Jamie Delgado Named to Jack Draper’s Coaching Team

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Jamie Delgado has a new client…

The 48-year-old Spanish-British tennis coach and former professional player, Andy Murray’s former coach, will work with Jack Draper as part of a major change to the British player’s team.

Draper, The British number one, had previously had a long-standing partnership with James Trotman and, while he’ll continue to be heavily involved, Delgado takes over as lead coach and will travel with Draper to the majority of tournaments.

A former British Davis Cup player who holds the men’s record for consecutive Wimbledon appearances with 23, Delgado began working with Murray in 2016, initially alongside Ivan Lendl, when the Scot enjoyed the most successful period of his career.

Delgado remained in Murray’s team until the end of the 2021 season and has since coached Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov.

Both players praised the impact of Delgado, and, with Trotman keen to spend more time at home, Draper has moved to secure his services after his long-time partnership with Dimitrov ended last month.

The arrangement will begin in preseason, with Draper currently battling to recover from the left arm problem that has restricted him to only one match since Wimbledon.

Following his second-round exit at the All England Club, Draper was diagnosed with bone bruising, and an attempt to return at the US Open ended with him pulling out ahead of the second round before calling an early end to his season.

That ended the 23-year-old’s hopes of appearing at the ATP Finals for the first time, with Draper slipping to eighth in the rankings during his absence.

He is set to make his return to the court in December’s Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London.

Carlos Alcaraz Claims Cincinnati Open Title After Jannik Sinner Retires in First Set

Posted on August 18, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz didn’t have to break much of a sweat to claim the Cincinnati Open title.

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star claimed the title in just over 20 minutes on Monday after top-ranked Jannik Sinner was forced to retire due to illness during the first set.

Meeting in the final for the fourth time this year and first since Wimbledon, Sinner fell behind 5-0 in the first set with nine unforced errors. He was seen with an icepack on his head during a break and retired after playing only 22 minutes.

“Didn’t feel great from yesterday,” Sinner said. “Also, during the night, I thought I would recover a bit better, but it was not the case. I just tried to go out for the fans, trying to give a match. But it was not meant to be for me today.”

It was only the third time the Cincinnati Open men’s final ended in a retirement, and the first since 2011 when Novak Djokovic stopped playing in the second set because of a shoulder injury.

“Wanted to wish Jannik a speedy recovery and in a few days, hopefully he’s going to be OK,” Alcaraz said. “For myself, I am really, really happy to lift the trophy. I lost the final here in 2023. I wanted really badly this trophy.”

Sinner, who turned 24 on Saturday, was on a 12-match winning streak and had won 26 straight matches on hard courts. He was bidding to become the first player to win back-to-back men’s Cincinnati Open titles since Roger Federer in 2014 and ’15.

Alcaraz, who is ranked No. 2, now holds a 9-5 advantage in his matchups with Sinner.

This year, Sinner won in four sets at Wimbledon, and Alcaraz won a five-set thriller at the French Open and in straight sets at the Rome Masters in May.

Another classic matchup wasn’t to be Monday. Sinner received medical attention after having his serve broken for the third time and retired moments later.

“After the third game, I just noticed that he wasn’t feeling good,” Alcaraz said. “I know him. I’ve been battling against him, having great matches, great battles. I noticed he was missing more often. It’s pretty weird from him.”

It was only the third time the top two men’s players have met in the Cincinnati Open final, the previous times were No. 2 Djokovic and No. 1 Alcaraz in 2022 and No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Djokovic in 2012.

The Cincinnati Open is considered a tuneup for the U.S. Open, which begins Sunday in New York. The past two years, both the men’s and women’s Cincinnati Open champions went on to win the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Leylah Fernandez Wins Her First Ever WTA 500 Title at DC Open

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Leylah Fernandez has claimed the biggest title of her career…

The 22-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player won the DC Open on Sunday with the help of a terrific backhand, some superb returning and energy courtesy of Shake Shack‘s burgers and fries.

The left-handed Fernandez, who is ranked 36th, wrapped up a big week of tight matches with a lopsided victory, defeating Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 in the final.

Fernandez earned her fourth singles trophy — all have come at hard-court tournaments — and first at a WTA 500 event.

She came quite close to a Grand Slam championship as a teenager at the 2021 US Open, making it all the way to the final in New York before losing to Emma Raducanu.

There almost was a rematch in Washington, but Kalinskaya eliminated Raducanu in the semifinals Saturday.

Fernandez took quite a journey through the women’s bracket.

She needed 2 hours, 19 minutes to oust No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula, last year’s US Open runner-up, in three sets in the second round. She then needed 2 hours, 20 minutes to beat Taylor Townsend in the quarterfinals and 3 hours, 12 minutes for a three-tiebreaker victory over No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, in the semifinals.

After each of the last two, Fernandez and her father, who is also her coach, opted for Shake Shack.

“We got burgers, hot dog, cheese fries — everything that an athlete should not eat before a match, but it did the trick,” Fernandez said about what she ate after the Townsend match. “It gave me the right nutrients to recover from the cramps and get ready for the next round.”

Following the Rybakina marathon, Fernandez said she and her father “were messaging, and I was, like, ‘OK, what do you want to eat tonight?’ We both answered at the same time: burgers. … That was kind of my diet for the whole week.”

It worked: This was the first title for Fernandez since October 2023 at the Hong Kong Open.

Plus, she arrived in Washington with a losing record this season and hadn’t won more than two matches at the same tournament since last November.

“I have gone through so many different challenges this week. It just has made me stronger, in a way, that if I can get through this week — through the cramps, through the long matches, through the heat, the humidity — I can get through anything,” Fernandez said. “So I was just very happy that I got to not only push myself physically through the limits, but also mentally. So that kind of will help me hopefully for future tournaments.”

Against the 48th-ranked Kalinskaya, who hadn’t dropped a set until Sunday, Fernandez saved the only break point she faced while breaking four times.

One key: Fernandez claimed 10 of the 12 points when Kalinskaya hit a second serve. Another: Kalinskaya, a 26-year-old Russian who is 0-3 in tour finals, finished with 24 unforced errors and just nine winners.

“Amazing fight this week,” Kalinskaya told Fernandez. “You truly deserve it.”

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Taylor Fritz to Reach Wimbledon Final

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is one step closer to a three-peat…

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star moved within one victory of a third consecutive Wimbledon championship and sixth Grand Slam title overall by taking down Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Friday.

No. 2 seed Alcaraz takes a 24-match winning streak into the final Sunday, when he’ll face No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who took apart 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday afternoon.

“Not thinking about the winning streak. Not thinking about the results at all. Thinking about … my dream,” Alcaraz said. “Right now, I don’t want to think about Sunday, to be honest. I just want to enjoy this moment, enjoy that I qualified [for] another final.”

Alcaraz opened as a -150 favorite over Sinner (+100) for the men’s Wimbledon final, according to ESPN BET odds. Alcaraz (+120) and Sinner (+190) were the sportsbook’s two favorites to win the tournament, as well as its most-popular future plays, from the beginning with a combined 76.7% of the handle going into Friday’s semifinals.

Alcaraz is 5-0 in major finals, including wins over Djokovic in the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals, and a five-set comeback win over Sinner at the French Open a month ago.

Fritz had two chances to force a fifth set against Alcaraz, leading 6-4 in the tiebreaker. But Alcaraz collected the next four points to finish off the win, then rocked back on his heels, spread his arms wide and screamed.

“I’m just really proud about the way that I stayed calm,” Alcaraz said, “and then [was] thinking clearly.”

That wasn’t the only time Fritz made things interesting. He accumulated more total points than Alcaraz through the first two sets, and he finished with more winners — 44 to 38 — and 19 total aces to 13.

When Alcaraz double-faulted, then missed a forehand, to drop the second, they were even at a set apiece.

But with five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg and celebrities like Anna Wintour and Leonardo DiCaprio looking on, Alcaraz quickly recovered from that lapse, marking some of his best shots with a shout of “Vamos!” or a raised index finger. He never faced a break point the rest of the way, while stealing two of Fritz’s service games in the third set.

“A lot of the things that I would have changed, I think would have only helped me for a point or two, and then I think Carlos would have just made an adjustment,” Fritz said, “and I don’t think it would have been a long-term answer.”

Even when Fritz did get an opportunity to get back into things, Alcaraz was ready. In the fourth set’s first game, Alcaraz provided Fritz a bit of an opening by missing two forehands for love-30. But Alcaraz shut that door just as quickly with four points in a row, including a 134 mph ace and 135 mph service winner.

Amid the tension of the tiebreaker, Fritz took time to delicately lift a butterfly off the grass and out of harm’s way. Soon, he had grabbed five straight points to reach the precipice of going to a fifth set. But Alcaraz never let Fritz get any closer, forcing four errors.

The temperature topped 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with no clouds to offer protection from the sun. For the second consecutive day, spectators had trouble in the heat; there were two brief delays in one second-set game while fans needed to be helped.

The pop of a champagne cork could be heard in the stands just before the start, and Alcaraz burst out of the gate, taking 10 of the initial 12 points, including a break for a 1-0 lead. That game featured glimpses of why Alcaraz is so great already. Indeed, the very first point was illustrative: He returned a 135 mph serve, then capped a 10-stroke exchange with a delicate drop shot.

There would soon be a forehand winner, then a good return that drew a netted response by Fritz. A return of a 128 mph serve that found chalk led to a net-cord winner for the break.

More was to come in a terrific set for Alcaraz. He even managed to out-serve Fritz, delivering six aces and 20 of his 24 service points while reaching 137 mph. Alcaraz won the point on all three of his serve-and-volley tries, including one perfect stop volley. By the end, Alcaraz was 31-for-41 when at the net.

“I feel like that’s the best I’ve seen him serve,” Fritz said.

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Cam Norrie to Reach Semifinals at Wimbledon

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is two wins away from a three-peat…

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star and two-time defending Wimbledon champion has reached the semifinals at the All England Club after beating unseeded Cam Norrie, the last British player in either singles bracket, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Alcaraz extended his career-best winning streak to 23 matches — the longest tour-level win streak by any man 22 or younger since Juan Martin del Potro won 23 straight matches in 2008 from Stuttgart to the US Open as a 19-year-old. Alcaraz turned 22 in May.

Second-seeded Alcaraz, making his fifth main draw appearance, improved to 23-2 at Wimbledon; among men to debut in the Open era, only Bjorn Borg has more match wins in his first five appearances at the All England Club.

After Norrie held serve to open the match on Centre Court, Alcaraz took control by rattling off the next five games against the left-hander.

He blazed through the opening set in 28 minutes, many of the Centre Court seats still empty as fans sought refreshment after watching Aryna Sabalenka‘s 2-hour-and-54-minute quarterfinal victory.

Alcaraz never let Norrie into the match — facing only five break points and saving all of them. He compiled 39 winners and 13 aces to go with 26 unforced errors.

“To be able to play another semifinal here at Wimbledon is super special,” Alcaraz said in an on-court interview after finishing off his quarterfinal match in 1 hour, 39 minutes.

Alcaraz won 89% of his first-serve points against Norrie, the highest mark in any major match of his young career.

He will face No. 5 American Taylor Fritz for a spot in the final.

Alcaraz will have two days off before facing Fritz on Friday, owing to the All England Club schedule.

When asked how he would use the time, one fan in the crowd suggested he could return to Ibiza, the Balearic island where Alcaraz celebrated after winning his second consecutive French Open last month.

Alcaraz is looking to become the fourth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year multiple times. He would join Borg (3 times: 1978-80), Rod Laver (1962, 1969) and Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010).

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Andrey Rublev to Advance to Wimbledon Quarterfinals

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz continues his Wimbledon winning streak.

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star’s latest up-and-down Wimbledon performance began with a dropped set. Later Sunday, he was in danger of getting broken to fall further behind in the third.

But then, as he so often does, Alcaraz seized the moment, produced some magic and moved closer to a third consecutive title at the All England Club.

Alcaraz stretched his winning streak in the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 18 matches — and his unbeaten run across all events to 22 — by coming back to defeat No. 14 seed Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Centre Court and return to the quarterfinals.

Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed, earned his 75th major match win in 87 opportunities — equaling Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as the fastest men in the Open era to 75 victories at majors.

In this fortnight’s first matchup between two men ranked in the top 20, Alcaraz brought out his best while down 3-2 in the third set. First, he needed to fend off a break chance for Rublev, doing so with a forehand passing winner.

After eventually holding to 3-all, Alcaraz earned his own break opportunity and didn’t let Rublev escape. On an eight-stroke exchange, Alcaraz sprinted from one corner of the court to the other and, with a stomp of his right foot and a bit of a slide, flicked a crosscourt forehand winner.

Alcaraz spread his arms wide, pointed to his right ear and basked in the crowd’s loud adulation, the noise bouncing off the underside of the stadium’s closed roof.

Rublev sat in his sideline chair, looked up at his guest box and made an “OK” hand signal. Just 10 minutes later, that set belonged to Alcaraz, who will face 2022 semifinalist Cam Norrie — the last British player in singles — on Tuesday for a berth in the semifinals.

“I always said that it’s just about belief in yourself,” Alcaraz said. “It doesn’t matter that you are one-set-to-love down. Tennis is a sport that can change in just one point. One point can change the match completely, turn around everything.”

At 22, Alcaraz already owns five Grand Slam trophies and will be making his 12th major quarterfinal appearance, matching the second most by any man before his 23rd birthday and trailing only Boris Becker’s 13.

Alcaraz hasn’t lost a match anywhere since April 20 against Holger Rune in the final at Barcelona.

Solana Sierra Makes History By Advancing to Fourth Round at Wimbledon

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Solana Sierra continues her Cinderella run at Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old Argentine tennis player, who was out of the competition a week ago at the All England Club, has become the first ‘lucky loser’ in the Open Era to reach the women’s singles fourth round at Wimbledon.

Lucky losers are players who lost in qualifying but end up in the main draw if others withdraw.

Sierra only got 15 minutes’ notice before her first-round match that she’d be playing, following an injury to Belgium’s Greet Minnen.

And Sierra has grasped her opportunity with both hands, beating Cristina Bucsa 7-5 1-6 6-1 in the third round on Friday.

“I remember I was really sad that day [I lost in qualifying], and today is like the best day of my life,” she told BBC Sport.

“So it’s been really crazy. Seven days ago, I was out of the tournament, right now I’m into the second week. So it’s really crazy, and I’m just super happy.”

She is the first Argentinian woman since Paola Suarez in 2004 to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon.

By getting to that stage, Sierra will take home a minimum of £240,000 in prize money, adding considerably to her £330,000 career earnings until this point.

“[I feel] super lucky,” said the world number 101, who beat Britain’s Katie Boulter in the second round. “But I think I also take the opportunity, and I really want to keep going and to keep dreaming in this tournament.”

Sierra has picked up her fourth different room key as she keeps up her historic progress at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Sierra has extended her latest accommodation booking until Tuesday, which means if she beats Germany’s Laura Siegemund on Sunday, she will still have somewhere to stay until the quarterfinals.

While Sierra is the first woman to achieve the feat, there have been five lucky losers to reach the men’s singles fourth round, most recently Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in 2024.

And there is a lucky loser impressing in the men’s singles this year too.

The 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Marton Fucsovics beat Gael Monfils over five sets, and across two days, to reach the third round.

The Hungarian, who said he had gone from “hell to heaven” since losing in qualifying, will play the American 10th seed Ben Shelton on Saturday.

Carlos Alcaraz Extends Match Winning Streak to Personal ATP Tour-Best 20 with Wimbledon Victory Over Oliver Tarvet

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a personal best winning streak for Carlos Alcaraz.

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star defeated 733rd-ranked Oliver Tarvet 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in the second-round of Wimbledon to extend his match winning streak to 20, the longest of his ATP Tour-level career that includes defending his title at the French Open.

While he had to face several break points along the way — saving all but two — it was a considerably smoother win than his 4½-hour, five-set victory over Fabio Fognini in the opening round.

“I just love his game, to be honest,” Alcaraz said. “I knew at the beginning that I had to be really focused and try to play my best tennis.”

Asked about his recent run of success, Alcaraz said the key for him the past two to three months has been finding the “right way to enjoy … doesn’t matter if I’m winning or losing.”

Alcaraz became the third man in tennis history to win 20 or more matches at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon before his 23rd birthday. The others are Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal.

He will next face either 25th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round, as the Spaniard bids for a third straight Wimbledon title.

The match between Auger-Aliassime and Struff was suspended, level after two sets, due to darkness.

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Jiri Lehecka to Claim Second Career Queen’s Club Title

Posted on June 22, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Alcaraz is sending out a powerful statement ahead of his Wimbledon defense.

The 22-year-old Spanish tennis star, the top seed, defeated Czech player Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 on Sunday to claim his second Queen’s Club title.

Alcaraz, who triumphed at Queen’s Club a few weeks before claiming his first Wimbledon title in 2023, extended his winning streak to 18 matches, but was pushed hard by the powerful Lehecka, who underlined his own credentials as a rising force.

Alcaraz pounced at 5-5 to break Lehecka’s serve en route to bagging the opening set in 45 minutes.

The 23-year-old Lehecka, bidding to become the first Czech player to win the Queen’s Club title since Ivan Lendl in 1990, continued going toe-to-toe with the five-time Grand Slam champion and won the second-set tiebreaker with some clinical tennis.

Alcaraz forged ahead 4-1 in the deciding set, however, as Lehecka’s level finally began to drop. Alcaraz again broke Lehecka’s serve to complete the win, letting out a roar of delight as his opponent struck a backhand into the net.

Alcaraz did not face a single break point and slammed down 18 aces on his way to a 21st career title.

Wimbledon starts June 30.

Roberto Bautista Agut Defeats Holger Rune to Advance to Queen’s Club Semifinals

Posted on June 20, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Roberto Bautista Agut has pulled off an major upset…

The 37-year-old Spanish professional tennis player claimed a two-sets-to-one victory (7-6 [5], 6-7 [4], 6-2) over Denmark’s Holger Rune, the No. 4 seed, on Friday evening to reach the semifinals of the Queen’s Club tournament in London.

It marks his first appearance in an ATP semifinal since October 2024, when he won the title in Antwerp, and his first on grass since the Halle tournament in 2023.

Grass has historically been a successful surface for Bautista Agut: he won his first career title on it in 2014 at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and achieved his best Grand Slam result on it — a semifinal at Wimbledon in 2019.

This Friday against Rune, he once again showed why he’s such an effective player on grass. Bautista Agut took advantage of his opponent’s numerous unforced errors — 63 in total — to clinch the win. After controlling the first set well, he had the chance to close it out in straight sets, but a double fault at 4-5 in the second-set tiebreak forced him into a deciding third set.

After breaking Rune at the very start of the final set, he maintained his lead all the way through, even managing a second break to seal the match early in the evening on the British grass.

“I think I had control of the match today, especially from the baseline. I managed to stay calm on court, and I’m really happy about that. I felt good out there, and I’ll need to play the same kind of match against Carlos tomorrow,” said Bautista Agut after his victory.

Bautista Agut, currently ranked No. 51 in the ATP rankings, will face fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, in the semifinals at the West Kensington tournament.

It will be their third meeting on the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz leading 2–0 and yet to drop a set against his compatriot.

In the previous rounds of the Queen’s tournament, Bautista Agut edged out Portuguese Nuno Borges (6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4) and No 8 seed Jakub Mensik (3-6, 6-3, 7-5).

Alcaraz beat Arthur Rinderknech (LL): 7-5, 6-4

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