Latest news with #doubles
The Australian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Australian
Wimbledon: Anisimova-Swiatek in women's final as Rinky Hijikata eyes doubles title
Rinky Hijikata will play for a share of $1.4 million (AUD) in prizemoney when he and David Pel face all-conquering British duo Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool in the doubles final. The son of Japanese immigrants who started playing tennis as a three-year-old, Hinjikata is on the cusp of his biggest achievement on the court to date. While he has an Australian Open doubles title triumph on his CV already, a Wimbledon win would be another brilliant string on the bow for the 24-year-old Sydneysider. But he and Dutchman Pel will be huge underdogs, as they face a pairing who have twice won the Wimbledon title (2022-23). Rinky Hijikata will play the men's doubles final. Picture: Getty Images The doubles decider is the entree to the women's singles final, where a new champion is guaranteed for the eighth conscutive year. Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek had previously never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the All England Club while US 13th seed Amanda Anisimova is preparing for her first major final. No player has retained the crown since the now-retired Serena Williams won her seventh and final Wimbledon title in 2016. Aryna Sabalenka started as the hot favourite after reaching the past three Grand Slam finals but faltered in a gripping semi-final against Anisimova. Poland's Swiatek is seeded eighth at Wimbledon following a disappointing first half of the season, though she is back up to fourth in the rankings after reaching the final of the grass-court Bad Homburg tournament. That run, together with her surge through the draw at All England Club, suggests the 24-year-old is cured of her grass-court allergy. Read related topics: Wimbledon
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams wins doubles match at DC Open in return to tournament play
The post Venus Williams wins doubles match at DC Open in return to tournament play appeared first on ClutchPoints. Venus Williams had a dominant return to the court in doubles at the DC Open. The 45-year-old tennis icon had last played at the 2024 Miami Open and appeared to be retired after a decorated career. In singles, Williams' accolades include winning seven major titles, including five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open, winning the individual gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and achieving the world No. 1 ranking on numerous occasions. While that is an all-time great resume, Venus might be an even better player in doubles. Alongside her sister Serena, Venus has won 14 doubles majors, including each slam at least twice, and three Olympic gold medals. To add on, Williams also has two grand slams in mixed doubles. Serena, who is by most accounts the greatest women's singles player of all time, has admitted several times that Venus is the better doubles player between the two. And Williams showed several flashes of that legendary form alongside Hailey Baptiste. The two Americans were taking on fellow compatriot Clervie Ngounoue and Canada's Eugenie Bouchard in the first round of the DC Open. Bouchard is in the midst of her own retirement tour, which will conclude later this month at the National Bank Open in Montreal. After a slow start, which saw them down 3-1, Williams and Baptiste rallied to win eleven of the match's last twelve games, ultimately securing a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Venus, who has been nursing several lower-body injuries over the past few years, especially around her knees, looked fresher and mobile than she had last year, hitting her legendary backhand cleanly and finishing multiple points at the net. While the two Americans have a second-round match coming up soon, Williams will now turn her attention to singles, where she will play another American, Peyton Stearns, in the round of 32. The 23-year-old is a rising star on the pro level after a decorated college career at Texas. Stearns is currently ranked No. 33 in the world and the clear favorite heading into this match. Williams has already made it clear that she is participating in the US Open in mixed doubles alongside Reilly Opelka. And, after one match, it certainly looks like Venus is in form to compete at this level in the doubles sphere. Tomorrow against Stearns will likely go a long way in determining whether Williams will seek a wild-card entry into the US Open main draw in singles. Overall, regardless of what happens, it's great to see an icon of the game still able to play and succeed at this level. Every match for Williams going forward is a celebration. Related: Venus Williams' honest take on Serena Williams' retirement
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Venus Williams' doubles run at DC Open cut short after 2nd-round loss
The post Venus Williams' doubles run at DC Open cut short after 2nd-round loss appeared first on ClutchPoints. Venus Williams' improbable run at the DC Open has come to an end in part. On Thursday, she was eliminated in the second round of the doubles tournament, per ESPN. Williams and her doubles partner Hailey Baptiste lost to No. 2-seeded Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in a tiebreaker. Nevertheless, Williams is still competing in the singles tournament and is set to take on Magdalena Fręch in the Round of 16 on Thursday. On Tuesday, Williams at 45 became the second oldest player to win a WTA singles match. She defeated Peyton Stearns in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. All this happened as Williams was making some changes to her life. She announced her engagement to actor Andrea Preti. At the same time, Williams said it would mean more to play if Serena were to come out of retirement. While Serena has gotten much of the glow over the years, Venus has never been too far behind. Venus Williams adds to her legendary status Since emerging onto the scene at 14, Venus has amassed a stellar pedigree. She has won 7 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles titles (all with Serena). In addition, Williams has captured four Olympic gold medals (one in singles, three in doubles). She, along with Serena, helped change the face of tennis with their story, fashion sense, and activism. Venus was the one who led the charge for equal pay at Grand Slam tournaments. A pursuit which culminated in 2007 when Wimbledon offered equal prize money. A tournament in which she won. She still has a chance to go far if not win the DC Open singles title. A feat that would place her in the same category of Jack Nicklaus and George Foreman. Athletes who achieved big things at an advanced age. Nicklaus famously won the Masters in 1986 at age 46. Foreman recaptured the heavyweight championship at age 45 in 1994. Related: Venus Williams reveals engagement to actor after historic comeback win Related: Venus Williams drops hilarious quote after huge DC Open win
Telegraph
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Emma Raducanu's US Open prep gathers pace with fine win over Marta Kostyuk in Washington
Raducanu reached the quarter-finals at the Mubadala Citi DC Open last year and is due to play at the WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati before the US Open, where she triumphed in 2021. Before the tournament this year, Raducanu will team up with Carlos Alcaraz in a revamped doubles competition. The new doubles team – who can expect to be given a portmanteau nickname of either 'Alcaranu' or 'Raducaraz' – are one of several eye-catching partnerships set to make their debuts in New York in August. The tournament will be played on August 19-20, the Tuesday and Wednesday before the singles matches begin. It has attracted almost all the top-10 players on both tours, with British No 1 Jack Draper teaming up with last year's Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng and Novak Djokovic playing alongside Serbian compatriot Olga Danilovic. Elsewhere in Washington, Cameron Norrie completed a notable win over second seed and world No 7 Lorenzo Musetti to book his place in the last 16. Norrie, the world No 41, hit back from losing the opening set to triumph 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and score his first win over a top 10-ranked player since reaching the quarter-finals at Indian Wells in 2023.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams returns to tennis with a new perspective, victory. 'It's just nice to be able to play'
Venus and Serena Williams were a pretty decent doubles team over the years. The sisters from Compton won 14 majors and three Olympic gold medals as a duo. But it turns out that the older sister was being held back by her younger sibling — at least that's what Venus Williams joked on Monday after winning her first match with new doubles partner Hailey Baptiste during the first round of the D.C. Open. 'I think, from the first point, I could see that we were going to be a good team," Williams said during her on-court interview following the American duo's 6-3, 6-1 victory against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue. "We just should have started playing earlier, years ago, right? I think Serena was just in the way.' After the capacity crowd of around 3,000 roared with laughter at the quip, Williams smiled and waved to the camera: "Sorry, Serena." Read more: I completed my years-long quest to play at every L.A. tennis court. These 10 stand out Williams, 45, had every right to be giddy after a successful return to the court following a 16-month hiatus, during which she underwent a medical procedure to remove fibroids from her uterus last July. 'It's just nice to be able to play," Williams said during her postmatch news conference with Baptiste. "Where I am at this year is so much different than where I was at last year. It's night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago.' She added: "Tennis is a game. It's our life. It's literally our obsession. ... But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if your health is not there. So it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.' Williams' comeback is just getting started. The seven-time major winner and one-time Olympic gold medalist is scheduled to face Peyton Stearns of the United States in the first round of the women's singles tournament at 4:30 p.m. PDT Tuesday. Read more: A 'floating' tennis club with good vibes and a pinch of country club swagger? These Angelenos created it Later this week, Williams and Baptiste will face the winner of Tuesday's match between Cristina Bucsa/Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Taylor Townsend/Shuai Zhang in the women's doubles quarterfinals. As for Serena Williams, the 23-time major singles champion hasn't played since "evolving away from tennis" following the 2022 U.S. Open, where she and Venus lost in the first round in doubles and she advanced to the third round in singles before losing to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in her final match. 'I keep saying to my team: The only thing that would make this better is if she was here," Venus Williams said of her sister while speaking to reporters Sunday. "Like, we always did everything together, so of course I miss her.' The Associated Press contributed to this report. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
