Tennis
Moscow-born Elena Rybakina powers past Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur to Wimbledon title
In a year when Russian players were banned from Wimbledon, Moscow-born Elena Rybakina rallied from a set down to defeat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 3-6 6-2 6-2 on Saturday to become the first player from Kazakhstan to win a Grand Slam singles title.
With Russian and Belarussian players banned from the grasscourt major following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Rybakina would have been excluded had she not switched allegiance from Russia in 2018for better funding and support.
But even if the repeated questions on her links to Russia during the past fortnight affected Rybakina mentally, it did not have any discernable impact on the 23-year-old’s game.
In a showpiece featuring two first-time Grand Slam finalists for the first time since 1962, the lanky Rybakina lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish after another power-packed performance to become the fifth different women’s champion in as many editions.
“It’s special because I was super nervous before the match (and) during the match and I’m honestly happy that it is over,” said Rybakina, who became the first woman to win a Wimbledon final from a set down since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.
“I’ve never felt something like this.”
The cool-as-cucumber Rybakina celebrated the win with barely a fist pump and just a fleeting smile in her typical demeanour.
BOOMING DELIVERY
Before Saturday’s final, Rybakina and Jabeur had met three times and each had won a match apiece before the Kazakh retired due to illness in Chicago in their last showdown a year ago.
World number two Jabeur also came into the contest on an 11-match winning streak — all of them on grass.
Rybakina’s booming delivery was supposed to be a key factor in Saturday’s contest but it was Jabeur who had less trouble holding serve in the opening stages on a sun-bathed Centre Court.
Jabeur’s ploy to mix things up with heavy slices and drop shots clearly upset Rybakina’s rhythm as the Tunisian landed the first blow with a break in the third game.
Stepping inside the baseline to punish her opponent’s second serve, Jabeur made optimum use of her slices during the rallies to slow the pace down.
Rybakina appeared to lose the plot while trailing 5-3 as she committed four unforced errors — including a double fault — to hand Jabeur a second break and with it the opening set in 32 minutes.
“You have an amazing game and I don’t think that we have someone like this on Tour, you are a joy to play against,” Rybakina said in praise of her opponent after being handed the gilded dish by the Duchess of Cambridge.
“I ran today so much, I don’t think that I need to do fitness any more.”
SPITTING FIRE
The match was far from over and Rybakina looked a completely different player for the next 80 minutes.
Her red-framed racket was suddenly spitting fire while she demonstrated the agility to run down Jabeur’s drop shots despite her tall frame.
The momentum shifted in her favour as she nosed ahead in the second set with an early break.
Jabeur tried to match Rybakina’s power but instead her game unravelled. The drop shots started looking less tricky as Rybakina also cut down on her unforced errors.
The Tunisian had three chances to level things up during a lengthy fourth game but Rybakina held firm and then broke Jabeur in the following game to take a 4-1 lead.
Three games later the 17th seed slammed down a 116mph ace to send the contest into a deciding set.
Rybakina surged ahead in the final set by breaking Jabeur in the opening game.
Known back home as ‘Minister of Happiness’, Jabeur by then cut a frustrated figure on the lush green lawns, screaming at herself in anger, despite enjoying the raucous backing of the Centre Court crowd.
Jabeur got them more excited in anticipation of a fightback when she set up three break point chances in the sixth game but once again Rybakina shut her out.
The Kazakh won five straight points to save the break points and then broke Jabeur again to leave the Tunisian, who was attempting to become the first African woman as well as first Arab to win a major, burying her face in her towel during the changeover.
Rybakina appeared a bit nervous while serving for the match but then sealed the title on her first championship point as Jabeur sent a backhand wide.
-Reuters
Novak Djokovic battled from a set down to clinch his 100th tour-level title by beating Polish sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(2) at the Geneva Open on Saturday.
The Serbian, who turned 38 on Thursday, becomes just the third man in the Open Era to win 100 ATP titles after American Jimmy Connors and Swiss Roger Federer.
“I had to work for it, that’s for sure. Hubi was probably closer to victory (in) the entire match than I was,” Djokovic said.
“I had some chances in the first set to break his serve, then had a bad game which ended up with the double fault on set point.
“I was just trying to hang in there, I don’t know how I broke his serve… but this is what happens at the highest level. Very few points decide the winner.
“Incredible match, 7-6 in the third with a full stadium, beautiful atmosphere. I’m just grateful to clinch the 100th here.”
Djokovic’s last title came when he won gold at the Paris Olympics last year.
The latest triumph comes at the perfect time as the record 24-times Grand Slam champion bids for a fourth crown at the French Open, which starts on Sunday.
Djokovic banged down six aces and 34 winners in the contest, which lasted a little over three hours and five minutes, making it the longest clash of this year’s tournament.
Hurkacz had squandered a 4-2 lead in the decider as Djokovic clawed his way back to clinch victory in the tiebreak with an ace and stretched his career win-loss record over the 28-year-old Pole to 8-0.
With the triumph, Djokovic is the first man to win a tour-level title in 20 consecutive seasons, with his first title coming at 2006 Amersfoort. He is also the oldest champion in Geneva Open history.
Djokovic, currently ranked world number six, will face unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round at Roland Garros.
Reuters
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Novak Djokovic marked his 38th birthday in style on Thursday, defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Geneva Open semi-finals and continue his pursuit of a 100th career title.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion avenged last month’s Madrid Open loss to the Italian and will next face Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who rallied to defeat Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.
“It’s great to be in the semi-finals again. Hopefully this year I can go at least a step further, that’s the goal,” said Djokovic, who lost to Tomas Machac in last year’s quarter-finals.
“I think I’m playing really good tennis. A straight-sets win, but it was much closer than the score indicates.”
After taking the first set, Djokovic trailed 4-1 in the second but stormed back with five consecutive games to seal the win in one hour and 40 minutes.
The former world No. 1 admitted that smashing his racket in frustration helped him reset mentally and close out the match in straight sets.
“After the racquet breaking I kind of found my optimal state and balance mentally and emotionally to be able to play my best tennis when it was most needed,” Djokovic, who was presented with a birthday cake on court, said.
Djokovic is bidding to become only the third man in history to win 100 ATP titles, after Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
-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.
“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”.
“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.
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.”
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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