Raonic wants to extend partnership with McEnroe

Associated PressJun 17, 2016, 1:37 PM EDT

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LONDON — Three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe is helping ninth-ranked Milos Raonic prepare for the Grand Slam tournament and the Canadian already wants to see their partnership continue beyond the grass-court season.

“It’s really nice, he’s probably the most energetic 57-year-old I know,” said Raonic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2014.

“We laugh. We also share a lot in common off court. He loves art as well, and he has a lot more experience in it than I do. We discuss that quite a bit.”

It also appears to be working on court, with Raonic playing Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday in the Queen’s Club quarterfinals.

Unsurprisingly, coach McEnroe is urging 25-year-old Raonic to be more aggressive.

“Most of the time (the talk) is about positioning on the volleys, where to be, especially when you see a guy maybe sort of off-balance or which angles to cover,” Raonic said. “We have also worked a lot on being quick to realize opportunities to move forward or be aggressive earlier in points.”

With the partnership working on grass, Raonic wants to try it out on other surfaces.

“When I brought John on and asked him if he would like to be a part of this project, there was never an intention of I want to just be better on grass,” said Raonic.

“That was far from it. It was I wanted to take this time to improve considerably and it’s the same things that I can incorporate and use on grass now, but I can incorporate and keep using it on hard courts as well.”

Whether the American, a seven-time major title winner, will be able to commit the time is another matter, but Raonic is not giving up.

“He’s got a pretty full plate, that’s for sure,” Raonic said. “He could be the most beneficial for me leading up to tournaments and then sort of helping me throughout tournaments, whether that be from close or from afar.”

Debutant Stearns beats former champ Ostapenko to reach French Open 3rd round

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 11:14 AM EDT

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PARIS — French Open debutant Peyton Stearns produced the biggest win of her career by defeating former champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

Stearns, a former player at the University of Texas, only turned professional in June last year.

Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open but has since failed to advance past the 3rd round. The 17th-seeded Latvian dropped her serve five times against Stearns and hit 28 unforced errors in her 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 loss.

The 21-year-old Stearns has been climbing the WTA rankings and entered the French Open at No. 69 on the back of an encouraging clay-court campaign.

Third-seeded Jessica Pegula also advanced after Camila Giorgi retired due to injury. The American led 6-2 when her Italian rival threw in the towel.

Only hours after husband Gael Monfils won a five-set thriller, Elina Svitolina rallied past qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the men’s bracket, former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas ousted Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2. The fifth-seeded Greek was a bit slow to find his range and was made to work hard for two sets but rolled on after he won the tiebreaker.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic are on court later. Alcaraz meets Taro Daniel on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Djokovic will follow against Martin Fucsovics in the night session.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.