John Azar
President of Tennis Jamaica John Azar is pleased with the team’s performance in their recently concluded Davis Cup Group Two playoff match against Estonia at the Eric Bell National Tennis Centre in Kingston from February 4-5.
The Jamaicans won the tie 3-2 to advance to group two of the Davis Cup for the first time in over 25 years.
“I think the team played incredibly well. It’s one thing when we as the national association set the big stage for them but it’s another thing when they actually come out and perform,” Azar told SportsMax.TV.
Rowland “Randy” Phillips got the ball rolling for the hosts with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kristjan Tamm, a win that Azar said set the tone for the rest of the tie.
“Randy Phillips played the first match and set the tone for the players that played after him. He was incredible as he always is,” said Azar.
Match two saw Jamaican number one Blaise Bicknell come from a set down to beat Kenneth Raisma 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 and put the Jamaicans 2-0 up.
The Estonians got on the board in match three when Raisma and Jurgen Zopp got the better of John Chin and Daniel Azar in doubles 6-1, 6-2 before Bicknell secured victory for the Jamaicans after Tamm was defaulted after losing a first set tiebreak in match four. Johannes Seeman got a consolation 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jacob Bicknell in the fifth match.
Azar was also elated with the crowd turnout at the tie, the first time Jamaica has hosted a Davis Cup tie since 2007.
“I think it was what we expected and more,” he said.
“The crowd turned out in their numbers, were loud and very supportive and, as I’ve always said, when you have a home tie in any sport, the crowd can tend to be a bit of a deciding factor so we’re definitely grateful for those who came out and showed their support. There were a lot of Tennis fans in attendance but also a lot of sporting fans in general,” he added.
The team will find out their next opponent at the group two draw at the ITF office in London.
“We’re into group two which is a stage we haven’t been for over 25 years so we’ll see when the draw, which is done at the ITF office in London, comes out who our next opponent is. I think the next tie will be in September and we’ll see if it’s a home or away tie. Obviously, we’re hoping it will be a home tie and, if we’re that fortunate, we’ll look into expanding the capacity at the Tennis centre and hope for an even bigger turnout.”
Bradley Jacks is a budding journalist and an avid sports fan. His love of research and sports has led him to SportsMax.tv, a place where those passions work hand in hand to allow him to produce content.
Raducanu withdraws from French Open qualifying
Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from French Open qualifying, which starts on Monday.
Having endured an injury-hit few years since her 2021 US Open triumph, Raducanu was able to enter the year's second grand slam with a protected ranking of 103rd.
However, that was not enough to put her on the automatic entry list and she was not awarded a wildcard, making her third alternate for the women's draw.
No reason has been given for Raducanu's withdrawal from next week's qualifying tournament, and she can now only feature at Roland-Garros if three players drop out.
Raducanu was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open last month, subsequently saying she was "mentally and emotionally exhausted".
A host of withdrawals meant she did not have to go through qualifying for the Australian Open earlier this year, though she was beaten by China's Wang Yafan in the second round.
Raducanu has not made it past the second round in six major appearances since her triumph at Flushing Meadows, and she missed the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last year after undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries.
Swiatek seals Italian Open hat-trick after soaring past Sabalenka
Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.
The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.
The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.
However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.
Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.
Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.
Data debrief
Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.
In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.
The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).
Jarry defeats Paul to set up Zverev showdown in Italian Open final
Nicolas Jarry defeated Tommy Paul in three sets on Friday to set up a showdown with Alexander Zverev in the Italian Open final.
The men's world number 24 prevailed 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 in a little under three hours in Rome to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 final.
Jarry earned the only break of serve in the eighth game of the opening set, but Paul - who dropped just one set in four matches en route to this stage - hit back in the second.
Birthday boy Paul lost serve to trail 4-2 at one stage, but he produced one of the shots of the tournament at the ideal moment and soon dragged it back to 4-4.
A gruelling set concluded with Paul taking the tie-break 7-3, but Jarry was unperturbed and won the deciding set with his fifth match point to see off Paul in a gruelling contest.
Data Debrief:
Jarry is the third male Chilean in the Open Era to reach the singles final of the Italian Open after Marcelo Rios (1997-98) and Fernando Gonzalez (2007).
The 28-year-old registered 13 aces against Paul to his opponent's seven and hit 35 winners to 19 in a deserved victory.
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