Johanna Konta reaches French Open final four in style with remodelled clay game June 4, 2019 Sloane Stephens said that her two defeats to Johanna Konta earlier this year were “out of mind” ahead of their quarter-final clash at Roland Garros today. But as Konta raced to a 6-1, 6-4 win in just one hour 11 minutes, it appeared as though they were anything but. This is the first year that [...]
Hong Kong Horse Racing Tips: Smart Rocket can show his speed for Moore and Moreira May 28, 2019 FORMER champion jockey Joao Moreira has been living in the shadows of Zac Purton recently. However, it didn’t stop the Brazilian providing another masterclass of jockeyship at Sha Tin last Sunday when booting home four winners, including two by the narrowest of margins. The ‘Magic Man’ is now on a roll with 69 winners, including [...]
Johanna Konta’s long-awaited first French Open win is British No1’s latest cause for optimism May 27, 2019 It took seven visits to Roland Garros but, finally, Johanna Konta is into the second round of the French Open and entitled to feel cautiously optimistic that her campaign in Paris will not end there. The British No1 – beaten in the first round for the last four years and defeated in qualifying in both [...]
Men’s tennis at a crossroads: The ousting of ATP president Chris Kermode has left the sport in a period of flux March 20, 2019 On the face of things, men’s tennis seems much the same as it always has been. The same players are dominating the grand slams. The same youngsters trying to break through. The same tournaments being contested in the same order as always. But turn your attention away from the courts and the men’s game is [...]
Monica Seles: “I really don’t care about my legacy. I care about the present and being a good person.” March 11, 2019 “I really don’t reflect. I kind of stay in the moment,” says Monica Seles. It seems a remarkable sentiment for someone with such a glorious career to look back on, but then the past is a complicated place for the 45-year-old Tennis Hall of Famer. Even in sport’s vivid canon, few stories can touch that [...]
Kyle Edmund, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans all on the up and proving there’s life beyond Andy Murray March 3, 2019 For so long the success of Andy Murray was all consuming in British men’s tennis. At his peak the three-time Major winner battled, and prevailed, against some of the sport’s all-time greats. He attracted millions of fans and dominated headlines through his performances and personality. But injury has struck down the Scot, leaving him on [...]
Is Stefanos Tsitsipas’s progress at the Australian Open a sign of a changing of the guard in men’s tennis? January 22, 2019 Men’s tennis has a habit of proclaiming a new era, and the events at the Australian Open over the last week have once again pushed the sport’s favourite topic into the spotlight. Stefanos Tsitsipas’s defeat of Roger Federer on Sunday and his subsequent progression to the semi-finals, where he’ll face another all-time great in Rafael [...]
Is this the end? Andy Murray’s emotional Australian Open defeat by Roberto Bautista Agut leaves tennis fans in limbo January 14, 2019 “If today was my last match, it was a brilliant way to finish.” That was how Andy Murray summed up an epic, gutsy and emotional contest with Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open which left tennis fans in an enthralled yet slightly confused state. In the end Murray lost the five-set, first-round contest 6-4, [...]
Andy Murray’s greatest hits: From ending Britain’s Wimbledon drought to championing equality and becoming a mentor January 11, 2019 As the lights on Sir Andy Murray's tennis career begin to flicker, the difficulty that Britain's next generation of tennis stars face to fill his shoes is more than apparent. It will surprise few who follow tennis that Murray has announced his intention to retire this year, but the press conference in which he declared [...]
With the Australian Open set to begin, has the Big Four’s era of dominance already ended? January 9, 2019 As the first grand slam event on the tennis calendar, the Australian Open is traditionally a time of new beginnings, although this year there is an inescapable sense of something ending too. Should they all make it to the start line, there is a distinct possibility that this will be the last time the Big [...]