The Guardian journalist called our guys “the winners of Wimbledon”, and the fans supported him.
Amazing things are happening in the UK during Wimbledon 2023. At first, local media lamented the success of Russian and Belarusian tennis players, and now they confess their love to them and call them winners.
Did you finally understand something?
Russia’s victory used to be called ‘worst nightmare’
Tennis remains one of the few sports where Russians and Belarusians continue to compete on the international stage. Only Wimbledon kept aloof from the Grand Slam tournaments, which last year categorically refused to accept our athletes. Even the loss of rating points did not frighten the organizers of the competition. After 12 months, the British still caved in under the ATP and WTA.
Still, they realized that they risked losing their status and a lot of money for the second time in a row. And from a sporting point of view, Russian and Belarusian tennis players add intrigue. What can I say if three Russians in the men’s bracket made it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2023 at once, and Belarusian Arina Sobolenko reached the semifinals in women. And we are not talking about the 16-year-old Russian sensation Mirra Andreeva, who made a huge number of tennis fans fall in love with her this year.
At first, the British media strongly opposed such results of ours. They remembered how, a year ago, Princess of Wales Kate Middleton had to present the main award for winning Wimbledon to Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan. Telegraph journalist Simon Briggs burst into an article in which he called the possible victory of a Russian or Belarusian athlete this year “the worst nightmare of the British authorities.”
It’s easy to imagine the worst-case scenario that could happen this weekend. What if the Princess of Wales was presenting a trophy to one of the stateless players. This would be a repeat of the nightmarish escalation of last year’s story in which Her Royal Highness shook hands with Elena Rybakina, a Muscovite playing under the Kazakh flag, Briggs wrote.
Then he dragged Maria Sharapova into the theme, whom he called “tough and cold”, despite the image of a long-legged beauty. His idea was that Russians do not have normal living conditions in their native country so much that tennis becomes one of the few alternatives to leave their homeland and start earning. This he explained the success of our Wimbledon.
However, just a few days passed, and The Guardian journalist Paul McInnes published an article with a completely opposite meaning. The Briton suddenly expressed a storm of delight at how cool the Russians and Belarusians are behaving off the court, how the fans love them. And he even called them “winners of Wimbledon.”
– Russian tennis stars simply charmed everyone in Britain, they are the real winners of Wimbledon, although the same Daniil Medvedev still has a chance to officially become one. The Russians and Belarusians did not initially seem like welcome winners, but now they are. Many of them showed their best results in the tournament, and the icing on the cake was 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva,” McInnes wrote.
An amazing turn in the rhetoric of the British media, don’t you think? Moreover, the journalist continued to admire our tennis players, apparently based on how ordinary viewers treat them. By all accounts, MacInnes was so heavily influenced by his government’s political rhetoric that he was somewhat out of touch with reality. But in reality it turned out that the people have their own position and normally perceive the return of Russians and Belarusians to Wimbledon.
– Their success on the court was significant, but it was not limited to this. At meetings with fans and the media, Russian stars personified charm. Medvedev, who has a reputation as a hothead, was always fooling around, clearly trying to win over the fans who supported him from the first round until the quarterfinals. Rublev was polite in his statements and charmed the fans by signing autographs. Andreeva blushed when asked about her admiration for Andy Murray. In the information war, it is difficult to distinguish truth from lies. But a year after the successful return of the suspended players, there is a feeling that the advantages that Wimbledon expected to exclude, in the end, were received, McInnes concluded.
Fans in social networks, long before the release of this material, for the most part showed adequacy and urged not to mix sports with politics. Fortunately, there were practically no handshake incidents at this tournament, except for the situation with Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina. Otherwise, the British quite loyally perceived the successes of the Russians and Belarusians.
— Wimbledon, in fact, died last year, removing Russia and Belarus. Who made this decision and on what basis? It’s like someone would tell Svitolina that she should only marry a man from Ukraine, wrote Lord of Beauties.
– It annoys me that the organizers forbid showing the flag of Russia in front of the names of tennis players. This is very low, – said Rob.
– Journalists, leave your crazy questions about politics at the door. Stop causing anxiety and irritation, just let people play tennis,” Chrissy said.
— Pretty grim accusatory tone in the Guardian article. I never understood this idea that the Russian players at Wimbledon could somehow influence the military operations. I don’t understand how reading a Russian novel helps something bad. Someone explain? sunless wonders.
If many in Britain have begun to understand everything, it means that things have really moved off the ground. Although, perhaps, the majority understood everything perfectly before, it’s just that now it is allowed to publish it in the open space.
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
(Melbourne) The ex-no 1 world Naomi Osaka (current 17e in the WTA rankings) qualified Tuesday in three sets for the second round of the Australian Open.
Crowned in Melbourne in 2019 and 2021, the Japanese won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 against the Croatian Antonia Ruzic (65e).
The four-time Grand Slam winner will play in the next round against Romanian Sorana Cirstea (41e), who started the last Australian Open of her career at age 35 by eliminating the German Eva Lys (39e).
Entering the court with a white parasol, a wide-brimmed hat and a long white train, Osaka started the match with her feet on the ground to quickly lead 3-0.
Ruzic recovered to 3-3 before again losing three games in a row and the first set.
The Croatian responded in the second round, winning by the same score.
In the decisive set, Osaka broke from the start to break away at 2-0, but Ruzic came back to her level again before taking her throw in to lead 4-3, service to follow.
This time it was the Japanese who held on to get back to 4-4, before inflicting a shutout then a new break on Ruzic to seal her qualification with a final winning backhand, after almost 2 hours 30 minutes of fighting.
Osaka played her first Grand Slam match on Tuesday since her semi-final at the United States Open in September, her best run in a major tournament since she returned to the circuit in early 2024 after the birth of her first child.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
(Melbourne) World No.2 Jannik Sinner, double title holder, benefited on Tuesday from the retirement of Frenchman Hugo Gaston (93e), injured his abdominals, to qualify for the second round of the Australian Open.
The 24-year-old Italian was leading 6-2, 6-1 when Gaston threw in the towel.
“It’s the abs that have given up a little. I felt the pain in the middle of the first round. I called the doctor immediately at the end of the first round to get an anti-inflammatory,” explained the Frenchman who suddenly felt “like a little stab”.
He fell during the first round after returning a drop shot from Sinner, but he assured that the injury and the fall were not linked.
On the other hand, the pain in his abdominals bothered him a lot “on serve and on high balls”.
“I saw that he was not serving at a very high speed, especially in the second set,” commented Jannik Sinner in his post-match interview on Central.
“I am very happy to qualify, to return to this place that I particularly cherish […]but that’s not the way I wanted to win this match,” added the world No.2.
Sinner’s next opponent will be Croatian Dino Prizmic (127e) or the Australian James Duckworth (88e).
For his first official match of the season, the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner took a little time to settle down, notably having to save three break points in the first game.
But once he managed to take Gaston’s serve in the particularly tight sixth game, Sinner unfolded, winning the next seven games. A few moments after snatching his only game in a one-sided second round, the Frenchman informed his opponent that he was giving up, after a little over an hour of match.
“Giving up pisses me off a bit,” Gaston commented. But hey, on the other hand I can’t afford to play at 50%, even 100%, to beat Sinner…”
Undefeated since his retirement at the beginning of October in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, the world No.2 scored a sixteenth victory in a row on Tuesday and joined Carlos Alcaraz (1) in the second round of the Australian Open.er), Alexander Zverev (3e) and Novak Djokovic (4e).
“I felt very well prepared, we worked a lot physically and on the court” during the offseason, said Sinner, who skipped the Davis Cup finals in Bologna in November to have an additional week of preparation for the 2026 season.
For his part, Lorenzo Musetti, seeded fifth, progressed due to the retirement of Raphaël Collignon of Belgium in the fourth round.
The score was 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 and 3-2. The nature of the injury has not been released.
Shelton hits hard
The 23-year-old American Ben Shelton inherited probably the worst draw, in the person of the first ATP player not to have been seeded, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
But last year’s semi-finalist, who made his name by reaching the quarter-finals in Melbourne in 2023 despite never having left the United States, was uncompromising and won 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).
PHOTO MARTIN KEEP, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ben Shelton
“It’s always difficult to face Humbert in the first round, but I remained very calm, very focused on my game and I played better and better,” he stressed with satisfaction.
He will play in the second round against the Australian Dane Sweeny (182e).
Monfils eliminated in the first round of his last tournament in Australia
Gaël Monfils, who will end his career at the end of the season, was eliminated Tuesday in the first round of his last Australian Open by the inexperienced Australian Dane Sweeny (182e world) 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.
The 39-year-old Frenchman plays his 23e and final season. Ex-world No.6 currently 110ehe was playing his 20e Australian major since his first participation in 2005. He has reached the quarter-finals twice, in 2016 and 2022.
PHOTO PAUL CROCK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Gaël Monfils
“My journey began here in 2003 (in qualifying, Editor’s note). We are in 2026 and it is the finish line, but thank you all for accompanying me, you were great,” he told the audience from the court while generally only the winner of the matches, before the final, speaks on the field.
“I fought four hours again today, but this guy (Sweeny) is very strong. I wish him good luck,” he added to his winner.
For the latter, the victory is particularly beautiful, because in addition to having beaten one of the great names in tennis of the last twenty years, he offered himself his first victory in a Grand Slam tournament.
“It’s like I’m in a series… it’s incredible,” he commented. Before the match started, his goal was “win or lose, enjoy the chance to be there.”
As usual, the most popular French player since Yannick Noah spared no effort. And despite the encouragement of the public – in particular from a group of French people – the youth of his opponent (24 years old) visibly prevailed, as Monfils appeared so tired.
Broken one last time to be down 6-5 in the fourth set and the Australian’s service to follow, Monfils failed to reverse the situation.
“You’re here, you played your 20are Australian Open and you have entered a very closed circle: you are six players from the Open era (since the 1969 edition) to have reached this bar,” tournament director Craig Tiley told him, who came to greet him on the court.
“We want to thank you for your career, your attitude and the way you taught us how to play this wonderful game. Well done,” added Tiley.
Monfils’ last match in Melbourne, greeted by a hearty ovation from the public with “thank you Gaël” sung in the stands, lasted 3 hours 51 minutes.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
The second racket of the world, Italian Jannik Sinner, reached the second round of the Grand Slam tournament in Australia.
At the start of the competition, Sinner’s opponent was the Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who refused to continue the fight after the second set due to injury (2:6, 1:6). Gaston left the court in tears.
Sinner’s next opponent at the Australian Open will be the winner of the meeting James Duckworth (Australia, WC) – Dino Prizmic (Croatia, LL).
Also on Tuesday, Gael Monfils (France), who lost to qualifier Dane Sweeney, and Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria), who lost to Tomas Machac (Czech Republic), finished the tournament after the first round.
Grand Slam Tournament. Australian Open. Melbourne (Australia). Hard. Total prize fund: about $75 million
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
