Bangladesh clinched a gold medal for the first time in their South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships history as the paddlers in red and green beat their Sri Lankan counterparts 3-2 in the boys’ U-19 team final in Male, Maldives yesterday.

Rafa Nadal's return to action after more than a month out due to injury saw him lose to teenager Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid quarter-finals but the 21-times Grand Slam champion always knew it would take some time for his "old machine" to fire up.

World number one Novak Djokovic heaped praise on newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, saying that the Spanish teenager is a firm favourite for the French Open later this month.

Men’s tennis has waited more than a decade for a player to emerge with the game and mental fortitude to shake up the ‘Big Three’ establishment.

Teenager Carlos Alcaraz continued his blazing rise by demolishing Alexander Zverev in the Madrid final on Sunday and then said "I really want to prove my level in a Grand Slam".

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz raced to the Madrid Open title on Sunday, brushing aside German Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in 62 minutes.

Ons Jabeur's long-stated goal is that her historic exploits on court lead to more Arab women taking up tennis -- becoming the first Arab player to win a Grand Slam in next month's French Open final would do wonders to achieve that.

Carlos Alcaraz became the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the same tournament on clay as he stormed into the Madrid Open final on Saturday.

Carlos Alcaraz overcame an injury scare on his way to a milestone victory over Rafael Nadal on Friday to set up a blockbuster semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Madrid.

Rafael Nadal said on Thursday he drew inspiration from Real Madrid's heroic comeback against Manchester City less than 24 hours previously as he survived a scare from David Goffin, saving four match points en route to a tight 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9) victory in the Madrid Open.

Rafa Nadal said his recovery from a rib injury has been like a “roller coaster” after the 21-times major winner returned to action with a win over Miomir Kecmanovic at the Madrid Open.

Ashleigh Barty's retirement in March when she was women's tennis number one and just 25 years old is a "weird one to explain", South African cricket legend AB de Villiers has told AFP in an interview before they team up for a golf event.

Top seed Novak Djokovic described his straight-sets opening win over Gael Monfils in Madrid on Tuesday as his "best performance of the year" as he set up a showdown with Andy Murray.

Rafael Nadal deemed Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from taking part in the Championships as "unfair", the Spanish tennis legend told reporters in Madrid on Sunday.

Boris Becker's thunderous delivery earned him the nickname 'Boom Boom' as a 17-year-old Wimbledon winner in 1985 but on Friday, aged 54 and bust, the German great was told he must serve time in prison.

Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka said the Wimbledon ban on players from Russia and her country makes no sense and the former world number one called on the tennis governing bodies to take action against the decision.

German tennis great Boris Becker was jailed by a London court on Friday for hiding hundreds of thousands of pounds of assets after he was declared bankrupt.

Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, aged 18, on Monday became the youngest player to enter the top 10 of the ATP world rankings since his compatriot Rafael Nadal did so at the same age in 2005.

WTA president Steve Simon warned Wimbledon that they face "strong reactions" to their decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players and the week ahead could see more twists in the controversy which has split tennis.

World number eight Andrey Rublev blasted Wimbledon's ban on Russian and Belarusian players as "complete discrimination" on Thursday and suggested organisers should instead donate tournament prize money to the victims of the conflict.