Paris: Kaia Kanepi recorded the 10th top-10 victory of her career at a Grand Slam by eliminating Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza on Sunday in the ongoing French Open 2022. Estonian Kanepi defeated Muguruza by 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours. The 36-year-old Kanepi, the oldest player in the women's draw, has a knack for knocking out seeds at the majors and continued the trend against two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No.1 Muguruza.Kanepi is a two-time Roland-Garros quarter-finalist and recently made a trip to the last-eight stage at this year's Australian Open. The first victor of Roland-Garros 2022 was Romanian No.26 seed Sorana Cirstea, who eased past Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-3 in just 64 minutes. Cirstea next takes on Stephens in round two.—ANI

Kaia Kanepi recorded the 10th top-10 victory of her career at a Grand Slam by eliminating Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza on Sunday in the ongoing French Open 2022.

French Open: Kaia Kanepi ousts Garbine Muguruza in opener

Tennis

New York: Less than a day after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) -- the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits -- stripped Wimbledon of ranking points due to its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) followed suit, saying it will also "not award WTA ranking points for this year's Wimbledon Championships". The WTA said in a statement on Saturday that the, "recent decisions made by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to ban athletes from competing in the upcoming UK grass-court events violate that fundamental principle, which is clearly embodied in the WTA rules, the Grand Slam rules and the agreement the WTA has with the Grand Slams." Ian Hewitt, chairman AELTC had announced in April that Russian and Belarusian players will not be allowed to play in the UK this summer following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The decision meant the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Aryna Sabalenka, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Victoria Azarenka will miss out on the Grand Slam this year.WTA chief executive, Steve Simon, said in the statement on Saturday that, "The atrocities happening to millions of innocent people in Ukraine because of Russia's unprovoked invasion are horrific and appalling. The WTA strongly condemns Russia's ongoing attack. "Nearly 50 years ago, the WTA was founded on the fundamental principle that all players have an equal opportunity to compete based on merit and without discrimination. The WTA believes that individual athletes participating in an individual sport should not be penalised or prevented from competing solely because of their nationalities or the decisions made by the governments of their countries. "As a result of the AELTC's position that it will not honour its obligation to use the WTA Rankings for entry into Wimbledon and proceed with a partial field not based on merit, the WTA has made the difficult decision to not award WTA ranking points for this year's Wimbledon Championships."Simon also stated that three WTA-sanctioned events -- Nottingham, Birmingham, and Eastbourne -- will also be penalised. "In addition, each of the WTA-sanctioned events (Nottingham, Birmingham, and Eastbourne) will be penalised and their WTA tournament sanctions will be placed on probation. Since alternative and comparable playing and ranking point opportunities exist in the same weeks as those events for the affected players, WTA ranking points will remain in place for those events. "The stance we are taking is about protecting the equal opportunities that WTA players should have to compete as individuals. If we do not take this stance, then we abandon our fundamental principle and allow the WTA to become an example to support discrimination based on nationality at other events and in other regions around the world. The WTA will continue to apply its rules to reject such discrimination."We remain hopeful and willing to reassess the issuance of points should we find a solution that has consensus from all parties and allows our players the opportunity to compete in a unified environment. We continue our humanitarian relief efforts to support Ukraine through Tennis Plays for Peace, which to date has raised over USD1.1 million and continues to provide meaningful assistance," added Simon. Earlier, on Friday, ATP had said it will not award ranking points for Wimbledon this year following the All England Club's decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus. The Wimbledon begins on June 27. "The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour. The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the UK this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP Ranking system," the ATP said in a statement. "It is also inconsistent with our Rankings agreement. Absent a change in circumstances, it is with great regret and reluctance that we see no option but to remove ATP Ranking points from Wimbledon for 2022," it added.—IANS

Less than a day after the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) -- the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits -- stripped Wimbledon of ranking points due to its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) followed suit, saying it will also "not award WTA ranking points for this year's Wimbledon Championships".

ATP, WTA won’t award ranking points for Wimbledon after Russia ban

Paris: World No. 1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic, will have his task cut out at the French Open beginning on May 22 as he could face 13-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, with the Spanish fifth seed drawn in the same quarter as the Serb. Also, talented Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz joins the two stalwarts in the top half as the sixth seed, and could face Djokovic or Nadal in the semifinals. Alcaraz, who will be making his second appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam, has been placed in third seed, Germanys Alexander Zverev's quarter. Russia's Daniil Medvedev anchors the draw on its bottom line, with fourth seed from Greece Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third quarter alongside eighth seed Casper Ruud of Norway. Russia's Andrey Rublev, seeded seventh, is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Medvedev, according to atptour.com. Speaking at the draw ceremony, Djokovic expressed his happiness at the full return of fans at the second major of the year."It's amazing to see the amount of people that came this week during the qualifying week and also at the practice sessions," the Serb was quoted as saying by atptour.com. "A lot of people on the centre court and on Court Suzanne Leglen as well. It's fantastic to see that because you can see how much they miss tennis, how much they are passionate and how much they love this sport. And of course for us players, it's an incredible feeling to have the crowd. "Particularly for me at this stage of my career, they are one of the main factors of why I still play professional tennis and why I compete. The energy that you get from the crowd, the excitement is something very important for us." Djokovic will open against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka and could face Diego Schwartzman of Argentina or Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the fourth round.Nadal's first-round opponent is Aussie Jordan Thompson, with Swiss player Stan Wawrinka looming as a potential second-round opponent. Ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and 17th seed Reilly Opelka of the US are potential fourth-round matchups for the Spaniard.Both Alcaraz and Zverev open against qualifiers, with the unseeded Dominic Thiem of Austria a dangerous floater in that second quarter. Thiem faces Hugo Dellien of Bolivia in the first round, with the winner to face 21st seed Karen Khachanov of Russia or a qualifier in the second round. The third quarter features three of the draw's more intriguing opening-round matchups. Tsitsipas will take on Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 14th seed Denis Shapovalov faces Dane Holger Rune of Denmark and Casper Ruud of Norway takes on wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, with the Frenchman set to retire following Roland Garros. Medvedev will seek his first clay win of the season against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in the opening round, while Rublev opens against Soonwoo Kwon of Korea. Also in the fourth quarter, 11th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy will face a qualfiier in the opening round, while 16th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain faces home favourite Gilles Simon in the Frenchman's final Roland Garros before his planned retirement at the end of the year.—IANS

World No. 1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic, will have his task cut out at the French Open beginning on May 22 as he could face 13-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, with the Spanish fifth seed drawn in the same quarter as the Serb.

Djokovic, Nadal seeded to meet in French Open quarterfinals

Rome: World number one Novak Djokovic claimed his first title in over six months after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) to win the Italian Open on Sunday. Djokovic did not drop a set en route to the final in Rome, having picked up his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud in the semi-final to book a clash with Tsitsipas - a repeat of last year's French Open final, which the Serb won.A sixth-successive win for Djokovic over his Greek opponent looked inevitable as he stormed through the first set with a blistering display of hitting, to which Tsitsipas had no answer. Tsitsipas's name rung around Campo Centrale in the fourth game of the second set, however, as an unforced error from Djokovic gave the Greek player two break points, the first of which he converted to take a 3-1 lead in the set.After Tsitsipas held to make it 4-1, Djokovic then upped it a gear, winning five of the next seven games to take it to a tiebreak before sealing his sixth Italian Open title, and first since winning the Paris Masters in November. It has been the perfect week for the 34-year-old, who became only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal, ahead of the start of the French Open next Sunday.—REUTERS

World number one Novak Djokovic claimed his first title in over six months after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6(5) to win the Italian Open on Sunday. 

Djokovic wins Italian Open to claim first title in over six months

Rome: Former world number one Naomi Osaka has been forced out of the Italian Open 2022 due to a left ankle injury. Osaka announced her withdrawal on Monday afternoon. Nuria Parrizas Diaz will take Osaka's spot in the draw as a lucky loser and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo."Unfortunately I'm going to have to withdraw from Rome as the injury which I picked up last week in Madrid hasn't healed yet," Osaka said in a statement. "It's an Achilles injury so I need to be careful especially in advance of Roland Garros. "I love this city and always enjoy playing in front of the Italian fans so I will be sorry to miss them - but look forward to coming back next year."Osaka sustained her Achilles injury after her opening-round victory at the Madrid Open last week. She struggled to play with the injury in her 6-3, 6-1 loss to Sara Sorribes Tormo in the second round. Denmark's Clara Tauson also withdrew from the tournament citing a low back injury. She will be replaced by Madison Brengle as a lucky loser—PTI

Former world number one Naomi Osaka has been forced out of the Italian Open 2022 due to a left ankle injury. Osaka announced her withdrawal on Monday afternoon. Nuria Parrizas Diaz will take Osaka's spot in the draw as a lucky loser and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo.