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Wimbledon open for business, not quite as usual

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Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain – June 27, 2022 General view of outside courts covered as rain stops play REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

The world’s most famous queue began streaming into the All England Club on Monday as the gates opened at the start of the 135th edition of the Wimbledon championships.

The quintessential English sight of thousands of tennis fans waiting patiently, often having camped overnight, to gain entry to the grounds has been missing since 2019.

COVID-19 put paid to Wimbledon in 2020 and last year the queue was scrapped on safety grounds as the tournament returned to semi-normality, albeit with restricted attendances and players based in secure hotel bubbles.

Although all that makes Wimbledon such a spectacle has returned, it is not quite business as usual despite the buzz around the grounds as the gates swung open at 0900GMT on a breezy morning in south west London.

For a start, Roger Federer, the king of the lawns with a record eight men’s singles titles, is absent for the first time since winning the junior event in 1998.

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The 40-year-old Swiss is recovering from a knee injury and has not played since losing to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals a year ago.

Also missing is men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev after organisers banned Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine while women’s defending champion Ash Barty has retired.

The ban on Russians and Belarusians prompted the ATP and WTA to take away ranking points from Wimbledon this year.

Play is also scheduled for 14 days, rather than the traditional 13, with middle Sunday no longer a rest day, meaning the end of so-called Manic Monday when all the men’s and women’s fourth-round matches used to be played.

PLOT LINES

While the build-up to Wimbledon has been mired in controversy, there are enough plot lines to suggest the next fortnight could be a classic edition.

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Serena Williams returns after a year out, gunning for the 24th Grand Slam singles title that has eluded her since 2017.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was due to open play on Centre Court on Monday as he seeks to defend his title, win a 21st Grand Slam crown and close the gap on Rafa Nadal who has a record 22.

Spaniard Nadal is halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam after winning the Australian and French Opens.

Briton Emma Raducanu’s appearance is being billed as a “homecoming” after her extraordinary U.S. Open title win as a qualifier and the spotlight will be fully focused on the teenager when she faces Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck after Djokovic’s match against Kwon Soon-woo.

With the famous Centre Court celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the opening day has a very British flavour with twice former champion Andy Murray concluding the action against Australian James Duckworth.

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Murray is one of 17 British players in the singles draws — the largest home contingent since 2001.

While the stage is set for a feast of tennis over the next two weeks, a rain shower half an hour after play started put a dampener on the early action.

Some things, it seems, never change.

-Reuters

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Players’ association files lawsuit against tennis’ governing bodies

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The PTPA is an independent players' union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019.PHOTO: REUTERS

The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) has filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.

The PTPA, an independent players’ union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, said on March 18 that after years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, it had been forced to take legal action to end “monopolistic control” of the sport.

In a statement, it said that along with more than a dozen players, the PTPA had filed papers in a New York court against the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).

“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, executive director of the PTPA.

“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardises their health and safety.

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“We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis, it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.”

In response, the ATP accused the PTPA of choosing “division and distraction” and having no meaningful role in the sport.

“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position,” it said in a statement.

“ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game – towards continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for players, tournaments, and fans.”

The WTA defended its record of growing women’s tennis, describing the lawsuit as “baseless”.

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“Every decision taken at the WTA Board level includes the input of players via their elected Board representatives, and athletes receive substantial financial rewards and other benefits from participation in the WTA,” the organisation said.

The ITF, meanwhile, stressed its goal is to ensure the growth of tennis as a global sport.

“As a not-for-profit organisation and global guardian of the game… we reinvest 90 per cent of our income into the global development of the game, via our 213 member National Associations,” an ITF spokesperson said.

Describing the various governing bodies as a “cartel”, the PTPA, which has also begun legal action in Britain and the EU, accuses them of paying “artificially low compensation to professional tennis players” and imposing a “draconian” ranking system that forces them to compete in certain tournaments.

The lawsuit also calls the schedule unsustainable, says players are made to play in extreme heat and often in the early hours of the morning, that tennis balls chosen by the tournaments are a factor in chronic injuries and that players’ privacy rights are being abused by random drug tests.

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Prior to filing the lawsuit, the PTPA said it met with more than 250 players across the tours, including the majority of the men’s and women’s top 20.

“The overwhelmingly positive player feedback was a resounding confirmation – change is needed now, and players are united in their fight for reform,” the statement added.

Serbia’s 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has been a fierce advocate for change to the organisation of tennis, insisting that the revenues generated by the sport are not fairly shared out to players.

“Women and men who are around 200 and lower ranked in the world, they are struggling a lot,” he said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview in 2023.

“They can’t afford a coach, they can’t afford travels, they skip tournaments, many of them leave tennis who are super talented and maybe capable of reaching great heights.”

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The ITIA, which manages the sport’s anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, responded to the lawsuit by saying: “Any credible international sport requires robust anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, and we are proud of our role in contributing to a clean and fair sport.”

-Reuters

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Sinner, Tennis world No. 1 accepts 3-month doping ban

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Jannik Sinner has accepted a three-month ban from tennis after the world No. 1 admitted team mistakes led to him twice testing positive for traces of banned substance clostebol in March 2024.

The February 9 to May 4 suspension means Sinner will be free to play in the French Open, the second grand slam of the season, which begins on May 25 at Roland Garros.

In a statement, Sinner said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted that he “had no intent and did not derive any competitive advantage from the two positive tests”.

Australian Open champion Sinner has always said that clostebol entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy.

“This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year,” Sinner said.

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“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise Wada’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted Wada’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”

Wada said separately that “Sinner did not intend to cheat” but that he would serve his suspension as he is responsible for the actions of his entourage.

The agreement between Sinner and Wada means that Sinner will be able to play in front of his home fans at the Rome Open which kicks off just after the end of his suspension and is the last big clay court tournament before Roland Garros.

-AFP

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Osaka parts way with her coach

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Naomi Osaka of Japan in action during a match at the U.S. Open in August, 2024. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo 

Naomi Osaka has parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after four years together across two stints, the 26-year-old announced late on Friday.

The former world number one won two of her four Grand Slam titles under the guidance of the Belgian, but is currently 75th in the rankings having returned to the tour nine months ago after a lengthy maternity break.

“Four years, two slams and a whole lot of memories,” Osaka wrote in an Instagram post.

“Thanks Wim for being a great coach and an even greater person. Wishing you all the best.”

Of the 16 tournaments Osaka has played this season, she has made the quarter-finals in only two – Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch – and the Japanese player has also failed to go past the second round in each of the four Grand Slams

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-Reuters

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