June 21, 2017
Roger Federer’s superb form in his opening match at Halle left him on the verge of securing a top-four seeding for Wimbledon – and that means he can avoid Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray until the semi-finals. Defeat for Stan Wawrinka at Queen’s left Federer needing just one more victory in Germany to […]
June 11, 2017
Rafael Nadal sank onto his back, caking his sweat-soaked shirt with the Roland Garros clay he loves so dearly. He had suppressed the dangerous brilliance of Stan Wawrinka with a Yoda-like will-power, removing all the strength and self-belief from his adversary until the 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 score-line made his task in this landmark final sound even simpler than […]
June 10, 2017
Rafael Nadal stands on the brink of an historic tenth Roland Garros title as he prepares to face Stan Wawrinka in Sunday’s big final. Wawrinka also knows what it is to win the French Open. He did so against Novak Djokovic, who was also regarded as practically invincible at the time. So it is not […]
June 9, 2017
Make no mistake, Jelena Ostapenko is unstoppable when she hits her stride. Amazingly, her forehand is faster than that of the men’s world number one, Andy Murray. But can the samba-loving ballroom dancer strut her stuff against the best around right now, Simona Halep? We will find out in Saturday’s women’s singles final, where Halep […]
June 7, 2017
So, the Thiem dream is on – and nice guys do win after all. But the youthful Dominic will have to beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-final if he wants to go all the way at the French Open. New superstar Thiem defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in some style, winning 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-0. […]
June 5, 2017
Kei Nishikori exhaled heavily with relief, looked up to the skies and wondered how on earth he was through to face Andy Murray after such a dreadful start. Fernando Verdasco had apparently shattered the spirit of the talented Japanese with a 6-0 first-set drubbing – or so he might have thought. But in reality Nishikori […]
June 3, 2017
Andy Murray is back! And that’s great news for tennis fans hoping to see their hero in top form at Wimbledon. The old movement, the subtlety and flare were all there in abundance at Roland Garros, as the world number one downed Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (10-8), 7-5, 6-0. At last, after a difficult […]
June 1, 2017
After Rafa Nadal’s superb display against Robin Haase, TV expert Mats Wilander, a former world number one, was prompted to say: ‘Nadal has more chance of winning the French Open than all his rivals put together.’ Is it true? If not, who is most likely to topple Nadal? Here are the men we think have […]
May 30, 2017
Alexander Zverev and Johanna Konta were the latest top-ten casualties to fall at the first hurdle during the perilous openers at Roland Garros. But world number one Andy Murray made it through to join the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka in the next round. Next up Murray will play the […]
May 28, 2017
Angelique Kerber has become the first women’s top seed to be dumped out of the French Open in her very first match. She crashed to Ekaterina Makarova, who couldn’t believe her luck as she was let off the hook time and again before cruising through 6-2, 6-2. The embarrassing reversal of fortunes for the world […]