Believe it, Mirra 𧥠#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Taqb0R1Wz9 â Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2026 Here are my top ten Roland-Garros occurrences, in ascending order: 10: One to watch: Alisa Oktiabrevaâs intention was to compete in the qualifying rounds in Paris, but she missed so much time last year because of a wrist injury that she entered the junior competition instead. That turned out well for the 12th-seeded Russianâshe won the title. Oktiabreva defeated 2nd seed Sun Xinran 6-2, 6-...
đ¶đ #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/mN9wuuSV2b â Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2026 For 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva, it wasn't a matter of "if," but--rather--a matter of "when," and "when" kept getting closer and closer. Today, in Paris, it turned into reality, as the young Russian star won the 2026 Roland-Garros title, defeating surprise finalist Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2 in the final. She had some help--qualifier Chwalinska, playing her tenth match of the tournament, had visibly "run out ...
FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL đ Mirra Andreeva defeats Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 in the Roland-Garros semifinal! #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/qTN76DLNJI â wta (@WTA) June 4, 2026 The "new" Marta Kostyuk---slayer of Iga Swiatek and all-around tennis badass--failed to make an appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris today. The wind was blowing in all directions, a factor which had hampered top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, and which appeared to complicate matters for Kostyuk. Kostyuk's serve...
From qualifying to the semi-finals đ„ #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Pi3NkkPyML â Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2026 One by one, they dropped: 5th seed and Charleston champion Jessica Pegula in the first round former champion Alona Ostapenko in the second round 13trh seed and former runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the second round 2nd seed Elena Rybakina in the second round 4th seed and defending champion Coco Gauff in the third round 6th seed Amanda Anisimova in the third round 10th seed a...
You better believe it! Maja Chwalinska is doing incredible things at Roland Garros, she's on her 7th win a row since starting in Qs two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/mlj5XX33UZ â Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) June 1, 2026 This year, the quarterfinals in Paris are especially intriguing. Two of the hottest players on the clay tour, countrywomen Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, will compete for a spot in the semifinals. Svitolina prevailed over Belinda Bencic in the round of 16 (and delive...
This way into the second week! Maja Chwalinska and Iga Swiatek are in the fourth round of a Grand Slam together for the first time. pic.twitter.com/sbuJRDzozv â Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) May 30, 2026 When we were sorting through Polish players likely to advance to the round of 16 at Roland-Garros, I doubt that many (or any) of us picked Maja Chwalinska, but the world number 114, a qualifier in Paris, has made it to the final sixteen. Not only that, she did it by taking out Olympic ...
During the 2026 clay season, weâve had four 500-level tournaments and two 1000-level tournaments, which means that weâve had six championsâand none of them is named Swiatek or Sabalenka. And while winning a pre-French Open clay court tournamentâeven a 1000âdoesnât always translate to winning the French Open, we would have been within our rights to think that the above mentioned players would each have won one. Or that at least one of them would have won one. Four-time French Open champio...
BACK TO BACK TITLES đđ€ đ§±Rouen 𧱠Madrid @marta_kostyuk | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/cB0ptHc6FS — wta (@WTA) May 2, 2026 Charleston, Linz, Stuttgart, and Madrid are already in the past, as well as a few 250 clay tournaments. The 500 champions are Jessica Pegula (Charleston), Mirra Andreeva (Linz) and Elena Rybakina (Stuttgart). And now we have our first 1000 champion--Marta Kostyuk. Coming up are one more 1000-level event, the Italian Open, and one more 500-level event, in Strasbourg. Missing...
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Venus Williams and Katie Boulter defeat Jiang/Xu 4-6, 6-3, [10-7] to reach the second round in Madrid. Thatâs Venusâ first win since the US Open. Crowd loved it and they were so happy as well. pic.twitter.com/8T1Phj0Sor â JosĂ© Morgado (@josemorgado) April 25, 2026 Last week, a maintenance specialist was in my house. I had the television on and was watching Venus Williams playing in Madrid. He passed by, saw the screen, and asked, "Is that an old match?" I told him no, it was Madrid. He watched...
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Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) Though she took on the nickname of Three-Set Jess this week, top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula put a stop to the long grind when it mattered most; she won the Credit One Charleston Open final in an hour and 22 minutes. Competing against surprise finalist Yuliia Starodubtseva , Pegula saved five of six break points, and her first and second serve win percentages were 76.5 and 52.2. Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) The defending champ...
player photos by Daniel Ward The Charleston Open is known for many things, and one of them is the introduction of relatively unknown players to a wide audience. This year, all eyes are on 26-year-old Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine. Starodubtseva was scheduled to play in the qualifying rounds, but because of a withdrawal, she was moved into the main draw. Once there, she took out Zhang Shuai, Ekaterine Gorgodze, Renata Zarazua, McCartney Kessler, and 5th seed and 2019 champion Madison Keys. St...
Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) Top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula, who is now known as Three-Set Jess , did it again today. She defeated rising star and 4th seed Iva Jovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 at the Credit One Charleston Open. The match lasted two hours and 35 minutes; she has now spent more than ten hours on the court this week. Iva Jovic (photo by Daniel Ward) Pegula told the media: "...I don't think I'm playing my best tennis, either, and I think I've had to kind o...
The Ballad of Three-Set Jess She came to Charleston from Florida on a wave of last yearâs success. The others thought they could wear her down, but they donât know Three-Set Jess A feisty trickster tried to send her home in her stunning turquoise dress. She lobbed and spun and popped and dropped, then she lost to Three-Set Jess. Next, it was an Italianâs turn to create some clay court stress, which Italians do throughout the worldâ but they canât beat Three-Set Jess Then a clever Russian tried...
clockwise from top left: Jessica Pegula, Iva Jovic, Madison Keys, Yuliia Stardubtseva (all photos by Daniel Ward)
Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) Quarterfinal Friday began today at the Credit One Charleston Open with top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula playingâand winningâyet another three-set match. This time, Pegula defeated 7th seed Diana Shnaider 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Russian player is tricky and tends to move well on clay, and it took Pegula a while to adjust. In addition, it probably didnât help Shnaider that her leg was heavily bandaged. Diana Shnaider (photo by Daniel Ward) Peg...
Jessica Pegula (photo by Daniel Ward) Yesterday, in press, someone reminded top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula that she has had a series of "crazy type of matches" in Charleston over the last few years. Pegula said that--at one point yesterday, during her match against Yulia Putintseva--she thought of that: "...all these matches started going through my head, and I was just like, 'why, why, why?' I don't know what it is." photo by Daniel Ward Whatever it is, it struck again ...
Belinda Bencic (photo by Daniel Ward) Playing in the round of 16 this morning in Charleston is 2022 champion and 3rd seed Belinda Bencic. The year that Bencic won the tournament, the runner-up was Ons Jabeur. The next year, Jabeur won, and Bencic was the runner-up. This is the only time that this pattern has ever occurred at the Charleston Open. Bencic made her debut in 2014 and got all the way to the semifinals, in which she was defeated by Jana Cepelova. I recall that being the best mat...
4-6, 6-4, 7-5 Comeback Complete đ«” @JPegula fends off the always tricky Putintseva in 3 hours and 9 minutes to kick off her campaign in the Lowcountry! #CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/cEKR1aoS0N â Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 1, 2026 "She's a nightmare." Charleston top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula had played Yulia Putintseva three times before today, and she had won all three of those matches in straight sets. But those matches were played on hard court...
Wilds cards Bianca Andreescu and Paula Badosa both won their first round matches today at the Credit One Charleston Open. Their stories, of course, are somewhat different, but both women have experienced serious injuries that have kept them off the tour and robbed them of their rankings . Sweet RELIEF đđ @Bandreescu_ rallies to defeat Galfi 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in her debut on the green clay! #CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/wl18Ka1aIf â Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) March 31, 202...
clockwise from top: Diana Shnaider, Paula Badosa, Belinda Bencic, Bianca Andreescu, Madison Keys, Iva Jovic center: Jessica Pegula all photos by Daniel Ward Five of the Credit One Charleston Open's top seeds and two wild cards met with the media today to talk about everything from training to playing styles to dealing with injury--and a lot more. "I'm my own thing." Top seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula talked about her unique playing style. Someone pointed out that Aryna Sabal...
photo by Daniel Ward World number 5 Jessica Pegula, who won the 2025 Credit One Charleston Open, is the top seed at this year's event. Joining Pegula at the top of the seeding are: 2. Amanda Anisimova 3. Ekaterina Alexandrova 4. Belinda Bencic 5. Iva Jovic 6. Madison Keys 7. Elise Mertens 8. Diana Shnaider Both Alexandrova and Anisimova reached the semifinals last year (Anisimova had to retire in that match). Four former champions will be competing this year. In addition to Pegula, the f...
photo by Diane Elayne Dees The Credit One Charleston Open, North America's largest women's-only professional tennis tournament. is committing $2.5 million to players this year. This figure includes $2.3 million in prize money, and $200,000 in player benefits programs. A WTA 500 tournament, the Charleston Open is the first stand-alone 500 event to offer equal prize money. Tournament Director Bob Moran commented that "Charleston's investment represents more than a single tournament milestone. It...
Melbourne Mornings: Elena Rybakina and the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. pic.twitter.com/6Mi5R9Qrwa â Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) February 1, 2026 Here are my top 10 Australian Open occurrences, in ascending order: 10. Making the most of a wild card: Australian player Maddison Inglis, ranked number 168 in the world, won her first round match, and then won her second round match, a three-hour and 20-minute battle against Laura Siegemund. She then received a third round walkover from Na...
âš GLOWING âš pic.twitter.com/KGynN9Q4Hm â #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 31, 2026 As I wrote a couple of days ago, it was no surprise that the last two women standing at the Australian Open were two-time champion (and world number 1) Aryna Sabalenka and 5th seed Elena Rybakina. And--while many major finals contain interesting backstories--this one was played within a rather dramatic context. Sabalenka lost the 2024 final to Madison Keys, and she also lost the 2024 French Open final, so one ...
The last time both AO women's singles finalists reached the decider without dropping a set was Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters in 2004 đź On Saturday, Sabalenka and Rybakina square off đż pic.twitter.com/dkPWOt9feA â #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2026 Sometimes, in the world of professional tennis, what seems inevitable actually manifests. Such is the case with the 2026 Australian Open women's singles final, which will feature two-time champion, 2025 runner-up, and world number 1 Aryna ...