Missed something? Read it again? Find First Ball Forehand posts below. Enjoy!
-
Woods: “The green of the twenty-first century”
A mega screen twenty-four times larger than a simulator, microphones, lights, a 23,500 square meter arena, background music, a stopwatch. The TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League), a technological golf league created by TMRW Sports, together with two icons of the green like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, in collaboration with the PGA Tour, kicked off with…
-
Two years after almost beating Novak Djokovic, Sebastian Korda rises in Adelaide
Three months after undergoing right wrist surgery, Sebastian Korda is back in the winning circle! The young American will seek his third ATP title in Adelaide at the same event he could have celebrated two years ago against the legend! Korda reached the 2023 Adelaide final and faced Novak Djokovic. The American wasted a match point in…
-
Coco Gauff gets brutally honest on Iga Swiatek’s form, failed doping test
Coco Gauff doesn’t disagree with the notion that Iga Swiatek’s confidence levels dropped and also highlighted that she believes the 23-year-old that she didn’t knowingly or intentionally take a banned substance. After the 2024 season ended, it was revealed that the Pole – who failed to make it past the group stage at the WTA…
-
Gael Monfils passes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
Gael Monfils will compete in his 35th ATP final in Auckland. The veteran lost to Novak Djokovic in Brisbane at the beginning of the season and found himself in a tough position in the first match in Auckland. However, he bounced back and reached the title clash. Thus, Monfils wrote history books. At 38 years and…
-
Iga Swiatek tells how players have been treating her in locker room since doping news
Iga Swiatek admits she had some major concerns about how people would react to her failed doping test but after spending some time with fellow players in the locker room she realized that her explanation was accepted, at least by the majority. In late November, the ITIA announced that the world No. 2 accepted a…
-
Carla Suarez Navarro named Spain’s Billie Jean King Cup captain for 2025-2026
The Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) has announced that Carla Suarez Navarro, a celebrated former professional tennis player, will take on the role of captain for Spain’s Billie Jean King Cup team for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. Hailing from Gran Canaria, Suarez Navarro is set to make her coaching debut during the competition’s group…
-
Former World No.1 has no doubts about Joao Fonseca’s future
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the two new leaders of the ATP tour and have already shown that they can make history in the sport. However, fans and insiders are wondering if any other players will be able to enter the fight between these two young champions in the coming years. Many people believed…
-
Bernardes said Alcaraz and Sinner will never match the Big 3 records
Over time, many characters linked to tennis, but not tennis players, have managed to enter the collective imagination of fans: one of these is certainly the now former chair umpire Carlos Bernardes, who ended his career as an umpire at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Bernardes has seen several generations of tennis players at…
-
Former Wimbledon junior winner Henry Searle reaches first Challenger final
Henry Searle will seek his first Challenger title at the Lexus Nottingham Challenger. The 18-year-old ousted Mika Brunold 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 in two hours and 28 minutes for a place in his first Challenger final. The former Wimbledon junor champion entered the special list. Namely, Henry beame the fifth player born in 2006 with the Challenger final, joining…
-
John McEnroe gets honest on Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner’s doping issue
John McEnroe has raised a criticism of the tennis system, proposing a solution, regarding the doping issues that involved Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner last year. The former American champion argued that the reputation of tennis has not been tarnished by the cases of the Polish and the Italian, highlighting how instead a figure that…
-
Jannik Sinner’s trial dates revealed
As everyone knows, Jannik Sinner is waiting to know his fate in relation to the doping case that has hit him in recent months. The dates on which the arbitration procedure between WADA and Jannik will take place before the CAS in Lausanne have finally been announced. Jannik Sinner, Australian Open 2025© Stream screenshot …
-
Australian Open Draws and Order Of Play for Sunday, January 12, 2025
Two-time defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka faces 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in her AO opener on Sunday in Melbourne. Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images Australian Open Melbourne ParkMelbourne, AustraliaJanuary 12-26, 2025A$86.5 million ($58.91 million U.S. dollars)Hard Court History At Stake at 2025 Australian Open Ten-time AO champion Novak Djokovic returns playing for…
-
Who is Nishesh Basavareddy, Novak Djokovic’s first AO rival?
The young American Nishesh Basavareddy will remember his Major debut for good! The 19-year-old will face the ten-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, at Rod Laver are in the first round in Melbourne. The Newport Beach native with Indian origins conquered the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Challenge following three notable Challenger results. Thus, he punched his…
-
Novak Djokovic shocks on AO ’22: “They gave me toxic food, for them I was a criminal”
Returning to Australia, after what happened in 2022, is no longer the same for Novak Djokovic. The memories linked to Melbourne obviously remain wonderful, because the Belgrade native has won ten times at the Australian Open, but the thought of the nights spent at the Park Hotel – actually intended for refugees and asylum seekers…
-
Trivia Notebook #1: Ranking Leaps and Marathon Men
Tomas Martin Etcheverry, three-set marathon expert I run a lot of queries, and people often ask me arcane trivia questions. Has this ever happened before? Is that a record? My beat seems to be the super-niche stuff that no one would ever bother to include in the official media notes. The Trivia Notebook is my…
-
Adelaide: Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys set up all-American final
No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula and world No. 20 Madison Keys have set up an all-American final at the WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide. On Friday, the top seed – who is playing her first tournament of the year – ousted 25th-ranked Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (4) 6-3. Early in the match, Pegula blew an early…
-
Wise Jannik Sinner doesn’t reply to Nick Kyrgios’ provocations
Jannik Sinner talked for the first time about Nick Kyrgios, during the media day of the Australian Open 2025. The Italian was quite clear with his words in the press conference that precedes his first round, scheduled between Monday and Tuesday, responding (so to speak) to the Australian’s provocations regarding the Clostebol doping scandal. The…
-
Nick Kyrgios doesn’t refute Novak Djokovic’s claim that he was poisoned in Australia
Nick Kyrgios says he didn’t know that Novak Djokovic was allegedly poisoned in Australia three years ago but the 29-year-old backed the Serb’s claims by stating that Australia treated him in a very bad way. Just before the start of the 2025 Australian Open, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion made a bombshell claim, saying…
-
Patrick Reed aims to quiet the doubters in 2025
Patrick Reed, a well-known name to golf fans, is ready to do great things in 2025. Although the experienced player has been unlucky in many moments, his optimism seems to have never been stronger. The American is probably one of the best golfers at LIV who has yet to win. Will that change in the…
-
Swollen Emma Raducanu tells how she refused spray after bug bite due to doping fears
Emma Raducanu admits she is “quite sensitive” about what she takes amid the recent doping cases in tennis and also reveals she refused to use an antiseptic spray in Melbourne after being presumably bitten by a bug or an insect. Over the past couple of months, there has been a lot of focus on doping…