Reem Abulleil

The new Saudi Arabia ATP Masters tournament and what it means for tennis in the Middle East | The National The arrival of another major event can be huge for tennis in the region but will require careful planning in cramped calendar

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi: “Having a South American swing and Middle East swing is a goal but it's a challenge to execute. We would welcome support from Tennis Australia in that effort for the sake of doing the best for the sport and we're working on that.”
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WTA Finals: Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff set to battle it out for $5m Riyadh prize | The National Star trio among top eight players in world heading to Saudi Arabia for season finale

A close look at the WTA Finals field in Riyadh

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Full chat with Coco Gauff: www.thenationalnews.com/sport/tennis...

Coco Gauff finds form and confidence as she seeks to defend WTA Finals crown in Riyadh | The National American star hired new coach and transformed her serve in roller coaster season that will conclude in kingdom next month

Coco Gauff: I was looking at Novak, he's someone who didn't have as great of a serve in the beginning of his career, obviously different issue than me, but he just wasn't serving as strong. And he made that change and has gone on to obviously be Novak Djokovic
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Coco Gauff finds form and confidence as she seeks to defend WTA Finals crown in Riyadh | The National American star hired new coach and transformed her serve in roller coaster season that will conclude in kingdom next month

Coco Gauff: I was looking at Novak, he's someone who didn't have as great of a serve in the beginning of his career, obviously different issue than me, but he just wasn't serving as strong. And he made that change and has gone on to obviously be Novak Djokovic
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Coco Gauff grabs Wuhan Open title after seeing off 'three-set queen' Jessica Pegula | The National Third seed secures crown after winning all-American final having not dropped set through whole tournament

Coco Gauff: It was a great Asian swing. I’m going to call JC out. He originally didn’t want me to come because I had a tough US Open but I had to prove him wrong. I’m a very stubborn person so maybe he said that on purpose, for me to have a good result here.”

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Forget Da Fu, how do you say Ironwoman in Mandarin?

She waited for P3tra to retire before taking on the role. Classy lady!

‘Feels great’: Coco Gauff relishing return to defend her title at WTA Finals in Riyadh DUBAI: When an 18-year-old Coco Gauff qualified for her first WTA Finals in 2022, she lost all six matches she played across singles and doubles that week in Fort Worth, Texas. Two years later in Riya...

I spoke to Coco Gauff after she qualified for the WTA Finals for a fourth consecutive season:

“It means a lot to me. I think it just shows that I’m definitely not falling behind and I want to continue to improve and get higher in the ranking points and do well.”

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I think we probably take Jess Pegula's late-blooming career surge for granted:

Only Serena Williams (18) has reached more WTA-1000 finals than Jessica Pegula (7, surpassing Venus Williams) among Americans since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Pegula says the key tonight was homework. She was keyed in on Sabalenka's tendencies and preferred patterns. Basically said she had the stats. Also credited her string of wild three-setters. Had gone through everthing so didn't panic at all after that 6-5 game. Knew she was hitting well.

Sabalenka losing a match with a +19 winners to unforced errors ratio is wild.

Winners-Unforced errors in this match
Sabalenka 52-33
Pegula 27-15

A combined 15 breaks of serve.

The 4 DFs Pegula hit in the entire match came when she was serving for the win at 6-5 in the final set.

This was FUN!

Pegula: I just thought I’m lucky that I even came back from 5-2. I was serving for it but last few weeks I’ve had a lot of match points that have slipped, match points that I lost, I’ve saved match points, so tbh it was nothing new. It’s been like that every single match, I was just used to it.

Jessica Pegula: I’ve played so much tennis the last few weeks, so many 3-set matches but I feel like I’m very tough right now and I’m using that as best I can.

Jessica Pegula: “That was crazy, I can’t believe I came back and won that. I was clearly very nervous trying to serve it out, lost my timing, lost my rhythm, trying to go for too much but I bounced right back in the tiebreak. I’m just really proud of myself."

An eighth consecutive three-setter for JPeg, sorry, I meant Da Fu.

Aryna Sabalenka is through to an 11th semifinal of the year, from 15 tournaments contested!

Beats Rybakina 6-3, 6-3 to book a semifinal against Pegula.

Sabalenka improves to 20-0 in Wuhan, and 8-5 H2H against Rybakina.

Loved this from "36-year-old youngster" Zhang Shuai yesterday (through translation).

Ranked 142 in the world and into the Wuhan tournament as a wildcard, she beat Navarro in 3, Cirstea in 3 and is now on court against Coco Gauff.

"you are taking in the human centipede of content from the very end of the line" is such a good way of describing AI

Adam Silver says problems between WNBA and players mere 'growing pains' | The National NBA commissioner gives his take on the dispute that has come in the midst of tense labour negotiations with October 31 deadline for new CBA approaching

Adam Silver: “Commissioner Engelbert, in the six years that she's been presiding over the league, there's been probably more growth than in any league that's in existence right now. And I think with that comes what we're seeing are obviously growing pains”

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Adam Silver eager to strengthen NBA's 'long-term partnership' with Abu Dhabi | The National League commissioner hoping to nurture young talent in region and also utilise UAE capital as a global hub

Spoke to Adam Silver about the NBA’s future plans in Abu Dhabi, the Europe expansion league and more.

Part 2 of the interview still to come.

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New York Knicks hit the right notes in second win over Philadelphia 76ers in Abu Dhabi | The National Star point guard Jalen Brunson leads the way in 112-104 victory in NBA Abu Dhabi Games at the Etihad Arena

The New York Knicks wrapped up their preseason trip to Abu Dhabi with a 2nd win in 3 days over the Philadelphia 76ers

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Joel Embiid on dealing with injuries, the source of his motivation, being a mentor and more: www.thenationalnews.com/sport/2025/1...

Derrick Rose mobbed by fans as NBA legend visits Abu Dhabi | The National Chants of 'MVP' ring out as former New York Knicks player talks about his love for Jalen Brunson and how he's enjoying retirement

Derrick Rose on the Knicks:

“ I think they can go further next year. I don't think Boston are going to be the same with Jayson [Tatum] being out [injured] and Miami and all the other teams being a little different. I think that they can make it pretty far.”

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New York Knicks warned against great expectations ahead of clashes with Philadelphia 76ers in Abu Dhabi | The National Point guard Jalen Brunson says team must put last season's NBA success behind them and focus on journey ahead

Knicks coach Mike Brown: “Well, it's hard. I coach the way I coach and so that's what I'm going to do. I've had success or been a part of success in the past and we think with the veteran group they can adapt relatively easy. It's going to take some time.”

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Philadelphia 76ers relish chance to face New York Knicks in 'amazing' Abu Dhabi ahead of NBA season | The National World basketball's top tier returns to UAE this week with double-header at Etihad Arena on Yas Island

Adem Bona: “Patience is key, you never know when you're going to be called upon, you just got to be ready and stay patient whenever you get called. It doesn't come easily. But when you stay patient, the end result you feel more fulfilled, more grateful.”
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This was great from Coco Gauff.

At the China Open today a chinese reporter asked her about @unrivaledwbb.bsky.social and she gave an awesome shoutout to former WTA President and current Unrivaled Commissioner Micky Lawler:

Laila El Behery: Charting a path for Egyptian female footballers | The National El Behery says playing US college soccer was steep learning curve but set her on trajectory to become first from nation to score in Uefa competition

Meet Nordsjaelland and Egypt striker Laila El Behery, the first Egyptian woman to score in a UEFA competition.

“I think that's what drove me the most; that I could be someone to really change the game in Egypt”

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Djamel Sedjati, Salwa Eid Naser and the top Arab performers at World Athletics Championships | The National A look at the hits and misses from the region's athletes in Tokyo

Salwa Eid Naser, Djamel Sedjati, Soufiane El Bakkali, Abderrahman Samba, the Hemida siblings... here's a review of the MENA athletes' performances at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

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Late bloomer Moez Echargui on how shift in mindset helped him surge up ATP rankings at the age of 32 | The National Tunisian set for Grand Slam qualifying debut after winning first Challenger titles of his career and becoming Arab No1

A third Challenger 🏆 title for 🇹🇳Moez Echargui in the last 2 months, this time in Saint-Tropez.

He will surge up to a career-high 143 in the world.

I recently spoke to him about the shift in mindset that has helped him level up this season.

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