That might seem an odd thing to say, given that it is barely three weeks since the 37-year-old Serbian underwent knee surgery. Yet it is hard to conclude otherwise after Djokovic avoided both Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, and Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, in Friday’s draw.

Despite his nail-biting defeat to Alcaraz in last year’s final, it is hard to dispute Djokovic’s status as the world’s best grass-court player. He has won seven Wimbledon titles. He has made the past five finals. Last summer’s loss was his first on Centre Court in a decade. And while history has shown that he needs little help once he enters the gates of the All England Club, help is precisely what he has received in the form of a draw that should afford him an opportunity to play his way into the tournament. 

Djokovic will open his campaign on Tuesday against Vit Kopriva, a 27-year-old Czech qualifier ranked 123 in the world. Should he negotiate that hurdle, he would then face either Spain’s Alejandro Moro Canas, a qualifier ranked 189th who is making his grand slam debut, or Jacob Fearnley, a British wild card riding a career-high ranking of 271. 

No player at this level can be underestimated, but it is a far cry from the challenges potentially awaiting Sinner. If the 22-year-old Italian wins his opener against Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, he could face fellow countryman Matteo Berrettini, a player whose grass-court pedigree speaks for itself, in the second round. A finalist in SW19 three summers ago and winner of four grass-court titles, Berrettini has spent much of this season working his way back from injury, but has quickly found form with grass underfoot, reaching a third Stuttgart Open final earlier this month. 

If Berrettini’s thunderclap serve, heavy forehand and skidding sliced backhand could pose early problems for Sinner, the same goes for Ben Shelton, the American world No 14, whom he will meet in round three if the seedings hold. Shelton has endured an underwhelming build-up to Wimbledon, losing three of his four warm-up matches, but his power and athleticism demand serious attention. The 21-year-old, who opens against fellow lefty Mattia Bellucci, an Italian qualifier, is surely a grass-court specialist in waiting.

While Sinner could face a battle to reach the second week, it is hard to imagine Djokovic being forced too far from his comfort zone before the last 16, where he is slated to face Holger Rune, the Danish 15th seed. Despite some indifferent form this year, most recently an early exit at Queen’s to Jordan Thompson, Rune has shown he can play on grass. He was a quarter-finalist last year, and has won two of his five meetings with Djokovic. Even so, it would be a surprise not to see the Serb in the quarter-finals, where he is expected to meet Hubert Hurkacz, the big-serving Pole who reached the semi-finals three years ago.

What of Alcaraz in all this? Winner of two of the past four majors, following his maiden French Open victoryearlier this month, the 21-year-old Spaniard opens against Mark Lajal, an Estonian qualifier ranked 262 in the world, and looks well placed to emerge from a quarter in which Tommy Paul, the 12th seed, may emerge as the chief early threat to his title defence. Paul, who meets Spain’s Pedro Martínez in the opening round, defeated Alcaraz in Toronto last summer and won at Queen’s Club last week – where Alcaraz, the defending champion, was beaten by Britain’s Jack Draper. That defeat meant Alcaraz slipped down a place to third in the rankings, scotching the prospect of a first grand slam final between the two brightest young stars in the game.

While all eyes will be on the top half of the draw, and the possibility of a 10th instalment in the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry – the Spaniard, who claimed a five-set victory in the French Open semi-finals earlier this month, leads the series by five wins to four – the seedings suggest Djokovic will meet Alexander Zverev for a place in the final. Whether that contest will materialise is another matter. While the fourth-seeded German arrives fresh from reaching the second major final of his career at Roland Garros, he has never won a grass-court title and has yet to advance beyond the fourth round at the All England Club.

Should Zverev’s traditional vulnerability at Wimbledon open the door for a surprise semi-finalist to emerge from the third quarter, Draper, seeded 28th and up against Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer in the opening round, may like his chances. Likewise Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed, who was a quarter-finalist two years ago. But Taylor Fritz, who also reached the last eight in 2022, losing an epic five-setter to Rafael Nadal, will be eager to make amends for the frustrations of last summer, when he ran out of steam against Mikael Ymer in round two after surviving a rain-delayed, three-day opener against Hanfmann. Fritz, seeded 13th, starts against Australia’s Christopher O’Connell. 

Two-time champion Andy Murray, who will be playing at Wimbledon for the final time, has said he will wait until the last minute before deciding on whether to take to the court for his opening match. Drawn against Tomas Machac, the big-hitting Czech against whom he ruptured ankle ligaments three months ago in Miami, Murray is striving to recover fitness after undergoing surgery on his back last weekend. 

Murray’s predicament is one with which Djokovic will no doubt sympathise. A repeat of last year’s final against Alcaraz, or a renewal of acquaintances with Sinner, who dethroned him at the Australian Open in January, may come too soon for the Serb after his own recent injury travails, but he has given himself an opportunity to compete, and for now that is all he will care about.

“It’s been an intense three weeks after surgery, spending a lot of hours rehabbing,” said Djokovic. “I kind of always wanted to give myself a chance to be in London. I think my surgeon is here. He’s the MVP for sure the last three weeks. I’m trying to take it day by day and see how far it goes.”

The post Wimbledon draw falls kindly for Novak Djokovic appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alexander Zverev in five fitful, fretful sets on Sunday to win the French Open for the first time, conquering the Parisian clay just as he conquered the manicured lawns of Wimbledon last summer and the concrete jungle of Flushing Meadows in 2022. 

The 21-year-old becomes the youngest man to win grand slam titles on all three surfaces, overtaking his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who was a year older than Alcaraz when he completed his own set of multi-surface slams at the 2009 Australian Open.

Yet it was joining the pantheon of great Spanish champions in Paris that afforded Alcaraz the greatest satisfaction. Heading that elite coterie, of course, is Nadal, the record 14-time champion, but the Spanish tradition also includes Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, as well as Carlos Moyà and Albert Costa, to name only the most recent winners. Following his semi-final win over Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz namechecked them all, recalling how he used to run home from school to watch Roland Garros on TV as a child. Now he too is part of Spanish tennis folklore.

“Winning your first in every grand slam is always super special,” said Alcaraz after his 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory. “But in Roland Garros, knowing all the Spanish players who have won this tournament and being able to put my name on that massive list is something unbelievable. I dreamed about being in this position since I started playing tennis, since I was five, six years old, so it’s a great feeling.”

With Alcaraz, “feeling” is always a loaded term, and the rhythms of this final were largely dictated by the Murcian’s ability – and, for long stretches, his inability – to express his virtuosity; to find good feel on his shots, and good feelings in his mind. 

The occasion weighed heavily on both men initially, the prevailing mood made manifest by an error-strewn exchange of breaks and a frustrated early gesture from Alcaraz, who appeared troubled by the lofty trajectory of the 6ft 6in Zverev’s serve. Tricky at the best of times, the German’s thunderous delivery was made even more so by a swirling wind that, for much of the afternoon, had the flagpoles above Court Philippe Chatrier rattling on overtime. On more than one occasion, both players shanked balls into the crowd. 

Yet even in that challenging opening phase, Alcaraz showed flashes of magic, feathering drop shots and angling away volleys, and in the fifth game he secured another breakthrough, one that owed more to his own range and intelligence than any anxiety on Zverev’s part. Slowing the tempo with one-handed slices, using looped, spinny groundstrokes to disturb the German’s timing, and ripping forehands when they were least expected, Alcaraz utilised changes of pace and height to claim a love break. It was a passage that established a useful tactical template for the third seed. 

For now, though, there was no further need for such measures; suddenly Alcaraz was on a tear. He claimed a third break with an acutely angled forehand winner to seal the set, which Zverev ended with a success rate of just 48% behind his first serve and 38% on the second. They were desperate numbers for the German, and when Alcaraz survived a testing opening service game at the start of the second set, fending off three break points after leading 40-0, you half wondered if Zverev had missed an opportunity that would not come again. For all his difficulties, the 27-year-old had actually been striking the ball sweetly up to that point. Yet becoming embroiled in a shot-making contest with Alcaraz is rarely a recipe for success. Zverev’s growing frustration was evident in the beseeching looks he cast up towards his support team.

But then came a sea change. 

With Alcaraz serving at 2-2, a sequence of errors culminated with a mighty mishit from the Spaniard and a break for Zverev. Two games later, a double fault cost him another. Now it was Zverev racing through the gears – incisive at the net, discovering fresh potency off the ground, his serve wide to the deuce court, struck with lethal accuracy throughout, all but unplayable. He would finish the set with just four unforced errors. 

With the match level and Alcaraz labouring to stay on serve in the early stages of the third, it seemed possible it might be Zverev’s day after all. It invariably has been of late. He arrived in his second grand slam final unbeaten in a month and riding a 12-match winning streak that began in Rome, where he won his first Masters title in almost three years. In Paris, he had met every challenge head on, defeating Nadal in the opening round, surviving back-to-back five-setters against Tallon Griekspoor and Holger Rune, and denying an (admittedly ailing) Casper Ruud a third consecutive title shot. At 19 hours and 27 minutes, Zverev’s path to the final was the longest since records began in 1991.

Nor was that all. 

On Friday morning at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin, Zverev reached an out-of-court settlement with his former girlfriend Brenda Patea, the mother of his child, over domestic abuse allegations that he has consistently and unequivocally denied. Under the terms of the settlement, he was obliged to pay €200,000 (£170,000), with €50,000 going to the state and the remainder to non-profit organisations. 

Crucially, the case was discontinued rather than determined, with no decision made about guilt or innocence. By Friday evening, however, Zverev was declaring that it was time to move on. He certainly appeared to have done. “I never, ever want to hear another question about the subject again,” he told the press corps. On and off the court, Zverev clearly felt he had his ducks in a row, whatever the wider public view.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, appeared to have no such clarity. His third-set performance flattered only to deceive. Having lost 14 straight points against serve, he unexpectedly broke to love and went on to establish a 5-2 lead, his game flowing freely once more. But then he stalled as abruptly as he had surged, losing five games in a row to fall two sets to one down. By the end of the third set, the Spaniard was in uncharacteristically testy mood, complaining vociferously about the state of the court. 

“Do you think that’s normal?” Alcaraz demanded of the chair umpire, Renaud Lichtenstein. “Playing in the final of a grand slam? On a clay court, and it seems like a hard court? It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable.”

Novak Djokovic voiced similar complaints in his last-16 win over Francisco Cerúndolo, where he fell and suffered a knee injury that required surgery, and from courtside a patch of limestone was clearly visible through the clay. Even so, such outbursts are vanishingly rare where Alcaraz is concerned. His disgruntlement offered a reflection of his inability to summon his muse more consistently. 

As his achievements suggest, however, the Spaniard is more than just a gifted shot-maker. Alcaraz understands his game, and he believes in its virtues. He arrived in Paris lightly cooked after struggling with a forearm injury that allowed him to play just one warm-up tournament on clay, and once again sported the protective sleeve on his arm that he has worn throughout the fortnight. Yet he always had confidence that his game would be there when he needed it. So it was. He would drop just three more games. 

“I consider myself a player who doesn’t need too many matches to get [up to] 100%,” said Alcaraz. “I had a really good week here in Paris, practising with good players. I felt really well, playing sets, moving, hitting my shots before the tournament began. Obviously, every match that I’ve played, I was getting better and better.

“I believed in myself in every round of every day, and to the last ball of today’s match.”

That perseverance was clear when Alcaraz took a medical timeout at 4-1 in the fourth set to receive treatment on his left leg. Briefly, the mind wandered back to last year’s semi-final against Novak Djokovic, when his challenge was fatally undermined by cramp. But Alcaraz is a different player now, firmer of both mind and body. He rose from his chair to break, and minutes later served out the set to force a decider.

There was to be one more twist. Having suffered an early break in the fifth set, Zverev was dismayed by an overrule from the umpire after Alcaraz, facing the second of four break points, had a second serve called out. A Hawk-Eye graphic shown on TV suggested the German may have had a point, but the technology is not currently used on clay. 

 “I heard that at 2-1 the second serve was out from the Hawk-Eye data,” said Zverev, who had won 10 of his previous 11 deciding sets at Roland Garros. “If I break back there, I have break chances in the next service game, a fifth set can go the other way. But it is what it is. He played fantastic, he played better than me in the fourth and fifth sets.”

That much was undeniable. As destiny beckoned, Alcaraz showed absolute conviction. It was a matter of instinct; of feel and of feelings; of qualities that are hard to coach. 

“Sometimes I do whatever [my team] tell me, and sometimes it depends on my feelings in the moment,” said Alcaraz, who has lost just once in 13 matches after being taken to a fifth set. “But I’m trying in that moment just to be aggressive, just to go for it, playing my style, go to the net, hitting drop shots, hitting big shots. Because if I lose it, if I miss it, my feelings are really good. 

“It doesn’t matter if I lose, it doesn’t matter if I miss it, because when I go for it, the feelings are much better than if I go defensive and lose it anyway.”

On Sunday night, Alcaraz’s feelings were the best. 

The post Carlos Alcaraz beats Alexander Zverev to win French Open appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

This time, Alcaraz was ready to suffer, ready to grasp the opportunity that eluded him last summer. With his 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory, he did exactly that, becoming the youngest man in history to reach grand slam finals on each of the game’s three surfaces, after winning the US Open on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows in 2022 and prevailing on the grass of Wimbledon’s Centre Court last summer. 

It is an impressive achievement, but not one on which he intends to dwell. Not with a final to play on Sunday against Alexander Zverev, who later defeated an ailing Casper Ruud in four sets. 

Alcaraz recalled afterwards how he used to run home from school to watch Roland Garros. Now he wants to add his own name to the rich tradition of Spanish success in Paris; to stand alongside the likes of Rafael Nadal, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Carlos Moya.

“It’s something great, breaking new records for me is great,” said Alcaraz of his multi-surface milestone. “Before the final, it’s something that I really don’t want to think about, but obviously that means that I’m playing good tennis on every surface. That is something that I really wanted to do when I started on the tour, so it’s a great feeling. But right now I don’t want to think about it.”

The same focus was apparent against Sinner, who set a blistering early pace, suffocating Alcaraz with his depth and accuracy off the ground to reel off the first four games of the afternoon. Two days after Djokovic’s withdrawal from the tournament confirmed his ascent to world No 1 when the new ranking list is published next week, the 22-year-old Italian seemed intent on marking the occasion in style. With nine games played, Alcaraz had held serve just once.

Sinner’s level had to drop eventually and, as it did, Alcaraz gradually began to find his customary fluency and range. Forehands that had flown out or careered off his frame in the early stages began to find their mark. As his serve began to bite, so the winners started to flow: he produced 13 in the second set, to just three from Sinner. Yet there was greater margin and consistency, too, Alcaraz increasing his net clearance by applying heavier topspin to his groundstrokes before pulling the trigger when the right ball presented itself.   

The lopsided nature of the first two sets epitomised the pattern of the afternoon. For all the buzz surrounding the ninth meeting between the pair, it was not quite the classic many had anticipated. Nor was it tennis on fast forward, in the mould of their US Open quarter-final of two years ago – partly because clay promotes a more attritional style of play, but mainly because the two men rarely produced their best at the same time. 

It was a match of fits and starts, never more so than in the third set, where Sinner received treatment for cramp in his right arm and both legs, yet managed to come out on top regardless as Alcaraz curiously failed to go for the jugular. That bucked the wider trend of the contest, which was ultimately determined by Alcaraz’s ability to find inspiration at the key moments. 

“The key was that I took my chances,” said Alcaraz. “The break points that I had, I took.”

The final game of the fourth set, in which Alcaraz produced a magical lob and Sinner a horrendous miss, was a case in point. Having earned the first break point of the set with a rally of patient aggression, Alcaraz seized the opportunity, pulling Sinner wide before steering a backhand into the open court. 

A similar blend of belligerence and brilliance earned the Spaniard a decisive break in the second game of the decider. Having established a foothold in the game with some diligent rallying, Alcaraz produced an extraordinary running pass at deuce, prodding an acutely angled backhand for a winner, before a thumping forehand sealed the deal. In all, Alcaraz converted six of his 10 break points, while Sinner won just six from 14. 

“For sure, the sets he won, he played better on the important points,” said Sinner. “I think that was the key.” 

Zverev later defeated Casper Ruud, a finalist for the past two years, to reach the second major final of his career and his first at Roland Garros. Ruud, whose level dipped after an encouraging start, was hampered by a stomach problem as he fell to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 defeat. 

The post Alcaraz defeats Sinner to reach French Open final appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

For almost two decades, Rafael Nadal has held Roland Garros under his spell. Fourteen times he has raised the Coupe des Mousquetaires on the final Sunday in Paris, where he returned this year with a ludicrous record of just three defeats from 115 matches. 

The Spaniard’s well documented ability to perform miracles on his beloved red clay meant that, despite the toll injury has taken on his battered body, and for all his uneven form since returning to the game last month in Barcelona, nobody was taking anything for granted as he faced Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, in what was potentially the final French Open match of his career. 

It was appointment viewing, a contest that quite literally brought out the stars. Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek, the men’s and women’s world No 1s, were both in attendance, as was Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion and Nadal’s likely doubles partner at the forthcoming Paris Olympics. 

But on a drizzly day in Paris, the magic faded. Zverev exuded self-belief beneath the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, taking on his shots in the baseline exchanges and producing an imperious serving display to claim a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win and become only the third man to defeat Nadal in Paris, after Djokovic and Robin Soderling.

Despite a nervous start that saw him broken to love in the opening game, there were glimpses of the old brilliance from Nadal, most notably when he electrified the fiercely partisan crowd with a trademark celebratory leap after holding from two break points down early in the second set. That proved the prelude to a first break of serve, and in due course a chance to serve for the second set. But Zverev handled the moment perfectly, returning superbly and biding his time in the baseline exchanges to claim a love break. It was the story of a match that Zverev made his own with a clinical performance, even as he accepted that the day itself belonged to Nadal. 

“I played at a good level in all ways, comparing to the way that I was playing the weeks before,” said Nadal, whose build-up to the tournament brought losses to Alex de Minaur in Barcelona, Jiri Lehecka in Madrid, and Hubert Hurkacz in Rome. 

“So, happy for that. Of course, disappointed for losing, but in terms of body feelings, happy that I finish healthy and I had a tough battle out there. And I was ready for a little bit more. So that’s it. Accept the moment.

“If it’s the last time that I played here, I am in peace with myself. I tried everything to be ready for this tournament for almost 20 years. Today and the last two years, I have been working and going through probably the toughest process in my tennis career with the dream to come back here. At least I did. I mean, I lost, but that’s part of the business.”

In truth, events conspired against Nadal, first when a cruel draw pitted him against Zverev, one of the only top men’s seeds without a question mark hanging over his form and fitness, and then when the weather intervened. With the roof closed and the conditions heavy, the potency of the Spaniard’s topspin was nullified, balls that would normally rear up above head height instead falling in Zverev’s wheelhouse. The German, high on confidence after his recent win at the Rome Masters, and assisted by Nadal’s struggle to find length in the early stages, gleefully took advantage, stepping inside the baseline to send his opponent scurrying into the corners.

It was once Nadal who meted out such treatment in the wide expanses of Chatrier, but he did not balk at his unaccustomed role, gamely pursuing every lost cause. His defensive powers are not what they were before he underwent hip surgery last summer – not yet, at any rate – but he moved more freely than at any other stage since his latest comeback. The larger problem was his lack of recent matches at this level, which manifested itself in some questionable shot selection, most glaringly when he twice telegraphed poorly-executed drop shots in the heart of the second-set tiebreak. 

“I felt my body healthy before the tournament,” said Nadal. “That week was the first week that I started feeling that I can move without limitations. That’s why I was able to build a better level, to practice well against every player. But the normal thinking was [that it was] not enough, one week, to be ready to win these kind of matches.”

It may be enough to do better at the Olympics, however, which will be staged at Roland Garros in July. With that in mind, Nadal suggested he was likely to skip Wimbledon.

“I need to talk with team,” said the Spaniard. “But I don’t think it’s going to be smart after all the things that happened to my body [to] now make a big transition to a completely different surface and then come back immediately to clay, no?”

Zverev, meanwhile, a semi-finalist in each of the past three years, will now attempt to parlay the momentum from this victory into another deep run on the Parisian clay. There will be a sense of catharsis for the German, too, who ruptured ankle ligaments when he faced Nadal at Roland Garros two summers ago and, when the draw was made, said he welcomed the opportunity to ensure his last memory of facing Nadal was not leaving the court in a wheelchair. 

“The improvement that he’s made over the past few months and just the difference in level that he played today, compared to his last tournaments, was unbelievable,” said Zverev. “I really felt like it was it was a very good match, and I think if he stays healthy he’s going to continue playing better, and then I think he’s going to be seeded again and that makes it easier for him.”

Zverev’s thoughts will soon be preoccupied by a different type of court, one that lies in the Berlin district of Tiergarten, where his trial for alleged domestic abuse begins on 31 May. He has consistently denied the charges, which were brought by Brenda Patea, a former girlfriend, and will be heard across eight separate days falling across the French Open and Wimbledon. 

The match ended with an emotional address from Nadal to the crowd, who began chanting his name with gusto in the warm-up, and were still at it when he left the court three hours and five minutes later.

“It’s difficult for me to talk,” said Nadal, who had previously told Amélie Mauresmo, the tournament director, that he did not want a farewell sendoff at a time when he remains undecided about his future. 

“I don’t know if it’s the last time that I’m going to be here in front of all of you. Honestly, I am not 100% sure. But if it’s the last time, I enjoyed it, no? The crowd have been amazing during the whole week of preparation, and today. 

“The feelings that I have today are difficult to describe in words, but for me it’s so special to feel the love of the people the way that I felt, in the place that I love the most.”

As the red eyes of many in the crowd attested, that love is one form of magic that will never fade.

The post Rafael Nadal bids French Open a possible farewell appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Not the adoring thousands who gathered to watch his final practice on the eve of the French Open, where he has won 14 of his 24 grand slam titles. Not the incoming barrage of emotional video montages celebrating his unparalleled achievements on the Parisian clay. And certainly not the prospect of facing Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed and freshly minted Rome Masters champion, in the opening round on Monday.

“When you are not seeded, anything can happen,” said the 37-year-old Spaniard, whose protracted injury struggles have seen his ranking slip to 276 in the world. 

“Of course, on paper it is not the best draw. I play against one of the toughest opponents possible and, at the same time, he came here winning the last event, and it’s a Masters 1000. That’s the draw. Just try to be ready for it.

“You know, it’s a super-tough first round. Maybe I go [and] repeat the disaster of Rome. It’s a possibility, of course. I don’t want to hide that.”

The aforementioned disaster was a resounding defeat by Hubert Hurkacz at the Foro Italico a fortnight ago, a humbling outcome for a player who has won 10 times in the Italian capital. Yet, for all the setbacks Nadal has suffered over the course of a swing he once dominated, there is a growing sense of optimism that he may not be done quite yet. He has looked stronger by the week since his return from the hip and abdominal problems that cost him the better part of 15 months, and as his freedom of movement has grown, so too has his belief. 

“I have less limitations than three, four weeks ago, without a doubt,” said Nadal. “My personal feelings are better now than one month and a half ago, without a doubt.”

It was at that stage that Nadal marked his return to clay with a straight-sets defeat to Alex de Minaur in Barcelona. An emotional farewell followed at the Madrid Open, where he was soundly beaten by Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, but Nadal eschewed a similar sendoff in Rome, refusing to discount entirely the possibility of a return. On Saturday, he offered another sliver of hope to his legion of fans that this may not, after all, be his final French Open.

“It’s a big, big chance that it’s going to be my last Roland Garros, but if I have to tell you it’s 100% my last Roland Garros, sorry, but I will not, because I cannot predict what’s going on,” he said. 

“I have been going through a long process of recovery with a very difficult injury, almost two years of suffering… [it] seems like I feel better now.

“So in some ways, I don’t want to close 100% the door.

“First thing, I am enjoying playing tennis. Second thing, I am traveling with the family. They are enjoying [it]. I am enjoying sharing all this process with them.

“And third thing, I was not able to explore yet the proper way how I will be able to play [in] more or less healthy conditions, playing without limitations. So give me some time. 

“Maybe in one month and a half I say, ‘Ok, It’s enough. I can’t keep going.’ But today, in some way, I cannot guarantee that it’s going to be the last one. But of course, it’s a big chance.”  

Victory over Zverev on Monday would doubtless have some influence on Nadal’s decision, and to judge from the reaction of the hordes who gathered for his practice session against Holger Rune on Saturday, he will not want for support. As the 10,000-seat stadium reverberated to chants of his name, Nadal received an early taste of the atmosphere he can expect against Zverev in two days’ time. The German, whose last experience of facing Nadal on Court Philippe Chatrier came two years ago, when he ruptured ankle ligaments, is under no illusions about what to expect.

“For me, in my mind I’m going to play peak Rafa Nadal,” said Zverev. “That’s what I expect him to be. I expect him to be at his absolute best. I expect him to play the best tennis he’s played in a long time on this court.”

Nadal himself remains characteristically circumspect.

“[I hope] to do something different and play much better and give myself a chance to play competitively,” said the Spaniard. “Then it’s going to be enough or not.  

“I [haven’t] played five-set matches since super long time ago. I didn’t play at this level of opponents being competitive since a super-long time ago. “So all these questions that I understand that you are [asking] me, I am asking to myself, too. But the answer is going to be on Monday, no? That’s it.”

The post Rafael Nadal ‘cannot predict’ if this will be final French Open appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

After weeks of uncertainty over Nadal’s prospects of competing at the tournament, there was an audible murmur of disbelief at the draw ceremony as Zverev, the fourth seed, was confirmed as the 14-time champion’s first opponent. 

It was clear the unseeded Spaniard would face a top-eight player from the moment his name emerged at the top of the second quarter of the draw, but Zverev represents one of the toughest assignments he could have landed. The contest will be a rematch of their ill-fated semi-final of two years ago, which ended with the German Olympic champion rupturing ankle ligaments late in the second set after more than three hours of mesmerising play.

Much has changed in the interim. Nadal is now languishing at 276 in the rankings after struggling to overcome abdominal and hip problems that have brought him to the brink of retirement. Zverev, meanwhile, fresh from winning his biggest title in almost three years in Rome last week, appears to have put his injury woes firmly behind him. 

To judge from his recent comments about Nadal’s French Open prospects, however, the German is unlikely to be lulled into a false sense of security by his opponent’s relatively modest record of five wins from eight outings in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.

“Rafa is going to play a lot better than he did in Madrid and Rome,” said Zverev at the Italian Open last week. “I’m certain about that.”

Many will balk at the possibility of the German bringing the curtain down on Nadal’s Roland Garros career, given that the 27-year-old’s trial for alleged domestic abuse begins in the Tiergarten district court in Berlin on 31 May. Zverev, who is not required to attend the proceedings, has consistently denied the charges.

Nadal, whose proud record of having never lost two consecutive clay-court matches will be on the line after his defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in Rome, is likely to take a measured view of the situation, much as he did when he was drawn in the same half as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in 2021. 

“That’s part of the game,” Nadal said then. “That’s how the ranking works. I mean, there is not one sport that is more fair than tennis on that. 

“There is a ranking. The seedings are made with the ranking that you had during the last year. So that’s how it is.”

A possible source of consolation for the Spaniard is that, should he somehow find a way past Zverev, his path through the top half would begin to look a fraction less daunting. David Goffin, ranked 115, is a possible second-round opponent, and from there he could expect to face Tallon Griekspoor, the 26th seed, followed by a pair of former quarter-finalists in Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev. The odds remain stacked against a deep run, but Nadal has performed too many miracles in the 16th arrondissement to regard Zverev’s progress as a foregone conclusion. 

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic, the defending champion and top seed, will open his bid for a record 25th grand slam title against French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert. In the lower half of the draw, Jannik Sinner, seeded second, faces Christopher Eubanks of the United States, while Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, plays former finalist Andy Murray in a battle of three-time grand slam champions.

In the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek will begin her title defence against a qualifier ahead of a potential second-round meeting with Naomi Osaka, who opens against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti. The Polish world No 1, vying for a fourth title on the Parisian clay, has landed in the opposite half of the draw to Elena Rybakina, the fourth seed, who has won four of their six previous encounters, most recently in the semi-finals of last month’s Stuttgart Open. 

“I love this place, so I’m always excited to come back,” said Swiatek at the draw ceremony. “It feels like home.”

If the seedings hold, Swiatek will play Coco Gauff, the US Open champion, in the last four, in what would be a repeat of the 2022 final. First, though, the 22-year-old would potentially need to navigate a last-16 meeting with Barbora Krejcikova, the champion of three summers ago, followed by a quarter-final showdown with either Marketa Vondrousova, a finalist in 2019, or Danielle Collins, who is playing some of the finest tennis of her career in her final season on tour. Gauff will open against a qualifier, while Rybakina plays Greet Minnen of Belgium.

Aryna Sabalenka props up the lower half of the draw. The second seed will open her challenge for a second straight major, following her successful title defence at the Australian Open in January, against Erika Andreeva, a 19-year-old Russian ranked 101. The Belarusian, a semi-finalist last year, is expected to face Maria Sakkari, the Greek sixth seed, before disputing a place in the final with Rybakina.

The post Nadal draws Zverev in French Open first round appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

If their Hard Rock Stadium rematch offered Sinner a yardstick by which to measure his progress since this time last year, it was one he used to administer the most brutal of cudgellings, a 6-1, 6-2 beatdown that leaves the 22-year-old Italian within one win of dislodging Carlos Alcaraz as world No 2. Through to his third final at Miami Gardens in four years, he will face Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday after the Bulgarian followed up his shock quarter-final win against Alcaraz with a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 victory over Alexander Zverev.

As Sinner systematically dismantled Medvedev, it was hard to imagine that his defeat in last season’s final was his sixth in succession against the Russian. How things have changed in the interim. Since claiming a maiden win over Medvedev last October in Beijing, Sinner has won five in a row against the 28-year-old, beating him in Vienna, Turin and, most significantly, at the Australian Open in January, where he fought back from two sets to love down to win his first grand slam title.

The last of those meetings had a significant bearing on the early stages of their latest encounter as Medvedev, seeking to replicate the tactics that earned him a seemingly unassailable lead in Melbourne, adopted a more aggressive return position and tried to play higher than normal in the baseline exchanges. What he could not reproduce, in the face of a flawless exhibition of ball-striking from Sinner, was the same quality and consistency of shot he found in Australia. 

After conceding the first five games in just 27 minutes, barely avoiding a first-set whitewash, Medvedev altered his tactics, retreating behind the baseline to return as he sought to create the kind of trench warfare in which he specialises. It did little to stall the momentum of an opponent who has now prevailed in all but one of his 23 matches this season. 

“I played very solid today, especially in the beginning of the sets,” said Sinner. “Then, after, he missed couple of shots where usually he is not missing them. 

“Even if the difference is quite small from one player to the other one, if one plays a little bit better that day and the other player plays a little bit worse, sometimes the difference is big. Today it was like this. 

“But in the other way, you have to be careful, because the score is this one, but if he breaks me early in the first set, or if he breaks me with the break point he had at 2-1 in the second set, things are going to change.”

In truth, that never looked likely. Imperious on serve throughout, Sinner won 80% of the points behind his first delivery and an impressive 59% on the second, fending off all three break points he faced over the 69 minutes that Medvedev was able to detain him. Allied with his superior consistency – the official stats suggested Sinner made just three unforced errors to Medvedev’s nine, although the tournament had those figures at 12 and 22, which may have been closer to the truth – it proved an irresistible combination.

“My plan was to play aggressive kind of like in Australia, a bit more aggressive than I usually do, and it’s always a risk,” said Medvedev. “In Australia it worked well. Here, I was missing too much. 

“Before the second set, the question was, do I go back to playing my style or continue this way? Because if we saw Alcaraz against him in Indian Wells [it] was the same, 6-1, kind of easy, and then Carlos managed to step up and play better and beat Jannik. 

“I was like, ‘No, I want to try to do the same,’ and I didn’t manage to do it. [By the] time I decided to, let’s say, play my game, it was a bit too late.”

Thanks to the resurgent Dimitrov, Sinner will not need to go through Alcaraz this time around. The 32-year-old backed up his win over the Spaniard with another demonstration of quality and resilience against Zverev, his serve the bedrock of a performance awash with power, artistry and athleticism. Dimitrov attributes his renaissance to a rediscovered work ethic.

“I kept on believing, kept on doing the work,” said Dimitrov, who will return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018 next week. “I think the discipline brought me to that moment. There is nothing else.”

A semi-finalist in Shanghai and finalist in Paris towards the end of last year, Dimitrov has been knocking on the door at this level. He won his first title since 2017 at the Brisbane International in January and has earned his place back at the game’s top table. Sinner is under no illusions about the threat that lies ahead.

“He’s very, very talented physically,” said the Italian. “Really good shape. He has the talent to change things up on a tennis court because of the way he plays. He can stand back, he can go close. He has very, very good hand skills. He can do whatever he wants.”

It is Sinner who has become accustomed to doing whatever he wants in recent months. He will go into the final as an unbackable favourite, but if Dimitrov can reproduce the level that has brought three successive top-10 wins this week, a fourth is not out of the question.

The post Sinner demolishes Medvedev to make Miami Open final appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

The Spaniard’s quarter-final match against Alexander Zverev at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells will forever be remembered for a swarm of bees that interrupted play after just two games. Yet the bizarre scenes that followed, as the players scrambled for cover – and the chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, uttered the immortal line: “Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended due to bee invasion” – threatened to obscure a more salient point. Alcaraz appears to be returning to his scintillating best.

It is no secret that the 20-year-old has struggled to recapture the form that earned him the Wimbledon title last summer. Only a few days ago he spoke openly about the “difficult months” he has experienced, of his diminished confidence and struggles in practice. Zverev has contributed to those problems, claiming a group stage win over Alcaraz at last year’s ATP Finals and, more damagingly, a four-set win in the Australian Open quarter-finals. This time, though, there was no prospect of the German extending his winning record against the former world No 1, Alcaraz delivering a performance full of quality, self-belief and passion to prevail 6-3, 6-1.

“I’m really happy with the level that I’m playing and the way I’m using the court,” said the defending champion after setting up a tantalising repeat of last year’s semi-final against Jannik Sinner. 

“It’s really important for me, for my game, that the opponent doesn’t know what’s next.”

No one knew quite what was going to happen next when a huge blanket of bees abruptly descended on the court with Alcaraz serving at 1-1. The first sign of the disruption came when the Spaniard, up 15-0, felt something touch his head as he started his service routine. He looked up to see dozens of bees circling above him, prompting tittering in the crowd and a request from Lahyani for the players to return to the chair. Up above, huge numbers of the insects blanketed an overhead camera. Before long, players and officials alike were dashing for cover, Alcaraz showing a real turn of pace to shake off as he was followed by a particularly persistent bug: a case of exit, pursued by a bee. It was surreal. 

“I saw some bees around, but I thought it was just a few of them,” said Alcaraz, who was stung in the chaos according to his agent, Albert Molina. “But I saw the sky and there were thousands, thousands flying, stuck in my hair, going to me. It was crazy. 

“I tried to stay away from them, but it was impossible. As I said, stuck in my hair, so I was running out. I’m a little bit afraid of them.”

The same could not be said for Lance Davis, a local bee removal expert, who promptly arrived on the scene clad in nothing more protective than jeans, a long-sleeved top and a pair of sunglasses. Looking for all the world like a veteran rock star, Davis used a vacuum device to capture the insects before going to work with a bottle of spray. It seemed to do the trick, although some insects remained and Alcaraz, who was initially reluctant to resume, continued to glance around nervously for the remainder of the match.

In reality, it was Zverev who had more to fear. With Alcaraz all booming forehands, explosive movement and artful drop shots, no corner of the court was safe for the German, whose own weaker forehand wing was relentlessly targeted by the Spaniard. 

Showing lethal assurance in the forecourt, Alcaraz won all but four of his 19 net points and also cleverly varied his return position. At times, he resembled a Daniil Medvedev tribute act at times as he stationed himself within touching distance of the backstop. Then he would move up to the baseline again, keeping Zverev guessing, constantly giving him a different look. In the fourth game, the tactic disrupted the Olympic champion’s rhythm enough to prise a double fault on break point, Alcaraz establishing a lead that he would not relinquish.

Zverev was not helped by the lengthy suspension of play, which saw the warmth of the Californian sun give way to the kind of windy conditions he abhors. But with Alcaraz in a rich vein of form, it is debatable how much bearing the delay had on the final outcome.

The victory maintained a proud record. Eight times in his young career, Alcaraz has defended a title; eight times, he has reached at least the semi-finals. On two of those occasions, first in Umag in 2022 and then at last year’s Miami Open, he has faced Sinner; both times, he was beaten. The latest instalment of their compelling rivalry will be all the more fascinating for the fact that the world No 2 ranking will be on the line.

“it’s always fun to play with him,” said Sinner following his 6-3, 6-3 quarter-final victory over Jiri Lehecka. “We are good friends off the court. On the court, we just try to give 100%, no?

“I think we have a good attitude on court. Usually the matches are good.”

Few could disagree with that appraisal. It promises to be appointment viewing.

The post Alcaraz buzzes past Zverev to reach last four in Indian Wells appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

Perhaps that was the real reason the former US Open champion appeared to repeatedly mouth the word “Karma” to his team after the 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory that propelled him to a third Australian Open final in four years. Social media was afterwards rife with speculation that the 27-year-old was making an oblique reference to an episode of the Netflix series Break Point in which Zverev, angered by Medvedev’s antics during a narrow defeat in Monte Carlo last year, is shown responding gleefully to his Russian rival’s first-round loss at Roland Garros. Medvedev, however, was at pains to play down the suggestion that his post-match celebration was related to the episode. 

“It was something related to my team, something about mentality,” said the world No 3. “So nothing to do with this. I would not be happy to do it this way.”

That Medvedev should have felt compelled to comment on events incidental to the match was in a sense ironic, given all the focus beforehand on Zverev’s contrasting reluctance to speak about the broader context to his campaign in Melbourne. Confirmation over the past fortnight that Zverev will stand trial in Berlin this May on domestic abuse charges has brought unrelenting scrutiny on the German, who denies the allegations and has bristled when questioned on the subject. Asked if it had affected his concentration as he advanced through the tournament, the 26-year-old was once again forthright in his response. 

“No, because I have said it before: anyone who has a semi-decent IQ level understands what’s going on,” said Zverev. “I hope that most of you guys do. I’m fine with it.”

He was less fine with the stroke of good fortune Medvedev enjoyed at 5-5 in the fourth-set tiebreak. Attempting to slice back a return, Medvedev shanked it and inadvertently hit an unreachable drop shot. Zverev, who had double-faulted on the previous point, could only look on in dismay as his opponent then slammed down a 125mph ace to level the match. 

“Just purely unlucky,” sighed Zverev, who played down the significance of an earlier pause in play caused by Medvedev’s request for a replay of a close line call while the German was serving for the set. Medvedev did not disagree with his rival’s analysis. 

“Lucky, lucky,” said Medvedev, who will play Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final after the Italian earlier defeated Novak Djokovic, the defending champion. “The side was against the wind. I think I was tight, so I shanked it. Did I want to go, at least, short or no? I don’t even remember. Just tried to put it in, so I shanked it a little bit. It was not like a frame completely, but I didn’t play it with the centre. 

“But the moment I saw it going, I was like there are two ways: either it touches the tape and stays on my side, or it just kind of rolls over on to his side. I was like, ‘Please, be the second one, I want to win.’ And it was the second one. Tough luck for him, for sure, in this point. Managed to make an ace after, but that’s what tennis is about.”

After Nadal’s Houdini act of two years ago, it was perhaps a slice of – luck, karma, call it what you will – that Medvedev had coming. Whatever it was, he made the most of it. 

Zverev had earlier established a seemingly unassailable lead playing near-flawless tennis, just as he did to defeat Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round. The German’s determination to go forward at every available opportunity did not prevent him from becoming embroiled in some gruelling baseline exchanges, but it did help to terminate many of them. That was most notably the case at the end of the second set, where Zverev capped a 51-shot exchange with a superb backhand half-volley. A similar shot, this time off the forehand, gave him the platform to take a two-set lead.

Medvedev looked tired at that point, as well he might after coming back from two sets to love down to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori last week in a contest that raged until 3.40am. He was also taken to a decider by Hubert Hurkacz in the previous round but, having survived those travails, he was in no mood to squander the chance to contest a third final. In the fifth game of the decider, a stunning backhand pass brought up a break point; the anguish on Zverev’s face as he netted a plus-one forehand was plain.

“Mentally, 100%, I’m stronger than I was before this tournament, because now I know that I’m capable of some things maybe I thought I’m not,” said Medvedev. “Before [now] I didn’t do anything like this to get to the final. So mentally I’m stronger than before, and I’m happy about it. 

“Probably, honestly, it’s better to be in the final winning three-set, four-set matches. That’s the better way physically. But it is what it is, and I’m proud and looking forward to the final to give my 100% again.”

The post Medvedev foils Zverev to make Australian Open final appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

So what was it that worked so well this time around, Jim Courier asked Alcaraz, recalling the dramatic three-set tussle between the pair at the Miami Open almost two years ago? “Well, I think everything,” replied Alcaraz without missing a beat. It was hard to disagree.

Having laboured towards the end of last season, Alcaraz is slowly rediscovering the joy that invariably accompanies his best tennis. He has dropped just one set so far, against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in round two, and here his signature blend of outrageous athleticism, thunderous baseline play and silken touch proved irresistible. 

In his finest performance so far at Melbourne Park, Alcaraz ran Kecmanovic ragged, his 43 winners conjured from every corner of the court as he completed a personal grand slam of major quarter-finals. In the open era, only Boris Becker, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have reached the last eight of all four blue-riband events at a younger age. The impression is of a man on a similar path to the one he trod last year at Wimbledon, where he became more comfortable with the surface and surroundings with each passing round. We all know how that one ended.

“I didn’t play so much here in Rod Laver, I didn’t play so much as well [on Wimbledon’s Centre Court],” said Alcaraz. “Probably the process could be the same or similar.

“Every match that I’m playing, I’m feeling better and better on a court I didn’t play [on] so much. Hopefully the same as Wimbledon.”

High on confidence but lower on energy after recovering from match point down to win in five sets in both of his two previous matches, Kecmanovic was run ragged by the Spaniard, who broke in the third game with a fortuitous net cord and never looked back. If Alcaraz was grateful to his opponent for removing Tommy Paul from his path – the 14th-seeded American, a semi-finalist last year, has won two of their four previous meetings – he had a funny way of showing it. 

“I pushed him to the limit in every ball, in every point,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously, he has played a lot of matches in five sets, a lot of tough matches before this one. Probably, physically, he wasn’t at his 100%. In every ball, I pushed him to the limit and moved him side to side. I could take my chances in every set, and I think it was a pretty good match for myself.”

The Spaniard did not face a break point throughout, and even the faintest glimmers of hope for Kecmanovic was ruthlessly and summarily snuffed out. A case in point came early in the second set, when the Serb gained a rare foothold in an Alcaraz service game only to send a makable return long. Moments later, Alcaraz thumped a ferocious off-forehand to hold. When he went on to secure a break in the seventh game, punctuating a 22-stroke rally with a searing cross-court backhand, the contest was over in all but name.

Alcaraz will face Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals after the German sixth seed prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3) against Britain’s Cameron Norrie. Zverev, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park in 2020, has won four of his seven meetings with the Spaniard, most recently in the group stage of the ATP Finals last November. Alcaraz, meanwhile, claimed a straight-sets victory when the pair met in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows last year, two days after Zverev had outlasted Jannik Sinner in a punishing five-set marathon.  

“I’m not like [I was at] the US Open, where I was completely dead and where I felt physically exhausted,” said Zverev, who also pushed to a final-set tiebreak by the Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein in round two. 

“I’m tired, for sure, because I played 7-6 in the fifth set again two times out of the last three matches, but I’m not dead. I’m not completely exhausted. I’m not in the same physical state I was in the US Open. I expect it to be very different, to be honest.”

In the other quarter-final in the lower half of the draw, Daniil Medvedev will face Hubert Hurkacz. The Russian third seed saw off Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-1.

“It’s tough to return his serve,” said Medvedev of Hurkacz, who ran out a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 over Arthur Cazaux of France. “That’s going to be the key. I need to stay strong on my serve, don’t give him the break, either try to break him or go to the tiebreak and try to win the tiebreak.”

The post Alcaraz takes flight to make last eight at Australian Open appeared first on Love Game Tennis.