Latest news with #doubles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter doubles dream over with defeat at Queen's Club
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter were defeated in the second round of the women's doubles at Queen's Club. They were beaten 6-2 7-5 by top seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Erin Routliffe in the first warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon. Advertisement The British No1 and 2 formed an unlikely partnership in the first event of the grass-court swing, as the prestigious Queen's hosted female players for the first time. Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, and Boulter, the British No1, had never played together previously, and their opening match on Monday marked just the second time that Raducanu had played doubles in her professional career. However, their collaboration in west London was brought to an end by Kichenok and Routliffe, who had beaten the pair's compatriots Sonay Kartal and Jodie Burrage in the opening round. Raducanu and Boulter started promisingly on Court One, forcing two break point opportunities in the opening game, but ultimately squandering both, and they were subsequently breached themselves in the following game, unable to dash the No1 seeds' break advantage for the remainder of the opening set. Advertisement Things went from bad to worse for the Britons, as they were broken once more to concede first blood. The second set was more closely contested as Raducanu and Boulter were cheered on by the home support, but they were broken to go down 3-1, with Kichenok and Routliffe finally converting a third break point. Dream duo: Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter (Getty Images) The British duo rallied and levelled proceedings at 4-4, breaking to love before holding comfortably, and they carried that momentum into the ninth game, earning four break-point chances yet passing them all up. That would be their undoing in the end, as they were fatally broken one final time with an hour and 25 minutes on the clock. Advertisement The pair's attentions will now turn back to the singles event, where they both progressed into the last 16. Raducanu beat Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa 6-1 6-2 on Tuesday, while Boulter came through in three sets against the tricky Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(4) 1-6 6-4 on the newly-named Andy Murray Arena. Heather Watson also progressed into the second round with a straight-sets victory over Yulia Putintseva, but there will be no clean sweep of British ladies in the last 16 after Burrage and Francesca Jones were both beaten. Kartal was dispensed of in short order as she fell 6-1 6-3 to American contender Amanda Anisimova, bringing her Queen's Club campaign to a prompt close. Raducanu will face the Slovakian Rebecca Sramkova on Thursday, while Boulter takes on fifth seed Diana Schnaider.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Emma Raducanu lifts lid on Carlos Alcaraz link-up: He has been my motivation for years
Emma Raducanu has revealed the motivation behind her doubles link-up with Carlos Alcaraz and says she will take inspiration from him at Wimbledon. The new team – who can expect to be given a portmanteau nickname of either 'Alcaranu' or 'Raducaraz' – are one of several eye-catching partnerships set to make their debuts at the US Open in August. Alcaraz joked that when he proposed the pair join forces for the $1million event, Raducanu took 'a while' to reply to him. 'Gotta keep them on their toes!,' Raducanu laughed before clarifying she had to go through the formality of asking her coach before responding to the request. 'He's so nice, very happy, amazing values and just a really positive light to be around. Good tennis player as well, great tennis player. 'I remember he beat Stef [Tsitsipas] in the third round [at the US Open in 2021] and it was like a big win, his breakout kind of win on a big stage and it was really cool to go through that tournament together. I kept going through the US Open, but we were staying in touch for the whole time and it's nice. We have a good relationship still. He's obviously overtaken me a lot, but it's nice that we have that from a while ago.' 🪙 . @carlosalcaraz and @EmmaRaducanu are still working to get on the same page ahead of the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship 😅 — US Open Tennis (@usopen) June 19, 2025 Raducanu was spotted on the Queen's Club balcony with Myah Petchey, daughter of her coach Mark, watching Alcaraz's semi-final victory over Roberto Bautista last Saturday as she continued her recovery from a back spasm ahead of Eastbourne and Wimbledon. Raducanu says Queen's winner Alcaraz, who is after a Wimbledon 'three-peat' has plenty of magic to bring to their partnership, with the pair's history starting in 2021, when she was catapulted to superstardom by winning the US Open. Then, Alcaraz was ranked 55th in the world – Raducanu was 150th – and for both of them, the tournament was a coming-of-age moment that would change the trajectory of their careers. Raducanu lifted the trophy months after doing her A Levels, while Alcaraz announced himself on the world stage by knocking out then-third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Arthur Ashe. It was during that tournament that the two teenagers encountered each other for the first time, and it is at the same venue that they will make their doubles debut in August this year. 'When I see him play, he's always got a smile on his face and enjoying it,' Raducanu said. That's why he's able to do such crazy shots, turn points around that he's maybe not favoured to and pull out these ridiculous shots. It's coming from a place of curiosity. 'It's amazing to have that on the men's side and take inspiration when I can.' On June 17, it was announced that Raducanu's stalker was blocked in his attempt to buy Wimbledon tickets for the summer's tournament, after officials spotted his name on the list of applicants. The man, who is understood to be from South America, had applied last year in the public ballot. 'I think when I heard that I was like Wimbledon has done an amazing job and I got a notification and the police contacted me and told me and assured me everything was good, everything was okay,' Raducanu told the BBC when asked about the news. 'I know I'm not the first athlete to go through this and I won't be the last. I feel comfortable, I feel safe, I feel great. I've had protection whenever I've been at these events recently and I feel okay.' Raducanu's preparations for Wimbledon have been far from straightforward as she continues to contend with a back issue that forced her to pull out of the Berlin Open last week. During her quarter-final defeat to Zheng Qinwen in west London, a medic was called to court, and Raducanu later admitted she needed painkillers to get through it. Admitting the issue 'needs a lot of work' the British No 1 has been doing a combination of dry needling, soft tissue massages, muscle stimulation and taping, but the day before her opening round match against Ann Li on the south coast, she was untroubled by it in morning practice. 'I have good days and bad days with it,' Raducanu said, adding: 'I'm just trying to manage it as best as I can.' For Raducanu, who described the problem as a 'vulnerability' that needs care rather than something serious, it remains to be seen how much of a problem it will cause at Eastbourne and SW19.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
How British pair became kings of Queen's
In the latest edition of Second Serve, our weekly snapshot of the tours, BBC tennis reporter Jonathan Jurejko looks at the rise of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool following their Queen's victory. An historic triumph in the quaint surroundings of Queen's Club showed how the British doubles scene remains in rude health as Wimbledon Cash and Lloyd Glasspool might not be as well known as some of their peers, but they are the in-form British pairing this 28, and Glasspool, 31, had already won two ATP Tour titles in 2025 but this one - on home turf for two players who live in south-west London - is the pair, who only teamed up last year, are the first all-British team to lift the Queen's title in the Open is another feather in the cap for the nation's doubles guru Louis Cayer, who has transformed the quality and depth of the discipline since joining the LTA in 2007."The system we play our tennis under – in terms of tactics and the way we want to play - is very much aligned. It's a philosophy," Glasspool told BBC synchronisation in their patterns and positioning was clear in their title-winning match over Michael Venus and Nikola Metic, as well as the ability of both Britons to serve big and bold in the key a successful doubles partnership often comes down to circumstance and and Glasspool have known each other for several years, but ended up together after both splitting with their previous full-time partners Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara - who paired up and won Wimbledon last year."[Ending partnerships] is always difficult but you can't forget this is a business as well," said Cash, who only started playing doubles full-time in 2022 after coming through the United States college system."You have to do what is best for yourself – it has showed it was better for both Henry and I to go our separate ways."We all still get on really well. Seeing the other Britons doing well and winning Grand Slams is definitely pushing everyone on." British number two Katie Boulter has laid bare the shocking scale of social media abuse she receives, reopening the conversation about how the issue should be tackled.A fun way to attract new fans or damaging the careers of double specialists? The announcement of several superstar pairings for the new-look US Open mixed doubles event has been generating Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, one of the best grass-court players of her generation, says she intends to retire later this year. The most significant move in the ATP rankings this week saw Jack Draper regain his spot as world number the Queen's semi-finals helped Draper move back to his career-high position and ensures he will be seeded fourth at Wimbledon next is that important? It means Draper will avoid top two seeds Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz - who have won the past six majors between them - until at least the semi-finals, should the British number one get that world number one Daniil Medvedev has moved back into the top 10 after reaching the Halle final, while Alexander Bublik - who won the title - has reclaimed a spot in the top 30. Like Draper, Italy's Jasmine Paolini has received a Wimbledon seedings boost after climbing back to fourth in the WTA who was beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in last year's SW19 final, cannot face Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula until the semi-finals. Paolini has traded places with China's Zheng Qinwen, while Nottingham champion McCartney Kessler has secured a Wimbledon seeding by rising to keep an eye on Marketa Vondrousova at the All England Club. The 2023 Wimbledon champion has missed most of the past year after shoulder surgery, but reminded everyone of her ability by winning the Berlin Open. Cash and Glasspool were not the only British doubles success at the Nicholls won her first WTA title with Czech partner Tereza Mihalikova when the pair shocked French Open champions Paolini and Sara Errani in 30, is the nation's leading women's doubles player after forging a strong partnership with Mihalikova and has climbed to a career-high ranking of the singles, Draper reached the Queen's last four despite suffering with tonsillitis, while Fearnley climbed up to 51st in the rankings after a run to the quarter-finals. With Wimbledon now only a week away, many of the world's leading players are continuing their preparations at tour-level events in the UK, Germany and Spain. British number one Emma Raducanu and reigning Wimbledon champion Krejcikova headline the WTA event in Eastbourne, while the men's event features American world number five Taylor Fritz, plus Britons Fearnley and Cameron stars Pegula, Paolini and Iga Swiatek are playing the WTA event in Bad Homburg, while Ben Shelton - who cracked the top 10 last week - is top seed at the ATP tournament in those who have not got direct entry to Wimbledon, there is an opportunity to secure a place in the singles draws as qualifying takes place this week at Roehampton. Got any questions? Got any burning tennis questions you'd like us to answer?Submit them below and our Ask Me Anything team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and can also sign up to get the latest tennis news from BBC Sport delivered straight to your mobile phone.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
GB's Glasspool and Cash win historic Queen's doubles title
Glasspool (left) and Cash (right) have also won titles in Brisbane and Doha this season [Getty Images] Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool became the first all-British pairing to win the men's doubles title at Queen's in the Open era with victory in a match tie-break over Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus. Cash and Glasspool won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 10-6 to earn their third ATP Tour title of the season and their fourth since beginning their partnership last year. Advertisement "It's been a great year so far," Cash said. "It's really nice to start the grass season strong. Hopefully we can push on to a good run at Wimbledon." The Britons dominated the first set and were on course to wrap up victory with a break in the second before Croatia's Mektic and New Zealand's Venus fought back to take it to a tie-break, which they edged. But in the match tie-break - played to 10 points and in lieu of a deciding third set - Cash and Glasspool got an early mini-break and then broke again before sealing victory on their first match point. "I think we've been a really strong team this year and hopefully he [Julian] can continue making these tie-breaks a lot easier when he serves and the ball doesn't come back," said Glasspool, who was runner-up here in 2022 with Finland's Harri Heliovaara. Advertisement The victory marks a successful couple of weeks on grass for the pair after they also reached the final in 's-Hertogenbosch last weekend and they will continue their warm-up for Wimbledon by competing at Eastbourne next week. Britons to have won the doubles title here include Andy Murray, Neal Skupski and Jamie Murray but the only other all-British team to contest the Queen's men's doubles final in the Open era (since tennis went professional in 1968) were 1978 runners-up David and John Lloyd. There was more British doubles success on grass in Germany, where Olivia Nicholls and her Slovak partner Tereza Mihalikova won the Berlin Open women's title. They came from behind to beat Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 4-6 6-2 10-6 to win their first title as a pair.
The National
18-06-2025
- Climate
- The National
Rain can't dampen Hady Habib's mood as Lebanese attempts to qualify for Wimbledon
Lebanese tennis player Hady Habib's first experience of playing on grass in England was about as stereotypical as it gets. In preparation for his first crack at Wimbledon qualifying this week, the 26-year-old took part in a Challenger tournament in Ilkley, a leafy spa town some 300km north-west of London, where the fabled Grand Slam takes place from June 30-July 13. Due to bad weather, Habib played a two-hour, three-set match split across two days. He clocked a whopping 27 aces but lost the match. He won two matches in doubles before losing in the semi-finals. For Habib, it was a new adventure. 'The first two days that I got here, I only got an hour and a half of practice because it was raining. And something I didn't know on grass is when it rains, it kind of affects it for a while because you can't play on wet grass,' Habib told The National in an interview over Zoom from Ilkley. 'Some courts are covered, but the practice courts aren't. So even after they stopped my match, because my match took two days, before I stepped on to play the third set [the following day], I almost wasn't even going to warm up. They were going to give us a 10-minute warm-up. 'But I managed to squeeze a warm-up in because the practice courts dried. It's a new experience for me. You hear about the rain delays in Wimbledon and how it's just always raining there. 'It's so sensitive. During our match, it started to drizzle, and then we both started slipping and sliding everywhere. I looked at the ref, I'm like, 'Is this a slip and slide now or what?'' During our match, it started to drizzle, and then we both started slipping and sliding everywhere. I looked at the ref, I'm like, 'Is this a slip and slide now or what?' Hady Habib Rain showers aside, Habib says he enjoyed his first outing on grass at Ilkley and was encouraged by his first experience on the surface. 'It's pretty nice to just see a field of grass courts. You're out in the nature, and there's greenery all around,' he added. 'Going to my first hit, I didn't know what to expect, because I've never played on a real grass court in my life. The closest thing I've actually played on was synthetic grass, but it's not even close to a real grass court. 'But yeah, for my first hits, I just noticed how fast the ball was coming at me, because on grass, the ball skids off the court, so I just had to adjust to that while I was practising.' In Ilkley, Habib fell 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to 19-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce. 'Unfortunately, I lost, but it was a good experience for me, learning to adapt. You just have to stay lower to the ground because the balls are just not bouncing as high. It was fun. I really enjoyed playing on grass. I think it suits my game. The last match, I hit about 27 aces, which is just pretty not normal,' said Habib. 'That's why I think my game would suit grass. I serve well, I kind of hit my spots. And if you hit your spots on grass, and you have good power on the serve, you know, you feel like the best servers do so well on grass court, and now I understand why. Because it's so fast, it's really almost impossible to return. 'So, yeah, there's been a few adjustments I need to make. And I hope this is going to prepare me the best for Wimbledon.' Habib is riding the crest of a wave after securing a first Challenger title at the end of last season. A historic run at the Australian Open earlier this year – where he became the first Lebanese in the Open Era to qualify for a Grand Slam and to win a main draw match in singles – his ranking is now high enough to get him into the qualifying rounds of some of the biggest tournaments in the world, including Wimbledon. The tennis tour makes an abrupt switch from clay to grass after the French Open each June, with just three weeks separating Roland Garros from Wimbledon. The grass swing is short, and features a limited number of tournaments at both the ATP and Challenger levels. Those events can be difficult to get into, and if a player's ranking isn't high enough to at least make it into the Wimbledon qualifying draw, the logical option is to skip the grass season altogether and instead choose to play on clay or hard courts. That has been the case for Habib the past few years; but this season is different. Ranked 163 in the world and rising, Habib has a reason to lace up his grass-court shoes, with an opportunity to fight for a main draw spot at Wimbledon on the line. To make it to the All England Club, he must win three qualifying rounds at the Community Sport Centre Roehampton, the host venue for Wimbledon's qualifying tournament. 'Someone told me the other day that I'm not going to be actually playing at Wimbledon. I was like, 'Oh, what a bummer'. I didn't know qualifying was somewhere else.' Many players have said the fact that the qualifying rounds are played at a location that is a 15-minute drive away from the All England Club provides even extra motivation for them to qualify, in order to gain access to the hallowed lawns at SW19. 'It's going to be the Hunger Games over there,' joked Habib. This time last year, Habib was competing in a series of Challenger Tour events on clay in South America. In 2025, he got to play at tournaments he had only previously watched on TV, like the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Indian Wells, Miami, Doha and Dubai. 'Whenever you're doing something for the first time, you're just kind of learning new things. It was different for me, playing last year tournaments that are not even close to these. So being able to compete at these events, seeing all these top 50 players around you, it's a new thing. And you can learn a lot from those experiences,' he explained. 'And of course, those events, the matches are bigger. You play for bigger points, more prize money. So there's a lot more on the line. And that's something also you need to learn how to manage and deal with. 'So it's a process. And I'm still, it being my first time, I'm still trying to use this experience and get better each time I play these big events.' Wimbledon qualifying will take place from Monday June 23 to Thursday June 26 and will feature three men representing Arab countries: Lebanese duo Habib and Benjamin Hassan, as well as Tunisia's Aziz Dougaz.
