Raonic pulls out of London tourney with shoulder injury, Wimbledon status unclear
Hall of Famer Navratilova, 66, says she is clear of throat and breast cancer
Canada's Milos Raonic withdrew from the Cinch Championships on Tuesday due to a right shoulder injury.
Raonic, who recently returned to the ATP Tour after an injury-forced absence of nearly two years, pulled out before his scheduled first-round match against Australia's Jordan Thompson in London.
Lucky loser Alexei Popyrin of Australia replaced Raonic in the draw.
The ATP Tour, via an email from Tennis Canada, confirmed Raonic's withdrawal was due to a shoulder injury. No further details were released.
Raonic, a former world No. 3, has battled a variety of injury problems over his career. Prior to his current shoulder issue, he took time away to recover from heel and toe injuries.
The 32-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., won his return match at the Libema Open in the Netherlands last week before falling to Thompson in the second round.
Raonic's status for Wimbledon in early July remained unclear. He'll be able to access an unseeded main-draw position with his provisional ranking.
WATCH | Raonic drops 2nd-round match at Libema Open:
'What relief,' says cancer-free Navratilova
Martina Navratilova says she is clear of cancer.
The tennis Hall of Famer announced the news Monday on Twitter after what she said was a full day of tests at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
"Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, proton and radiation magicians etc. — what a relief," she wrote.
Navratilova, 66, revealed she had been diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer in January and would begin treatment that month. She had been diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer in 2010 and had a lumpectomy.
The 18-time Grand Slam singles champion had noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck in November and a biopsy revealed the early stage throat cancer. But Navratilova felt well enough to return to her TV work with the Tennis Channel by the Miami Open in March.
Hurkacz, other top seeds advance in Germany
Hubert Hurkacz withstood a strong challenge from American Christopher Eubanks before starting his Halle Open title defence with a 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-3 win on Tuesday in Germany.
The sixth-seeded Polish player hit 22 aces and needed more than two hours to overcome the 77th-ranked Eubanks. Hurkacz next faces Tallon Griekspoor at the grass-court tournament.
Griekspoor defeated Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 7-5.
Third-seeded Andrey Rublev defeated Wu Yibing 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 to set up a second-round meeting with German wild-card entry Yannick Hanfmann.
Fourth-seeded Jannik Sinner defeated Richard Gasquet 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 and home favourite Alexander Zverev beat Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4.
Alexander Bublik, Roberto Bautista Agut and Lorenzo Sonego also advanced.
Alcaraz posts 1st win at Queen's Club
Carlos Alcaraz's first grass-court match outside Wimbledon proved to be a tricky one.
Playing for the first time at the Queen's Club Championships in London, the top-seeded Alcaraz came from a set down Tuesday to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) against lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech — a No. 83-ranked Frenchman who only found out he was playing following the withdrawal of Arthur Fils a couple of hours before the match.
"It has been a really tough match," Alcaraz said. "It was really difficult for me at the beginning to adapt my tennis, my game, to the grass."
Alcaraz faced difficulties in dealing with the tall Rinderknech's big serve and net coverage in what was the No. 2-ranked Spaniard's seventh career match on grass, and first away from the All England Club.
Alcaraz rallied from going down a break early in the third set and dominated the tiebreaker, which started with an epic point that saw Alcaraz tumble to the ground after racing to the net to hit a cross-court winner.
It was Alcaraz's first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the French Open semifinals, after which he went to Spanish party island Ibiza.
German qualifier ousts defending Berlin Open champ
German qualifier Jule Niemeier upset defending champion Ons Jabeur 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the first round of the Berlin Open.
The 120th-ranked Niemeier saved two set points at 5-3 down in the opening set, then won the last four points of the tiebreaker. Niemeier broke Jabeur in the first game of the second set and held on to her lead to win in one hour 35 minutes for the 23-year-old's third victory against a top-10 player.
Coco Gauff defeated Czech player Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-4 for the American teenager's 23rd win of the year.
The fourth-seeded Gauff next faces big-hitter Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated fellow Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-3.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka eased into the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over veteran Vera Zvonareva in another all-Russian match.
Anett Kontaveit retiring after Wimbledon
Six-time WTA Tour winner Anett Kontaveit said Tuesday she will retire after Wimbledon next month because of a degenerative back condition.
A year ago this month, she reached No. 2 in the world. She currently is ranked No. 79.
"After several doctor's visits and consultations with my medical team, I have been advised that I have lumbar disc degeneration in my back," the 27-year-old Estonian wrote Tuesday on Instagram. "This does not allow for full-scale training or continued competition. Therefore, it is impossible to continue at the top level in such a highly competitive field."
Because of the injury, she has been off and on the court since last October, when she ended her season early. He has played in the Grand Slam events this year, losing in the second round at the Australian Open and in the first round at the French Open in May.
Her most recent win came at St. Petersburg in 2022, following four victories in 2021. She has just more than $8 million US in career winnings. Kontaveit's best finish at a Grand Slam came in Australia in 2020, where she qualified for the quarterfinals and lost to Simona Halep in straight sets.
With files from The Associated Press & Field Level Media
