In our Daily Dose of Social Media, we give you the top moments that you may have missed from another day of action at the Rome Open as well as events elsewhere with repercussions for Roland Garros.
The Daily Dose for Tuesday 14 May includes
Taylor Fritz,
Joao Fonseca,
Jannik Sinner,
Iga Swiatek and
Bianca Andreescu among others with some social media posts that you may have missed.
Call me Claylor
Taylor Fritz found his way past Grigor Dimitrov in stunning fashion 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 to reach the Quarter-Finals at the 2024 Rome Open which will take place on Friday 15 May. Novak Djokovic isn't an opponent that could await in the latter stages, so it is very much the only way is up for the American. He also reached the Quarter-Finals in Madrid.
After middling form to start the year, Fritz has found his mettle again and seems to be performing to his best once more. The American goes into a pivotal juncture with also the Olympic Games being on clay. He will look to represent his country and has given a good account already in the past few tournaments to give some real hope. Perhaps a dark horse for the draw at Roland Garros? Time will certainly tell.
Joao Fonseca decides against playing Roland Garros
After playing over the start of the clay court season, it could be perhaps assumed that Joao Fonseca would be making his Grand Slam pro debut at Roland Garros. But he has decided against playing this route.
Fonseca instead will attempt to craft his game onto grass and play at Wimbledon. The Brazilian is known as one of the best rising young stars in the game and has shown in recent months that he certainly has the game to make it to the top. But he is yet to make his Grand Slam debut. That will certainly come. But not yet as reports from back in Brazil confirmed that he will go onto grass instead.
"João Fonseca's team was grateful for CBT's initiative in requesting the wild card (invitation) to Roland Garros, but due to a technical decision, they chose to train on grass and focus on the Wimbledon season tournaments. They have already informed CBT, which also informed the French Tennis Federation", said a statement from the Brazilian Tennis Confederation.
Sinner blow for Roland Garros likely
Earlier today, it was confirmed that Jannik Sinner has been told by doctors to rest his hip injury to avoid it getting chronic. It is very much likely that he will skip Roland Garros and a decision will be made later this week.
This is a real blow for Sinner who has been attempting almost a race against time in order to get ready for Roland Garros. He has been at the Juventus Medical Facility and trying to use their state of the art facilities to find some semblance of a way back to his best prior to the French Open.
After such a good season so far, the clay court season has turned into one to forget for Sinner. The only silver lining to this is that he could be World No.1 if Novak Djokovic doesn't make it to the final. Another early loss could spell Sinner ascending atop the ATP Rankings while he is sitting at him recouperating.
Sublime Swiatek continues to break new milestones
Iga Swiatek is into the semi-finals of the 2024 Rome Open 6-1, 6-3 after dealing with Madison Keys with relative ease at the Foro Italico. A tournament that she has had a lot of success in, the Rome Open could be Swiatek's again this weekend. She is the out and out favourite to do so.
Coco Gauff will play on Wednesday evening against Qinwen Zheng, while Aryna Sabalenka faces Jelena Ostapenko. Danielle Collins will take on Victoria Azarenka in two must watch matches just for screams and aggro watch alone. But Swiatek is closing in on a feat not achieved in the modern era.
She sits on 75 match wins on clay in 85
WTA matches. Only Monica Seles, Nancy Richey, Chris Evert and Margaret Court have more. The latter has 82, so it could feasibly be beaten at Roland Garros to become the most successful female player of the modern era on clay. The Queen of Clay rising and it seems too in the statistics.
Grigor Dimitrov sends crowd into frenzy during Fritz loss
With the crowd captivated by every point during Taylor Fritz win over Grigor Dimitrov, the excellence of Dimitrov cannot be underlined. The sound of his racquet slamming off the ball was truly crisp and superb and true art.
Dimitrov would win the point and as the crowd lapped this up, the Bulgarian raised his arms aloft. Albeit this didn't matter in the grand scheme of things as Fritz went on to win the match. But with the power of social media accounts from tournaments, it is yet more evidence with this superb video.
Andreescu attends Monaco Grand Prix...but left with barrage of hate
Bianca Andreescu will make her tennis return next week at the Rabat Open for the first time since last August. The former US Open champion who is a popular figure on the WTA Tour has been a big omission from tennis.
But she has shared training blocks in Monaco over the past week in her famous Nike wear and seems to be heading back. After some rest and relaxation though heading to the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend seemingly gifted by someone. The Canadian though copped some criticism.
Some compared her to Eugenie Bouchard in which Andreescu supposedly cares more about being an influencer and a model than she does playing tennis and that she is following the route of the former Wimbledon finalist. Anna Kalinskaya though commented who is a known friend of Andreeescu in a more different tact saying that she can't wait to see her again after she has been off the tour for some time. So a mixed bag certainly.