Tennis: Djokovic shines at 'holy grail' Wimbledon as Gauff, Venus crash

LONDON -- Novak Djokovic launched his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title on Monday with a 40th successive win on Centre Court while American stars Coco Gauff and Venus Williams were knocked out.

The 36-year-old Djokovic, who has won the past four titles at the All England Club, defeated 68th-ranked Pedro Cachin of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) on the tournament's showpiece court, where he has not lost since 2013.

Djokovic even found time to help ground staff dry out the world's most famous lawn after the surface became too slippery following a downpour.

The roof was closed but play did not resume for about 90 minutes, much to the frustration of the fans.

"When I come out, I usually come out with racquets, not towels," said Djokovic, who described the court as "the holy grail, the temple of tennis".

He added: "The conditions were not great under the roof, it was still slippery. I think it was definitely frustrating for the crowd waiting for us."

- Grand Slam -

The Serbian, bidding to match Roger Federer's men's record of eight Wimbledon titles, goes on to face Australia's Jordan Thompson for a place in the third round.

World number two Djokovic has already pocketed the Australian Open and French Open this year.

Winning a men's-record 23rd major in Paris put him just one behind Margaret Court's all-time singles mark of 24.

He is also half way to pulling off the first calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.

In the day's biggest shock, seventh-ranked Gauff slumped to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 defeat to fellow American Sofia Kenin, who came through qualifyng.

Kenin, now ranked 128th in the world, was Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up in 2020 before injury and loss of form saw her career slip into a downward spiral.

"This means a lot -- I had to go through qualies (qualification)," she said. "I battled out there. I am super proud of myself.

An emotional Gauff admitted she "had a lot to work on".

There was no fairytale for five-time champion Venus Williams, the 43-year-old American who made her debut at the tournament in 1997.

Williams, playing the singles event for the 24th time, was defeated 6-4, 6-3 by fellow wild card Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, a semi-finalist in 2019.

Williams took a nasty tumble early in the first set on Centre Court, hurting her right knee, which was already heavily strapped.

She required two visits by the trainer before her challenge fizzled out under the weight of 33 unforced errors.

- 'Killed by the grass' -

"I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass," said Williams.

Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia was the first men's winner of the day, beating Australia's Max Purcell 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Twelve months ago, all Russian and Belarusian players were banned by Wimbledon in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

"I think obviously there were better options -- not just to ban," said Rublev, who next faces compatriot Aslan Karatsev.

"Because in the end, there was no difference. They did only worse to themselves."

Fellow Russians Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova, as well as two-time major winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, were also first day winners.

World number one Iga Swiatek racked up the first five games on her way to sweeping past China's Zhu Lin.

Reigning US Open and French Open champion Swiatek came through 6-1, 6-3 against her 34th-ranked opponent.

"I feel confident and did a good job of adjusting to grass," said the 22-year-old Pole, who has yet to get past the last 16 at Wimbledon.

- Security tight -

Also making the next round were men's fourth seed Casper Ruud and eighth-seeded Jannik Sinner.

This year's tournament is being played under tightened security over fears that climate activists could disrupt matches following high-profile protests at other sporting events.

Three protesters from Just Stop Oil ran onto the ground during the second Ashes Test at Lord's last week, sprinkling the group's trademark orange powder.

"Of course we've taken account of what we've seen elsewhere so security has been uplifted in various places around the grounds," said All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton.

The extra security measures dampened the spirits of cold and wet fans lining up in Wimbledon's famous queue.

One fan tweeted he had been waiting for five hours, blasting the delay as "shambolic".

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Andreeva through in Madrid Open on 16th birthday, Gauff crashes

MADRID, Spain -- Mirra Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday by continuing her sensational run in the Madrid Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magda Linette to reach the fourth round on Saturday.

World number six Coco Gauff, however, suffered a surprise third round defeat at the hands of Spaniard Paula Badosa, losing 6-3, 6-0.

Russian teenager Andreeva, ranked at a lowly 194, and who ousted 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and world number 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier in the tournament, will face world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the last 16.

Andreeva broke Polish player Linette, world number 19, for 2-0 in the first set, and although the 17th seed broke back, the Russian did it again for a 4-2 lead and served it out.

The youngster broke again in the first game of the second set and converted her second match point to break Linette again and clinch victory.

Andreeva, a wildcard, became only the third 15-year-old to win a WTA 1000 main draw match when she beat Fernandez on Wednesday.

She finished as runner-up at the junior Australian Open in January, while her next opponent Sabalenka won the women's title for her breakthrough Grand Slam.

The Belarusian beat resilient wildcard Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5 earlier Saturday.

"It was another tough battle, I expected it, it was a really great win, I'm really happy with the tennis today and this win," said Sabalenka.

Gauff, one of the two players who achieved the same feat as Andreeva at 15, was erratic in her defeat by Spanish number one Badosa.

The 19-year-old American, who was runner-up at the French Open last year, broke Badosa in the first game, but the Spaniard battled back immediately to get back on serve, before breaking Gauff again for a 3-2 lead.

Gauff's forehand betrayed her as Badosa broke to love to win the first set 6-3.

The second was a rout with Badosa winning 75 percent of points.

"I think I served very well, I was playing very aggressively from the baseline, tactically I think I played perfectly and I'm very happy to beat a player like Coco," said Badosa.

"I'm working very hard and it's moments like these which make it worth it."

Badosa will face world number nine Maria Sakkari or compatriot Rebeka Masarova in the fourth round.

- Medvedev through -

World number three Daniil Medvedev saw off Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the men's competition.

Vavassori battled his way past Andy Murray in the first round but could not oust another former world number one in the Spanish capital.

The Italian, ranked 164th, held his own against the second seed but eventually succumbed, even though his serve and volley game troubled Medvedev.

"I think I played a very good match, solid, and saved some break points," said Medvedev after his first match at the tournament.

"I managed to use my opportunities, I felt good and I'm looking forward to my next matches."

Dusan Lajovic earned a surprise win over world number nine Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).

The Serbian stunned 22-time Grand Slam winner and world number one Novak Djokovic on the way to winning the Banja Luka title last week, as well as beating world number six Andrey Rublev in the final.

"Today in the match I really felt like I was going in to show my game," said Lajovic, ranked 40th.

"I knew I would have chances if I played my best tennis. It's really a good feeling to have this much confidence, but I need to be also very careful because it is so easy to lose confidence, especially in tennis."

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Osaka rallies to oust Gauff while Barty advances at Cincinnati

CINCINNATI -- Japan's Naomi Osaka battled back to take a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over American Coco Gauff on Wednesday and advance into the third round of the WTA Cincinnati Masters.

Top seed Ashleigh Barty moved on as well, bouncing back from a Tokyo Olympic first-round loss to start her pre-US Open campaign with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) win over Britain's Heather Watson.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka is playing her first event since the Games, where she went out in the third round.

Gauff had won the pair's most recent prior match in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open after losing a year earlier at the US Open.

Osaka said the early stage of the match saw her trying various things in her first match outside Tokyo since Roland Garros.

"The first set was an experiment," Osaka said. "I was trying to see what was going on as I've not played that many matches.

"I was just examining here and trying to stay calm, trying to keep a level head."

Osaka said victory "means a lot to me, especially coming off Tokyo. She's not my favorite to play. It's very straining mentally.

"But this is a win I can definitely congratulate myself for."

Before the Olympics, Osaka last played at Roland Garros after announcing she would reserve the right to avoid mandatory post-match media conferences, which she said damaged her mental health.

That vow lasted through a first-round stadium interview before she withdrew, going on to also skip Wimbledon.

The issue flared again this week in her first news conference, with a straightforward query causing her to burst into tears before composing herself and getting through the session.

On Wednesday, she was calm and composed in her responses to reporters.

"I was wondering why was I so affected, I guess, like what made me not want to do media in the first place," Osaka said.

"I'm wondering if I was scared because sometimes I would see headlines of like players losing and then the headline the next day would be like a collapse or they're not that great anymore."

Osaka will next play Jil Teichmann after the Swiss put out American Bernarda Pera 6-1, 6-4.

Barty will next face two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.

"I feel good. I feel like I'm ready to play," Barty said. "I'm as close to 100% as I'm ever going to get.

"I feel comfortable and ready and excited to be playing here in Cincinnati and knowing that we're moving on to New York, one of the best tournaments and one of the best atmospheres in the world, that brings excitement."

Angelique Kerber defeated Elina Svitolina 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 while former US Open winner Bianca Andreescu of Canada lost to Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

Azarenka defeated Alison Riske 6-2, 7-5 while fellow former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Jelena Ostapenko both won.

Kvitova stopped Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-4 while Ostapenko advanced 6-7 (2/7), 5-4 when American Jennifer Brady retired.

Agence France-Presse

15-year-old American Coco Gauff gets US Open wild-card entry

Coco Gauff will get a chance to try for an encore: The 15-year-old from Florida received a wild-card entry Tuesday for the U.S. Open’s main draw.

It will be Gauff’s second Grand Slam tournament. She made a magical run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month after getting a wild card into the qualifying rounds there.


Ranked just 313th at the time, Gauff became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon, upset five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round and wound up losing at the All England Club to eventual title winner Simona Halep.

Gauff is currently No. 140 in the WTA rankings.

Age restrictions set up by the women’s professional tour limit the number of tournaments someone who is 15 can enter and the number of wild-card invitations she can be offered — and Gauff already has accepted three wild cards elsewhere. But according to the WTA, the U.S. Open — which, as a Grand Slam tournament, is not overseen by the WTA or ATP tours — essentially can choose to ignore the eligibility rule and offer Gauff a wild card.

Among the other players receiving wild cards from the U.S. Tennis Association on Tuesday for the women’s field at Flushing Meadows were 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur — an Australian who was granted that country’s reciprocal berth in the field — and 17-year-old Caty McNally, an American who won the doubles title with Gauff and reached the singles semifinals at the Citi Open in Washington this month.


The draw for the U.S. Open is Aug. 22, and play in the year’s last major tennis tournament begins Aug. 26.

Other women’s wild cards went to Francesca Di Lorenzo, Whitney Osuigwe, Kristie Ahn and Katie Volynets of the U.S., along with 16-year-old Diane Parry of France, who got her country’s reciprocal invitation.

Di Lorenzo, a 22-year-old from Ohio, is a past NCAA doubles champion now ranked 128th. Osuigwe, a 17-year-old from Florida, won a French Open junior title and is ranked 105th. Ahn, a 27-year-old from New Jersey, finished first in the USTA’s wild-card challenge, while Volynets, a 17-year-old from California, won the 18s national championship.

Nine wild cards for qualifying were also awarded, including to five-time Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 14-year-old Reese Brantmeier of Wisconsin, Vicky Duval, Shelby Rogers and Pan Am Games medalist Caroline Dolehide.

source: sports.inquirer.net