum and let Draper gather himself. Draper also offered to replay the point, but Alcaraz said he hadn't been distracted in a news conference after the loss. Neither Swiatek nor Madison Keys, who won just one game against Aryna Sabalenka in their semifinal, did news conferences after their exits. Alcaraz and Swiatek's paths diverge most strikingly in what comes next. Alcaraz has big opportunities to pick up points over the next few months. He won't be defending a title until the French Open, after a right arm injury heavily disrupted his clay-court season last year. Swiatek has a lot of defending to do. Once she gets done in Miami, the queen of the red clay will defend WTA 1,000 titles in Madrid and Rome before she seeks a fourth consecutive French Open title. Head to Luxembourg in October and tennis fans will find the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters, an event that offers recently retired professionals the chance to play in a competitive event as opposed to an exhibition doubles mostly staged for trick shots and banter. Swedish entrepreneur Marten Hedlund has launched the Legends Team Cup to perform a similar role on the men's tour, but it comes complete with a $12 million (£10.1m) prize pool and player draft of the 18 former tennis professionals involved. They include former Grand Slam champions Dominic Thiem and Juan Carlos Ferrero, and former top-five players including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The event will be played in eight different venues across the world, starting in Saint Barths in the Caribbean in June before arriving at New York's UBS Arena from July 16 to July 18. Last week, the event announced that the legendary Bjorn Borg would join as the event's 'Grand Master of Tennis,' a role as open as it is bombastic. Having stayed out of the tennis spotlight for some time, Borg, now 68, has ensured he will remain visible in the sport for a bit longer and players at last year's Luxembourg event, including Grand Slam champions and former world No. 1s Martina Hingis and Ana Ivanovic, told The Athletic how much they valued having an event that isn't just a hit and giggle. The Legends Cup will have a go at another tennis format, though: matches will be capped at 45 minutes. Three American women in the WTA Tour top five. Not too shabby. Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys are Nos. 3, 4, and 5 as they head to their home WTA 1,000 in Miami. All of them call Florida home, though only Gauff was born and raised there. Can they stay in this rare air? That's a tough one to answer. Pegula missed the clay-court swing last year with an injury, so she has a lot of opportunities to corral points over the next few months. Keys is in good shape, too. Sabalenka ended her 16-match winning streak but Keys is a terrific clay-court player. The biggest question mark could be Gauff. She is comfortable on clay, but she's the only one of the three who is reconstructing her game. She has changed her grip on her serve, which changes her motion; she's still figuring out how and when to play aggressively on her forehand, which has been an attackable weakness for too long. She's been willing to take the one-step-back-two-steps-forward approach but consequently, from match to match, even she doesn't know which version of herself will show up. Last Thursday was the first time that an ATP Masters 1,000 or a men's singles Grand Slam draw had three semifinalists born in the 2000s, according to Opta. Draper, Holger Rune and Alcaraz were the 2000s representatives, with only Daniil Medvedev from the 1990s cohort. The '90s generation, also known as the 'sandwich generation,' was already squeezed between the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic axis and the rise of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner; Draper and Rune also making good on their potential would squeeze them further. Medvedev is one of two male players born in the '90s to win a major; Thiem is the other. Draper took out Taylor Fritz, another child of the '90s, on his way to the Indian Wells title, and his move into the top 10 could be followed by a resurgent Rune and Ben Shelton. Top-10 '90s stalwarts, including Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Medvedev, are starting to look over their shoulders as the demographics at the top of men's tennis shift. How to save a break point in a WTA 1,000 final, by Mirra Andreeva. How Mirra Andreeva beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the Indian Wells title How Jack Draper beat Holger Rune to win the Indian Wells title Conchita Martinez accelerating Andreeva's irresistible rise The Williams sisters' 14-year boycott of Indian Wells, and its end 🎾 ATP: 🏆 Draper (12) def. Rune (13) 6-2, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open (1,000) in Indian Wells, Calif. It is his first ATP Masters 1,000 title.🏆 Joao Fonseca def. Alexander Bublik 7-6(5), 7-6(0) to win the Arizona Tennis Classic (Challenger 175) in Phoenix. It is his third ATP Challenger title. 🎾 WTA: 🏆 Andreeva (9) def. Sabalenka (1) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the BNP Paribas Open (1,000). It is the Russian's second successive WTA 1,000 title. 📈 Andreeva moves up five places from No. 11 to No. 6 after her win at Indian Wells. It is a career-high ranking for the Russian, 17.📈 Draper ascends seven spots from No. 14 to No. 7 after his win. It is a new career-high ranking for the Brit, 23.📈 Belinda Bencic reenters the top 50 after rising 13 spots from No. 58 to No. 45. 📉 Alex de Minaur drops out of the ATP top 10 after Draper's win — the Australian falls to No. 11.📉 Maria Sakkari, last year's Indian Wells finalist, drops 22 places from No. 39 to No. 51.📉 Cameron Norrie, the 2021 Indian Wells champion, drops out of the top 80, falling eight places from No. 77 to No. 85. 🎾 ATP 📍Miami: Miami Open (1,000) featuring Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Draper, Djokovic. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV 🎾 WTA 📍Miami: Miami Open (1,000) featuring Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Andreeva. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men's and women's tours continue. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
10-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Yosuke Watanuki steals the show at Indian Wells with tennis and sportsmanship
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif. took center stage. Joao Fonseca's amazing pull ended in disappointment for his fans, the Orange County kids did their region proud and the men's seeds tumbled while the women's held strong. If you'd like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here. It has been a tournament of upsets so far on the men's side at Indian Wells, with Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud all losing their first matches. On the women's side, it's been much calmer. Thirteen of the top 16 WTA seeds remain as the tournament heads for the fourth round, and where the ATP No. 1 seed, Zverev, made an early exit against Tallon Griekspoor, his women's counterpart Aryna Sabalenka was a straight-sets winner against American McCartney Kessler on Saturday. The No. 2 seed and defending champion, Iga Swiatek, has dropped just four games in her two matches so far. Advertisement The women play best-of-three sets at every event, but for the men perhaps some of the variance in a tournament that has seen 15 of the 32 seeds exit in either their first or second matches comes with the shorter format compared to the Grand Slams. Zverev had come close to defeat against Griekspoor in several of their previous meetings, most recently outlasting him across five sets at least year's French Open. Djokovic, who said the high bounce on the main court at Indian Wells caught him off guard, would have felt more confident surviving a marathon as opposed to a shootout against Botic van de Zandschulp. Is a format more conducive to upsets better or worse? It depends on perspective, but it makes sense that the Grand Slams would rather keep the longer format and increase their chances of keeping the big names in. GO DEEPER One serve? New scoring? How changing tennis might actually go down Charlie Eccleshare A recurring debate during tennis' various officiating controversies in the last year has been the extent to which the sport should expect players to fess up to things that umpires miss. At January's Australian Open for instance, some felt that Swiatek should have admitted to not reaching an Emma Navarro drop shot before the ball bounced twice. Others felt she couldn't have known for sure, and it's not her responsibility to officiate the match. On Sunday night, albeit in a different incident where there was less uncertainty, Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki offered the kind of sportsmanship against Frances Tiafoe that many fans have said they would like to see. Tiafoe was serving at deuce, down 2-3, when he was given a time violation for taking too long before serving. Watanuki walked towards umpire Mohamed Lahyani and told him that he hadn't been ready to receive. Lahyani accepted this and canceled the time violation, two of which lead to the server being docked their first serve. That's what happened to Tiafoe at a crucial moment of a match against Roman Safiullin in Shanghai last year, when he swore repeatedly at umpire Jeremy Pinoargote and was fined $120,000 (£92,800) as a result. Respect 🤝@FTiafoe received a time violation, but it was cancelled after Watanuki told the referee he wasn't ready to return Tiafoe's serve.#TennisParadise — BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 10, 2025 Watanuki went on to win an action-packed match 6-4, 7-6(6) despite Tiafoe twice serving for the second set. One of those breaks for Watanuki came immediately after he had asked for a Pepsi when struggling for energy down 5-4. The win means that Watanuki, ranked No. 349 after missing most of last year with injury, is the lowest-ranked player in the Indian Wells last 16 since 2004. He is coached by Tiafoe's former coach, one-time world No. 6 Wayne Ferreira. Advertisement For Tiafoe, the defeat extends his difficult start to 2025, a year in which he is yet to win more than one match at a single event. His most memorable contribution to this year's Indian Wells came at the start of the Watanuki match when, after forgetting his rackets for his previous match against Damir Dzumhur, Tiafoe pretended he had done so again, and successfully fooled an initially stunned Lahyani, who then collapsed into laughter. Almost fooled us 😆@FTiafoe #TennisParadise — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 10, 2025 Tournament organizers are going to have to adjust to the Joao Fonseca phenomenon, maybe by paying a little less attention to his ranking. Fonseca, the 18-year-old rising star from Brazil, is the world No. 80, but he's also one of the biggest attractions in the sport. That could get a little awkward, since the world's 80th-best player generally doesn't get the most prestigious court assignments, and won't directly qualify for about half the tournaments on the tour. But if he's the player that thousands of fans buy tickets to see, one argument goes, then there needs to be room for them to see him. Witness Fonseca's second round match against Jack Draper Saturday. Organizers put the match on Stadium 4, which seats 3,500. Lines to get in stretched into the main plaza of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. They didn't move, but practically no one left. Fans watched from the high bleachers of surrounding courts. They clawed the fences in the corners of the court trying to get a glimpse. 'I have to get used to this,' Fonseca said of the fanfare. He had played his first match against Jacob Fearnley on the main stadium court, but no seeds were playing that day. That was an easy call. Fonseca's next tournament, the Miami Open, might present some even more difficult ones, because Florida has a big Brazilian population. Itau, a Brazilian finance company is the main sponsor of the tournament. Should Fonseca get big stadium assignments? At the moment, he is more famous than his ranking or accomplishments might suggest. If he's the player people want to see, then he probably should. Making fans wait on lines that don't move and leave disappointed does no one any good. GO DEEPER Tennis stardom is a roulette wheel. Joao Fonseca is ready to bet on himself Matt Futterman There were high hopes for California boys coming into the tournament, especially the newcomers. Ethan Quinn, Jenson Brooksby, Learner Tien, Tristan Boyer and Alex Michelsen all grew up within driving distance from Indian Wells and came here as children. Taylor Fritz is still alive, of course. That's expected: he's the world No. 4. The others are out. But Marcos Giron, another California player from Thousand Oaks who went to UCLA is still in, achieving his best run at Indian Wells at 31 years old. Advertisement Giron notched his first top-five win over Casper Ruud on Friday and beat No. 26 seed, Alexei Popyrin, on Sunday to get into the round of 16. 'This place holds a lot of memories and a lot of emotion,' he said. It was the first tournament he attended and had his first ATP breakthrough here in 2019, winning two matches. 'The last couple years I came here maybe with expectations, maybe yes, maybe no, some pressure, and I didn't play well,' he said. 'Of course there's a lot of family, there's a lot of friends, trying to organize tickets and all that, give everybody the time they deserve. 'This is not something I can do forever. So I know each moment, I've got to make the most of it.' Michelsen had perhaps the worst luck of his California gang. Things looked troubling early for his opponent, two-time beaten finalist Daniil Medvedev. The Russian called for a medical timeout after just one game in his second match of the tournament. Michelsen, a hometown favorite from nearby Orange County, was going to have the crowd on his side. Medvedev has had trouble putting away players who meet him with energy and without fear. After his time out, Medvedev headed back to the court. They played another game. He had a 2-0 lead. Then they were shaking hands at the net. A retirement. Surely Medvedev was done, he'd had the medic on. But it was Michelsen grabbing his bag and walking off the court. He'd taken the court unwell with a stomach issue, having considered not playing at all. A duel against a human backboard like Medvedev in the desert sun was much too much for him to manage. Weird things can happen in tennis matches. That was about as weird as it gets. GO DEEPER Learner Tien, Alex Michelsen and the bootcamp propelling them through the Australian Open Matt Futterman Alycia Parks saves a match point against Diana Shnaider with a wonderful piece of skill. 🚨 TWEENER WINNER 🚨 ICYMI, shot of the tournament last night from Alycia Parks 👏#TennisParadise — BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 9, 2025 Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men's and women's tours continue.
New York Times
03-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Tennis court surfaces and speed: How Indian Wells fits in with ATP and WTA Tours
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, illness decimated the Mexican Open in Acapulco. Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas' new racket gave him a boost and a court surface change provoked a ruckus. If you'd like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here. Tennis court conditions are complicated: they will feel faster or slower for different players and playstyles, and atmospheric conditions and balls can make the same court play very differently. One thing not in dispute is that the speed of the courts at Indian Wells, Calif., is always a talking point, and that speed is always slow. Advertisement This year, things might look different after BNP Paribas Open announced a new surface provider on the eve of the event. A press release from the event over the weekend outlined that Laykold, which also makes the courts for the U.S. Open, had been given the contract. Indian Wells has traditionally been one of the slowest of the big hard-court events, and has remained so across a general quickening in hard-court surfaces across the ATP and WTA tours in the last few years. The move could quicken things up in California, as happened at the Miami Open when it switched to Laykold in 2023. For some players, this will be a relief. World No. 6 and former U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev has been vocal in his criticism of the surface, as well as the slower, heavier tennis balls about which many players (mostly on the ATP Tour) have complained in recent times. 'It's a disgrace to sport, this court,' Medvedev said in an on-court rant during his last-16 win against Alexander Zverev two years ago. 'We should be banned from playing here, a freaking disgrace to sport, this freaking court. And they call it hard courts. What a shame to call this awful court a hard court. 'I'll go to toilet, but I don't care, give me time violation. I'm going to be as slow as the court again. I don't care; give me five time violations, I'll go in one minute. If they allow us to play on such a court, I can allow myself to do whatever I want.' Last year's champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek, thrive on the slower, higher-bouncing surface, where the grittiness makes the conditions play distinctly differently from most other hard courts, even before accounting for surface speed. The tournament's change in surface comes in the wider context of a debate about whether a perceived general slowing down of conditions is damaging the sport, and whether or not making hard courts play more similarly is not the gain it might appear. Medvedev's dislike (despite him making the final in Indian Wells the past two years) and other players' love for the surface is, in one way, a display of the benefits of having distinct surfaces across events. With tennis itself getting more and more similar, homogenizing courts will only decrease the variety the sport can offer. The intrigue in the desert this year will be over who will be the big beneficiaries and losers from the changed conditions. GO DEEPER Surface mastery: How Alcaraz won Grand Slams on hard, grass and clay courts Charlie Eccleshare It didn't really seem plausible that Tsitispas was going to drift out of the elite neighborhood of the sport to which he has committed his life. Or did it? The evidence suggested that Tsitsipas could not hang with the next generation. Not just Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz, either. Arthur Fils beat him in Basel. Alex Michelsen beat him in the first round in Australia. Hamad Medjedovic beat him in Doha last month on an injured leg. Advertisement He seemed unable to figure out how to summon the same fight he had rarely lacked during his seven years of playing top-level tennis. Worse, he didn't know where he might find it. Perhaps the answer was in his strings all along — just some different ones. Tsitsipas, who has been testing out a blacked-out racket reminiscent of a Babolat Pure Aero 98, finally made some headway last week, playing his best tennis in nearly a year to win in Dubai. His single-handed backhand once more sent the ball exploding off his strings. His touch was soft when he needed it to be. In the final, he beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has been putting together a solid bounce-back season of his own. When it was over, Tsitispas was the owner of his first hard-court title since Los Cabos in the summer of 2023 and back in the top 10. What this means for the future is unclear. The tour now heads to the U.S., where Tsitsipas has rarely enjoyed much success. He didn't have to beat any of the highly touted young guns in Dubai and Indian Wells has not been a happy place for him, despite its (former) conditions suiting his preference to move around his backhand. But it's safe to say that — like the knight from Monty Python — he's not dead yet. Matt Futterman There was a welcome return in Austin last week for Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion, who is back from a 17-month hiatus on maternity leave. She lost to Jodie Burrage of Great Britain in her first match back but was competitive throughout. Kvitova has been given a wildcard to play in Indian Wells this week. Beyond that, it will be interesting to see how Kvitova, 34, manages her schedule in the coming months, and whether she, and other returning players, will try to copy what Belinda Bencic has done. Bencic, a former world No. 4 and Olympic champion, returned to tennis at the end of October after a 13-month hiatus of her own, during which she gave birth to her first child. She has since had exceptional results at the start of 2025, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and winning the Abu Dhabi Open, a 500-level event. Significantly, though, Bencic didn't go straight into playing these big events. Her comeback began last year with low-level ITF and Challenger events, away from the main WTA Tour. Advertisement 'For me, it's kind of logical,' she told The Athletic in December, having just played that run of lower-level tournaments. 'I cannot be as arrogant to expect to not play for a year and a half and then come back to the same level that I played before and expect to be able to have a competitive match. So it's important that I can go to the lower level to also build everything up again and see where I'm at. 'I don't see the point of going to a tournament like, I don't know, Indian Wells. You have a difficult draw. Losing first or second round is not really what you need in that moment. You just need to build up matches and confidence and get back in the rhythm of playing a full week of the tournament.' Bencic will now head to Indian Wells looking to go much deeper. GO DEEPER Belinda Bencic believes in herself, because of the women who came before her Charlie Eccleshare No need to apologize for giggles at the words 'Indian Wells' and 'wild card.' Tournament organisers last week announced that it had given one to 44-year-old Venus Williams — seemingly without clearing that with the eight-time Grand Slam champion. Williams, busy with commitments in Europe, will not be playing. And so, the tournament moved on. Last week, Indian Wells added Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, and Bencic to the main draw. Not bad, assuming one believes in the concept of wild cards in the first place. Bencic shouldn't need one, having risen to world No. 58 since her return from giving birth. Stephens is outside the top 100 in the rankings. She has not won a tour-level match since the first round of Wimbledon, losing 10 in a row since. Kvitova, who is also on her way back from giving birth and is a two-time champion, received hers when the Williams wild card was announced Americans Robin Montgomery, Alycia Parks and Bernarda Pera also received wild cards last week. So did Iva Jovic, who's worth keeping an eye on. She's 17 and has won matches at the Australian Open and U.S. Open. She's also from Los Angeles and should have healthy crowd support and plenty of friends and family in the stands. GO DEEPER Venus Williams won't play at Indian Wells despite receiving wild-card entry Matt Futterman 🎾 ATP: 🏆 Tomas Machac (No 8 seed) def. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(6), 6-2 to win the Mexican Open (500) in Acapulco, Mexico. It is the Czech's first ATP title. 🏆 Tsitsipas (4) def. Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 to win the Dubai Tennis Championships (500) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is his first 500-level title in 12 finals. 🏆 Laslo Djere def. Sebastian Baez (3) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to win the Chile Open (250) in Santiago, Chile. It is his first ATP title since 2020. Advertisement 🎾 WTA: 🏆 Emma Navarro (1) def. Emiliana Arango (Q) 6-0, 6-0 to win the Merida Open (500) in Merida, Mexico. It is Navarro's first 500-level title. 🏆 Jessica Pegula (1) def. McCartney Kessler (5) 7-5, 6-2 to win the ATX Open (250) in Austin, Texas. It is the American's seventh WTA Tour title. 📈 Emiliana Arango moves up 53 places from No. 133 to No. 80 after her run to the final in Mexico. 📈 Tsitsipas returns to the top 10, moving from No. 11 to No. 9. 📈 Maya Joint moves inside the top 100 after rising 18 spots from No. 103 to No. 85. 📈 Learner Tien moves inside the top 70 after rising 15 spots from No. 83 to No. 68. 📉 Katie Boulter falls 12 places from No. 26 to No. 38. 📉 Alexander Bublik drops 31 places from No. 51 to No. 82. 🎾 ATP 📍Indian Wells, California: BNP Paribas Open (1,000) featuring Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Learner Tien. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV 🎾 WTA 📍Indian Wells, California: BNP Paribas Open (1,000) featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Zheng Qinwen. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men's and women's tours continue.
New York Times
17-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why the Iga Swiatek-Jelena Ostapenko head to head is not like the other tennis pigeons
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, one of the strangest head-to-heads in tennis got stranger still; Amanda Anisimova and Joao Fonseca achieved tennis milestones; Diego Schwartzman retired from the sport and Chile's tennis federation challenged the ITF over the Zizou Bergs vs. Cristian Garin incident at the Davis Cup. If you'd like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here. One of the strangest head to heads in tennis got a little bit stranger last week. Jelena Ostapenko extended her record against the five-time Grand Slam champion and current world No. 2 Iga Swiatek to 5-0, with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the Qatar Open semifinals. In four of their five meetings, Ostapenko has been the lower-ranked player by a distance. Advertisement It is the heaviest defeat Swiatek has suffered in any match since a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to the same player in 2019, at a grass-court event in Birmingham, England. Swiatek, 18 then, was a qualifier at the tournament and ranked No. 65. This latest win for Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, was all the more extraordinary given that Swiatek was going for a fourth straight title in Doha. She hadn't lost there since 2020. Ostapenko, ranked no. 37 when the match took place, needed just 71 minutes to thrash her much higher-ranked opponent before somewhat inevitably losing the final in straight sets to the lower-ranked Amanda Anisimova. This is not like most tennis pigeon matchups — 'pigeon' being tennis-speak for when one player becomes easy prey for the stronger predator. Swiatek should be nobody's pigeon, and she beat Elena Rybakina in the previous round in Doha, Ostapenko — her nightmare opponent — is the only active WTA player with a positive record against her. Swiatek's elite defense and heavy groundstrokes have allowed her to improve against other flat-hitting blasters, but on Friday Ostapenko found the lines time and time again. If there is a weak point, it's the Swiatek serve, which often ends up in Ostapenko's strike zone, but for nearly the entire match there was just nothing to be done. Tennis is a sport of matchups, and there is no doubt that the uneven record between these two has gotten into both players' heads. Midway through the second set, Swiatek, normally so calm on court, smashed her racket at a change of ends. Ostapenko laughed to herself in response, in what felt like a microcosm of their rivalry: Ostapenko the antagonist gleeful, as Swiatek once again walked into the trap she had laid for her. 'I was pretty confident I would beat her, because we played a lot of matches and I know how to play against her. I just was more focusing on myself and knew what I have to do,' Ostapenko said in her on-court interview, adding later that she was pleased with how she read Swiatek's serve during the match. Advertisement When The Athletic asked about her extraordinary record against Swiatek in an interview last year, Ostapenko grinned: 'That's my top secret. I'm not going to say anything.' For Swiatek, the only positive is that the Latvian is rarely present at the sharp end of Grand Slams these days — only one of their five meetings has taken place at a major. Despite lots of improvements in other areas from this time last year, Swiatek is no closer to solving her Ostapenko conundrum. GO DEEPER How to be a tennis pigeon: The worst matchups and how players prepare for them Charlie Eccleshare Chile's tennis federation lost its appeal to tennis authorities over its recent Davis Cup tie with Belgium, issuing a statement in which it decried the 'apathy and indifference' of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and said that Belgian player Zizou Bergs showed 'a lack of respect towards his opponent lacking the most basic sporting values'. A spokesperson for Bergs declined to comment; the ITF told The Athletic the appeal process was confidential. The tie had ended acrimoniously when Bergs crashed into Cristian Garin at a changeover during their singles rubber, after breaking the Chilean's serve. Garin went to the ground. Bergs got a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. Chile's team physio assessed Garin. Then, with the area near his right eye swelling and, according to him, his head cloudy, Garin refused to play on. But the Davis Cup's neutral doctor cleared him to return to the court, so when he did not resume, the umpire issued a series of time violation penalties. Because it was 6-5 to Bergs in the deciding set, the game penalty Garin conceded lost him the match. Chile's tennis federation argued that the umpire erred when he only issued Garin a warning, saying that an aggression like the one their player experienced, even when unintentional, requires an immediate default. The default rules do not ascribe any outcome or impact of an action when considering whether or not a player should be defaulted, nor do they consider intent — that the collision was accidental should not matter in the final decision. Speaking in a news conference after the match, ITF match referee Carlos Ramos said: 'I consider it was a very unfortunate accident between two players — caused unfortunately by a player without any intention.' Following Chile's appeal, ITF president David Haggerty sent a letter to Sergio Elias Aboid, president of the Chilean tennis federation. In the confidential letter, which The Athletic has reviewed, Haggerty writes: 'There is no 'mandate' in the code as to exactly what should happen in the unfortunate and unique circumstances that arose in this match. The referee applied the code in the manner he considered appropriate and whilst not everyone will agree with every decision reached by a Referee, the ITF does not consider that the referee acted outside of his powers. The Davis Cup regulations are clear that such decisions are reserved to the referee.' Advertisement Haggerty also said the ITF code states a referee's decisions are final and cannot be overturned, so Chile had no grounds for appeal. Separately, the Chileans argued that the tournament doctor who examined Garin and decided he was fit to play did not ask the proper questions about his symptoms. Haggerty responded: 'Although the independent doctor's opinion did not align with that of the Chilean team doctor, that does not mean that the opinion of the independent doctor was incorrect. The ITF has no reason to believe that the independent doctor did anything other than undertake an appropriate assessment of Mr Garin in order to reach an objective and informed view on whether or not he was fit to continue playing. 'Independent doctors are appointed to all Davis Cup ties in order to provide their opinions in circumstances such as these. It was entirely appropriate for the referee to rely upon the determination of the independent doctor in directing that play should resume.' GO DEEPER 'A shameful international incident': How Cristian Garin and Zizou Bergs created tennis farce Matt Futterman It's happened again: A big-hitting American woman touted as the next big thing doesn't conform to the expectations set for them, enters a lull, then storms back to win a big title. Three weeks after Madison Keys' Australian Open triumph, Amanda Anisimova delivered the latest don't-forget-about-me performance, winning Doha for her first title at the 1,000 level — the one just below the Grand Slams. She beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3 for her first title in three years, when she won the Melbourne Summer Set 2, which replaced the usual Australian Open tuneup tournaments during the Covid-19 pandemic. Anisimova barely played in 2023, taking an extended break from tennis starting in the May to address some burnout and her mental health. She had described simply being at tournaments as 'unbearable' before beginning her hiatus. Returning to the tour in earnest last spring, she had her best result in Montreal in August, where she made the final before losing to Jessica Pegula. Advertisement 'Super-proud of myself,' she said in comments after the Doha win that the WTA Tour distributed. 'Just the way I was able to stay mentally tough in a lot of difficult matches against some amazing players.' In the final against Ostapenko, Anisimova came on court aware she was going to have to find a way to go on the attack, easier said than done against the free-swinging Latvian, who had just dispatched tournament favorite Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. 'I knew I was going to step it up and play the most aggressive tennis of the week,' she said. The title puts Anisimova into the world top 20 for the first time, meaning that as well as there being four Americans in the top 10, there are six in the top 20. Matt Futterman Before the latter stages of the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, Joao Fonseca's introduction to the tennis world had been all sparkle. Crushed forehands, delivered with a liquid uncoiling of his relatively modest frame. Winners that scud through the court from all directions. The fervor of Brazilian fans, who took over the U.S. Open as he knocked out No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev before falling to Lorenzo Sonego, on a court harder to get into than the most exclusive nightclub in Rio de Janeiro. Whatever word comes to mind — aura, presence, stature, charisma — Fonseca, 18, exudes it. In Argentina, he faced a different kind of challenge. In the third of three matches against players from the event's host nation, always a huge sporting rival to Brazil, he went down two match points to Mariano Navone in the quarterfinals. After saving one in a long rally, he rescued the second with a backhand lasered up the line. Saving match point – Joao Fonseca style 😯@ArgentinaOpen — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 14, 2025 He blocked out the noise of the crowd by playing to his usual rhythm. After being broken twice — once when serving for the match — against Serbia's Laslo Djere in the semifinals, he won a third set he shouldn't have had to play 6-1. In the final, another home hope, Francisco Cerundolo, served for the title twice in the third set. But he was broken each time and it went to a deciding tiebreak. Advertisement All match long, the crowd jeered and whistled to distraction between Fonseca's serves. It was the kind of barracking that had rattled world No. 2 Alexander Zverev into losing to Cerundolo from a set up earlier in the tournament. Fonseca however, the first man born in 2006 to reach an ATP Tour final, won the tiebreak 7-1. There were plenty of winners from the teenager all week long, but his path to victory in Buenos Aires was paved with grit. GO DEEPER The seven points that prove Joao Fonseca is set for tennis stardom James Hansen Last week reminded tennis that nobody does goodbyes like Argentina. A couple of months after Juan Martin del Potro's emotional farewell in Buenos Aires, one-time world No. 8 Diego Schwartzman said his farewell to the sport at the Argentina Open in the same city. In his final match, in round two against Pedro Martinez, which came after a heroic opening win over Chile's Nicolas Jarry, Schwartzman wiped tears from his eyes as his opponent went to serve match point. The match paused briefly as the whole stadium chanted his name in appreciation of an extraordinary career. A fitting finale 🥹 Pure goosebumps as the cathedral of Argentinian tennis hails 'Diegooo'@dieschwartzman | @ArgentinaOpen | #ArgOpen2025 — ATP Tour (@atptour) February 13, 2025 Standing at just 5 feet 7 inches (170cm) in a sport of giants, Schwartzman was a natural underdog. He punched way above his weight, reaching the world's top 10 and making Rafael Nadal as uncomfortable as anyone else could manage at the French Open. In 2018, Schwartzman briefly looked like he might do the unthinkable and beat Nadal there in Paris, when he led their quarterfinal by a set and 3-2 with a break of serve. Nadal came back to win after rain forced the match to be suspended until the next day, but it was a demonstration of the phenomenal power Schwartzman could generate despite his stature. His affectionate nickname, 'El Peque,' translates to 'Shorty.' Advertisement Schwartzman went one better at Roland Garros two years later by reaching the semifinals, where Nadal beat him again. He qualified for the ATP Tour Finals, for the world's eight best players, that year, and also made the U.S. Open quarterfinals twice. Only 32, Schwartzman started having physical issues in 2022. He recently got engaged and wants to start a family in retirement. Reflecting on his career, Schwartzman told the ATP last week: 'While it has been a little bit sad watching tennis lately, knowing this moment was coming, it was in a good way. I have a lot of amazing memories to think about and achievements to celebrate. I had the opportunity to check off many dreams and do more than people thought was possible for me. 'I have a small body, but it gave the biggest players in our history bad moments.' Tennis players seem to be getting taller and taller and more homogenized. An always-popular figure, Schwartzman will be much missed. Charlie Eccleshare Yep, Joao Fonseca hit some winners, didn't he? 🎾 ATP: 🏆 Joao Fonseca def. Francisco Cerundolo (5) 6-4, 7-6(1) to win the Argentina Open (250) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the Brazilian's first ATP Tour title. 🏆 Ugo Humbert (2) def. Hamad Medjedovic 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the Open 13 Provence (250) in Marseille, France. It is his second consecutive title at the tournament. 🏆 Miomir Kecmanovic (7) def. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (8) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to win the Delray Beach Open (250) in Delray Beach, Florida. It is his second ATP Tour title. 🎾 WTA: 🏆 Amanda Anisimova def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3 to win the Qatar Open (1,000) in Doha, Qatar. It is the American's first WTA 1,000 title. 📈 Amanda Anisimova ascends 23 spots from No. 41 to No. 18 after her win in Doha. It is a new career high for the American. 📈 Joao Fonseca moves up 31 places from No. 99 to No. 68 after his win in Buenos Aires. It is a new career high for the Brazilian. 📈 Jelena Ostapenko gains 11 places after her run to the Doha final, returning to the seeded positions for Grand Slams by moving from No. 37 to No. 26. 📈 Hamad Medjedovic rises 23 places from No. 96 to No. 73 after his run to the Marseille final. 🎾 ATP 📍Doha, Qatar: Qatar Open (500) featuring Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alex De Minaur, Abdullah Shelbayh. 📍Rio de Janeiro: Rio Open (500) featuring Alexander Zverev, Joao Fonseca, Francisco Cerundolo, Yunchaokete Bu. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV 🎾 WTA 📍Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Dubai Tennis Championships (1000) featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men's and women's tours continue.
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28-01-2025
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Australian Open briefing: Iga Swiatek's hard truths, Novak Djokovic's endurance and a media circus
Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court. This week, the Australian Open came to a close in Melbourne. Madison Keys claimed the women's singles title with a win over Aryna Sabalenka, while Jannik Sinner lifted the men's singles trophy after defeating Alexander Zverev. 's tennis writers, Matt Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare, look back on the tournament, from the generational shift on the men's side to the ascension of the top WTA Tour players and a happy slam that felt more like a needly media circus. Father Time comes for everyone. He usually brings an injury, or perhaps a series of them, for the players who want to try and spend their late 30s at the top of tennis. He came for Roger Federer and took out his knee. He came for Rafael Nadal and basically wrecked some important machinery just below his chest to the middle of his thighs. His knees weren't very good either. And now, in real time, we're seeing him come for Novak Djokovic. The French Open took out a knee, tearing his meniscus. He managed some other niggles through the fall so he could come to Australia fit and healthy. Then he suffered a leg muscle tear chasing a drop shot in his quarterfinal against Carlos Alcaraz. Adrenalin, painkillers and some inspired tactical changes got him over the line, but an attritional 80-minute set against Alexander Zverev was too much to handle. In his news conference, Djokovic said that there are 'a number of factors' to his getting injured more frequently, adding that 'the statistics are against me'. The main factor is the number of years he has been doing this, to which all humans in their late 30s can relate. They simply can't do the things they used to be able to do reliably. Injuries get more frequent, recovery takes longer than it once did, and there are hidden costs to coming back. Djokovic has won this title by playing through muscle tears twice, one of them in his leg, but the acuteness of this injury was too much to handle, along with the accumulation of 20 years of elite-level tennis and 24 Grand Slam titles. Was there something slightly different in Djokovic's stride post-surgery that made him more prone to a hamstring tear? Did the injury from two years ago — a tear in the same muscle — ever fully heal, or was it always weak because of that original injury? It's impossible to know the answers to those questions. A 37-year-old Djokovic is subject to the same laws of physics and biology as everyone else. The gift of mortality is that it forces you to appreciate the life that has come before it. The same is true for amazingly great sporting careers. As they end, the clarity of the greatness becomes that much more precise. Iga Swiatek is an elite hard-court player. As of yet, she's just not been a consistently elite hard-court player at the Grand Slams. Aside from her 2022 U.S. Open win, Swiatek's successes on the surface have come away from the majors. Before this year's Australian Open, she hadn't reached a hard-court major semifinal since winning that title in New York. In WTA 1000s and other tournaments, she has been as imperious as she is on clay. Since her first major title at the 2020 French Open, she was won 82 percent of her tour matches on the surface, winning 12 titles. In that time, Aryna Sabalenka's win percentage is 75 percent, with 10 titles. She has heavily outperformed Swiatek at hard-court Grand Slams, but their overall records show that any characterization of their rivalry as clay-court specialist vs. hard-court specialist is wide of the mark. Swiatek achieved her deepest Grand Slam hard-court run in 18 months by reaching the last four in Melbourne. She was one point away from reaching the final against an inspired Keys, who kept her level to beat Swiatek in a match tiebreak. Swiatek had been in imperious form until then, losing just 14 games in her five previous matches. She decisively proved that she can play close to or at her top level at a major on a hard court. That should be her main takeaway from the tournament, rather than any lingering regret about losing such a tight semifinal. Swiatek looked more like the player who dominated the WTA Tour in 2022 and 2023, after a string of defeats in 2024 in which she became predictable and panicked when opponents — particularly hard-hitting ones like Keys — started playing well or even close to their peaks. Swiatek would force the issue, trying to blast high-quality shots back, rather than using her superb defensive skills and high-margin groundstrokes. Over the last couple of weeks, Swiatek rediscovered more of that margin, spinning her forehand to devastating effect and giving her opponents absolutely nothing even when under pressure. After beating Emma Raducanu for the loss of just one game in the third round, Swiatek said that 'this match was kind of perfect for me'. She added: 'I felt like the ball is listening to me.' Her partnership with new coach Wim Fissette appears to be working well, and Swiatek should go into the next few months confident that she can have another good run in the hard-court swing ahead of the tour moving to her beloved clay in April. Sabalenka failing to defend her Australian Open title also means that Swiatek is fewer than 200 points away reclaiming her No. 1 ranking. She has plenty to build on once the disappointment of the Keys defeat wears off. There were so many matches that went on for so long at this Australian Open that the best-of-five sets format seemed increasingly absurd. For all the epic fifth sets, it was the dramatic three-set matches over just two or three hours that were the more gripping. The main concern is player viability. At an event that has multiple night matches, like the Australian Open, the chances that one or more will last until the small hours of the morning are high. American qualifier Learner Tien, 19, took four hours and 49 minutes to beat last year's finalist, Daniil Medvedev, in five sets in the second round. His post-match interview took place after 3 a.m. and he didn't get to sleep until close to 7 a.m. He somehow won his next match, against Corentin Moutet, but walked onto the court for the fourth round against Lorenzo Sonego with nothing left in the tank. The other is the speed at which tennis becomes dramatic or meaningful. As soon as a three-setter goes 1-1, the tension sets in, as it did in Keys' epic win over Swiatek in the semifinals. Had it been a men's match, the real inflection point would have come later, after over 30 minutes, and perhaps an hour, of high-quality but largely inconsequential tennis. After Keys outlasted Swiatek in the deciding 10-point tiebreak, she was able to have her body in reasonable shape for the final against Sabalenka 43 hours later. Grand Slam tournaments do need differentiation from the rest of the tours, but tennis is incredibly physical and is only getting more so. Three sets is enough. Just when the WTA Tour is settling into some kind of rhythm, something unexpected happens. It's pretty much been that way since Serena Williams went on hiatus to give birth to her first child in 2017, with no one player able to dominate in terms of major wins for an extended period. It looked as though Sabalenka was going to stamp her authority with a third-straight title here and a second major in a row, but then came Keys to pull off a stunning upset, beating the world No. 2 and world No. 1 in consecutive matches to win her first Grand Slam title. She beat world No. 7 Elena Rybakina, a former Grand Slam champion, on the way, too, with a remarkable run to the final that demonstrates how players on the WTA Tour can still run hot for a couple of weeks to win the game's biggest prizes. Winning the WTA 500 in Adelaide before the Australian Open (which means Keys is on a 12-match winning streak heading into her next tournament) no doubt helped, but her run to the title is one of the most remarkable in recent history. Like Barbora Krejcikova at Wimbledon last year, or Marketa Vondrousova at the same tournament in 2023, the challenge for Keys is kicking on from such an electric fortnight. That's not easy but, aside from the French Open where Swiatek has been so dominant, this result is another indication of how open majors can be. Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik and Tien probably won't win Grand Slam finals anytime soon. But they all showed that being under 20 doesn't mean you can't win matches at Slams. All of them knocked off seeded opponents and announced themselves as players to watch in the next few years. The proclamations that were popular not so long ago that teenagers could not compete with men did not account for those teenagers having the power of Mensik and Fonseca. They also did not account for Tien's foot speed and technique, which is wise beyond his years, and his ability to pull out his howitzer and unleash on the ball when the opportunity arises. Mensik and Fonseca have big serves. Tien does not, but he's a lefty, which causes all sorts of confusion and the need for opponents to adjust. Most importantly, they all grew up watching Alcaraz and Sinner come through with serious power and the ability to play first-strike tennis from the front of the court as much as the back. Tien exited when he ran out of gas, but Fonseca and Mensik both lost to canny, crafty opponents in the shape of Lorenzo Sonego and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina respectively. They won't have faced much of that sort of play in their careers to date, and they will have to figure out how to adapt. They've known what it was going to take to compete with the best. They've been tailoring their games for it. All young players are. Mix that effort with their power and competing as a teenager becomes possible. Eschewing its reputation as the 'Happy Slam,' this year's Australian Open was all about the aggro. Things really kicked off on the first Thursday, when world No. 12 Danielle Collins took on the home fans like a WWE heel. A raucous crowd had been vocally supporting her opponent, Destanee Aiava, so after winning in three sets Collins cupped her hand to her ear, saying 'how about that' and blowing kisses towards supporters. In her on-court interview, Collins thanked the fans who had been against her for providing her with a 'big fat pay check'. She doubled down after her next match, adding: 'I think that six different sponsorship opportunities came up this tournament alone. That's a great signal for me. 'Obviously, like I said, every fan contributes to that. It's been a real blessing. 'I don't care what some guy living in his basement is writing on the internet.' The night before Collins' performance, the British No. 15 seed Jack Draper enjoyed putting his finger to his ear after dealing with 'quite a lot of abuse' in his win over home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis. Whether the Aussie crowd overstepped the mark became a recurring talking point in the tournament, so much so that the tournament director, Craig Tiley, had to leap to their defence. 'You're always going to have one or two,' he argued. The drama peaked when Djokovic refused to do his on-court interview after beating Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round. Djokovic later explained that he was boycotting interviews with Australian broadcaster Channel 9 after presenter Tony Jones called Djokovic a 'has-been' and said 'kick him out' on air, in apparent reference to 2022 when Djokovic was deported from Australia over Covid-19 protocols. Jones was also involved in a public contretemps with Collins after calling her 'a brat' during a major that often felt more soap opera than Grand Slam. Djokovic eventually made peace with Channel 9 after Jones apologized, but he still enjoyed getting in arguments with fans during his win over Alcaraz. Oh, and earlier in the tournament he suggested that tennis should have dancers and music at changeovers, just to liven things up. It was a weird couple of weeks. In a major with 256 entrants, it's rare that one player's highlight reel so completely steals the show. Step forward Lorenzo Sonego: Madison Keys fulfils her tennis destiny in Melbourne Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz's tennis rivalry of the mind The cartoon stars of the Australian Open went viral. Can they change sports media? Goran Ivanisevic quits as Elena Rybakina's coach after suspended Stefano Vukov returns to team 🎾 ATP: 🏆 Jannik Sinner (1) def. Alexander Zverev (2) 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne for the second consecutive time. It is the Italian's third Grand Slam title.🏆 Harri Heliovaara / Henry Patten (6) def. Andrea Vavassori / Simone Bolelli (3) 6-7(16), 7-6(5), 6-3 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne. It is the duo's second men's doubles title together. 🎾 WTA: 🏆 Madison Keys (19) def. Aryna Sabalenka (1) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne. It is the American's first Grand Slam title.🏆 Katerina Siniakova / Taylor Townsend (1) def. Hsieh Su-wei / Jelena Ostapenko (3) 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3 to win the Australian Open in Melbourne. It is the duo's second women's doubles title together. 📈 Madison Keys moves up seven places from No. 14 to No. 7 after her title in Melbourne.📈 Tommy Paul ascends two spots from No. 11 to No. 9. It is a new career high for the American.📈 Eva Lys rises 37 spots from No. 128 to No. 91, after reaching the Australian Open fourth round as a lucky loser.📈 Learner Tien and Joao Fonseca make their top-100 debuts after success in Melbourne. Tien moves up 41 places to No. 80, while Fonseca climbs 13 places to No. 99. 📉 Daniil Medvedev falls two places from No. 5 to No. 7 after his second-round exit in Melbourne. Last year's finalist loses 1,250 ranking points.📉 Zheng Qinwen drops three places from No. 5 to No. 8, after losing at the same stage having also been a finalist last year.📉 Hubert Hurkacz leaves the top 20, falling from No. 17 to No. 21. 🎾 ATP 📍Montpellier, France: Open Occitanie (250) featuring Andrey Rublev, Flavio Cobolli, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stan Wawrinka.📍Various locations: Davis Cup qualifiers featuring Joao Fonseca, Alex Michelsen, Holger Rune, Arthur Fils. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV 🎾 WTA 📍Linz, Austria: Upper Austria Ladies Linz (500) featuring Karolina Muchova, Elina Svitolina, Belinda Bencic, Clara Tauson.📍Singapore: Singapore Open (250) featuring Elise Mertens, Emma Raducanu, Wang Xinyu. 📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men's and women's tours continue. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
