Tennis

Fabulous Friday is Cameron Norrie's big encounter with Novak Djokovic on Centre Court.

The big news of course is Rafael Nadal pulling out of his Semi-Final v Nick Kyrgios.
"I have tried a lot of times in my career to keep going but it is obvious the injury will get worse," he said.
Nadal confirmed he has a tear in his abdominal muscle which means he would not be able to be competitive over two matches.

Well Wimbledon 2022 is now all over.

Djokovic beat Kyrgios 3-1 in the Gentlemen's singles Final.

Rybakina beat Jabeur 2-1 in the Ladies Singles Final.

Ebden & Purcell beat Mektic & Pavic in the Men's Doubles Final.

Krejcikova & Siniakova beat Mertens & Zhang in the Ladie's Doubles Final.

N Skupski & Krawczyk beat Ebden & Stosur in the Mixed Doubles Final.

Emma Raducanu's US Open title defence preparations suffered another blow as she was beaten by Camila Giorgi in the National Bank Open first round.

The British number one, who is 10th in the world rankings, lost 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 to the Italian defending champion.

Ninth seed Raducanu had led by an early break in the second set before Giorgi reeled off six games in a row to win in Toronto.

"I think it was a really good match, to be honest," said the 19-year-old.

"I just need to get better at dealing with players who play as quick as she does."

The US Open, where Raducanu memorably triumphed last year, begins on 29 August in New York.

The Toronto event is one of several hard court events before the final major of the season.

Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open last week, but could not find a way past 29th-ranked Giorgi.

The two traded early breaks in the opening set before Raducanu saved a set point to force an eventual tie-break.

Giorgi, 30, won all seven points in the tie-break to take it, but Raducanu hit back, winning the first two games of the second set.

However, the Briton could not hold on to her lead and did not hold serve for the rest of the set as Giorgi powered to victory.

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US Open won 2021, Wimbledon 4th round, Australian & French opens 2nd round.

She has won 3 ITF Circuit opens & been runner up in another 2 opens.

Emma has earned US$ 3,395.518 in prize money.

Western and Southern Open: Emma Raducanu thrashes Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati.

British number one Emma Raducanu produced another eye-catching display as she thrashed former world number one Victoria Azarenka less than 24 hours after beating Serena Williams.

Raducanu continued her preparations for the forthcoming defence of her US Open title with a 6-0 6-2 win in Cincinnati.

The 19-year-old played Belarusian veteran Azarenka just 18 hours after beating Williams, who will retire after the US Open, 6-4 6-0 on Tuesday.

Raducanu faces Jessica Pegula next.

The Briton, ranked 13th in the world, will meet the American seventh seed in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open on Thursday.

"I was playing a great match for sure and to play Vika I had to stay focused throughout," said Raducanu, who beat 22nd-ranked Azarenka to earn her first top-30 win since last year's US Open.

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Emma Raducanu prepares to defend US Open title next week after Fairytale of New York.

Going into the 2021 US Open, few outside British tennis circles had heard of Emma Raducanu. By the end of the New York tournament, the 19-year-old was a national superstar and known around the globe.

Winning the Grand Slam title as an 18-year-old qualifier was a staggering achievement, one that had never been done before at any of tennis' four majors.

As she prepares to return to Flushing Meadows as the defending champion next week, we revisit the triumph that transformed the Bromley teenager from a 499-1 pre-tournament outsider to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Featuring interviews with British tennis legends Virginia Wade and Tim Henman, plus members of Raducanu's backroom team, this is a taste of a BBC Radio 5 Live Sport documentary's insight into one of the greatest achievements and most incredible stories in the history of sport.

A couple of months before last year's US Open, Raducanu was launched into the conscious of the British public with a scintillating run at Wimbledon.

Having been given a wildcard to her home Grand Slam, she reached the last 16 before breathing problems forced her to retire against Ajla Tomljanovic in what was then the biggest match of her career.

Wimbledon was her second professional tournament and to reach the US Open main draw in only her fourth, the world number 150 would have to win three qualifying matches in New York.

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Henman, the former British men's number one, is close friends with Andrew Richardson, the coach who helped guide Raducanu to the US Open title.

"If you had said to Emma and Andrew before qualifying 'would you sign a document to guarantee winning three qualifying matches but lose in the first round of the main draw?' I think there is a fair chance both would have signed on the dotted line," said Henman.

That view is supported by Will Herbert, the physio who Raducanu called 'The Mechanic' for keeping her fit during the US Open.

"My memory of seeing Emma for the first time in New York is that her body was toast. She was exhausted," Herbert recalled.

"She had some pretty successful weeks in Chicago so her body was a bit of a mess. Our initial aim was to get her through 'qualies'. That's where we felt she was.

"The mobility in her back had gone and muscles were fatigued. Our aim was to try and restore normal movement."

Despite those concerns, there were signs from the day she touched down in New York that Raducanu meant business.

Iain Bates, the LTA's head of women's tennis, remembers her being "kicked off" her practice court after her allotted hour had expired and Raducanu being determined to find another court so she could practise "five or 10 minutes more of finishing forehands".

"Even at the start of that week, she was right on it," said Bates.

So it proved as, in heat that topped 35C at Flushing Meadows, she backed up her Wimbledon exploits with three assured wins to earn her place in a first overseas Grand Slam main draw.


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Emma Raducanu's earnings revealed as star makes Forbes' highest-paid players list.

British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu has been listed as one of the world's highest-paid players of 2022.

The US Open champion, 19, earned $21.1m (£17.9m) over the past year and has made her debut on Forbes' tennis earnings leader board.

The list features the top 10 highest-paid tennis players, who have collectively earned $316m (£267.5m) over the past year, both on and off-court.

Raducanu, who shot to fame in 2021 when she became the first qualifier in the open era to secure a Grand Slam title, was ranked sixth.

She earned $3.1m (£2.6m) on court and $18m (£15.2m) off court.

Since her win last year, Raducanu has signed endorsement deals with big companies including British Airways, Dior, Evian, Nike and Tiffany.

Despite losing in the second round at Wimbledon this summer, this month Raducanu thrashed Serena Williams in their first meeting, winning 6-4, 6-0 in the first round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Before her win at the US Open, Raducanu was ranked 150th in the world.

Former world number one Roger Federer retained his place at the top of the list for the 17th year despite not playing a match for nearly 14 months.

Off court Federer, 41, earned $90m.

US Open: Serena Williams and Venus Williams to play doubles together.

Serena Williams will play alongside older sister Venus in the US Open doubles in what will be the final tournament of her career.

The Williams sisters have won 14 major doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together.

Serena Williams, 40, says she will retire after the US Open, which starts in New York on Monday.

As well as playing in the singles, she has been given a wildcard to play with her 42-year-old sister in the doubles.

The pair have not played doubles together since the 2018 French Open, when they lost in the third round.

Their first Grand Slam title together came at the 1999 French Open, and they won their 14th at Wimbledon in 2016.

Serena Williams announced last month she is "evolving away" from the sport and will play her final tournament at Flushing Meadows.

Now ranked 608th in the world, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion will play Montenegro's Danka Kovinic in the first round, and the match headlines the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday (19:00 local time, 00:00 BST on Tuesday).

Venus Williams, who has won seven major singles titles and is ranked 1,445th in the world, is also playing in the singles.

After being given a wildcard, she will face Belgium's Alison van Uytvanck in her opener on Tuesday.

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Serena and Venus Williams have won two US Open doubles titles, with New York victories in 1999 and 2009

US Open: Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans both reach New York second round.

British pair Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans began their US Open bids with routine wins over first-round opponents who could not cope with their level.

Seventh seed Norrie won the first set against Benoit Paire in 18 minutes before the Frenchman improved to make a contest of the second.

But Norrie ran away with the third when Paire's level dropped again to win 6-0 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 in sticky conditions.

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Evans, seeded 20th, won 6-4 6-1 6-1 against Czech opponent Jiri Vesely.

The British number two was already in control when Vesely's level dipped in the second set and won 11 of the final 12 games to close out an straightforward victory.

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Emma Raducanu - the nation's leading women's player - starts the defence of her title against France's Alize Cornet in the night session in New York.

Louis Armstrong Stadium: Night session from 00:00 BST, Wed - Emma Raducanu (GB) [11] v Alize Cornet (Fra).


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