Raducanu withdraws from BJK Cup to focus on tour matches
British number one Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Billie Jean King Cup to play on the WTA Tour.
British number one Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Billie Jean King Cup to play on the WTA Tour.
Novak Djokovic has busted out two different on-court moves after his 2025 US Open wins, both to honour his daughter Tara.
Most recently, after his quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz, the seventh seed delighted — and, perhaps, perplexed — fans by pretending to take a slug from a bottle, then performing a shoulder-shaking dance.
This, he said, was to send a message to his daughter on her eighth birthday, explaining that the choreography is from the chart-topping song “Soda Pop” from her fave film, KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix’s most watched movie ever.
“We are at home doing different choreographies, and this is one of them,” the Serb superstar said while still on court. “Hopefully I’ll make her smile when she wakes up in the morning.”
Djokovic, who is in the hunt for his 25th Grand Slam singles title, has also reprised his impression of a violin virtuoso, tucking his racquet under his chin to use as an instrument. This move was inspired by Tara too, who had just learned to play when he concocted it two years ago.
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While Djokovic “soda-pops” his way into the semi-finals, other winners are showcasing new moves too. Here’s a look at some signature celebrations—and what they mean.
Alcaraz Takes A Swing
Who will be celebrating after Friday’s match between Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz? On his way into the semi-final showdown, the Spanish star has used his racquet to simulate a golf swing, a gesture he directed toward golfing great (and pal) Rory McIlroy, who was in the stadium when Alcarez beat Reilly Opelka in Round 1.
“I think I own it,” Alcarez said of the move after he swung a second time, celebrating his Round 2 defeat of Mattia Bellucci.
Read the full story at USOpen.org
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Novak Djokovic has made a career out of upsetting the status quo. The 38-year-old is now targeting Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
The ATP has today announced a multi-year extension of its partnership with Haier, the world’s number one brand in major home appliances*. Haier will continue as the Official Home and Entertainment Partner and a Gold Partner of the ATP Tour through 2028.
The extension will see Haier continue to receive on-court brand visibility, premium hospitality experiences and on-site product integration at select ATP Tour events, providing a global platform to showcase its latest smart living innovations. The brand will also benefit from exposure across the ATP’s digital channels, reaching a global audience of more than one billion fans each season.
From 2026 to 2028, Haier’s tournament portfolio will include: the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, ABN AMRO Open (Rotterdam), BMW Open by Bitpanda (Munich) and the prestigious season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin – partnering with a total of 12 ATP Tour events overall.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Mr. Zhou Yunjie, Chairman of Haier Group, Neil Tunstall, CEO of Haier Europe, and Rodolphe Tastet, ATP Vice President, Partnerships.
Rodolphe Tastet, ATP Vice President, Partnerships said: “Extending our partnership with Haier shows the value and impact of our collaboration so far. Since joining forces in 2023, we’ve worked closely to showcase Haier’s premium technology to the ATP’s global audience. We’re proud to keep building on that momentum, reinforcing our shared commitment innovation and excellence”.
Neil Tunstall, CEO, Haier Europe said: “Extending our partnership with the ATP through 2028 is a natural step for Haier. Tennis embodies precision, performance and emotion—the same principles that guide our premium, connected home solutions. This renewal, including our presence at leading tournaments and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, gives us a powerful stage to showcase innovations that make everyday living smarter and more sustainable, while elevating the fan experience on and off the court.”
ATP and Haier will celebrate the renewed partnership with a dedicated joint panel: “Play with the Number Ones: Sport Sponsorship Evolution” held at Haier Europe booth during IFA 2025 on Friday, 5th September.
The partnership extension forms part of Haier’s broader strategic engagement in tennis. In addition to its presence on the ATP Tour, Haier is also a sponsor of Roland Garros and the Australian Open, underlining its global footprint at the highest levels of the sport.
*Source: Euromonitor International Limited; Consumer Appliances 2025, % unit share, 2024 volume sales data
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There are many fantasy matchups fans would love to see between players from different generations. Who would not love to watch Bjorn Borg take on Pete Sampras, or Roger Federer play his idol and eventual coach Stefan Edberg?
The age gap between those two pairs — 15 years for both — is actually smaller than the 16 years that separate 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz and 38-year-old Novak Djokovic, who will meet Friday in the US Open semi-finals. Alcaraz and Djokovic might not seem like conventional opponents on the biggest stages in sport, but over the past three years they have built an inter-generational rivalry that will be remembered for years to come.
There is not much precedent for such a rivalry in all of sport. Nearly 13 years separate Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, who became fierce opponents for F1 glory. Floyd Mayweather boxed Canelo Alvarez, 13 years his junior, but they were not both in the prime of their careers.
In tennis, Serena Williams is 16 years older than Naomi Osaka, but they only met four times, whereas Djokovic leads Alcaraz 5-3 in their series and they are adding a ninth chapter Friday.
Roger Federer recently played into his late 30s and made the 2021 Wimbledon quarter-finals aged 39. But the Swiss’ rivals were still Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who were his contemporaries.
From the first chapter of the Djokovic-Alcaraz Lexus ATP Head2Head series at the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open through their meeting earlier this year at the Australian Open, the two stars have met for some of the biggest prizes in tennis, including two major finals, the Paris Olympics gold medal match and an ATP Masters 1000 final. Their quarter-final in Melbourne this season was their earliest meeting at any tournament.
It is largely being made possible by Djokovic’s longevity. The Serbian is seven years older now than his idol, Sampras, was when the American played his final match aged 31. Yet Djokovic is still competing deep into major tournaments. In 2025, he has made the last four at all the Slam tournaments. The man who commentated on the first Djokovic-Alcaraz clash, Nick Lester, is not surprised.
“I never forget Andre Agassi saying, when he worked in a very short period with Novak, that Djokovic as a 40-year-old will still probably be competing at the very highest level, because he has a body and a makeup that he had never seen before,” Lester said. “That stuck with me. When Andre speaks, I think most people listen. And here we are, not too far off that, maybe a couple of years away from it. So part of me is not surprised.
“But I think there is a small part of me that maybe is. Am I surprised that Novak at 38 is still in the mix with these guys? Probably not. Honestly, no. Clearly time is in the essence. He knows that. We all know that.”
When Djokovic and Alcaraz first met in Madrid more than three years ago, it was the Spaniard’s moment to step into the sun. Alcaraz beat Rafael Nadal and Djokovic in back-to-back days, taking a gruelling three hours and 36 minutes to upset the Serbian.
“Probably it’s one of the best days of my career, of my life, without doubts,” Alcaraz said.
Little did the tennis world know that four months later he would become the youngest No. 1 player in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings. Alcaraz then showed that he would be more than just a challenger for Djokovic when he beat the Serbian in back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2023 and 2024.
It was not until last year’s Paris Olympics that Djokovic struck back, claiming the final trophy missing from his collection. Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have risen to the top of the sport, winning seven consecutive majors between them.
Suddenly Djokovic, who owns the record for weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings with 428, is the hunter rather than the hunted. Alcaraz plays dazzling all-court tennis that the 100-time tour-level titlist needs to rise to rather than the other way around.
But as Djokovic showed at this year’s Australian Open, he is hungry to do just that against his younger rivals. The 38-year-old could need to oust both Alcaraz and Sinner for the US Open title.
“Everybody is probably expecting and anticipating the final between [the] two of them,” Djokovic said. “I’m going to try to, you know, mess up the plans of most of the people.”
Djokovic might be 38, but he has not played like it. Only Sinner has defeated him in a completed match at a major this season, doing so twice. The 24-time major champion retired after a set in the Australian Open semi-finals to Alexander Zverev.
“I think he has been overtaken by two players that have possibly raised the bar again when we didn’t think that was necessarily possible,” Lester said of Sinner and Alcaraz. “But I think in terms of the age gap and the significance of the age gap, it is remarkable, undoubtedly. There’s a part of me that thinks that Novak is still driven as well now at this age by these two guys, and I think we saw that in his press conference afterwards.
“There was that little bit of an edge of ‘Don’t forget me’ still. And I know he’s done everything and I know he’s ticked every box in the sport largely. But I think these two guys now maybe are even giving him that last bit of fuel, possibly in the sport to get after it.”
Djokovic has another chance to show why he is still very much the present Friday inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Entering the US Open, Felix Auger-Aliassime was not in Nitto ATP Finals contention. But the Canadian has put himself in position to make a big splash in the battle for a coveted Nitto ATP Finals spot.
Despite beginning the season’s final major in 18th place in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, Auger-Aliassime has surged to 10th by reaching the semi-finals. The Canadian is now within 365 points of eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti.
PIF ATP Live Race To Turin (entering US Open SF)
| Player | Points |
| 1) Carlos Alcaraz | 9,340 |
| 2) Jannik Sinner | 7,450 |
| 3) Novak Djokovic | 4,180 |
| 4) Alexander Zverev | 4,180 |
| 5) Ben Shelton | 3,710 |
| 6) Taylor Fritz | 3,465 |
| 7) Alex de Minaur | 3,145 |
| 8) Lorenzo Musetti | 3,070 |
| 9) Jack Draper | 2,990 |
| 10) Felix Auger-Aliassime | 2,705 |
The semi-finalists are the top three players in the Live Race — Carlios Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic — and Auger-Aliassime, who still has an opportunity to move into a qualifying spot while in New York.
If the 25-year-old wins his semi-final against Sinner, he will climb to seventh place (3,205 points). If Auger-Aliassime claims his maiden major trophy, he will rocket to fifth (3,905 points).
The Canadian qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in 2022, falling in the round-robin stage. Of his seven ATP Tour titles, four have come after the US Open, so Auger-Aliassime still has time to make his mark in the Live Race.
Two of the eight players currently in a qualifying position — fifth-placed Ben Shelton and eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti — are trying to make their debut in Turin. Ninth-placed Jack Draper is also pursuing his first appearance in the year-end championships.
Alcaraz and Sinner are the two singles players who have already qualified for the event, which will again be held at Inalpi Arena in Turin from 9-16 November.
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