Google Play App Download

Tennis News

From around the world

Fils delays injury return, withdraws from Hong Kong & Aussie swing

  • Posted: Jan 03, 2026

Arthur Fils will not compete in January while he continues his recovery from a back injury.

The Frenchman confirmed on his YouTube channel that he has withdrawn from Hong Kong, Adelaide and the Australian Open. The stress fracture first forced him to withdraw from a tournament before his third-round match at Roland Garros last May.

[ATP APP]

Fils made an initial comeback in August at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Toronto, but that proved to be his final event of the 2025 season after he felt ‘a warning sign’ in his back in Canada.

A three-time ATP Tour titlist, the 21-year-old Fils is the current No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He reached his career high of No. 14 last April.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Mertens makes quick United Cup start for Belgium against China

  • Posted: Jan 03, 2026

Elise Mertens got Belgium off to a strong start on the first day of United Cup play in Sydney on Saturday by beating China’s Zhu Lin 6-2, 6-2 in Group B action.

The top-ranked player from her country on the WTA Tour, Mertens kicked off her 12th WTA tour-level season in style with a one-hour, 18-minute victory — her fourth in five career meetings with former World No. 31 Zhu.

The 31-year-old from China had a resurgent second half of 2025 after seeing her position in the PIF WTA Rankings plummet due to an elbow injury. Ranked No. 493 in August, she reached the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event in Montreal, and begins 2026 ranked No. 168. But, on the whole, Mertens proved too much for the Chinese No. 6 to handle.

She broke serve six times in victory, won five of the first six games, and four straight from 1-1 in the second set, even though she landed less than than 50 per cent of first serves in set two.

Zizou Bergs, the ATP World No. 42, will attempt to clinch the tie for Belgium next when he faces Zhang Zhizhen, who, like Zhu, is also a former World No. 31 on the comeback trail from injury.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Zhang Zhizhen's path back from a shoulder injury & completely changing his forehand

  • Posted: Jan 03, 2026

A Chinese history maker is back at the United Cup.

The first Chinese man to crack the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Zhang Zhizhen, is again representing his country on the global stage at the United Cup. But this edition is different for the 29-year-old righty.

Zhang is No. 410 in the world after an injury-mired 2025 season during which he struggled with a shoulder injury, which dates back to when he was 15.

“I do believe sometimes during the years, a few days, I felt the shoulder was painful, but I thought the problem was gone,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “It seemed like that last year, I felt maybe in two weeks the problem will be gone. But it was still there and we did an MRI with an injection to see the problem.”

The former World No. 31 began feeling pain in the front of his shoulder in February when he competed in Doha and Dubai. It began to subside and then became a bigger issue the following month when he traveled to the United States for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

The imaging showed that his injury was actually inside the shoulder and closer to the back of it rather than in the front. He would not play a competitive match for more than six months.

The next two months, Zhang did not play tennis at all. Instead, the Chinese standout did fitness every day, played on his computer and spent time with family.

“But most of the time I was running,” Zhang said with a smile.

“In those moments sometimes I was missing a bit to play tennis. I knew when the tennis would start it would get a little bit easier. To do the fitness part, the exercises, only one session of the fitness part was really tough. So I wish I had some tennis, but I could not in that moment.”

[NO 1 CLUB]

The only time Zhang left Shanghai during the period was in late April to attend the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid. The bulk of his time was spent staying in shape, improving his conditioning and biding his time.

Zhang began playing tennis lightly in July and did not feel too comfortable on the court when he began.

“But at least I was moving all the time on the tennis court, so I didn’t really forget about the court size,” Zhang said. “It was still okay. But to play rallies was a little bit different.”

What he was able to do was change his game. Zhang believes that his forehand swing path was what caused his injury, so the time away allowed him to totally alter his swing.

“This forehand, I wanted to change already. It was even a better moment to change completely,” Zhang said. “Without this shoulder injury, I think we wouldn’t change that and make such a big difference. We would do smaller changes to help, but now we changed everything.

“Preparation, using the power, how to transfer the power and a little bit the motion of the swing, which is everything. To be more natural and more like everyone.”

Zhang, who returned for three tournaments in China in September, will try to show the progress he has made at the United Cup. China takes on Belgium Saturday in Sydney.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Zverev & Lys hope to make a splash for Germany at United Cup

  • Posted: Jan 02, 2026

Team Germany made a literal splash Friday in Sydney before they hope to make a figurative one at the United Cup.

The team that won the title in 2024 took a quick break before the competition to visit the famous Wylie’s Baths near Coogee Beach. The Germans — Alexander Zverev, Eva Lys, Laura Siegemund, Kevin Krawietz, Patrick Zahraj and Mina Hodzic — enjoyed their time at the tidal swimming pool, especially the team bonding. 

“I’m a big fan of team events, so I’m really happy Team Germany is all together here,” Lys said. “I feel like we don’t have many times [when] ATP and also WTA can stick together, so I’m excited.”

<img alt=”Team Germany visits Wylie’s Baths Friday before the start of Sydney action in the United Cup.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/02/12/15/germany-united-cup-2026-beach.jpg?w=100%25″ />

Zverev and Siegemund helped lead Germany to glory two years ago, defeating Poland 2-1 in an unforgettable final. Zverev and Siegemund clinched that tie in a deciding mixed doubles. That year, Angelique Kerber played singles, while this edition Lys is taking the mantle.

“Slightly different team than two years ago when we won it. But Laura is here, I’m here. We had good success in the mixed always in the past,” Zverev said. “We have a great female player in Eva this time, so it’s nice to have this big of support and hopefully we can go on and have the same success as two years ago.”

 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by United Cup (@unitedcuptennis)

Team Germany begins its pursuit of a second United Cup trophy on Sunday during the day session in Group F against the Netherlands. Lys is scheduled to face Suzan Lamens before Zverev takes on Tallon Griekspoor.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link

Recharged Tsitsipas, Sakkari power Greece past Japan in Perth

  • Posted: Jan 02, 2026

After a challenging 2025 season, Stefanos Tsitsipas launched his 2026 campaign on a positive note on Friday at the United Cup in Perth, where he guided Greece to a confident opening victory over Japan.

Following Maria Sakkari’s commanding straight-sets win over Naomi Osaka to give Greece the early advantage, Tsitsipas sealed the tie with an assertive 6-3, 6-4 victory over Shintaro Mochizuki inside RAC Arena.

Tsitsipas and Sakkari then pressed home the advantage with a high-energy 6-2, 6-3 mixed doubles win over Yasutaka Uchiyama and Nao Hibino to secure the second 3-0 result on Day 1, following Argentina’s shutout of Spain.

Playing his first match since last September after a back injury layoff, former World No. 3 Tsitsipas recovered from an early break to take control and deliver a composed performance for the 2023 semi-finalists.

“It’s been a rough few months for me,” Tsitsipas said. “I was in a lot of uncertainty and I was not sure if I could really compete, so to see myself at that level again and showing some really good tennis is something I’m grateful for. Let’s keep it going.”

After his second round upset by Matteo Gigante at Roland Garros last year, Tsitsipas dropped outside the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since August 2018. The former Nitto ATP Finals champion struggled with a back injury and also worked with Goran Ivanisevic for two months before rehiring his father Apostolos.

But in his first match of the season, Tsitsipas looked refreshed and purposeful, striking the ball with conviction in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the 22-year-old Mochizuki, the World No. 99.

Tsitsipas, once a Top 10 staple, currently occupies the World No. 36 spot and he has targeted a return to a major final in 2026, having previously reached that stage at Roland Garros in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2023.

Earlier, Sakkari shook off any lingering disappointment from last year’s round-robin exit and powered Greece to a fast start, earning a marquee straight-sets win over four-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 16 Osaka.

Facing Osaka for the first time in nearly five years, the former world No. 3 jumpstarted Greece’s opening tie against Japan with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 38 minutes at RAC Arena, fueled by quick starts in both sets.

Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka’s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.

“You’re always very hesitant when you come in that first match because sometimes you can trick yourself that you had a good preseason, and then you have high expectations to come out and do everything,” Sakkari said to reporters after the match.

“I really forced myself not to think like that. I think that that was the key. Just went out there, tried to do the things that I worked on and, you know, we keep building and we can keep trying to improve.”

Sakkari struck first in the opener, racing out to a 2-0 lead with a hold and an early break in Osaka’s opening service game. Osaka broke back immediately, but Sakkari reclaimed the advantage and closed out the set, painting the line with a backhand winner to set up a third set point, which she would promptly convert.

“[There were] a lot of backhand winners, but a lot of backhand errors as well,” Sakkari said. “I have to allow myself to miss in order for me to make a lot of winners. It was all about who was going to take the back hand line, let’s be honest. It was all about who was going to get that good cross-court ball in order to get down the line.”

The second set opened with the two trading holds before Sakkari erased two break points for a 2-1 lead. She then managed to break Osaka again to move in front 3-1, and she maintained control from there, sealing her third win in six meetings with Osaka to even their head-to-head and, more importantly, give Greece a 1-0 lead in its tie against Japan.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link