Casper Ruud was quick to point out the size of his achievement after winning Barcelona. The improving Norwegian just loves the clay – and he has been a French Open finalist for the last two years. But actually taking a title has been another matter. And it looked as though Stefanos Tsitsipas would continue his sparkling form when he broke first in the Barcelona final. But Casper stormed back superbly to claim the trophy 7-5, 6-3 – and take the wind out of the Greek’s sails for the moment at least. Ruud was delighted with his breakthrough. ‘For me it means a lot. This is the biggest title that ..read more

Emma Raducanu knows all about gaining momentum at just the right time. That’s how she won the US Open back in 2021, when she came from nowhere to gain instant global superstardom. And that’s what she has started to seek and achieve now, as we move towards the European summer. Emma Raducanu would love to come good at Wimbledon 2024, after her injury troubles and commercial distractions. The signs are now promising! The plucky Londoner has always wanted to let her tennis do the talking. And she just did her country proud. Epics against Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry resulted in dramatic victor ..read more

Tsitsipas is a name that has been etched on the trophy down in Monte Carlo more than once before. But somehow we didn’t expect Stefanos to make it a hat-trick of victories in the Principality After all, the Greek god’s form at the business end of tournaments has been a little suspect for a while. And such was the dominance of Jannik Sinner so far this year that we had started to wonder where on earth he could possibly fail. Then there was the anticipated resurgence of Novak Djokovic, who hasn’t yet won a tournament in 2024. None of this seemed to point to Stefanos Tsitsipas reigning supreme o ..read more

Shelton and Collins were the names on everyone’s lips as the tour prepared to head to Europe. The Americans are hitting top form in good time for Wimbledon 2024 – and that’s great news for the Championships. First we have a series of battles on clay. And Ben Shelton has already adapted to that surface. He beat his compatriot Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to win Houston and climb to a career-high world number fourteen. And the 21-year-old became the youngest winner of the title since a 19-year-old Andy Roddick took the trophy back in 2002. Meanwhile Danielle Collins won Charleston by defeating ..read more

Jannik Sinner hit shots from the tennis gods to leave Miami open-mouthed in admiration. His 6-3, 6-1 demolition of a superb opponent was almost superhuman. Sinner is the new world number two. Could he be world number one by the time we all reach Wimbledon 2024? He’s certainly playing better than anyone else on the tour right now. And there’s only one thought in the heads of most tennis experts and fans in England. Jannik Sinner only needs to translate this extraordinary level onto grass and he will become champion of Wimbledon 2024 as well! As so often happens in tennis, the earliest signs di ..read more

Danielle Collins won her first Miami 1000 title – and pushed her ranking up to 22. Her impressive 7-5, 6-3 defeat of former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has gotten all of tennis talking. Raised in Florida, this was the perfect moment for 30-year-old Collins to make her mark. She has already announced her retirement from the WTA tour at the end of this calendar year. The power and versatility of the American’s performance was something to behold. A truly beautiful backhand lob was later followed by a backhand crosscourt winner to seal the deal. But it had taken a fourth match point to clo ..read more

Grigor Dimitrov produced a sensational performance to humble Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz in Miami. And there was a British coach behind the Bulgarian’s extraordinary success – Jamie Delgado. Andy Murray’s old coach has encouraged Dimitrov to be braver in the big moments – and that’s certainly what happened against Alcaraz. ‘I took all my opportunities, I attacked every second serve and stayed aggressive,’ said Grigor, who faces Sascha Zverev next. ‘I wasn’t afraid to come to the net. Sometimes simplicity is genius.’ Grigor Dimitrov is now hitting such heights that we could see him upset ..read more

Iga Swiatek has been surprisingly knocked out of the Miami Open. But for Andy Murray the manner of exit was far more serious. And now he faces a dramatic race against time to be ready for Wimbledon 2024. World number sixteen Ekaterina Alexandrova ended Swiatek’s hopes of a second sunshine double when she beat the Polish favourite 6-4, 6-2. It was the first time she had ever defeated a reigning world number one. For Iga it was just a temporary setback in a stellar career. But when you demand so much of yourself, defeat is always going to be hard to take. She explained: ‘Disappointed for sure b ..read more

Andy Murray roared as though he had won the tournament itself when his opponent steered a final, token piece of resistance wide. And that reaction was hardly surprising, given the pain Tomas Martin Etcheverry had inflicted earlier in the year. The Argentine had ended Murray’s Australian Open run before it had really begun. But in Miami Andy lived to fight another day. Andy Murray is using every match he plays to build sharpness and momentum for the final Grand Slam of his career this summer – Wimbledon 2024. It’s great news that an impressive 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory puts Andy through to the ro ..read more

Carlos Alcaraz shook off his nerves to reign supreme – and Iga Swiatek was even more emphatic. The young singles champions of Indian Wells did it in style. They also reminded us how this beautiful game of tennis is constantly being taken to new levels. Both know what it’s like to taste glory at Wimbledon, where Carlitos is reigning men’s singles champion. But for Swiatek, a Junior Wimbledon title is as much as she has been able to muster so far in an otherwise glittering career. Is Wimbledon 2024 the year she finally makes a big impression among the women on grass? Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swia ..read more