Page 15 - Tennis

Rafael Nadal pulls out of Monte Carlo Masters, delays prep for French Open

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday because of a lingering injury, delaying the start of his clay-court tournament preparation ahead of the French Open and extending his absence that began in January. The 37-year-old Nadal had hip surgery last summer and has played only three competitive matches in Brisbane before skipping the Australian Open this year. Nadal has won the Monte Carlo Masters 11 times but announced on his social media accounts that he won't be ready to play when the tournament starts next week. My body simply won't allow me, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said in a statement. The Spaniard didn't mention the French Open he's won the clay-court major a record 14 times in his statement. The Roland Garros tournament begins May 25. In early March, Nadal played an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas but days later pulled out of the Indian Wells tournament. You have no idea how hard this is for me to not be able to play the

Bopanna-Ebden clinch Miami Open title, return to world No. 1 ranking

Ace Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna rewrote his own record to continue to be the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion as he and his Australian partner Matt Ebden clinched the men's doubles crown at the Miami Open here. Continuing their fine run this year, the 44-year-old Bopanna and Ebden fought back from a set down to pull off an exhilarating 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 win over Crotia's Ivan Dodig and American Austin Krajicek at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Bopanna surpassed his record created last year when he won the Indian Wells title at the age of 43, and also reclaimed the top spot in the doubles ranking. "It's amazing. As long as you are doing well in these big events, it's what we play for," Bopanna said after the win. "I want to do well in the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams. It's good to keep that record going and keep giving everyone else a run for their money," added Bopanna, who won his maiden doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this ...

Alcaraz rallies from set down, ends Sinner's winning streak at Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to end the Italian's 19-match winning streak and advance to the BNP Paribas Open final on Saturday night. Alcaraz retained his world No. 2 ranking with the victory and extended his winning streak to 11 matches at Indian Wells, where he'll play either Tommy Paul or Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's title match. Sinner led 2-1 in the first set when the match was suspended for more than three hours because of rain in the Southern California desert. Rain also affected the women's semifinals on Friday night. Sinner went on to dominate the first set before Alcaraz changed his tactics. The Spaniard started coming to the net more and moving Sinner up and back. Sinner could have knocked Alcaraz out of the second spot with a win. He had won 19 matches in a row dating to last year, including 16 straight this year. Alcaraz earned the only break of the second set in the fourth game with a forehand drop volley winner. He faced a break point on his s

Pune Open 2024: Poonacha stuns top seed Sumit Nagal in Pune ATP Challenger

Indian wildcard entry Niki Poonacha pulled off a stunning victory over top seed and compatriot Sumit Nagal to move to the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 100 international tournament here on Thursday. Poonacha joined Sasikumar Mukund in the quarterfinals after he defeated the much-fancied Nagal 6-4, 6-3, their clash lasting over one hour and nine minutes. In the contest played at the Mahalunge Balewadi Stadium, Nagal was leading 4-2 in the first set before Poonacha came back fighting to level the scores and eventually clinch a famous win for himself to make his first-ever quarterfinal at this level. In the quarterfinals, Poonacha, who made his debut in India's recent Davis Cup fixture against Pakistan in Islamabad, will take on seventh-seeded Dave Sweeny from Australia. Sweeny defeated Poland's Maks Kasinowski 6-4, 6-1. Two Indian pairs qualified for the doubles semifinals. The duo of Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan notched up a 6-4, 7-6 win over Jakob Schnaitter and Ma

Pune Open Challenger: Nagal, Ramanathan advance to pre-quarterfinals in

Top seeded Sumit Nagal and wildcard Ramkumar Ramanathan on Tuesday entered the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 100 international tournament after winning their respective round of 32 matches here on Tuesday. Nagal defeated Chinese Taipei's Yu Hsiou Hsu 7(6)-6, 6-4 at the centre court at the Mhalunge Balewadi Tennis Stadium. Nagal, who won the ATP Challenger in Chennai and reached the semifinals in Bengaluru, came back from a break down in the second set to record his win in two hours and five minutes. On the other hand, in a thrilling contest which lasted one hour and 55 minutes, Ramanathan scored a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) win over 160th ranked Stefano Napolitano, who won the Bengaluru Open last week. The 101-ranked Nagal will now take on compatriot Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha for a spot in the quarterfinals, while Ramanathan will lock horns with Russia's Alexy Zakahrov. Also moving to the round of 16 was Australia's Adam Walton, who recorded a 7-6 (1), 6-2 win over Belgian qualifier ..

Bengaluru Open: Nagal out in semis, Ramkumar-Saketh pair wins double title

Sumit Nagal could not handle the cunning approach and nerve of Italy's Stefano Napolitano as the second seeded Indian bowed out of the Bengaluru Open with his semifinal defeat here Saturday. Napolitano, the seventh seed, overwhelmed Nagal 7-6 (2), 6-4 after an intense 2 hour and 17 minutes match. He will face ninth seed Seongchan Hong of South Korea in the title clash on Sunday. In the first semifinal match, Hong defeated eighth seed Spaniard Oriol Batalla 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. India's Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni clinched the doubles crown after defeating Maxime Janvier and Constantine Kouzmine of France 6-3, 6-4 in the final. It was the second title in a row for Ramkumar and Saketh as they had won the title in Chennai last week. As is his wont in this tournament, Nagal began the match with an early break in the second game to establish a 2-0 lead in the opening set, which he soon swelled into 4-1 after holding his serve in the third and fifth games. Everything was functioning

India can beat Sweden on clay surface in Davis Cup: Ramkumar Ramanathan

Ramkumar Ramanathan says Indian Davis Cup team is well-equipped to tackle the challenge of Sweden even if the hosts choose to play on clay courts in the September tie. Indian team will travel to Sweden, hoping to get its first win over the European nation in the sixth clash between the two sides. Ramkumar said their familiarity with the game style of Sweden players will also stand them in good stead. India qualified for the World Group after beating Pakistan 4-0 recently in the playoffs held in Islamabad. "I am sure they are going to play on clay. But we have been playing some unbelievable tennis and then there is Sumit Nagal, and I think he can grind them off, and I am sure he is very fit too," Ramkumar told media here during the felicitation ceremony of Davis Cup players organised by the KSLTA. "Rankings don't matter on court because it comes down to how well we play on that particular day. You have seen how Aisam (ul-Haq Quershi of Pakistan) performed (in the Davis Cup), right?

Not healthy enough yet: Rafael Nadal pulls out of the Qatar Open 2024

Rafael Nadal put off his return to the tennis tour because he isn't yet healthy enough to play, announcing that he will sit out next week's Qatar Open. I would have loved to play in Doha, where the tournament team, as well as the amazing Qatar fans have always supported me greatly. Unfortunately I am not ready to compete and I won't be able to come to Doha where I really wanted to be and play again after that unforgettable win in 2014, Nadal wrote on social media. I will focus on keep working to be ready for the exhibition in Las Vegas and the amazing Indian Wells tournament. The 37-year-old Spaniard is scheduled to participate in an exhibition match with Carlos Alcaraz on March 3, then head to Indian Wells, California, for the hard-court tournament there next month. Nadal played in three matches at the Brisbane International in early January his first competitive action in nearly a full year but then pulled out of the Australian Open and hasn't been back since. He hurt his hip .

Bengaluru Open: Ramkumar Ramanathan beats top seed Nardi, enters last 8

Indian Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan made a remarkable comeback to shock top seeded Luka Nardi to enter the singles quarterfinals of the Bengaluru Open here on Wednesday. Ramkumar, a wildcard entrant, prevailed over the Italian 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in little over two hours in their pre-quarterfinal match at the KSLTA Stadium. The match began on an ominous note for the Indian star as Nardi broke his serve in the very first game of the opening set. From that point onwards, Ramkumar was not able to offer any kind of fight to his higher-ranked opponent, who used a heavy first serve and precise ground shots to choke his opponent. While Nardi landed a whopping 86 percent of his first serve inside the box, Ramanathan barely managed to cross the 50 percent mark. But Ramkumar seemed a totally transformed player in the second set as he engaged Nardi more effectively in rallies, exploring the deeper areas of the court to keep the Italian pinned on the baseline. After the first four games went b

Top-100 dream realised, Indian ace Sumit Nagal eyes Olympic glory next

His dream of being inside the global top-100 has been realised but Sumit Nagal is nowhere close to being a content man as the Indian tennis ace says he now faces the challenge of improving or holding on to his standing for direct entry into Grand Slams and the Paris Olympics. Nagal's victory in the recent Chennai Open propelled him to a career-high world No. 98, and he is the first Indian to achieve the feat since Prajnesh Gunneswaran did that in 2019. "Every tennis player dreams about being in the top 100. I have dreamt about being in the top 100 from a very young age and it felt very good when it happened. It was certainly an emotional day after working for years," Nagal told PTI in an interview after his first-round win in the Bengaluru Open on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old, who is seeded second here, entered the second round of the tournament with a breezy 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Geff Blancaneaux. But he is not ready to rest on his laurels and has set his eyes on bigger ..

Nagal jumps 23 places to break into top-100 of ATP singles rankings

India's leading singles player Sumit Nagal on Monday jumped 23 spots to break into the top-100 of the ATP singles rankings for the first time in his career. The win at the Chennai Open challenger event on Sunday pushed Nagal to 98th in the latest singles rankings led by Serbian Novak Djokovic. Last month, Nagal had become the first Indian to beat a seeded player at a Grand Slam in 35 years when he upset then world no.27 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the first round. He eventually lost to China's Juncheng Shang in the second round. Nagal is the first Indian to feature in the top-100 since left-handed Prajnesh Gunneswaran made the cut in 2019. "I'm very emotional. You know, every tennis player's dream is to be top 100 at least. And like I said earlier, to win this match in front of the home crowd in your own country, I don't think I could have asked for a better place," Nagal said after his victory in Chennai on Sunday. "I don't think there were words, everyone was crying. Less

Nagal and Ramkumar draw French rivals in opening round of Bengaluru Open

Indian ace Sumit Nagal is pitted against Geoffrey Blancaneaux, while wild card entrant Ramkumar Ramanathan will face Maxime Janvier in the men's singles main draw of the Bengaluru Open beginning here on Monday. World ranked 121 Nagal will aim to extend his dominance over Blancaneaux, whom he has beaten three times, including in the Australian Open Qualifiers. India No 2 Ramkumar has a 1-1 head-to-head record against Janiver and if he clears the first round hurdle, he is likely to run into top-seed Italian Luca Nardi, who has been drawn to meet a qualifier in his opening round. Australian Adam Walton has been seeded third and will open his campaign against Indian wild card entrant Prajwal Dev. In the doubles main draw, Frenchman Dan Added and Korea's Yun Seong Chung have been given the top billing and will clash with the Australian pair Tristan Schoolkate and Adam Walton. Australia's Christopher Matthew Romios and Poland's Piotr Matuszewski are seeded second and will take on Taipei

India's Davis Cup heroes to headline Bengaluru Open tennis tournament

Fresh from their Davis Cup win over Pakistan, four Indians including Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji will be in action in the Bengaluru Open slated to be held from February 12-18. India's top singles player Sumit Nagal, who opted out of the Davis Cup, will also be seen in action, having earned a direct entry by virtue of his 137th rank. The cut-off for the Bengaluru Open was 257. At the Australian Open last month, Nagal had knocked out world number 27 Alexander Bublik in the first round of the main draw. In the doubles, Ramkumar has partnered big-serving compatriot Saketh Myneni, while Balaji has teamed up with Germany's Andre Begemann. Ramkumar and Myneni won the doubles title in 2022. World Ranked 78 Balaji and Begeman (WR 201) will be the third-seeded team in the 16-team draw with a combined rank of 279. Myneni (WR 107) and Ramkumar (WR 210) are the sixth-best team in terms of their combined rank of 317. The top-ranked team in the event will be of Frenchman Dan Added

Staying fit and breaking into top-100 Nagal's focus ahead of Paris Olympics

Ace Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal on Tuesday said staying fit and breaking into top-100 in world rankings will be his focus ahead of the Paris Olympics later this year. The 26-year-old from Haryana has had his share of brushes with injuries in the past, having missed qualifying for the 2018 US Open due to an injury. In 2021, he suffered a hip injury before undergoing surgery in November of that year. "Staying fit would be the highest priority. The second (goal) would be to play in the Olympics, which would be a nice feeling. But for that, you need to be within the top 100," Nagal responded to a PTI query in an interaction during the ongoing Chennai Open ATP Challenger event, where he is through to the pre-quarterfinals. Currently ranked 121 in the ATP singles, Nagal is confident of breaking into the top 100. "It (Olympic qualification) would only be possible if I keep winning the matches. I have to focus on upcoming matches and not wonder about what's going to happen in the nex

Davis Cup: Ramkumar pips Aisam, hands India 1-0 lead against Pakistan

Ramkumar Ramanathan overcame a fighting Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi in a tight opening singles to hand India a 1-0 lead over Pakistan in the Davis Cup World Group I play-off, here Saturday. Ramkumar lost the first set after battling hard against a fired up Aisam, much to the delight of partisan crowd, but bounced back to emerge a 6-7(3) 7-6(4), 6-0 winner at Islamabad Sports Complex in freezing cold conditions. Aisam struggled to contain his double faults while Ramkumar began to return better as the match progressed. N Sriram Balaji will now take on Aqeel Khan in the second singles of the tie. Aisam played out of his skin to make it a match but struggled with his left hamstring at the start of the third set. He lost steam towards the end. Ramkumar saved two break points in game eight of second set and that eventually became crucuial in then outcome of the match. Ramkumar quickly overcame the initial jitters to serve out the opening game at love with an ace. Points were long when Aisam s

Bopanna: Long-playing record

Compared to other Indian doubles specialists, Bopanna isn't a front-runner, but he may be the last Indian tennis champion for some time to come

Chennai Open 2023: Sumit Nagal to spearhead Indian men's singles challenge

Sumit Nagal, who recently became the first Indian to beat a seeded player in a Grand Slam tournament, will spearhead the Indian challenge in the men's singles competition of the Chennai Open ATP Challenger 100 tournament beginning Sunday. The 26-year-old Nagal had entered the second round of the Australian Open last month after beating world no. 27 and number 31 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. He is currently ranked 121 in the world. Ramkumar Ramanathan and Mukund Sasikumar will the other Indians in the fray in men's singles as they were among three players who were handed wild cards for the main draw. Luca Nardi of Italy has been given the top billing as players from 14 countries will be taking part in the tournament here. Last year's winner Max Purcell of Australia will not be competing this time as he is featuring in other ATP events. In the doubles category, India's Arjun Kadhe and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan are the top seeds. The tournament is the first of the four Challenger

Chennai Open: It is better to play Challengers at home feels Vijay Amritraj

Indian tennis players must concentrate on the Challengers at the moment and will be better off playing regularly at home than going overseas, the country's former star Vijay Amritraj suggested on Thursday. Amritraj, who beat legends such as Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Rod Laver in his heyday, spoke to PTI ahead of next week's Chennai Open Challenger. He said the tournament gives the Indian players a great opportunity to earn ranking points. "It's give them an opportunity. If you don't get the opportunity, you can't even try. You're better off playing in India than going somewhere else to get points. The cost, competition and home turf -- all these things matter," Amritraj said. "For us (Indians), we don't need to stretch that far. First, we need to get into a tournament. If we can't get into the Challengers, no point talking about Grand Slams. "You expect someone like Sumit (Nagal) and Mukund (Sasikumar) to perform better than he could have fared overseas. So, localised tournamen

Soccer-mad Italy now obsessed with Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner

Soccer-mad Italy has a new obsession. Jannik Sinner's performance on the tennis court has captured the country's attention. And not just for the way Sinner rallied from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev and win the Australian Open title on Sunday. Ever since Sinner reached the ATP Finals championship match at home in Turin and then played a leading role in leading Italy to the Davis Cup title on consecutive weeks in November, he's been taking over the headlines from soccer. "Jannik Sinner wrote a new page of history today that fills us with pride, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni wrote on Facebook. It's an achievement worthy of a real champion. The Turin final was the most watched tennis match of all time on Italian television, with 6.7 million viewers. It wouldn't be surprising if Sunday's match turns out to have an even bigger audience, even though it was shown only on Pay TV, starting at 9:30 a.m., in Sinner's home country. It's a testament to the 22-year-old Sinner's clean-c

Sinner rallies from 2 sets down to win Australian Open final vs Medvedev

Jannik Sinner rallied from two sets down to take the Australian Open final from Daniil Medvedev 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday and clinch his first Grand Slam title. The 22-year-old Sinner was playing in a major final for the first time and got there by ending Novak Djokovic's long domination of the tournament in a semifinal upset. He's the first Italian to win the Australian Open title. For 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev, the loss was his fifth in six major finals. The third-seeded Medvedev set a record with his fourth five-set match of the tournament and time on court at a major in the Open era, surpassing Carlos Alcaraz's 23:40 at the 2022 U.S. Open. Medvedev lost back-to-back finals here to Djokovic in 2021 and to Rafael Nadal after holding a two-set lead the following year. He won three five-set matches to reach the championship match this time and had two comebacks from two sets down. Sinner only dropped one set through six rounds in a third-set tiebreaker against ...