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 [...]
Great Britain urged to maintain Fed Cup promotion bandwagon after thrashing Latvia February 9, 2017 Great Britain captain Anne Keothavong has urged her side to keep the promotion bandwagon rolling after maintaining their bid to escape the anonymity of the Fed Cup third tier with victory over Latvia. World No10 Johanna Konta and Heather Watson led the British charge in their latest Europe-Africa Zone I clash in Tallinn against lower-ranked [...]
Fed Cup captain Anne Keothavong enjoys winning start as Great Britain whitewash Portugal 3-0 in Estonia February 8, 2017 British No1 Johanna Konta praised the leadership of new captain Anne Keothavong after Great Britain made the perfect start to a gruelling week of Fed Cup competition on Wednesday. Konta’s defeat of Michelle Larcher de Brito and further wins for Heather Watson and the doubles pair of Laura Robson and Jocelyn Rae earned the team [...]