Tennis
“She was just pretending.” Ukrainian tennis player accused of cheating at US Open
Lesya Tsurenko / Photo: © Tim Clayton – Corbis / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Lesya lay on the court the whole match, and then unexpectedly won.
The representative of Ukraine Lesya Tsurenko at the 2023 US Open has already finished the fight, losing in the second round to Russian Ekaterina Aleksandrova in straight sets. Five years ago, the tennis player managed to perform much more successfully at the US Open: she reached the ¼ finals, losing only to the future champion Naomi Osaka.
A series of brilliant victories delighted fans, but some of the rivals caught the athlete in a dishonest game.
Difficult conditions
In 2018, a constellation of tennis legends battled for the final victory in the women’s singles at the US Open. The Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Carolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty were here … It seemed that there was absolutely nothing to catch in such a company of the 36th racket of the world Lesya Tsurenko, however eminent rivals took off one after another, and the Ukrainian continued to successfully move up the grid.
In the first round, Tsurenko dealt with the Belgian Alison van Uytvank in two sets. Then came the turn of the Dane Caroline Wozniacki: the tennis player, who received the second seed number, also capitulated after two sets. In two games, Lesya was also defeated by the Czech Katerina Sinyakova. But in the fourth round, the representative of Ukraine was expected by a much more stubborn rivalry from another representative of the Czech Republic – Marketa Vondrousova.
The conditions for a tennis match, admittedly, were not easy. The temperature over 30 did not help the girls to show their best tennis. Lesya endured the heat harder. She repeatedly sat on the court and with all her appearance made it clear how difficult it was for her. True, during the draws, her strength returned to her.
“She was just pretending”
In general, the Ukrainian started the match well and even led, but then something went wrong: the opponent began to catch up. With the score 5:4 in the first set, Tsurenko decided to take a break. The doctors took Lesya’s temperature and blood pressure and asked if she would be able to continue the match.
The physiotherapist asked me several times if I wanted to stop the match. She saw that I couldn’t breathe normally. She said that something was wrong with me, that something was wrong with my eyes. She thought I couldn’t play,” Tsurenko was quoted by ESPN.
The Ukrainian decided to continue the meeting, however, the pause did not help her much: she nevertheless gave the first set to her opponent, losing in a tie-break. But the second game remained behind her – 7:5. Lesya still defiantly showed how unwell she was, dragging out time at every opportunity, but she was not going to withdraw from the match. Three times per game, she took a medical time-out. This behavior led Vondrousova to suspect a simulation.
I don’t think it was that hard for her. She was just pretending. I didn’t think she’d be filming now, nothing like that. I knew that she would play normally,” Vondrousova said after the match.
However, Marketa herself was approaching her sad end. Trying to drive her opponent around the corners of the court in order to tire the Ukrainian in the heat, the Czech often sent balls out of bounds. At the decisive moment of the final set, she personally charged into the net. 73 unforced errors is too much to count on success in the US Open match.
After two hours and 34 minutes, the difficult confrontation ended: Tsurenko won in three sets and went to the ¼ finals to fight Osaka. There, the tennis player was doomed.
Source: Sportbox
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.
sports doctor Dmitry Babelyuk He commented on the injury of the Ukrainian tennis player Marty Kostyuk:
“The video shows how the supporting leg bends when the weight is transferred to it. Martha managed to sense the danger and balance her body so that the “galik” was not completely exposed, but this small rotation still caused discomfort.
Anyone familiar with tennis knows how important footwork and especially sudden changes in movement are in tennis. For this reason, ankles are the most common problem tennis players encounter after elbows.
We remember Elina’s season with a brace and then surgery. This is also a common problem in men’s tennis.
The fact that Marta was able to continue playing shows that her injury is not serious, so it is definitely too early to bury this season. It is important now to recover well and be fully prepared for the next Slam.
Predictably, only one ligament was torn. Not a strong enough twist to tear all three, which happens all too often, but a strong enough twist to tear a ligament, forcing you to finish the tournament.
Marta is leaving JSC and will recover to prepare for the next tournament. “The injury is not serious enough to put the season in doubt.”
Source: Sport UA
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.
Leader in ATP world rankings Carlos Alcaraz He held a press conference after defeating Adam Walton in the first round of the 2026 Australian Open:
– Carlos, congratulations on the successful start of the tournament. How would you evaluate today’s match? Frankly, the second set was tense, but in the end did you get through it without any losses?
– I can say that it was a difficult match for me. In the first set, everything was decided by a break. He made a few mistakes on his first serve. He also played very well, very reliably, and I think he was constantly trying to find a position to attack as much as possible.
In the second set, he started to find more space for aggressive play. In general, I played good tennis, but in one of the games I lost my concentration a little – mostly when I was fighting with myself, and after that everything became more difficult.
But overall I am satisfied. To be honest, I was ready for a serious battle. Although the level it showed was a bit of a surprise to me. I had to pull myself together and be ready for this battle. I’m happy with the first match of the season and the level I was able to show.
– Carlos, congratulations. What are you most pleased with today and what do you think needs to be improved to go far again in the tournament group?
“I think I hit the ball well.” Of course it could have been played better. But I’m glad I did everything I had to do. I acted correctly in terms of behavior and mental attitude on the field. I always had a good attitude, always tried to think positively. I think I did a good job with that and that was one of the main goals of this match.
In terms of tactics and the level of play in general, I understand that there are many aspects that need to be improved for the next round if I want to go further.
– Carlos, for many the quarter-finals are an excellent result, but you have not yet progressed further in this tournament. Do you have an explanation for why you performed less well than others at this Grand Slam?
– Yes, this is a little difficult for me to explain. It’s strange that I haven’t made it past the quarter-finals in Australia yet because I think I’m playing good tennis here. I played very well here for the last two years, but lost to Isner and Djokovic in the quarter-finals. If you are the first or second racket in the world, let’s say these are not the most ordinary opponents at this stage.
This is not an excuse, but I really want to do better than previous years. I have a feeling that this season I might have a chance to go further.
Source: Sport UA
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.
How Anastasia missed the match against the 697th racket in the world.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova finished her performance at the Australian Open 2026 very early, which was definitely not expected from her. The 44th racket of the world (before the start of the tournament) lost in the first round to Chinese Bai Zhuoxuan, who before the start of the tournament was only 697th in the WTA rankings. Almost three hours of struggle, a comeback during the match and a nervous outcome in the tiebreak – 4:6, 6:2, 6:7 (10:12). For a tournament of the level of the Australian Open, this defeat can already be attributed to the most notorious stories of the start of the main draw.
Lost initiative, return to the game and tension until the last play
The beginning of the meeting did not foretell trouble, but Pavlyuchenkova’s game did not go well. In the fifth game, the Chinese woman forced a fight on the return and made a break – 3:2. This immediately added nervousness to the Russian woman’s actions. At the end of the game, Bai Zhuoxuan again took advantage of her opponent’s mistakes and led 5:2. Pavlyuchenkova managed to immediately win back one serve and reduce the gap – 3:5, but was no longer able to turn the tide of the game. After 47 minutes, the first set was won by the Chinese – 6:4.
In the second game, Pavlyuchenkova finally began to impose her tempo on her opponent. In the sixth game she achieved a break and took the lead – 4:2. Her boxing became noticeably calmer, and strikes from the baseline began to land more often. At the end of the set, Anastasia once again took her opponent’s serve and confidently closed the game – 6:2. At that moment, it seemed that the difference in class would still have an effect, and the match would gradually come under the control of the Russian.
The decisive set began with a cold shower for the favorite. The Chinese woman immediately made a break and took the lead – 1:0. Pavlyuchenkova quickly returned serve, equalized the score, and after 2:2 the game went into error-waiting mode. Both tennis players confidently won games on their serves. The stands actively supported the Russian, and on the court one could regularly hear: “Anastasia, we love you.”
Nevertheless, there were no more breaks, and the fate of the match was decided by a tiebreaker up to 10 points. It turned out to be nervous and protracted. Bai Zhuoxuan played more carefully in key rallies and put the pressure on her opponent – 12:10. The final score of the meeting was 4:6, 6:2, 6:7 (10:12).
The numbers behind which the problem is hidden
The match lasted 2 hours 43 minutes and turned out to be eventful; the statistics of the game explain a lot. Pavlyuchenkova completed seven aces – a solid indicator, but eight double faults regularly brought her opponent back into the game. The situation with break points is also not the most rosy: only four out of 11 opportunities were realized.
Bai Zhuoxuan’s performance is more modest: two aces, three double faults, three breaks out of 10 attempts. The Chinese played simpler, but calmer – and this was enough to withstand the pressure and wait for her chances.
For Pavlyuchenkova, the Australian Open 2026 ended, in fact, immediately after the start. The defeat from the 697th racket in the world (in the new ranking she is 702nd) is a painful blow to both ambitions and ranking prospects, even taking into account the equal fight and tiebreaker in the decisive set. But for Zhuoxuan Bai this match became the main event of her career. In the second round she will meet with the first racket of the world – Aryna Sabalenka. After such a victory, the Chinese woman will definitely take to the court without an extra burden of responsibility – she has already done everything she could.
Source: Sportbox
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.
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