Acre waits for ZZZ, Deyo publicly questions Sinner's ruling, and Gauff reminds Ryba not to be a dreamer

Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans, today is Tuesday, February 18, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

Last night, Beijing time, the ATP 500 Doha Open kicked off. In a key match in the first round of singles, top seed and Spanish star Alcaraz defeated Croatian veteran Cilic 6-4 in two to advance smoothly. In the second round, he waited for the winner between China's first brother Zhang Zhizhen and Italian rising star Narddi, hoping that ZZZ would not miss the appointment!

Others: Czech Lehecka defeated seventh seed Dimitrov of Bulgaria in straight sets, 6-4 6-4; Australian qualifier O'Connell beat wildcard Habib in a tie-break. Hungarian Marousanne, British rising star Draper and other players also won and advanced.

In a high-profile doubles first-round match, Novak Djokovic/Verdasco defeated Bublick/Khachanov 6-1 6-1 to advance to the quarter-finals, delaying Verdasco's retirement. In his pre-match press conference, Djokovic publicly commented on Sinner's three-month out-of-court settlement decision, pointing out the unfairness and lack of transparency of the organization involved.

'I've spoken to a lot of people in the dressing room, not just in the last few days, but over the last few months. Most people are not satisfied with the handling of this situation. A significant number of people believe that this treatment is unfair and that there is partiality. Because it makes it feel like if you're a top player, you have the financial means to have a top lawyer, you can pretty much influence the outcome. "Both Sinner and Swiatek proved innocent, with Sinner being banned for three months for a team member's mistake, which still seems a bit strange to me and a lot of players. We saw Halep, Tara Moore and a lot of unknown players who have been tormented by the case for a long time and have been banned for a long time. I think it's really time to do something about it, to reform the whole system. Obviously, this is not the way it should be. ”

ATP 500 Rio: Kazakhstan's Shevchenko, Chile's Jarry, Argentine's Komesana, Brazil's Monteiro, Spaniard's Munar and Taiwan's Zeng Junxin all won their debuts to advance to the second round.

Women's Field. Yesterday afternoon, Beijing time, the first round of singles competition continued at the WTA1000 Dubai station. Anisimova and Ostapenko, who finished first and second at last week's Doha 1000, and Alexandrova, who reached the semi-finals, were all weak and eliminated on their debuts. Among them, Anisimova lost 2-6 3-6 to compatriot Kessler; Okupan lost 3-6 3-6 to Japanese qualifier Moe Natsu Uchijima; Alexandrova was overturned by compatriot Kudermetova 3-6 6-4 6-3.

American Stearns defeated Tunisia's first sister Jabeur 7-6(6) 6-4 and will next face China's first sister Zheng Qinwen. Azarenka, Mira Andreeva, Tauson, Schneider, Kostya, Kostyuk, Lis, Potapova and others also won and advanced.

At the pre-match press conference, American star Gauff expressed support for the WTA's ban on Rybakina's former coach Vulkov and reminded the Kazakh girl not to be a dreamer. "I think it's great that the WTA can step up and protect the players, it's very necessary because a lot of times you find that victims don't even feel like they're victims. This has happened many times in tennis, and many former professional players have not spoken out until many years after their retirement. ”

In the first round of doubles, China's Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan swept past last week's Doha runners-up, Jiang Xinyu/Wu Fangxian, 6-0 to advance. Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai lost 3-6 4-6 to Noskova/Putintseva, and both 1000 tournaments in the Middle East were beaten in one round.

Finally, let's guess and recognize. Here's an image of a player on his knees celebrating after winning. Can you recognize who he is without prompting?

In the last guess, the golfer gave the correct answer. That's right, the people in the picture are Nadal, the king of clay, and Schwartzman, the Argentine bantam.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)