Page 18 - Tennis

One tennis player I would love to bat with has to be Federer: Tendulkar

Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar has picked the legendary Roger Federer as one tennis player he would have loved to bat with given the latter's "cricket connection" and interest in the sport. A regular at the Wimbledon over the years, Tendulkar met Federer when he visited the center court in London to watch some tennis action on Saturday. "One tennis player I would love to bat with has to be Roger because also he's got cricketing connections," Tendulkar told Star Sports on the sidelines of Wimbledon. "His mother is from South Africa and he follows cricket and when we sat together and chatted we discussed a lot of cricket not just tennis so it has to be Roger." The 51-year-old from Mumbai also said he loved playing tennis with the late Australian spin great Shane Warne and former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and described them as cricketers who would make best doubles partners. "There are two strong contenders unfortunately we lost Shane Warne a couple of years ago but I enjoyed pla

'It was amazing': Taylor Fritz as he beats Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon

After Taylor Fritz deposited a backhand that Alexander Zverev didn't even chase, wrapping up the American's comeback from a two-set hole in Wimbledon's fourth round, the men met at the net for what turned into a longer-than-usual chat. Zverev, playing with a bone bruise in his right knee, said he was bothered by some of the cheering coming from Fritz's guest box in the fifth set. When Fritz began to move away, Zverev stuck his chest to block the path and continued the mostly one-sided exchange. It wasn't the 13th-seeded Fritz's only noteworthy postmatch interaction at the All England Club this fortnight he told an earlier opponent to have a nice flight home but he shrugged this one off, more interested in thinking about the way he turned things around to defeat two-time Grand Slam finalist Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals. It was amazing," said Fritz, a 26-year-old from California, to do that on Centre Court (at) Wimbledon, two sets down. Zverev

Novak Djokovic slams Wimbledon fans for 'disrespect' amid victory over Rune

Novak Djokovic swept aside Denmark's Holger Rune to reach his 15th Wimbledon quarterfinal in London, later accused fans of showing him disrespect

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz opens Wimbledon with straight-set win

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz had goosebumps walking onto Centre Court before his opening match at Wimbledon on Monday, a 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2 win over qualifier Mark Lajal. Lajal proved to be something of a speedbump for Alcaraz, who acknowledged that his 269th-ranked Estonian opponent surprised me a little bit" on Day 1 at the All England Club. Alcaraz, who won his third major championship at the French Open three weeks ago, defeated Novak Djokovic in last year's final on the grass at Wimbledon but said he was still nervous before Monday's match. When I walk into the court, I got goosebumps. I remembered last year. It was a great feeling," the 21-year-old Spaniard said in his on-court interview. But I try not to think about it. It's a new year totally different tournament. I have to be focused on my game just to play at the same level as last year if I want to repeat the same (success) as last year." Earlier, Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka both pulled out of the tournam

US Open: Rajawat, Malvika into quarters; Gayatri-Treesa too advance

India's Priyanshu Rajawat has stormed into the men's singles quarterfinals with a straight-game win over Chinese Taipei's Huang Yu Kai in the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament here. Eighth seed Rajawat, who had won the Orleans Masters in 2023, notched up a 21-18 21-16 win over Huang to set up a clash with fourth seed Lei Lan Xi of China. Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand also advanced to the women's doubles quarterfinals with a 16-21 21-11 21-19 win over Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Pei Shan and Hung En-Tzu in the second round. The second seeded Indian pair, who received a bye in the opening round, will next face sixth seeded Japanese Rui Hirokami and Yuna Kato. Also making it to the last eight is Malvika Bansod, seeded seventh. She beat Czech Republic's Tereza Svabikova 15-21 21-19 21-14 in a women's singles match. Malvika will face a tough test against third seed Kristy Gilmour of Scotland.

4 Grand Slam champions get wild cards for Wimbledon; tournament from July 1

Former Grand Slam champions Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Emma Raducanu have all been awarded wild cards for Wimbledon. The grass-court tournament starts on July 1. Osaka a four-time major champion and former No. 1 player and three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber returned from maternity leave at the start of this season. Currently ranked 113th, Osaka was the only player to take a set from top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the French Open and followed that up with a quarterfinal spot last week in 's-Hertogenbosch, a warm-up event for Wimbledon. Former US Open champion Raducanu made her breakthrough at Wimbledon by advancing to the fourth round in 2021. She will be playing there for the first time in two years after undergoing wrist and ankle surgery in 2023. Kerber won the 2018 Wimbledon title and was runner-up at the All England Club in 2016. She is also a former top-ranked player. Wozniacki returned from maternity leave last August. She's never got past the fourt

Tennis stars Sabalenka, Jabeur rule out Olympics to avoid risking health

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur ruled themselves out of the Olympic Games in Paris. Both top-10 players said they didn't want to switch from grass at Wimbledon back to clay at Roland Garros for the Olympic tournament and then immediately start the hard-court season in North America. World No 3 Sabalenka from Belarus said she'd rather have a break. It's too much for the scheduling and I made the decision to take care of my health, she said in Berlin, where she's warming up for Wimbledon. I prefer to have a little rest to make sure physically and health-wise I'm ready for the hard courts. I'll have a good preparation before going to the hard-court season. I feel that this is safer and better for my body." World No. 10 Jabeur from Tunisia wrote on X that not being able to play at a fourth consecutive Olympics was unfortunate. We (and my medical team) have decided that the quick change of surface and the body's adaptation required w

Paris 2024: Tennis star Andy Murray set to make fifth Olympic appearance

For the first time since the London 2012 Olympics, Great Britain will be represented by four men in the singles draw

Nagal on the rise, enters the final of Perugia ATP Challenger event

In the final, Nagal will take on the winner of Luciano Darderi of Italy and Germany's Daniel Altmaier

Making a racquet: Can Indian tennis match the success of badminton?

'What I can tell you is that we have been able to create an ecosystem for badminton. I also believe that Indians have a physicality for the sport'

French Open 2024: Alcaraz defeats Zverev to win his third Grand Slam title

Carlos Alcaraz came back to defeat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday and win the French Open for his third Grand Slam title. Alcaraz is a 21-year-old from Spain who grew up watching countryman Rafael Nadal win trophy after trophy at Roland Garros a record 14 in all and now has eclipsed Nadal to become the youngest man to collect major championships on three surfaces. Nadal was about 1 years older when he did it. Sunday's victory in which he trailed two sets to one, just as he had in the semi-finals against Jannik Sinner on Friday allowed Alcaraz to add the clay-court championship at Roland Garros to his triumphs on hard courts at the US Open in 2022 and on the grass at Wimbledon in 2023. Alcaraz is now 3-0 in Grand Slam finals. Zverev dropped to 0-2 in major title matches. The 27-year-old from Germany was the runner-up at the 2020 US Open after blowing a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem.

French Open men's final: Alcaraz seeks a third Grand Slam, Zverev a first

When Carlos Alcaraz was a kid growing up in Spain which, considering he's only 21, was not all that long ago he used to run home from school and flip on the TV to check out the French Open. Long before he was preparing to play in Sunday's final in Paris against Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz watched a lot of matches involving Rafael Nadal, of course, as his countryman was accumulating a record 14 titles at Roland Garros. I wanted to put my name on that list of the Spanish players who won this tournament. Not only Rafa, said Alcaraz, who then rattled off champions such as Juan Carlos Ferrero (who happens to be his coach), Carlos Moya and Albert Costa, calling them legends from our sport that won this tournament. He just might join them. Alcaraz has triumphed on the US Open's hard courts in 2022 and Wimbledon's grass courts in 2023, and now, he is one victory away from holding a trophy on the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier in southwest Paris. He would be the youngest man to own a .

French Open 2024: Iga Swiatek wins third consecutive women's singles title

Iga Swiatek won her third consecutive French Open championship and fourth in five years by defeating Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in the final on Saturday. The top-seeded Swiatek trailed 2-1 early in Court Philippe Chatrier before taking the next 10 games to claim the opening set and go up 5-0 in the second. She stretched her winning streak at Roland Garros to 21 matches and her career record at the place is now 35-2. The 23-year-old from Poland is the first woman with three trophies in a row in Paris since Justine Henin from 2005 to 2007. Swiatek also won the French Open in 2020 and the U.S. Open in 2022 and is now 5-0 in major finals. The 12th-seeded Paolini, a 28-year-old from Italy, was appearing in a Slam final for the first time. She had never been past the second round at one of the four most important tennis tournaments until getting to the fourth round at the Australian Open in January. Paolini will play in the French Open women's doubles final on Sunday with partner Sara Err

Iga Swiatek saves match point, comes back to beat Osaka at French Open

Iga Swiatek played like the current No. 1 and the two-time defending champion at the French Open. No surprise there. That Naomi Osaka looked like the former No. 1 that she is and on clay, no less amounted to an announcement that she is still quite capable of elite tennis. Surging down the stretch as Osaka faded, Swiatek saved a match point and grabbed the last five games to sneak her way to a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 victory in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday night in a thrill-a-minute contest befitting two women who both own four Grand Slam titles. "For sure, this match was really intense. Much more intense for the second round than I ever expected. For sure, I'll be more ready next time," Swiatek said. "Naomi played amazing tennis. I'm happy that she's back and she's playing well." For Swiatek, this extended her Roland Garros winning streak to 16 matches as she pursues a third consecutive trophy at the clay-court major. For Osaka, who cried when she left the court aft

Alcaraz qualifies to French Open's third round despite troubled forehand

Carlos Alcaraz's forehand was giving him a hard time at the French Open. So was the 176th-ranked qualifier across the net. After ceding the third set and trailing by a break in the fourth, Alcaraz needed to get in gear and he did, taking the last five games to beat Jesper de Jong 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 Wednesday in the second round. Heavy rain from early in the day caused the postponement of 23 singles matches, so Alcaraz was lucky to get the chance to compete, and advance, under the retractable roof at Court Philippe Chatrier. Still, he could not quite shake de Jong, a 23-year-old from the Netherlands with a flashy game who was participating in just his second Grand Slam main draw. Alcaraz, a former No. 1 who is seeded No. 3, has won two major championships and is still just 21. But Alcaraz has been dealing with a bothersome right arm that limited his preparation for Roland Garros and, he said, made him afraid to hit his big forehand with full force. He has been wearing a white sleeve

French Open 2024: Djokovic begins 25th Grand Slam bid with first-round win

Ignore the straight-set score: Novak Djokovic was not quite at his impervious best in the first round of the French Open, and his 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert was not enough to alter the defending champion's low expectations at this tournament. I don't want to get too excited, Djokovic said. I thought it was a good performance for me. Solid. Of course, I could have done better, I think, on return games, but also credit to him for serving very well, for changing things up. It's been a rougher-than-usual season so far for Djokovic, and while there were some signs of breaking out of his 2024 funk during the course of the contest at Court Philippe Chatrier, he still has room for improvement as he attempts to become the first player in tennis history to claim 25 Grand Slam singles trophies. There's no doubt he cares about such things. Grand Slams are the ones that are basically getting me up from the bed every day. Knowing that I have to hit the practice courts, I ...

French Open: Sabalenka marches into next round, defeats Erika Andreeva

Although Sabalenka is currently 20-5 all-time in Grand Slam opening rounds, she is almost impervious to an opening upset now

Full list of Nadal's Grand Slam titles; records achievements at French Open

Nadal has appeared in 14 finals at the French Open and won each one of them, thereby having a 100 per cent record at the Roland Garros

French Open 2024: Sumit Nagal breaks Khaachanov, but eventually crashes out

It was a Grand Slam debut for the 26-year-old Nagal who became the first Indian after Prajnesh Gunneswaran in 2019 to play in the French Open Men's Singles

French Open: Nadal knocked out in 1st round; Zverev win in straight sets

Nadal admits this would be his last dance at the Roland Garros. 37-year-old Nadal might end his superb outing at French Open with a defeat in the first round, hoping to return during Paris Olympics