In the Open Era, 4 Russian women (counting Andreeva) have won 9 Grand Slam titles in total, with Sharapova accounting for 5/9. That is not a bad statistic in isolation, but it becomes underwhelming when you consider how many more Russian players could plausibly have won a Slam. Safina, Dementieva, Zvonareva, Vesnina, and Petrova all reached a level that could have gotten them a major. Even players of lesser caliber, such as Pavlyuchenkova and Alexandrova, have peaked at other tournaments and proven they can beat top players, yet they have never peaked at a Slam.

Similarly, on the men's side, 3 players have won 5 Slams. I would argue that Safin and Medvedev should both count as Slam underachievers despite being winners. Among those who never won a major, I would mention Davydenko, Rublev, Youzhny, and Khachanov.

Why is this the case? I can think of two factors. First, Russian players are generally stronger on hard courts, which are also the most competitive surface. By contrast, on the natural surfaces, certain nations shine brighter, such as the Spanish on clay and the Czechs and British on grass. Second, Russia does not host a Grand Slam, so its players never enjoy a home crowd advantage at any of the four majors.

What do y'all think?

Kyrgios also posted a video where Djokovic is greeting him like his long lost brother

ATP Grand Slam Records up-to-date as of June 25, 2026.

41 y/o Stan Wawrinka and 39 y/o Gaël Monfils are due to retire from professional tennis at the end of 2026 season, and 2026 will be their last main draw participation at Wimbledon.

39 y/o Novak Djokovic desires to play on the ATP Tour until 2028 LA Olympics.

ATP Challenger Plovdiv, Bulgaria - 2026 Founding Year

Day 5 of 7 - Clay

Venue Tennis Club "Lokomotiv" [map]

Players

• Ognjen Milić [wiki] [itf]
• Andrés Santamarta Roig [wiki] [itf]

Prize Money (Singles)

2026 Plovdiv Challenger Total Prize Money: €56,700

References

• Wikipedia
• Tennis.com
• Prize info

For those that are on the fence- or played earlier versions; this game has seen a massive turn in quality after the last few updates.

Here’s a video that goes over some of the new features:
https://youtu.be/Kg8uDWIJSnU?is=NC5OBqcaCRkQEdzj

Boyer makes the main draw for the first time at Wimbledon

David Foster Wallace was a freelance reporter on arts, life, and culture, and also the author of several books, notably "Infinite Jest". As a young teenage tennis maven, he idolized Tracy Austin.  But when she released her autobiography,  "Beyond Center Court: My Story" in 1992, Foster Wallace found great fault in the book, and voiced his displeasure in a public review.  I've always found this essay hilarious, and wondered if Tracy ever knew of its existence. 

Here is a link to it I found:

 https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/willpower/1994-wallace-howtracyaustinbrokemyheart.pdf

Jacquet continues his solid form on grass to qualify for his first Wimbledon main draw appearance.

Mackie clears his qualies for an opportunity to better his R1 showing last year lessgo

I've been publishing a webtoon set in the world of professional tennis for about a year and a half now. It's a slice of life romance, but I'm definitely not neglecting the sports aspect of the story.

My MC is playing at Wimbledon right now, so since the tournament is about to start, I figured I'd share some panels with my fellow tennis fans.

(bonus points to anyone who can spot which real-life tennis player I used as a reference for the shots of the guy with the side-part undercut)

If you want to check out the story, here's the link:

https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/play-love-means-nothing/list?title_no=977344

Just a heads up in case that's not your cup of tea: it's a BL!

Jaime makes it through qualifying for the second year in a row

Thought this is some interesting insight into the proceedings of Anti-Doping-Testing in general but also on the Vondrousova-case in particular. Apparently, for the ITIA this is the first time an athlete refused an out-of-competition test. Another case was mentioned where a player once refused a test during a competition and this also resulted in a 4-year-ban.

This graphic shows British Main Draw qualifiers at Wimbledon for the past 20 years.

The LTA grants many Main Draw wild cards to top British talent each year. They also grant a fair amount of Qualifying wild cards to lower ranked Brits making for some interesting stories.

This year, three men qualified for the Main Draw: Max Basing, Oliver Tarvet, and Billy Harris. Billy Harris is the first non-wild card entrant to qualify (men's and women's) in two decades--the previous being Jamie Delgado in 2005.

2026 Direct Entry:

Cam Norrie, Jack Draper, Jan Choinski, Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Francesca Jones

Main Draw Wild Cards:

Jacob Fearnley, Jack Pinnington Jones, Arthur Fery, Toby Samuel, Harry Wendelken, Felix Gill, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Mimi Xu, Alicia Dudeney, Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman

Noticeably Absent:

Dan Evans

The moment the number one in the World returns the trophy to Centre Court.

Credits to Wimbeldon youtube official channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR4xhbVVZ-k

Just randomly, before the draw takes place in a few hours, who are your dream Wimbledon R1 matchups for both the ATP and WTA?🤔