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BENGALURU : Elena Rybakina defended her former coach Stefano Vukov after he was provisionally suspended by the governing body of women's tennis pending an investigation into a potential breach of its code of conduct, saying on Saturday he had not mistreated her.
SYDNEY : Poland marched into a second successive final at the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament on Saturday with a convincing 2-0 victory over Kazakhstan after Hubert Hurkacz and Iga Swiatek won their singles matches.
In line with the National Sports Commission’s catch-them-young disposition, the Commission has thrown its weight behind teenage tennis sensation Khadijat Eleojo Mohammed. At only 15, Khadijat has proven to be the next big thing in Nigerian tennis, as she became the first West or Central African player to win the ITF J30 World Tour. Aged 14 in 2023, she is the first teenager to win the Dala Tennis, a title she retained in 2024. Way above her peers, she has even cracked it professionally with back-to-back Dala Hard Court titles. The challenge for the young star now is how to take that step to the next level, considering the immense financial demands of professional tennis. For this reason, her father and coach, Mohammed Ohinoyi, a certified ITF coach and a former professional tennis player, appealed to the NSC for support. They had helped her thus far with their meagre resources and could no longer afford the demands of the next phase of her development. NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko has stepped in, saying that the Commission will ensure that Khadijat’s full potential is realised.
Novak Djokovic was beaten 7-6 (6), 6-3 by big-serving Reilly Opelka in the Brisbane International quarterfinals on Friday in Australia.
Novak Djokovic’s bid for his 100th tour-level title will have to wait after he was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International by Reilly Opeka.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic's Australian Open preparations suffered a blow Friday as he was bundled out of the Brisbane International by towering American Reilly Opelka. The 2.11 metre (six feet 11 inches) Opelka served magnificently and returned just as well to stun the 24-time Grand Slam winner 7-6 (8/6), 6-3. Djokovic had gone into the tournament insisting that at 37 he still had the game to trouble the younger players. But Opelka, 27, a former world number 17 who was out of the game for almost two years from 2022-24 following hip and wrist surgeries, dominated the Serb and wrapped up a comfortable win in an hour and 40 minutes.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka stepped up her Australian Open preparations as she overpowered Marie Bouzkova in straight sets to reach the Brisbane International semi-finals on Friday. Sabalenka, who has won the last two titles at the Grand Slam in Melbourne, beat the Czech player 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour 45 minutes. She now plays Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Tunisia's Ons Jabeur 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). "Her movement is really great, she's trying to get to every ball and make you play an extra shot so that's really difficult," Sabalenka said of the 44th-ranked Bouzkova.
Former world number one Naomi Osaka reached her first semi-final since 2022 after fighting back at the Auckland Classic on Friday. The four-time Grand Slam champion beat unseeded American Hailey Baptiste 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-2 in another confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Osaka said her hard work was starting to pay off after booking a place in the final four of a WTA event for the first time since the Miami Open in April 2022.