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ATP Grand Slam US Open

Svajda reaches US Open second round while coping with family illness ahead of Djokovic clash

Svajda, 22, reaches US Open second round while managing his father’s battle with stage four cancer..

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Novak Djokovic returns to US Open action on Wednesday and will face 22-year-old Zachary Svajda in the second round. Djokovic, seeking a fifth US Open title, followed a straight-sets win over Learner Tien in the first round despite physical concerns.

Svajda, a Californian born in November 2002 in La Jolla, has reached the second round of a Grand Slam for only the second time. The world No 145 did not drop a set in qualifying, beating August Holmgren, Beibit Zhukayev, and Marc-Andrea Hüsler to reach the main draw, and then defeated fellow qualifier Zsombor Piros in the opening round to set up a meeting with Djokovic.

Long regarded as a leading US prospect, Svajda won the USTA Boys 18s National Championship in 2019 at age 16 and earned a wildcard into the 2019 US Open, where he lost to Donald Young. After the tournament was cancelled in 2020, he defended his national title in 2021 with a win over Ben Shelton and received another wildcard. That year he claimed his first Grand Slam main-draw victory against Marco Cecchinato before a four-set loss to Jannik Sinner. He lost in qualifying in 2022, qualified in 2023, and received a wildcard in 2024, falling in the first round on both occasions.

Svajda has won six ATP Challenger Tour titles, including victories in Newport and Lexington last month, and reached a career-high ranking of world No 102 in August 2024. His early development was influenced by his father, Tom, a tennis coach in San Diego for two decades. Tom was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in July 2024, and a fundraiser exhibition featuring James Blake and Brandon Nakashima was held last December.

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Reflecting on a difficult period after his Hall of Fame Open triumph in July, Svajda said: “It’s been a tough 12 months for me.

“I haven’t won many matches at all. Not just because of my dad, but you know that has a lot to do with it, just off-court stuff. It felt really good just getting this title and playing for him.

“He’s fighting unbelievably hard. I see it when I’m with him in person or when I’m on the phone, he’s always taking some medication at the right time and he’s going in for the treatments.

“I can’t imagine what he’s going through. And he’s also doing it all while he’s not feeling good at all. It made me think: ‘You fighting really helps me’.”

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Svajda will be a clear underdog on Arthur Ashe Court against the 38-year-old Djokovic, with the two players separated by 15 years in age and 138 places in the ATP Rankings. Svajda arrives in New York having produced a confident run through qualifying and the opening round, while carrying the perspective that some matters outweigh the scoreboard.

ATP

Sinner’s serve numbers reveal a mixed picture despite his dominance

Sinner’s serve stats show elite power, but his first-serve percentage still leaves room for growth.

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Jannik Sinner’s serve has long been viewed as a major part of his rise to the top of the men’s game, yet the numbers from the past year tell a more complicated story.

The world No 1 adjusted his service motion shortly before he began establishing himself as a leading force on the ATP Tour, and that weapon stood out again when he defended his Wimbledon title earlier this month.

After losing the US Open final to Carlos Alcaraz last September, Sinner made it clear that he wanted more variety and consistency on serve. His own words at the time showed how deliberate that change was:

“I can say that I’m gonna become a better tennis player and I’m gonna change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but, they can make big differences and then we see how it goes,” said Sinner. after that defeat against Alcaraz in New York.

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“I’m looking forward to play these matches again, something new is now that I’m not No 1 anymore. Now you chase, it’s different.

“Maybe I will lose some matches from now on, but I will try to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”

Even with his strong recent run, the ATP Tour figures for the last 12 months show that there is still work to be done in one area. Sinner ranks 35th in first serve percentage at 63.8%, well behind Alexander Zverev, who leads the list at 72.5%.

The Italian, however, is far more dominant once the first serve lands. He leads the tour in service points won at 80.9%, just ahead of Reilly Opelka on 80.8% and Taylor Fritz on 79.7%.

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He also tops service games won at 92.9%, underlining how difficult he is to break. Opelka follows on 90.6%, with Ben Shelton third at 90.4% and Alcaraz at 89.9%.

One remaining area is ace production. Sinner is 27th in that category with an average of 8.2 per match, while Opelka leads with 18.5, followed by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on 15.1 and Fritz on 14.1.

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ATP

Sinner climbs to No 4 on all-time prize money list after Wimbledon defence

Sinner’s Wimbledon defence lifts him to No 4 on the all-time prize money list in 2026.

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Jannik Sinner’s successful Wimbledon title defence brought more than another major trophy. It also lifted the Italian to No 4 on the all-time career prize money list.

Before Wimbledon 2026, Sinner sat at No 6, with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer occupying the top three spots and Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz positioned above him. Zverev had recently passed both Alcaraz and Sinner after his French Open run, but the order shifted again once Sinner collected $4,830,756 (£3,600,000) for his latest Wimbledon triumph.

That result leaves Sinner close to becoming only the fourth player to move beyond $70m in career prize money. He has already earned $11,620,364 in 2026 and is on track to break the $20m barrier for the first time in a season.

His rise has been rapid. Last year, he took in $19,120,641, a total that included a record $5,071,000 for winning the ATP Finals undefeated. He finished second on the 2025 earnings list behind Alcaraz, who made $21,354,778, after leading the way in 2024 with $19,735,703.

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At the end of the 2024 season, Sinner stood on $37,238,688. Since the start of the 2025 campaign, he has added another $32,347,873. From just $36 in prize money in his first professional year, he now sits on $69,586,561.

Zverev is fifth with $68,392,312, while Alcaraz is on $64,997,598 after not adding to his tally since April because of injury. Andy Murray has fallen to No 7 on $64,687,542, with Daniil Medvedev eighth on $52,192,594. Djokovic, Sinner, Zverev, Alcaraz and Medvedev are the only active players to have passed $40m.

Djokovic remains far ahead in first place with $194,656,816, including $3,000,801 earned in 2026. Nadal is second on $134,946,100 and Federer third on $130,594,339.

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ATP French Open Grand Slam

Auger-Aliassime Reaches Career-High No. 4 After Breakthrough at Roland Garros

Auger-Aliassime rises to No. 4 after best Roland Garros run, tying second-highest Canadian rank. Now

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Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to a career-high No. 4 in the ATP rankings following his deepest run at Roland Garros, where the 25-year-old reached the quarterfinals for the first time before losing to eventual finalist Flavio Cobolli. The result completed a personal Grand Slam milestone: having previously reached the quarterfinals or better at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, he became the first Canadian man to reach the quarterfinals or better at all four majors in his career.

The rise from No. 6 to No. 4 surpasses his prior best of No. 5 and places him tied for the second-highest-ranked Canadian in ATP or WTA rankings history. The only other Canadians to reach the top four are Milos Raonic and Bianca Andreescu. Raonic went as high as No. 3 in 2016, following his run to the Wimbledon final that year, and Andreescu peaked at No. 4 in 2019 after winning the US Open.

Canadian tennis has seen seven players reach the top 10 in either ATP or WTA history, with official rankings available since 1973 for the ATP and 1975 for the WTA.

Auger-Aliassime still has ground to cover to move higher in the standings. He is 2,865 points behind the current world No. 3, Alexander Zverev, with the rankings showing Zverev at 7,305 points and Auger-Aliassime at 4,440.

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The Canadian will shift his focus to grass. He begins his grass-court season this week at the ATP 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, entering as the No. 1 seed. After a first-round bye he will open against either Hubert Hurkacz or Marton Fucsovics.

The new ranking reflects a season of important progress for Auger-Aliassime and cements his place among the highest-ranked Canadians in modern tennis history.

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