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Holger Rune has stated that he is ‘furious’ after having to retire from his second-round match in Acapulco, due to supposed food poisoning. Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul withdrew from their scheduled last 16 matches, similarly from food poisoning.

Rune had won just four points during his second-round match in Acapulco against Brandon Nakashima, retiring after going down 3-0 in the first set.

“Furious and so sad at the same time,” the Dane stated on X, after his retirement.

“Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today.  One of my favorite places is Mexico and I love this tournament @AbiertoTelcel. Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end.”

Furious and so sad at the same time. Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today. One of my favorite places is Mexico and I love this tournament @AbiertoTelcel . Absolutely not the way I wanted it to end

— Holger Rune (@holgerrune2003) February 27, 2025

The former world No 4 has had a disappointing 2025 season, losing in the opening round in Brisbane and Buenos Aires, and falling in the second round of Rotterdam.

Rune did have a solid run at the Australian Open, beating Zhang Zhizhen, Matteo Berrettini, and Miomir Kecmanovic, before being defeated by Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.

In Buenos Aires, the Dane stated on social media that he had suffered from a strong fever – before withdrawing from the Rio Open just days later: “Looking back, I think it was too early to play after my influenza last week

“My shoulder was not working and the whole body seemed extremely vulnerable. I will take the time and get proper rest now. When the body is not there, the brain shuts down and I am just very sorry I couldn’t deliver what I wanted on court today. Sorry Argentina.”

Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul did not even take to the court for their respective second-round matches, again, due to suspected food poisoning.

The Norwegian took to his Instagram to say: “I’m so sorry I had to pull out tonight. I was hoping to overcome this stomach illness that showed up yesterday and tried everything I could to be able to play tonight, until the very last moment.

“Hoping to come back stronger in a couple of days and come back here to Mexico next year. Thanks for now, Acapulco.”

Ruud was scheduled to play world No 356 Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, who becomes the first Mexican tour-level quarter-finalist since 1998.

Meanwhile, Paul was pencilled to play fellow American Marcos Giron – before the world No 10 withdrew.

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The seeds further tumbled in Acapulco after Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton lost in straight sets during their second-round matches.

Zverev, the top seed, suffered yet another shock loss – this time against Learner Tien, 6-3, 6-4. The American had previously gained the biggest win of his career, by ranking, at the 2025 Australian Open after defeating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller.

The German would have hoped to close the gap with world No 1 Jannik Sinner, who is suspended from the tour for a three-month period, but has failed to win three consecutive matches in Buenos Aires, Rio, and, now Acapulco.

Shelton squeaked by Flavio Cobolli in two tie-break sets during his opening match, but fell to former world No 7 David Goffin, 7-6(3), 6-3.

The two losses mean that none of the top five seeds remain in the tournament.

The post ‘Furious’ Holger Rune retires due to food poisoning, 2 top 10 players also withdraw appeared first on Tennis365.

Alexander Zverev missed out on another significant chance to gain ground on world No 1 Jannik Sinner as he suffered an early exit at the 2025 Mexican Open.

The world No 2 was upset 6-3, 6-4 by world No 83 Learner Tien in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco.

Zverev, who was the top seed at the Mexican Open, was decisively broken by his 19-year-old American opponent at 3-4 in the opening set.

The 27-year-old German then built a 4-1 lead in the second set before losing five straight games to collapse to a chastening defeat.

Zverev is one of several top players in Acapulco who was reportedly affected by stomach issues or food poisoning, with the draw taking a big hit on Wednesday.

Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul both withdrew before their second round matches, while Holger Rune retired after three games. Alex Michelsen, who lost to Denis Shapovalov, was also apparently impacted.

Despite the circumstances surrounding Zverev’s latest defeat, it concluded a disappointing Latin American swing for the German as he missed three big opportunities to win titles and collect a sizeable amount of points.

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With Sinner banned from playing on the ATP Tour until May 4 due to failed doping tests, both Zverev and world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz have a chance to catch the world No 1.

In the previous two weeks, Zverev lost in the quarter-finals at both the Argentina Open and the Rio Open — clay-court events at which he was a strong favourite based on ranking.

The three-time major finalist’s second round exit in Mexico leaves him with the 8,135 points with which he began the week.

Zverev, who ground out a three-set win over Matteo Arnaldi in the first round, earned 50 points for his second round result. He could have earned a further 450 points had he won the title.

This means Zverev remains 3,195 points adrift of Sinner — a sizeable gap to make up despite the Italian’s absence from the tour.

Sinner will drop 1,600 while he is sidelined, which will leave him on 9,730 points when he makes his expected comeback at the Italian Open in May.

Zverev will, therefore, need to surpass this points total by the time of Sinner’s return to become world No 1 for the first time.

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Former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs has expressed concerns over Novak Djokovic after the great Serb’s injury-affected start to the 2025 campaign.

Djokovic began his 2025 season with a run to the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International, where he was beaten by Reilly Opelka.

At the Australian Open, Djokovic found a high level to earn quality wins against Tomas Machac, Jiri Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz in the third round, fourth round and quarter-finals respectively.

The 37-year-old’s quest to win a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title in Melbourne was ended by a left leg injury that forced him to retire after the first set of his semi-final clash with Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic confirmed the injury, which he sustained early in his win against Alcaraz, was a hamstring tear — but he made a swift recovery to return to action in time for the Qatar Open around three weeks later.

The world No 7 was defeated in straight sets by Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament in Doha — his first opening match loss at a hard-court event since the 2018 Miami Open.

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Djokovic holds a 7-3 record from the three tournaments he has played so far this year. The tennis icon won his 99th and most recent singles title at the 2024 Paris Olympics in August.

On an episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs assessed that Djokovic is starting to struggle more after his increase in injuries.

“Novak Djokovic did lose to Berrettini. Berrettini did play the match of his life. He was hitting forehands all over the place for winners,” said Stubbs, who coached Serena Williams in 2022.

“I know he’s had his issues at the start of this year with in Australia with the leg. He’s struggling with injuries over the last couple of years now with the knee, with the leg.

“Novak has bounced back better than most, better than probably anyone. But this is starting to be a little bit of an issue now, not winning matches.

“And then when you haven’t played for a while, then you come back and you’re older… When you go and play a match, you’re pushing yourself more, you’re doing a little more, you’re more nervous, your body’s more uptight. And he’s struggling more and more and more.”

READ NEXT: Daniil Medvedev reveals why Stan Wawrinka has inspired him more than Djokovic, Nadal and Federer

The post ‘Novak Djokovic is struggling more and more’, assesses Serena Williams’ ex-coach appeared first on Tennis365.

The entry list for the 2025 Miami Open is out, and there is set to be a star-studded field at the second leg of the ‘Sunshine Double’.

The 2025 Miami Open, which will be staged from March 18 to 30, will be the 40th edition of the prestigious tournament.

The hard-court event, which is held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, is the second Masters 1000 tournament on the ATP calendar.

Jannik Sinner is the reigning champion, having beaten Grigor Dimitrov in the 2024 final, but he will be unable to defend his title as he is banned from playing on the ATP Tour until May 4 due to failed doping tests.

World No 2 Alexander Zverev is set to be the top seed in the Italian’s absence, while 2022 Miami Open winner Carlos Alcaraz will be seeded second.

Novak Djokovic, a six-time champion in Miami, is in line to play the tournament for the first time since 2019.

How many players will feature in the main draw?

The Miami Open men’s singles main draw will be comprised of 96 players, a total including 79 direct entrants, 12 qualifiers and five wildcards.

Who has received wildcards?

The wildcards for the 2025 Miami Open are yet to be announced.

In 2024, Darwin Blanch, Martin Damm, Martin Landaluce, Kei Nishikori and Shang Juncheng were given wildcards.

Have any players withdrawn?

Sinner, the world No 1 and a three-time Grand Slam champion, is the only player who has pulled out, having been forced to withdraw due to his aforementioned doping ban.

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Which former champions will play?

Four former Miami champions have entered: Alcaraz (2022), Djokovic (2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016), Daniil Medvedev (2023) and Hubert Hurkacz (2021).

Have any players used a protected ranking to enter?

Players who have been unable to compete in any tournaments due to injury for a minimum of six months are eligible to use the ATP protected ranking system.

The protected ranking will be determined by the player’s average ranking position during the first three months of their injury. They can use the protected ranking to enter nine tournaments and for a period of nine months from the first event they play after returning.

Nick Kyrgios, Reilly Opelka and Jenson Brooksby have all used a protected ranking to gain entry into the Miami Open main draw.

Miami Open 2025 ATP Singles Entry List and Projected Seeds based on ATP Rankings as of 24 February 2025 (numbers in brackets are Entry Rankings)

1. Alexander Zverev (2)
2. Carlos Alcaraz (3)
3. Taylor Fritz (4)
4. Casper Ruud (5)
5. Daniil Medvedev (6)
6. Novak Djokovic (7)
7. Alex de Minaur (8)
8. Andrey Rublev (10)
9. Tommy Paul (9)
10. Stefanos Tsitsipas (11)
11. Jack Draper (16)
12. Holger Rune (12)
13. Ben Shelton (13)
14. Ugo Humbert (14)
15. Grigor Dimitrov (15)
16. Lorenzo Musetti (17)
17. Frances Tiafoe (18)
18. Arthur Fils (19)
19. Hubert Hurkacz (20)
20. Felix Auger-Aliassime (23)
21. Jiri Lehecka (25)
22. Sebastian Korda (22)
23. Karen Khachanov (21)
24. Tomas Machac (24)
25. Francisco Cerundolo (26)
26. Alexei Popyrin (27)
27. Alejandro Tabilo (28)
28. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30)
29. Matteo Berrettini (35)
30. Sebastian Baez (31)
31. Denis Shapovalov (32)
32. Matteo Arnaldi (34)
Alex Michelsen (33)
Lorenzo Sonego (36)
Pedro Martinez (37)
Jordan Thompson (29)
Nuno Borges (39)
Flavio Cobolli (40)
Gael Monfils (38)
Alexandre Muller (60)
Brandon Nakashima (41)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (43)
Miomir Kecmanovic (42)
Nicolas Jarry (47)
Jan-Lennard Struff (44)
Tallon Griekspoor (51)
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (50)
Zhizhen Zhang (49)
Roberto Carballes Baena (53)
Alexander Bublik (48)
Marcos Giron (52)
Roberto Bautista Agut (54)
Jakub Mensik (45)
Fabian Marozsan (57)
Zizou Bergs (58)
Jaume Munar (55)
Juncheng Shang (56)
Luciano Darderi (61)
Yoshihito Nishioka (62)
Arthur Rinderknech (63)
Benjamin Bonzi (64)
David Goffin (65)
Mariano Navone (46)
Corentin Moutet (66)
Aleksandar Vukic (67)
Yunchaokete Bu (69)
Mattia Bellucci (70)
Hamad Medjedovic (73)
Roman Safiullin (71)
Kei Nishikori (72)
Cameron Norrie (59)
Daniel Altmaier (74)
Joao Fonseca (68)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (76)
Aleksandar Kovacevic (77)
Thiago Seyboth Wild (75)
Reilly Opelka (33 – PR)
Nick Kyrgios (21 – PR)
Jenson Brooksby (52 – PR)

READ NEXT: Daniil Medvedev reveals why Stan Wawrinka has inspired him more than Djokovic, Nadal and Federer

The post ATP Miami Open 2025 Entry List: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev star; Will Nick Kyrgios play? appeared first on Tennis365.

The winds of change are about to sweep through men’s tennis, with the jostling of influence at the top of the sport set to move up a gear with a major announcement.

Saudi Arabian tennis chiefs have been eager to bring an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event to their kingdom for some time and now it appears we are edging closer to an announcement of a tournament that will be staged for the first time in the month of February.

At present, there are nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in the tennis calendar and they are the most prestigious events in men’s tennis outside of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

Now the tennis rumour mill suggests a tenth ATP Tour Masters 1000 event will be added to the calendar, with Riyadh likely to be confirmed as the host city.

There had previously been suggestions that the Saudi Masters event could take place in January, as a warm-up for the Australian Open, but that would have been a hammer blow to the first Grand Slam of the year as they have several weeks of build-up to their event.

So the February date appears to be a suitable alternative, as ATP Tour chiefs try to accommodate the ambitions of the Saudi Tennis Federation.

It is unclear when this new tournament will get underway after the ATP Tour already confirmed they will stage nine ATP 1000 events in 2026 and they may not be in a position to add another for 2026 due to existing TV broadcast agreements, so it is anticipated that the Saudi Masters 1000 could start in 2027 or even 2028.

The tournament will form part of a ‘new swing’ in the ATP Tour season, with tournaments in Qatar and Dubai part of a February schedule that will see the world’s top players flock to the region to compete for big points and mega prize money.

While most of the ATP Masters 1000 events are mandatory for top players to compete in, there is an expectation that this tournament in Saudi Arabia will initially be optional for the top players to enter.

Yet it is almost certain that most will play given the huge points on offer and the mega prize money up for grabs.

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The addition of a major ATP Tour event in Saudi Arabia has long been spoken about and this move would fend off the threat of the kingdom making any attempt to set up a breakaway tennis tour, as they have done with their LIV Golf breakaway league that has seen a host of top players leave the PGA Tour and European Tour and divide the sport.

Saudi tennis chiefs flexed their financial muscle as they hosted the Six Kings Slam exhibition event last October that featured Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune.

Adding more tournaments to an already crowded schedule is likely to be met with some resistance from leading players, with Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev among the top players calling for a reduction of tournaments.

“Probably they are going to kill us in some way,” said Alcaraz as he spoke about the current hectic tennis schedule last year. “Right now a lot of good players are going to miss a lot of tournaments because of injuries.

“Sometimes, you don’t want to go to a tournament. I’m not going to lie – I have felt this way a few times already.

“Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all. But as I’ve said many, many times, I play my best tennis when I smile and enjoy it on court. That’s the best option to keep motivation.”

There will be a big loser if this new tournament is confirmed and that will be the South American tournaments that are currently being played in front of big crowds.

Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Chile are among the nations that host big ATP Tour events in February, but they may all be threatened by the announcement of a new Masters 1000 event on the other side of the world as they would struggle to attract top players to their events.

While top players like Zverev have been handed big appearance fees to play in the South American clay court events this month, they may be tempted to take the cash and ranking points on offer by playing in two or three events ‘Desert Swing’ events in Qatar, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

That would be a hammer blow to the profile of South American tournaments, who have long argued they should be handed a Masters 1000 tournament to boost tennis in their continent, but the Saudi money opens doors in all sports and tennis is certain to have a bigger influence in the region in years to come.

READ MORE: Rafael Nadal candidly addresses criticism of his Saudi Arabia role: ‘I don’t care that much if I achieve my goal’

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Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz’s failure to reach the latter stages of their recent ATP Tour events means their hopes of replacing Jannik Sinner at No 1 in the ATP Rankings have become more complicated.

Sinner has been top of the rankings since last June when he replaced Novak Djokovic and he has a healthy lead over his two closest challengers.

Zverev and Alcaraz lost in the quarter-final of the Rio Open and Qatar Open respectively last week and missed out on the chance of edging closer to the three-time Grand Slam winner.

After this week’s rankings update, the Italian is on 11,330 points with Zverev on 8,135 and Alcaraz on 7,510. Zverev, though, could potentially start next week on 8,585 points if he wins this week’s title in Acapulco.

With Sinner now banned until 4 May following his two failed drug tests in March last year, there is an opportunity to bump him off the top spot.

As things currently stand, the 23-year-old is assured of remaining at No 1 until at least the Monte Carlo Masters at the beginning of April and that will put him on 44 consecutive weeks at No 1.

He will move into 13th place on the all-time list as he will surpass Ilie Năstase (38), Andy Murray (41) and Gustavo Kuerten (43).

Sinner will drop 1,400 points between now and Monte Carlo and that effectively puts him on 9,930 points, meaning Zverev has to make up 2,445 points (current deficit of 1,795 and 800 points that he is dropping up to Monte Carlo) while Alcaraz has to earn 3,620 points (2,420 current gap and 1,200 points dropping).

There are three ATP Masters events during that period with the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open and Monte Carlo Open all offering 1,000 points to the winner.

One thing is sure, Alcaraz can’t overtake Sinner as he can only get a maximum of 3,000 points if he wins all three events.

Zverev has a chance, but he needs to win at least two of those events and then also reach the final of the other one to move past that 2,445 tally. Alternatively, if he wins the Mexican Open, he only needs to win two Masters events.

Mathematically possible, but highly unlikely.

The Barcelona Open and Bavarian Championships will give the chasing duo a chance to close the gap as neither will drop points, but only a maximum of 500 points can be earned for winning the title.

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Sinner will also miss the Madrid Open and he will drop another 200 points there, while Zverev will drop 100 and Alcaraz 200.

Alcaraz, thus, will need to win three of the ATP Masters 1000 events and finish runner-up at the fourth tournament.

Zverev can get to No 1 with two title runs (2,000), a semi-final (400) and a last-16 appearance (100) or two ATP Masters 1000 titles and winning the Mexican or Munich title as that would put him on 9,735 after Madrid while Sinner will be on 9,730.

And the bad news for Zverev and Alcaraz is the fact that Sinner returns at the Italian Open and he doesn’t have any points to defend at the tournament while the German is the defending champion so will drop 1,000 points while Alcaraz also didn’t feature last year.

The post ATP Rankings world No 1 race: When could Jannik Sinner lose top spot to Alexander Zverev or Carlos Alcaraz? appeared first on Tennis365.

US Open organisers’ controversial mixed doubles revamp has received a major boost as another of tennis’ power couples have indicated that they are “planning to play”.

In an attempt to increase interest in the event, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has announced a restructure of the mixed doubles with the tournament set to take place the week before the US Open gets underway.

The drastic changes include the event being held across just two days, the early-round matches being best-of-three sets and first to four games with no ad scoring.

Prize money will shoot out and organisers hope the changes will lead to an increase in singles players competing with 16 spots up for grabs.

The Italian pair of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles event last year and they earned $200,000 as a team, but that cheque will jump significantly as the 2025 winners will receive $1 million.

This year’s tournament will see eight teams earn direct entry via their combined singles ranking while the other eight will come via wildcard entries.

Tennis couple Stefanos Tsitispas and Paula Badosa – both ranked inside the top 20 – look set to compete with the former confirming their plans for the hard-court Grand Slam.

“We are planning to play. She’s the mixed doubles partner I would always play with,” the Greek said.

“I don’t have any other options out there or any other female player that I would want to play mixed doubles with. She’s always under my consideration and always someone I would want to share the court with.”

Tsitsidosa – as they are known as – competed in the mixed doubles event at the US Open last year, but lost in straight sets in the first round.

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Several doubles players have criticised the changes with reigning champions Errani and Vavassori issuing a joint statement to voice their unhappiness.

“We see it as a profound injustice that disrespects an entire category of players. We don’t know at the moment if we’ll have the chance to defend our title, but we hope this remains an isolated case,” the Italians said.

But support from singles players seem to be growing as Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter have also said they are keen to be one of the 16 teams.

De Minaur, who got engaged to Boulter last year, said: “Me personally, I really enjoy playing mixed doubles, so I think it’s going to be fun to hopefully play some mixed with Katie, which will be exciting.

“If I’m looking purely at myself and the situation I’m in, it does present an opportunity for me to play mixed doubles, which in previous years I probably wouldn’t have done just because as the format is right now for a singles player, you’re not really going to play mixed doubles because your priority is obviously the singles.

“The way it’s proposed now, it definitely entices a lot more of the singles players to play, and it’s an opportunity.”

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Eurosport star and former world No 7 Barbara Schett has questioned the “insane” way that Leylah Fernandez is treated by her father Jorge.

Player welfare and treatment from coaches are back in the spotlight amid the controversy surrounding Elena Rybakina’s relationship with Stefano Vukov.

Croatian Vukov has been suspended for a year by the WTA, who found he had breached their code of conduct by mentally abusing his former charge.

Rybakina has stuck by her former coach, who she attempted to bring back into her team in January, and has bemoaned a lack of support from other WTA players on tour.

Speaking to Kicker, Schett claimed that players were “afraid of personal consequences” should they speak out on such situations.

However, she also raised her concerns about the dynamic between current world No 28 Fernandez and her father.

She said: “The problem is that many players don’t dare to say anything because they’re afraid of personal consequences.

“For example, I was incredibly afraid of Jelena Dokic’s father. I would probably never have said anything because I thought he would kill me.

“It was perhaps a little different with Dokic than with Rybakina because she was also beaten, but in your mid-20s you may not yet know what is really going on.

“Perhaps you don’t find it as tragic as you do later. But I believe that a number of players have already spoken to the WTA about Rybakina and Vukov. It is important that anonymity is maintained because they are simply afraid.

“And I am also curious to see what happens to Leylah Fernandez’s father because the way he treats his daughter is insane. It is terrible that something like this still exists today and is sometimes accepted.”

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Former world No 13 and 2021 US Open runner-up Fernandez has been coached by her father across her career, winning three WTA Tour titles.

Originally from Ecuador, Jorge moved to Canada as a child and was a semi-professional footballer before turning his attention to tennis coaching, working with daughters Leylah and Bianca despite a lack of experience.

WTA star Fernandez has never publicly raised concerns regarding her father and has yet to respond to Schett’s comments.

However, speaking at the Australian Open back in January 2023, the 22-year-old praised her father for helping to improve her mental strength.

“Mental is extremely important. I’m very grateful my parents, especially my dad, has reinforced that,” she said.

“He hasn’t really taught me about tennis or technique but more of the mental side of the sport. Because it’s hard. You’re all alone out there on the court.

“Most of the time you don’t have a coach with you, or the coach can’t talk to you during points.”

Fernandez last played at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week, where she was beaten in round one by Elise Mertens.

She is next set to be in action at Indian Wells, which begins next week.

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Eurosport star Barbara Schett has called for more clarity in future doping cases amid the fallout from Jannik Sinner’s three-month suspension.

It was announced last week that world No 1 Sinner, a three-time Grand Slam champion, would serve a three-month ban after twice testing positive for clostebol in March 2024.

The Italian was initially handed no suspension in August 2024 after being found of “no fault” by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), with the 23-year-old successfully claiming he had accidentally been contaminated by his physio.

This ruling was then appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September 2024 and the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) was set to oversee their appeal this coming April.

However, WADA and Sinner have settled on a three-month suspension without the need for a CAS hearing, with the world No 1 banned from competing until May 4th.

That means he can return at his home event, the Italian Open in Rome, before playing at Roland Garros later in May.

The case has attracted attention from the tennis and wider sporting world as a whole, with Sinner, the ITIA, and WADA all facing criticism from some quarters.

Speaking to Kicker, former world No 7 Schett claimed that the manner of the settlement was “strange” and called for WADA to introduce “more precise” rules to avoid such controversy in the future.

“The news came surprisingly early for me, because it was originally said that a decision would be made in April,” said Schett.

“I find the wording interesting, that a joint solution was found. That sounds kind of strange. Is he guilty now or not?

“WADA said that he did not intentionally dope and he was banned anyway. It’s a bit confusing, but the three months are obviously good for him. The timing is ideal, because he can play again in Rome.

“Of course, that caused a sh*tstorm, especially on social media, because everyone has an opinion these days.

“Personally, I believe his story. But what I would also like to say is that just because you know someone and like them doesn’t mean they’re innocent. But I really think it was a mistake on the part of his physiotherapist. And Jannik must now face the consequences.

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“In my opinion, the problem is the opaque process and the way the WADA and the CAS handle things. Many players have the impression that they can now negotiate with the WADA about the length of their ban. Nobody knows what’s going on anymore.

“In my opinion, the WADA needs to create more precise and stricter rules so that there is more clarity in future cases.”

Sinner has not played since winning the Australian Open in January and was forced to withdraw from the Qatar Open once his ban was confirmed.

The Italian will also be unable to defend his Miami Open title next month and will miss further Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, and Madrid during his suspension.

Schett was also asked about Iga Swiatek’s case, with the five-time Grand Slam champion having served a one-month suspension after testing positive for TMZ in August 2024.

The Austrian admitted the two cases did not put tennis “in a good light” but further claimed that it needed to be “easier” to understand rulings and processes regarding doping.

She added: “It is of course not good that a world number 1 was banned twice. This definitely did not put tennis in a good light.

“What was strange about Iga was that her punishment was split. The whole system needs to be revised. It must be easier for journalists, tennis fans and everyone who loves the sport to understand the processes.

“And if there is a positive test, the public should be informed immediately.”

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The post Top pundit’s ‘strange’ verdict on Jannik Sinner ban: ‘Is he guilty or not?’ appeared first on Tennis365.

Eurosport star Barbara Schett has confirmed that Elena Rybakina and Stefano Vukov are in a “private relationship” as she accused the Croatian of “brainwashing” the former Wimbledon champion.

Vukov, who coached Rybakina from 2019 until their initial split in August 2024, is currently serving a one-year suspension after being found guilty of breaching the WTA Tour’s code of conduct.

The suspension was confirmed earlier this month, after a report by The Athletic in January 2025 revealed he was under investigation by the WTA.

Former world No 3 Rybakina had announced at the start of 2025 that Vukov would be rejoining her team, though the investigation – and now suspension – bars him from attaining tournament accreditation.

Further reporting from The Athletic later revealed that Vukov had subjected Rybakina to mental abuse and had reportedly bombarded her with texts following their initial split ahead of the 2024 US Open.

Reports also claimed that the pair had shared a hotel room in Melbourne last month amid the Kazakh’s Australian Open campaign, with the WTA ruling it was likely the two were in a romantic relationship.

This has seemingly now been confirmed by former world No 7 Schett who, speaking to Kicker, revealed she had spoken to Rybakina’s former coach Goran Ivanisevic in the aftermath of their split.

She said: “In my opinion, he [Vukov] subjected Elena to complete brainwashing.

“You can see how he treats her and how he speaks to her. Things escalated at the 2024 US Open and the team and family tried to remove him.

“We know that she has major ups and downs mentally, probably because of him. He definitely abused her mentally and that’s why I think it’s right that he was banned from the WTA.

“I spoke about the subject for a long time with Goran Ivanisevic. He said the problem is that they are in a private relationship.

“Vukov wants to sneak in and get his place on the team back. That is obviously a disaster. He has to get out of her life after everything he has done.

“I heard in Australia what he shouted from the players’ box. That is simply not acceptable. That is why I think it is great that the WTA is protecting its players and has drawn consequences.”

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Rybakina has refused to publicly condemn Vukov since news of the investigation and suspension emerged and revealed that she was “disappointed” in the WTA’s ruling.

The Kazakh is currently without a permanent coach, with Ivanisevic ending their short partnership after her fourth round exit to Madison Keys in Melbourne.

World No 7 Rybakina contested a busy Middle East swing, which saw her reach the last four in Abu Dhabi, the last eight in Doha, and the last four in Dubai.

She is set to return to action at Indian Wells, where she will be playing for the first time since her run to the title in 2023, having withdrawn from her 2024 title defence due to illness.

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The post ‘Elena Rybakina was brainwashed by Stefano Vukov’, claims former WTA star appeared first on Tennis365.