While former alpine skier Lindsey Vonn has posed for the SI Swimsuit Issue three different times, her debut was back in 2010, when she traveled traveled to Whistler, Canada, for a snowy photoshoot with Warwick Saint.
The athlete, who is a four-time World Cup champion and a three-time Olympic medalist, looked right at home on the slopes in several red-and-white bikinis. Vonn also had the opportunity to pose for Saint’s lens with her skis, bringing the opportunity full-circle. She returned to the fold six years later for a bodypaint feature that took her to Petit St. Vincent, and most recently in 2019, when she modeled for Walter Chin in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Though we never would have guessed it, Vonn revealed to us earlier this year that she wasn’t entirely sure of herself in front of the camera at first, though she’s grown more so as her number of features with the magazine has increased.
“I was actually pretty nervous for my first SI Swimsuit Issue,” she told us this spring. “I wasn’t entirely confident with how I looked at the time. I think being featured in the magazine made me look at myself in a different, more positive light.”
Vonn says stepping in front of an SI Swimsuit photographer’s lens also helped her to be more appreciative of her athletic figure.
“In some ways, it boosted my confidence and made me feel that having a strong and athletic body was not just O.K. but something to be proud of and celebrated,” she stated. “Each issue I was in, I was more and more confident, and it’s amazing to see that transformation in the pictures and in myself.”
Below are a few of our favorite snapshots from her first brand feature, in which her self-assured nature shines through.
Mike Tyson has made a new prediction for the upcoming Tyson Fury versus Oleksandr Usyk fight but has caveated it with the warning that he ‘could be wrong.’
After many months of speculation, a firm date was finally announced for the first undisputed heavyweight match-up in 24 years. Fury and Usyk will come to blows on February 17 when the WBC, WBC, IBF and WBO belts, plus the lineal title, will all be on the line.
The fight was originally planned for December 23 but in light of Fury’s battle with MMA fighter turned boxing novice Francis Ngannou – who enlisted ‘Iron’ Mike to help him train and has since been ranked by the WBC – it was pushed back to give him time to recover.
As such the excitement is already building for when the two best in the division come together. The fight presents Ukrainian southpaw Usyk with a chance to become undisputed in a second division following his achieving that feat down a cruiserweight, a similar achievement to one made by Evander Holyfield.
Speaking to FightHub TV, Tyson was asked who he thought would come out on top – and is picking ‘The Gypsy King’.
“I’m gunna look forward to that fight. I’m going with Tyson Fury, I think he’s going to overpower him, catch up with him and overpower him, that’s what I think but I could be wrong.”
Tyson, who was used to being the smaller man throughout his heavyweight career, was asked about the impact of facing shorter opponents.
“Little guys are difficult to fight ’cause they’re harder to hit ’cause they’re smaller. He runs a lot, he moves a lot, Tyson’s probably gunna have a few rounds to get used to his moments but it’s gunna be difficult, he’s very small, very fast.”
Whatever happens, the boxing world doesn’t have long to wait to find out.
A representative of Lewis Hamilton contacted Red Bull about him partnering Max Verstappen at the world championship-winning team before he signed a £100million deal to remain at Mercedes, and he also held talks with Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton (right) was open to becoming Max Verstappen’s (left) team-mate before penning his bumper new £50m-a-year Mercedes deal, Mail Sport can sensationally now reveal
The explosive claims come in an exclusive interview with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, blowing a hole in Hamilton’s insistence that Mercedes was the only place where he wanted to see out his career.
The revelations reinforce Mail Sport’s story in May that Hamilton and Ferrari had dialogue about doing a deal – explicitly denied by the driver and the Scuderia’s team principal Fred Vasseur at the time, but proven correct now.
Horner said: ‘We have had several conversations over the years about Lewis joining.
‘They have reached out a few times. Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest.
‘He met John Elkann (Ferrari chairman), too. I think there were serious talks.
‘It was around Monaco (in May). There were definitely conversations, perhaps with Vasseur, too. But certainly with Elkann.
‘But I can’t see Max and Lewis working out together. The dynamic wouldn’t be right. We are 100 per cent happy with what we have.’
After protracted negotiations, 38-year-old Hamilton signed up until the end of 2025.
The deal, which takes the seven-time champion close to his 41st birthday, was announced at the end of August.
Horner won’t divulge who contacted him. If Lewis himself is ruled out as the agitator, as he is, it comes down to two candidates: his New York-based manager Penni Thow and, as if from another age, his father Anthony.
Thow, who is founder and chief executive of Cooper, a company that specialises in entertainment, media, fashion, sports, technology and philanthropy (if you will!), is now Hamilton’s chief of staff. She is little known to the outside world or indeed to most of the travelling F1 caravan, though she attends most races.
For the last couple of years, she has been Lewis’s closest adviser and lieutenant, and points him nicely towards business interests beyond the track.
The seven-time world champion has endured a very challenging season with the Silver Arrows
But if the conduit wasn’t Anthony, I’ll eat this newspaper. Fifteen years after being jilted by Lewis as his manager, he remains a major power behind the throne.
While we may never know who made the approach, Horner is at least adamant that Hamilton will never wear Red Bull overalls.
The 50-year-old team principal is consistent on this. Prior to Lewis being granted his big F1 break by Ron Dennis, Horner advised an itchy-for-instant-gratification Anthony not to let Lewis leave the McLaren stable, and to play the long game, when he inquired after a seat there.
Horner further told Lewis when he went to see him, publicly, at the Canadian Grand Prix during the first blossoming of Red Bull success more than a decade ago, that his services were not required. It is a shame for the sport that we will never see Verstappen-versus-Hamilton in the same machinery. It is the dream ticket.
Horner’s revelation illuminates the subterfuge in Formula One. You cannot accept a denial at face value, a point underlined by Hamilton and Vasseur denying any veracity in the story we carried about serious interest from Ferrari in securing Hamilton’s services.
It also leaves one aghast at the notion that Hamilton believes in Mercedes’ capability to overcome their current trough – one win in two seasons so far.
The seven-time world champion has endured a very challenging season with the Silver Arrows
Anyway, Horner is committed to staying where he is at Red Bull and creating history, uninterested in running the sport, for example. Liberty Media, F1’s owners, will look outside the sport for their next chief executive when Stefano Domenicali leaves.
‘We obviously had an incredible period with Sebastian Vettel and then we went through the dark years when we had an uncompetitive engine,’ said Horner, a Netflix ‘villain’ in his obvious animosity towards Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
‘Shareholders were getting disenchanted with the sport and we managed to turn it around.
‘My passion is motor racing and Formula One and I have no burning desire to do anything else. I have a professional respect for Toto. We’re getting on great since he hasn’t been competitive.’
Thanksgiving Day is a time to and celebrate friends and family — but in the NFL, some players have to go to work on a day typically reserved for rest, relaxation, and togetherness.
This was the case for Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens, who had to play Thursday at Ford Field in Detroit against the Lions. And Owens certainly made the most of the Thanksgiving Day showcase, returning a fumble in the first quarter for his first touchdown in pro football — which received quite the reaction from his wife, globally-recognized gymnast Simone Biles.
Biles was overjoyed
Biles, one of the greatest athletes on planet Earth, posted on X (formerly Twitter) almost immediately after Owens scooped up a loose ball and returned it 27 yards to extend the Packers’ first-quarter lead.
Biles’ celebratory post, typed in all caps, celebrated “her man” making the most of the moment and reaching the end zone for the first time in his five-year career.
Biles and Owens were married in April after nearly three years of dating. Biles has enjoyed a sensational 2023 professionally as well as personally — she won her sixth gold medal at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Belgium last month.
Packers lit up Lions in first half
Owens’ Packers made it look easy in the first half of the Thanksgiving game. The Green Bay defense made life uncomfortable for Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who fumbled twice and struggled with his accuracy. The Packers led 23-6 at the break, with Owens’ fumble recovery one of two turnovers the visitors forced in the first two quarters.
The Packers’ execution on offense may have been the most surprising facet to the first half, but Owens’ touchdown will prove to be a memorable moment — and one that Biles, at least, will celebrate long past Thanksgiving’s end.
The first time Claressa Shields and Maricela Cornejo went head-to-head, they co-starred in a YouTube video.
When it hit the internet in 2019, Shields was already a two-time Olympic gold medalist with several professional titles, including the undisputed middleweight championship. Cornejo was a seven-year veteran, but still building an online brand that encompassed boxing, fashion, fitness and self-help.
Claressa Shields, the undisputed middleweight champion, is one of boxing’s most dominant competitors of any gender.
Their conversation, which appeared on Cornejo’s YouTube channel, touched on boxing, of course, but also on the two women’s shared histories as survivors of childhood sexual assault. The interview showcased both women as vulnerable, tender, supportive and sisterly; professional colleagues with the makings of close friends.
On Saturday in Detroit, Shields and Cornejo will meet as opponents, with Shields’s undisputed middleweight title at stake. The pairing highlights the close-knit world of elite women’s boxing, where bitter rivalries abound, but where boxers can be each other’s friends, fans, training partners and adversaries, often in fairly quick succession.
“If anybody wants to get in the ring and fight for my belts, I’m going to put all that friendship to the side,” said Shields, who is 13-0 with two knockouts. “This is prizefighting. It’s not friend fighting.”
The Shields-Cornejo title fight, which will headline a card at Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, is the highest-profile women’s bout of early 2023, and a follow-up to the blockbuster events that vaulted women’s boxing into the spotlight last year.
Last April, a lightweight title bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano sold out Madison Square Garden. Taylor won a decision in a raucous brawl that drew 1.5 million viewers to the streaming platform DAZN, which will also show Saturday’s bout. Six months later, in October 2022, Shields defeated Savannah Marshall in a high-stakes, high-octane title bout in London. A reported two million viewers watched that fight.
Organizers of both events claim each was the richest bout in women’s boxing history, and most years either matchup would have stood alone as the single most significant women’s bout on the schedule. They featured big names, full arenas, competitive action and, not coincidentally, sustained promotion leading into fight night.
This weekend’s bout between Shields and Cornejo is different.
Cornejo, who is 16-5 with six knockouts, committed to the bout early last week, after Shields’s original opponent, Hanna Gabriels of Costa Rica, failed a doping test.
Maricela Cornejo enters Saturday’s fight against Shields with a three-bout win streak and renewed confidence in her skills and tactics.
Even with a new opponent and short marketing runway, Shields’s promoter, Dmitriy Salita, views Detroit as one reason this fight could draw fans. Putting Shields, who grew up in Flint, Mich., atop a card at the new arena in Detroit also places her squarely within the city’s boxing tradition, he said.
“This is not a city where there is no boxing history. This is one of the richest boxing histories in the world,” Salita said. “The pressure that she’s under and the doors that she’s opening, every fight is a super fight for her.”
Sugar Ray Robinson spent his childhood in Detroit, and Joe Louis made the city his home base. In March 1980, three months after Joe Louis Arena opened, Hilmer Kenty, the first world champion from the famed Kronk Gym in Detroit, defended his lightweight title there. Kronk’s most famous product, Thomas Hearns, who was nicknamed the Hitman, fought in the cofeature on the same card.
Shields, 28, enters Saturday as one of boxing’s most dominant competitors of any gender. She rarely loses rounds, and has only lost two official fights in her life. As a 17-year-old amateur she dropped a disputed decision to Marshall in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympics, and in October 2021 she lost a mixed martial arts bout to Abigail Montes in the Professional Fighters League.
But as a professional boxer, Shields has won world titles in three weight classes, and has been the undisputed champion at 154 and 160 pounds. She has defeated so many champions that she has begun seeking rematches with boxers she has outclassed.
Her 2018 bout against Gabriels ended in a lopsided decision win. Salita said that if Shields wins on Saturday she might face the winner of an upcoming bout between Marshall and Franchón Crews-Dezurn, both of whom Shields has already vanquished.
Shields during a fight against Ema Kozin in Wales in February 2022.
The search for a stiff challenge spans sports — Shields hopes to return to mixed martial arts later this year — and every boxing division, from 147-pound welterweight to 168-pound super middleweight.
“I watch all of them, just in case they want to make that jump,” Shields said.
Saturday’s card falls at the midpoint of a busy period for high-level pro boxing. Earlier this spring, Gervonta Davis knocked out Ryan Garcia at 136 pounds, while Devin Haney squeaked past Vasiliy Lomachenko to remain the undisputed lightweight champion.
Later this summer, Stephen Fulton of Philadelphia and Naoya Inoue of Japan will meet in a super-bantamweight title fight that excites boxing purists. And on July 29, the long-delayed meeting between the welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas.
For her part, Shields was set to rematch Gabriels, when the Costa Rican contender tested positive for a steroid, clostebol. Gabriels said she absorbed the substance inadvertently, claiming it was an ingredient in an ointment she rubbed on her dog to help him heal from surgery.
Either way, she was scratched, and replaced with Cornejo, who was already training for a different bout.
Cornejo, 36, recently relocated from Seattle to Las Vegas, where she works with the renowned trainer Ismael Salas. She and Shields have one common opponent, Crews-Dezurn, who has defeated Cornejo twice.
But Cornejo enters Saturday with a three-bout win streak, and, after working with Salas, renewed confidence in her skills and tactics. She maintains a healthy esteem for Shields, but remains focused on upsetting her.
“She knows I respect her, and she respects me as well,” Cornejo said. “But when we get in a fight, it’s either you or me, honey.”
Emma Raducanu is set to make her long-awaited return to competitive tennis in the New Year and the Brit is still searching for the sixth coach of her young career.
Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci has offered to take charge of Emma Raducanu’s fledgling career in a bid to help the Brit become “bulletproof” ahead of her return in 2024. Raducanu has been out of action since April after undergoing double wrist surgery as well as an operation on her ankle and she’s slowly made her return to training on the tennis court.
But the 21-year-old is still looking for a new coach after splitting with Sebastian Sachs in June. She’s now searching for her sixth coach in two years and recently admitted that part of the reason for the high turnover is because they “haven’t been able to keep up with the questions” she’s been asking.
Prior to undergoing surgery earlier this year, Raducanu had found it tough to build on the success of winning the US Open back in 2021 as an 18-year-old qualifier. There have been many teenage prodigies in tennis who have struggled to emulate that kind of success later on in their careers.
Serena Williams remains one of the youngest players to ever win a major after triumphing at the 1999 US Open at the age of 17. Macci helped mould both Williams sisters in their early years between 1991 and 1994 and still continues to shape the future stars of tennis at his tennis academy in Florida.
Emma Raducanu split with Sebastian Sachs in June
And the 68-year-old has admitted he’s reached out to Raducanu’s team to join the coaching list and believes the Briton can follow the same path as Carlos Alcaraz. “I spoke to her agent, but he said her parents deal with coaching appointments,” he told the Telegraph.
“I’m not a travel coach, people come to me. I can help her mentally and strategically like no other. I don’t know where her head is at, whether there is the hunger and belief there to be the best.
“If you look at Carlos Alcaraz, everything changed for him with success at an early age, but he was ready and loaded. I don’t know Emma or what’s in her head, but you don’t lose talent and ability. Yes, you might lose a little confidence and fitness, but technically she’s very good – you don’t win a Grand Slam otherwise. If she really wants to be one of the best in the world – and she has the ability – then you need to cope with the pressure that comes with that.
“She should want pressure. You do all this training to be a professional player and want to be the best in the world. She has to be able to deal with what comes with that. She must be prepared to deal with the media.
“To say she sometimes wishes she didn’t win the US Open because of the mental and physical strain it has brought cuts both ways; If she’s going to listen to every little thing that is said about her then that doesn’t work, you’ve got to be bulletproof and I can help her with that. You need an ability to forget just as importantly as the ability to remember and she must learn from the adversity she’s faced.”
Eddie Hearn says Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin fight has a rematch clause for their headliner on December 23rd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’s a bit surprising that Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) would have a rematch clause for this level of opponent, considering that the 33-year-old heavyweight fringe contender Wallin (26-1, 14 KOs) can’t punch and is considered by many fans as a step down from AJ’s last two tune-up opponents Robert Helenius & Jermaine Franklin.
Why does AJ need rematch clauses?
Hearn’s excuse for AJ having a rematch clause for the Wallin fight is that he’s “the biggest star” in boxing, which many fans would disagree with. Even if that were true, why a rematch clause for this level of opponent? It doesn’t make sense.
Even if Joshua were to lose, Wallin wouldn’t be going anywhere. What other options would he have? Tyson Fury already beat him, and Deontay Wilder wouldn’t waste his time fighting him because U.S. fans wouldn’t want to see him against Wallin. Unfortunately, rematch clauses are a fact of life for Joshua and part of the standard thing for him, which is sad because he should be confident enough to fight without them. He fought the tub of lard Andy Ruiz twice and Oleksandr Usyk twice.
The boxing public could live without AJ’s rematches against guys who shouldn’t have ever beaten him in the first place if he were the real deal. The fact that Joshua is losing to fighters like Usyk & Ruiz shows that he’s not a great talent and never was from the get-go. He’s just some guy that the Brits thought was great after he was gifted a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics after winning four consecutive questionable decisions against these fighters:
Roberto Cammerell
Erislandy Savon
Ivan Dychko
Zhilei Zhang
JOSHUA VS. WALLIN HAS REMATCH CLAUSE
“It’s a one-fight deal, but there are ongoing discussions. You see a lot of people saying, ‘Why isn’t AJ fighting [Deontay] Wilder on December 23rd?’ We got approached for a fight which was Otto Wallin. It was six weeks until the fight. He accepted the fight,” said Eddie Hearn to Secondsout, discussing Anthony Joshua. Hearn doesn’t say who approached him for Joshua to fight Wallin instead of Wilder. If the Saudis wanted this fight, Hearn should have asked them why they would have this awful match-up. Also, it’s risky for Joshua because even this type of opponent could potentially beat him.
If Joshua is losing to guys like Usyk & Ruiz, he could get beaten by Wallin as well, and if that happens, it’s pretty much career over outside of the UK. Yeah, we know the British fans are forgiving of their fighters and will continue to purchase their fights on PPV regardless of how many times they get beaten. For example, look at 39-year-old journeyman Dereck Chisora. He’s got thirteen losses, yet he’s still headlining on PPV in the UK. It’s unbelievable but so sad.
“Also, from there, we all know what the plan is. We all know what they want,” said Hearn. “We all know what we want, which is, of course, the fight with Deontay Wilder. They’ve both got to win, and we’ll work quietly behind the scenes whilst everyone is preparing. “Hopefully, by the time they [Joshua & Wilder] are both victorious on December 23rd, we’ll know what the plan is. Yes,” said Hearn when asked if there’s a rematch clause for the Joshua vs. Wallin fight. “Because it’s Anthony Joshua, the biggest star in the sport,” said Hearn when asked why a rematch clause was needed for Joshua-Wallin.
Joshua is the biggest star in the UK, but not the world. He’s down below fighters like Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Gervonta Davis, Devin Haney, and David Benavidez in the U.S.
HEARN WANTS JOSHUA TO SHOW WALLIN NO RESPECT
“I just think he wanted to smash Jarrell Miller’s head in, and if I was a little more tougher, 80 lbs heavier, and I could fight, maybe I would as well because he says a lot, and we know what happened last time,” said Hearn. “You can’t really win if you’re AJ because on the one hand, he’s a bit quiet and a bit boring. Then someone says something disrespectful to him, and he comes back and fires back, and, ‘Oh, his head’s gone. He’s lost the plot.’ So, I like what I saw,” said Hearn. Joshua did a lot of thinking when he was holed up in that darkened room for four days, and he clearly decided to be tougher towards people during his interactions when the cameras are rolling in public.
“I saw a guy that’s actually ready to damage, and that’s what I need from him in this Otto Wallin fight. I need him to show very little respect to Otto Wallin in this fight. It’s a very, very tricky fight,” said Hearn. Joshua has got to let his hands go in this fight because Wallin will move around all night and pick him apart with his pesky jab to soften him up. If AJ gasses out in the second half of the fight, Wallin might even knock him out. “Look at Tyson Fury on how he behaves. No one really starts questioning his mindset. AJ says, ‘Shut up or I’ll knock you the f*** out,’ and everyone says, ‘Whoa, AJ has lost the plot.’ He’s a fighter. You’re already going to get overanalyzed in that situation. He’s ready to go and looking good in the gym,” said Hearn. “Agitated” isn’t the right word to describe how Joshua looked & behaved during the kickoff press conference for the December 23rd card. A better word to describe him would be one of these terms:
Roger Federer has been enjoying his retirement this year, and one event earlier this week was so special that it reduced the Swiss icon to tears.
Roger Federer made a surprise appearance on stage at Andrea Bocelli’s concert in Zurich on Monday night. The tennis legend was reduced to tears as the Italian tenor concluded his performance with a jaw-dropping rendition of the famous ‘Nessun Dorma’.
Federer has been enjoying his retirement to the fullest since bowing out from the sport at the Laver Cup last year. The Swiss star has made several special guest appearances at competitions since and this is not the first time he’s been on stage at a concert.
With plenty of spare time on his hands, Federer has had the opportunity to enjoy more live music over the past few months – and his appearances at concerts has not gone unnoticed by artists spotting his name on the guest list.
Whilst attending Bocelli’s concert on Monday night, the 20-time Grand Slam champion was invited up on stage by the singer so that he could be by his side for his final song. Whilst preparing for his final number, Bocelli was heard saying: “Among us tonight, there is a living legend, Roger Federer.
“For me, it’s really an honor to dedicate the last hour to him for the emotions that he gave to everybody and I would like to have him here on stage.”
Federer duly accepted the offer and was escorted to the stage promptly by security. The pair embraced on stage before Boncelli belted out his iconic ‘Nessun Dorma’, which brought the house down. Federer was visibly moved by the performance, failing to hold back the tears as he stood aside the artist.
The 42-year-old was seen wiping his face throughout the performance, evidently touched by Bocelli’s unbelievable vocals. Federer’s appearance was vastly different to when he decided to go on stage with Coldplay in Zurich earlier this year, though lead singer Chris Martin did give the tennis legend plenty of fair warning.
Speaking of when he received the message from the multi-award-winning artist, Federer explained: “It was I got the invitation from Chris Martin from Coldplay. He said, ‘Don’t you want to come up on stage tomorrow?’ I was in Zurich at the time I just came back from an Elton John concert. You know stuff you just do when you don’t have much to do anymore.
“I looked at my daughter and I told her, ‘Do you think I should be going on stage to do this?’ And she was half-asleep, but told me, ‘Of course, papa, you only live once.’ Of course, I enjoyed it after. But, you know, I don’t need those anxiety moments anymore. I’m just happy and quite content to be away from it all, but I finished on top, you know, this is my music career. I ended it right there, I dropped the mic.”
ovak Djokovic says the Davis Cup knockout phase “has to travel” around the world as he prepares for Serbia’s quarter-final against Britain in Spain.
Since a revamp of the men’s team event in 2019, the final stages of the tournament have always been played in Spanish cities.
Novak Djokovic and Serbia have not played a Davis Cup tie on home soil since 2018
On Thursday Serbia play Britain in Malaga, where the semi-finals and final will be held at the weekend.
“This is a competition that is played globally,” Djokovic said.
“It shouldn’t stay in one place more than a year.”
Eight nations have been competing in the week-long event, but Spain failed to qualify.
The Davis Cup, which started in 1900, used to be played in a home-and-away format, often creating a partisan atmosphere but regularly missing top players.
Could Davis Cup return to home and away ties?
It led to a controversial revamp the tournament and the final stages were turned into a season-ending event, as part of a 25-year £2.15bn plan funded by the Kosmos investment group fronted by former Spain footballer Gerard Pique.
Billed as the World Cup of tennis, the inaugural event featuring 18 teams was held in Madrid in 2019 and the final stages of the 2020-21 event were also held in the Spanish capital.
The ‘Final Eight’ of the past two editions have been played at the Palacio de Deportes Martin Carpena in Malaga.
In January this year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) ended the deal with Kosmos after less than five years.
World number one Djokovic, who has won a record 24 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, urged more communication between the ITF and the top players about the Davis Cup.
“Everyone should have their say because so far no-one has been really communicating with us from the ITF,” said Djokovic, whose nation have not played a Davis Cup tie on home soil since 2018.
“I don’t think we all agree. We will have probably difference of opinions, but the home-and-away ties is something the Davis Cup historically has been very famous for.
“Giving one nation to host the [Final] Eight for four years is too much. It has to travel.”
It is understood the ITF has written to the Serbian Tennis Federation on two occasions this month to gauge interest in hosting one of next September’s group-stage events, but has not received a response.
Australian world number 12 Alex de Minaur said he would go back to the home-and-away format in a “heartbeat”.
There will be no changes until at least 2025, with the current format set in place for next year.
The group stage of this year’s tournament, taking place in the week after the US Open, was played across venues in Manchester, Bologna, Split and Valencia.
Feliciano Lopez, who is the tournament director in Malaga, told BBC Radio 5 Live he had a “productive” conversation about the issue with Djokovic when Serbia played in Valencia.
It is understood the ITF contacted Djokovic via the Serbian Tennis Federation after the group-stage event in Valencia in September, with a view to arranging a meeting in Malaga.
Australian doubles legend Mark Woodforde, who is an athlete representative on the ITF board, says a “period of stabilisation” has been needed following Kosmos’ ill-fated intervention and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The ITF does not feel there needs to be change because it is suffering, our feedback is it is not in any trouble, but we are always reviewing it,” Woodforde told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“We’re the World Cup of tennis – it is not a European-based competition. We would love to see the tournament flourish, potentially played in the North America, South America and Oceania regions.”
(At least, not for now.) The newly turned 30-year-old recently revealed she’s been “trying to stay away from the courts” amid her indefinite break from tennis.
Former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza hasn’t competed since January amid an indefinite break from tennis.
And that’s likely not going to change anytime soon, as the Spaniard recently revealed that she has “no intention” of returning to professional tennis courts—at least not for the moment.
“As of today I have no intention (to return to competition),” Muguruza told Women’s Health, speaking during a Zumba instructors’ event last month in Malaga. “My plan right now is to sleep, rest, be with my loved ones, make up for lost time…
“I don’t look beyond what I’m doing today, tomorrow and this week.”
Muguruza at a Zumba instructors’ event last month in Malaga.
Muguruza’s last match took place at a WTA 250 event in Lyon, where the then world No. 82 fell in straight sets to qualifier Linda Noskova. But the two-time Grand Slam champion’s struggles date back to 2022, a season in which she won back-to-back tennis matches on just two occasions—a surprising drop-off, after Muguruza finished the 2021 season by clinching the WTA Finals trophy in Guadalajara.
The 30-year-old announced in April that she would be taking a break from competition in favor of spending the time resting and recharging with friends and family, and became engaged to Arthur Borges in May.
In the meantime, Muguruza has been trying out new things. She’s taken her love for Zumba to the next level, attended the San Sebastian International Film Festival and rang in her 30th birthday in style. The only thing she’s not doing? Playing tennis or getting anywhere near a tennis court.
“Tennis has no place in my routine,” Muguruza revealed. “I still follow my peers, from time to time I still play but not intensely, more for fun. It doesn’t occupy my mind, my day or my routines. I’m really taking a real break and trying to stay away from the courts.”
But that doesn’t mean she’s not keeping up with the game—or with her fitness. Muguruza admitted to watching tennis regularly and following her peers’ progress during tournaments, and says that she hasn’t strayed from her training during the break, although she is enjoying lighter workouts without the added pressure of having to be “match ready”.
“I go to the gym regularly, as many times a week as possible,” Muguruza said. “I love doing weight training, completing the cardio part with Zumba, Pilates classes, yoga, boxing…
“I’m taking advantage of doing all the things I didn’t have time to do when I was training for tennis.”
Muguruza is currently ranked No. 1038, having dropped out of the Top 200 in June.
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