All posts tagged: Men's Singles

Kiran George prevails against former world champion, Dhruv Kapila also knock out seeded pair in mixed doubles

Kiran George prevails against former world champion, Dhruv Kapila also knock out seeded pair in mixed doubles

Published by Webster

3 min readMar 12, 2026 12:03 AM IST Having slipped outside the top 40 and not been in good form at the start of the 2026 season, Kiran George produced his best result in a while as he stunned former world champion Loh Kean Yew in straight games at the Swiss Open Super 300 in Basel on Wednesday. It was one of two upsets caused by Indian shuttlers in the opening round as the mixed doubles duo of Tanisha Crasto-Dhruv Kapila knocked out Danish fourth seeds Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund. George, ranked 42 in the world, was involved in two tight games as he prevailed 23-21, 21-19 in a 41-minute clash. In the opening game, the unseeded Indian had to save two game points, while in the second the Singaporean third seed nearly completed a superb comeback from 16-20 down before George sealed the contest with his fourth match point. He will next face Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan who knocked out former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, who suffered a 21-15, 12-21, 4-21. Tanisha-Dhruv …

Kiran George, Manjunath move into second round at Thailand Masters

Kiran George, Manjunath move into second round at Thailand Masters

Published by Webster

India’s Kiran George and Mithun Manjunath progressed to the second round of the men’s singles at the Thailand Masters Super 300 tournament in Bangkok on Wednesday, registering victories that followed very different paths. Seventh seed Kiran George produced one of the most efficient performances of the day, dispatching Indonesia’s Sholeh Aidil in just 27 minutes. George controlled the rallies from the outset and wrapped up a 21-15, 21-9 win without being stretched. World number 60 Mithun Manjunath, on the other hand, came through a hard-fought three-game contest to knock out eighth seed Magnus Johannesen of Denmark. Manjunath took the opening game comfortably before dropping the second, but held his nerve in the decider to close out a 21-12, 9-21, 21-17 victory after nearly an hour on court. India also saw Tharun Mannepalli advance in men’s singles, with the youngster edging past Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen 22-20, 21-17. However, several Indian shuttlers bowed out in the opening round. Priyanshu Rajawat went down narrowly to Canada’s Brian Yang in three games, while Manraj Singh and S Sankar Muthusamy …

Time to put past behind, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are men’s tennis’s new protagonists

Time to put past behind, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are men’s tennis’s new protagonists

Published by Webster

If Jannik Sinner, the 23-year-old World No. 1 and heavy tournament favourite, defends his Australian Open title this month, he will become only the third player in the Open Era – after Roger Federer (06-07) and Novak Djokovic (15-16) – to win three consecutive hard court Majors. If Carlos Alcaraz, already the second most successful active men’s tennis player at 21, lifts the season-opening Major trophy, he will become only the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam – winning all four Major titles at least once – in the Open Era. The narrative of Djokovic, with former rival Andy Murray now in his camp, attempting to script more history and continue to keep his place among tennis’s elite at the age of 37, may dominate headlines. But there is little doubt that Alcaraz and Sinner are the main protagonists of the men’s draw in Melbourne this month. Nostalgia can be a powerful tool for keeping sport relevant. But the record-breaking success of Alcaraz and Sinner, who swept all four Majors last year, has …

Alcaraz vs Djokovic in potential QG, Sumit Nagal handed tough draw

Alcaraz vs Djokovic in potential QG, Sumit Nagal handed tough draw

Published by Webster

Novak Djokovic, seeking a historic 25th Grand Slam title at his favourite Major, and Carlos Alcaraz, hoping to complete his career Grand Slam, are headed for a blockbuster quarterfinal clash at the Australian Open as the men’s singles main draw was conducted in Melbourne on Thursday. Djokovic vs Alcaraz is the pick of the four projected quarterfinals based on seedings and it will be their earliest clash at any event. Their past meetings on the tour have come only in the semifinals or later. In 2024, Alcaraz beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final while the Serb reversed the result on an emotional Paris afternoon at the Olympics to win gold. India’s Sumit Nagal, who will feature in back-to-back main draws at the Australian Open, faces a tough task against world No. 26 Tomas Machac. Defending champion Jannik Sinner doesn’t have the easiest of starts, as he opens against Chile’s Nicolas Jarry who has a 1-1 Head-to-Head against the Italian and pushed him to three sets a few months ago in China. The third-round is a …

Novak Djokovic defeats Gael Monfils to extend his record to 20-0 over Frenchman

Novak Djokovic defeats Gael Monfils to extend his record to 20-0 over Frenchman

Published by Webster

Novak Djokovic advanced to the Brisbane International quarterfinals on Thursday night by defeating Gaël Monfils 6-3, 6-3, extending the most dominant head-to-head record in tennis history. After 20 years of playing against each other on the professional circuit, Djokovic’s victory is his 20th career triumph over Monfils, who is still looking for his first victory over the Serbian. The second most-lopsided record in tennis is Rafael Nadal’s 18-0 head-to-head with Richard Gasquet. “I like [Monfils’] style of play,” Djokovic grinned. “You are somewhat happier to play someone you have defeated more often.” Notwithstanding the dismal head-to-head record, Monfils has had chances to defeat Djokovic. Djokovic just prevailed against Monfils 7-5 in the fifth set of their first meeting, a thrilling first-round contest at the 2005 US Open that was characterized by cramps and swings in momentum. Additionally, he has defeated Monfils in two final set tie-breaks and overcame a three-point deficit in their 2020 Dubai Open semifinal. Djokovic has always managed to get through somehow. “We had some really tough battles,” said Djokovic. “He had …

All England Badminton: Lakshya Sen loses steam for another semifinal exit, but the good thing is he knows what to fix | Badminton News

Published by Webster

Taking the scenic route to a destination is not the worst of things. The journey can be beautiful. But in sports, sometimes, it can prove costly. Lakshya Sen would know that all too well after his exertions of the last two weeks in Europe. On Saturday, the 22-year-old from Almora in the hill-state of Uttarakhand gave himself another uphill task after a slow start. He recovered, briefly threatening to pull off another fabulous comeback, but ran out of steam against Indonesia’s former World No 2 Jonatan Christie. Lakshya bowed out of the All England Open Badminton Championships after a 12-21, 21-10, 15-21 defeat in 68 minutes. That’s now back-to-back semifinal defeats for Lakshya over a fortnight when he played 9 hours and 19 minutes of badminton over eight matches, spending an average of nearly 70 minutes per match on the court. Only one of his eight matches was a straight-game affair, when he eased past Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in the first round in Birmingham. The good news, as Lakshya’s team has been insisting, is …