Australian Open 2016: Andy Murray’s joy – and surprise – as he and Johanna Konta make history in Melbourne January 27, 2016 World No2 Andy Murray toasted a landmark day for British tennis after he and Johanna Konta ended the country’s 39-year wait to have both men’s and women’s semi-finalists at the same grand slam. Konta penned the latest chapter of her fairytale run at the Australian Open by defeating Chinese wildcard Shuai Zhang 6-4, 6-1 to [...]
Australian Open 2016: Novak Djokovic ready for latest instalment of titanic rivalry with Roger Federer after they join women’s champion Serena Williams in sweeping into the last four January 26, 2016 Defending champion Novak Djokovic is braced for another epic tussle with former world No1 Roger Federer after both men swept into the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Tuesday. Djokovic put an error-strewn fourth-round match behind him with a ruthless display against Kei Nishikori, beating the Japanese seventh seed 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Federer was almost [...]
Australian Open 2016: Johanna Konta becomes first Briton to reach a grand slam quarter-final for 32 years January 25, 2016 Rising star Johanna Konta insists she is no overnight success after becoming the first British woman for 32 years to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament. Konta, 24, continued her giddy ascent yesterday by beating No21 seed Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 in a titanic fourth-round slug-fest – the biggest win of her [...]
Australian Open 2016: Johanna Konta aiming to become Britain’s first woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final since Jo Durie in 1984 January 24, 2016 British No1 Johanna Konta could become the first woman from these shores to reach a grand slam quarter-final for 32 years when she meets Ekaterina Makarova at the Australian Open on Monday. Konta has already beaten former world No1 Venus Williams in Melbourne this month, one of the most recent highlights of the 24-year-old’s extraordinary [...]
Australian Open 2016: Andy Murray warned by Bernard Tomic to expect a fight from fourth round match January 24, 2016 No2 seed Andy Murray has been warned to expect a fight for a place in the Australian Open quarter-finals by his fourth round opponent, home crowd hope and scourge of the tennis establishment Bernard Tomic. World No17 Tomic, who was arrested for partying in Miami last year and axed from his Davis Cup team for [...]
Nigel Sears: Andy Murray’s father-in-law rushed to hospital after collapsing during Ana Ivanovic v Madison Keys January 23, 2016 The Australian Open third round match between Ana Ivanovic and Madison Keys was suspended on Saturday night after Andy Murray's father-in-law Nigel Sears collapsed in the stands. Sears, who coaches Ivanovic, was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after receiving urgent medical attention at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Serbian Ivanovic won the first [...]
Tennis match-fixing: Why sport authorities should outsource governance and regulatory work to independent bodies to avoid corruption scandals January 20, 2016 Unless governance rules within sports are drastically changed or all regulatory functions are outsourced to an independent body to oversee all sports, the current accusations of corruption engulfing tennis and athletics will continue to occur. Recent claims of suspicions of match-fixing in tennis being ignored by the sport’s authorities may well come to nothing, unlike [...]
British No1 Johanna Konta slays Venus Williams but admits to doubting her ability to giant kill at Australian Open January 19, 2016 British No1 Johanna Konta admitted that she initially doubted her ability to beat eighth seed Venus Williams after outclassing the seven-time grand slam champion in the Australian Open first round yesterday. Konta, who reached the fourth round of last year’s US Open, blitzed out-of-sorts former Wimbledon winner Williams 6-4, 6-2 in just 79 minutes, and [...]
Tennis match-fixing: Andy Murray calls for greater transparency and protection of young players January 19, 2016 Andy Murray has argued for greater transparency across all sports in response to the match-fixing allegations that have overshadowed the early stages of the Australian Open. The world No2 was responding to claims made in a BuzzFeed News and BBC investigation that players in the top 50 have been reported to tennis authorities on suspicion [...]
Roger Federer calls for suspected tennis fixers to be named as Novak Djokovic explains how we was offered six-figure sum to throw a match January 18, 2016 Former world No1 Roger Federer has called for suspected cheats to be named and shamed following allegations that a number of leading tennis stars may have fixed matches. Federer, speaking after his first-round win over Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili at the Australian Open on Monday, addressed claims that 16 players to have been ranked in the world’s [...]