My first encounter with a tennis court was not a happy one. As a 13-year-old in wicked, privileged, sunny South Africa, I was sent to stay with an aunt and uncle who lived in Durban. There were tennis parties for teenagers almost every afternoon during the school holidays in one or another of their numerous friends’ lush gardens. A tennis racquet was thrust into my hand, I was paired up with some unfortunate 13-year-old boy and sent on court. I was, it goes without saying, quite hopeless.
The clay-court GOAT and British great are set for one final tilt at Roland Garros
Novak Djokovic on Thursday booked his spot in the Geneva semi-finals, putting the world number one within two matches of his first trophy of 2024, days before his French Open title defence begins.Ruud, the world number seven, was the runner-up in the last two French Open finals, including a defeat to Djokovic last year.