ATP
Stars ready to earn their stripes
IT’S been coming for a while but American men’s tennis is witnessing a resurgence.
Three young Americans in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since 2005.
Add in world No. 9 Taylor Fritz and 17th-ranked Frances Tiafoe and you can see there is much to be pleased about with US tennis.
And interestingly we hear the group have been feeding off each other, as part of a ‘team’, even though men’s singles, by its name, is not a team sport.
Ben Shelton, JJ Wolf, Sebastian Korda and Tommy Paul have grabbed the spotlight this past fortnight.
Shelton, hadn’t even left the USA before this tournament had begun.
Given that less than 20% of Americans traveled outside their own country in 2019, it is perhaps understandable, but to be a success in world tennis travel for about 10 months of the year is a pre-requisite.
And this latest crop of young Americans have certainly done that.
The last time three American men reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal was the 2005 US Open, Andre Agassi, James Blake and Robby Ginepri.
And the last time in Melbourne? Answer: 2000 – Agassi, Pete Sampras and Chris Woodruff.
No American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick in 2003.
But there are currently nine Americans in the top 50 today – plus Shelton and Wolf.
And the majority are under 25. Jenson Brooksby, Reilly Opelka and Maxime Cressy are just three.
NOVAK Djokovic reportedly flew in famous sports doctor Marijana Kovacevic last week at Australian Open to help the Serb deal with his troublesome hamstring.
Kovacevic has worked with a number of football superstars in the past, most notably Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.
She is famous for massaging injured players using fluids derived from horse placenta.
TALK about overkill … Victoria Azarenka was ordered to remove a Paris St Germain soccer shirt she was wearing before her semi-final loss at the Australian Open on Thursday night because it violated Open rules surrounding displaying sponsor logos.
Azarenka walked onto Rod Laver Arena wearing the jersey but was told by umpire Alison Hughes to remove it.
The 33-year-old had worn the shirt onto court before several of her matches at Melbourne Park, explaining she wears it because it’s the club her son Leo supports and wants to play for one day.
Azarenka had also worn the jersey during press conferences, but the umpire told her to remove it and warm up in the outfit she was going to play in.
“I think it’s the issue with the sponsorships,” Azarenka said.
“I guess the logos are too big … I know that I’m not allowed to play in that. I knew those type of things.
“But I can still step on the court in what I want to step on the court. I do it for my own reasons.
“My son wore the white jersey today to his practice, and I tried to wear a white jersey to my match but couldn’t. So that’s OK.
WITH the Netflix series Breaking Point currently airing footage of Matteo Berrettini with one time love Ajla Tomljanovic, news has broken in Italy that Berrettini has a new girlfriend.
The 2021 Wimbledon finalist has reportedly been spotted with a 36-year-old Italian model, Melissa Satta.
Satta, who was married to footballer Kevin Prince Boateng and recently split from Italian entrepreneur Mattia Rivetti, now hosts a television show.
NOVAK Djokovic can perhaps quite rightly complain that some fans disagree with him being allowed to play at the Australian Open, despite receiving a three year ban for lying to immigration officials and trying to illegally enter the country in 2022.
But there is no excuse for the appalling behaviour of his father and other Serb supporters on Wednesday evening, wearing pro-Russia T-shirts and chanting support for a barbaric country that has illegally invaded another.
Djokovic insisted his father was “misused” by pro-Russia fans he posed with for photos at Melbourne Park. Really?
Srdjan Djokovic knew exactly what he was doing.
And Craig Tiley. Where do you stand?
Significantly quiet on this issue, hoping it will go away perhaps.
POLITICS poked its ugly nose into sport again in Melbourne during the week when the corrupt state of Azerbaijan called on the International Tennis Federati to sanction Karen Khachanov, who wrote messages of support for the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh after his wins.
Khachanov, a Russian who has Armenian roots, twice wrote “Artsakh stay strong!” on a camera lens following victories in Melbourne. Artsakh is the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh.
“The tennis player should be punished for the provocative actions and to keep such a situation from being allowed to repeat itself,” the Azerbaijani Tennis Federation said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades with over 30,000 people killed in a war in the early 1990s.
A brief six-week war in 2020 saw thousands killed before Russia brokered a ceasefire.
“I have Armenian roots. From my father’s side, from my grandfather’s side, even from my mom’s side.
I’m half Armenian,” Khachanov explained to reporters.
“I just wanted to show strength and support to my people. That’s it.”
SO a Russian and a Belarusian made it to the women’s final.
A neutral final. Really?
Last summer’s Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina says she is from Kazakhstan. Bit she was born in Moscow and still lives there.
A flag of convenience? You bet.
- Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk was asked whether Wimbledon should continue to ban players from those countries. She believed they should.
Given the problems around so-called neutrality in Melbourne this last two weeks, SW19 is unlikely to drop their policy.
HEADLINE of the week….
PICTURE OF THE WEEK…
Whoever said the ballkids were being used and exploited, obviously didn’t speak to this lad, thoroughly enjoying his time at the Open. Barely tall enough to see over the net.
FINALLY … Quote of the week?
“Prickly Victoria Azarenka refuses to answer totally legit questions about Srdjan Djokovic’s actions, and scorns media for asking. Is this a #WTA board member and de facto immigrant to the US, or a Moscow-adjacent pawn?”
Respected journalist Pete Bodo discussing Victoria Azarenka’s apparent defence of the Djokovic family.
Alexander Zverev took a further step towards a defence of his 2025 title at the ATP Munich event with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 hammering of Canada’s Gabriel Diallo on Thursday.
The German who won his only title of 2025 in his home nation faced an opponent carrying an injury in the 73-minute loss.
“I think he had some issues with his back and wasn’t serving fully in the second set anymore. Very unfortunate,” the 28-year-old world No. 3 said.
“Of course I am happy with the win and getting an easier match today.”
After days of cold weather, the spring sun finally made an appearance in the Bavarian capital.
Zverev advanced the the last eight with five breaks of serve and will bid fro a return to the semi-finals against fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo, a winner over Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-0.
“I played well from the baseline. I probably didn’t serve well in the first set, but it got better in the second. I am trying to improve every day,” the winner said as he reached a second straight quarter-final here..
Zverev has won their last four meetings.
“I’ve never beaten him on clay, which is his favourite surface, but I am definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Zverev said.
“I’m very happy to be at this stage, facing a tough opponent. That’s what it’s going to be tomorrow.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev with his 2025 Munich trophy
Roland Garros will continue to buck the trend of electronic linecalling, with Grand Slam tournament boss Amelie Mauresmo laying down the law on Thursday in Paris.
Unlike the other three majors which have sent teams of line judges into early retirement, the clay major will stick with the tried and true for another edition beginning on May 24.
In addition to tradition, the skid marks left on the dirt by ball makes determining in or out subjective enough to often require a keen eye.
“They are not 100% reliable,” Mauresmo said of the electronic systems currently in use.“Our decision was to stick to our way.”
But the former WTA No. 1 suddenly flipped the script when it comes to the controversial suggestion that women should play best-of-five-sets at the four majors just like the men.
The idea has drawn scorn from top women, but that does not dissuade Mauresmo.
“You can’t change a format overnight to go from best of three to best of five. But if we think about it, would it be only the semifinal, the final, or for all matches?” the former Wimbledon champion said.
“This could be a win-win situation but we have to talk about this with the women players.”
The Wimbledon winner admitted that she had often yearned during her playing days for longer contests.
“When I did the Masters (season-ending) final ( 2005) I would have wanted to do the final in best of five. So maybe one day, you never know.”
The former player would not be drawns out on the dreaded night matches at Roland Garros, formerly a fully daytinem event.
“We will talk about scheduling when the time comes,” she said.“Nothing is closed and nothing is set in stone, it depends on the draws and the lineups.”
Also on the table are likely to be the distribution of night matches, with women barely registering in the night-tiem hours during the 2025 edition.
On the final Saturday there has been one change: The men’s doubles final will be played before the women’s singles final and not afterward.
“We will talk about scheduling when the time comes,” the TD said. “Nothing is closed and nothing is set in stone, it depends on the draws and the lineups.”
In the continuing prize money arms race among the four Grand Slams, Roland Garros announced a rise to a global USD 72 million in player payouts, a rise of USD 6.25 million.
Carlos Alcaraz quit the Barcelona Open with a wrist injury and cast serious doubt on his fitness and availability for run-up events prior to next month’s French Open.
The Spaniard who lost his No. 1 ranking to Jannik Sinner through Sunday’s loss to the Italian in the Monte Carlo Casters final was unable to carry on at his home event in Barcelona.
Alcaraz quit the clay event prior to his second-round match against Tomas Machac. The Spaniard injured his wrist in a first-round win over Finn Otto Virtanen and warned that he could make no solid commitment yet to furue play due to his injury.
“It’s with great sadness I have to go back home to start my recovery as soon as possible with my team, with the doctors, with the physio, and try to be as healthy as possible as soon as possible for (future) tournaments,” he said.
“Let’s hope, that you can see me back on a tennis court as soon as possible.”
Alcaraz is now touch and go for the Madrid Masters oddly starting in a week next Wednesday as the ATP stretches out the Masters events in an unpopular money-spinning exercise.
Alcarraz could face a serious hit to his ranking if he cannot front up in the Spanish capital and next month in Rome, with titles to defend in both venues.
“But I’ve seen today’s tests, and it’s a slightly more serious injury than we all expected.
“In the end I have to listen to my body, what won’t affect me later on: That’s why I have to withdraw from this tournament.
“I never like to withdraw from any tournament, but especially from this one,”
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