Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open

Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic takes part in a practice session during the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland Garros Complex in Paris on May 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 28 May 2024
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Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open

Djokovic eyes season turnaround as rain brings havoc to French Open
  • World number one Djokovic, seeking a fourth Roland Garros title and record-extending 25th major, is enduring his worst run since 2018
  • He also suffered the indignity of being accidentally hit on the head by a metal water bottle in Rome which caused nausea and dizziness

PARIS: Novak Djokovic begins the defense of his French Open title at Roland Garros on Tuesday, confident his Grand Slam pedigree will help turn around his lacklustre season as tournament chiefs battled a frustrating five-hour rain delay.
By late afternoon on the third day, only four of the scheduled 40 first-round ties had been completed.
Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina were safely back in the locker room having benefitted from playing under the roofs of the Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen courts.
World number one Djokovic, seeking a fourth Roland Garros title and record-extending 25th major, is enduring his worst run since 2018.
Djokovic, 37, has not won a title in 2024 and has yet to make a final with semifinal spots at the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters his best performances.
He also suffered the indignity of being accidentally hit on the head by a metal water bottle in Rome which caused nausea and dizziness.
In Geneva last week, where he was knocked out by Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, Djokovic said he had been suffering from a stomach problem.
“They are rather bumps on the road,” said Djokovic, who watched his long-time rival and 14-time champion Rafael Nadal bow out of the tournament against Alexander Zverev on Monday.
When asked to elaborate further on his difficulties so far this season, Djokovic opted for discretion.
“Various things have been happening in the last couple of months, but I don’t want to get into it. I don’t want to open Pandora’s Box.”
On Tuesday, Djokovic will take on French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the world number 142 who hasn’t won a match on the main tour this year.
Ruud, who won clay-court titles in Barcelona and Geneva in the build-up to Roland Garros, cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves.
“It’s great to be back here at Roland Garros,” he said. “Hopefully I can make it another good year here.”
Ruud was beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in last year’s final following a one-sided loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 showpiece.
He also lost the 2022 US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz.
Frenchwoman Alize Cornet’s career ended with a straight-sets defeat by Zheng Qinwen in her record-extending 69th consecutive Grand Slam appearance.
Cornet was no match for China’s Australian Open runner-up Zheng, losing 6-2, 6-1.
She made her debut at Roland Garros as a 15-year-old in 2005 and has not missed a Grand Slam tournament since the 2006 US Open.
Cornet reached a career-high ranking of 11th in 2009 and enjoyed a surprise run to the 2022 Australian Open quarter-finals.
“I already cried yesterday watching Rafa,” said a tearful Cornet after seeing Nadal lose what was likely his last match at the French Open on Monday.
Over on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Rybakina powered into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Belgian Greet Minnen and could face three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber for a place in the last 32.
Kazakh world number four Rybakina is the only player to defeat tournament favorite Iga Swiatek on clay this season, in the Stuttgart semifinals in April.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka gets her bid to reach a first Roland Garros final underway.
The world number two has reached at least the semifinals in each of the past six Grand Slam events.
Sabalenka is also the only woman to beat world number one and three-time French Open winner Swiatek in a final on clay — in Madrid last year — since the Pole lost her first WTA title decider as a teenager in 2019 at a low-key event in Switzerland.
The 26-year-old Sabalenka had never even reached the second week at Roland Garros until last year, when she was knocked out by Karolina Muchova in the semifinals.
She starts her Paris campaign against Russia’s Erika Andreeva.
Also on court in the men’s singles is Argentine qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga who has sporting success in the blood.
His father Jorge famously scored the winning goal for Diego Maradona’s Argentina in the 1986 World Cup final against West Germany.
Ranked at 144, the 22-year-old is making his Grand Slam debut and takes on Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.


Djokovic calls for overhaul of ‘unfair’ anti-doping system

Djokovic calls for overhaul of ‘unfair’ anti-doping system
Updated 18 February 2025
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Djokovic calls for overhaul of ‘unfair’ anti-doping system

Djokovic calls for overhaul of ‘unfair’ anti-doping system
  • Djokovic: There is so much inconsistencies between the cases
  • Djokovic, who is returning to action this week at the Qatar Open for the first time since retiring injured from last month's Australian Open semifinals, believes a change is needed

DOHA:  Novak Djokovic on Monday urged tennis authorities to overhaul the sport's anti-doping system, pointing to "inconsistencies" in cases involving top stars Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek and those of lower-ranked players.

World No. 1 Sinner agreed to a three-month ban on Saturday, admitting "partial responsiblity" for mistakes by his team which led to him twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.

Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his initial exoneration by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), announced in August.

In a surprising move, WADA withdrew its appeal and came to an agreement with Sinner to accept a three-month ban.

In another high-profile case last year, five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after testing positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine.

"There's a majority of the players that I've talked to in the locker room, not just in the last few days, but also last few months, that are not happy with the way this whole process has been handled," said Djokovic.

"A majority of the players don't feel that it's fair. A majority of the players feel like there is favoritism happening. It seems like, it appears that you can almost affect the outcome if you are a top player, if you have access to the top lawyers."

In contrast, the recently retired Simona Halep, a former world No. 1, was handed a four-year ban by the ITIA in 2022 after testing positive for the blood-boosting drug roxadustat.

She argued it was the result of a tainted supplement and successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reduced her suspension to nine months.

"Simona Halep and (Britain's) Tara Moore and some other players that are maybe less known that have been struggling to resolve their cases for years, or have gotten the ban for years," said Djokovic.

"There is so much inconsistencies between the cases."

Djokovic, who is returning to action this week at the Qatar Open for the first time since retiring injured from last month's Australian Open semifinals, believes a change is needed.

"Right now it's a ripe time for us to really address the system, because the system and the structure obviously doesn't work (for) anti-doping, it's obvious," he said.

"I hope that in the next period of the near future that the governing bodies are going to come together, of our tours and the tennis ecosystem, and try to find a more effective way to deal with these processes.

"It's inconsistent, and it appears to be very unfair."

"If you are going to treat every case individually or independently, which is what's happening, then there's no consistency, then there is no transparency, and some cases are transparent, some are not," he continued.

"The problem is that right now there is a lack of trust generally from the tennis players, both male and female, towards WADA and ITIA, and the whole process.


Alcaraz beats Cilic in straight sets to advance at Qatar Open

Alcaraz beats Cilic in straight sets to advance at Qatar Open
Updated 18 February 2025
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Alcaraz beats Cilic in straight sets to advance at Qatar Open

Alcaraz beats Cilic in straight sets to advance at Qatar Open
  • Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi next

DOHA, Qatar: Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz overcame Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 Monday to reach the round of 16 at the Qatar Open.
The 36-year-old Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion who has fallen to No. 192 in the rankings, was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee injury. The Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz’s serve in the second set, but the Spanish four-time major winner managed to recover and then broke in the next game.
“I am just really happy that I stayed calm at that moment, breathing, going through my routines, making good points,” Alcaraz said. “That’s why I was able to win in two sets.”
Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi next.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.
Also on Monday, eighth-seeded Jack Draper beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to set up a meeting with another Australian, Christopher O’Connell.
Several other top players will play their first matches on Tuesday.
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who had to pull out of his Australian Open semifinal with a hamstring injury, will take on Matteo Berrettini.
Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefano Tsitsipas will also play on Tuesday.


Dominant Raducanu advances to second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Dominant Raducanu advances to second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
Updated 17 February 2025
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Dominant Raducanu advances to second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Dominant Raducanu advances to second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
  • Wildcard Briton completes hat-trick of wins over Greece’s Maria Sakkari
  • Two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina eases past 2024 finalist Anna Kalinskaya, while Bencic, Vondrousova, and Badosa all progress

DUBAI: Emma Raducanu got her maiden Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign off to the perfect start on Sunday night, defeating former World No. 3 Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-2 under the lights on Centre Court.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is a high-profile wildcard this week as Dubai’s women’s tournament celebrates its landmark 25th anniversary. Making her first appearance in the tournament, she broke her opponent at the first opportunity to take an early lead at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Yet Sakkari, ranked 29th in the world and 31 places above her opponent, battled back to level the set in the sixth.

Raducanu arrived in Dubai on a run of four consecutive defeats and three first-round exits. So it was much to her credit that she maintained composure to immediately regain the lead, breaking back without dropping a point.

“I just tried to stay focused on what was in front of me,” Raducanu said. “There was some momentum shared throughout the match and I think when I was broken in the first set, I regrouped really well to break back and was really pleased with how I performed.”

The second set was initially similar to the first as the British No. 2 immediately broke Sakkari’s serve before letting her lead slip once more, this time in the fourth game. But she kept her composure and regained the lead — this time turning the screw to break again and capitalise on Sakkari’s errors to take a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, she drew cheers from the crowd with a powerful ace down the middle.

“I’m very happy to get through to the next round,” she said. “The support has been great tonight. It’s my first time spending a little bit of time here (in Dubai) and I’ve really enjoyed it. What I love most is that everything is open late and I’m a big night owl, so I can go out and go for my walks at, like, 11pm.” 

The two players had only ever met previously at Grand Slams, with Raducanu coming out on top both in the semi-final of her historic 2021 US Open campaign and in the Round of 32 at Wimbledon last year. With her Dubai victory making it a hat-trick of wins over the same opponent — all without dropping a set — Raducanu was asked on court what it is about Sakkari’s game she most enjoys playing against.

“It’s a difficult one … In a way, we play quite similar, she’s very athletic,” Raducanu said. “I’m not necessarily going to give all my tactics away; it’s just a very difficult match every time we play, so I’m happy to have won on these occasions — and all big tournaments.”

Raducanu will now meet 14th seed Karolina Muchova in the second round on Tuesday after the Czech overcame Suzan Lamens 6-2, 6-2 on Court 1.

Earlier in the evening, two-time champion Elina Svitolina made light work of last year’s surprise finalist Anna Kalinskaya, defeating the World No. 18 6-1, 6-2 in a little more than an hour. Thirty-year-old Svitolina is making her 10th appearance in the emirate and wasted no time dispatching No. 15 seed Kalinskaya, who made history in the event last year to become the first qualifier to reach the final of the WTA 1000 event.

World No. 22 Svitolina, a back-to-back winner here in 2017 and 2018, will now face either Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova or Clara Tauson of Denmark.

Meanwhile, World No. 34 Marketa Vondrousova advanced to the second round after beating French wildcard Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-2 on Court 1. The Czech will now face either Elina Avanesyan or Mirra Andreeva, who meet on Monday in the final match on Centre Court. Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic also advanced with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Japan’s Aoi Ito, while American wildcard Sofia Kenin despatched Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-3. There was no surprise in the first match of the day as World No. 10 Paula Badosa beat New Zealand’s Lulu Sun 6-3, 6-4.

The 25th edition of the annual WTA 1000 event runs until Feb. 22, before the 33rd staging of Dubai’s ATP Tour 500 tournament takes place from Feb. 24 to March 1.

 


Fonseca, 18, captures Argentina Open title in landmark moment

Fonseca, 18, captures Argentina Open title in landmark moment
Updated 17 February 2025
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Fonseca, 18, captures Argentina Open title in landmark moment

Fonseca, 18, captures Argentina Open title in landmark moment
  • The 18-year-old, ranked 99 in the world and playing in his first tour-level final, came through 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) against his 28th-ranked opponent
  • The 2024 ATP NextGen champion is the youngest male player from South America to win a tour title

BUENOS AIRES: Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca became the 10th youngest champion in ATP Tour history when he swept past home hope Francisco Cerundolo in the final of the Argentina Open on Sunday.

The 18-year-old, ranked 99 in the world and playing in his first tour-level final, came through 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) against his 28th-ranked opponent.

Fonseca twice unsuccessfully served for the match but regrouped to claim victory in the tiebreak in a frenzied atmosphere in Buenos Aires.

The 2024 ATP NextGen champion is the youngest male player from South America to win a tour title while his victory will also see him rise to 68 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

“Unbelievable week, even in Argentina there are some Brazilians cheering for me,” Fonseca said on court.

“That’s just amazing. Every Brazilian, everyone from their country wants this support from your own country. For me, this moment that I’m living is just unbelievable.”

He added: “Of course I want to be No. 1, of course I want to win Slams, titles, but my dream is just to play tennis, and I’m living it.”

Cerundolo, seeking his fourth career title, was broken in the seventh game of the first set and fought off Fonseca when the teenager served for the trophy at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second.

However, the Brazilian impressively held his nerve in the tie-break and celebrated his triumph by collapsing in joy on the dusty, clay surface.

Fonseca made his maiden final the hard way — in Friday’s quarterfinals he saved two match points to defeat Mariano Navone in a match six minutes shy of three hours.

In all, he defeated four Argentinian players on the road to the trophy.

He had already announced himself on the scene in January when he came through qualifying at the Australian Open and defeated top 10 player Andrey Rublev in the first round.
 


Jessica Pegula criticizes ‘broken’ anti-doping process in wake of Sinner and Swiatek cases

Jessica Pegula criticizes ‘broken’ anti-doping process in wake of Sinner and Swiatek cases
Updated 16 February 2025
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Jessica Pegula criticizes ‘broken’ anti-doping process in wake of Sinner and Swiatek cases

Jessica Pegula criticizes ‘broken’ anti-doping process in wake of Sinner and Swiatek cases
  • Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his initial exoneration

DUBAI: World number five Jessica Pegula believes the handling of the recent high profile anti-doping cases of Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek has shown that the “process is completely broken.”

Meanwhile, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka admits she cannot trust the tennis anti-doping system and has become “too scared” of it.

Sinner’s long doping saga came to an end on Saturday after he agreed to a three-month ban from tennis, admitting “partial responsibility” for team mistakes which led to him twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.

Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his initial exoneration by the International Tennis Integrity Agency , announced in August.

In a surprising move, WADA withdrew its appeal and came to an agreement with Sinner to accept a three-month ban.

In a statement, WADA said “Sinner did not intend to cheat” but that he would serve his suspension as he is responsible for the actions of his entourage.

Pegula, last year’s US Open finalist and a member of the WTA Player Council, said the inconsistencies in the way cases are being processed and judged is creating an unfair environment for all tennis players.

“I think my reaction is that, whether you think he did or you don’t, or whatever side you're on, the process just seems to be completely like not a process,” the American told reporters in Dubai on Sunday.

“It seems to just kind of be whatever decisions and factors they take into consideration, and they just kind of make up their own ruling. I don’t really understand how that’s fair for athletes, how it’s fair for players when there’s just so much inconsistency and you have no idea.”

Pegula added that any emails the players have been receiving regarding anti-doping cases contain explanations that are too easy to come with, and are just ways for anti-doping organizations to justify their inconsistent rulings and processes.

“If you’re clean or not, the process is completely broken,” she stated.

“I think it needs to be seriously looked at and considered.

“I feel like they have so much power to ruin someone's career, as well. I think there needs to be something done about that because it just seems really unfair.

“I don’t think any of the players trust the process at all right now. Zero. It’s just a horrible look for the sport.”

Sabalenka refused to comment on the outcome of the Sinner case but says she has become too wary of falling foul to the sport’s strict anti-doping rules.

“You just start to be more careful. For example, before I wouldn’t care to leave my glass of water and go to the bathroom in a restaurant and now, I’m not going to drink from the same glass of water,” said the Belarusian world number one.

“You just become a bit too much aware of stuff and this thing gets to your head that, like, if someone used a cream on you and you test positive, they’re going to go for you and they’re not going to believe you or anything.

“You just become too scared of the system. I don’t see how I can trust the system.”

American World No. 3 Coco Gauff has not paid much attention to the details of the recent anti-doping cases and is instead sticking to her strategy of avoiding taking any supplements to minimize the risk of testing positive for any banned substance.

“I trust that everyone is doing what they can to protect the sport. As a player, that’s all I can hope for,” said the former US Open champion.

“I just hope it’s more for the protection of the sport and not just out to, like, get players.”