21-04-2025
The curious case of Swiatek's hex against Ostapenko
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our new weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko looks at the key talking points.
Usually Iga Swiatek is the one dishing out the recent years, the five-time major champion has become known for the ruthless manner of her victories, subjecting many opponents to the ultimate embarrassment of losing a set without winning a 23-year-old Swiatek finds herself in the position of being on the wrong end of a 6-0 scoreline - having lost to Jelena Ostapenko for the sixth time in a extended her flawless head-to-head record against the world number two in the Stuttgart quarter-finals on what's behind the one-sided results?Having won the 2017 French Open, Ostapenko certainly has the pedigree and her explosive ball-bashing - when it works, and the winners outweigh the unforced errors - can have devastating has encountered trouble against aggressive ball-strikers, too, so that adds further weight to the also wonder whether there is a mental block against an opponent who a player knows has their disputed that afterwards, saying her head "was much more clear" against Ostapenko in Stuttgart than her previous the agony was prolonged in Stuttgart, you can't imagine a player of Swiatek's quality will suffer a career-spanning is a long way to go until Swiatek enters the conversation of being on the receiving end of the most dominant head-to-head Monfils has lost all 20 of his matches (so far) against Novak Djokovic, while Richard Gasquet's 18-0 record against Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer's 14-0 against Roger Federer are other notable lopsided match-ups in recent fact, Swiatek could shake off the hex as early as next week, with Ostapenko slated to be a prospective last-16 opponent in Madrid.
British number four Harriet Dart caused a stink by telling her French opponent to put on deodorant at the Rouen Nadal might not be playing the French Open this year - a strange feeling indeed - but the 14-time men's singles champion will be honoured in a ceremony at Roland Williams claims she would have been treated differently to Jannik Sinner if she had failed two doping tests.
The two-year wait is over for Holger Rune. The 21-year-old Dane has finally got his hands on another ATP trophy after beating childhood friend Carlos Alcaraz to the Barcelona reward is a leap back into the world's top 10 - as well as the customary jump into the Zverev may not have made the most of chasing down banned world number one Jannik Sinner, but the German ensured he did not lose any further ground - and moved back above Alcaraz to number two - after retaining his Munich title. Hungary's Fabian Marozsan has broken back into the top 60 after coming through qualifying in Munich to reach his first ATP semi-final.
In the WTA rankings, Ostapenko has made the most notable progress. The Latvian has climbed back into the top 20 after reaching the Stuttgart final, where she faces world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Svitolina is just out of Ostapenko's reach after the Ukrainian won the Rouen title, with beaten finalist Olga Danilovic set to move up to a career-high 34th.
The world's best have converged on Madrid for the next ATP Masters-WTA 1000 combined event of the of the top 20 men are playing - only Jannik Sinner remains missing - with two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz classed as the favourite on a slower clay surface where the balls travel heavier because of Madrid's Andrey Rublev is the defending of the women's top 20 are set to compete in the Spanish defends her title as she looks to bounce back and close the gap on Sabalenka at the top of the might not yet have mastered the clay courts like she has the hard courts - but her two titles on the red dirt have both come in - you've guessed it - Madrid.
British number ones Jack Draper and Katie Boulter took to the practice courts last week instead of playing in tournaments before Madrid, while Emma Raducanu has spent time doing a training block in Los Angeles. The trio will return to competitive action in Madrid this the men's doubles, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski missed out on their first title together - but there was still a British champion in Johnson and Dutch partner Sander Arends took the trophy after a tight 6-3 6-7 10-6 win over Salisbury and British players - Eden Silva, Emily Appleton and Maia Lumsden - competed in the Rouen women's doubles main draw, but lost their respective what about the next generation? Junior US Open champion Mika Stojsavljevic won the under-18 girls' title at the National Championships, while Oliver Bonding claimed the boys' winners are rewarded with wildcards into Wimbledon qualifying and a place in the main draw of the Junior Championships.
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