In the BNP Paribas Open Round of 128 on Thursday, No. 85-ranked Ajla Tomljanovic faces No. 74 Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Ruse carries -160 odds to claim a win against Tomljanovic (+125).
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Top-ranked tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis. Sabalenka posted a video of the proposal on Instagram, accompanied by the words 'You & me, forever,' along with a ring and heart emoji.
She had an incredible last year. She's still so young and everything for her is a new experience which is amazing. And what she achieved I think is just incredible. And she's actually my doubles partner this week, so I'm really excited to be playing doubles with with Maya, and she's going to be a little bit nervous for her first match this morning, but she's a quality player. She moves so well on the court, so really excited to see how she goes.
I don't really feel like there is a lot of house money or underdog mentality that I'm feeling, because I don't feel like I have been playing anything outside of my comfort zone or outside of my normal level, Jovic said. I have come from two other tournaments where I was playing every day and winning a lot of matches, as well.
Alexander Bublik, the resident eccentric of professional men's tennis, has the lyrics to two different Eminem songs tattooed on his arm. Doubles specialists, he's said, aren't "real athletes," though Bublik himself reached the doubles final of the 2021 French Open. The 28-year-old Kazakh has quoted Kung Fu Panda to cast doubt on Jannik Sinner's doping status, and called the tennis exhibited by greats like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal "boring."