Latest news with #Roland-Garros
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Sinner's Wimbledon purge and its effect on his rivalry with Alcaraz
For all of Carlos Alcaraz's brilliance, big-match temperament and high skill, it is Jannik Sinner who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles, and came within a whisker of the other at Roland-Garros last month. In a parallel universe, the World No. 1 would have held all four Slams at once, making him the first man since Rod Laver and Novak Djokovic to do so in the Open Era. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20, but this is just to show how good the Italian has been. Starting from his first Major triumph at the 2024 Australian Open he has by far been the best player, with a stupendous win-loss record of 99-9. And the 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over two-time defending champion Alcaraz in Sunday's Wimbledon final, that snapped a run of five straight defeats to the Spaniard including the five-set reverse at French Open from being three championship points up, is surely the acme. 'This is the part where I'm the proudest because it really has not been easy,' Sinner said about his bounce back after Paris. 'But things can happen. If you lose a Grand Slam final that way, it's much better than when someone kills [thrashes] you.' 'I said after Roland-Garros that it's not the time to put myself down because another Slam is coming up, and I did great.' Darren Cahill, his coach, said that the practice week ahead of Wimbledon was the 'best we've ever had with him as far as attitude.' Sinner also had a big slice of luck when Grigor Dimitrov retired from two sets up in their fourth-round match with an injury. 'We always had faith that he was going to get himself out of that match,' insisted Cahill. 'But yes, he caught a break. Nobody goes through a tournament without a hiccup, Everybody has a story in a Grand Slam. Maybe this was going to be his story.' What Sinner's performance does is that it moves the needle in his era-defining rivalry with Alcaraz. Hands down the best player on hard courts – he has two Australian Opens and one US Open – the 23-year-old is now proving the World No. 2's equal even on clay and grass. 'I knew that I could play well here [Wimbledon] because of my groundstrokes,' said Sinner. 'They're quite flat, and the ball goes through. On clay, the physical shape was not there. But I played five-and-a-half hours against Carlos [French Open] and it was a good move forward.' As to the next trajectory of this match-up, it depends on how Alcaraz responds. It is similar to the situation the World No. 2 found himself in after losing to Djokovic in the Paris Olympics gold-medal match barely a month after outwitting the Serb in the Wimbledon final. 'It was really, really hard to accept that moment [in the Olympics],' Alcaraz said on Sunday. 'But in the last year, I have learned. I accept everything that is coming. I just lost a Grand Slam final, but I am really proud about being in a final. I want to keep the good moments and move forward.'
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Wimbledon 2025: Sinner's Wimbledon purge and its effect on his rivalry with Alcaraz
For all of Carlos Alcaraz's brilliance, big-match temperament and high skill, it is Jannik Sinner who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles, and came within a whisker of the other at Roland-Garros last month. In a parallel universe, the World No. 1 would have held all four Slams at once, making him the first man since Rod Laver and Novak Djokovic to do so in the Open Era. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20, but this is just to show how good the Italian has been. Starting from his first Major triumph at the 2024 Australian Open he has by far been the best player, with a stupendous win-loss record of 99-9. And the 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over two-time defending champion Alcaraz in Sunday's Wimbledon final, that snapped a run of five straight defeats to the Spaniard including the five-set reverse at French Open from being three championship points up, is surely the acme. 'This is the part where I'm the proudest because it really has not been easy,' Sinner said about his bounce back after Paris. 'But things can happen. If you lose a Grand Slam final that way, it's much better than when someone kills [thrashes] you.' 'I said after Roland-Garros that it's not the time to put myself down because another Slam is coming up, and I did great.' Darren Cahill, his coach, said that the practice week ahead of Wimbledon was the 'best we've ever had with him as far as attitude.' Sinner also had a big slice of luck when Grigor Dimitrov retired from two sets up in their fourth-round match with an injury. 'We always had faith that he was going to get himself out of that match,' insisted Cahill. 'But yes, he caught a break. Nobody goes through a tournament without a hiccup, Everybody has a story in a Grand Slam. Maybe this was going to be his story.' What Sinner's performance does is that it moves the needle in his era-defining rivalry with Alcaraz. Hands down the best player on hard courts – he has two Australian Opens and one US Open – the 23-year-old is now proving the World No. 2's equal even on clay and grass. 'I knew that I could play well here [Wimbledon] because of my groundstrokes,' said Sinner. 'They're quite flat, and the ball goes through. On clay, the physical shape was not there. But I played five-and-a-half hours against Carlos [French Open] and it was a good move forward.' As to the next trajectory of this match-up, it depends on how Alcaraz responds. It is similar to the situation the World No. 2 found himself in after losing to Djokovic in the Paris Olympics gold-medal match barely a month after outwitting the Serb in the Wimbledon final. 'It was really, really hard to accept that moment [in the Olympics],' Alcaraz said on Sunday. 'But in the last year, I have learned. I accept everything that is coming. I just lost a Grand Slam final, but I am really proud about being in a final. I want to keep the good moments and move forward.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Report: Zverev looking at Nadal family to boost career
German tennis player Alexander and Spain's Rafael Nadal pose for a photo before during the 2024 French Open tennis tournament (Roland-Garros). Alexander Zverev could reportedly seek help from the Nadal family in his bid to overcome problems on and off the court, according to Sky TV. Frank Molter/dpa Alexander Zverev could reportedly seek help from the Nadal family in his bid to overcome problems on and off the court, according to Sky TV. Sky commentator Paul Häuser said on platform X that Toni Nadal could become coach and his nephew, Rafael Nadal, a mentor of sorts for the German. Advertisement Toni Nadal coached Rafael Nadal to the majority of his 22 grand slam titles, among them 14 alone at the French Open. Rafael Nadal ended his playing career last year. Sky posted videos showing Zverev training with Toni Nadal at Rafael Nadal's tennis academy on the island of Mallorca. Häuser later said there was no agreement yet and that both sides were in the process of determining through the sessions whether such a co-operation would work out. World number three Zverev, 28, is yet to win a grand slam titles, having lost the three finals at the majors he appeared in. He spoke of mental health problems after a first-round exit at Wimbledon two weeks ago and he was considering seeking professional help. He said he planned changes and hoped to have some answers when he plans to return to action at the end of the month in Toronto. Advertisement Zverev has mainly been coached by his father, Alexander Zverev Sr, and his brother Mischa is also close to him as a manager and adviser. Former German great Boris Becker has suggested that Zverev makes changes in his environment in order to improve. "The father and brother have done a great job but it wasn't good enough for the final step. You get the impression that he plays in the same way against top players and hopes for a good result," Becker said. Zverev dismissed this but Becker also said that all external coaches left after a rather short period, such as Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ivan Lendl, David Ferrer or Sergi Bruguera.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Wimbledon 2025: Iga Swiatek wins maiden Wimbledon title as Amanda Anisimova suffers nightmare day
It could not have been much more than 30 metres' distance between them, but they felt worlds apart. While Iga Swiatek was clambering up the rows of seats towards her box to celebrate her maiden Wimbledon title, Amanda Anisimova sat slumped in her chair, a towel over her face, desperate for the pristine green of Centre Court to just swallow her up after suffering the scarring ignominy of losing a Grand Slam final 6-0 6-0. Advertisement Right from the off, when she went 0-40 down and was broken on serve in the very first service game, the atmosphere was decidedly eery. When would she overcome her stage fright and land a blow on Swiatek? The answer never came. This will always be remembered as the Wimbledon final over in 57 minutes. The galling nature of Anisimova's defeat felt it might threaten how we come to remember Swiatek's crowning moment. But the American battled through the tears in her on-court loser's speech to praise the champion, to force a smile, even to crack a couple of jokes. Swiatek, she rightly said, was a deserving champion. The 2018 junior Wimbledon champion has levelled up. She was powerful, precise, marvellous throughout. The ruthless manner of her victory may have left some on Centre Court feeling cheated of their pricey tickets but was just a measure of her exceptional level all fortnight. She can thank her opponent for having knocked out the world No1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final, but there were no more gimmes beyond. She had dropped just one set all tournament, winning her semi-final 6-2 6-0 before becoming only the second player ever to win a women's Grand Slam final with a double bagel, after Steffi Graf at the 1988 French Open. This was a first Wimbledon final for both, and Swiatek is still yet to lose a Grand Slam final, claiming her sixth. Anisimova, a Roland-Garros semi-finalist at just 17 years old in 2019, was powerless to quell her own nerves in her first Grand Slam final. She froze, eternally hamstrung, unable to respond to the crowd's regular best efforts to boost her into action. Advertisement The action was almost entirely Swiatek's. Forehand winners slapped into the corner, 119mph aces, drop shots Anisimova could only stare at. Her opponent all too often fired beyond the baseline when she was not hitting double faults or merely reacting with resignation to Swiatek's brilliance. Anisimova won just 26 per cent of points off her first serve and put only 45 per cent of her first serves in — no recipe for success in any match, let alone the final of Wimbledon. How long had it been since Swiatek, the first-ever Polish Wimbledon singles champion, first dreamed of lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court? 'Honestly, I didn't even dream,' she laughed afterwards. 'For me, it was way too far. I want to thank my team, because I feel they believed in me more than I did.' A fortnight of peerless tennis on a surface previously seen as her weakness has delivered the 24-year-old the greatest moment of her career so far. Anisimova, 23 and born only three months after Swiatek, first faced the Pole nine years ago in a Junior Fed Cup match in Hungary that Swiatek won 6-4 6-2. Their next meeting and first at professional level proved nothing short of a nightmare for her. Advertisement The 13th seed was not only shackled by the grand occasion and by the relentless Swiatek but also mired by her own negative body language. The American glared at the turf, smacked her racquet against her thigh, or threw her head to the heavens as the games kept passing her by. Plenty found it hard to watch. Having lost the first set without claiming a single game and when 0-30 down on serve in the first game of the second, she was bouncing a ball down with her racquet when it landed on her shoe and rolled away. Here, in microcosm, was her whole helpless experience, the final and the day all just getting further and further away from her. Just as for her conqueror, though, this has been an excellent fortnight. Mustering the words when surely none felt like coming, she acknowledged her mother for flying in to watch her, and then thanked the crowd. 'Even though I ran out of gas today, you guys have still lifted me up. 'I know I didn't have enough today, but I always believe in myself and hope to be back here someday.' There's a very decent chance she will. Next week, she will break into the world's top-10 for the very first time. Advertisement Swiatek has been there for some time, though this has been an admittedly testing year for the former world No1, missing a month and three tournaments in late 2024 after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine and having to work her way back to the summit. In May, she was left devastated by failing to win a fourth successive French Open title. But, in the long-run, a blessing in disguise? She regrouped immediately, switching with laser focus to the grass-court season. She has swatted aside everyone in her path — Anisimova, however cruel this was, just the latest. Swiatek is, without doubt, the greatest player of her generation, this her sixth Grand Slam title and with so many more still to be claimed. In her first Wimbledon final, she was particularly brutal. A demolition job in less than an hour. In no time, a win for all time.
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Iga Świątek is mirroring her tennis idol to a tee after first Wimbledon title
Iga Świątek has never been shy about her admiration for the legendary Rafael Nadal. The Polish superstar has frequently talked about how big of an inspiration the 22-time major champion was on her own career as she rose to prominence. Over the years, Nadal has wholeheartedly embraced Świątek as she's tried to follow in his footsteps. As it turns out, after Świątek won her first Wimbledon title on Saturday, it sure seems like she is also following Nadal's career trajectory ... perfectly. No, seriously. It's basically to a tee. You can't make this up, I swear. CHAMPIONING HER CULTURE: Świątek beloved strawberries and pasta are Polish delicacy First off, with 14 French Open titles, Nadal is known as the all-time "King of Clay." No other man has more than eight titles at Roland-Garros. While Świątek still has a ways to go in this regard, she has won four of the last six French Opens, earning a nickname as the current "Queen of Clay." Also, the only other tennis star to win 40 French Open matches faster than Świątek was, you guessed it, Nadal. So, for a time, both were known as "clay merchants" who could only succeed on that specific playing surface. But that is obviously no longer the case for either. Secondly, with Świątek's Wimbledon first victory finally giving her a Grand Slam title on all three playing surfaces (clay, grass, hardcourt) — by the way, she is only the eighth woman ever to do so — she almost mirrored Nadal's first six major titles (four at Roland-Garros, one at Wimbledon, one on hardcourt) precisely. The only major difference is that Nadal won his first hardcourt Grand Slam at the 2009 Australian Open while Świątek won her first hardcourt Grand Slam at the 2022 US Open. If all of this weren't enough, Świątek celebrated her first Wimbledon victory just like Nadal did. I mean, COME ON. In other words, dearest readers, the Polish dynamo is more or less emulating her tennis role model, Nadal, completely. To separate from Nadal for a second, Świątek is now 6-0 in Grand Slam finals. The only other players in the Open Era to start at least 6-0 in Grand Slam finals in their respective careers are Margaret Court (8-0), Roger Federer (7-0), and Monica Seles. Świątek is also only one Grand Slam victory from tying Venus Williams and Justine Henin in all-time major titles. Finally, all the Pole needs to complete a career Grand Slam is a win at next year's Australian Open. All at the age of 24 with her entire career still ahead of her. Phew. Call it a hunch, but it's probably safe to say that Świątek isn't done channeling Nadal OR making her role model proud.
