Tennis

Italian Open 2023 results: Novak Djokovic loses to Holger Rune in Rome..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport.

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Novak Djokovic suffered his earliest exit at the Italian Open since 2013 when he was beaten by rising Danish star Holger Rune in the quarter-finals.

The Serb top seed, who turns 36 next week, was beaten 6-2 4-6 6-2 by 20-year-old Rune on the Rome clay.

Djokovic was bidding for his seventh title in the Italian capital as he prepares for the French Open on 28 May.

Seventh seed Rune will play Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud in the semi-final.

Djokovic's preparations for the French Open have been disrupted by injury, having missed the recent Madrid Open with an elbow problem and returning to the court in Rome as he looked to build up form and fitness.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion will have the opportunity at Roland Garros to move clear of Rafael Nadal in terms of the most men's major titles of all time.

Following opening wins against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Grigor Dimitrov and British number one Cameron Norrie, Djokovic was going through the gears in Rome without yet finding his finest form.

With Djokovic out and Nadal not playing because of injury, the Rome men's singles final will be the first since 2004 without at least one of the pair involved.


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Rafael Nadal out of 2023 French Open and plans retirement in 2024..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport.

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Rafael Nadal will miss the French Open for the first time in 19 years after a hip injury ruled out the record 14-time men's singles champion.

The 36-year-old Spaniard, who has won 22 major titles, also said he plans to retire after the 2024 season.

"I didn't make the decision, my body made the decision. To play Roland Garros is impossible," he said.

"Next year will probably be my last year, that is my idea. If I keep going now I won't be able to make it happen."

Nadal holds the joint record number of men's major triumphs alongside Serbia's Novak Djokovic. He has won 70 other ATP titles and spent 209 weeks at world number one - the sixth longest amount in ATP history.

Known as the 'King of Clay', Nadal has won 112 of his 115 matches at the French Open.

However, the Mallorcan left-hander has not played since sustaining the hip problem at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal has been practising in recent weeks, but was not fit enough to play a tournament in the run-up to Roland Garros.

The French Open starts in Paris on 28th May and runs until 11th June.

"I was working as much as possible every single day for the past four months and they have been difficult because we were not been able to find the solution to the problems I had in Australia," he added.

"I'm still in the position where I am not able to feel ready to compete at the standards I need to be to play at Roland Garros.

"I am not the guy who will be at Roland Garros just try to be there and in a position where I don't like to be."

Nadal said he needs to stop playing for the foreseeable future in order to make a full recovery and complete a planned farewell season in 2024.

His participation at this year's Wimbledon remains in doubt. The Championships, which Nadal won in 2008 and 2010, start at the All England Club on 3 July and run until 16 July.

"I will stop for a while, maybe one month and a half, maybe two months, maybe three months or maybe four months. I don't know. I do not like to predict the future," he said.

"I will do the right thing for my body and personal happiness.

"My goal and ambition is to try and stop and give myself an opportunity to enjoy the next year.

"That is my idea but I can't say 100% it will be like this. My idea is to try to enjoy and say goodbye to all the tournaments that have been important for me."

Nadal injured his hip during a second-round defeat by American Mackenzie MacDonald in Melbourne and initially expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks.

An MRI scan two days after the match showed a tear in his left psoas muscle.

Last month, Nadal announced he would not be able to play the Madrid Open because the injury "still hadn't healed" and was planning a different course of treatment.

Then he withdrew from this month's Italian Open - another important clay-court tournament before the French Open - saying he had still not been able to train at a high level.

On Thursday, he announced he will miss Roland Garros for the first time in his career in a news conference at his academy in Mallorca.

Nadal won the French Open title in his first appearance there in 2005, going on to triumph another 13 times in the following 17 years.

No player has won as many singles titles at one major tournament as the Spaniard has at Roland Garros.

In a message to Nadal, the French Open said it could not "imagine how hard the decision" was for the player.

"We'll definitely miss you at this year's Roland Garros," it said in a statement. "Take care of yourself to come back stronger on courts. Hoping to see you next year in Paris."

'Nadal harbours hopes for more titles' - analysis
Russell Fuller, BBC Tennis Correspondent

By missing the French Open for the first time since 2004, Nadal hopes he might just be in a position to win a 15th title in Paris this time next year.

He very much wants to be in Melbourne, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Paris, Wimbledon and New York next year to say goodbye. But you just know he will also very much hope he can win these tournaments for one last time.

It is, however, not very encouraging to hear him say no solution has yet been found to his hip problem.

And when he admitted pain has prevented him from enjoying both practice and competition in recent years, it reminded me of Andy Murray: who took his own break from the sport, and surgery in his case, to improve - above all else - his quality of life.

Tennis has been adjusting to the loss of Serena Williams and Roger Federer. And now there will be a Rafael Nadal size hole in the summer schedule.

But if it gives us another year, it will be worth the wait.

Simona Halep: Two-time Grand Slam champion charged with second breach of doping rules..By Jess Anderson, BBC Sport.

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Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep has been charged with a second doping offence over "irregularities in her athlete biological passport".

The Romanian, 31, has been suspended since October after testing positive for a banned substance at the US Open.

Her additional charge is separate to the one she is already suspended for.

Halep said on Instagram she feels "helpless facing such harassment" and denies the charges, suggesting she has been "a victim of a contamination".

The athlete biological passport programme collects and compares biological data to spot discrepancies over time that suggest possible doping.

Former world number one Halep's suspension last year was imposed after she tested positive for roxadustat, an anti-anaemia drug which stimulates the production of red blood cells in the body.

She criticised the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), which is responsible for testing within the sport, for its handling of her case, arguing that there had been unnecessary delays in the process.

"I have lived the worst nightmare I have ever gone through in my life," she said.

"Not only has my name been soiled in the worst possible way, but I am facing a constant determination from the ITIA, for a reason that I cannot understand, to prove my guilt while I haven't ever thought of taking an illicit substance."

Halep added that she hopes to have the chance to prove her innocence at a hearing scheduled for the end of May.

The ITIA said it was continuing discussions with an independent tribunal team and with Halep's representatives to get the matter resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible, although did not indicate how long that would take.

Nicole Sapstead, the ITIA's senior director for anti-doping, said: "We understand that today's announcement adds complexity to an already high-profile situation.

"From the outset of this process - and indeed any other at the ITIA - we have remained committed to engaging with Ms Halep in an empathetic, efficient, and timely manner."

In April, Halep spoke for the first time since her suspension, saying she was frustrated with the time it was taking for the case to be resolved but the ITIA said "the process is ongoing".

The investigations into failed tests by the ITIA are often a complex process, even more so when a player denies taking a substance knowingly.

It is not uncommon for these cases to take several months to be resolved.

In such cases, a player can produce evidence to either disprove or explain the failed test, which Halep claimed she had done.

This would bring further investigation and testing by the ITIA, leading to the process being further extended.

Halep, who was ranked ninth when the ban came into force, is one of the highest-profile tennis players to fail a drugs test, and the most prominent since Russian five-time major champion Maria Sharapova was banned in 2016.

Boris Becker sends brutal warning to Emma Raducanu after 'career-threatening' decision.. by Liam Grace

Boris Becker has warned Emma Raducanu that her decision to have surgery on three different injuries at such a young age is ‘career-threatening’.

Raducanu confirmed last week from her hospital bed that she had completed her third round of surgery as her long road to recovery begins.

The 20-year-old British tennis star, who will miss the French Open and Wimbledon this year, had the first procedure on her right racket-playing hand, the second on her left hand and a third on her left ankle.

It is unclear when Raducanu will return to the WTA Tour – with some speculating she will aim to return for the US Open later this year, the Grand Slam she won two years ago – while others have predicted that she may not play again until 2024.

Raducanu has struggled with various injuries ever since her major triumph in New York and recently slipped outside of the world top 100.

Becker, though, feels surgery may not have been the best decision for Raducanu at this stage in her career.

‘The surgeries that she has had are, in my opinion, career-threatening,’ Becker told The Guardian.

‘Having surgery on your playing wrist, and as a two-handed player, the other wrist – and then on your ankle – is tough to bear for a young woman.’

Quizzed about Raducanu’s struggles with form after winning the US Open, Becker added: ‘I’m not in her inner circle so I don’t know all the things that went off, although I’ve seen the coaching changes.

‘But as a young woman, all of a sudden being on top of the mountain, you have to really dig in and find the resources and the team around you to guide you through the next 10 years.

‘Its about mindset and talent, team, approach and circumstances. She’s not the first one who wasn’t able to do it. And she won’t be the last. But if she was good enough to win a grand slam [title] once, she’s good enough to win one again.’

Three-time Wimbledon champion Becker, who is also a former world No.1, was handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence last year after failing to declare £2.5 million worth of assets to avoid paying debts.

The German has since been released having served eight months in the UK.

French Open: Is it time for Roland Garros to use electronic line calls?..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport.

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In the 2021 French Open semi-finals, Barbora Krejcikova saw chair umpire Pierre Bacchi overrule a line judge's call on a match point

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Seeing a chair umpire jump down to the court, scamper across the clay and point out the mark of a ball is one of the great traditions of the French Open.

The scene adds to the spectacle. A sense of anticipation hangs in the air, whistles or cheers from the Paris crowd - depending who the decision is for - accompany the official to the spot.

But, in a sport of high stakes and fine margins, is it time to stop relying solely on the human eye to decide crucial points?

At the recent Italian Open, Britain's Andy Murray was annoyed when a line call went against him because the umpire ruled the ball mark was on the line.

Murray strongly disagreed. Electronic line calling technology - not used at the Rome tournament but seen by television viewers - supported the former world number one's view.

The incident reignited a long-running debate whether an electronic system should be brought on to all courts - including Roland Garros' famous terracotta surfaces.

Is the technology unreliable on clay?
Unlike the other three Grand Slam tournaments, which are played on hard or grass courts, the French Open does not use the technology in any form.

The Australian Open and US Open - both played on hard courts - have already dispensed with human line judges in favour of solely relying on automated calls.

Wimbledon, played on grass, introduced Hawk-Eye technology in 2007 but the line judges remain. Players at the Championships are able to challenge calls up to three times per set.

The French Open continues to fully trust line judges and umpires, not allowing players to use electronic replays to challenge human decision.

For a long time it has been felt the red brick dust - a top layer of one to two millimetres - compromises the accuracy and reliability of an electronic system because it is a 'live' surface which moves during the match.

That has led to continuing issues of confidence from players, commentators and fans.

But Foxtenn - one of three systems used to judge line calls in tennis, alongside Hawk-Eye and IMG Arena - insists it is reliable.

Foxtenn is the only vendor which has so far operated an electronic line calling system on clay courts.

It says its 'real bounce technology' - which uses ultra-high-speed cameras capable of generating more than 100,000 images per second in combination with a laser scanner system - is suitable for the surface.

"It delivers perfect and constant real-time calibration," say the Barcelona-based company.

"It basically catches everything that happens on the court; anywhere from minute detail to every unthinkable angle."

Why doesn't the French Open use it?
Last month, the ATP Tour - the top tier of men's events - announced line judges will be replaced by an electronic calling system on all surfaces on a full-time basis from 2025.

The WTA, the governing body of women's tennis, told BBC Sport it has "been reviewing" going full-time with electronic line calling and is "very interested" in making a similar move to the ATP.

Remy Azemar, the French Open's head of referees, acknowledges the technology has been successful at other tournaments.

Yet the resistance remains firm.

Two factors fuel the French Open's reluctance to change: maintaining traditions synonymous with the 100-year-old tournament and an unwillingness to cede human control.

"Without the presence of the line judge, it is indeed very robotic," said Azemar. "But we must also recognise that it works.

"Will it make the game look a bit colder and emptier on the court? Everyone can have an opinion on that, it's not for me to answer."

France is widely considered one of the strongest nations when it comes to developing officials and Azemar says Roland Garros has "nothing to prove" in terms of its quality of officiating.

"As long as the human referee remains in charge, we are a little less directly concerned. We keep the freedom to make our decisions," he said.

Will we ever see it at Roland Garros?
With an increasing number of tournaments relying on electronic line calling, the French Open is fast becoming an outlier by sticking with tradition.

Foxtenn and Hawk-Eye have already been approved as a review system on clay with line judges, with Foxtenn being used at ATP events in Barcelona, Estoril, Madrid and Bastad last year.

No vendor has yet been approved to make sole decisions without the officials. Final testing of the automatic technology on clay is continuing.

The ATP, the men's governing body, said its impending move will "optimise accuracy and consistency across tournaments, match courts and surfaces".

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Wimbledon is among the tournaments that have Hawk-Eye, an electronic line-calling review system using multiple camera angles to trace the ball's trajectory


Last season, there were 30 WTA events which used electronic line calling - including 13 that did not have line umpires.

Only two WTA clay-court events - Madrid and Iasi - used an electronic line calling review system in 2022.

With an even heavier reliance on the technology on the horizon, Azemar conceded the French Open could be forced into change.

"If 98% or 99% of the tournaments in the season are played without line judges, we will be backed into a corner," he said.

"I think we have to weigh things up carefully and give ourselves time. But we can also be caught up by reality."

What disputes have there been recently?
Disputes over line calls are regular occurrences during the European clay-court season and there were a number of notable examples during the recent Italian Open.

Murray's disagreement with Mohamed Lahyani in Rome blew up because of the three-time major champion's huge profile - and his heated reaction.

Lahyani was also involved in another similar incident in Rome. The Swedish umpire made a decision that left Danish player Holger Rune furious in a quarter-final against Novak Djokovic, which he eventually won.

Rune questioned whether officials were punished for "mistakes", as did Russia's Veronika Kudermetova who remonstrated with the chair umpire in her quarter-final.

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Rune and Lahyani disagreed over their interpretations of a ball mark in the Italian Open quarter-finals

At the French Open, there was a high-profile incident in 2021 that could have had even more damaging consequences.

In a dramatic semi-final against Greece's Maria Sakkari, Czech player Barbora Krejcikova was denied victory when chair umpire Pierre Bacchi overruled a call from a line judge on match point.

Television replays indicated the ball was out, leading Murray - watching on the television - to say Bacchi had made an "absolutely brutal error".

Krejcikova brushed off the disappointment, took another match point and won her maiden Grand Slam singles title two days later.

These disputes illustrate the confusion which still remains around clay-court marks. Whether the wrong mark has been checked, or the mark is not a true representation because of physics, tension can be created as a result.

"I don't mind that it's like this with line umpires judging," said Rune. "But it's about how you read the mark. Sometimes it is wrong."

Until the governing bodies are satisfied the technology is more accurate than the human eye, the drama over disputes will continue - perhaps over the next weeks at Roland Garros.

French Open 2023: No British women in main draw as Katie Boulter loses in qualifying..

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There will be no British women in the French Open main draw after Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Fran Jones exited in the second qualifying round.

British number three Boulter was beaten 6-2 2-6 7-6 (10-3) by American 19-year-old Ashlyn Krueger at Roland Garros.

Dart fell to a 1-6 6-1 6-2 loss to France's Elsa Jacquemot, while Jones had to retire against Ylena In-Albon

It will be the first time no British woman has featured in the main draw at a Grand Slam since the 2009 US Open.

World number 316 Jones, who beat Coco Vandeweghe on Monday, was left in tears after the 22-year-old was forced to retire because of a shoulder injury when trailing 4-1 in the first set.

Fellow British women Heather Watson, Katie Swan and Lily Miyazaki were all beaten on Tuesday.

Emma Raducanu, who would have received a place in the main draw, is out of action following operations on both her wrists and an ankle.

French Open 2023 draw: Novak Djokovic in same half as Carlos Alcaraz..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport at Roland Garros.

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Novak Djokovic has been drawn in the same half of the French Open men's singles draw as Carlos Alcaraz, meaning the pair could meet in the semi-finals.

World number one Alcaraz, playing his first major as a Grand Slam champion, starts against a qualifier.

Djokovic is seeded third as he goes for a record 23rd men's major title and plays American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Cameron Norrie, one of only three British players in the singles, starts against France's Benoit Paire.

Former world number one Andy Murray withdrew last week to focus on the upcoming grass-court season.

Emma Raducanu, who would have received a place in the main draw, is also not playing following operations on both her wrists and an ankle.

As a result, no Britons feature in the women's singles after six players lost in the qualifying rounds.

It is the first time the nation is not represented in a Grand Slam main draw since the 2009 US Open.

The French Open, which is the second major of the season, starts on the Roland Garros clay on Sunday.

French Open 2023: Emma Raducanu 'papered over cracks' in British tennis - Dan Evans..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport at Roland Garros.

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Emma Raducanu's victory at the US Open papered over the cracks in the state of British tennis, says Dan Evans.

Evans, seeded 24th, is one of only three Britons playing in the French Open singles main draws, alongside Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper.

With Raducanu injured, there are no British players in the women's singles.

"There's enough people playing junior tennis. We just don't help them in my opinion. It's a scarce draw, isn't it?" said the British men's number two.

Evans, 33, has long been a vocal critic of the pathway in British tennis and said the nation was "lucky" to see Raducanu emerge as a major champion in 2021.

Asked if Raducanu's win as a teenage qualifier in New York "papered over cracks", Evans said: "Is that a rhetorical question? Yes.

"She's a very good tennis player but the rankings don't lie, do they?

"I don't want to sound like a broken record. But there is way further to go than just the top players. It's from the bottom up."

Britain has four players ranked in the men's world top 60, although Andy Murray is not joining Norrie, Evans and Draper at Roland Garros after deciding to focus on the grass-court season.

Raducanu, 20, is also missing from the clay-court Grand Slam following surgeries on her wrists and ankle.

Raducanu has recently dropped to 106th in the world, meaning there are no British players inside the top 100 of the women's rankings.

Seven women lost in qualifying at Roland Garros - Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Heather Watson, Lily Miyazaki and Francesca Jones - as did Ryan Peniston, Liam Broady and Jan Choinski in the men's event.

Speaking at Roland Garros on Friday, Evans added. "Argentina got 13 men in the qualifying here. They have no money, they have nothing. Not a federation basically.

"We need to make people love tennis and get involved. That's what I think we need to do: get a bigger pool, pool it all in and get going.

"It's simple. It's simple maths."

In response to Evans' comments, the Lawn Tennis Association acknowledged the disappointing results in French Open qualifying but insisted it is "making longer term progress.

"There is more work to do before we consistently have the numbers we would like to see across all levels," said the governing body.

"That's why we are investing in our junior players, staging more international competitions in this country and supporting players development whatever is the best route for them to reach the top of the game, including both professional and the college system routes.

"Of course we need to go further and want players moving up the rankings - but we do believe we are heading in the right direction."

Since returning from a drugs ban in 2018 after testing positive for cocaine, Evans has put his partying lifestyle behind him and urged others to dedicate themselves more to the sport.

Evans reached a career-high ranking of 22nd aged 31 and also won the first ATP title of his career in 2021.

"You've got to work hard," he said.

"I know what it's like to not work hard and what you get from that and I know what it's like to work hard and get decent rewards.

"I'm not sitting here saying I know the answers.

"Put it this way, if you play 20 tournaments a year, you are allowed one bad tournament because you get 19 that count towards your ranking.

"If you play 30, you give yourself a decent chance to have some bad weeks and you'll also have some good weeks."

French Open 2023: Novak Djokovic 'shock' at Rafael Nadal retirement plan..By Jonathan Jurejko, BBC Sport at Roland Garros.

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For the first time in his career, Novak Djokovic has the opportunity to become the sole man with the most Grand Slam singles titles

Novak Djokovic says hearing long-time rival Rafael Nadal announce he intends to retire in 2024 has made him question how long he too will continue playing.

Djokovic, 36, could win his 23rd major title at the French Open, pulling him clear of the injured Nadal and taking the outright men's singles record.

"It made me wonder about my career and how long I might play," said the Serb.

"When he announced he is going to have his last season, I felt part of me is leaving with him too."

Nadal has won a record 14 titles at Roland Garros but misses the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time in 19 years because of a long-term hip injury.

When announcing his withdrawal, the 36-year-old Spaniard said he would stop playing for the foreseeable future in an attempt to return for a planned farewell season in 2024.

Djokovic and Nadal have created one of the most enduring rivalries in tennis history, playing each other 59 times - a record on the ATP Tour - and sweeping up the sport's most significant prizes between them.

Since the pair each levelled and overtook Roger Federer's mark of 18 majors, they have been tussling to finish on top.

"Because of the rivalry that we have, I feel he was one of the most impactful people that I have had in my career," said Djokovic, who equalled Nadal's 22 majors by winning the Australian Open in January.

"He has been a great motivational factor for me to keep playing and keep competing, to keep pushing each other and who's going to achieve more.

"So that news came as a shock to everybody.

"It made me think about my career. I'm not going to make any announcement today, but reflecting on it, I felt a little bit emotional about what he was saying."

Djokovic has won two titles at Roland Garros, first in 2016 when Nadal withdrew before his third-round match, then again in 2021 when he beat Nadal in the semi-finals.

Seeded third behind Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev this year, Djokovic said he would not miss seeing his rival in the draw.

Djokovic also beat Nadal in the 2015 quarter-finals, going on to lose to Stan Wawrinka in the final, but has lost eight of their 10 meetings on the Paris clay.

"I don't like seeing him in the draw of Roland Garros, to be honest," he smiled.

"I have managed to beat him twice, but I had to leave my heart and my guts out on the court to achieve that.

"So I know how hard it is to play him anywhere, but especially here.

"But, as a tennis fan and someone that is part of the tennis ecosystem, you always want to win, to see the best tennis players in the world, the most famous tennis players in the world playing."