Is British women’s tennis in the doldrums or on the up?
The doom and gloom surrounding the complete absence of British players from the women’s singles draw at the French Open has given way to a raft of positive results on grass.
Katie Boulter defeated Jodie Burrage to win her first WTA title in Nottingham in the first all-British tour final since the 1970s while there have also been encouraging performances from Harriet Dart, Heather Watson and Katie Swan.
View this post on InstagramBoulter’s title has lifted her back into the top 100, which also doubles as the rough cut-off for entry into grand slams, but the 26-year-old believes a bigger-picture view is needed.
“I think we put a lot of emphasis on being ranked inside 100 and I’m not entirely sure if I personally agree with it,” she said.
“I think we need to continually look at the amount of players we have coming through and stay positive. Because, if we go down the negative route, we can always find something.
“Each and every one of these girls can be inside 100. I think we should be asking questions if we don’t have anyone who can be.
“These girls are getting wins against top-100 players but everyone’s individual and they have to work on what they need to do. I’ve got a lot of work to do inside or outside the top 100.”
It has been 40 years since Britain had anything approaching strength in depth, and the sport is far more global now than it was then.
While the men appear to be doing better – with four players in the top 100 and consistent performers in Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans – there are actually six British women in the top 150 compared to five men.
And four of the top five women are aged 26 or under, whereas that is only the case for one man – 21-year-old Jack Draper, who will miss Wimbledon with the latest in a series of injuries.
The British women have mostly been rivals since their junior days and the hope, along with a strong return from injury for Emma Raducanu, must be that they can push each other up the rankings.
Boulter certainly sees it that way, saying: “It means everything for all of us. I think that’s why we’re such a good group of girls because we keep pushing each other on. I hope we can continually do that. I think there’s a lot more to come for all of us.”
Dart looked to have broken clear of her peers last year when she moved into the top 100 but this year had been a struggle prior to the grass season, with the 26-year-old plummeting down the rankings.
She has found form and confidence at home, reaching the quarter-finals in Nottingham – where tension at the net after she lost to Boulter took the headlines – and Birmingham.
Asked about the rivalry between the British women, Dart said: “We’re all on our different journeys. I’ve had a bit of a dip in form. Last year was a good year for me. I’m trying to regain that form.
“I don’t see myself in competition with anyone else, just myself. It definitely shows me that my level is there. I’ve just got to, week in, week out, keep putting it out there. The grass season is so short and the most important thing is the whole year.”
Dart is right not to focus too much on grass-court results because, while clay probably gives an overly negative impression of the state of the British game, the reverse is true for grass, which a lot of players from other countries are inexperienced and uncomfortable on.
The 26-year-old, meanwhile, revealed that she is still searching for a permanent coach after a trial with Frenchman Morgan Bourbon did not work out.
View this post on InstagramDart, who split from Nigel Sears last year, is working with Colin Beecher on the grass while his regular charge Kyle Edmund continues to recover from a wrist injury.
Edmund’s dreadful luck unfortunately shows no sign of improving, with the 28-year-old finally back on court after years of knee trouble only to suffer a separate problem just before the French Open.
Dart said: “I’ve been really fortunate that Colin has been able to have the time to do this grass-court season with me. It’s been really tough on Kyle with his injuries but I’m really grateful that he allowed him to come and work with me.
“I’m back to square one. For sure I’m looking for someone long term so I can get that consistency. It’s very challenging, to say the least.
“There’s not that many people out there, a lot of people are taken and are in long-term partnerships. But I’ll keep looking and you never know, sometimes post-Wimbledon people can become available.”
Madrid Open: Nadal roars to victory against De Minaur
Rafael Nadal delighted his home fans at the Madrid Open as he roared to an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
The Spaniard battled to a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory to earn his first win over a top-20 player in the world rankings since the ATP Finals back in 2022.
De Minaur had beaten Nadal last week in Barcelona, but the five-time Madrid champion was not to be denied this time in front of a crowd which included King Felipe VI along with football stars Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Jr.
Emerging triumphant from an epic 77-minute opening set proved decisive, with Nadal more comfortable in the second as De Minaur missed an opportunity to become the first player to beat him in consecutive weeks since Novak Djokovic achieved the feat way back in 2011.
Nadal will take on Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine dumped out Fances Tiafoe in three sets.
"I'm super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex and play over two hours," Nadal said, per the ATP Tour website.
"It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can't thank enough everybody here.
"It still needs time [until I am back to my best]. I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.
"But I really believe that tennis hasn't been an issue for the last two years. More the physical issues.
"If I am able to play weeks in a row and if I am able to play tennis, then I'm going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. But that's not the case yet, just step by step and let's see how I recover."
Elsewhere at the tournament, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, playing as the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, cruised to victory over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to start his campaign in style.
It took Sinner just 69 minutes to win 6-0 6-3 and improve to 26-2 in a remarkable 2024 season so far.
“I know Lorenzo quite well and we have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said.
“The mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Progress was harder to come by for Daniil Medvedev as he lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi, though the third seed eventually battled through 2-6 6-4 6-4 to book a third-round clash with American Sebastian Korda.
There was a surprise result, though, with Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro ending the fine recent form of Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Tsitsipas was 10-1 on clay this year going into the match, but the sixth seed crashed to a shock defeat just a week after Monteiro had lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Portugal, marking a rapid reversal of his fortunes.
“Every week you have a new opportunity," said Monteiro. “These past few weeks I wasn’t feeling really good on the court. I was trying to do well at Challengers but it didn’t work.
“I just kept up the hard work, day by day. Even when I was not feeling good and not winning matches, I kept believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.
"For sure one of the biggest wins of my career. I knew it was a really tough match and I tried to just believe in myself all the time."
Sunday’s matches will see Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz continue his campaign with a third-round clash against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Swiatek soars into Madrid Open last 16 after dropping just two games against Cirstea
Iga Swiatek stormed through to the Madrid Open last 16 following a dominant straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
The world number one dropped just two games as she inflicted a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 rout on her Romanian opponent in the Spanish capital.
Swiatek, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in last year's event, will play Sara Sorribes Tormo in the round of 16 after the Spaniard defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
The Pole is now 26-4 for the season, in which she has already triumphed at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open, as she eyes the ninth WTA 1000 singles title of her career.
Data debrief
Swiatek is through to her sixth round of 16 from seven main-draw appearances in WTA 1000 events on clay (85.7 per cent) - the highest percentage rate among players with at least five such appearances since the format's introduction in 2009.
The three-time French Open champion also boasts the best WTA match win rate of any player since 2000 on clay (87 per cent). Overall, only Chris Evert (94.5 per cent), Margaret Court (89.5 per cent) and Steffi Graf (89.2 per cent) boast a higher percentage in the Open Era.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
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