Tennis
UPSET GALORE AT WIMBLEDON! 15-YEAR OLD SENDS WILLIAMS OUT; TOP SEED OSAKA IS OUSTED IN ROUND 1
MICHAEL PAVITT.
Second seed Naomi Osaka was the major casualty on the first day of Wimbledon as the women’s second seed crashed out to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Osaka came into the Championships with the knowledge that a
third Grand Slam title in 12 months would put her back at the top of the world
rankings.
The Japanese star was instead faced with the potential of a short stay at the All England Club after losing the opening set to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva on a tie-break on Centre Court.
Putintseva, the world number 39, then broke Osaka at the start of the second set as the prospect of an upset grew.
Osaka threatened to immediately break back, only for Putintseva to old on before the 24-year-old secured a double break advantage.
She completed a 7-6, 6-2 victory to reach the second round for the fourth time in her career as Osaka made an early departure.
Teenage American qualifier Cori Gauff delivered one of the
biggest stories of the day as she eliminated five-time champion Venus Williams.
The 15-year-old Gauff had already become the youngest player to qualify for the main Wimbledon draw since the Open era began in 1968.
She exceeded expectations further by winning her first Grand Slam singles match 6-4, 6-4 against Williams, winner of four Grand Slam titles before her opponent had been born.
Romania’s Simona Halep had no such problems as she cruised through her opening match on Court One featuring a new roof for the tournament.
Halep recorded a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich to progress.
Defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic advanced in straight sets against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The opening match of the tournament saw the Serbian star record a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 win as Djokovic begins his pursuit of a fifth Wimbledon title.
His task potentially became easier as Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the tournament sixth seed, suffered a shock defeat.
Zverev won the opening set against Jiří Veselý, but the Czech qualifier stormed back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
The seventh seed fell to a five set 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 defeat to Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano.
Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka earned a second round spot as the three-time Grand Slam winner triumphed 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 against Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans.
-insidethegames
Argentina’s 36-year-old Marco Trungelliti proved tennis dreams do not come with an expiration date when he became the oldest first-time tour-level finalist in the Open Era after beating the top seed at the Grand Prix Hassan II semi-finals in Marrakech on Saturday.
Trungelliti, who came through the tournament’s qualifiers, upset Italy’s defending champion Luciano Darderi 6-4 7-6(2) to break the previous record held by Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic, who reached his first final aged 34 years in 2015.
Darderi, ranked 19 in the world, was only six-years-old when Trungelliti turned pro in 2008. With the victory, Trungelliti secured just his second career top-20 win.
“Of course, I believed it, that’s one of the reasons that I’m here. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible,” Trungelliti said in the on-court interview.
“I’ve worked a lot, me and my team and also my wife, my kid. We all believed in breaking the record basically and that’s exactly what we have done now.”
The milestone caps a remarkable journey for Trungelliti, who made his first ATP Tour semi-final in 2018 in Umag, Croatia – 402 weeks ago.
Having entered the tournament ranked 117 in the world, Trungelliti’s breakthrough week has already guaranteed he will crack the top 100 for the first time. He is currently ranked number 75 in the live rankings.
“It’s been happening the whole week, leaving the court with a victory,” added Trungelliti, who has dropped only one set at the tournament. “So hopefully (there) is one more to go.”
He will face Rafael Jodar on Sunday after the Spaniard prevented an all-Argentine final with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has been listed as eligible to return to tennis by the sport’s drug-testing body (ITIA) as of February 22, though it remains unclear whether the 23-time Grand Slam champion will make a stunning comeback to the women’s tour.
The 44-year-old raised eyebrows late last year after rejoining the tennis anti-doping testing pool, though she denied at the time the move signalled she was preparing to return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
She reignited speculation last month when she deflected questions about a possible return during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show.
The Women’s Tennis Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open.
-Reuters
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Serena Williams has re-entered the tennis anti-doping testing pool but the 23-times Grand Slam champion denied on Tuesday that the move had anything to do with her making a return to the sport she dominated for nearly two decades.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency confirmed to Reuters that Williams, who has not competed since the 2022 U.S. Open, was among the list of players in its testing pool, which requires individuals to provide their whereabouts at any given time, every day, and participate in random testing
But as the story of 44-year-old Williams’ inclusion on the list, first reported earlier on Tuesday by The Athletic, gained traction and sparked talk about her potential return, the tennis great took to social media to deny a comeback was in her plans.
“Omg yall I’m NOT coming back. This wildfire is crazy,” Williams wrote on X.
Her agent did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters asking why the player had re-entered the testing pool.
Williams’ name appears on the ITIA website’s list of retired players and would be able to return to a sanctioned event after making herself available for out-of-competition testing for at least six months.
Last week former world number one Williams posted a series of photos on Instagram showing herself on a tennis court with her youngest daughter, Adira River, whom she gave birth to in August 2023.
In August 2022, ahead of her final U.S. Open, Williams announced in a Vogue article that she was “evolving away from tennis.”
Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title in 2017, had been chasing an elusive 24th crown that would have drawn her level with Australian Margaret Court, who holds the record.
The American came tantalisingly close to achieving that feat, featuring in four major finals since giving birth to her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
-Reuters
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