Browsing: Jannik

Jannik Sinner claimed a commanding victory over rival Carlos Alcaraz to win the lucrative Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sinner, replaced as world number one by Alcaraz following the US Open in September, exacted revenge for his defeat in the New York final with a 6-2 6-4 win.

With his victory, the Italian, 24, earned a reported $6m (£4.5m) – including $4.5m (£3.4m) in prize money, in addition to a $1.5m (£1.1m) participation fee.

While the pair split the four Grand Slam titles between them this season, Sinner was dominant from the outset against Alcaraz, who said his opponent was “just too good” on Saturday.

Sinner broke Alcaraz’s serve in the opening game and swiftly wrapped up the first set, with the Spaniard unable to gain a foothold against his opponent’s clinical serving.

He would go on to win the exhibition event for the second consecutive year after making the decisive breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set.

“I wish I could play like this everywhere,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.

“This season we played many, many times and I also lost many times to Carlos. It is a huge pleasure and honour to share the court with him.

“At the same time, you want to get better as a player and you need rivalries in the sport. So it’s nice to have a great rivalry and more importantly a great friendship off the court.

“We have a very special friendship and it’s very nice.”

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Exhibitions are meant to promote the sport and take it to new audiences. Organisers want the best players in the world to feature because they will sell more tickets.

Roger Federer played Rafael Nadal in Cape Town in 2020 in front of 51,954 fans – a reported record, external for a tennis crowd at the time, albeit not an official match.

Alcaraz – a gifted, highly entertaining shot-maker – plays a lot of exhibitions.

He faced Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in New York and North Carolina respectively at the start of the year

Alcaraz and Tiafoe also took part in an event in Puerto Rico, and are scheduled to play alongside Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova in New Jersey in December.

The Spaniard has also been vocal about the strain of the increasingly packed calendar, saying in 2024 they are “going to kill us in some way”.

When asked last year about playing so many exhibitions, Alcaraz said: “I have seen that many people talk about my calendar because I have put many exhibitions [in].

“But you have to separate the calendar and the exhibitions – they are different things.”

Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero believes, external the style of play at exhibitions – which tend to be about entertainment, rather than winning – helps his charge relax.

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Bates was on tour between 1980 and 1996. He rarely played on a slow court.

“In that period of time, there were two completely separate tours,” he explained.

“You had all the players who played on the clay, and then you had everyone else who played on the fast courts and the only time you would see the clay court players would be at the French [Open] and the only time we would see them would be at Wimbledon and the other Slams.

“All the indoor courts we played on were super slick. It was a question of how quick you could get to the net.”

“Most of the top 20 were serve-volleying. Some were playing from the back of the court. That’s what actually made it interesting to watch because you had two completely contrasting game styles, and now you are in a situation where the vast majority of players you watch just cancel each other out.”

Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, says the move to slow down the courts “killed a generation of serve and volley players”.

“But I think it is better for the game because otherwise you would have too many aces and serve winners, which I think is very boring,” he said.

“If you think about it, tennis is very slow. Ace is one second of play, and 30 seconds of wait on tour, which is crazy when you think about it – especially in today’s world when consumers don’t wait that much, and when there is no action you lose them.

And what if the Cincinnati tournament tried to increase their court speed still further?

“We would hear it, we would definitely hear it from the players,” Moran continued.

“I think we were a little bit faster than normal last year. Players were telling us we were wicked fast last year – almost like ice. I don’t know if we could get much faster than we were last year.”

“In my mind great points, point construction, rallies – I think that’s what the fans are looking for.”

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Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor, the 27th seed, after suffering from cramps in humid conditions while trailing the Dutchman 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2 on.

In the final weeks of a long, arduous season for all, the conditions in Shanghai have been severe this past week, particularly on Sunday as players tried to compete in 90% humidity. Many struggled badly.

Being scheduled in the night session offered little solace for Sinner, the world No 2, who was dragged into a third set by a tenacious Griekspoor. By the third set, Sinner had physically deteriorated, visibly cramping and limping badly before he had no choice but to retire.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,†said Griekspoor. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were still a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours, 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set. Sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.â€

Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, withdrew from Shanghai before the tournament because of the ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of his title run in Tokyo earlier this week, meaning Sinnerâ€s retirement presents a great opportunity for the rest of the field, including Novak Djokovic, who edged into the round of 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.

Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova continued to put together an incredible breakthrough season as she followed up her success at the grand slam tournaments by clinching the biggest title of her career with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win over Linda Noskova in Beijing.

Anisimova has now won two WTA 1000 titles at the China Open and Qatar Open alongside reaching two grand slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year. Having been ranked as low as No 41 in February, she sits at No 4 in the WTA rankings and No 3 in the WTA race. She has now qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh for the first time in her career.

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Her progress over the past nine days has been particularly satisfying considering she underwent wisdom tooth surgery on the day she flew out to Beijing: “Itâ€s been quite a few weeks for me here, for sure,†she said. “I feel like Iâ€ve learned a lot about myself. I think I can take a lot of positives and look at it as a lot of progress for me just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I canâ€t go any further. I feel like in that sense I learned that Iâ€m stronger than I think. Thatâ€s a huge win for me.â€

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SHANGHAI — Big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard upset fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5 and advanced to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, while defending champion Jannik Sinner retired due to severe leg cramps.

After taking the opening set, Sinner, who won the China Open in Beijing, trailed 7-6 (3), 5-7, 2/3 against Tallon Griekspoor when he abandoned the match in humid conditions.

Sinner massaged his right thigh during the decider.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,” Griekspoor said. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours and 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set … I’m sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his match Sunday at the Shanghai Masters due to severe leg cramps. Photo by Hu Chengwei/Getty Images

Mpetshi Perricard sent down 12 aces, to Fritz’s nine, and took a break in each set as he clinched his first tour victory against the American to set up a last-16 meeting with 10th-seeded Holger Rune.

Also Sunday, Novak Djokovic was made to work hard before he rallied past German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Djokovic struggled to cope with Hanfmann’s big serve and excellent play at the net. He’ll be up against Jaume Munar in the next round. Djokovic was sick during the second set and threw up during a changeover.

“It’s the same for every player out on the court, but it’s brutal,” Djokovic said of the conditions. “It’s brutal when you have over 80 percent of humidity day after day, particularly for the guys when they’re playing during the day with heat, with sun, it’s even more brutal.”

Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending fifth title at the Shanghai Masters.

Rune beat 21st-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4, Zizou Bergs upset 19th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the 31st-seeded Gabriel Diallo advanced by walkover after David Goffin retired early in the first set.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Japan Open last week, is not in Shanghai due to minor ailments.

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BEIJING — Jannik Sinner won the China Open by beating American teenager Learner Tien 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday’s final to continue his preparations for the Shanghai Masters.

Sinner rebounded from his US Open disappointment by winning his third title of the season — and 21st altogether — with a dominant performance against the 19-year-old Tien, the second-youngest player to reach the tournament’s final.

“We will try to improve and push for more and let’s see what the rest of the season looks like, but I am very happy,” Sinner said.

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Sinner next goes to Shanghai, where he will be the favorite after Carlos Alcaraz withdrew because of an ankle injury sustained in the first round of the Japan Open, which he won Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Sinner won his 11th straight match against Alex de Minaur in their China Open semifinal. Sinner’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory took him to a ninth straight final at hard-court tournaments.

Tien, ranked No. 52, was playing in his first tour final after Daniil Medvedev retired injured when the score was 5-7, 7-5, 4-0 on Tuesday.

The ATP event in Beijing ran concurrently with the WTA 1000 tournament, which is into the fourth round and ends Sunday. Among those playing their fourth-round matches later Wednesday were top-seeded Iga Swiatek and fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula.

Second-seeded Coco Gauff has already qualified for the quarterfinals, which she is scheduled to play against Eva Lys on Thursday.

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Jannik Sinner continued to piece together one of the greatest seasons of his career as he clinched his 21st career title at the China Open with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory over Learner Tien.

Sinnerâ€s victory marks his third title of 2025 after winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. The Italianâ€s record now stands at 42-5 (89%) this year and he has reached the final in seven of eight tournaments, including all four grand slams.

Only Carlos Alcaraz has come close to Sinner on hard courts, with Sinner winning 79 of his last 80 matches on the surface against players besides the ATP No 1. Other than Alcarazâ€s four hard court wins over Sinner during this period, Sinnerâ€s loss to Andrey Rublev at the Canada Masters last year remains his only defeat on his favourite surface since November 2023.

Despite the pair competing in different countries against different fields of opponents, this week has further underlined how superior Sinner and Alcaraz are to the rest of the tour. A day earlier, Alcaraz defeated Taylor Fritz to win his eighth title of the season in Tokyo.

In the aftermath of his US Open defeat in New York, which led to the Italian losing the No 1 ranking he had held since June 2024, Sinner said he intended to make himself more unpredictable in his matches against his rivaleven though trying to make those changes could lead to more losses early on.

The 24-year-old has shown some of those adjustments throughout this week, particularly by implementing more drop shots. Although he was not as dominant as in many of his other recent tournament runs, dropping sets to Terence Atmane and Alex de Minaur, Sinner still overpowered all opponents in his path.

There is no rest for most of the best players in a gruelling season. The ATP tour moves on to the Shanghai Masters, the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event, where Sinner will has a first-round bye. Alcaraz, however, will not be present in China after withdrawing shortly after his win in Tokyo in order to manage an ankle injury.

Meanwhile, Gael Monfils has announced that he will retire after the 2026 season. Monfils, who became the oldest ATP champion in history in January and turned 39 last month, has enjoyed an celebrated 21-year career as one of the most charismatic players in the sport. The Frenchman reached a career-high ranking of No 6 in 2016 and has won 13 titles.

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Jannik Sinner will face USA’s Learner Tien in the final of the China Open (Images via Getty Images) Jannik Sinner reached the China Open final for the third year in succession on Tuesday, setting up a title clash with teenage American Learner Tien. The world number two was made to work hard in his semi-final against Alex de Minaur before prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Sinner is now just one win away from lifting his second Beijing crown.“Itâ€s a very special place for me. This court has always been amazing,†Sinner said after his victory, as quoted by AFP. “Many things were positive finding myself again here, playing the last match of the tournament, itâ€s great.†Standing between him and the trophy will be 19-year-old Tien, who stunned Daniil Medvedev in the other semi-final. The Russian struggled physically, with his leg strapped and movement restricted by cramps. He fell 0-4 behind in the deciding set before retiring in frustration.
Medvedev clashed with the chair umpire during the contest, reacting angrily to being issued a code violation for lack of effort. “Why is every referee in the world trying to intimidate me? Iâ€m telling you I am giving my best effort. Iâ€m not going to try to continue,†Medvedev said before leaving the court. Tien, at 19 years and nine months, became the second-youngest player to make the Beijing final, behind Rafael Nadal. Sinner, who was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at last yearâ€s edition, will begin as the clear favourite on Wednesday.

Coco Gauff marches on

In the womenâ€s draw, defending champion Coco Gauff fought past Belinda Bencic 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals. It was a tense battle that included an exchange of words between the players at the changeover, with Bencic complaining about Gauffâ€s team “chatting†during play. The American, however, kept her composure to win the second set tiebreak after Bencic double-faulted on set point.

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“It was a tough match,†Gauff said. “I had chances in the first to close it out but overall Iâ€m happy with how I fought. She was being really aggressive.†The 21-year-old secured her spot at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia with the win. She next faces Germanyâ€s Eva Lys, who reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final by defeating McCartney Kessler 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

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Sep 20, 2025, 06:02 AM ETMILAN — Italian rapper Fedez has apologized for publishing musical lyrics saying that tennis player…

When Carlos Alcaraz is fully focused and his impossibly complete game is in full flow, nothing in the world can…