News

Tennis news

Every tennis story we have written, newest first, with our take on what it changes.

Tennis · 22 OCT · David Goffin · Alex Michelsen

Goffin had to cancel his own farewell party. Today he plays the Brussels fifth seed

David Goffin had a party booked for Wednesday night in Brussels, and he had to call it off himself: "Je vais devoir annuler la fête de ce mercredi soir" (I'm going to have to cancel this Wednesday night's party), he told the Centre Court crowd. The 35-year-old, playing the last tournament of his career, was 3-0 down in the deciding set against lucky loser Remy Bertola and won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Our take Goffin's best weapon today is the crowd

Tennis · 21 OCT · Marta Kostyuk · Karolina Muchova

Marta Kostyuk needs a Ningbo final, or Muchova takes the last WTA Finals place

One player in the world can still take the last WTA Finals place away from Karolina Muchova, and she plays her first match in Ningbo today. The WTA puts it in one line: "If Kostyuk does not reach the final, Muchova secures the last spot."

Our take Muchova can book her flight to Indian Wells

Tennis · 18 OCT · Iga Swiatek · Karolina Muchova

Swiatek's physio told her three times to stop. Now a Ningbo title alone is not enough

Maciej Ryszczuk says he told Iga Swiatek three times to stop her Wuhan semi-final, and she played on with pain in her quad until Maja Chwalinska had won 7-5, 6-1. The defeat leaves Swiatek about 545 points behind Karolina Muchova for the last WTA Finals place, more than the 500 a Ningbo title is worth.

Our take Tokyo, not Ningbo, decides Swiatek's season

Tennis · 16 OCT · Rafael Jódar · Casper Ruud

Jódar, 20, lost the first set again and won again. Ruud's defeat puts him ninth for Turin

For the fourth match in a row in Shanghai, Rafael Jódar lost the first set and won the match: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Casper Ruud in two hours and 20 minutes. At 20, he is the youngest semi-finalist in the tournament's history, and the 200 extra points lift him to ninth in the Race to Turin, which, with Jannik Sinner out for the season, is a qualifying place as things stand.

Our take The Turin place is now Jódar's to lose

Tennis · 15 OCT · Karolina Muchova · Diana Shnaider

Muchova is 10-0 in tiebreaks. Shnaider beat her without needing one

Karolina Muchova came to Wuhan as the first player this century to win the first ten tiebreaks of a season, and on Thursday Diana Shnaider never let her get to one: 7-5, 6-3 in the third round. The defeat leaves the last seat at the WTA Finals open until Sunday's final, with Iga Swiatek still in the draw.

Our take The last seat is now Swiatek's to take

Tennis · 14 OCT · Gaël Monfils · ATP Lyon

Monfils has been listed as retired since 5 October. Now he has handed back his Lyon wild card

Gaël Monfils' name has been on the official list of retired players kept by the International Tennis Integrity Agency since 5 October. Under the rule printed on the same page, a listed player cannot simply return to a sanctioned event, yet Monfils is due in Lyon next week on a wild card, RMC Sport noticed on Tuesday evening.

Our take Either the entry goes, or the farewell does

Tennis · 10 OCT · Lorenzo Musetti · Zhou Yi

Musetti didn't face a break point and still lost to the world No. 277

Lorenzo Musetti did not face a single break point against Zhou Yi in Shanghai on Friday, won ten more points than him and still lost 7-6, 3-6, 7-6. It was his first match since the US Open after a broken finger, and the man who beat him is a 21-year-old Chinese wildcard ranked 277th in the world.

Our take Musetti's 2026 opponent is his body

Tennis · 9 OCT · Carlos Alcaraz · Juan Manuel Cerúndolo

Spain have lost four Shanghai finals. Alcaraz arrives with Sinner gone

Rafael Nadal lost two Shanghai finals, David Ferrer and Roberto Bautista Agut one each, and no Spaniard has ever lifted the trophy. Carlos Alcaraz starts his campaign on Saturday against Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, and this time Jannik Sinner, the 2024 champion, is not in the draw.

Our take Spain's best Shanghai chance in 17 years

Tennis · 8 OCT · Coco Gauff · Wuhan Open

Gauff pulls out of Wuhan, the title she won last year, to rest before the WTA Finals

Coco Gauff withdrew from the Wuhan Open on Wednesday, hours after losing to Elise Mertens in Beijing, saying her body needs rest after a long year. She won Wuhan last year, so she loses those 1,000 ranking points, but she has already qualified for the WTA Finals.

Our take Losing 1,000 points is the smart choice

Tennis · 7 OCT · Novak Djokovic · Alex de Minaur

Sinner's season is over, and that puts Djokovic in a Turin place

Jannik Sinner has ended his season with a knee problem but still sits second in the Race to Turin, so his place at the ATP Finals passes to the next man in line. On this week’s Race, that is Novak Djokovic: ninth on 2,840 points, 150 ahead of Alex de Minaur, who retired injured in Tuesday’s Beijing final.

Our take Sinner's knee helps Djokovic most