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Novak Djokovic proud of breaking the record for weeks spent as world No 1 ahead of Monte Carlo Masters

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Novak Djokovic has not played since his record-extending ninth Australian Open title in Melbourne in February but does not feel undercooked for the start of his clay-court swing as he prepares for this year’s Monte Carlo Masters

Last Updated: 12/04/21 11:06am








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Novak Djokovic described spending the most weeks as world No 1 as probably his ‘biggest achievement’ in his career

Novak Djokovic described spending the most weeks as world No 1 as probably his ‘biggest achievement’ in his career

Novak Djokovic said breaking the record for most weeks spent as world No 1 was the “biggest achievement” he’s ever had in his career.

Djokovic eclipsed Roger Federer’s record on March 8 when he moved past the Swiss to hold the top ranking for the 311th week fresh from winning a record-extending ninth Australian Open.

The Serb, who turns 34 in May, first rose to the top of the rankings when he was 24 in July, 2011, and spent a personal-best 122 consecutive weeks at the summit of the ATP Rankings between July 2014 and November 2016.

He now has his eyes set on equalling and surpassing the all-time men’s Grand Slam mark of 20, now shared by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic won a record-extending ninth Australian Open earlier this year

Djokovic won a record-extending ninth Australian Open earlier this year

“The historic achievement was of course something that was very fulfilling for me, for my family. It’s probably the biggest achievement that I’ve ever had in my career,” said Djokovic, who will meet Miami Open runner-up Jannik Sinner or 2017 finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas in his opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters.

“It’s an accumulation of all the years of success and hard work, not just for myself but all the people that are around me, my team, my family.

“I was very happy to be able to stay close to my family and share the joy with them even though the restrictions were such that we could not make maybe more of a celebration than we kind of imagined but nevertheless there were a lot of people that showed up on the streets.

“I’m very thankful to the city of Belgrade and the country of Serbia for creating some special events during that day to acknowledge the success. And it was definitely a very special day that will stay forever in my heart.”

Djokovic says he is feeling “physically prepared mentally” for this year’s Monte Carlo Masters – a tournament he won in 2013 and 2015.

“I missed tennis, the last couple of months that I have not been competing. So I look forward to my first match,” added the 33-year-old.

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Liam Broady’s run at the Sardegna Open ended by Jan-Lennard Struff; Dan Evans in action on Thursday

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Britain’s Liam Broady saw his run at the Sardegna Open come to an end against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff; Dan Evans, the No 1 seed, opens his campaign on the clay against Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday

Last Updated: 07/04/21 6:55pm

Liam Broady’s Sardegna Open run was ended by Jan-Lennard Struff (Courtesy of: mpi04/MediaPunch /IPX)

Liam Broady’s run at the Sardegna Open was ended in the second round by fifth
seed Jan-Lennard Struff.

Broady, ranked 152 in the world, came into the match buoyed by his first ATP Tour level win since 2018 in Tuesday’s first-round victory over Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler in Italy.

But he was outclassed by the German on the clay, going down 6-4 6-2 in an hour and 22 minutes.

Britain's Dan Evans will take on teenager Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday

Britain’s Dan Evans will take on teenager Lorenzo Musetti on Thursday

Broady’s exit means Dan Evans is the last Briton standing, with the tournament’s No 1 seed beginning his campaign on Thursday having received a bye.

He will go up against 19-year-old home favourite Lorenzo Musetti, who reached the semi-finals of the Acapulco Open earlier this year and third round of the Miami Open last week.

Struff will next play fourth-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili next after the Georgian saved five match points at 4-5 in the deciding set against qualifier Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia before winning 4-6 6-4 7-5.

Elsewhere, Aljaz Bedene beat Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Slovenian Bedene will take on second-seeded American Taylor Fritz or Slovakia’s Andrej Martin in the next round.

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Vitality Netball Superleague: Manchester Thunder move into top four; London Pulse beat Severn Stars

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Coverage of the Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday with Round 10 and the start of a 10-match weekend live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel

Last Updated: 05/04/21 9:03pm

Manchester Thunder showed their strength with two excellent victories in Round Nine (Image Credit – Ben Lumley)

Manchester Thunder moved up into the top four after a second successive victory in Round Nine of the Vitality Netball Superleague.

Karen Greig’s outfit added a 59-37 result against Saracens Mavericks to the impressive way in which they ended Loughborough Lightning’s seven-match winning streak on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in the first match on Monday evening, London Pulse finished the round on a high as they beat Melissa Bessell’s Severn Stars by five goals.

If you did miss any of the action, then you can watch every match back in full on the Sky Sports YouTube channel and the competition returns on Friday with a 10-match weekend.

Vitality Netball Superleague – Round Nine Results

Sunday Manchester Thunder 59-50 Loughborough Lightning
Sunday Severn Stars 47-35 Celtic Dragons
Sunday London Pulse 37-49 Wasps
Sunday Saracens Mavericks 39-38 Team Bath Netball
Monday Severn Stars 36-41 London Pulse
Monday Saracens Mavericks 37-59 Manchester Thunder

Thunder turn it on against Mavs

Manchester Thunder, the 2019 champions, showed that they’re getting into an excellent rhythm as they backed up their performance against Lightning with another assured outing on Monday night.

After seeing Mavericks beat Team Bath Netball the previous day, Greig’s team knew they needed to start fast, and they did.

Thunder put the building blocks in place during the opening minutes, before they pressed down hard on the accelerator and kept their foot there for the whole of the first half.

Quarter-by-quarter scores

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FT
Saracens Mavericks 9 11 9 8 37
Manchester Thunder 15 15 10 19 59

Elia McCormick and player of the match Laura Malcolm were tenacious in defence, while Amy Carter and Caroline O’Hanlon picked up where they left off on Sunday and showed their creativity in attack.

With Eleanor Cardwell and Joyce Mvula being such a tight unit, Mavericks weren’t able to gain the same amount of ball as they did against Bath. That was proving to be costly and it meant that Thunder were able to create a 30-20 lead at the interval.

With their head coaches’ words ringing in their ears and personnel changes for Mavericks, both teams upped the ante in the third quarter and there was plenty of body-on-body as it played out.

Mavericks’ confidence grew as they found shooter Britney Clarke, who’d arrived on for Ine-Mari Venter earlier in the match, in good form, while in defence they hassled and disrupted Thunder more.

The reward was a much closer quarter, just 10-9 in Thunder’s favour, and although Mavericks began the last strongly, they couldn’t sustain it.

In contrast, the 2019 champions accelerated again. With Malcolm leading by example, they continued to add to their tally and didn’t let up for a moment. In the final minutes, Greig introduced a number of her players off the bench and the final 22-goal margin will have been noted by every other side in the competition.

Pulse prevail over Stars

London Pulse put in a strong first-half performance to finish Round Nine on a high with a 41-36 victory over Severn Stars.

The outfit’s third win of the season was built off the back of a confident start and connections at both ends of the court coming together.

Meanwhile, in the first two quarters Stars struggled to match Pulse’s height across court and found themselves under intense pressure in attack.

Halimat Adio led London Pulse superbly on Monday night (Image Credit - Ben Lumley)

Halimat Adio led London Pulse superbly on Monday night (Image Credit – Ben Lumley)

Ahead of the contest, both head coaches highlighted how evenly matched the two teams were and the majority of the first quarter went goal-for-goal.

Initially Stars looked settled going forwards, despite fielding a new attacking line-up after losing Beth Dyke to injury on Sunday and Liana Leota earlier in the season.

However, as the first half played out the dynamic Funmi Fadoju performed superbly at WD and alongside her defensive colleagues, she made life difficult for Stars.

Pulse then used the second quarter to really tighten their grip on the contest and their productivity meant that they led by 12 at the midway point.

Quarter-by-quarter scores

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 FT
Severn Stars 7 5 11 13 36
London Pulse 12 12 9 8 41

After the break Stars hit back, as they backed themselves more in attack and found Georgia Rowe and Paige Reed more frequently in the circle. Not only did they force Pulse into making changes in their defensive end, but they won the quarter 11-9.

At 33-23 down, Stars knew that they had to make inroads into the 10-goal deficit quickly. Initially, they weren’t able to do that as the industrious Halimat Adio kept the pressure on Rowe, and Lindsay Keable’s arrival added further experience in the circle.

Then, with four minutes to play, Stars made their move. As the minutes ticked by, Bessell’s team grew stronger however when Adio stepped up at key moments, it meant that Pulse were able to hold firm and Stars ran out of time.

Sky Sports is your home of netball. The Vitality Netball Superleague continues on Friday with Round 10 and the start of a 10-match weekend, live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.


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‘I can’t quite believe it’: Stephanie Davis waiting for Olympic call to sink in

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Stephanie Davis says she is still waiting for her whirlwind journey from club runner to elite athlete to sink in after being officially named on Thursday in the Team GB marathon squad for the Tokyo Olympics.

Davis, who combines running for her local club Clapham Chasers with working for an asset management company, said her life had been “exciting but a bit mad” since she won the British trials last week – with numerous well-wishers hailing her story as an inspiration.

The 30-year-old Scot said she never dreamed her late blossoming career would end up with an Olympic spot. “When I was younger I did shorter distances and some cross country,” she said. “I wasn’t terrible but I definitely wasn’t on the podiums at national level. I did race against Lynsey Sharp in the 800s, and she always slaughtered me. I would make it through the finals but I was definitely always last.

“Back then I never thought I’d be getting to this level. I just didn’t think it would be possible. It just shows you that everyone’s journey is different. And if you just put in the hard work, and when the time is right for you, then it can happen.”

Davis, who will be joined in the women’s team by Stephanie Twell and Jessica Piasecki after Charlotte Purdue was surprisingly overlooked, ran her first marathon in 2018 when she debuted in a respectable 2hr 41min. Since then she has kicked on impressively and looked to have plenty more in the tank when setting a personal best of 2hr 27min 16sec last week.

“I can’t quite believe my name is on the list,” Davis said. “I’m still waiting for it to really sink in. But I have been so touched by the amount of people who have messaged me to say: ‘What an inspiration you are.’ It’s not something I expected to hear.”

However, Davis said she had chuckled after reading in some race reports that she was a senior financial adviser. “I’m just waiting to be told that I’m CEO next,” she joked. “I don’t do number crunching as I’m on the admin side – my official title is corporate access specialist. I did sports science at university so I’m not qualified to give financial advice.”

Her next big race will be at the Olympics, but she admits she has no idea what the marathon course in Sapporo is like – or even what time the race starts. “I know it’s going to be warm so that’s something I’m going to have to factor in to my training. Hopefully, depending on Covid, I’ll get away to do some kind of warm‑weather training, which I’m like really excited about because I’ve never been on a proper training camp.”

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Davis said there was no secret to her success – except for that fact she “does not focus on crazy mileage” unlike many runners, preferring to swim and cross-train instead – although she admits she is a bit of a porridge “fiend”, too. “I’m going to have to take lots with me,” she said with a smile. “I’m hoping a Scottish porridge company will give me some free sponsorship and an unlimited lifetime supply.”

Four other British athletes were also selected on Thursday, including Ben Connor, Callum Hawkins and Chris Thompson in the men’s marathon and Tom Bosworth in the men’s 20km race walk.

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