Tennis

Dan Evans criticises ATP and WTA threats to strip LTA of pre-Wimbledon events..

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Evans is unhappy with the idea that tournament licences could be sold overseas should the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes continue


Britain's Dan Evans criticised the ATP and WTA tours for threatening to strip the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) of pre-Wimbledon events, like Queen's, if Russians and Belarusians stay banned.

In 2022, the LTA and All England Club (AELTC) banned entries following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The LTA was fined £1.4m by the ATP and WTA for its move, while Wimbledon was played without rankings points.

"It's a sad state of affairs if Queen's wasn't on," Evans told the Times.

"I'm not a fan of the threats," the British number two added. "The ATP should not throw stones when they live in glass houses.

"Queen's is one of the best and most prestigious tournaments on the tour, which has done a lot for the ATP Tour in its time."

The announcement to ban Russian and Belarusian entries was generally well received in the UK but led to the removal of ranking points at Wimbledon and resulted in the large fines.

Following an appeal, the fine from the WTA will be halved to £500,000 if players from the two nations are allowed to enter this year.

The WTA and ATP Tours have said they will cancel the LTA's membership if it exercises further "discrimination based on nationality", which means traditional tournaments staged at The Queen's Club, Eastbourne and elsewhere in the run-up to Wimbledon could be lost.

"I'm a massive advocate for the ATP generally," added Evans. "They do great things but we have to have sensible conversations.

"I don't think threatening the LTA with taking away the licence for these events is how it's going to be resolved."

There is no threat of Wimbledon not going ahead because it is a Grand Slam tournament, meaning it is not governed by the ATP and WTA tours.

"It affects all of the Brits," Evans said. "They're not going to get chances or playing opportunities with a wild card.

"I think common sense should prevail. The LTA's hands are tied a little bit as well. This subject goes a bit bigger than tennis federations and governing bodies."

Emma Raducanu: British number one pulls out of exhibition event before Indian Wells..

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Emma Raducanu has pulled out of a charity exhibition event before her opening match at Indian Wells.

The 20-year-old British number one was due to play mixed doubles with Cameron Norrie at the Eisenhower Cup.

Raducanu also did not practice on Tuesday, though she is hoping to on Wednesday.

The 2021 US Open champion will then decide whether she is able to take on Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the Indian Wells first round on Thursday.

Raducanu missed last week's WTA tournament in Texas because of tonsillitis and has not played since the Australian Open in January.

She has spoken of being especially protective of her body this year after retiring from four matches last season.

Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu beats Danka Kovinic..

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Emma Raducanu won in her first match since losing to Coco Gauff at the Australian Open in mid-January

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Britain's Emma Raducanu overcame a build-up disrupted by injury and illness to earn a gutsy first-round win at the prestigious Indian Wells event.

Raducanu, 20, was unsure she would be fit enough to play because of a recurring wrist injury, but won 6-2 6-3 against Montenegro's Danka Kovinic.

The 2021 US Open champion, ranked 77th, faces Poland's Magda Linette next.

Since sensationally winning the US Open as a virtually unknown teenage qualifier, Raducanu has been unable to build on that success as her progress continues to be stalled by fitness problems.

Various injuries over the course of 2022 wrecked her chances of finding momentum in her first full year on the WTA Tour and the wrist problem that ended her season returned to threaten her participation in Indian Wells.

With tonsillitis also forcing her out of a tournament in Austin last week, the British number one summed up her fortunes by telling BBC Sport: "When it rains, it pours."

But an efficient victory over 62nd-ranked Kovinic - in Raducanu's first match since losing to Coco Gauff at the Australian Open - should help lift any lingering gloom.

Raducanu did not appear totally over her recent illness and trailed 2-0 in each of the two sets, but grew in confidence as 28-year-old Kovinic produced a stream of errors.

Kovinic played some loose shots and struggled with her first-serve percentage in both sets, with Raducanu staying patient and playing smart to grind out a solid win.

Wimbledon 2023: Clare Balding to lead BBC coverage of this year's Championships..

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Clare Balding will be the lead presenter for the BBC's coverage of this year's Wimbledon.

Balding takes over from Sue Barker, who decided to step down from her role at the end of the 2022 Championships after 30 years of broadcasting live sport for the BBC.

"It's a huge honour to be given this responsibility but I am very aware that no one person can fill Sue's shoes," said Balding.

Wimbledon takes place from 3rd to 16th July.

Balding has worked on Wimbledon as a reporter, commentator and presenter for the BBC since 1995.

The award-winning presenter has also worked on other major sporting events for the corporation, including seven summer Olympic Games.

Balding added: "This will always be a team effort and we're lucky that the BBC line-up includes former professionals with huge insight as well as wonderful reporters and commentators.

"It's my job to bring out the best in them and to help make our viewers feel they have a front-row seat on the greatest sporting stage."

Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater said Balding will bring her "passion and knowledge for the prestigious event" to the viewers watching at home.

As with last year, Isa Guha will present the early coverage before Balding takes over later in the day.

The partnership between the BBC and the All England Lawn Tennis Club is the longest in sports broadcasting history, spanning more than 85 years on BBC TV and more than 95 years on BBC radio.

Indian Wells 2023: Cameron Norrie beats Taro Daniel to reach fourth round..

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British number one Cameron Norrie came from behind to beat Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel on Sunday and reach the last 16 at Indian Wells.

The 10th seed was a set and 4-1 down in California but won the next five games before clinching the second set.

The 2021 champion, 27, then saw out the decider to claim a 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-2 win over the US-born Daniel, 30.

"I'm happy to be riding the wave right now but I still have a lot of things to work on," said Norrie.

The world number 12 now has 20 wins this season and upset top seed Carlos Alcaraz to win his fifth overall ATP title at the Rio Open last month.

Norrie's only previous Masters 1000 title came at Indian Wells in 2021 and his latest visit will continue against either the sixth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia or France's Ugo Humbert.

"It was not the prettiest of matches today, but I'll take it," Norrie added.

"I should have won that first set. lots of chances and I think it carried over a bit into the second set.

"But I was able to really play point for point and then really come back and play some of my best tennis."

Indian Wells: Jack Draper beats Andy Murray in straight sets to reach last 16..

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Jack Draper beat Andy Murray 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 in their first competitive meeting to reach the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters.

The 21-year-old will now play US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.

Draper was on Centre Court as an 11-year-old when Murray won Wimbledon for the first time in 2013 and has formed a strong bond with the Scot.

"If I was going to say one sporting person who has inspired me the most it would be Andy," Draper told BBC Sport.

"To come off court with the win against Andy - I'll never forget that moment."

Andy Murray will now move on to Miami, where he is a two-time champion, with at least a week to rest before his first-round match.

"In the tie-break, I had a few opportunities but he came up with a really good return on the six-all point and then the second set was tough for me, physically," Murray said.

"Just a bit of fatigue to be honest - recently I've played quite a lot of long matches and the first set was very tough physically for both of us, and here it's not that easy to finish points."

Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu beaten by Iga Swiatek in fourth round..

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Britain's Emma Raducanu is out of Indian Wells after a straight-set defeat by world number one Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.

The defending champion won 6-3 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals.

The second set was one-sided, but Raducanu's three wins in California represent her best tournament since winning the 2021 US Open.

"I think that Iga played a very good level and showed why she is number one in the world," Raducanu told BBC Sport.

"She was very ruthless with the way that she played. I think I was able to stay competitive for the beginning of the match but ultimately she ground me down and by the end of it I was just taking way too long to recover from one rally."

Indian Wells: Cameron Norrie's run ended by Frances Tiafoe in quarter-finals..

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British number one Cameron Norrie's run in Indian Wells ended with an error-strewn defeat against American Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals.

Norrie, who won the event in 2021, was well below his best and beaten 6-4 6-4 by the 25-year-old 14th seed.

Norrie, 27, the 10th seed, looked unusually flat at times and made 28 unforced errors.

Tiafoe will play Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the semi-final.

He reached the semi-final of the US Open last year but this is the first time he has reached the last four of a Masters 1000 event.

"It is big," he said. "I'm super happy about today.

"I have been playing really well all week. I am happy being here."

The opening stages of the match were interrupted by drizzle in the desert but afterwards Tiafoe was comfortably the better player in windy conditions.

He broke serve at 3-3 in the first set before closing out the set and soon took a 5-2 lead in the second.

Norrie won the next two games but Tiafoe closed out the match on his serve on the second attempt.

The defeat ends the British singles interest in Indians Wells, one of the most high-profile tournaments outside of the Grand Slams, after Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu were beaten on Tuesday.

Novak Djokovic: World number one will not play at Miami Open after being denied entry to US

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World number one Novak Djokovic has failed in his bid to play at next week's Miami Open after being denied entry to the United States.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner, 35, had applied for special permission to enter the US because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19.

The US requires international visitors to be vaccinated and proof will be required until at least 10 April.

Djokovic withdrew from the ongoing Indian Wells event for the same reason.

"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play," said Miami Open tournament director James Blake.

Speaking to the Tennis Channel, he added: "We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried, and he wasn't able to play.

"Same result that he had in Indian Wells, where I know [fellow tournament director] Tommy Haas did as much as he could. We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen.

"We'd love to have him, and he's our greatest champion, he's won six times here. Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade."

Serbia's Djokovic missed last year's US Open because of his vaccination status.

Djokovic, who also missed last year's Australian Open and was deported from the country because of his vaccination status, has said he would skip Grand Slams rather than have a Covid-19 vaccination.

He was permitted to travel to Melbourne in January and won a record-extending 10th Australian Open title, tying Rafael Nadal's men's record of 22 Grand Slam wins.