Naomi Osaka had a heartbreaking end to her Madrid Open run as she lost a thriller, while Coco Gauff impressively started her campaign at Caja Magica by registering her first double-bagel win.

After clinching her first clay win in two years on Wednesday, Osaka came close to beating No. 15 seed Liudmila Samsonova but fell just short as the Russian sealed a 6-2 4-6 7-5 win. The match lasted two hours and 22 minutes and, while it was encouraging for Osaka to have managed to get back in the match, it was certainly very disappointing to lose in the end. 

On the other side, No. 3 seed Gauff absolutely destroyed world No. 47 Arantxa Rus, claiming a 6-0 6-0 win. For Gauff, this was the first time in her career that she won a match without a single lost game and it took her 51 minutes. 

How Osaka lost a thriller to Samsonova?

Osaka got off to a very slow start to the match as she suffered back-to-back breaks and lost the opening four games of the match before Samsonova routinely closed out the set in the eighth game. 

At the start of the second set, Osaka’s poor display continued as Samsonova earned an early break and a 2-0 lead. Down by a set and a break, Osaka managed to get the break back but again dropped…

Anne Keothavong thinks Emma Raducanu could have absolutely done some things better in her Madrid first-round loss as the British Billie Jean King Cup team captain criticized the 21-year-old over “emotionally checking out” late in the match.

On Wednesday, Raducanu crashed out of the Madrid Open in a pretty stunning way after qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle saw off the Briton 6-2 6-2. The outcome of the match was pretty shocking in many ways as Raducanu arrived in Madrid in great form and she also entered the match as the clear favorite against 82nd-ranked Carle, who had never before registered a WTA 1000 win. 

After suffering five breaks of serve against Carle during a brutal two-set defeat and overall delivering a pretty poor display, Raducanu said all the demands of the Billie Jean King Cup and Stuttgart, and then traveling to Madrid, left her feeling very tired and exhausted – which directly impacted her Madrid performance. 

Keothavong to Raducanu: You can’t emotionally check out

Reflecting on Raducanu’s loss, Keothavong told the 21-year-old that if she plays she must be prepared to leave it all out there and that “emotionally checking out” is something she can never allow herself to happen.

…

Iga Swiatek admits it feels “pretty crazy” for her to see herself hitting 100 weeks at the world No. 1 as the 22-year-old Pole “never expected” to be doing the stuff that she has been accomplishing. 

Although Swiatek hitting 100 weeks this Monday was confirmed weeks ago, the Pole didn’t officially join the 100-club until this week started. At just 22 years old, Swiatek managed to become the ninth player in WTA history to have spent at least 100 weeks at the top spot. 

To make it all even more impressive, it all happened in two years. On April 2nd, 2022, Swiatek replaced Ashleigh Barty as the new world No. 1. Since then, there have been only eight weeks in late 2023 when Swiatek was ranked at No. 2 and Aryna Sabalenka sitting at the top spot. 

Now, Swiatek suggests it feels kind of surreal to her as she admits all of this success happened so fast and probably came in an unpredictable way.

“Honestly it’s hard for me to get a grasp of it because it happened so fast,” Swiatek said of the feat, via the Madrid Open website.

“It’s pretty crazy. I never expected to be in that position. Actually, staying at the top of the game for so long is something that really makes me proud. I think we made some tough decisions sometimes. I have good people that are…

Aryna Sabalenka admits it is probably fair to exclude her at the moment from the “WTA Big Three” since she has been playing poorly over the last two months. 

Since finishing as runner-up in Brisbane and winning the Australian Open, Sabalenka has won back-to-back matches just once. After losing to Donna Vekic in her Dubai opener, Sabalenka lost in the Indian Wells round-of-16 before concluding her Sunshine Double with a third-round exit in Miami. Last week, Sabalenka made it past her Stuttgart before losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinal.

While Sabalenka has been struggling, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina have been doing pretty well. Over the last two months, Swiatek has won two WTA 1000 titles, while Rybakina won WTA 500 events in Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart while also finishing as runner-up in Miami and Doha. 

“I feel like I kind of dropped my level a little bit (to be part of) the ‘big three’, I feel like it’s been a ‘big two’ in the last month,” Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka hopes to turn the page around in Madrid

This week, Sabalenka is set to kick off her Madrid Open title defense. As the second-seeded player, Sabalenka will start with a first-round bye and play against the winner of the match…

Naomi Osaka reveals she would like to win a clay tournament but funnily admits that her first post-pregnancy title coming on the dirt would be ironic.

On Wednesday, former world No. 1 Osaka started her Madrid Open run with a routine 6-4 6-1 win over Greetje Minnen. By beating Minnen, Osaka clinched her first win on clay in exactly two years – in 2022, she defeated Anastasia Potapova in the Madrid first round before losing to Sara Sorribes Tormo. 

Before skipping the entire 2023 season due to pregnancy, Osaka won seven titles – four of those came at the Grand Slam level, two at the WTA 1000 level and also won one WTA tournament in Osaka in 2019. But the interesting thing is that all of those seven titles came on hard. 

In the past, Osaka didn’t like or prefer to play much on clay and grass. But times have changed and Osaka now wants to be a complete and great player on all surfaces. 

Osaka hopes to land a clay title

“I would like to win a tournament on clay, I would think it’s very ironic but also hilarious if my first tournament (win back from maternity leave) would be clay,” Osaka said after her win. 

“For me, every tournament I play I want to win. I know that results so far haven’t shown…

Emma Raducanu blamed heavy fatigue and exhaustion on her dreadful Madrid Open performance and loss as the 21-year-old Briton is now planning to take some time off before resuming practice and tennis activities.

On Wednesday, Raducanu kicked off and also concluded her second Madrid campaign after qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle ousted her 6-2 6-2 in the first round. 

After a couple of strong performances and results in the last few weeks, Raducanu entered the Carle match as the favorite. But in Madrid – not only that Raducanu failed to clinch another notable result – but she also looked unrecognizable on the court. 

Before coming to Madrid, Raducanu led Great Britain to a hard-fought Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers win over France on the road and she also made the Stuttgart quarterfinal last week before losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

But against 82nd-ranked Carle, Raducanu lost her serve a total of five times and ended up losing with just four games won during the entire match.

Raducanu explains what went wrong against Carle

“I would say the last few weeks have been a lot. Starting from Billie Jean King Cup, I haven’t stopped,” Raducanu said after the loss.

“It’s just been back-to-back and I…

A very wonderful news made the WTA Tour rejoice: Belinda Bencic has become the mother of little Bella. The baby was born yesterday, Tuesday 23 April. The announcement came today from tennis player Swiss and her partner Martin Hromkovic on their social media channels.

Belinda will return to the court in 2025 for the Australian Open.

Baby Bencic has been born

Congratulations, @BelindaBencic! — wta (@WTA) April 24, 2024

Belinda Bencic gave birth to her baby girl.

“Bella, 23.4.2024.

Our love”.

Congratulations to both her & Martin.

Wishing them nothing but happiness as parents. pic.twitter.com/z7lSx6u5aC — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 24, 2024

Belinda Bencic gave birth to her baby girl, Bella pic.twitter.com/gVS8VFDyjb — Melanie Lautrup (@melanie_lautrup) April 24, 2024

Congratulations to Belinda Bencic and Martin Hromkovic!

The Olympic gold medalist and her boyfriend celebrate the birth of their daughter – Bella https://t.co/st7Ii0yJeH — TENNIS (@Tennis) April 24, 2024

Belinda Bencic welcomes a baby girl.

Awwwwww.

pic.twitter.com/CjOwXn0IqT — Biola Solace-Chukwu (@Beeorlicious) April 24, 2024

Congrats to Swiss Tennis Ace & Olympic Gold Medalist Belinda Bencic on the birth of her bonnie baby girl Bella …

Emma Raducanu says she is entering the remainder of the year with the mentality that “everything is a win” as the Briton can only gain points in the remainder of the season and not lose. 

Last year, Raducanu came to Madrid and her name appeared in the main draw but she then withdrew at the last moment citing a wrist injury. Shortly after, Raducanu had surgeries on both wrists and an ankle. 

Now, Raducanu is back to Madrid and set to face 82nd-ranked Maria Lourdes Carle today in her opener at Caja Magica. 

Last week, Raducanu made the quarterfinal at a WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart before losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. By reaching the Stuttgart quarterfinal, Raducanu improved 80 spots and started this week ranked at No. 221 in the world. 

With a good Madrid run, Raducanu could easily return to the top-150 in the world or even the top-100, depending on how far she makes it. 

Raducanu on her mindset for the remainder of the year

“The altitude here, it doesn’t catch you as off guard,” Raducanu told Sky Sports.

“It’s always going to be different, but at least you can expect it and you know where things are, which always helps – you know where the stringer is, the gym is, everything,…

Czech tennis star Marketa Vondrousova has revealed to a Czech news outlet that she and her husband Stepan Simek have agreed to put an end to their marriage. 

Vondrousova, 24, and 26-year-old Simek got engaged in 2021 and a year later they tied the knot. But now, Vondrousova and Simek have decided to go their separate ways. 

Simek, a former junior tennis player who wasn’t able to accomplish his tennis dreams due to injuries, also had his five minutes of fame during Vondrousova’s 2023 Wimbledon run. In the latter stages of Wimbledon, Simek got known after Vondrousova revealed that her husband actually had to stay home to take care of their cat named Frankie. 

“Our marriage with Stepan ended a few weeks ago, we broke up. He moved out of with the cat,” Vondrousova told Blesk.

“It just didn’t work out for us. It wasn’t what we both imagined, so we agreed not to be together anymore. Now we are formally resolving the divorce, but we have agreed on everything.”

Vondrousova credited Simek for one of the biggest wins of her career

Before beating Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam title, Vondrousova was inches away from exiting The Championships against Jessica Pegula….