With Peng still missing, this must be a watershed moment in how the sport deals with countries that deny human rightsHuang Xueqin was only ever trying to make her world a better place. Over the years she has become well known as a bold Chinese feminist activist and journalist who has aided survivors of sexual assault and wrote detailed accounts of her experiences during the Hong Kong protests. In September, a day before Huang was due to travel to London to study at the University of Sussex, she and the labour activist Wang Jianbing vanished. They have not been heard from since and are believed to have been detained by the Chinese authorities.This is a familiar fate for those deemed...
While players such as Emma Raducanu instantly succeed, the Estonian and her rival Ons Jabeur have taken a steadier pathThree months ago, during the height of a fierce Ohioan summer, the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati opened with a brutal contest in the women’s draw. Ons Jabeur and Anett Kontaveit, two unseeded, high-class players drew each other in the first round and then for more than two hours they battled into the night. The match was eventually decided by minuscule details, Jabeur winning 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.At the time nobody could have imagined how the rest of the season would unfold for them. While the Tunisian was in the midst of a breakthrough summer and sat in the final spot...
New research into performance under pressure among tennis players shows the biggest names do not just rise to the occasion on the biggest pointsEmma Raducanu is already proving a master of changing the narrative. At Wimbledon some questioned her temperament after she pulled out of her fourth-round match with breathing difficulties. Two months on, those critics were made to eat their words after her stunning US Open victory in the Big Apple.She was at it again at a homecoming event at the National Tennis Centre on Friday, showing her ruthless side by revealing she had dispensed with the services of her coach in New York, Andrew Richardson. Of course, it was the right decision. Richardson was on a short-term contract...
Djokovic missed out on the calendar slam at the final hurdle but declared himself ‘the happiest man alive’ after his defeatSomething was wrong. The machine was malfunctioning. The power was blinking on and off. Routine backhands were dropping into the net. Forehands were flying long. On Amazon, which was hosting UK television coverage of the US Open men’s final, users were already beginning to voice their disapproval in the reviews. “Awful quality,” noted one. “Glitches throughout, not good enough service.” “Very disappointing quality coverage.” They weren’t talking about Novak Djokovic, but they might as well have been.Of course, over the years we have all glimpsed Djokovic in various states of disrepair, and most of the time we think we know...
The country’s lack of major tennis champions is likely to increase media coverage and the burden of expectationI was first really impressed by Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon in the round of 32 when she beat Sorana Cirstea. I was commentating on that match and she was very positive, she embraced the crowd on Court One. I looked at her as a rising prospect right then. Rising prospects, do they actually win majors? Right now in women’s tennis they do.When you see the way Emma played her matches in New York, especially in the second week, she played at that level. She played at the level of a major champion right now in women’s tennis. What has shifted is that all...