Tennis news today: Cameron Norrie reveals COVID-19 diagnosis as the reason for withdrawing from the Japan Open, Eugenie Bouchard qualifies for the main draw in Ostrava | October 3, 2022
Cameron Norrie pulled out of his quarterfinal match at the Korea Open last week, citing an unspecified illness. He later withdrew from this week's Japan Open as well and has now revealed that it was all because of COVID-19.
Eugenie Bouchard defeated Dalma Galfi to make the main draw of the AGEL Open in Ostrava. 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova also made it out of the qualifiers to book her spot in the main draw of the Jasmin Open.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, won his 89th career title at the Tel Aviv Open by defeating Marin Cilic in the final. Veronika Kudermetova, one of the most consistent players on the WTA tour this year, has reached a new career-high of No. 12 in this week's rankings.
Here's a round-up of the day's headlines:
Cameron Norrie down with COVID-19
When Cameron Norrie pulled out of the Korea Open last week just a short while before his quarterfinal match, he didn't reveal the exact cause of his withdrawal. He later withdrew from this week's Japan Open as well. The Brit took to social media to reveal that it was a positive COVID-19 test that ended his campaign in Seoul last week.
Reporting to you LIVE from South Korea: https://t.co/TTdpSo9vIb
Norrie said he was feeling completely fine and was displaying no symptoms. He wanted to compete in the Japan Open, but the quarantine period has prohibited him from doing so. He'll be back in action at the Stockholm Open in a couple of weeks.
Eugenie Bouchard makes the main draw cut in Ostrava
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard defeated Dalma Galfi 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the main draw in Ostrava. She's currently on the comeback trail following shoulder surgery and had to grind it out in the qualifiers due to her low ranking. The Canadian was drawn against Belinda Bencic in the first round, who made the semifinals of the Tallinn Open last week.
Linda Fruhvirtova saves 3 match points and makes it to the Jasmin Open main draw
Linda Fruhvirtova saved three match points during her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(8) win over Rebeka Masarova. The teenager served to stay in the match at 5-4 in the final set and was on the brink of elimination thrice, but fought hard to eke out a hold of serve. Later in the tie-break, she needed six match points to close out the proceedings. She's up against fourth seed Petra Martic in the first round of the Jasmin Open.
Novak Djokovic wins the Tel Aviv Open
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic played flawless tennis to defeat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-4 to win the Tel Aviv Open. He didn't drop a set the entire week. This was his 89th career title and third of the year. The Serb will now head to Kazakhstan to compete in the Astana Open where he will face Cristian Garin in the first round.
Veronika Kudermetova reaches a new career-high in the WTA rankings
A maiden Grand Slam and WTA 1000 quarterfinals, along with three runner-up finishes, are some of the highlights of Veronika Kudermetova's season in singles. The Russian has been quite consistent and has slowly made her way up the rankings. She's quite close to making her top-10 debut now, reaching a new career-high of No. 12 this week.
Kudermetova is also in contention to make the cut for the WTA Finals and a couple of good results in the coming weeks could seal the deal for her.