Johanna Konta fails to hit top gear but still leads British assault at Australian Open January 17, 2017 World No9 Johanna Konta expressed her relief at clearing the opening hurdle of her grand slam season after defeating Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens in the first round of the Australian Open. The 25-year-old, who prevailed 7-5, 6-2, led the home nations charge in Melbourne as Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund also progressed, ensuring that five British [...]
Sir Andy Murray expects dust-up with former Soviet boxer’s son as he bids to progress at Australian Open January 17, 2017 While his opponent is something of an unknown quantity, Britain’s Sir Andy Murray is convinced that Russian teenager Andrey Rublev will come out swinging in a bid to derail his Australian Open campaign. Murray will cross swords with world No152 Rublev, who is the son of a former Soviet boxer, for a place in the third [...]
Roger Federer wobbles and attracts swipe from Nick Kyrgios on difficult opening day for top men’s seeds at Australian Open January 16, 2017 Four-time Australian Open winner Roger Federer was one of a host of big names to survive major scares as the first round of the men’s draw got underway in Melbourne on Monday. Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka, fifth seed Kei Nishikori and seventh seed Marin Cilic all needed five sets to keep their hopes alive against [...]
World No4 Simona Halep becomes first big-hitter to crash out of Australian Open as Angelique Kerber squeezes through January 16, 2017 World No4 Simona Halep became the first major casualty of the Australian Open after crashing out in the opening round following defeat to American Shelby Rogers. For the second successive year Romania’s Halep stumbled at the first hurdle of the season-commencing grand slam, losing 6-3, 6-1 to power-hitting Rogers, herself a first-round loser in her [...]
Andy Murray struggles with Melbourne heat as world No1 and fellow Briton Dan Evans clear first hurdle at Australian Open January 16, 2017 Top seed Sir Andy Murray admitted struggling with temperatures of 32C in Melbourne after he laboured to victory in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday. Murray, playing his first grand slam match since becoming world No1, beat Ukrainian Illya Marchenko 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, although the contest was more competitive than the [...]
My good form is no guarantee of going far at the Australian Open, says Britain’s Johanna Konta January 15, 2017 Britain’s Johanna Konta has played down her status as Britain’s most credible female grand slam contender since Virginia Wade as she prepares to begin her Australian Open campaign on Tuesday. Konta goes into the year’s first major tournament at a career-high ranking of ninth in the world and buoyed by a string of fine performances [...]
Australian Open prize money 2017: How much can tennis stars win in Melbourne? January 12, 2017 Tennis stars will do battle for the second largest prize money reward in the sport's history when the Australian Open gets underway in Melbourne on Monday. A men’s and women’s singles champion prize of AUS$3.7m (£2.2m) is the most generous ever offered at the tournament and second only to last year’s US Open in size. This [...]
Britons head into Australian Open on form as Johanna Konta and Dan Evans continue their march in Sydney January 12, 2017 British No1 Johanna Konta continued her encouraging preparations for next week’s Australian Open on Thursday by reaching only her third WTA Tour final at the Apia International in Sydney. Her progress capped a fine evening for British players at the tournament, after Dan Evans defeated a top-10 ranked opponent for the first time to advance [...]
Sir Andy’s pledge of allegiance to Queen’s: World No1 Murray commits to Aegon Championships for rest of his career January 11, 2017 Queen's Club has received a major boost after world No1 Sir Andy Murray committed to playing the Aegon Championships, the west London venue’s traditional Wimbledon precursor, for the rest of his career. Murray is the current champion and a five-time winner of the tournament, which he has traditionally used to acclimatise to grass courts in [...]
World No1 Sir Andy Murray makes victorious start to 2017 and extends winning run to 25 matches January 3, 2017 Britain's Sir Andy Murray won his first clash of 2017 to extend his unbeaten run to 25 matches by breezing past world No69 Jeremy Chardy in the opening round of the Qatar Open in Doha. World No1 Murray beat France’s Chardy 6-0, 7-6 (7-2), taking just 20 minutes to win the first set before his [...]