29 C Tennis / The New Indian Express
ROME: Rafael Nadal said Saturday that he is leaning towards playing at the upcoming French Open despite being eliminated 6-1 6-3 in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome by Poland's Hubert Hurkacz. Clay-court icon Nadal had previously said that he would only play at the French Open, where he has won a record 14 titles, if he feels competitive after a raft of injury problems over the last two years which have left him languishing 305th in the world rankings. And the manner of his eliminati
LONDON: Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem plans to retire at the end of the year after struggling to return to his top form following a wrist injury. I am going to finish my career with the end of this season, Thiem said Friday in a video posted on Instagram, calling it a very sad but also very beautiful message. The 30-year-old Austrian player won his only Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2020. His five-set victory over Alexander Zverev made Thiem the first man to overcome a two-set
LONDON: Two more low-ranking tennis players linked to a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium have been banned from the sport, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Friday. Alejandro Crespo, a 34-year-old Bolivian, was banned for life and fined $250,000 for his continuous pattern of corruption. Jorge Panta Herreros, a 28-year-old Peruvian, was suspended for three years and fined $10,000 after he was involved in fixing the result of two matches. Crespo reached a ranking of 741 in 2016, while
ROME: Naomi Osaka looked comfortable in her opening match at the Italian Open, beating 45th-ranked Clara Burel 7-6 (2), 6-1 on Wednesday. It was Osakas first victory over a top-50 player on clay since defeating Victoria Azarenka at the 2019 French Open. Osaka was proud of the way she maintained her mental focus after dropping her serve while serving for the first set at 5-3. Just being able to hang in there and eventually close it on my terms is something that Im very proud of myself for, she sa