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Novak Djokovic has won it all when it comes to men’s tennis, but now, he is chasing a dream to become the first player ever to win 25 Grand Slam titles. The 38-year-old’s last victory in a major title came nearly two years back in New York, where he lifted the US Open after beating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
Since then, Djokovic has been waiting to lift an elusive title, but so far, has failed to achieve his milestone. The Belgrade-born player has featured in six Grand Slams but has only managed to qualify once, at Wimbledon last year, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets. This year, Djokovic has featured in both major events, but his journey ended at the semifinal stage on both occasions.
At the Australian Open, Djokovic was forced to retire from the semifinal against Alexander Zverev due to a fitness concern. A few months later, in Paris, Djokovic lost to Sinner in the last-four clash at the French Open in straight sets. Former world number one Jimmy Connors spoke in the recent episode of the Advantage Connors podcast, where he highlighted what is stopping Djokovic from achieving something that no player has achieved in professional tennis since the Open era began.
“His success on all the Grand Slam surfaces has been pretty amazing, let’s face it,” said Connors. “Going in, I am sure he would have loved to have got to the final there and beaten Sinner and had that confidence flowing to his game. But I keep telling you, that getting older and playing against these young kids is no easy task, especially in these three out of five set matches. It’s not the one that you win 6-4 in the fifth or 7-5 in the fourth set. It’s the ones that follow that break you down and wear you out to where you get to the quarter-finals or the semi-finals and that is where you are supposed to be starting to play your best and getting on a roll, not fighting fatigue. It just happens to every athlete. You can’t beat it. Because the athletes, when you get older, your competition is younger and when they come in and want to make their name like Sinner and Alcaraz, they want to use you, the older guy, as their stepping stone. A lot of these guys – to beat Novak and to be able to tell your kids that I beat Djokovic at Wimbledon, that’s big!”
Paris, you have my gratitude. Thank you for your incredible support in a place that is very special to me . Honestly some of the greatest support I’ve received in my career . Bravo to Jannik. Merci to @rolandgarros. À bientôt. pic.twitter.com/TKRZl7SIDN
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 7, 2025
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Ben Shelton’s Breakout Moment at the Canadian Open is Serving Up Drama that Tennis Needs
Ben Shelton’s performance at the 2025 Canadian Open wasn’t just a match; it was a statement. And boy, did he deliver it on the court with the precision of his 135mph serves. Sure, beating two top-10 players consecutively is impressive, but Shelton didn’t just beat them—he dismantled them, piece by piece, like he was on some kind of tennis demolition derby. Oh, and he’s just 22 years old. Not bad for a kid barely old enough to rent a car. Who Exactly is Shelton, and Why Should You Care? Shelton isn’t some random wildcard who stumbled into the Canadian Open. This southpaw powerhouse has been turning heads since he burst onto the scene, and this week, he took it up several notches. He defeated his fellow American Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals (ranked No. 4, mind you) without even looking like he broke a sweat. The final score? 6-4, 6-3. Yeah, that’s not just a win; that’s a clinic. What’s more, Shelton’s stats this week have been outrageously good. Against Fritz, the left-hander won 86% of his points behind his first serve. Meanwhile, Fritz, who’s no slouch when it comes to serving, won just 57% of his service points. Ouch. But the real chef’s kiss? Shelton made Fritz look out of sorts the entire match. “I’ll keep him moving, and he won’t see it coming,” feels like it could have been his internal mantra. And frankly, it worked like a charm. A Masters 1000 Final? Move Over, Old Guard Reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final is a big deal for Shelton. Not only because it puts him in the same sentence as legends like Andy Roddick (the last young American to reach this stage in Toronto back in 2004), but also because it signals a much-needed torch-passing moment in American tennis. For years, there’s been a gaping hole in the narrative for the next “it” player to replace Roddick or Sampras. Spoiler alert? The left-hander might just be the guy. Shelton’s breakout form isn’t a fluke. He’s displayed remarkable consistency in the high-pressure environment of this tournament. “Even more uncharted territory,” he scrawled on a camera lens after his win, looking every bit the typhoon of confidence you’d expect from someone on this kind of run. What Makes Shelton Different? First things first, Shelton’s game isn’t built on gimmicks. He’s not coasting on reputation or banking on a one-trick-pony approach. His left-handed serve is a weapon of mass destruction, and his ability to dictate play, especially against big hitters like Fritz, shows a mental maturity people twice his age often lack. “I felt like I had the ball on a string,” Shelton said, summing up his vibes during the Fritz takedown. Big flex. Bigger results. But don’t just slap the label of “one-to-watch” on Shelton and call it a day. He’s not waiting politely for his turn. “I’m not wondering if my shot is going in anymore,” he shared during post-match comments. That’s not just confidence. That’s an outright dare to his opponents. His progression from being “all serve, little else” to a full-court threat is what makes him a nightmare to play against. But Wait, There’s More! Shelton’s run isn’t just about personal milestones; it’s about American tennis finally getting some much-needed fresh blood in the Masters circuit. And he’s already closing the ATP rankings gap. With 450 points from the Canadian Open under his belt, he’s breathing down Novak Djokovic’s neck for the No. 6 spot. Just 160 points separate the two, which feels like a mere formality if he wins the final. Yep, the American could leapfrog Djokovic. What a time to be alive. Speaking of the final, Shelton’s opponent is Karen Khachanov, the Russian who’s been no slouch himself, taking down Zverev in a three-set dogfight. If Shelton’s on-form, Khachanov may need more than luck to stand a chance. Closing Thoughts What’s next for Shelton, aside from probably terrifying the rest of the men’s singles circuit? The Cincinnati Open and U.S. Open, both just around the corner. If this week proved anything, it’s that Ben Shelton isn’t just arriving on the scene; he’s taking over the damn stage like he owns it. Humble and hungry? Definitely. But also lethal and mesmerizing. Stay tuned, folks. This is just the beginning.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league-average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on Aug. 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days' rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
Blue Jays demolish MLB records with eye-popping Coors Field performance
DENVER — There's nothing like coming to Coors Field to fix what ails you. Just ask the Toronto Blue Jays. Losers of six of eight games before arriving in Denver, the Blue Jays posted an MLB-record 63 hits in a three-game series while easily sweeping a road series from the Colorado Rockies. By totaling 25 hits on Monday night, 14 on Tuesday and 24 in Wednesday's matinee, the Blue Jays set a new MLB standard for offensive prowess. Toronto passed the MLB record of 62 hits in a three-game series, set by the Boston Red Sox in a June 7-9, 1950 matchup against the St. Louis Browns. As part of the hit parade, Toronto smashed 13 home runs, the most ever surrendered by the Rockies in a three-game set. Included in that barrage were three hits by Bo Bichette, including a three-run shot on Wednesday afternoon that got the Blue Jays rolling in the third inning. Kyle Freeland, Wednesday's starter for Colorado, allowed seven hits in his 4.2 innings of work. That was the fewest amount of hits given up by a Rockies starter against Toronto, as Rockies starter Tanner Gordon allowed 11 in 2.2 frames on Monday, while Anthony Molina surrendered nine in 5.0 innings on Tuesday. "We need to pitch with confidence as starting pitchers. We need to command the baseball better in general," said Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer as his team slipped to 30-84 on the season. "We have to put hitters away when we have that opportunity." That was something Colorado couldn't do against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, as their first six runs of a 20-1 blowout win came with two outs in the frame. Wednesday's offensive explosion helped Toronto outscore the Rockies, 45-6, in the series. That run differential was the second-most in MLB's modern era and the most runs scored by an MLB team in a three-game series since the 2019 Chicago Cubs scored 47 runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates from Sept. 13-15, 2019. In all, the 45 runs, 63 hits and 13 home runs allowed in the series were each the most allowed by Colorado pitchers in a three-game set in franchise history. How bad did it get for Colorado at the end of the series? Down 12-1 entering the ninth inning on Wednesday, the Rockies put catcher Austin Nola on the mound for his first-ever pitching appearance. He was nothing like his younger brother, Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola, as he promptly gave up four consecutive doubles, including RBI shots from Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as part of eight hits and eight runs posted by the Blue Jays against him. "It hurts when you get beat that bad for three games," Nola said. "We can compete with anybody. I know we can. We're all Major League players, so it definitely hurts. We're going to have to flush this one and get back out there on Friday in Arizona and have a new competitive attitude." All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Tonka Hemingway Earning First Teams Reps With Las Vegas Raiders
Former South Carolina defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway is earning first-team reps with the Las Vegas Raiders. NFL preseason games will continue over the next few days, and one former South Carolina Gamecock has a major opportunity ahead of him with the Las Vegas Raiders. According to recent reports, Tonka Hemingway has been earning first-team reps with the Raiders during training camp. The former fourth-round pick is on track to earn playing time during his first season with the organization, but he will have to earn those minutes during preseason games over the next few weeks. "It's been fun," Hemingway said on Tuesday. "Coming out here and competing. Getting to know some of the guys. Just learning from all of them it means a lot." Hemingway was asked if any specific player has been helpful to his development so far, and the former Gamecock said the whole team has been beneficial for him. "Really the whole room I would say," Hemingway conitnued. "All of the vets, just listening to them talk. They may not be talking to you but may parents always said just listen. So just listening to them, hearing them talk, seeing how they work, take everything in, that's been real good." Hemingway was a difference maker for the Gamecocks last season. In 2024, he finished the season with 25 tackles, four tackles for loss and four sacks. His final season helped land him with the Raiders, to which he would later sign a four-year deal worth $4.87 million with a $666K signing bonus. On the Raiders' unofficial depth chart, Hemingway is listed as the third-string defensive end. He will have the opportunity to improve his slot, but regardless, it sounds like Hemingway has earned the right to playing time this season.
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