Latest story published: 2026-05-13 21:19 UTC
Fresh headlines from trusted tennis publishers, grouped and tagged for quick scanning.
Elina Svitolina rallied past Elena Rybakina in Rome to reach the semifinals. It is Svitolina’s first Rome semifinal since she won the title in 2018, which puts her back into contention at a tournament where she has already gone all the way before. The result removes Rybakina from the draw and advances Svitolina into the final four.
A Rome roundup pulled together fresh talking points around Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The Rome backdrop makes the comments timely for both ATP and WTA storylines at a key stop on the clay swing. The practical value is a quick update on the main voices shaping the conversation around the tournament and beyond.
Iga Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets to reach the Italian Open semifinals. The three-time champion needed just 67 minutes to sweep aside the No. 5 seed 6-1, 6-2. The result keeps Swiatek on course at one of her strongest events and sends Pegula out of the draw in clear fashion.
Iga Swiatek reached the Rome semifinals and said she is playing more like a clay-court player again. She has not faced a break point in two days at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, a strong sign that her clay form is returning ahead of Roland Garros. That matters because Rome is the last major clay stop before the French Open, where Swiatek has won three titles. The work with Roig is clearly paying off.
Venus Williams, 45, will play women's doubles at the French Open with Hailey Baptiste. The pair gives Roland Garros a high-profile American entry, and it marks Williams' return to Grand Slam doubles in Paris. The move adds veteran star power to the event and gives Baptiste a major partner on a big stage.
Gael Monfils praised Elina Svitolina after she won her third Rome title with a three-set final over Coco Gauff. Svitolina’s 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 victory made her a WTA 1000 champion again for the first time since 2018. The win is her biggest since returning to the tour as a mother in 2023 and gives her fresh momentum heading into the clay season.
Coco Gauff and Caty McNally are back together in doubles at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and have reached the Rome quarterfinals. It is their first reunion since April 2023, when they helped the United States beat Austria in a Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier. The result restores a familiar American pairing to the late stages of a major clay-court event.
Arthur Fils has withdrawn from the French Open because of a hip injury. The No. 19 player and top-ranked Frenchman exits before his home major begins, removing a leading local contender from Roland Garros. That reshapes the men’s draw and ends his French Open campaign before it starts. The pullout is another blow to a tournament already tracking fitness issues across the field, including concerns around Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie.
Aryna Sabalenka is sharing what she keeps in her tennis bag. The piece is an off-court WTA feature centered on her travel essentials rather than match results. It offers a personal look at the world No. 1 away from the court.
Emma Raducanu will return to WTA action in Strasbourg after an illness-enforced absence. She has not played since Indian Wells in March and enters on a wildcard, giving her a final chance for match practice before the French Open. The comeback matters because it restores her to the schedule in time for the build-up to Paris.
Sorana Cirstea has broken into the WTA Top 20 for the first time after reaching the semifinals in Rome. The Romanian moved up from No. 27 in the rankings during what she has said is the final year of her professional career. The climb is a career milestone and reflects the run she has put together at the Italian Open.
Bobby Riggs beat Margaret Court in the May 13, 1973 exhibition known as the Mother's Day Massacre. Court was world No. 2 at the time, and the loss fed directly into the buildup for the later Battle of the Sexes. The result became one of the sport's most famous reference points in tennis history.
Coco Gauff has been winning from behind again at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. She has trailed by a set 15 times this year and come back to win eight of those matches, including three straight this week in Rome. Her comeback run has turned on her focus on not walking off the court with regrets. That mindset is being presented as central to how she closes out matches.
Iga Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula in Rome to reach her first semifinal of the 2026 season. The world No. 3 looked sharp at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she is a three-time champion, and the win came with Roland Garros approaching. The result keeps Swiatek in strong form for Paris. Pegula had arrived in the tournament after a 6-0, 6-0 win over Rebeka Masarova, the first double bagel of her career.
Carlos Alcaraz has spoken about living his “dream life” and about his rivalry with Jannik Sinner in a new Vanity Fair feature. The interview also keeps the focus on Alcaraz’s clay-court presence, even as a wrist injury is said to be limiting much of his clay season. The practical tennis angle is that two of the sport’s biggest young stars remain a central rivalry point even away from match play.
Venus Williams served as keynote speaker at Loyola Marymount University’s undergraduate commencement. She used the graduation address to share family wisdom and wit with the LMU class. The appearance put the former champion in an off-court leadership role rather than a tennis setting. It was scheduled for Saturday, May 16.
Jessica Pegula is helping organize top players in a revenue dispute with the Grand Slams. The fight is over how much tournament income is directed to prize money at the sport's biggest events. Her role makes her a central figure in the players' protest. The issue focuses on earnings distribution rather than on-court results.
Billy Knight has died aged 90. He was a British tennis player who won the Wimbledon junior title at 17 and later captained the Davis Cup team. Knight was a significant figure in British tennis before Andy Murray changed the sport's profile in the UK.
Sorana Cirstea is producing some of the best tennis of her 20-year career despite planning to retire at the end of 2026. Her form has reopened the question of whether she might reverse that decision. The practical consequence is that her late-career surge could extend her run on tour if she decides to keep playing.
Jannik Sinner beat Andrea Pellegrino in straight sets to reach the Italian Open quarter-finals. The win matched Novak Djokovic's record of 31 consecutive Masters 1000 victories. Coco Gauff also advanced in Rome after rallying past Mirra Andreeva to reach the semi-finals.
The WTA is launching a new fashion series called Style Unpacked. The series is set to go live on May 15 and focuses on a more personality-driven presentation. The piece also contrasts it with the ATP's athlete arrivals content. It notes that players have found the ATP approach overly staged.
Sorana Cirstea reached her first-ever Rome semifinal by beating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. The win came at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and continued Cirstea's late-career surge in Rome. It also marked another strong result against a Grand Slam champion in a short span.
Katie Boulter’s French Open win has put Emma Raducanu’s British No. 1 ranking under threat. The ranking race is in play because Raducanu has already been dealing with a recent return from a post-viral illness and a ranking slide after time away from competition. If Boulter keeps advancing at Roland Garros while Raducanu loses ground, the British No. 1 spot could change hands. The immediate consequence is that every French Open result for both players now carries ranking weight beyond the draw itself.
Iga Swiatek is being linked with improved clay-court form during her Italian Open campaign. She spoke about Francisco Roig's influence and a small coaching detail that has helped things click.
Carlos Alcaraz heads a growing French Open withdrawal list, and his absence is the biggest loss in Paris because he is the defending champion. Emma Raducanu is also under doubt in the same pre-tournament scramble, adding to the uncertainty across both tours. The withdrawals matter immediately for the Roland Garros draws because they change the field before play even starts.
Stan Wawrinka and Gaël Monfils received main-draw wild cards for Roland-Garros 2026. The wild-card lists also include four 17-year-olds, while Clara Burel returns from injury. The selections shape the entry list for the French Open next year. This is part of the official wild-card group for the tournament.
Tracy Austin ended Chris Evert’s 125-match clay-court winning streak in Rome on May 12, 1979. The 16-year-old produced a major upset against one of the most dominant clay-court players in tennis history. The result remains remembered as a landmark moment in WTA history.
Alexandra Eala found a new partner at the last minute to enter the Italian Open doubles draw. The late switch gave her a revised doubles entry in Rome. It is framed as another notable doubles partnership for Eala.
Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva are set to meet again in Rome. Their Internazionali BNL d’Italia clash continues a clay-court rivalry that has already produced several matches. The pair have played four times overall, including once in Rome last year.
Iga Swiatek beat Naomi Osaka in Rome to reach the quarterfinals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. She won in straight sets and dropped only three games in a clay-court display. The result underlined Swiatek's form on clay and kept her moving through the draw.