Veterans Safwat and Maamoun aim to inspire golden tennis future for Egypt
Five days after he helped guide Egypt to qualification to the Davis Cup World Group I for the first time, playing captain Mohamed Safwat was still recovering his voice.
ITF Sport News
Darja Semenistaja Wins Singles Title At Mumbai Open Tennis Championships
Latvia's Darja Semenistaja won the biggest singles title of her career so far after winning the Mumbai Open WTA 125K Series Tennis Championships, which was organized by the Maharashtra State Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and the Cricket Club of India (CCI), on Sunday. The 21-year-old from Latvia came from a set down and saved a match point late in the second set before prevailing over fellow southpaw Storm Hunter, of Australia, in a two-and-a-half-hour battle. Semenistaja finally prevailed 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-2 to win the title and continue her purple patch on Indian soil in 2024. The Latvian won an ITF W50 title in Bengaluru last month and has also claimed two ITF doubles titles in the country before capping her run with the Mumbai title this week.
Ramkumar Ramanathan Gets Wild Card For Bengaluru Open
Ramkumar Ramanathan, India's second-highest-ranked player, was on Saturday granted a wild card entry into the singles main draw of the Bengaluru Open, starting February 12. Ramkumar, who led India in the recent Davis Cup clash against Pakistan, had lost in the first round of the ongoing Chennai ATP Challenger and the opportunity will give him a chance to do well on home soil. Ramkumar has reached the singles final on the ATP Challenger circuit seven times, winning his lone title in Manama, Bahrain, in November 2021.
Ankita Raina Lone Indian To Receive Direct Entry In ITF Women's Open
Asian Games bronze-medallist Ankita Raina is the only Indian to have received a direct entry in the upcoming ITF Women's Open, set to be hosted by the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association in Bengaluru from January 14. Runner-up from the last edition and ranked 208th in singles, she features in the main draw list that has 20 direct entries, along with four wild cards and eight qualifiers. As for the Indians, there could be as many as nine of them in the singles main draw, with four of them being handed the wild cards for the main draw, while five of them would be playing the qualifiers between January 14-15.
Azarenka wins but Kenin bundled out in Brisbane
BRISBANE: Former world number one Victoria Azarenka moved into the third round of the Brisbane International Tuesday (Jan 2), but Sofia Kenin was bundled out by Australian wildcard Arina Rodionova.
Indian Davis Cup Team Will Have To Travel To Pakistan As AITA Loses Appeal In ITF Tribunal
The ITF tribunal has rejected AITA's contention that its Davis Cup team could face security concerns during the World Group I Play-off tie in Islamabad, paving the way for an Indian tennis team's visit to Pakistan for the first time in 60 years. If the Indian team fails to travel to Pakistan, the tie will be awarded to the host country and the Indian team will be relegated to World Group II. The last time an Indian Davis Cup team travelled to Pakistan was way back in 1964 when it beat the hosts 4-0.
Tennis governing bodies aim to combat online abuse of players
The major governing bodies of tennis on Wednesday said they will aim to protect their athletes from online abuse by monitoring, reporting and helping to identify who is behind threats and other inappropriate contact.
Djokovic, Sabalenka named ITF's 2023 'world champions'
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) named Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka as its 'world champions' of 2023 after their performances at this year's Grand Slams.