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New Straits Times
30-07-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Coco Gauff earns double-fault-filled win in Montreal
TOP-seeded Coco Gauff survived a stiff second-round test from Danielle Collins, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2) in an all-US matchup at the Omnium Banque Nationale on Tuesday in Montreal. Gauff, who won the French Open last month for her second Grand Slam title, overcame a whopping 23 double faults. She served only three aces, though one came on her match point in the third-set tiebreaker. Collins' success ratio in that category wasn't much better, as she had two aces and 13 double faults. Both players converted nine of their 16 break-point opportunities. Gauff advances to a third-round match against Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, who topped 29th-seeded Olga Danilovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-2. Earlier Tuesday, Aoi Ito of Japan completed a stunning comeback to eliminate Italian No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini, and hometown favorite Leylah Fernandez also experienced an early exit. Ito, ranked No. 110 in the world, was down a set and a break before charging back to upset Paolini 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) in second-round action. Ito trailed 4-1 in the second set before coming back to tie the score; she saved one match point in the 10th game on her way to forcing the third set. Ito controlled most of the third set before Paolini forced the tiebreaker. The Italian held several one-point leads in the back-and-forth tiebreaker but Ito came back from down 5-4 to record the final three points of the match. Ito, 21, had not won a tour-level match all season until beating Katie Volynets in the first round Sunday. That made it even more shocking that she could oust Paolini, who already has two WTA 1000 titles under her belt this year in Qatar and Italy. Ito won despite committing 11 double faults. She converted 7 of 10 break points against Paolini while saving 11 of the 19 break points she faced. As for Fernandez, she never held a lead in a 6-4, 6-1 first-round defeat to Australian Maya Joint. Fernandez had beaten Joint in the first round of last week's WTA 500 event in Washington, D.C., where the Canadian went on to capture the biggest title of her career. It was not a banner day for the Canadian contingent. No. 8 seed Emma Navarro breezed past Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes. Bianca Andreescu, meanwhile, withdrew due to a foot injury, allowing a walkover for fourth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia. The Ontario native was the 2019 Canadian Open and U.S. Open champion. In another first-round match, Caty McNally battled past fellow American Alycia Parks 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7). McNally fell behind 3-0 in the third-set tiebreaker and saved two match points before she pulled in front. Other Round of 64 winners included No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan; No. 15 Daria Kasatkina of Australia; No. 24 Marta Kostyuk and No. 30 Dayana Yastremska, both of Ukraine; Russia's Anna Kalinskaya; Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro; Romania's Jaqueline Cristian; the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova; China's Lin Zhu; and the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens. — REUTERS
Boston Globe
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Francis Tiafoe and Tommy Paul put two American men in quarterfinals for first time since 1996
It's the first time the country placed more than one man in the quarterfinals in Paris since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras did it together. Zero men from the United States had made it this far in any year since Andre Agassi in 2003. The key for Tiafoe? Advertisement 'Playing hard-court tennis on a clay court,' he said. And Tiafoe — who celebrated his win by twice shouting a phrase that can't be quoted fully here but included the words 'let's' and 'go' — has done it without dropping a set. Quite a turnaround for a guy whose big-strike tennis long suffered on the slow red clay. He began his French Open career with a 0-6 record before getting his first win in 2022 and one more last year. 'On clay, I get a little more passive than on other surfaces, because the court doesn't help me play as fast as I would like,' said Tiafoe, twice a semifinalist on the hard courts of the US Open, where speedy shots are rewarded and the loud crowds and bright lights tend to bring out his best. 'Patience is a thing I struggle with.' Advertisement Look at him now, though. And listen to something else he said when he met with reporters a little more than a week ago, with a dash of his usual sense of humor: 'Overall, I'm a big believer it can all change in a week. When I'm backed up against it, it seems like I start to produce my best tennis, because I have to if I want to continue living the life I want to live.' Tiafoe, a 27-year-old from Maryland, added: 'If I'm ready to go, I'm not just going to get to the third round — I can go for a run. I genuinely feel I can beat anybody on any specific day.' He wants more, too, naturally. 'Quarterfinals is not end-all, be-all,' Tiafoe said. Next up is a matchup on Tuesday against No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark. Four American women play in the fourth round Monday: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, and No. 7 Madison Keys against Hailey Baptiste in an all-US encounter. Paul, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023, was never really troubled Sunday during his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win against 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia in less than two hours. Paul is a 28-year-old who grew up in North Carolina and now goes up against No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, Advertisement 'Obviously,' Paul said about Alcaraz, 'the guy can play amazing tennis here.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iga Swiatek Rolls to Start Indian Wells Title Defense
Second-seeded Iga Swiatek, who has yet to win a tournament this year, got off to a strong start in her title defense at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday in Indian Wells, Calif. The Polish star cruised past France's Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-0 in the second round. The tournament's 32 seeded players all received a first-round bye. Swiatek, also the Indian Wells champion in 2022, dominated with her return game on Friday. She won 58 percent of the points on Garcia's first serve, 75 percent on Garcia's second serve. "I (was) solid no matter what the score is, and I don't take (the) next games for granted," Swiatek said. "If I'm leading even 4-0, I know that I should keep playing the same way and keep the same attitude to just win the match." Swiatek is looking to become the first three-time women's singles champion in Indian Wells. The others who won twice in the Southern California desert were Martina Navratilova, Mary Joe Fernandez, Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Daniela Hantuchova, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. The other highly seeded players in action on Friday also posted straight-set wins. No. 4 Jessica Pegula of the United States downed Poland's Magda Linette 6-4, 6-2. No. 7 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan beat the Netherlands' Suzan Lamens 6-3, 6-3. No. 9 Mirra Andreeva of Russia edged France's Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-4. No. 15 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic ousted Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4, 6-3, and No. 18 Marta Kostyuko of Ukraine trounced the United States' Robin Montgomery 6-1, 6-3. The Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova blitzed No. 21 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-2. China's Xinyu Wang eliminated No. 26 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-4, 6-4. New Zealand's Lulu Sun got past No. 31 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4, and Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska bested No. 32 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-3, 6-1. Also advancing were No. 22 Clara Tauson of Denmark, No. 23 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, No. 25 Katie Boulter of Great Britain, Armenia's Elina Avanesyan and US players Caroline Dolehide, Alycia Parks and Iva Jovic. In the last two matches of the night, Azarenka of Belarus opposed No. 8 Qinwen Zheng of China, and No. 14 Danielle Collins met Hailey Baptiste in an all-US contest.
