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Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Evans not ready for goodbye yet
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter examines former British number one Dan Evans's future. In a season which became known as the year of retirements on the ATP Tour, former British number one Dan Evans had his own thoughts about how long he had left playing. Andy Murray deciding it was the right time to stop dominated the talk in British tennis last year, while his fellow Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also brought the curtain down on their careers in 2024. At Wimbledon in June, Evans spoke about the awareness he had of coming towards the end of his career and the "stark reality" of not being able to compete at the same level he once did. So it is telling Evans - who turns 35 in less than a fortnight - is still ploughing on, albeit largely on the ATP Challenger Tour which sits below the main tour. Less than two years ago, he was ranked a career-high 21st in the world, but is now 190th after briefly dropping outside of the top 200 earlier this year. "I'm enjoying playing tennis - I'm not enjoying where my ranking is, of course," Evans told the BBC 5 Live Tennis programme last week. "I'm still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don't think I am." Evans, competing in a Challenger event in Bordeaux this week before focusing on French Open qualifying, certainly still is a tennis player. Dropping down a level demonstrates his clear love for the sport and, perhaps, a determination to spend as much time on court as possible having being banned for a year in 2017 after testing positive for cocaine. Making the decision to stop playing professional tennis is, for many, the hardest they will make. There is no 'perfect' way to say goodbye. Former world number one Murray, who retired after playing Olympic doubles with Evans in Paris, knew it was the right time. It did not stop floods of tears - from the 37-year-old Scot, Evans and plenty more watching on - as the curtain came down at Roland Garros. Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open title, retired several weeks later at his home ATP event in Vienna. After seeing his career derailed by a debilitating wrist injury, the 31-year-old Austrian's intuition told him it was not worth carrying on any more. "Tennis had been my whole life since a very young age so I was fighting against this inner feeling and hoping it goes away again," he told BBC Sport. "But instead of going away or getting weaker, it got stronger and got way more into my head. "Once I made the decision there was a mix of negative and positive emotions - sadness, fear but also a little bit of happiness and looking forward to the time after." Evans knows the time is coming. But, for now, his inner feeling is to keep plugging away with the belief he can still compete. "I'm still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100 and that's my goal," he added. "It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up." Jannik Sinner is back. The world number one, banned for three months after failing two doping tests, received a hero's welcome as he returned with a win at the Italian Open. Iga Swiatek's troubles continued as the four-time French Open champion suffered another early clay-court exit in Rome. Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk praised Daria Kasatkina's "courage" in switching nationalities from Russia to Australia. The next rankings will not be released until next Monday, following the conclusion of the combined WTA-ATP event in Rome. However, we already know Swiatek - whose Rome title defence ended in the third round - will drop outside the top three for the first time since March 2022. The live projections also show Jack Draper has a chance of moving to a new career-high of fourth in the world. With Taylor Fritz losing in the second round, the British men's number one will move above the American if he continues to win in Rome. With the Italian Open played over a fortnight, the action at the Foro Italico takes centre stage again this week. However, there are several tournaments on the ATP Challenger and WTA 125 tours - the tiers below the main tours - worth keeping an eye on as players look for more clay-court time going into the French Open. Britain's Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal are competing in the Paris 125, where the field is led by world number 17 Amanda Anisimova. The pick of several ATP Challengers is the Bordeaux tournament. A host of top-50 players - including huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard - are joined in the draw by three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who opens against British number four Billy Harris. Draper and Emma Raducanu continue to fly the British flag in the Rome singles, with both players reaching the last 16. Jacob Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Kartal were knocked out in the second round, while Boulter fell in round one after drawing 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In wheelchair tennis, there was success for Great Britain at the World Team Cup - the sport's flagship event which is the equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup. Britain's junior team claimed their second World Team Cup title in three years after beating the United States - the defending champions - in Turkey. The nation also claimed two bronze medals after the men's team and quad team won their medal play-off ties. With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the next. As part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the sport. As well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars are. You can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone. Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Evans not ready for goodbye yet
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko examines former British number one Dan Evans's future. In a season which became known as the year of retirements on the ATP Tour, former British number one Dan Evans had his own thoughts about how long he had left Murray deciding it was the right time to stop dominated the talk in British tennis last year, while his fellow Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem also brought the curtain down on their careers in Wimbledon in June, Evans spoke about the awareness he had of coming towards the end of his career and the "stark reality" of not being able to compete at the same level he once it is telling Evans - who turns 35 in less than a fortnight - is still ploughing on, albeit largely on the ATP Challenger Tour which sits below the main than two years ago, he was ranked a career-high 21st in the world, but is now 190th after briefly dropping outside of the top 200 earlier this year."I'm enjoying playing tennis - I'm not enjoying where my ranking is, of course," Evans told the BBC 5 Live Tennis programme last week."I'm still trying to be a tennis player, although some people are letting it known they don't think I am."Evans, competing in a Challenger event in Bordeaux this week before focusing on French Open qualifying, certainly still is a tennis down a level demonstrates his clear love for the sport and, perhaps, a determination to spend as much time on court as possible having being banned for a year in 2017 after testing positive for the decision to stop playing professional tennis is, for many, the hardest they will make. There is no 'perfect' way to say goodbye. Former world number one Murray, who retired after playing Olympic doubles with Evans in Paris, knew it was the right did not stop floods of tears - from the 37-year-old Scot, Evans and plenty more watching on - as the curtain came down at Roland who won the 2020 US Open title, retired several weeks later at his home ATP event in seeing his career derailed by a debilitating wrist injury, the 31-year-old Austrian's intuition told him it was not worth carrying on any more. "Tennis had been my whole life since a very young age so I was fighting against this inner feeling and hoping it goes away again," he told BBC Sport."But instead of going away or getting weaker, it got stronger and got way more into my head."Once I made the decision there was a mix of negative and positive emotions - sadness, fear but also a little bit of happiness and looking forward to the time after."Evans knows the time is coming. But, for now, his inner feeling is to keep plugging away with the belief he can still compete."I'm still trying. I think I will get back inside the top 100 and that's my goal," he added."It will be a pretty good story to have dropped down to such a bad ranking and get back up." Jannik Sinner is back. The world number one, banned for three months after failing two doping tests, received a hero's welcome as he returned with a win at the Italian Swiatek's troubles continued as the four-time French Open champion suffered another early clay-court exit in Marta Kostyuk praised Daria Kasatkina's "courage" in switching nationalities from Russia to Australia. The next rankings will not be released until next Monday, following the conclusion of the combined WTA-ATP event in we already know Swiatek - whose Rome title defence ended in the third round - will drop outside the top three for the first time since March 2022. The live projections also show Jack Draper has a chance of moving to a new career-high of fourth in the Taylor Fritz losing in the second round, the British men's number one will move above the American if he continues to win in Rome. With the Italian Open played over a fortnight, the action at the Foro Italico takes centre stage again this there are several tournaments on the ATP Challenger and WTA 125 tours - the tiers below the main tours - worth keeping an eye on as players look for more clay-court time going into the French Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal are competing in the Paris 125, where the field is led by world number 17 Amanda Anisimova. The pick of several ATP Challengers is the Bordeaux tournament.A host of top-50 players - including huge-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard - are joined in the draw by three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who opens against British number four Billy Harris. Draper and Emma Raducanu continue to fly the British flag in the Rome singles, with both players reaching the last Fearnley, Cameron Norrie and Kartal were knocked out in the second round, while Boulter fell in round one after drawing 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia wheelchair tennis, there was success for Great Britain at the World Team Cup - the sport's flagship event which is the equivalent of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King junior team claimed their second World Team Cup title in three years after beating the United States - the defending champions - in nation also claimed two bronze medals after the men's team and quad team won their medal play-off ties. What is Second Serve? With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
BBC News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How Draper has become a force on clay
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko analyses Jack Draper's improved clay-court game. Another inquest into the lack of British clay-court success opened at last year's French the third time this century, the British singles players suffered a first-round wipeout at Roland Garros and led to many fans questioning - again - why the nation has struggled to produce players who win regularly on the red Draper was among the beaten Britons after an error-strewn defeat by Dutch qualifier Jesper de forward almost a year and Draper is now a clay-court ATP Masters British men's number one enjoyed a productive run at the Madrid Open before losing an intense three-set battle against two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud."There isn't a surface in my mind that Jack can't play on," former British number one Tim Henman told BBC Sport last month."When you look at his attributes – he's got a big, lefty serve, he hits his forehand with a lot of spin and power - they work on any surface, certainly on clay."Despite his previous lack of success, Draper always felt he could challenge - providing he was primed matches in the tank have been key for a player who has often been hampered by fitness 23-year-old has gained greater belief in his body after coming through a series of gruelling five-set matches at the Australian Open in physio Shane Annun and fitness trainer Matt Little - who were both long-term members of Andy Murray's team - has benefitted him."I went from thinking that I was weak and like I wasn't going to be able to carry on, to then feeling 'wow, I'm actually pretty strong'," Draper said. This was illustrated during Draper's semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti in Madrid. The Briton seemed to be fading in the second set and battled to hang on to his serve - then found another gear in a tie-break to increase his intensity and secure is seen as the most physically demanding surface because its slower speed leads to longer points and more brutal not the most natural surface for Draper. He has worked hard on his movement and the ability to slide across the more mobile means he can get in the right positions to execute his most potent serve - both in terms of power and variety - allows him to start points strongly, but it was his forehand that really caught the eye in topspin and speed wowed fans at the Caja Magica, even drawing a few comparisons to Rafael Nadal - the recently retired 'King of Clay' who won a record 14 French Open is suggested Draper will have that level of success, of course, but like Nadal he has been using the pace and bounce of his forehand to trouble opponents."My forehand's come into own on all surfaces but this year on the clay it's really doing a lot of damage," said Draper."I'm trying to base my game around that and my serve, and getting more and more efficient."In Madrid, Draper also found the right blend between defence and attack, while using the drop shot at the right time was also an effective all the positive signs, it is telling that Draper - like all great players who harbour ambitions of winning Grand Slam titles - has an insatiable appetite for further his post-final news conference in Madrid, he highlighted his serve, net play and physicality as the areas he needed to particularly work on."I'm nowhere near where I want to be," Draper said."There are plenty of things that are going to keep on improving and I'm going to keep on getting better and better. I believe that." Aryna Sabalenka strengthened her position at the top of the WTA rankings by winning a third Madrid Open uncertainty around Novak Djokovic continues. The 24-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the Italian Open after an early exit in Madrid and looks unlikely to play again before the French Madrid Open was plunged into chaos when a power outage swept across Spain. It led to candlelit meals, no showers after matches and long walks home for players. Draper has made the most notable move in the ATP rankings, climbing to a new career high of fifth in the is only the fourth Briton - after Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski and Andy Murray - to break into the men's top Ruud regained his place in the top 10 by winning the Madrid final, with Italy's Musetti joining him there for the first time in his career. Former world number one Daniil Medvedev dropped out of the top 10 for only the fourth week since July 2019, while Canada's Gabriel Diallo jumped 24 places to 54th after reaching the Madrid quarters. In the WTA rankings, Sabalenka's title win helped her open up a whopping 4,345-point gap over Polish world number two Iga Gauff, who lost to Sabalenka in Saturday's final, moved back to third spot above American compatriot Jessica Pegula. Former world number one Naomi Osaka is back inside the top 50, having dropped down a level to win a WTA Challenger event in France. Both tours are heading to Rome for another combined ATP and WTA clay-court event played over a focus of attention will be Jannik Sinner, who returns from his three-month ban for twice failing doping Italian world number one will be granted a hero's welcome by the home fans. But what about in the locker room?The story around Sinner's comeback is analysed here. Draper was the only British singles player in Tour-level action at the weekend, with Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie going out of the Madrid last 16 on Boulter, Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal - the top three British women - returned to the National Tennis Centre after losing in Madrid last trio continued to practice on the clay courts before heading out to Rome, where they each have direct entry into the main must go through qualifying, along with Billy Harris and Harriet Dart. What is Second Serve? With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Are the 'mini Grand Slams' working?
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko weighs up the pros and cons of the extended Madrid Open. With the two-week Madrid Open reaching the halfway point, it is the perfect time to revisit a thorny issue in several ATP and WTA tournaments across a fortnight has caused some controversy – and it's debatable how successful the move has thinking was the elongated events would have greater gravitas - essentially creating 'mini Grand Slams'.According to ATP and WTA bosses, that meant increased financial opportunities for more benefit would be players having days off between matches, allowing for better recovery and, in theory, more high-quality in turn, would be more engaged and media coverage would increase, creating a buzz around them like the existing four many, it has not panned out like players are certainly divided. In Madrid, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek both responded positively when asked what they said she enjoys the longer format because she can "rest" physically and mentally between matches, while Swiatek added she doesn't "think about it anymore".But the top stars – the ones who go regularly deep in these draws – are the players more likely to benefit from the days further down the chain have voiced recent lawsuit lodged by the Professional Tennis Players' Association – which claimed to be on "behalf of the entire player population" – said that "instead of providing professional tennis players more rest between tournaments to endure a longer season, the ATP and WTA have given them less".It was also telling that Novak Djokovic, who co-founded the PTPA, gave a lengthy answer about the subject in his pre-Madrid news about Carlos Alcaraz saying he felt like a "slave" to the game, Djokovic referenced the negative effect of the extended events."Now we essentially don't have four Grand Slams - we have maybe 12 Grand Slams. It's a lot," he of the nine ATP Masters are now played over a fortnight, along with six of the 10 WTA first week of the combined Madrid Open - a mixture of qualifying and main-draw matches - felt like a slow main stadiums at the Caja Magica were rarely full, although the grounds were swelled by hundreds of children on school trips. For many of those further afar, the disjointed scheduling can seem illogical and difficult to anything change?ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi is committed to the format and, while the WTA insists the circuit is always under review, its chair Steve Simon also believes the structure does not increase seems, as Swiatek basically said, everyone will just have to get on with it. Emma Raducanu again had Mark Petchey in her coaching box at the Madrid Open. The British number two says she is happy with the "informal" arrangement". Will Carlos Alcaraz be fit enough to defend his French Open men's singles title? The injured Spaniard hopes so, but is unsure whether he will be able to play beforehand after pulling out of strange times continue for Novak Djokovic. The 37-year-old says losing his opening match of a tournament for the second time in a row is his "new reality". While the rankings are not updated until after Madrid, the live standings show a few interesting Diana Shnaider is set to reach a new career high - and could break into the top 10 for the first time - if she goes deeper than the last the men's rankings, Russia's Andrev Rublev will drop out of the top 10 after his Madrid title defence ended in the last 32, while Italy's Lorenzo Musetti is provisionally into the top 10 for the first time. Most eyes this week will remain on the latter stages of the Madrid prizes will be handed out at the weekend, with the women's singles final on Saturday and the men's on will also increase over the coming days on another big story - Jannik Sinner's the men's world number one, is set to make his return from a three-month doping ban at next week's Italian Open. World number six Jack Draper has led the British charge at the Madrid Open and was one of three men to reach the last Norrie has found a timely return form after winning his first ATP main-draw matches since Indian Wells, while Jacob Fearnley - playing only his second tour-level clay-court event - came through three British women who directly entered the main draw - Katie Boulter, Raducanu and Sonay Kartal - all won their opening matches before falling in the second Jones fought through qualifying to reach the first round where - playing for the third straight day - she lost a tight battle to 2024 Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana playing alongside Daria Kasatkina, lost in the doubles first round, as did Olivia Nicholls with partner Tereza Mihalikova. What is Second Serve? With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
BBC News
21-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
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. What is Second Serve? With so many professional tennis tournaments taking place across the world, and across so many levels, it can be hard to keep up with everything from one week to the part of BBC Sport's commitment to offer more for tennis fans, Second Serve will be your weekly round-up of the biggest stories in the well as the main talking point, you can see which ATP and WTA players are making significant progress - or struggling for form, how the British contingent are doing and what the next stops on the calendars can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
