ATP
Cold War Czech-out
A TENNIS Cold War is developing across Europe with news that an unnamed Russian player was stopped by Czech police on Thursday from entering the country to compete in the WTA Prague Open, which begins tomorrow.
The event was expected to see a handful of Russian and Belarusian players, including Evgeniya Rodina of Russia or Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, competing as neutrals, without any national flag or symbol, but a Czech government resolution has banned athletes from Russia or Belarus taking part in any events in the country.
Tournament director Miroslav Maly said the unnamed player was the first participant to arrive with a Russian passport.
“The management of the tournament fully respect the current stance of state authorities. We do not expect any player with Russian or Belarusian citizenship to take part in the tournament in this situation,” he said.
The WTA said it would “continue to review the situation as we factor important considerations around these complex geopolitical issues”.
It added: “WTA rules state that all players must be allowed to compete on the WTA based solely on merit, without discrimination.”
But will the WTA act to fine the Prague organisers, as this action clearly violates the rule?
They did when Wimbledon, under pressure from the Ukraine-backing UK government, issued their ban.
A week ago, Polish authorities denied entry to Russian Vera Zvonareva for ‘reasons of state security and public safety’.
AND… Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska wants the WTA to sanction Mirra Andreeva after the young Russian allegedly liked some social media content about the civil war between Russia and Ukraine.
The outspoken Ukranian posted on her own social media calling for the WTA to take action.
So a ‘like’, which may constitute just an opinion, is now not acceptable?
It’s very unlikely the WTA will formally sanction Andreeva even if the allegations are true and as yet the Ukranian hasn’t provided any screenshots or evidence to back up her allegations.
MORE complaints… this time from Casper Ruud, who has criticised the clay courts at the Hamburg European Open.
Ruud, a clay specialist, had just beaten Sebastián Baez at the event, but was clearly not happy.
“After the first three games, Casper Ruud tells the umpire that this Hamburg court is ‘the worst clay court he played all year on tour’,” journalist Jose Morgado reported.
COST of living crisis? Not in Monaco, where millionaire tennis players mingle with … well, millionaire F1 drivers, of course.
Daniil Medvedev, his wife Daria and baby daughter Alisa were recently spotted at FI champion Max Verstappen’s stepdaughter Penelope’s birthday party in the tax haven on the Mediterranean coast.
Verstappen has been in a relationship with Kelly Piquet, the daughter of former Brazilian racing driver Nelson Piquet since 2021 and Piquet was previously dating Russian racing driver Daniil Kvyat, the father of Penelope.
Russian Medvedev has had a long affair with racing, and has frequently been spotted with F1 drivers during his days off in Monaco.
NICK Krygios has dropped a hint he maybe retiring soon.
The outspoken and often controversial Aussie, was speaking in LA during time coaching at the UTS.
“I’m getting old. 28. Yeah,” he said. “But all the drinking and partying, I’m like 57.”
Kyrgios is 28, he has been a regular on the tour since 2014.
In response to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who is 36, claiming he could play for another five years, Kyrgios quickly dismissed any prospects of that.
“No chance. No way. Bro, there’s no chance I’m playing until 33. Kyrgios playing until 33 is insane! I’m not playing until 33. Nah, I promise you, when I’m gone, you’ll never see me again,” he said.
Kyrgios last week withdrew from the Citi Open in Washington, a decision that will likely see a big drop in the ATP rankings.
“Unfortunately my body is not ready to compete yet. My wrist is still not anywhere near to pain-free. Keep you all updated,” he posted on social media.
EMMA Raducanu’s agent Max Eisenbud has insisted her approach of hiring and firing coaches is nothing new, suggesting a change is unlikely.
And Eisenbud has squashed speculation that sponsors will attempt to cut ties with her her poor run of form, where she has struggled since winning the US Open in 2021.
“None of her sponsors have ever called up and been like ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe she’s not winning!’. No one,” Eisenbud said last week.
“I know people want to say ‘the pressure, she’s got the pressure’, I think the pressure she has is that she won a great tournament and she wants that feeling again and she wants to keep winning.”
But the every changing coach role? Well, that looks likely to continue.
Raducanu, 20, worked with Andrew Richardson for her US Open triumph. Since then, she has had spells with Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs.
She split with Sachs last month, with no new name as yet to fill a position controlled by her father Ian.
“The coaching situation, right or wrong, and this is something that her dad and Emma pretty much control on all the coaching stuff,” Eisenbud told The Tennis Podcast.
“That has been their philosophy all the way up through the juniors.
“They never had coaches for a long time. You’ve probably heard of that. For them, that is calm waters, having a coach for five months and going on to someone else.”
No doubt injury has been one issue to overcome, but no elite sportsman or woman wins anything without longterm coaching support.
FORMER world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki is set to return to the court on August 8 at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
Wozniacki, 33, announced a surprise return to tennis last month. She retired from the Tour after the 2020 Australian Open.
The Dane, now a mother of two children, has been granted wildcards for Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open.
“Over these past three years away from the game I got to make up for lost time with my family, I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for,” Wozniacki said.
But I still have goals I want to accomplish. I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role. We decided as a family it’s time. I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!”
AND finally …
Nick Kyrgios has challenged world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz to an exhibition match in Spain next year.
“He is a force for sure. I would of loved to see how it would of gone down last year when I was healthy and playing lights out,” Kyrgios wrote on social media.
“@carlitosalcarazz what about next year in your town we do an exhibition?
“He’s got that showman about him, which I like.”
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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