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☆ Keothavong hopes Peng safe but says WTA's China return good for the game's finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 14 (Reuters) - The WTA's decision to end its China boycott over concerns about Peng Shuai will generate much-needed revenue for the women's tennis tour and provide more financial opportunities for players, Britain's Anne Keothavong said. Former player Keothavong, now captain of Britain's Billie Jean King Cup team, said she hoped Peng was safe but that ultimately "tennis is a business". The WTA's decision to suspend tournaments in the country is expected to have cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in broadcasting and sponsorship revenue. "One is that we hope Peng is OK and secondly it's just an excitement to have tournaments on the calendar. Yaqiu Wang, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the WTA's decision was a "huge disappointment" and called for Peng's case to be kept in the public eye.

☆ Nadal pulls out of Barcelona Open as he builds fitness
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Tennis - ATP 500 - Barcelona Open - Real Club de Tennis Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain - April 25, 2021 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action during the final against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas REUTERS/Albert Gea/File PhotoApril 14 (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal will miss next week's Barcelona Open and continue building his match fitness following a hip injury sustained at the Australian Open in January, the 22-times Grand Slam champion said on Friday. "Barcelona is a special tournament for me, because it's my adopted club and playing at home is always a unique sensation," the 36-year-old Nadal said on Instagram. "I'm still not ready and therefore I continue my preparation process for the return to competition." The Spaniard, a 14-times French Open champion, hopes to be fully fit for the clay court Grand Slam starting in May. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ WTA to resume tournaments in China this year, end boycott over Peng allegations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Tennis - China Open Women's Singles First Round - Beijing, China - 03/10/16. Peng then briefly disappeared from public view and later denied making the accusation, sparking fears for her safety. "For these reasons, the WTA is lifting its suspension of the operation of tournaments in the People's Republic of China and will resume tournaments in China this September." PENG SAFE IN BEIJING"The WTA's decision is a huge disappointment to the Chinese human rights community," Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters. "We also have received assurances that WTA players and staff operating in China will be safe and protected while in the country.

☆ Murray says focus must be on Ukraine war, not Wimbledon U-turn
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MONTE CARLO, April 13 (Reuters) - The war in Ukraine and the plight of its tennis players must be at the forefront of discussions at Wimbledon, not the Grand Slam's decision to reverse its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, former world number one Andy Murray said. "It's a difficult decision for Wimbledon. Several Ukrainian players have spoken about how difficult it is to continue competing while their country is at war. "You need to understand their perspective as well, and not just the players that weren't allowed to play last year. "There are Ukrainian players whose families (are affected) and they're going through unbelievably difficult times.

☆ Sinner digs deep to reach Monte Carlo quarter-finals, Ruud stunned
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hurkacz raised his game to force a tiebreak and looked in control but the scrappy Sinner saved a matchpoint and dragged the contest into a decider. The Italian then got his nose in front and held firm to complete the win as Hurkacz faded. German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff earlier stunned fourth seed Casper Ruud 6-1 7-6(6), ending the Estoril champion's nine-match winning streak on clay stretching back to last July. In-form third seed Daniil Medvedev, the winner of four hardcourt tournaments in 2023, will take on Alexander Zverev in the pair's first claycourt meeting. read moreReporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby DavisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Djokovic needs time to adapt after 'ugly' start on clay
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MONTE CARLO, April 12 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic returned to the ATP Tour with an "ugly" straight-sets win over Ivan Gakhov at Monte Carlo and while the world number one has had extended preparation on clay this year he said he needs more time to adapt to the surface. "Throughout my career I needed one, two weeks of tournaments to really start to play the way I want to. It's the case again this year, though I trained for three weeks and felt good playing practice points," Djokovic told reporters. "All these things play a factor in the way you feel on the court. I'm really glad I overcome the first step, because I hope things will be better and easier from this point."

☆ Thiem at full power after recovering from wrist injury
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The power wasn't there last year even when I started to win matches and played better. In the inner season the power wasn't there yet. The shots are there, the power is there like before, but I was using it wrong. There's full trust again in the wrist and the forehand." "I needed a coach right away so we decided to start the relationship and give it a try."

☆ Djokovic returns to Tour seeking strong start to clay swing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I've done more training on clay, which is positive if you think about the clay season," said Djokovic, the 2013 and 2015 champion who meets Mackenzie McDonald or a qualifier first. "I've not had much success in Monte Carlo in the past two seasons. I haven't played great tennis here, so I'm hoping this year I can start the clay season better than previous years and build my form." Djokovic, who trains at Monaco, said home comforts could prove helpful is his quest for a record-extending 39th Masters 1000 crown at Monte Carlo. Quite a few top players reside in Monaco and use this club as a training base, Djokovic said.

☆ Wawrinka seals comeback victory in Monte Carlo, Murray crashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MONTE CARLO, April 10 (Reuters) - Former champion Stan Wawrinka rolled back the years to outlast Tallon Griekspoor 5-7 6-3 6-4 and reach the Monte Carlo Masters second round on Monday while Andy Murray's first appearance in the tournament since 2017 ended in a loss to Alex de Minaur. "It was really important to stay calm with myself," said 2014 champion Wawrinka, the oldest man in this year's field. Up next for the three-times Grand Slam champion is world number 10 Taylor Fritz. Murray gained direct entry into the prestigious tournament after several players including world number two Carlos Alcaraz and 11-times champion Rafa Nadal withdrew due to injuries. Francisco Cerundolo earlier stunned 11th seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 and will play Matteo Berrettini who downed Maxime Cressy 6-4 6-2 for his first win in the tournament.

☆ Jabeur targets Grand Slam success after Charleston crown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I'm glad that I'm finding my rhythm and I hope my body will allow me to play," Jabeur told Tennis Channel, looking ahead to the European claycourt swing. I'm working on a lot of things and it's going my way, so for me: step by step, and I'm going for the Grand Slam this year." "If you want to do something, believe in it and only you can really manifest it," Jabeur added. "I was imagining myself in the photoshoot after, putting the image that I won that title already, and it happened. "I'll manifest the big trophy sets, the Wimbledon one and other Grand Slams that I want to win."

☆ Tsitsipas raring to go on clay with eyes on third Monte Carlo crown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The 2021 Roland Garros runner-up returns to clay hoping to claim his first trophy of the year at Monte Carlo, having beaten Andrey Rublev and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the previous two finals of the prestigious tournament. "It's a pleasure to return to the claycourt swing," Monte Carlo resident Tsitsipas told reporters. "It's one of the most fascinating parts of the year, starting the claycourt swing in Monte Carlo, which is my favourite place in the world. Tsitsipas said he enjoyed tactical battles on clay, a surface on which he has won four of his nine titles. There is a lot of strategy involved," said Tsitsipas, who will begin his campaign against Benjamin Bonzi or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

☆ ITF says World Tennis Tour events will return to China this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, April 3 (Reuters) - The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will conduct its World Tennis Tour tournaments in China this year, marking a return to the Asian nation after a gap of three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sport's global governing body said on Monday. "We think it's important that the World Tennis Tour and international events take place in all the nations around the world," ITF President David Haggerty told Reuters in a video interview in February. In the last full season in 2019 before the pandemic, China had hosted 25 ITF women's and 15 men's events. World Tennis Tour events are professional tournaments below the elite level. The tour will also stage the first ever World Tennis Tour event in Ethiopia and the first in Burundi and Cyprus since 2013 and 2016, respectively.

☆ Rybakina backs Wimbledon move to allow Russians, Belarusians to play as neutrals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 2 (Reuters) - Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina said the grasscourt Grand Slam had taken the correct decision to reverse its ban on Russian and Belarusian players and allow them to compete at this year's tournament as "neutral" athletes. The 23-year-old said that she had no problem with Russian and Belarusian players competing without their national flags. "They have been playing like this for all the tournaments, so it (Wimbledon) was only Grand Slam they were not allowed," Rybakina told reporters. Players will be prohibited from expressing support for the invasion and must not receive funding from Russian or Belarusian states, Wimbledon organisers added. Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who stunned world number seven Rybakina 7-6(14) 6-2 in the Miami Open final on Saturday, had opposed the Grand Slam's decision.

☆ What's better than OpenAI? Developers shop for alternatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

George Mathew, an AI investor at Insight Partners, compared the AI foundation models to other technological breakthroughs which spawned competition. As the infrastructural layer of AI applications, foundation models have attracted the most investment from venture capitalists and strategic investors. Writing assistant Jasper.ai began with OpenAI's models, but does not want to rely on a single model, CEO Dave Rogenmoser told Reuters. For example, it uses OpenAI’s model to generate long articles, and Cohere to auto-complete sentences at faster speed and lower cost. Fergal Reid, Intercom's director of machine learning, conceded that OpenAI's GPT-4 is "very expensive."

☆ Microsoft should throw billions at Apple to make Bing the default iPhone search engine, says a former Google exec
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former Google exec thinks Microsoft should outbid Google to land the default iPhone search spot. Landing the default search spot on the iPhone could disrupt Google's search dominance. If Microsoft wants to really throw Google's business into turmoil, it should offer Apple billions of dollars to become the iPhone's default search engine. Google currently pays an estimated $15 billion a year to be the default search engine on the more than 1 billion Apple devices globally, including the iPhone. While Google has launched its competitor to ChatGPT, known as Bard, it is not currently integrated into Google Search.

☆ Djokovic has 'no regrets' about missing US events over COVID vaccine status
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Djokovic, 35, unsuccessfully applied to the U.S. government for special permission to play at Indian Wells and Miami. Carlos Alcaraz leapfrogged the Serb back into top spot in the world rankings after winning the Indian Wells title on Sunday. "I have no regrets," Djokovic told CNN. "I've learned through life that regrets only hold you back and basically make you live in the past. I want to be as much as in the present moment but of course think about future, create a better future.

☆ Nadal out of top 10 for first time since 2005
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Shrivathsa Sridhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

World number four Casper Ruud, who lost to Nadal in the Roland Garros final last year, said he would not be shocked to see the 36-year-old lift the trophy once again. "It wouldn't surprise me because he'll probably use these weeks and these months, as he's preparing for exactly Roland Garros," Ruud told Eurosport as part of the 'Ruud Talk' series. The only thing that's probably on his mind these days is just to be fit, be healthy and be ready for Roland Garros." Djokovic, who turns 36 in May, has shown few signs of slowing down and drew level with Nadal on 22 Grand Slams by winning the Australian Open. "The only tournament is Roland Garros: if Rafa is fit there, it's exactly the opposite.

☆ Medvedev aims to build new streak after falling to Alcaraz
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Mar 19, 2023; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Daniil Medvedev (RUS) hits a shot in the men’s final match against Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY SportsMarch 20 (Reuters) - Daniil Medvedev suffered double disappointment on Sunday after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final and seeing his 19-match winning run snapped, but the Russian said the only thing to do now was embark on another streak. That's actually disappointing," Medvedev said. "This would be cool to try to beat it and maybe try to prolong it as long as possible. I'm proud of it, and now it's time to try to build a new streak.

☆ Starc scythes down India as Australia win second ODI to level series
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 19 (Reuters) - Australian pacer Mitchell Starc ripped through India's lineup with five wickets to lay the platform for a crushing 10-wicket win in the second one-day international in Visakhapatnam on Sunday that levelled their three-match series at 1-1. "Starc in particular with the new ball, swinging it back down the line and putting them under early pressure. We didn't play to our potential and didn't apply ourselves with the bat," Rohit said after India's heaviest defeat in terms of balls remaining. He's been doing it for years for Australia with the new ball. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Coffee-powered Bopanna becomes oldest Masters champion at Indian Wells
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 19 (Reuters) - Coffee connoisseur Rohan Bopanna credited the special Indian blends he consumes on Tour for his success after the 43-year-old became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion by winning the men's doubles title on Saturday. "It's the Indian coffee that I keep having when travelling. Some days I tell Matt I maybe just practised 20 minutes, but I'd rather rest the body and be ready for our matches," Bopanna said. Really happy with that." Indian doubles great Mahesh Bhupathi hailed former playing partner Bopanna's longevity and ability to peak late in his career.

☆ Why lithium-ion batteries found in many products keep exploding
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Officials believe the incident stemmed from a lithium-ion battery of a scooter found on the roof of an apartment building. “In all of these fires, these lithium-ion fires, it is not a slow burn; there’s not a small amount of fire, it literally explodes,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh told reporters. For starters, lithium-ion batteries are now in numerous consumer tech products, powering laptops, cameras, smartphones and more. Despite the concerns, lithium-ion batteries continue to be prevalent in many of today’s most popular gadgets. For example, LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries don’t overheat as much as other types of lithium-ion batteries.

☆ Vekic back to winning ways in Monterrey after injury woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 6 (Reuters) - Donna Vekic nearly quit tennis amid doubts over her fitness after undergoing knee surgery two years ago, but the Croatian has made a remarkable comeback and captured her first title since 2021 by winning in Monterrey on Sunday. Having beaten several top seeds in that tournament, she lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the final. I've been playing good tennis and I need to keep working hard and hopefully stay healthy," the 26-year-old Vekic said. Victory over world number five Garcia marked the first time Vekic had beaten a top-10 player this year and she rose eight places to number 23 in the world rankings. "It was a crazy match until the end, (Garcia) was playing so well, playing so deep," Vekic said.

☆ Medvedev ends Djokovic run to book Dubai final with Rublev
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Daniil Medvedev handed Novak Djokovic his first defeat of the year, beating the world number one 6-4 6-4 on Friday to reach the Dubai Tennis Championships final where he plays holder Andrey Rublev for a third title in as many weeks. Every time you play Novak, it's physically tough. Earlier, Russian Rublev reached the final with a first career victory against Alexander Zverev, closing out a 6-3 7-6(9) win on his sixth matchpoint. "I was thinking it was going to be a third set," Rublev, who will be gunning for his 13th ATP title on Saturday, said. But a determined Rublev recovered from a dip in his level to ensure there was no late drama.

☆ Djokovic targets elusive gold medal at Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - Novak Djokovic said he is already looking forward to next year's Olympic Games in Paris, as he seeks to win a gold medal that has so far eluded him in an otherwise glittering career. World number one Djokovic won a bronze medal in Beijing 2008 but has been unable to build on that in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The tennis competition at Paris 2024 will be held on the claycourts of Roland Garros where Djokovic has won two of his 22 Grand Slam titles -- in 2016 and 2021. "I look forward to the Olympics," Djokovic told reporters after beating Tallon Griekspoor in Dubai on Wednesday. "I always try to be very clear with myself what the goals are, what I want from competitive tennis," Djokovic said.

☆ Djokovic says return to top spot more special after tough year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It happens," Djokovic told reporters following his win over Tomas Machac in Dubai on Tuesday. Djokovic is now into his 378th week as the world number one, surpassing Steffi Graf's record for the most weeks at the top of the sport. But he said younger players like Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas will eventually catch up with him. I'm not playing as much and don't plan to play as many weeks as they do," Djokovic said. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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