Tennis

Martina Navratilova: Tennis legend says she is 'cancer-free' after treatment..

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Tennis great Martina Navratilova says she is "cancer-free" after fearing she "would not see next Christmas".

The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, who previously had breast cancer in 2010, was diagnosed with throat and breast cancer late last year.

In January, she said both cancers had been caught at an early stage.

"As far as they [the doctors] know I'm cancer-free," the 66-year-old said on Piers Morgan's TalkTV show on Tuesday.

"I still need to deal with the right breast, probably need to have radiation but that's a couple of weeks and that doesn't even count.

"That's more preventative than anything else. I should be good to go. It's 99% solvable."

Navratilova noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck during November's WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.

A subsequent biopsy revealed stage one throat cancer.

During the tests, a lump was also discovered in her breast, which was later diagnosed as an unrelated cancer.

"I was in a total panic for three days thinking I may not see next Christmas," she told Morgan.

"The bucket list came into my mind of all the things I wanted to do.

"And this may sound really shallow, but I was like, 'OK, which kick-ass car do I really want to drive if I live like a year'?'"

Navratilova said her friend and former rival Chris Evert, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2021, supported her "so much" through her treatment.

The pair, who dominated women's tennis during the 1970s and 80s, received cancer treatment in the same New York clinic.

"Our careers are always intertwined and then we follow each other this way," Navratilova said.

"You can't just make it up. The parallels are unbelievable. Same place. Some of the same nurses.

"Chris has been just a star. She has supported me so much through this as I supported her a year ago."

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Miami Open 2023 results: Andy Murray loses to Dusan Lajovic in straight sets..

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Two-time champion Andy Murray suffered a straight-set loss to Dusan Lajovic in the first round at the Miami Open.

Former world number one Murray, winner in both 2009 and 2013, was beaten 6-4 7-5 by the 76th-ranked Serb.

It comes a week after the fatigued 35-year-old Scot lost to Jack Draper in the third round at Indian Wells.

Fellow Briton Kyle Edmund is also out after losing 7-5 7-5 to Wu Yibing, while Emma Raducanu was defeated in the women's draw by Bianca Andreescu.

Murray, currently 52nd in the world, won a remarkable seven deciding sets among several marathon victories in an exhausting opening to his 2023 season.

But he was unable to produce the response required after Lajovic, 32, forced the first break of serve in game seven and went on to clinch the opening set.

Murray hinted that another memorable comeback could be on the cards as he broke back immediately to stay in the second set at 5-5.

However, Lajovic moved quickly to extinguish those hopes with another break and was relieved to serve out the match in straight sets when Murray framed a forehand.

"When I didn't close it out I thought it's happening again," Lajovic, who will play American Maxime Cressy, said of Murray's ability to battle back.

It is a disappointing result for Murray, who had not lost in the opening round of a tournament since early January, and he is now 8-5 overall this season.

"Some days you obviously don't hit the ball your best, but my movement wasn't great today," Murray said.

"I served pretty well, but the rest of the game was a bit of a problem."

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Miami Open: Dan Evans and Coco Gauff among seeds to fall..

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British number two Dan Evans is out of the Miami Open after losing in the second round to Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

Evans, seeded 23 and ranked 30 places higher than his opponent at 29th in the world, was beaten 6-4 3-6 2-6.
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He was one of a number of seeds who went out of the tournament on Saturday in both the men's and women's draws.

Alex de Minaur and Matteo Berrettini exited, but the biggest casualty was women's sixth seed Coco Gauff, who lost to Russian Anastasia Potapova.

Australian De Minaur, the 15th seed, suffered an agonising 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8) defeat to Quentin Halys, the world number 79 from France.

Italian Berrettini, seeded 19, had a similar close encounter, losing 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5) to American Mackenzie McDonald.

Italian Lorenzo Musetti was the third of the men's top 20 seeds to fall as he was beaten 6-4 6-4 by in-form Czech Jiri Lehecka.

Canadian fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime did progress with victory over Brazil's Thiago Monteiro on two tie-breaks, while women's third seed Jessica Pegula swept aside fellow American Danielle Collins 6-1 7-6 (7-0).

Men's second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed courtesy of a walkover as France's Richard Gasquet withdrew with an injury.

Queen's Club: Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie among British players at Cinch Championships..

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Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie are among 10 British players named in the line-up for the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club this summer.

Five-time champion Murray, 2021 finalist Norrie, Dan Evans and Jack Draper are in the singles, while Neal Skupski, Joe Salisbury, Lloyd Glasspool and Jamie Murray will play doubles.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will feature in the wheelchair draws.

The pre-Wimbledon tournament takes place from 19-25 June.

Men's singles world number one Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut at Queen's while defending champion Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe have also confirmed their participation.

Berrettini defeated world number 12 Norrie in three sets in 2021, before defending his title against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic last year.

In Alcaraz, Skupski and Hewett, the line-up includes the current world number one in the singles, doubles and wheelchair rankings.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, who is the only Briton to win the Queen's title in the Open era, said: "It's always a great week at the Cinch Championships, playing at the Queen's Club with British fans.

"Obviously I have a lot of special memories there so I'm really looking forward to returning this year."

Rafael Nadal remains French Open doubt after Monte Carlo withdrawal because of injury..

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Defending champion Rafael Nadal remains a doubt for the French Open after pulling out of next week's Monte Carlo Masters with an ongoing hip injury.

The Spanish world number 14 has won the tournament in Monaco 11 times but is not fit to return to action.

The 36-year-old has not played since his straight-set second-round defeat by American Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open in January.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz is also out of Monte Carlo through injury.

The Spaniard, who is chasing Novak Djokovic for the number one ranking, has hand and back problems.

"After two months abroad I am happy to return home, but sad because I finished my last match in Miami with physical discomfort," said Alcaraz, who lost to Jannik Sinner in the last four of the Miami Open, on Twitter.

"I will not be able to go to Monte Carlo to start the clay-court tour. I have post-traumatic arthritis in my left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine that needs rest to prepare for everything that is to come."

Nadal had expected to be out for six to eight weeks after an MRI scan following his Melbourne loss showed a tear in his left psoas muscle.

But missing the start of the European clay-court season leaves him short of match practice before the Roland Garros event he has won a record 14 times, which begins on 28 May.

"I'm still not ready to compete at the highest level," Nadal said on Twitter.

"I will not be able to play in one of the most important tournaments of my career, Monte Carlo.

"I am not yet in a position to play with the maximum guarantees and I continue my preparation process, hoping to return soon."

Boris Becker: Six-time Grand Slam singles champion on prison, fame and the future, My time in prison was brutal..

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Tennis great Boris Becker says he is building his life's "third chapter" following his release from prison.

The 55-year-old German served eight months of his two-and-a-half-year sentence for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.

He was released in December and was subsequently deported from the UK.

"I'm usually good in the fifth set - I've won the first two sets, I've lost the next two and I'm planning to win that," he told 5 Live Breakfast.

In a lengthy interview, former world number one Becker said:

There was "no handbook" for dealing with fame and fortune after winning Wimbledon as a teenager

Prison was "brutal" and a "very different experience to what you see in the movies"

He's a "stronger, better man" after eight months in prison

The full interview will be played on Saturday's 5 Live Breakfast show.

'Whoever says prison life isn't hard is lying'
The six-time Grand Slam singles champion, who was catapulted to stardom in 1985 when he won Wimbledon aged just 17, was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act in April last year.

The case centred on Becker's bankruptcy in June 2017 resulting from an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his luxury estate in Mallorca, Spain.

Speaking before the release of a new TV documentary about his life and career, Becker said: "I don't think there was a handbook written for how to behave, what to do and how to live your life when you win Wimbledon at 17.

"The fame and fortune after was very new.

"Obviously I never studied business, I never studied finance and after my tennis career I made a couple of decisions probably badly advised but again it was my decision."


After sentencing, Becker spent the first weeks of his detention at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London, before spending the majority of his sentence at Huntercombe Prison in Oxfordshire.

"Whoever says that prison life isn't hard and isn't difficult I think is lying," the three-time Wimbledon champion said.

"I was surrounded by murderers, by drug dealers, by rapists, by people smugglers, by dangerous criminals.

"You fight every day for survival. Quickly you have to surround yourself with the tough boys, as I would call it, because you need protection."

Becker said being a legendary tennis player counted for nothing while he was in prison.

"If you think you're better than everybody else then you lose," he said.

"Inside it doesn't matter that I was a tennis player, the only currency we have inside is our character and our personality. That's it, you have nothing else.

"You don't have any friends at first, you're literally on your own and that's the hard part, you have to really dig inside yourself about your qualities and your strengths but also your weaknesses."

'I miss London'
Following his release, Becker was deported to Germany and will not be allowed to return to UK soil until October 2024.

"I miss London, I really miss Wimbledon and I won't be going there this year," he said

"I'm fortunate that I can stand on my feet, none of my partners have dropped me, they've welcomed me back home.

"When you're down, and the last five, six years were very difficult for me, you truly find out who's with you and who's not with you."

Speaking about how he has been received by people since his release, he said: "Nobody's perfect including myself and I've accepted all of that.

"I've been out now for three and a half months and I'm very humbled again by the reception I've received from fans, from people on the street from people who have followed the story a little bit."

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The former BBC pundit says he has been in dialogue with the BBC about being part of its Wimbledon coverage in the future.

"I've told them I can't come back next year," Becker said.

"If I'm allowed to go back I will make a phone call and ask if they want me back on the team, I would certainly love to but it's not my decision."

'I'm a stronger, better man'
Becker believes he has learned valuable lessons from his time in prison.

"I never thought at 17 I'd be incarcerated at 54," he said.

"If anything it certainly humbled me, it certainly made me realise that whether you're called Boris Becker or Paul Smith, if you break the law, you get convicted and you get incarcerated, that goes for everybody.

"I never expected the good and I certainly didn't expect the bad but I'm a survivor, I'm a tough cookie, I've taken the penalties, I've taken the incarceration but I've also taken the glory and if anything this made me a stronger, better man.

"With my decisions in the future you can see whether I have learned from it or I didn't."

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Monte Carlo Masters: Cameron Norrie loses in first round but Jack Draper through..

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Cameron Norrie fell to an early exit at the Monte Carlo Masters as he lost to Francisco Cerundolo in the first round.

The British number one, ranked 13th in the world, was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Argentina's Cerundolo on the Mediterranean clay.

Fellow Briton Jack Draper returned from injury with a 6-3 7-5 win in his opening tie against another Argentine, Sebastian Baez.

The 21-year-old faces 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the second round.

Draper was forced to retire during a fourth-round match with world number two Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells last month because of an abdominal problem. He then pulled out of the Miami Open as he did not want to make the problem worse.

He was given a strong test against Baez in Monte Carlo but saved 11 of the 12 break points he faced while taking three of his own four chances.

In his match, Norrie looked unsettled throughout and had 18 unforced errors compared with only eight winners.

World number 33 Cerundolo, 24, gained the decisive break in the ninth game of the second set when 27-year-old Norrie netted a forehand.

Norrie started the season with a run of 21 wins from 25 matches but also lost his opening match at the Miami Open last month when he was defeated by France's Gregoire Barrere.

Billie Jean King Cup 2023: Emma Raducanu missing for Great Britain qualifier against France..

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Great Britain can be successful without Emma Raducanu when they play France for a place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, says Katie Boulter.

British number one Raducanu, 20, is unavailable for the best-of-five qualifier in Coventry this week.

Captain Anne Keothavong has named the same squad that reached the semi-finals last year in Glasgow.

"Of course we're going to miss Emma. But we're excited to have the same team as Glasgow," Boulter told BBC Sport.

"There was an incredible atmosphere among the team and with the support we were given, and we're all working hard to try and cause a little upset against France."

The winners of the tie, which will be played on Friday and Saturday and consists of four singles and one doubles rubber, qualifies for November's 12-team Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

Who is playing for GB?
British number three Harriet Dart leads the singles players as the highest ranked player at 138th, with support from experienced pair Heather Watson and Boulter, who are both outside the world's top 150.

Doubles specialists Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls, who won both their matches on an impressive debut for their nation in Glasgow, are again picked.

Jodie Burrage, who is ranked as Britain's top women's player behind Raducanu, missed out on selection.

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Who is playing for France?
France possess a stronger squad than Britain in terms of rankings and pedigree, as well as the standout singles player in the shape of world number five Caroline Garcia.

Garcia, who is also ranked inside the top 30 doubles players, is joined by world number 70 Alize Cornet and world number 111 Clara Burel.

Cornet reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open last year and played a key role in France winning the 2019 Billie Jean King Cup, while Burel beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the US Open first round last year.

All three are ranked higher than the British singles players.

Experienced doubles player Kristina Mladenovic - a nine-time major champion and the standout star of France's win four years ago - has also been selected by captain Julien Benneteau.

"They are a very strong team and Garcia is a big weapon," Boulter said.

"Ultimately, you never know who is going to play and we have to be prepared - which we will be."
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What is the schedule?
Friday 14th April: Two singles rubbers, starting at 2pm

Saturday 15th April: Two singles rubbers and a potential doubles rubber, starting at 12pm

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Great Britain v France in Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Coventry.

NOW: Katie Boulter (GB) v Caroline Garcia (FRA).

Followed by: Harriet Dart (GB) v Alize Cornet (FRA).

Best-of-five tie being played over two days: two singles rubbers on Friday, two singles and a doubles on Saturday.

Winning team qualifies for November's Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
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14:39 - Latest - Live on BBC Red Button NOW.

Boulter 2-2 Garcia

Peter Odgers - BBC Sport commentator

Giving Caroline Garcia a taste of her own medicine, have to love that from Katie Boulter.

Garcia has already hit a couple of double faults and that play from Boulter will only make her more shaky.

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14:47 - Latest

Boulter breaks the Garcia serve

*Boulter 3-2 Garcia

Some brilliantly attacking play from Boulter, steeping forward and dispatching some loose second serves, helps her get the first break of the match.

The world number five is a break down and it's a brilliant start to the tie for Britain.