Tennis news

Madison Keys defeated Tatjana Maria 7-5, 6-4 to claim her third Eastbourne singles title.

Rain on Saturday 27 June forced postponement of the men's singles final (Ugo Humbert vs. Zizou Bergs) to Sunday 28 June.

The Eastbourne Open is classified as a WTA 500 and ATP 250 event, held 22-28 June.

Jack Draper's return from injury ended at the semi-final stage, where Humbert defeated him 7-5, 6-3.

The tournament served as one of the final grass-court tune-ups before Wimbledon.

The Wimbledon draw was released on 26 June, with main-draw play running from 29 June to 12 July 2026.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner is seeded No. 1, with French Open winner Alexander Zverev seeded No. 2.

Novak Djokovic is seeded seventh and landed in the same half as top seed Sinner, setting up a potential blockbuster semifinal.

Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz withdrew ahead of the tournament with a wrist injury.

Total prize money for the 2026 Championships stands at £64.2 million, with the singles winner receiving £3.6 million.

Wimbledon's 2026 total prize money has increased by approximately 20% over the prior year.

Singles champions will earn £3.6 million (approx. $4.75 million USD) each.

First-round losers receive £80,000, a significant raise from previous editions.

Prize money is equal for men and women across all rounds.

The prize-money hike accompanies the introduction of Video Review technology announced for 2026.

The Wimbledon 2026 singles draws were made on Friday 26 June, with Jannik Sinner seeded No. 1 in the men's draw.

Novak Djokovic and Sinner are placed in the same half, setting up a possible semifinal between the defending champion and the seven-time Wimbledon winner.

In the women's draw, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka leads the top quarter while defending champion Iga Swiatek anchors the third quarter alongside wildcard Serena Williams.

Two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz is absent from the men's draw entirely due to his wrist injury.

Maja Chwalinska, who was ranked No. 114 at entry but reached the Roland-Garros final, received a singles wildcard for the women's draw.

The ITIA announced that 2023 Wimbledon champion Markéta Vondroušová has been suspended for four years for refusing an out-of-competition doping test in December 2025.

The ban, announced in June 2026, is due to expire on June 21, 2030, effectively ending the 26-year-old Czech's competitive prime.

Vondroušová denied ever doping, stating she had a negative test just three days after the refusal incident and had never had a positive result throughout her career.

The ITIA CEO stated that 'unpredictable testing is an essential tool to protect clean sport' and that refusal carries significant risk.

Vondroušová had not played at the 2026 Australian Open or French Open and was absent from Wimbledon as her ban took effect.

Mirra Andreeva won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2026 French Open, defeating Maja Chwalińska in the final at Roland-Garros.

Elena Rybakina claimed her second major title — and first Australian Open — earlier in the year, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the Melbourne final.

The results mean four different women won the last four Grand Slam singles titles, underscoring the depth and unpredictability of the current WTA tour.

Defending Wimbledon women's champion Iga Świątek heads to SW19 as a title contender, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is the bookmakers' favourite.

Carlos Alcaraz's wrist injury kept the defending men's French Open champion out of both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon 2026, reshaping both draws.

The International Tennis Federation formally launched its new trading name, 'World Tennis', on June 25, 2026.

The name change was approved by an overwhelming majority of member national associations at the ITF's October 2025 AGM.

The rebrand aligns the governing body with peers such as World Athletics, World Aquatics, and World Rugby.

World Tennis oversees the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, and Olympic/Paralympic tennis, working alongside the ATP, WTA, and four Grand Slams.

The new World Tennis brand will roll out in phases through the summer of 2026, with the trading name already active since January 1, 2026.

The International Tennis Federation officially adopted the name 'World Tennis' on 25 June 2026, ending more than 110 years under the ITF banner.

The name change was approved by an overwhelming majority vote of member national associations and had been announced in October 2025.

The rebrand aims to clarify the organisation's global role overseeing Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, and Olympic and Paralympic tennis.

A phased rollout of the new brand across websites, social media, and tournament systems began in June 2026, with lower-tier events transitioning in January 2027.

The move aligns tennis with other major international federations such as World Athletics and World Aquatics that have adopted simpler global identities.

Soaring temperatures at Roehampton caused a power failure during second-round qualifying, halting 16 singles matches simultaneously.

The extreme heat was believed to have triggered the electrical fault affecting the Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system across all courts.

BBC commentator Annabel Croft described the scene as the ELC going down 'all around the grounds.'

The All England Club launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the outage.

The incident highlighted reliability concerns for the ELC system, which replaced human line judges at Wimbledon from 2025.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) announced on Monday 23 June that 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has been suspended for four years.

The ban stems not from a positive test but from her refusal to submit a sample to a doping control officer who arrived at her home in December 2025.

An independent tribunal ruled that no compelling justification was provided for refusing the test; the ban expires 21 June 2030.

Vondrousova, 26, denied ever doping, stating she had passed every prior test throughout her career.

The case drew comparisons to shorter bans received by Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek after positive test results, sparking controversy in the Czech tennis community.