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Kyrgios acknowledges pressure ahead of exhibition with Sabalenka
Kyrgios says he feels pressure as he prepares to face top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai on Dec. 28
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios confirmed an exhibition billed as the “Battle of the Sexes” for Dec. 28 in Dubai. The match borrows its name from the 1973 meeting between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, which King won in straight sets in the Houston Astrodome.
Kyrgios said he is feeling external expectations as he prepares for the event. “I was in Hong Kong recently and a lot of the male players were like, ‘Look, you’re representing all of us.’ So here I am in the firing line again,” Kyrgios told Australian Associated Press on Friday. “I’m not a stranger to taking the heat from the media, but I’m excited whatever the result may be.
“I’m going to go out there and show the world that as good as she is, she’s got some weaknesses.”
Kyrgios, who has played only six tour-level matches in the last three years because of wrist and knee injuries, explained one of the ways the exhibition will be adjusted: he said he would be hitting toward a smaller side of the court, almost 10 percent smaller than what Sabalenka will be aiming at, giving him less room to hit winners.
Both players are scheduled to appear earlier in an exhibition in New York on Dec. 8, but not against each other. Sabalenka will play Naomi Osaka and Kyrgios will face Tommy Paul.
Kyrgios offered praise for Sabalenka while reiterating the challenge the match represents. “Obviously you’ve got one potentially, I think, one of the greatest of all time women’s players and she’s not even almost close to scratching the surface of what she can achieve,” he told AAP. “I think she wins multiple more Grand Slams.
“She’s honestly been talking a little bit more about this match than I have, but I’m ready to take the challenge. I’m going to go out there and, in all honesty, it’s a lot of pressure for me too.”
Referencing his career victories over the so-called Big Four, Kyrgios noted his rare record. He was the second player to win his first meetings with Rafael Nadal (2014 Wimbledon), Roger Federer (2015 Madrid) and Novak Djokovic (2017 Acapulco). “Look, I’m very confident,” he said. “I mean, look there’s been 16 people that have ever walked the earth that have beaten the Big Three and the Big Four.
“So I feel like, look, I’m quite confident but at the same time I’m very aware she’s dangerous.” Despite a ranking of No. 652 because of his long time on the sidelines, the 30-year-old Australian said he expected to be fit enough to play well in a month.
ATP French Open Grand Slam
Fonseca’s Paris surge: a 19-year-old handling the hard part at Roland Garros
Fonseca’s Paris run: the 19-year-old beat Djokovic and Casper Ruud, showing power and poise. Greatly
Joao Fonseca followed a headline-making third-round victory over Novak Djokovic with another major statement at Roland Garros, defeating two-time finalist Casper Ruud in four hours and minus four minutes of drama, 7-5, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-2. The 19-year-old Brazilian, already one of the tournament’s most talked-about young players, is now one of two teenagers through to the quarterfinals alongside Rafael Jodar.
Fonseca’s path here included a remarkable comeback against Djokovic, becoming just the second man to beat Djokovic at Roland Garros after dropping the first two sets, a mark previously set by Jurgen Melzer in 2010. On Sunday he traded heavy forehands and long rallies with the 27-year-old clay specialist before pulling away late. The final numbers underscored how close the contest was: each man finished with 51 winners and an identical 52 errors. Fonseca’s backhand, however, proved the decisive edge in several key moments.
Asked about his versatility in a post-match interview with Mats Wilander, Fonseca said: “It’s more like heart, or mind, I don’t know, I just try to be me on the court. Try to be happy, try to hit winners, try to hit good shots, try to be entertainment … try to be me, and that’s what it is.”
Those words echoed across a week that also drew the attention of Gustavo Kuerten, who watched the match and appeared pleased with the way Fonseca is building on a Brazilian legacy. Fonseca is a 6-foot-2 right-hander with notable power and a broad set of weapons; his temperament and shotmaking have become a central part of his rise.
The run here follows a turbulent sophomore season: a nagging back injury that affected his off-season preparation, an early Australian Open exit and a 1-3 record heading into Indian Wells. He has been careful about expectations, saying in Monte Carlo, “I think the expectations are going to come. People see young players doing great things, and they pull us into the top of the rankings. People need time. Everyone has their own time, so I want to do my history. I hope I’ll be there competing against them [top players], but people need to understand that I need time to become what they want me to do and I want to become.”
Fonseca’s run now brings fresh comparisons and cautions; Jim Courier advised, “Be careful of that hangover.” Still, after five-set wins over Dino Prizmic and Djokovic and Sunday’s victory over Ruud, Fonseca’s immediate problem is simple: maintain the level that has taken him this far. I just try to be me on the court. Try to be happy, try to hit winners, try to hit good shots, try to be entertainment … and that’s what it is. Joao Fonseca
ATP French Open Grand Slam
Roland Garros fines Adolfo Daniel Vallejo $65,000 after sexist remark about chair umpire
Vallejo fined $65,000 by Roland Garros after saying the match ‘has to be refereed by a man’ in 5 sets
Roland Garros has imposed a $65,000 fine on Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo after comments he made about the chair umpire following his second-round match.
The 22-year-old, ranked 71st, lost a nearly five-hour, five-set match to 17-year-old Frenchman Moise Kouame. Vallejo led 5-2 in the fifth set before the contest was decided in a tiebreaker. After the match he criticized Brazil’s Ana Carvalho, saying she was not strong enough to handle the partisan crowd and that such a match “has to be refereed by a man.”
“It’s a very demanding crowd and you need a lot of strength to go against the crowd,” he told Spanish-language outlet Clay. “The crowd was very out of line, but I understand they’re supporting their compatriot. It’s quite an intense crowd and that’s why I was prepared; I already knew it would be like that and, to be honest, it didn’t harm me, but rather strengthened him.”
Roland Garros and the French Tennis Federation called the remarks “unacceptable” and said Vallejo would receive a “significant sanction.” “The competence of an umpire is not determined by their gender, but by their professionalism and ability to officiate at the highest level,” the statement read. “The outcome of a sporting event, whether positive or negative, can never justify or excuse such remarks.”
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo told reporters the fine was “representing roughly half of his prize money.” Organizers noted that players reaching the second round at the French Open receive 130,000 euros ($151,000) and later clarified that the fine was $65,000, not euros. “This is clearly unacceptable,” Mauresmo said. “Once again, such remarks have no place here.”
Vallejo subsequently said his comments had been misrepresented and issued an apology on social media. “my comments were not meant in the way they have been understood.” “I have respect for the umpire and for the job they do, after a [five-hour] battle I was very heated and with a lot of emotions, I apologize,” Vallejo wrote on Instagram late on Friday. “I also want to clarify that I didn’t blame the lost [sic] on her, she did a good job throughout the whole match.”
ATP French Open Grand Slam
Cobolli weathers late scare to reach Roland Garros Round of 16
Cobolli escaped a fourth-set collapse, winning the tiebreak to reach the Roland Garros Round of 16..
Flavio Cobolli survived a tense finish to his fourth-round match, holding off a spirited rally from Zachary Svajda to reach the Roland Garros Round of 16.
Cobolli moved ahead 5-1 in the fourth set with hopes of finishing in under three hours, but Svajda fought back to win five consecutive games. The No. 10 seed was broken twice while serving for the match and missed a match point at 5-4. Cobolli dropped a mini break at 5-4 in the tiebreak but steadied to close out the victory and avoid a deciding set.
Speaking on Court Philippe Chatrier after the match, Cobolli did not hide how close the moment came to slipping away. “The only thing that I understood today is that the match is never done. I almost sh\ my pants,” he told the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd. “Now I’m happy but I’m still nervous. I have to recover a bit now.”
In the press, he reflected on how pressure affects his game. “I think when the match is almost done, you start to think of it, and that’s the problem with my character, because I don’t like to think a bit. I just want to play my best tennis possible. But if I think, especially if I’m nervous, I start to play a different tennis, and of course the Chatrier is not easy for everyone. So I think also the court was tough.”
Asked about the celebration on court that followed, Cobolli said, “I think they deserve to win the Champions League,” in reference to the ceremony he returned to Chatrier to attend.
The 24-year-old reached the third Saturday at a major for the second time, matching his best Grand Slam run after a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon last summer. He is the only man to reach the round of 16 without dropping a set this fortnight. Cobolli has 13 wins in this season’s European clay swing, including victories over Alexander Zverev in Munich and a Top 10 win over Daniil Medvedev en route to a Madrid quarterfinal.
Cobolli will next face the winner of fourth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Tabilo. Two countrymen, Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi, were due on court later Monday.
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