US Open champion Emma Raducanu made a winning debut at the Billie Jean King Cup on Friday. Raducanu looked comfortable in her first professional match on clay and helped Great Britain level their tie against Czech Republic.
Former World No. 1 Justine Henin has hit out at the ATP for failing to rein in its stars.
Elsewhere, Naomi Osaka interacted with the recipients of Play Academy, an initiative launched by her to improve the lives of girls through sports. Venus Williams, meanwhile, took to Instagram to impart some coaching tips.
Here’s a round-up of the day’s biggest headlines:
Emma Raducanu kicks off clay campaign with victory
Making her debut at the Billie Jean King Cup and playing her first match on clay, Emma Raducanu defeated Tereza Martincova in straight sets. The teenager won 7-5, 7-5 to level the tie for Great Britain after Czech Republic had taken the lead through Marketa Vondrousouva.
Raducanu will take on Vondrousova in her next match.
“He should not be on the court today, Alexander Zverev” – Justine Henin on ATP’s inaction
The last few months have witnessed plenty of untoward incidents involving several high-profile players. Alexander Zverev verbally abused an umpire and attacked his chair at the Mexican Open. He was later fined and given a suspended ban.
Nick Kyrgios and Jenson Brooksby, among others, behaved in an unruly manner while on court as well. Former World No. 1 Justine Henin believes that the ATP hasn’t dealt with the matter in a proper manner and that the players should’ve been punished.
“We hope concrete action will be taken so that these extremes stop. You can’t yell at an umpire. Even if there is no intention, it is a problem to break a racquet that flies as far as a ball boy. You can be tired… but we can’t see the images of Alexander Zverev again. These are behaviours of intimidation, of rage, which we cannot see and which we must punish much more severely. He should not be on the court today, Alexander Zverev,” Henin told Eurosport.
Naomi Osaka plays mentor to Play Academy inductees
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was responsible for launching Play Academy, an initiative aimed at empowering girls through sport. She interacted with the inductees yesterday, playing tennis and advising them.
“Had such a great time with @playacademynaomi grantees yesterday! Thank you to @laureussport for working with me to help bring change to girls’ lives through play and sport. Also a big thank you to @godaddy for supporting this initiative and helping to launch the new @playacademynaomi website. Visit my IG Story to check it out!”
Osaka’s plans for the clay season include competing at the Italian Open and Roland Garros.
Venus Williams plays coach on Instagram
While Venus Williams hasn’t competed in a tournament since August 2021, she has remained involved with tennis in some way or another. She took to Instagram to announce that she’s starting a weekly tennis tutorial to improve people’s games.
“This week we look into how to hit forehand tips and tricks. . I will begin a series of tennis tutorials that will hopefully help you improve your game. Let me know in the comments what kind of tennis tips you’d like to see. Thanks for watching,” she said.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina seal semi-final spots at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters and will face World No. 3 Alexander Zverev next. The German defeated Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5).
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Grigor Dimitrov and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will compete in the other semifinal. The Spaniard won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz, while Dimitrov defeated Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).
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