Tennis
Players bemoan lack of ranking points at Wimbledon
Players were disappointed about the absence of ranking points at Wimbledon this year but had grudgingly accepted the governing bodies’ decision, Tunisia’s world number six Ons Jabeur said on Sunday.
The world’s most prestigious tennis tournament was stripped of its ranking points by the ATP and WTA Tours over its decision to exclude players from Russia and Belarus due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rankings determine a player’s ability to enter tennis events and receive seedings, and the absence of them will reduce Wimbledon to an exhibition tournament.
“It’s a very difficult decision; we’ve been talking a lot with the WTA. I wish they can find a solution but I don’t think anything will change with the no points,” Jabeur told reporters after exiting the French Open in a shock opening-round loss.
“Obviously a lot of players are disappointed.”
This year’s Wimbledon will be the first time players have been excluded on grounds of nationality since the immediate post-World War Two era when German and Japanese players were banned.
Tennis governing bodies have themselves banned Russia and Belarus from international team competitions following the invasion, which Moscow calls a ‘special operation’, but have allowed players from the two countries to compete as neutrals.
The Wimbledon move has been condemned by tennis governing bodies as discriminatory and their sanction on the grasscourt Grand Slam will mean that players will be unable to defend the points they earned in the 2021 championships.
“I wish we had points… because it’s not fair if we drop all the points without us defending anything, especially some people had finals, semi-finals,” Jabeur said.
Wimbledon’s decision has been criticised by top players such as 21-times Grand Slam champion Rafa Nadal who labelled it unfair, while world number one Novak Djokovic said he did not support the decision.
Djokovic, who will lose the 2,000 points he earned by lifting last year’s trophy, is among many who will be impacted and could drop down the rankings.
“It’s a tough decision for everybody, for some players it is probably very painful,” said former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem, who missed the 2021 Wimbledon with an injury.
Former U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens, who sits on the WTA Players’ Council, said it was unfortunate for those who would lose points but backed the tours’ stand.
“The decision that’s been taken obviously wasn’t taken lightly,” she said. “I think when you are backed into a corner and that’s all you can do, I think that’s why the decision was made, and I support it.
“When you look at the principles and what our tour stands for, discrimination will never be tolerated. It’s a lot of players that will lose points. I’m going to lose points. But that’s not what we stand for as a tour.”
-Reuters
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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