Tag Archives: Grand Slam

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Novak Djokovic to Claim Second Consecutive Wimbledon Title

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Carlos Alcaraz has retained his Wimbledon crown…

After winning his first title at the All England Club in 2023 against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, the 21-year-old Spanish tennis star defeated the former World No. 1 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) to claim his second straight Wimbledon title.

Carlos AlcarazBy the end of the 2-hour, 27-minute clash on Centre Court, Alcaraz had won his fourth major title and second at Wimbledon, dashing Djokovic’s latest hopes for history.

As the likes of the Princess of Wales, Tom Cruise, Benedict Cumberbatch and former champions Stan Smith, Andre Agassi, Rod Laver and Chris Evert looked on, Alcaraz raised his arms in the air before pointing to his head while looking at his team.

“In an interview when I was 11 years old, I said that my dream is to win Wimbledon,” Alcaraz told the crowd during the trophy ceremony. “So I’m repeating my dream.”

While Djokovic, 37, had been on the hunt to take sole possession of the most Grand Slam singles titles in history with 25 and surpass Margaret Court for the distinction, it was Alcaraz who etched his name into the record books Sunday.

Carlos AlcarazHe became the third-youngest man to win four Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era, behind only Mats Wilander and Bjorn Borg. Having now won in all four of his major final appearances, Alcaraz trails just Roger Federer, who was victorious in his first seven major finals, for the longest opening streak among men’s players.

Perhaps most notably, by winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season, Alcaraz joins Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal as the only men to have done it in the past 40 years. Borg and Rod Laver are the only other men to have achieved the feat in the Open era.

“It is a great feeling even thinking about being [the] French Open winner and Wimbledon champion the same year [and] that few players just done it before,” Alcaraz said in a news conference. “It’s unbelievable.”

Despite the 16-year age difference between Alcaraz and Djokovic, it was their sixth career meeting. The series is now tied at three matches each, with Alcaraz having won both meetings in a major final. Even Djokovic couldn’t help but be impressed by Alcaraz after the match.

“Huge congrats to Carlos,” Djokovic told reporters. “[He] deserved this win today. He was the better player from the beginning till the end.”

Despite losing in the round of 16 in his lone grass lead-in event at Queen’s Club, Alcaraz entered Wimbledon as the co-favorite with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

But returning to the final wasn’t easy. He dropped the opening set in three of his six matches ahead of the final and needed five sets to defeat No. 29 seed Frances Tiafoe in the third round. But after his 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 semifinal victory over Daniil Medvedev on Friday, Alcaraz said he felt good about the state of his game.

That confidence was on full display Sunday. After the opening game, Alcaraz needed just 28 more minutes to close out the first set and 75 total minutes to take a 2-0 lead. With the crowd largely behind him, as it had been for most of the tournament, Djokovic seemed to have no answers for Alcaraz’s power and variety.

Djokovic raised his level in the third set, and Alcaraz began to show signs of nerves for the first time. Serving for the match at 5-4, Alcaraz squandered three championship points and was ultimately broken for the first time after a double fault and a string of errors. Both Djokovic and Alcaraz then held on their next service games to force a tiebreak. But Alcaraz took control and ultimately left nothing to chance, winning the match on his fourth championship point.

“It was difficult for me,” Alcaraz said. “I tried to just stay calm. I tried to stay positive from that situation, going into the tiebreak, and I tried to play my best tennis. That’s all I was thinking about. Really glad that I, at the end, could find the solutions.”

While not the result Djokovic had been hoping for, he said he was “very proud” of his performance overall and in reaching the final. After having to withdraw ahead of his quarterfinal match at the French Open last month, Djokovic underwent surgery for a torn medial meniscus in his right knee on June 5, leaving his status for Wimbledon in doubt. Even when he arrived in London the week before the main draw got underway, he told the BBC he was still unsure whether he would play but would do so only if he believed he had a chance to “fight for the title.”

En route to the final, he showed few signs of discomfort and dropped just two sets in five matches. (His quarterfinal opponent, Alex de Minaur, withdrew with a hip injury.) On Friday after his straight-sets semifinal win over Lorenzo Musetti, Djokovic said he felt as if he was “playing close to my best.”

But that wasn’t enough on Sunday, and Djokovic lost in a major final in straight sets for just the fifth time in his career. Since Djokovic took over the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 2011, this marks just the second season in which he has not won any of the year’s first three major titles. He was reflective when speaking to the Centre Court crowd after the match.

“Obviously there’s a little bit of a disappointment right now as we’re talking 10 minutes after the match finished, but when I reflect, I’m sure on the last … four to five weeks, and really what I’ve been through along with, of course, with my team members and family, I have to say that I’m very satisfied because Wimbledon has always been a childhood dream tournament of mine,” Djokovic said.

“I always wanted to be here, play on the center stage. I try to remind myself of sometimes how surreal the feeling is of being here, and even though I was playing so many matches in my life and being really blessed to be fighting for the trophy 10 times in my career, as you mentioned, but every single time I step on the court, it feels like the first time. So I’m a child living my childhood dream once again.”

Asked in his news conference later if this would be his final Wimbledon appearance, Djokovic insisted he had no plans to retire soon and was focused on the upcoming Olympic Games and the US Open.

“As far as coming back here, I mean, I would love to,” he said. “I don’t have anything else in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon. … I don’t have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.”

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Tommy Paul to Reach Wimbledon Semifinals

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Carlos Alcaraz is one step closer to a repeat…

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis star and defending Wimbledon champion took a little time to rev his engines in his quarterfinal, but once he did, there was no stopping him during a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 12 Tommy Paul.

Carlos AlcarazComing off a title at the French Open last month , Alcaraz is seeking his fourth Grand Slam trophy.

For a set and a bit, Paul, the American who won the title at Queen’s Club last month, matched and even had the better of Alcaraz.

But like those select few who’ve been able to live with Rafael Nadal for a while only to fall away under the weight of the physical and mental contest, the sheer effort of keeping pace with the world No 3 proved to be too much.

Gaining strength with each set, Alcaraz pulled away the win and a place in the semifinals.

The third seed finished with 36 winners, 19 of them on his forehand, the niggling forearm injury that dogged him for much of the first part of this year no longer a factor.

Paul saved 19 of 27 break points but under the intense pressure coming from the other side, 52 forced errors and 51 unforced errors were too much to get the job done and Alcaraz moved a step closer to claiming back-to-back slams.

“He has been playing great tennis on grass, he won Queen’s, he’s been doing great stuff and today was a really difficult match for me,” Alcaraz said. “The first set and the beginning of the second set it was kind of like I was playing on clay, big rallies, 10 or 15 shots every rally. I had to stay strong mentally but I knew it was a really long journey and a really long match and I’m happy I was able to find the solutions.”

Alcaraz will take on Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Alex de Minaur Defeats Arthur Fils to Reach First-Ever Wimbledon Quarterfinal

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Alex de Minaur has advanced to the last eight for the first time at Wimbledon…

Two years after blowing a two-set lead and two match points when on the brink of reaching the quarterfinals, the 25-year-old Spanish & Uruguayan Australian tennis player held his nerve as a horror repeat threatened against Arthur Fils.

Alex de Minaurde Minaur put his fans on No.1 Court – and late night television viewers back home – through the wringer as he dropped the third set, but showed Aussie grit to take the fourth on his second match point.

His 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-3 win, in just shy of three hours, booked a last eight meeting with Novak Djokovic.

The concern now is whether he’ll be fully fit for that challenge having appeared to pull up lame as he played an angled stop volley to win the match, but he said on court: “I’ll be alright. I’ll find a way.”

He later clarified he had “jarred” his hip playing the forehand that set up the winner and it was “a little bit ‘ginger,'” but added, “it’s probably a little bit of a scare more than anything.

“I’m feeling pretty decent. I’ve done my recovery. I’m sure I’ll be feeling great tomorrow.”

“I’m super proud of myself to be in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon,” added the ninth-seeded Australian. “You can count on me going out there, trying my hardest and playing my heart out.”

Asked what pleased him most about his performance de Minaur said: “Getting over the finish line, a great job mentally to get through.”

The quarterfinal will be only his third in a Grand Slam, but also his second in succession after reaching the same stage at Roland Garros last month.

The Australian No.1 looked set to continue his sprint through the Wimbledon field when he raced to a two-set lead in barely an hour, and followed up with an early break in the third.

But from 4-2 up the de Minaur tightened up and lost four successive games, and the set.

Inevitably the nightmare of 2022 resurfaced. Then de Minaur blew a two-set lead against another unseeded player, Chilean Cristian Garin, and two match points in the fifth.

This time it was different.

In the fourth set de Minaur broke immediately, saved serve at 0-40 in the fourth game, then broke again to lead 4-1.

It was the first of five successive breaks of serve, but his French opponent could no hold serve either.

“I definitely made it a lot harder than I should have, I couldn’t hold my serve (at the end), but I backed my returns,” said de Minaur.

Fils had upset de Minaur earlier this year on the red clay of Barcelona, winning 7-5 6-2 in 95 minutes, but the green grass of Wimbledon was a different matter.

de Minaur came out aggressively, pouncing on a short return to set up three break points in the opening game. Under pressure his 20-year-old opponent, betraying a few nerves, double-faulted.

A smart line-call challenge at deuce in the third game led to another break and within a quarter-hour it was 4-0 to de Minaur, who had won 18 of the opening 22 points.

Fils finally got on the scoreboard when he held his serve at the third attempt. This was enthusiastically cheered by a No.1 showcourt crowd who were hoping to see a contest.

But de Minaur held firm to take the set in 29 minutes.

Fils had shown his mettle with a 131mph second serve ace at 2-5, and backed this up by taking a 3-0 second set lead as de Minaur’s game dipped. But the Australian bounced back, taking five successive games to establish a stranglehold on the set, before serving out.

An early break in the third put de Minaur in the box seat, but as victory loomed it seemed the pressure pendulum had swung back on him and Fils took advantage. Finally the crowd had a contest. To de Minaur’s huge relief, he won it.

Paula Badosa Rallies to Upset Daria Kasatkina & Reach Third Round at Wimbledon

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Paula Badosa has pulled off a special upset…

The 26-year-old Spanish professional tennis player rallied from a break down in the final set to snap Daria Kasatkina‘s seven-match win streak and advance to the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Paula Badosa,The former World No.2 came back from 4-2 down in the third set to win 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 51 minutes.

“I know it’s not my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam,” Badosa said on court, “but for me it’s a special one because a few months ago I didn’t know if I could play tennis anymore. So to be here is very special.”

Badosa did not hold back tears after the hard-fought win, which put her into Wimbledon’s second week for the third time in her career and first since the debilitating back injury that has plagued her since the start of 2023. It was the same stress fracture that forced her retirement from Wimbledon 12 months ago and shut down the remainder of her season.

Badosa choked back the tears as the crowd gave her a rousing ovation for her efforts.

“One of the reasons I come back on the court is for you guys,” Badosa told the crowd. “Hearing my name and cheering for me, it’s really for you guys. I really feel the love.”

Badosa returned to competition in January but the struggles were evident. In the first four months of the year, she won back-to-back matches just once, exacerbated by three in-match retirements.

“In Indian Wells, the doctors told me it would be very complicated to continue my career,” Badosa said on the WTA Insider Podcast.

“I said, ‘A few more years? I’m still 26.’ For me that was very tough.”

But with the help of cortisone shots and a refusal to let her career whittle away, Badosa quietly built up belief in her body and her tennis once again. Her run to the Round of 16 in Rome, where she beat Mirra Andreeva, Emma Navarro and Diana Shnaider before taking Coco Gauff to a third set, was a huge catalyst. Then came two wins over Katie Boulter and Yulia Putintseva at Roland Garros.

She came into Wimbledon after making her first quarterfinal of the season, on the grass at Bad Homburg. That run put her back in the Top 100 at No.93.

Badosa has played like a woman renewed at SW19. It began with clinical wins over Karolina Muchova and Brenda Fruhvirtova. That set up a true gut-check against Rothesay International champion Kasatkina, who was bidding to extend her win streak to a personal-best eight matches.

After a delayed start due to rain, Badosa raced to a 3-0 lead before Kasatkina slowly and methodically reeled her in. After trailing 5-2, Kasatkina won three consecutive games and saved three set points to keep the set in the balance, but Badosa surged from 5-5 in the tiebreak to take the set.

Kasatkina struck back in the second set with a timely break in the 10th game to take the set and rode that momentum to a 4-2 lead in the decider. But the Eastbourne champion failed to consolidate the break and Badosa was off and running. With more aggressive, disciplined hitting, the Spaniard won the last four games to seal her first Top 20 win in over a year.

“I’ve always been very tough mentally and a fighter, so I was going to do it anyway,” Badosa said. “So for me, I’m very proud that I’ve been through all of this. And now that I’m, again, in the fourth round and playing good level again, because sometimes also when I came back at the beginning of the year and struggling so much, my level wasn’t there. I feel myself so far away. Now seeing myself back at it, it means a lot.”

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Defeats Cristina Bucsa to Reach Third Round at Wimbledon

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Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has advanced to the third round ever at a Grand Slam…

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis player, who pulled off a straight-sets upset of Wimbledon defending champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round, continued her winning ways at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Thursday.

Jessica Bouzas ManeiroBouzas Maneiro defeated fellow Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 7-6 (1), 6-3 and will next play No 31 seed Barbora Krejcikova.

She has dazzled at Wimbledon.

With her first round win over Vondrousova, she became the first player to topple a defending women’s singles champion in the first round since 1994.

She had never won a tour-level match on grass prior to this week.

In the previous round of The Championships, Bucsa, ranked No 64, edged out Romanian Ana Bogdan (6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5)).

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Defeats Wimbledon Defending Champion Marketa Vondrousova to Reach Second Round

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Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has taken down a champion…

The 21-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 83 in the world, defeated Wimbledon defending champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-2 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Tuesday.

Jessica Bouzas ManeiroIn the process, Vondrousova became the first defending women’s champion at Wimbledon to lose in the first round the next year since 1994.

Vondrousova was a surprise title winner at the All England Club 12 months ago, the first unseeded woman to claim the trophy at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Now she enters the books in another — and less desirable — historic way. The only other time

2019 in the sport’s Open era, which dates to 1968, that a woman went from a championship at Wimbledon to an immediate exit a year later was when Steffi Graf was defeated by Lori McNeil 30 years ago.

Vondrousova was seeded No. 6 this time, but the left-hander, who also was the runner-up at the French Open and a silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games three years ago, was never at her best Tuesday. She appeared to still be suffering after-effects from a fall during a tune-up tournament on grass in Berlin last month that hurt her hip.

Bouzas Maneiro, meantime, has reached the second round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.

In March, Bouzas Maneiro won her maiden WTA 125 title at the Antalya Challenger. The following month, she reached the final of the Zaragoza Open, but lost to Moyuka Uchijima.

Leylah Fernandez Upsets Madison Keys at Rothesay International to Reach First-Ever Grass Court Final

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Leylah Fernandez has pulled off an upset…

The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian professional tennis player has booked her spot in the women’s final of the Rothesay International, after an upset win over Madison Keys on Friday in Eastbourne, England.

Leylah FernandezFernandez scored a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Keys.

The world No. 30, Fernandez will next face Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, who scored a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, on Saturday.

The title match will be Fernandez’s sixth career final but first on grass and first at a WTA 500 level or above since the 2021 U.S. Open.

Fernandez, who reached the Birmingham quarterfinals earlier this month, is pleased with her grass-court form ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on Monday.

Defeating Keys, ranked 12th and a two-time Eastbourne champion, only bolsters her confidence for the upcoming Grand Slam event.

“We’ve been working super hard the past couple of months [and] the past couple of years, so I am super happy with the results these past few weeks,” said Fernandez.

“It’s good preparation for Wimbledon, but we are just going to focus on [Saturday’s] final.”

Carlos Alcaraz to Participate in Charlotte Invitational Exhibition This December

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Carlos Alcaraz will be spending time in North Carolina this December.

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis player and defending Wimbledon champion will take part in a tennis exhibition in Charlotte on December 6.

Carlos AlcarazThe third-ranked Alcaraz will face Frances Tiafoe in one match, while Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens will meet in another at the Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.

“All eyes will be on Charlotte as some of the biggest names in tennis face off in an event unlike any other,” Charlotte Sports Foundation executive director Danny Morrison said. “Expect unparalleled, elevated hospitality that only the Queen City can provide and, of course, elite competition in a sport that’s captivated the world.”

Alcaraz won this year’s French Open, making him the youngest male tennis player to win a Grand Slam on all three playing surfaces – hard, clay and grass.

“I am appreciative for the opportunity to compete in the Charlotte Invitational this December,” Alcaraz said. “Fans can expect an incredible night and we look forward to providing an unforgettable experience for all in attendance.”

Match times are still to be determined.

Tickets for the event will go on sale in the middle of July.

Caroline Garcia Named to France’s Olympic Tennis Team for 2024 Paris Games

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Caroline Garcia will be competing at the upcoming Paris Olympics.

The 20-year-old Spanish-French tennis player, a two-time French Open doubles champion, has been selected to France’s tennis team for the 2024 Paris Games on Friday but not her frequent partner Kristina Mladenovic.

Caroline GarciaGarcia and Mladenovic won at Roland Garros — the Olympic venue next month — in 2016 and 2022. Their most recent Grand Slam appearance was at the Australian Open, where they reached the quarterfinals. They haven’t played together on tour since February.

Mladenovic is a former doubles No. 1 who has slipped to No. 55. She has nine Grand Slam doubles titles, including four French.

Garcia played only singles at the French Open this year and bowed out in the second round.

She will play the Olympic doubles with Diane Parry. Also on the women’s team were Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva. 

Olympic tennis starts July 27.

Rafael Nadal to Play Singles & Doubles at 2024 Paris Games

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Rafael Nadal is set to play at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 38-year-old Spanish professional tennis player has been named to the Spanish tennis team for the Paris Olympics, where he’ll also partner with French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in doubles, the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation has announced.

Rafael NadalNadal, who has been limited the past two years by a number of injuries, has said the Olympic Games were his focus and that he could skip Wimbledon to prepare.

“My main goal now is to play Olympics,” Nadal said after losing in the first round at Roland Garros on May 27. “That’s going to be here. So I need to prepare myself the proper way to try to arrive here healthy and well prepared, and then let’s see.”

Nadal and Alcaraz will play in both singles and doubles at the Games.

The tennis competition will be held at Roland Garros, where Nadal is a 14-time Grand Slam champion and Alcaraz just won the French Open on Sunday.

“One pair, which I think everyone knows and was hoping for, is Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal and the second pair is yet to be decided. It hasn’t been 100% confirmed yet,” national team coach David Ferrer told reporters.

Alcaraz, who will be making his Olympic debut, has set winning an Olympic medal for Spain as one of his top career goals. He said after winning at Roland Garros that this year he would prefer a gold medal at the Paris Olympics over successfully defending his Wimbledon title.

“The Olympic Games are every four years and it’s a special tournament where you’re not only playing for yourself, but for a country, representing every Spaniard,” the No. 2-ranked Alcaraz said. “I think this year I’d choose Olympic gold.”

Nadal has a singles gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Games and a 2016 gold in doubles, when he played with Marc Lopez.

Spain also selected Pablo Carreno Busta, Alejandro Davidovich and Marcel Granollers (doubles) for the men’s competition. Captain Anabel Medina picked No. 55 Sara Sorribes Tormo and No. 67 Cristina Bucsa — the top-ranked Spanish players — for the women’s team, with Paula Badosa deciding not to compete as she has only two more events to play while using her protected ranking.