<
        >

          Tiafoe hits the top 10, and Murray and Williams on the comeback trail

          With Frances Tiafoe's victory in Stuttgart, the American men now have two players ranked in the top 10 for the first time in more than a decade. Marijan Murat/dpa via AP
          • D'Arcy Maine, ESPN.com
          Jun 20, 2023, 01:40 PM

          It's been a good nine months for Frances Tiafoe. Since reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open in September, the 25-year-old made a finals appearance at the Japan Open, led the American squad to a United Cup victory, reached the semifinals at Indian Wells and won his first clay title at Houston.

          Then he took his career to new heights over the weekend by winning the title at the Stuttgart Open. Following his hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8) victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in the final, Tiafoe cracked the top 10 for the first time. His reaction after the match pretty much said it all.

          Tiafoe later shared just how much the moment and the accomplishment meant to him.

          "Super emotional for a guy like me with my story and everything," Tiafoe said after the match. "[I am] a guy who shouldn't even really be here doing half the things he's doing. And now when you say his name, you can say he's Top 10 in the world. So [that is] something that no one can take from you and I'm going to remember that forever. And hopefully, I can ride that for a long time."

          Tiafoe is now the third African-American man in history to reach the milestone ranking, joining Arthur Ashe and James Blake. With Taylor Fritz also in the top 10, this marks the first time two American men hold the distinction at the same time in over a decade.

          Tiafoe also happens to be a gracious winner (and Struff an equally gracious loser). Tiafoe showered Struff with champagne on the court during the trophy presentation, and even shared the bottle with him:

          Tiafoe wasn't the only player celebrating this week. Here's what else you might have missed from the start of the grass season.

          Murray's hot streak

          Andy Murray won his second straight Challenger title on Sunday at Nottingham with a dominant 6-4, 6-4 victory over Arthur Cazaux in the final. He is now riding a 10-match win streak (and has dropped just one set throughout), and is back into the top 40 for the first time since 2018.

          After his victory on Sunday, the 36-year-old told the crowd he hoped to see his children later in the day for Father's Day. As he spoke, "We're here!" cries could be heard from the stands and Murray seemed genuinely surprised.

          "Oh my god, I didn't know they were here," Murray said. "I had no idea they were coming."

          Murray then admitted he couldn't tell how many of his four children were there, before realizing they were in fact all there:

          Murray will look to continue his impressive run on grass this week at Queen's Club. If he wins two matches, he should improve his ranking enough to secure a seed for Wimbledon. A two-time champion at the All England Club and beloved by the home crowd, what a story it would be if he could continue his momentum throughout the fortnight.

          Boulter wins her first WTA title

          British tennis fans had a lot to cheer about over the weekend as Katie Boulter earned her first WTA title in an all-British title clash at Nottingham (a 250-level event for women). Boulter, 26, defeated Jodie Burrage, 6-3, 6-3, for the trophy and jumped to a new career-high ranking of No. 77 and British No. 1 honors.

          With Heather Watson also reaching the final four, three of the four semifinalists at Nottingham were British. It was a promising turnaround for the cohorts, and their fans, after none were in the main draw at the French Open just weeks ago.

          Venus' comeback

          Sidelined since January, Venus Williams made her highly anticipated return to competition at the Libema Open last Tuesday. She faced 17-year-old Celine Naef -- who was born just weeks before Williams won her fifth major singles trophy in 2005. Williams, who received a wild card to play, started strong but ultimately lost in the opening-round match, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

          While the match result wasn't what she wanted, Williams shared some silver linings in a post on Instagram on Wednesday.

          "I'm really happy with how I played and I am just getting used to playing matches again which is to be expected," Williams wrote. "The best news is I walked off the court yesterday not hurt and not even sore after a long match and a string of really challenging injuries which means I have a chance to build on yesterday's performance in my next events.

          "It's not easy to continue to come back after unexpected injuries and delays but that's life and I love what I do and I believe in what I am doing. If you fall 10 times get up 11, never quit before the miracle."

          And, yes, she may have lost the match, but she certainly won the (completely unofficial) contest for having the best fan in the stands. Her sister Serena was seen cheering her on her throughout.

          Serena later posted a picture of Venus from the match to her Instagram story and wrote: "So proud of this woman."

          Williams, who turned 43 on Saturday, was in action again on Monday at Birmingham. In a match that lasted three hours and 17 minutes, Williams edged out Camila Giorgi, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6). She was visibly elated after.

          "I'm just so happy to be back," she told the crowd. "I thought I played so well today. She also played incredibly; I'm so surprised she's not No. 1 in the world. There were so many moments where I just thought this match was over. She would hit a shot from out of nowhere, she pushed me to be better than what I thought I could be. This is great for me. I haven't played a lot of matches and it's great to come through."

          Comeback SZN

          Williams isn't the only player to make a long-awaited return to the tennis court over the past week.

          Playing in his first event in 20 months after hip surgery in 2022, former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori was in vintage form at the Caribbean Open Challenger event in Puerto Rico. The 33-year-old dropped just one set throughout the week and won the title on Sunday with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Michael Zheng. Did we mention it's his first tournament in almost two years?

          Murray, who knows a thing or two about coming back from hip surgery, congratulated Nishikori on Twitter.

          Milos Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up, also made his return after almost two years away due to an Achilles injury and a broken foot. Facing No. 5 seed Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, Raonic pulled off the upset, 6-3, 6-4 for his first victory since March of 2021. He later said he was just "grateful" to be playing again and getting a "chance to compete."

          Raonic lost in his next match, but the big-serving Canadian is back on court this week at the Queen's Club Championships.

          After tearing her ACL in her left knee during a match at the Japan Open in September, Daria Saville made her triumphant comeback in qualifying at Birmingham on Saturday. She won her first match, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, against Madison Brengle but then lost in three sets to Cristina Busca on Sunday. Saville, who remains one of the sport's best on social media, shared her candid thoughts in a Twitter video after the loss. The 29-year-old said she "felt like I'd been hit by a double-decker bus" after her first match and was feeling positive after playing another three-set match the very next day.

          "At least I now know I've been able to play six sets in two days after a long a** injury," she said.

          Saville will next be using her protected ranking to play at Wimbledon when it gets underway next month.

          And finally, Nick Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, also made his return but it simply might have been too soon. After missing the first half of the season following left knee surgery, Kyrgios struggled with his mobility in his Round of 32 match at Stuttgart against Wu Yibing and lost 7-5, 6-3 in just 68 minutes. He was heard lamenting about the pain throughout the match. "I feel my knee every point," he was heard saying during a changeover in the second set. "I can't walk without pain."

          He later took to Twitter and asked his fans to "be patient with me," explaining his return to form would be a "process."

          Kyrgios was slated to play in this week's Halle Open but he withdrew on Monday. "Still dealing with a couple of things in my knee, just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon," Kyrgios said in a video shared on the tournament's social media accounts. "As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body."

          Serbia's moment

          Novak Djokovic won his 23rd major title earlier this month at the French Open to become the first man in history to do so, tying Serena Williams for the most ever in the Open Era. It was widely celebrated in his native Serbia -- and the celebrations didn't stop there.

          The day after Djokovic's history-making moment, Serbian Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to the team's first NBA title. It was a momentous two days for the Balkan nation.

          "We have Djokovic who won, [and is] probably the best ever," Jokic said in his postgame press conference. "For us he's the best ever of course, and now we have our NBA championship. I think it's a really good moment to be a Serbian."

          Both athletes have spoken highly of one another over the years, and Djokovic was even spotted wearing Jokic's jersey at a practice session at Roland Garros. After the Nuggets' win, Djokovic posted several congratulatory messages to Jokic and the team, as well as memes, and even asked Jokic when they would be playing tennis when a picture of a young Jokic, wearing a Nuggets sweatshirt and holding a tennis racket, went viral.

          There's still no word on the tennis match (but here's hoping it will happen and be live streamed), but that could just be because Jokic still hasn't quite caught up on all of his messages.

          Iga's honorary graduation

          Just days after winning her fourth major title at the French Open, Iga Swiatek was on hand to give a speech at the graduation ceremony at Rafael Nadal's tennis academy in Mallorca, Spain. Swiatek, who has long idolized Nadal, said it was a "huge honor" to have the chance to speak. She then even participated in one of the traditions.

          Since Swiatek's high school graduation was held virtually during the pandemic, she told the crowd she had missed out on getting to toss her cap into the air. The graduates seemed more than happy to let her join them, and gave her a hat so she could participate.

          Turns out, no matter how many trophies you may have, it really is the little things.