Roberto Bautista Agut has voiced his opinion on not receiving a wildcard for the Madrid Open, with the Spaniard gaining entry to the main draw as a lucky loser. Bautista Agut suffered a freak injury last year, after crushing his leg following falling from a horse that he was tending to. This forced him to fall outside the top 100 for the first time since 2012, with Bautista Agut now ranked at No.86 after some improved results. However, with that ranking the 36-year-old was unable to gain direct entry into the main draw of his home Masters 1000 event in Madrid. Bautista Agut had to play qualif ..read more

Rafael Nadal has returned to the Madrid Open in convincing fashion, beating 16-year-old wildcard Darwin Blanch in the first round. Nadal beat the young American, 6-1 6-0, in just over an hour and spoke about how it felt to be back competing on Court Manolo Santana. “Well, it’s great,” said Nadal. “For me, after how things… developed in the last few years, every time that I had a chance to be on court, on this amazing stadium with unconditionally supportive crowd. It means a lot to me. “So I’m just trying to enjoy every moment. And tomorrow, one more day of practice here and after tomorrow aga ..read more

Emma Raducanu has exited the Madrid Open in the first round, with the 21-year-old claiming that she is ‘exhausted’ after playing back-to-back tournaments. Raducanu was beaten by qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle, 2-6 2-6, hitting a total 34 unforced errors in the straight sets defeat. The Brit has played six matches in 13 days, having helped Great Britain qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and reached the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open last week before losing to world No.1 Iga Swiatek. And Raducanu has suggested that this contributed to her defeat in the Spanish capital, “Starting ..read more

Jannik Sinner has reflected on the higher expectations that have arose on him since winning the Australian Open, with the 22-year-old dismissing comparisons to Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner has won 25 of his 27 matches in 2024, including winning the Australian Open, the Miami Open and the Rotterdam Open. What dreams are made of pic.twitter.com/Fq2sEGP4TV — Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) January 29, 2024 This has enabled him to rise up to a career-high ranking of world No.2, but Sinner did not appear to want to entertain comparisons to rivals Djokovic and Alcaraz. “I still believe th ..read more

Rafael Nadal has admitted that he would not play Roland Garros feeling the way that he currently is, but the record 14-time champion has claimed that it is not ‘the end of the world’. Nadal made his ATP Tour return last week in Barcelona, and is expected to continue his progress at the Madrid Open this week. Despite this, the Spaniard has confessed that he would not play Roland Garros if he was to continue feeling this way, “If I arrive in Paris like I feel today, I would not go on court. I will not play. I will play Roland Garros if I feel competitive. If I can play, I play. If I can’t ..read more

Carlos Alcaraz has provided an update on his fitness status, after the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open. Alcaraz is set to play his first tournament since losing in the Miami Open quarter-finals to Grigor Dimitrov this week, as the two-time defending champion in Madrid. The 20-year-old revealed that he had ‘an injured pronator teres’ in his right arm prior to the tournament in Monte Carlo, and has been wearing a protective sleeve on it when practicing in the Spanish capital. I have been working in Monte Carlo and trying to recover until ..read more

Novak Djokovic has matched rival Roger Federer after being named ‘Sportsman of the Year’ at the Laureus Sports Awards for a fifth time. Djokovic was amongst many other big sporting names at the 25th annual Laureus Sports Awards in Madrid, including retired Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt and footballer Jude Bellingham. The Serbian was not the only tennis name in the house either, with Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur and British No.1 Katie Boulter also present. A moment between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic on the red carpet #OnlyAtLaureus | #Laureus24 pic.twitter.com/58K7Fvt6Kz ..read more

There were three European clay court tournaments on the main calendar this week, with the ATP rankings seeing Marton Fucsovics soar after claiming his first title in six years. Fucsovics won his maiden ATP title on the Geneva clay back in 2018, but has been unable to back that up despite being in two finals since. However, the 32-year-old took advantage of the Bucharest tournament returning to the ATP Tour and beat Argentinian Mariano Navone in the final. ???????????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???? Marton Fucsovics outshines Navone 6-4 7-5 to ..read more

Casper Ruud has claimed the biggest title of his career at the Barcelona Open, having enacted revenge over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. Ruud was previously on a seven match losing streak in finals above ATP 250 level, but brought an end to that after beating Tsitsipas 7-5 6-3 in Barcelona. The Barcelona Open has been won a record 12 times by Rafael Nadal, with centre court actually being named after the former No.1, and Ruud actually paid tribute to the Spaniard when speaking about why this title means so much to him. “It’s an incredible feeling, to be able to win this tournament is some ..read more

Elena Rybakina has claimed the eighth title of her career at the Stuttgart Open, with the Kazakhstani revealing that she backs herself to challenge at all four majors. Rybakina beat Marta Kostyuk, 6-2 6-2, in the final to claim her third title of the season at the indoor clay court tournament. This backed up her semi-final victory over world No.1 Iga Swiatek, ending the Pole’s 10-match unbeaten run at the WTA 500 tournament. With Rybakina having titles on every surface, the 24-year-old was asked about whether she saw herself as a contender for all the Grand Slam tournaments. “I always believ ..read more