Kyle Edmund: Can the British No1 make it to the ATP Finals in London next month? October 10, 2018 Kyle Edmund may have lost last weekend in the semi-finals of the China Open, with eventual winner Nikoloz Basilashvili denying him the opportunity to win a maiden ATP title, but an even greater prize still remains well within his reach this year. The British No1, who has risen from 50 to a career-high 14 in [...]
ATP World Tour’s exciting final few months is defined by withdrawals as race to world No1 is ruined by injuries October 2, 2018 When Novak Djokovic held the US Open trophy aloft last month, his return to the elite level of tennis was resoundingly complete. Alongside confirming his legacy as one of the greats with back-to-back grand slam titles, Djokovic also reignited the race for the world No1 ranking. The Serbian is currently ranked third, and has 6,445 [...]
Is it time tennis allowed on-court coaching? September 23, 2018 Serena Williams’s now-infamous exchange with umpire Carlos Ramos during her US Open final defeat to Naomi Osaka earlier this month provoked extensive debate across the media landscape about sexism, gender roles and perceived double standards in sports officiating. It also revived debate over the issue of in-game coaching. Williams was penalised for three code [...]
Amazon Prime’s US Open coverage represents a missed opportunity for streaming September 9, 2018 When Amazon purchased the UK television rights for the US Open earlier this year in a £30m five-year deal, the acquisition seemed like the next stage of streaming giants acting as great disruptors to the established media order. Potentially, Amazon could shape live sports broadcasting in ways that we can't yet imagine, much in the [...]
Wimbledon 2018: What Roger Federer’s $300m Uniqlo deal tells us about the state of tennis sponsorship July 8, 2018 On the eve of Wimbledon, men’s tennis news was again dominated by the same old names: Andy Murray’s late withdrawal, Novak Djokovic’s re-built serving action, Rafael Nadal’s lack of grass-court preparation and, of course, Roger Federer’s bumper new kit deal with Japanese brand Uniqlo. This is no surprise to the casual fan, for the Big [...]
Wimbledon 2018: Zverev, Dimitrov, Del Potro, Kyrgios, Cilic – Can anybody challenge Federer and Nadal? July 1, 2018 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a stranglehold on men’s tennis. It’s not the first time the two greats of the game have combined to monopolise the grand slams, but with those two legends aged 36 and 32 respectively some might have expected their superpowers to be on the wane. They’re not. Federer and Nadal [...]
French Open prize money 2018: How much do players get paid for winning at Roland Garros? June 9, 2018 More prize money is up for grabs than ever before at this year’s French Open but it remains the least lucrative of the four Grand Slams for players to win. The winners of the men’s and women’s singles finals this weekend will both take home a tournament record €2.2m (£1.9m/$3.1m) for triumphing on the clay [...]
Rafael Nadal confirms intention to join Andy Murray at Queen’s Club Championships February 6, 2018 World No1 Rafael Nadal has joined recuperating Andy Murray in targeting The Queen’s Club Championships to kickstart his grass court season after confirming his intention to contest this year’s tournament. Murray, who has won a record five titles at the West Kensington club, has intimated that he hopes to make a return to the court [...]
More than 70 MPs write open letter to BBC director general accusing the broadcaster of bias in its Brexit coverage March 21, 2017 A group of more than 70 MPs have published a letter to BBC director general Tony Hall attacking the broadcaster's Brexit coverage and warning that it could "undermine our efforts to carve out a new, global role for this country". "It particularly pains us to see how so much of the good economic news we've has [...]
Great Britain backed to overcome Romania in nightmare Fed Cup play-off draw February 14, 2017 Captain Anne Keothavong insists she is optimistic that Great Britain can end their 25-year exile from the Fed Cup’s second tier despite being handed a nightmare draw for the World Group II play-offs. Great Britain have been dealt a trip to Romania, whose line-up includes world No4 Simona Halep and is one of the strongest [...]