A misleading video, which went viral online, has had to be explained by Spanish teenager Rafael Jódar amid speculation around whether he pushed a ball girl during his third round match at Roland Garros. The 19-year-old, who has suddenly risen to stardom in the past couple of months following a string of impressive results, looked down and out trailing two sets to one against American Alex Michelsen, before turning around the contest to progress in five sets. But one incident

(Getty/Daniel Pockett/) Newly appointed Tennis Australia CEO Andrew Abdo will officially start his new role on August 3, having been announced as Craig Tiley's successor on Monday. Tiley will remain in the role until July 17, before he officially heads to the USA to take up his new role as CEO of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Tennis Australia Chair Chris Harrop, alongside Tiley and Abdo, addressed the media in Melbourne today. "We've been through a very extensi

(Getty/Daniel Kopatsch) The start of this year's Roland Garros has been dominated by two things: unprecedented heat, which is stifling, and a debate about prize money, which caused almost as much fuss. Unhappy about the cash on offer, players staged a mini-revolt on media day, two days before the start of the tournament, fulfilling only 15 minutes of their usual press time. When the protest was announced, my first thought was that 15 minutes is an improvement - most pressers

Chair umpire Ana Carvalho helps Moïse Kouamé back on his feet. (Getty/Dimitar Dilkoff) Paraguayan player Daniel Vallejo criticised a female chair umpire, who believed certain matches should be "umpired by a man". After crawling his way back from two sets down against 17-year-old Frenchman Moïse Kouamé on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the world No.71 fell agonisingly short in a fifth-set super tiebreak in front of a raucous Parisian crowd. Having held a 5-2 lead in the decider, Valle

The conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier were warm “but not crazy warm,’’ Jannik Sinner told a packed media conference at Roland Garros after the reddest of hot favourites melted in the Paris heat. His opening round match was at night against French wildcard Clement Tabur but although it was late it was “not crazy late”, Sinner recalled of a finish around 10pm after just over two hours on court in the relative cool of Tuesday evening. This, though, was crazy unexpected. Craz

(Getty/Matthew Stockman) One of the most dramatic coaching splits was made public at Roland Garros involving 21st seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. On another scorching day in Paris, the 26-year-old looked on track for a third round berth after clinching the opening set, only to concede the next three to bow out of the tournament against Argentina's Thiago Agustín Tirante 6-4, 6-7(4), 1-6, 3-6. Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEST in its 18th year on the SE

Sadio Doumbia (left) and Fabien Reboul (right). (Getty/Georg Wendt) As the tennis world turns its attention to Roland Garros, France's leading men's doubles team is attracting attention for more than just its results. Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul arrive in Paris as one of the world's top doubles pairings and genuine contenders to make a deep run on home clay. Australian tennis fans will be somewhat familiar with the duo after their exploits during the summer here. The pai

(Getty/Anne-Christine Poujoulat) Five years is a long time in tennis. If you don't believe so, look no further than to ask Stefanos Tsitsipas. Throughout the mid-2000s, Greece pinned their hopes on Marcos Baghdatis for Grand Slam glory, having fallen short in the 2006 decider at Melbourne Park. But Greece were ultimately clutching at straws, because Baghdatis actually represented Cyprus, a country which shares deep colonial history, language and heritage. So when a then-20-y

(Getty/Dan Istitene) World No.3 Alexander Zverev felt the need to clarify his comments about Jannik Sinner and the rest of the field. The German star, who is seeded second at Roland Garros due to the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz, took care of Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets without too much difficulty in his opening round in Paris. Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEST in its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tenni

(Getty/Mark Metcalfe) After months of searching for the right candidate to succeed Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia has confirmed the appointment of Andrew Abdo as the new CEO. In the early hours of Monday morning, news broke regarding Abdo's resignation as NRL CEO after six years in the job. Abdo's tenure as NRL chief executive delivered great success, achieving record crowd figures and TV ratings and leading the way on expansion projects in Perth and Papua New Guinea. "Andrew

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) Casper Ruud is the unfortunate owner of a bizarre statistic. When he lost to Jannik Sinner in the Rome Masters final earlier in May, it was the fourth time the Norwegian had faced a player looking to create history. First, there was the 2022 French Open final. Ruud came up short against Rafael Nadal, who broke his own record of 13 Roland Garros titles whilst also winning a then-record 22nd Grand Slam title in the process. Then there was th

(Getty/Professional Sport - Popperfoto) At clay court major time, if the answer is Pat Rafter, the question, probably, is this: who was Australia's last male singles semi-finalist at Roland Garros? We're talking about a serve-volleyer, of course. A future two-time Wimbledon finalist (on grass) and soon-to-be dual US Open champion (on hard). So, well, clay? Really? In Paris, which has hosted the least successful Slam for two generations of Australian men? Among the current coh

(Getty Images) Thirteen Australians will line up in the second major of 2026, as the French Open gets underway Sunday Night Australian time. The Grand Slam stage is where players clearly want to excel, but the clay courts of Roland Garros have not historically produced Australia's best major results, so the challenge has been set once again. Ash Barty, our last female champion in 2019, while on the men’s side, Rod Laver in 1969. That, combined with the first five months of

Darren Cahill coaching Jannik Sinner ahead of Roland-Garros. (Getty/Tim Clayton) One of the biggest things I've recently reflected on through conversations with many coaches is this: We spend so much time building coaching businesses, designing programs for athletes of various levels, creating lesson plans that look visually impeccable, and running sessions that appear "perfect" out of fear of outside-the-fence judgment, retention, and the pressure to constantly improve playe

(Getty/Julian Finney) According to a report from The New York Times, a range of players will follow through on a media protest at the upcoming French Open, as a settlement over prize money has yet to be reached. It comes after players such as Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff hinted that players could potentially boycott future Grand Slam events. "I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah," said world No.1 Sabalenka during her pre-tournament press conference at the Italian

(Getty/Massimo Insabato) The Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup were among the first events that made me fall in love with tennis. From Australia coming back from two rubbers down against Kazakhstan on grass in Darwin in the Davis Cup to the epic Billie Jean King Cup win against a full-strength Belarus side in the semi-finals in 2019, some of my favourite tennis memories are from the team competitions. Since the formats of both events have changed to a centralised location

Alexander Bogatyrev, Getty Images The Kooyong Classic is proud to announce a new two-year broadcast partnership with SBS, reaffirming the network’s commitment to bringing world-class tennis to Australian audiences free-to-air. Under the renewed agreement, SBS will continue as the official Australian broadcast partner of the Kooyong Classic for the 2027 and 2028 tournaments, with coverage available nationally on SBS and SBS On Demand. The partnership represents a significant e

Aryna Sabalenka alongside coach Anton Dubrov (Getty/Tim Clayton) Tennis has long been dominated by the likes of the Big Four and Serena Williams, while Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka have taken the mantle as the tour level kingpins. With their stranglehold on tennis, it can make it mightily difficult for opposing players to front up mentally or maintain the belief that they can compete for some of the sport's big titles. That's where coaches co

(Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images) The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which stages The Championships, Wimbledon, has announced that Sally Bolton OBE will step down as Chief Executive after The Championships 2026, following six years in the role. Appointed in 2020, Bolton has led the Club through a period of significant change and challenge. She oversaw Wimbledon's return following the global pandemic, ensuring the successful and safe resumption of The Champio

Final interviews to replace Craig Tiley as Tennis Australia CEO have been completed, as a decision looms within the next month, The First Serve understands. Current Western Bulldogs president and Tennis Australia board member Kylie Watson-Wheeler had been mentioned to The First Serve as a potential candidate, but Tennis Australia have since confirmed that she was never in the process. The favourite to take over the coveted CEO position is Tom Larner, who is currently the Chie