ATP
Coco strikes it rich!
AMERICAN sports media company Sportico released its annual list of top earners in sport during the week, with Coco Gauff topping the list for women with $22.7 million.
Gauff earned $6.7 million on court, including $3 million for winning her first Grand Slam title at the US Open and $16 million in endorsement earnings from contracts with New Balance and Head and deals with Barilla pasta, Bose, UPS and Rolex.
Nine WTA Tour players were on the list, with seven in the top 10.
Pole Iga Swiatek finished with a total of $21.9 million earned, nearly $10 million of which came in her on-court earnings, and through deals with Infosys, Visa, Polish insurer PZU, Rolex and Porsche Poland.
An obscure skier named Eileen Gu ranked third on $20 million.
Amazingly Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka were in the list having not played virtually at all in 2023, with Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula ranked fourth through eighth.
Raducanu’s $16.2 million and Osaka’s $15 million came as a result of strong endorsement deals.
And some still argue women’s tennis is broke or suffering in poverty?
$84 million in earnings from this top ten graphic shows a very different story.
GAUFF, now the darling of US women’s tennis, was also named third most intriguing person in People magazines ‘Most Intriguing People of the Year awards, whatever that means, but it’s woke America, and was also named in the equally woke New York Times’ most stylish people in 2023 list, along with Frances Tiafoe.
SAD to hear Chris Evert has withdrawn from the broadcast booth at the AO, I informing everyone her ovarian cancer has returned.
“While this is a diagnosis I never wanted to hear, I once again feel fortunate that it was caught early,” Evert said in a statement released by ESPN.
“Doctors found cancer cells in the same pelvic region. All cells were removed, and I have begun another round of chemotherapy.”
Evert, 68, was first diagnosed with cancer two years ago. She completed chemotherapy in May of 2022 and was confident the disease would not return.
NAOMI Osaka was courtside at a LA Lakers game last weekend with Aussie Nick Kyrgios, before resuming her preparations for her return to tennis next month at the Australian Open.
Osaka, now 26, dressed in black – including a black pair of sunglasses as Aussie Kyrgios turned up wearing a pair of Lakers shorts and a baggy hoodie.
Osaka sat courtside for the game against the Houston Rockets as LeBron James and his team recorded a 107-97 win.
TENNIS Australia chief executive is not surprised about reports of the formation of a Super League tennis tour, as reported here on Sunday Serve last weekend.
“The premium tour for the future of the sport has been on the table for quite a few years, and getting the sport motivated and activated to look at it more openly is something that is continuing to happen, which is exciting,” Tiley said.
“I think there’s a lot of work that’s got to be done, [and] a lot of parties have got to come together, but there is a big opportunity for the sport of tennis to deliver a product in a more co-ordinated, premium way.
“There have been attempts to do it for years, but the grand slams have done extremely well in this [premium] environment and continue to do well, and they are the times in the year when the players mobilise because this is where they want to make their most money, but also get their biggest profile globally.”
WILL he won’t he? That was the story as Nick Kyrgios’s name was missing from the Australian Open entry list on Wednesday, fuelling rumours he may well not play Melbourne in six weeks time.
By yesterday, it was confirmed that Kyrgios, 28, will miss a second Melbourne event after failing to overcome a wrist injury.
“Obviously had a really tough year with injury, had that knee surgery and came back a little bit too soon and set me back a little bit, then obviously had some wrist issues,” Kyrgios said.
“So this is a very disappointing time for me, but I won’t be able to compete at the 2024 Australian Open.”
AND, will she won’t she…
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has announced she will make her comeback from injury at the ASB Classic in Auckland next month as she tries to earn a spot at the Australian Open, where she will have to go through the qualifiers to make the main draw.
She can currently use a protected ranking of 103 to enter tournaments because of injury, but that is not high enough to earn her a place in the main draw in Melbourne.
ONE player who will be there is former champion Caroline Wozniacki.
The Dane, who has not played Melbourne for four years, has received a wildcard in the main draw.
“Melbourne’s one of my most favourite cities in the world, and I can’t wait to share it with my family and my kids,” Wozniacki told media last week.
ON the move again … The Davis Cup could move location to Milan, says Italian Tennis Federation CEO Angelo Binaghi.
“We are ready to compete to bring the Davis Cup Finals to Milan from 2025, as soon as the ITF opens a tender,” Binaghi said last week after Italy won the event in Malaga.
“We are convinced that we have what it takes to put in place a competitive proposal.”
DEBBIE Jevans took to the London Standard newspaper during the week to push for the Wimbledon expansion plans to be approved.
Debbie who? Well the much travelled Ms Jevans, who has been described by many as serial board member with so many sporting portfolios, is the new chair of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Board.
Jevans, who is a former player, used her opinion piece to argue Londoners would suffer if the expansion plan was blocked.
“It is more than a century since tennis was first played on Centre Court and since then Wimbledon has grown to be at the pinnacle of world sport,” she wrote.
“However, we can’t rest on our laurels, as in that time other events have evolved too. We are now the only Grand Slam that doesn’t host its qualifying competition on the same site as its main tournament.
“Currently our qualifying competition takes place on what is ordinarily a cricket outfield at a rented site in Roehampton. This is understandably viewed by the world’s best players as a significant weakness.”
Jevans went to argue the economic benefits of Wimbledon’s grand plan, including creating over 250 job during the construction.
OUR OMG moment….
Serena Williams took to TikTok during the week to confess she has been using her breast milk to cure a retinol-induced sunburn on her under eyes.
Williams said she was going to trial the breast milk treatment out for a week, patting it on her under eyes with a cotton pad.
The idea of breast milk being a treatment for this sort of ailment has been seen as an ‘old wives’ tale’, but apparently there’s been some scientific research that has shown it helps with atopic eczema.
“It already feels better,” Williams added after a week’s treatment.”
Alexander Zverev cooled the jets of a teenaged tearaway on Tuesday, schooling Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to power to his fifth career semi-final at the French Open.
The world No. 3 German finished runner-up in Paris two years ago and is still seeking his first trophy at one of the majors.
Zverev has been a consistent presence at the business end of the event here, figuring iin five of the past six semis.
But the achievement doesn’t amount to much for the seed, who has his eye on the big prize.
“I want to keep going. I don’t really care so much about a semi-final,” he said. “I want to win all the matches in front of me.
“Today was a tough test against a good player – that’s it for now.”
The 29-year-old who becomes the ninth man to play five Paris semi-finals, got away slowly as the 19-year-old Jodar showed his intentions with an early break..
But the seed began turning the tables on his young opponent while trailing 5-2 in the opening set after dropping serve in the eight-minute opening game.
Jodar’s unravelling began as he served for the first set leading 5-4 but was unable to close it out.
From then on, Zverev was in control.
The German won the opener in a tiebreaker and dominated the second to claim that chapter also.
In the third, he broke the fading youngster in the first and last games of the set
before closing out the win with a running forehand down the line on match point.
“He had perfect rhythm in the first set and I didn’t,” the winner said. “I was playing too short and too defensive.
“The ball was also not bouncing as high as it did in (last week’s) heat, I had to flatten out my shots.
“He outplayed me at the beginning of the first, but I managed to come back.
he seemed a bit nervous when he served for (the set).
“I took my chances, it was a good match for me.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev in control at Roland Garros – by ATPTour.com
Matteo Berrettini took Italian revenge on Monday against the Argentine who knocked out Jannik Sinner with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) fourth-round demolition of Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the French Open.
Former top 10 player Berrettini, now mended after several seasons of intermittent injury absences sent the South American packing in a solid clay display.
The Italian saved three Cerundolo set points in the third-set tiebreaker, with Berrettini claiming a match point on an inside-out forehand, and following up with a serve winner..
“I feel great,” Berrettini said. “I’m happy with the support in a full stadium.
“This is why we train and fight, I’m enjoying the atmosphere with my team and family.”
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime booked the last eight as he put out another South American in Canadian-born Chilean AlejandroTabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
FAA becomes the first Canadian man to complete the set of quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The 30-year-old Berretini from Rome is competing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021 when he also reached the last eight here.
The current No. 105 is the lowest-ranked men’s quarter-finalist in Paris since in 2007.
Cobolli lost his first set of the tournament as he ran up against an American with negligible experience on clay, defeating Zach Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).
The 10th-seeded Italian’s victory put him into his second Grand Slam and his first in Paris.
“I was a little bit nervous to close the match today,” the winner said. “It means a lot, this tournament, for me.
“Sometimes it’s not easy when you have to close, especially when you are up in the score like I was today.
“But also Zachary played a really good match today after the second set… tennis is like this. At the end, I was happy, and that’s the important thing.”
Svajda came to the major with only one career match win on clay. He began correcting that in the third round by beating Francisco.Cerundolo.
Cobolli cruised through the first two sets but his perfect set record took a dent in the third as Svajda forced a tiebreaker and saved a match point after closing the Italian’s 5-1 lead and forcing a tiebreaker.
It took a tiebreak fourth set to settle the outcome after more than three and a quarter hours.
Alexander Zverev stayed on track for a possible fourth Grand Slam final as the highest seed remaining in the men’s draw at the French Open moved efficiently into the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The German who has finished runner-up at the Australian and US Open plus Roland Garros, defeated qualifying lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
With this week’s second-round losses by world No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic, Zverev could have one of his best chances at lifting a major trophy.
The 29-year-old reached his eighth Roland Garros quarter-final as he beat his Dutch opponent on de Jong’s 26th birthday.
He needed a tiebreak to secure the opening set but picked up momentum before crushing it in the third set to get off court in a relatively quick two and a quarter hours.
“I had some early difficulties but he started well,” the winner said. “But once I found my rhythm I felt comfortable on the court.
“That is important for my game. It’s (his game) is there, I just have to show it on the match court.”
With the recent 10-day heatwave now gone, temperatures dropped into the mid-20s Celsius, which should make for more comfortable conditions.
But Zverev is not so sure: “To be honest, I like the heat, I prefer it. My ball flies a lot faster through the air and opponents struggle a bit more.
“I also spend a lot of time in Florida so I’m used to the heat. But we have to make the best of it, things can change within one day.”
Zverev will bid for the semi-finals in a matchup against Rafael Jodar, the prodigy who won an all-Spanish fourth-rounder 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The fightback took nearly three and three-quarter hours and put the 19-year-old into his first last-eight spot in only his second Grand Slam appearance.
He has reached the last eight here for a sixth straight year.
Jodar, ranked No. 707 a year ago, is the fifth man this century to reach the quarters in his main draw debut at the event.
The youngster made a 4-1 start in the opening set but soon found himself in a five-set dogfight against a 34-year-old dealing with a shoulder injury.
The winner of a clay title in March has now taken victory in 19 of his last 22 matches.
“He’s young and incredibly talented,” Zverev said of his next opponent. “He came onto the clay scene in two months.
“He will be a difficult challenge but I’ll be ready for it.”
Main photo:- Favourite Alexander Zverev wins third round match – by ATPTour.com
Roland Garros 2026 Men’s Day 10
Roland Garros 2026 Women’s Day 10
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