Top seeds Swiatek and Sabalenka target glory at Dubai Tennis Championships

World no.1 Iga Swiatek comes into the tournament fresh from victory in Doha, aiming to claim a maiden Dubai title. (Supplied)
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Updated 19 February 2024
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Top seeds Swiatek and Sabalenka target glory at Dubai Tennis Championships

  • In-form No. 1 seed Swiatek comes into the tournament fresh from victory in Doha, and aims to claim a maiden Dubai title this week
  • Back-to-back Australian Open champion Sabalenka is seeded second in field of 14 of world’s top 20 female players

DUBAI: Fresh from claiming a historic third successive title at last week’s WTA Tour event in Doha, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek is optimistic she can carry her dominant form into this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

A beaten finalist in Dubai 12 months ago, the Pole recovered from a chastening straight sets defeat to Barbora Krejcikova by ending the season with a tour-leading six titles. One year on, she returns to the emirate as the No. 1 seed at this week’s WTA 1000 event which runs until Feb. 24 at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

The all-conquering WTA Player of Year in 2022 and 2023 will open her quest for a maiden Dubai title against world No. 39 Sloane Stephens — the 2017 US Open champion — on Tuesday, after the American edged out plucky French qualifier Clara Burel 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 on Sunday evening.

Unsurprisingly, Swiatek’s objective is victory.

“If you want to win a tournament, you have to win against the best in the world anyway,” said the 22-year-old, who has amassed 18 career titles, including a hat-trick of French Open triumphs, and a solitary US Open win in 2022.

“You have to be ready,” she added. “There’s been no preparation because I literally just arrived, but I have the experience from last year, playing one practice, then going to the match. I’m not worried about that. It’s a different year, I feel differently. A lot has happened since (last year). It’s a different tournament.”

Swiatek’s challengers include two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who reached the semifinals in all four Grand Slams last year.

“I’m happy to see the top players constantly at the top and winning titles. I think that’s something women’s tennis was missing,” said Sabalenka, whose views on the WTA’s increasingly competitive playing field are supported by statistics from the 2023 season, which show the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds met in only four tournament finals.

However, the top two seeds have met in four WTA event finals already this year. The last time the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds met in tournament finals more than four times in a season was in 2013. If the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships draw goes to plan, a 10th career showdown between Swiatek and Sabalenka in this year's final would end that decade-long statistic, a mere two months into 2024.

“You’re at the top and you’re competing with the top players now,” added Sabalenka. “It’s not like another top player is going to fall out of the tournament early and give you a better chance. It’s amazing to have for our game.”

The 24th edition of Dubai’s annual WTA event takes place one week before the men’s event at the same venue. The women’s competition will run until Feb. 24, before the 32nd staging of the ATP Tour 500 tournament from Feb. 26 to March 2.


Wimbledon pays tribute to Jota after Liverpool star’s death

Updated 04 July 2025
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Wimbledon pays tribute to Jota after Liverpool star’s death

  • Cabral was allowed to put the ribbon on his shirt sleeve for the second-round tie
  • “I know what he’s been through, what he conquered through his career and through his life,” he said

LONDON: Wimbledon paid tribute to Diogo Jota after the Liverpool star’s death as Portugal’s Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon during his doubles match on Friday.

Cabral was allowed to put the ribbon on his shirt sleeve for the second-round tie after the All England Club relaxed its strict all-white dress code to allow tributes to the Portugal forward.

Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in northern Spain while traveling to catch a ferry to England ahead of the start of pre-season training.

The accident came just days after Jota’s wedding to Rute Cardoso, with whom he had three children.

Cabral said he was driving to Wimbledon when he heard the news and praised Jota as “an idol, such an icon, such a good person.”

“I know what he’s been through, what he conquered through his career and through his life. So he’s just very inspiring for me,” he said after losing with Austrian partner Lucas Miedler against Czech duo Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl.

“I just wish all the best for his family. I know they have good people around them so I hope they can get through it.”

British doubles player Neal Skupski, a passionate Liverpool fan, had also brought a black armband for his match on Thursday but opted not to wear it.

He suggested he may wear one later in the tournament, saying: “Maybe in the next couple of days.”


Sinner thrashes Vukic to roar into Wimbledon third round

Updated 03 July 2025
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Sinner thrashes Vukic to roar into Wimbledon third round

LONDON: World number one Jannik Sinner demolished Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-1 6-1 6-3 in a Center Court masterclass to move ominously into the third round of Wimbledon on Thursday.
The Italian was streets ahead of the 93rd-ranked Vukic who barely laid a glove on the top seed in the opening two sets before saving some face with a bit of third-set resistance.
Sinner, bidding to win the title for the first time, never loosened his grip on a one-sided contest although he did need six match points to finish off Vukic in a prolonged final game, banging down his 12th ace.
The 23-year-old has yet to drop serve and has conceded only 12 games in the six sets he has played so far and will now train his sights on unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez.


From Grand Slam to grand struggle, Krejcikova lives to fight on

Updated 03 July 2025
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From Grand Slam to grand struggle, Krejcikova lives to fight on

  • There was zero champion’s polish on show as the Czech creaked her way into the third round
  • The pair exchanged errors and breaks of serve throughout

LONDON: Barbora Krejcikova’s Wimbledon defense is still alive — but only just. The Czech squeezed past American Caroline Dolehide 6-4 3-6 6-2 in a second-round tussle that was all grind and no grandeur.
There was zero champion’s polish on show as the Czech creaked her way into the third round, surviving a match as scrappy as a Henman Hill picnic after a seagull raid.
“A huge relief,” she said afterwards to polite applause from the crowd. “Really up and down points, turning one way and the other ... I am so grateful I can keep going.”
Court Two spectators, many blissfully unaware that they were watching the reigning champion, might be forgiven — Krejcikova herself barely looked the part.
A season dogged by back and thigh niggles has left the 29-year-old short of sharpness, and her patchy 4-3 record for the season coming in was on full display in a match strewn with errors.
Spraying foreheads wide of their mark and dumping backhands into the net, nothing suggested a twice Grand Slam champion was holding court.
At times the contest resembled less a Grand Slam match and more a practice session between two very rusty players — Krejcikova produced 39 unforced errors, while Dolehide got fewer than half her first serves in all match.
The pair exchanged errors and breaks of serve throughout — Dolehide trying to power her way into the contest while Krejcikova sought to claw her way to victory on the back of slow, sliced forehands whispering back to a gentler age.
Scarcely can a champion have produced such a lukewarm performance on the Grand Slam stage but it would be fair to say the Czech blows hot and cold on the tennis court.
French Open champion in 2021, she has followed that title run with three first-round defeats and one second round showing at Roland Garros in the years since.
Her form can read like a nursery rhyme. When she’s good, she’s very, very good — Grand Slam good. But when the gears don’t quite catch, when timing slips or confidence wavers, she can unravel just as spectacularly.
As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 19th-century American poet and nursery rhyme writer, had it: when she is good, she is very, very good — but when she is bad, she is horrid.
Still, the 17th seed did just enough to scrape through to gentle applause and a sterner test ahead: 10th seed Emma Navarro, who won’t be quite so generous. (Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)


Normality returns to Wimbledon as Alcaraz and Sabalenka ease through

Updated 02 July 2025
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Normality returns to Wimbledon as Alcaraz and Sabalenka ease through

  • A stream of big names including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev crashed and burned in the oven-like temperatures of the first round
  • Earlier on Center Court, women’s top seed Sabalenka battled to a 7-6(4) 6-4 win against Czech Marie Bouzkova

LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and the end of London’s tropical heatwave ensured a sense of normality returned to the lawns of Wimbledon on Wednesday after two sweat-soaked days of shocks.

A stream of big names including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev crashed and burned in the oven-like temperatures of the first round.

So when Alcaraz walked on Center Court to continue his quest for a third successive title against British qualifier Oliver Tarvet, the thought surely lurked somewhere in his mind that he could be the fall-guy in the tournament’s greatest upset.

The 22-year-old second seed was not at his best but after saving three break points in a nervy opening service game against a college student ranked 733rd in the world, he asserted his authority to win 6-1 6-4 6-4.

Earlier on Center Court, women’s top seed Sabalenka battled to a 7-6(4) 6-4 win against Czech Marie Bouzkova.

“Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament, in both draws, women’s and men’s,” Sabalenka, who is bidding for her first Wimbledon title, said.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to focus on myself.”

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the sixth seed, also made it safely into round three, beating Olga Danilovic 6-4 6-2 while unseeded four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka eased past Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2.

BRITISH CHARGE
Lower temperatures did not mean an end to the surprises entirely though as American world number 12 Frances Tiafoe became the 14th of the 32 men’s seeds to depart, going down 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5 to Cameron Norrie, one of seven British players in second-round singles action on day three.

Sonay Kartal led the home charge by beating Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2 to book her place in the last 32 for the second year in succession.

There was disappointment, though, for Britain’s Katie Boulter who served 14 double faults as she went down 6-7(9) 6-2 6-1 to 101st-ranked Solana Sierra, the Argentine who lost in qualifying but has seized her lucky loser spot with both hands.

Alcaraz, bidding to do the French Open-Wimbledon double for the second successive year, needed five sets to get past Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in the first round and set up an intriguing clash with 21-year-old Tarvet.

Tarvet, who plays on the US collegiate circuit for the University of San Diego, said he believed he could beat anyone, even Alcaraz, after winning his Grand Slam debut match against fellow qualifier Leandro Riedi of Switzerland on Monday.

He was clearly not overawed at sharing a court with a five-times Grand Slam champion and had he taken any of the eight break points he earned in the first set it could have been closer.

Alcaraz proved a step too far though as he moved through the gears when required to keep an eager Tarvet under control.

Just as the Spaniard did in his first round when going to the aid of a female spectator suffering in the heat, Alcaraz again endeared himself to the Center Court crowd.

“First of all I have to give a big congratulations to Oliver, it’s his second match on the tour. I just loved his game to be honest, the level he played,” Alcaraz said.

Play on courts without roofs was delayed for two hours by light morning rain, but once the clouds rolled away the place to be for those without show-court tickets was Court 12 for Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca’s second-round match against American Jenson Brooksby.

The 18-year-old is widely-tipped as a future challenger to the domination of Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and he showed exactly why during a 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-4 win that was celebrated by a large contingent of exuberant Brazilians.


Gauff ousted on day of Wimbledon shocks as Djokovic launches history bid

Updated 02 July 2025
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Gauff ousted on day of Wimbledon shocks as Djokovic launches history bid

  • Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen
  • Men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 with a minimum of fuss

LONDON: Coco Gauff crashed out of Wimbledon on a day of first-round shocks on Tuesday but defending women’s champion Barbora Krejcikova and history-chasing Novak Djokovic are up and running.

US second seed Gauff arrived at the All England Club with high hopes after winning the French Open last month but was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 by Ukranian world No. 42 Dayana Yastremska.

Other high-profile casualties on day two of the grass-court Grand Slam were women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen.

Instead of building on her success on the Paris clay, 21-year-old Gauff suffered her earliest Grand Slam exit since another first-round loss at Wimbledon in 2023.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said she would learn from her experience, suggesting she would like more grass-court tennis in the buildup to Wimbledon in future.

“I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards (following the French Open triumph), so I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it,” said Gauff.

“But it’s the first time in this experience of, like, coming off a win and having to play Wimbledon. I definitely learned a lot of what I would and would not do again.”

Earlier, US Open runner-up Pegula suffered a shock defeat against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, losing 6-2, 6-3 and was followed out of the tournament by Olympic champion Zheng, who went down 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 against unheralded Katerina Siniakova.

Men’s third seed Alexander Zverev also bowed out, beaten in five sets by French world No. 72 Arthur Rinderknech, giving a bleak assessment of his state of mind after the match.

The German, who reached the Australian Open final earlier this year, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2019 after a marathon match that started on Monday evening.

Afterwards he made surprisingly frank comments, saying he was considering therapy to talk through his mental health issues.

“It’s funny, I feel very alone out there at times,” he said. “I struggle mentally. I’ve been saying that since after the Australian Open.”

Seven-time champion Djokovic was kept waiting until the evening to make his return to Center Court as he targets a record 25th Grand Slam, which would take him clear of his tie with long-retired Margaret Court.

The veteran Serb struggled with feelings of discomfort and dropped a set but recovered to beat French world number 41 Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2, 6-2 in the final match on Center Court.

Afterwards he admitted he had found it tough.

“I went from feeling my absolute best for a set and a half to my absolute worst for about 45 minutes,” he said.

“Whether it was a stomach bug, I don’t know what it is.

“I struggled with that but the energy came back after some doctors’ miracle pills and I managed to finish the match on a good note.”

Earlier, Krejcikova, who came to Wimbledon with just six matches under her belt this year, overcame a sluggish start to beat Philippines star Alexandra Eala 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Krejcikova has endured a difficult time since defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final last year.

The 29-year-old was out of action this season until May after suffering a back injury and pulled out of last week’s Eastbourne Open before the quarter-finals with a thigh problem.

“I was in a lot of pain in my back and I didn’t really know how my career was going to go,” she said. “I’m super happy and super excited that I can be here and that I can play on such a great court.”

Men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner brushed aside fellow Italian Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 with a minimum of fuss.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek swatted aside Russia’s Polina Kudermetova 7-5, 6-1.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost in straight sets in an emotional farewell appearance against US 10th seed Emma Navarro.

There were also wins for men’s fourth seed Jack Draper and fifth seed Taylor Fritz.