Carlos Alcaraz insisted he is not feeling any pressure to be among the Wimbledon favourites after coming through a marathon four-hour clash with Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the second round.
Alcaraz, whose four Tour-level titles in 2022 are more than any other player on the ATP Tour, has been tipped for a deep run at Wimbledon after surging to seventh in the world rankings.
But the 19-year-old was on the brink of a stunning first-round exit when he was taken to a fourth-set tie-break at 2-1 down on Monday, eventually recovering to post a gruelling 4-6 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 win on No. 1 Court.
In his post-match media conference, the Spaniard reiterated last week's claim that he is not one of the favourites to triumph in London, although he said he could win the tournament if he plays to the best of his ability.
"I don't feel the pressure because I don't rank myself as one of the favourites to win this tournament," Alcaraz said.
"Obviously if I play well, I have [the] level to win the tournament, but there are a lot more experienced players on grass. I don't feel the pressure."
Alcaraz also conceded his grass-court game can still improve as he hailed his tremendous serving display – which brought him 30 aces, as the reason for his victory.
"I enjoyed [the match] a lot," he added. "Great battle over four hours. For me, [to] play on grass is so beautiful. I like to play on grass.
"I would say my level on grass has to improve a little bit, but I'm happy with my level.
"I didn't expect to move as well as I did. I mean, I played really well, I felt really well playing on grass and I still don't know how I served [so well].
"This is probably my best match serving. This was a weapon that I used [and] that's why I won – the serve, for sure."
Alcaraz will face Tallon Griekspoor in the second round after the Dutch player overcame Fabio Fognini in four sets on day one.
Anhelina Kalinina and Lesia Tsurenko will face off in the second round of Wimbledon on Wednesday with just one thing in their mind – helping Ukraine's war efforts back home.
Ukrainian pair Kalinina and Tsurenko came through their first-round tests with Anna Bondar and Jodie Burrage respectively on Monday to advance to the next stage.
Both players receive £50,000 for progressing, while £78,000 is up for grabs for the winner of their midweek meeting at the All England Club.
And given the events in Ukraine, where thousands have been killed or wounded since Russia invaded in February and at least 12 million have fled, motivation is not an issue.
"I feel that I play better, just because for me emotionally winning or losing doesn't exist any more," Tsurenko said. "For me, there is a big issue in my life: it's war. And there is nothing else that can beat this.
"I think with all the sportsmen that are able to take part in the competitions, also with all the singers that go to Poland, to Germany, and having all the concerts, that part when Ukrainians can just go and remind the whole world that we are here, we still have war and we need your help.
"This is the main thing that I would wish to happen, that we get a lot of heavy weapons. It's just that we should remind with the fact that we are here and we are playing for my country, for Ukraine. We just want to remind that Ukraine is in trouble and we need help."
Kalinina, who revealed her parents' house in Irpin had been bombed, added: "I understand it’s hard to focus, but for me it matters if I win or if I lose. The more I win, I'm not only helping my family, I'm helping other families and other people.
"You go further. You earn more money. Then I'm able to help, and I'm helping as much as I can and not only to my family. So for me that matters. I'm not a superstar so I'm helping with what I can. And it's a lot to them, and for me that's huge motivation to play. Huge."
The future of two-time All-Star guard Zach LaVine remains the biggest question mark this offseason for the Chicago Bulls.
The franchise's desires, however, have been made crystal clear.
"We hope Zach is here for a long time, and nothing has changed," executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas said Monday.
Karnisovas and the Bulls have repeatedly made their desire to re-sign LaVine public, with the NBA's free agent negotiating period set to start on Thursday.
Karnisovas spoke at a news conference intended to introduce first-round draft pick Dalen Terry, but LaVine's unrestricted free agency again took centre stage.
LaVine previously said that he plans on exploring his options in free agency but has not ruled out returning to Chicago.
The Bulls could offer LaVine a contract up to five years and about $212million, while the largest offer he could receive from another team would be near $157m over four years.
Expectedly, Karnisovas remained quiet on the offer the team plans to make to LaVine.
"I'm confident. I'm confident in approaching this free agency in the next couple of days, sitting down with our group, looking at a lot of things," he said.
After scoring a career-high 27.4 points per game in 2020-21, LaVine's production and efficiency dipped a bit last season as he battled thumb and knee injuries, averaging 24.4 points a night.
LaVine had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in May.
"I think he's gonna be healthy," Karnisovas said. "I think he's now progressing great."
The Bulls got off to a strong start last season, leading the Eastern Conference into February but losing 15 of 22 games to close the regular season.
Despite ending a four-year playoff drought, they were dispatched in the first round in five games by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Even with the disappointing end to the season, Karnisovas would like to keep together the core of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball.
"This group has been here only since October," Karnisovas said. "We're still trying to get used to how to play with each other."
While free agent deals will not be officially recognised by the league until July 6, teams and players can agree to terms starting from this Thursday.
Ons Jabeur targeted becoming world number one after making a confident start to her Wimbledon bid, having required just 53 minutes to record a straight-sets win over Mirjam Bjorklund.
Jabeur, who became world number two on Monday – the highest ranking ever achieved by an African player on either the WTA or ATP tour – raced to a 6-1 6-3 first-round victory on No. 1 Court.
The Tunisian, who prepared for her Wimbledon campaign by winning the German Open earlier this month and playing doubles with Serena Williams at the Eastbourne International, will face Katarzyna Kawa in the second round on Wednesday.
Ranking points are not on offer at the All England Club due to Russian and Belarusian players being banned, but Jabeur is already looking further ahead, declaring after her opener that becoming the world's top female player this year was her aim.
Asked whether she was hopeful of bettering her run to the last eight in SW19 last year, Jabeur said: "Yes, for sure, especially [after] today I achieved my highest ranking.
"It's really amazing to be here, to come back to Wimbledon, to play on one of the greatest surfaces that I like, especially one that loves my drop shots and my slices, so I'm happy to be back and hopefully I'll go further than the quarter-finals.
"It's a great start for me. I want to go as far as I can this tournament and dropping four games is a start.
"In the beginning of the season, I was like number 10 or number nine, and I said, 'I belong in this ranking and I don't feel I deserve to be five or four'.
"Now I feel like I deserve it even more. I feel like I won matches to prove myself on this level.
"I do feel more confident. I do feel like I deserve to be on this level. Hopefully next step will be number one."
The Seattle Mariners acquired veteran slugger Carlos Santana from the Kansas City Royals for a pair of pitchers on Monday, helping to fill the void at first base in the wake of Ty France's injury.
The 36-year-old Santana is in the midst of a third straight sub-par season, batting .216 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 52 games, but has shown significant improvements at the plate in the past three weeks.
After slashing .157/.291./.244 with seven extra-base hits in his first 37 games, Santana has compiled a .367/.492./.592 slash line with two home runs, five doubles and 11 RBIs in 15 contests since June 7.
An All-Star in 2019 with the Cleveland franchise, Santana's 263 career home runs are the seventh-most by a first baseman since his 2010 rookie season.
Santana will take over at first for France, who suffered a Grade 2 flexor strain in his left forearm on Thursday and is sidelined indefinitely.
France was enjoying a stellar season before his injury, batting .316 with 10 home runs while leading Seattle with 45 RBIs.
The Mariners, who own baseball's longest active playoff drought at 20 seasons, begin play on Monday in fourth place in the AL East, seven games out of the league's second wild card spot.
As part of the trade, Seattle sent right-hander Wyatt Mills and minor league righty William Fleming to Kansas City, with the Mariners also receiving cash considerations.
Santana, who was first traded to the Mariners in 2018 but returned for a second stint in Cleveland 10 days later, is in the final year of a two-year, $17.5million contract.
Hubert Hurkacz sent down 21 aces in his first-round match at Wimbledon, enough to raise €2,100 for the people of Ukraine but not enough to reach the second round.
The seventh seed, who was a semi-finalist at the All England Club last year, promised on the eve of the championships to donate €100 in aid for every one of his aces.
"Hope my serve works well," Hurkacz wrote on Twitter, and it certainly did across five sets against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Having averaged 11.6 aces per match this season – his 452 the third most on the ATP Tour – Hurkacz had 21 to just three double faults in an effective serving display on Monday.
Unfortunately, Davidovich Fokina was still able to pull off an early upset, narrowly advancing 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 5-7 2-6 7-6 (10-8).
This was the third top-10 win of Davidovich Fokina's career but the first on grass, with his previous two such victories both coming at the Monte-Carlo Masters (vs Matteo Berrettini in 2021 and versus Novak Djokovic in 2022).
While Hurkacz will not add to his ace tally, John Isner undoubtedly will.
He had a remarkable 54 in his five-set win against Enzo Couacaud – as many as Hurkacz managed across six matches in his 2021 run to the last four.
The last player to record 50 or more aces in a grand slam match had also been Isner, against Steven Johnson at the 2020 US Open.
Emma Raducanu was able to set aside her tricky sophomore season and enjoy a winning Centre Court debut at Wimbledon on Monday.
Raducanu is the reigning US Open champion but has struggled to recreate the success of her incredible Flushing Meadows run in 2021.
Playing in the spotlight, the 19-year-old was 8-11 for the year heading to the All England Club, where she enjoyed a breakout campaign last year.
Despite the support of a home British crowd, Raducanu might have hoped for a more straightforward opener, but she navigated a tough test against Alison Van Uytvanck to win 6-4 6-4.
"It's an incredibly special feeling to be coming back here at Wimbledon," Raducanu said on court.
"I could feel the support the minute I walked out of those doors and walking around the grounds.
"I wanted to say thank you to everyone who's been here supporting, through the tough times as well – it's all worth it to play on Centre Court and especially to come through with a win."
Raducanu, who had withdrawn from her previous appearance at the Nottingham Open earlier this month with a side injury, withstood early pressure as the first six games stayed on serve.
However, a streak of 10 consecutive points and three straight games going against the serve altered the pattern of the match completely – ultimately in Raducanu's favour, as she broke first then responded to a break to love with one of her own.
That was just enough to settle the opener, and Raducanu went in pursuit of a swift conclusion to the second, but Van Uytvanck instead made the breakthrough.
This time, however, it was Raducanu's turn to respond immediately, and she came on strong to win the match on Van Uytvanck's serve and jump for joy.
"I'm just so happy to stay another day," she added, with Caroline Garcia up next.
Novak Djokovic became the first male player in the Open Era to win at least 80 matches in all four grand slams with victory over Kwon Soon-woo in the first round of Wimbledon.
The world number three, who is seeking a seventh crown at SW19 to take him level with Pete Sampras and behind only Roger Federer (8), advanced 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Monday.
That was Djokovic's 80th win at the All England Club in what was his 90th match, adding to his 85 wins at the French Open, 82 at the Australian Open and 81 at the US Open.
He has won 22 matches in a row at Wimbledon since retiring in his quarter-final with Tomas Berdych in the 2017 quarter-finals, and is 17-0 in first-round matches in the event.
With 328 grand slam wins to his name, Djokovic is second only to Federer (369) in that regard, with fellow heavyweight Rafael Nadal – in action on Tuesday – boasting 305 wins.
"I am as dedicated as anyone out there," Djokovic, playing his first match on grass this year, said in his interview on Centre Court. "Now that we're at 80, let's get to 100.
"I'm not one of the youngsters any more, but the love for this sport still burns in me and I try to play my best tennis at the grand slams and deliver my best at the best courts.
"I've said this before but this court is truly special. For me it has always been the court I dreamed of playing and winning and all my childhood dreams came true here.
"It's an honour and pleasure to be back on Centre Court. This sport has given me everything. I owe a lot to the sport and I love it still with all my heart."
Novak Djokovic was made to work by Kwon Soon-woo for his place in the second round of Wimbledon as the reigning champion advanced with victory in four sets on Monday.
In the first match of this year's tournament on Centre Court, which had its roof closed due to rain, Djokovic was pegged back at 1-1 but ultimately prevailed 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4.
The six-time champion has now won each of his past 22 matches at the All England Club and will face either Thanasi Kokkinakis or Kamil Majchrzak in the next round.
Djokovic had yet to play on grass in 2022 prior to his opening clash with Kwon and he was far from his fluent best in the first two sets in particular.
Kwon earned the first break of the match in the third game with a glorious forehand, though Djokovic hit back with two breaks of his own to edge the opening set.
The world number 81 earned the only break of serve in the fourth game of the second set, with Djokovic squandering three break points of his own in the following game.
However, the Serbian showed good signs of recovery – and some impressive shots around the court – by holding throughout the third set and breaking Kwon in the eighth game.
Kwon failed to take advantage of two break points in the second game of the final set and it was plain sailing from that point on for Djokovic.
He completed the job in just under two-and-a-half hours and is the first male player in the Open Era with 80 or more main draw wins in all four grand slam tournaments.
Data slam: Djokovic winning streak continues
Djokovic may have slipped down to third in the ATP rankings after a disrupted campaign, and he was not at his best against Kwon, but he remains the man to beat at Wimbledon.
He is without defeat at SW19 since retiring in his quarter-final with Tomas Berdych in the 2017 quarter-finals, with Monday's victory his 80th in 90 matches in the tournament.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 30/29
Kwon – 31/26
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 15/2
Kwon – 7/5
BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 4/8
Kwon – 2/6
Glen Ella says Eddie Jones will be thriving on coming under fire and expects England to step up when they face Australia in a three-match Test series next month.
The 62-year-old heads back to his homeland with the Red Rose smarting from a chastening warm-up hammering at the hands of the Barbarians following a disappointing Six Nations campaign.
Jones is undefeated against his country of birth during his England tenure, and famously oversaw a series whitewash in 2016.
Ella, a former school-mate of Jones who also played club rugby with him at Randwick and was his assistant six years ago, feels he will conjure up a response with his back against the wall and with key men to return.
"I sit here laughing when I see some of the press that is coming out of England," he told The Guardian. "Some of it is warranted, there’s no doubt about that, but this is what he thrives on.
"They’ll come over here and put three good games together, that wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
"He thrives under that kind of pressure and that probably brings the best out of him, especially away from England, in an environment that he knows.
"He probably left not on the best terms in Australia but the one thing about Eddie is that he’s got a lot of belief in himself and a lot of belief in his team."
The Wallabies will have a point to prove after failing to get the better of England under Jones and they are a different proposition under Dave Rennie.
"It’s harder coaching a foreign team, as Eddie is finding at the moment, and to win the Australian public over they need to win the series," Ella added.
"But it’s a different Australia these days and especially with the Super Rugby sides on the up, there’s big expectation. England have beaten the Australians eight times under Eddie and so [Australia’s] got a lot to answer for."
Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl duo Mark Cavendish and Julian Alaphilippe have missed out on selection for the Tour de France.
Cavendish equalled the all-time record for stage wins at the Tour last year, matching Eddy Merckx's tally of 34 victories - which had stood since 1975.
The Manxman looked to have boosted his hopes of making the eight-man team by triumphing at the British National Road Championship on Sunday, having featured at the Giro d'Italia for the first time in nine years.
But Fabio Jakobsen has a superior record in sprints this season, with 10 wins compared to Cavendish's five, and the Dutchman has got the nod for Le Tour, which starts in Copenhagen on Friday.
Kasper Asgreen, Andrea Bagioli, Mattia Cattaneo, Tim Declercq, Mikkel Honore, Yves Lampaert and Michael Morkov are the other seven riders to be picked.
Cavendish and Florian Senechal were named as first-reserve riders on Monday, while Alaphilippe was not included.
"Over 3,300 kilometres and more than 55,000 meters of elevation promise to make for a tough race," Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl sports director Tom Steels said.
"After the first ITT, we have two other days in Denmark, which should be for the sprinters, that is if we won't have any echelons.
"The cobblestones stage will be a very tricky stage, as everyone will want to be at the front, and after this we'll have a lot of climbing, with many iconic ascents of the Tour de France.
"The climbers will get plenty of opportunities at this edition, unlike the sprinters, who'll have to fight in many of the stages against the time limit.
"Overall, the race has something for everyone, and that's why we are going there with a balanced team."
Alaphilippe was widely expected to be picked after racing in the French National Championships two months after his Liege–Bastogne–Liege crash, but there is no place for the popular 30-year-old.
"Concerning our reserves, we must stress out that they showed a lot of professionalism, continued to train and remained focused in these past couple of weeks, and even brought two victories at the Nationals," Steels added.
"The decision to leave Julian home was a very difficult one, as he is one of the team's most emblematic riders and we wrote so many great moments together at the Tour.
"Julian worked hard to get back into shape after what happened to him in Liege, but it is felt that for a rider like him it's always important to be on top of his game and be able to compete with the best riders of the peloton in a race like Le Tour.
"That's why we decided to give him more time to recover and build back his condition, so that he can be at 100 per cent for the second part of the season."
The ATP and WTA decision to strip Wimbledon of rankings points due to the banning of Russian and Belarusian players was "very disappointing", given there was "no viable alternative".
That was the message from the All England Club's chairman Ian Hewitt in an interview with ESPN ahead of the third major of the year starting on Monday.
Numerous sporting and financial sanctions have been imposed on Russia for their ongoing invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, with Saint Petersburg stripped of the right to host the Champions League final and Russia removed from Qatar World Cup qualifying.
The All England Club followed suit by confirming Russian and Belarusian athletes would not be permitted to play at this year's championships, but the WTA and ATP responded by stripping the major of its ranking points.
Wimbledon's organisers stuck with their decision, questioning the punishment from those governing bodies, and Hewitt says the ban was justified for reasons outside the sport.
"One was a route to consider having personal declarations from players and, frankly, we did not think that was the right approach for a tournament of our kind," Hewitt said.
"We were not willing to put in jeopardy any safety of players, and we think that that route would have involved implications for players' safety or safety of their families, which really left no other viable alternative.
"But also, it was very important to us that Wimbledon, given the profile that we have, should not be used in any way by the propaganda machine which we know the Russian government employs in relation to its own people and how their position in the world is presented, and that would be.
"We just would not countenance Wimbledon success or participation in Wimbledon being misused in that way.
"So as a result of the combination of reasons, we were left with no viable alternative other than to decline entries; we hugely regret the impact on the individual players affected.
"But we also hugely regret the impact on so many innocent people, which the tragic situation in Ukraine has caused."
The punishment of Russian and Belarusian stars meant world number one Daniil Medvedev will not feature at the grass-court major, and neither will Andrey Rublev, ranked eighth in the world.
Women's world number six Aryna Sabalenka was another to miss out, alongside 13th-ranked Daria Kasatkina and 20th-ranked Victoria Azarenka, but Hewitt stands by the call.
"In relation to the decision of the ATP and WTA to remove ranking points, yes, we are very disappointed with that, we believe it is a disproportionate approach and, frankly, we believe it is more damaging to the interests of a large majority of players, and we regret that decision of the ATP and WTA," he added.
"We respect that opinions do differ, but we would have hoped that there would have been a different way of tackling that in the interests of the players.
"But as regards our decision, we certainly stand by our decision, and I'd say now our primary focus is to get on with the championships and prove that we are really a championship that is the pinnacle of the sport."
Andy Murray's respect within both the women's and men's professional game could make him an ideal future tennis commissioner, believes Pam Shriver, as Wimbledon gets underway.
The three-time grand slam winner has battled back through injury to reach his best form in arguably half-a-decade and will take to SW19 once more this week.
Murray is nevertheless approaching the final stages of his career, and Shriver – a veteran in women's doubles – thinks that he could turn to the administrative side of the sport once done.
The 35-year-old has often been a strong advocate for equality within the sport, earning the respect of several leading players and figures across the game.
"He could be a future commissioner of tennis," Shriver told Stats Perform. "He has that kind of respect, I think. If he wanted to be a leader when he's finished, he could be a very influential [one].
"I think Andy Murray will be known for his upstanding core values of equality. I know he's well respected in every female locker room on the planet.
"I think the influence of his mom being his coach and such an influential figure in his life [has shaped him]. He's just very popular, I think, in both [the] men's and women's locker rooms."
Murray returns to Wimbledon as he looks to maintain the strong form he showed earlier in June at the Stuttgart Open, facing Australian James Duckworth in the first round on Monday.
At the time of his first triumph on Centre Court in 2013, the Briton was considered part of a 'Big Four' in men's tennis, only for his subsequent struggles with injury to see him slip away from his rivals.
But Shriver believes he has achieved what he set out to do and can be proud of a still exemplary career, adding: [He] wanted to end the 77-year drought at Wimbledon [and he did].
"I'd say along with [Stan] Wawrinka, [he's one of] the two guys that managed to break through more than once during the era of the big three."
Pam Shriver says Serena Williams has built an "all-time great legacy" in tennis and expressed her relief that the legendary American will make her comeback at Wimbledon.
Williams has 23 grand slam singles titles to her name and is just one short of Margaret Court's all-time record as the 40-year prepares to return to The All England Club as a wildcard.
She has not played a singles match since suffering an ankle injury in last year's Wimbledon opener against Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Williams will face world number 113 Harmony Tan in the first round on Tuesday, hoping to prove doubters wrong once again.
Three years ago, Williams became the oldest player to reach the singles final at SW19 and in 2016 she became the oldest champion when she beat Angelique Kerber.
Shriver, who reached the last four at Wimbledon in 1981, 1987 and 1988, cannot wait to see Williams back on court at the grass-court major.
"It's fantastic. I mean a month ago, I said it in interviews during Paris [the French Open], it just didn't look likely, there were no signs that were pointing towards her coming back," Shriver told Stats Perform.
"She hadn't posted anything of her workouts, never said anything about it. She'd sort of hinted at it sort of playful way like with a post with Aaron Rodgers, one of our best quarterbacks here.
"And she had sort of put it out there that she was going to play Wimbledon, but then it was like, okay, but who are you working with? Where are you practising? How much are you? Or how much time are you putting into it?
"You're going to go 12 months without a singles match and just rock up at Wimbledon. But it is great news that our last sighting of Serena on the tennis court isn't her limping off Centre Court last year midway through a first set."
Williams' first major title came 23 years ago at the US Open and Shriver has hailed her compatriot's astonishing longevity.
"It's an all-time great legacy, starting in 1999 when she won her first major as a 17-year-old at the US Open, upsetting [Martina] Hingis on Arthur Ashe Court," she added.
"She was the first of the Williams sisters to win a singles major. She's been making history since the late 1990s.
"She is now entering her fourth decade of trying to make history on the court and I think it's been exciting to have watched most of it.
"[There are] little things that are so impressive, her Olympic record, incredible. The way she won the gold medal in London in 2012 was as dominant a performance I've ever seen on a foreign tennis court.
"She and Venus are 14-0 in major doubles finals. So look, if you compare her numbers to Martina Navratilova’s numbers, tournament wins-wise, then Martina blows Serena away.
"But that was back in an era where the intent was to play a lot more and there was more of an emphasis placed on tour titles. During Serena’s 20-odd-year career, the emphasis the entire time has been on how many majors can you win. And that's what she's been focused on, especially in the last 10 years."
Emma Raducanu's struggles after winning the US Open were predictable, according to Pam Shriver, who compared becoming a grand slam finalist at such a young age to "going through a trauma".
Raducanu begins her Wimbledon campaign against Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday, having endured an injury-plagued 2022 season after becoming the first qualifier to win a major in New York last September.
The 19-year-old lasted just 36 minutes when making her first grass-court appearance of the year at the Nottingham Open earlier this month, with a side strain the latest in a series of niggling injuries to befall Raducanu.
Fellow British star Andy Murray said on Sunday that Raducanu's rapid rise to stardom had been "difficult to navigate", a view shared by Shriver, who was just 16 years old when she reached the 1978 US Open final, going down to defending champion Chris Evert in straight sets.
Shriver, whose best singles Wimbledon runs saw her reach the last four in 1981, 1987 and 1988, says the monumental nature of Raducanu's achievements always made a difficult year likely.
"I put it down to the fact you won the US Open. It was life-altering, turn-you-upside-down," Shriver told Stats Perform.
"I mean, I didn't know it as far as being a teenage winner, but I was 16 years and two months old playing my second major when I got to the finals, beating [Martina] Navratilova in the semis. It was my home major.
"I had a tonne of headlines, I had to play Chris Evert in the finals, who was the most famous female tennis player of that moment. It changed my life, and I didn't even win it.
"I had a hard time winning matches the next 12 months, it took me 18 months to kind of get back on track. It really shakes you. It's almost like going through a trauma, you need some help to get your orientation, your footing.
"She went from like [number] 350 in the world to like winning a US Open in a few months, so it doesn't surprise me she's struggling."
Raducanu has an 8-11 singles record in 2022 and has attracted media attention for making repeated changes to her coaching team.
A series of coaches including Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson and Torben Belts have left Raducanu's team since Wimbledon 2021, and Shriver thinks the 19-year-old's coaching merry-go-round has contributed to her challenging season, along with a lack of fitness.
"First off, she just had way too many injuries," Shriver added. "Short term, if she's not healthy enough, that's going to be tough right there. If she can't last at four-all in the third, maybe she should just play singles, not play multiple events.
"I really would like to see her get a team around her that is consistent, that stays for a couple of years. I don't think this many transitions, especially when you come off what she's come off, winning a major, is good.
"I think it's proven to not have been good, even though you can say, 'oh, she's mature, she can take this from this coach and this from that coach, and then she can weave it together'.
"I can't do that, and I'm almost 60 – it's much harder. It's much easier said than done, right? She needs to find a coach who is a really experienced coach, who can help navigate this difficult part of her career."
Joe Schmidt will help New Zealand prepare for the first Test against Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday after head coach Ian Foster and two of his assistants tested positive for COVID-19.
Foster and assistant coach John Plumtree tested positive for coronavirus at the weekend and Scott McLeod is the latest coach to contract the virus.
Former Ireland head coach Schmidt will work with the New Zealand squad this week in the absence of that trio.
Centres David Havili and Jack Goodhue have also tested positive for COVID-19, so Braydon Ennor has been called up to join the squad in Auckland.
Foster said: "Joe will come in for Tuesday and Thursday's training this week, and we're really grateful to have his help.
"We've planned for this kind of disruption and we've got back-up plans and people on standby. Joe was one of those people we could call on."
Foster added: "I've got every confidence in our coaching group, and in our senior leaders who are all stepping up in what’s a massive test for us.
"Everyone has had to deal with these kinds of disruptions over the past couple of years. This is a real opportunity for the coaching group and team to pull together."
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar added yet another incredible accomplishment to his resume by being named winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP of the playoffs, as his side secured the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 win in Game 6.
In doing so, Makar became the first player to ever win all five of the Hobey Baker Award for best player in college hockey, the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year, the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the NHL's top defenseman, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and a Stanley Cup.
It is a resume that will likely book his place in the Hall-of-Fame when all is said and done – and he does not turn 24 years old until October.
Speaking to ESPN after the final siren sounded, Makar said it was a dream come true.
"I just look at [my teammates], and all the work these guys have put in," he said. "They've been here so many years, the ups and downs.
"It's just so awesome to be a part of them getting rewarded for all their hard work and success over the years. I'm just so proud of the boys.
"You grow up, you see [the Stanley Cup trophy] as a kid, you have pictures of it on your wall.
"All I think about is everyone that got me here – my family is in the stands, so it's amazing, wherever they are. It's just surreal, amazing."
He added: "It's just been building over time. I've been here only three years, with a couple tough exits in playoffs.
"It was just all leading up to this. Oh man, if you told me this was going to be three years in, I would've said I don't know… it's just amazing, I don't have any more words."
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar spoke about what it felt like to guide this team to the mountaintop.
"I'm feeling every emotion you could possibly think of," he said. "I'm just so happy and so proud of these guys, and what they've put in.
"To see them get rewarded for all their hard work is hard to describe. There's this sense of relief, a sense of satisfaction – it's still sinking in.
"When the buzzer went there was almost disbelief that we got the job done. It's been an amazing ride, and I'm just grateful that I've been able to be a part of it with this team."
He went on to touch on just how hard it is to actually make it all the way, and the evolution he has seen over the past couple of seasons.
"It's so difficult to get here, and that's why I'm so impressed with the Tampa Bay Lightning to be able to do it three years in a row and win two Cups, it's incredible," he said.
"We've gone from just being a skill team that was fun to watch, to digging in and getting more competitive in a lot of areas, and more determined in a lot of areas, but they're such a close-knit group and a resilient group.
"Whether we've learned that with maturity, or the last couple seasons of heartbreak, this group has been so focused to accomplish their goals, that's why I'm so happy they got rewarded. It's been a long journey for a lot of these guys, and it's been an amazing ride."
Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic – who spent 13 seasons as a player in Colorado, including both of the franchise's previous Stanley Cup seasons – said he is filled with joy for the older players in the team who may have thought they would never get one.
"It feels great, it's amazing," he said. "This is something you dream of. I'm so proud of the players, particularly the older guys that have been around.
"Guys like [Nathan] MacKinnon, [Gabriel] Landeskog, Erik Johnson, they didn't want to leave, they wanted to be a part of it. I'm happy for those guys.
"You bring in a guy like Jack Johnson who hasn't won, and [Andrew] Cogliano comes in, and these older guys who have been around a long time and now have their opportunity to win their first cup. Being a former player, you know how happy they are, and how relieved they are to have a chance to lift the Stanley Cup."
Though it had been more than two decades since the Colorado Avalanche won a Stanley Cup, the past three years had been particularly difficult, but star Nathan MacKinnon said his side "never stopped believing".
Three consecutive exits in the Western Conference semi-finals saddled the Avalanche with one of the most dreaded of labels – a team that couldn’t translate regular-season success into postseason glory.
That myth has now been busted, and then some, following Colorado’s 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of this year’s Stanley Cup Final, a win which capped one of the more dominant playoff runs in recent memory.
Colorado finished this postseason with a 16-4 record, tied for the second-highest winning percentage of any team since the NHL adopted a best-of-seven format for all four rounds in 1986-87. Only the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers of 1986-87, who went 16-2, have produced a better mark.
"Some tough years mixed in there, but it’s all over now," MacKinnon said after registering a goal and an assist in Sunday’s clincher. "We never stopped believing."
That never-say-die attitude was evident in Game 6, in which Colorado erased an early 1-0 deficit against the two-time defending champion Lightning, and throughout this title run. Sunday’s win was the Avalanche’s 10th come-from-behind victory of these playoffs, tying the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins for the most in a single postseason.
"If you surround yourself with great people, you can accomplish great things," defenseman Erik Johnson said, the Avalanche’s longest-tenured player who hoisted the Cup for the first time in 14 NHL seasons – 12 of which have been spent in Denver.
The Avalanche seemed primed for greatness during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign, in which they produced 82 points in 56 games to win the Presidents’ Trophy. But a second-straight second-round flameout as a higher-seeded team left many wondering whether one of the league’s most talented teams could turn potential into production when it mattered most.
Last year’s playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights served as a constant motivating force for this season’s squad, which dominated the Western Conference with 119 regular-season points before this outstanding playoff surge.
"Our group, ever since last year, we knew coming into training camp that they were committed," Avalanche vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic said.
"Nothing phased them this year – they were prepared every day to get better. The coaches had them prepared, and every player bought in.”
Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos was in tears as he spoke to reporters after losing to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, ending an 11-series winning streak that spanned the past two championships.
The Lightning took an early lead less than five minutes into Sunday's game, but it would be the only goal they would score, with a pair of second-period strikes from Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen proving enough to deliver the Avalanche their first Stanley Cup in over 20 years.
While the Lightning were trying to win their third Stanley Cup in a row, for the Avalanche it was the third in the history of their franchise, joining their 1995-96 and 2000-01 successes.
Speaking in the locker room, Stamkos said what would generally be considered a successful season still felt like heartbreak in the moment.
"It's the worst feeling," he said. "Expectations are so high with this group.
"There's probably a lot of teams that get to this position and feel like they had an unbelievable year – but for us it's disappointing.
"Because we know what we have in [our locker room], we know that feeling [Colorado are] having over there right now is the best in the world, and sometimes you forget the other side of it.
"It was just a grind. That's what makes it even tougher, because you realise how hard you worked to get here. The disappointment is something I probably can't put into words."
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman paid respect to the champions, but said he feels his side was just a few bounces away from a three-peat.
"Winning three straight, it's rare in this league," he said. "We lost to an unbelievable team, who only lost four games in the playoffs, so they're deserving champs.
"At the same time, we feel like we were right there – two overtime losses, two close games – but at the end of the day, it's tough."
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