Venus Williams made a return to the court Tuesday at the Libéma Open for her first match in more than five months.

The 42-year-old had not competed since the second round of the ASB Classic in New Zealand. in January. While she defeated Katie Volynets in the match, she suffered a hamstring injury, forcing her to withdraw from that tournament and from the Australian Open.

Her comeback came via wild-card entry to the Libéma Open. The first-round match marked her first time playing in the Netherlands and her first singles tournament on grass since Wimbledon in 2021. (She participated in mixed doubles at Wimbledon last year.)

Competing against Celine Naef, Williams won her first set 6-3 but lost the second set in a tiebreak 7-6 (7-3). Naef, a 17-year-old who also received a wild-card entry to the tournament, took the third set 6-2 to win the match.

Among those in attendance to watch the match was Venus’ younger sister Serena Williams, who announced her retirement from tennis last year. In May, she announced that she is pregnant with her second child.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek won her third French Open title in four years on Saturday, defeating Karolina Muchova in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Swiatek now owns four Grand Slam titles: three from the French Open (2020, 2022, 2023), plus last year’s U.S. Open. The 22-year-old tennis star from Poland is the youngest woman to own four Grand Slam trophies since a 20-year-old Serena Williams accomplished the feat at the 2002 U.S. Open.

After winning the first set handily, Swiatek went up 3-0 in the second — but the unseeded Muchova fought back and scored a few truly remarkable points, including this one:

Despite Swiatek’s previous experience hoisting the French Open trophy, this year’s celebration came with a surprise when the lid of the cup toppled off mid-celebration.

Wednesday’s French Open lineup featured upsets and rematches, as World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 6 Coco Gauff met in the French Open for the first time since last year’s final.

Swiatek beat Gauff in straight sets once again, this time taking a 6-4, 6-2 win.

“I feel pretty satisfied with my game, I’m happy I was able to make it in two sets,” Swiatek told the Tennis Channel afterwards. “In the first set, in important moments, I was the one that was more solid. It wasn’t easy, especially with the wind today, but I’m happy I’m into the semifinal.”

The Polish star has won 14 straight sets against Gauff and owns a 7-0 career record in matches against the American teenager. Swiatek has also won 12 straight matches on the clay courts at Roland Garros, elevating her career win-loss record at the tournament to 26-2.

With the win, Swiatek advances to her third French Open semifinal. Each time she’s reached the semifinal previously at Roland Garros, she’s won the title.

But the three-time major champion will face a tough test Thursday in Beatriz Haddad Maia, who upset Ons Jabeur in three sets on Wednesday to become the first Brazilian woman since 1968 to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. In their only previous meeting last summer, Haddad Maia upset Swiatek on the hard courts of Toronto.

Just days after claims of sexism headlined the women’s tournament at the Madrid Open, this week’s Italian Open earned its own share of criticism.

The chaos in Rome culminated with the women’s singles final late on Saturday night. The match started at 11 p.m. following rain delays and two men’s semifinals that ended up headlining the night.

Shortly after midnight, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan won the women’s title when Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina retired due to a left thigh injury. But confusion ensued during the awards presentation, when event organizers announced the winner before the runner-up (the opposite of protocol) and Rybakina had to ask for her own trophy.

Former Australian pro Rennae Stubbs called it the “worst trophy presentation” she had ever seen.

If anyone was surprised at the treatment of the women’s event, they shouldn’t have been. After all, the women’s prize pool at this year’s Italian Open was less than half of the men’s ($3.9 million vs. $8.5 million).

Rybakina walked away with $564,000 for winning the women’s title, while Daniil Medvedev earned nearly $1.2 million for his victory on Sunday. Even men’s runner-up Holger Rune earned more for his loss ($627,000) than Rybakina did for her victory.

Italian Open organizers say they intend to begin paying men and women equal prize money — but not until 2025.

Naomi Osaka is taking aim at the double standard that exists for female athletes who have kids.

“Btw to the people that are suddenly concerned about my career- There are plenty of male athletes with kids that are significantly less accomplished, you might wanna worry about them instead. Thanks for the concern, might wanna redirect it to someone that needs it though,” the four-time Grand Slam singles champion tweeted on Friday.

In a second tweet, Osaka added: “Not trying to make this a male and female thing but let’s be fr.”

In January, Osaka announced that she is pregnant with her first child. The 25-year-old tennis star is taking the 2023 season off, but said she hopes to make her competitive return at the 2024 Australian Open.

“One thing I’m looking forward to is for my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘that’s my mom’, haha,” Osaka wrote in January.

The Madrid Open has apologized for a series of miscues in which the women’s stars received unequal treatment compared to the men’s players.

The women’s doubles finalists — including runners-up Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula as well as champions Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia — did not receive the opportunity to make the traditional post-match speeches, even though the men’s doubles finalists did.

“Did I think we were not going to be able to speak? No. I’ve never heard of that, like, in my life,” Pegula said Tuesday. “Even in a $10,000 Challenger final you would speak. I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision or how they actually had a conversation and decided, ‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do and there’s going to be no backlash against this’.”

Gauff took to Twitter after the situation, essentially giving what would have been her speech on social media.

“Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:( But thank you to the fans for supporting us and women’s tennis this week! Thanks @JLPegula for always keeping it fun on the court and hitting unreal clutch shots hahahaha Lastly, big congratulations Vika and Bia,” she wrote.

“Also thanks to my team and Jess’s team of course! Also for the ball kids, tournament staff, and everyone else who works hard behind the scenes. Twitter format doesn’t allow me to say everything I would’ve said during the speech if we had one. But just wanted to say I’m thankful.”

Azarenka also criticized the tournament organizers for the decision.

“What happened in terms of doubles was completely unacceptable,” Azarenka said Thursday. “There’s a lot of conversations, obviously, internally, of what happened and I want to see how that develops and what are the consequences of those decisions. So that’s why I don’t want to make too many comments. I believe to give people the opportunity to figure out what’s the best course of action. Do I think it’s unacceptable? It’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Yet the canceled speeches were just the final straw, capping off an inauspicious week for the tournament filled with charges of sexism.

The revealing outfits worn by ball girls prompted criticism of the tournament organizers, as did birthday cakes presented to men’s and women’s champions, which differed dramatically in size. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek was scheduled to play in the early hours on Saturday morning.

The organizers of the tournament released a statement apologizing to players and fans on Thursday.

“We sincerely apologize to all the players and fans who expect more of the Mutua Madrid Open tournament,” chief executive Gerard Tsobanian said. “Not giving our women’s doubles finalists the chance to address their fans at the end of the match was unacceptable, and we have apologised directly to Victoria [Azarenka], Beatriz [Haddad Maia], Coco [Gauff] and Jessica [Pegula].

“We are working internally and with the WTA to review our protocols and are committed to improving our process moving forward. We made a mistake and this will not ever happen again.”

The WTA already had indicated that it would investigate the Madrid Open, which ran over two weeks this year for the first time. The tournament is run by sports super-agency IMG.

Emma Raudcanu will miss the French Open and Wimbledon after undergoing surgery to deal with “a recurring injury on a bone of both hands,” she revealed Wednesday.

“It is safe to say the last 10 months have been difficult,” she wrote. “I tried my best to manage the pain and play through it for most of this year and end of last year.”

Raducanu says that she reduced her practice load, missed “weeks of training” and cut last season short in order to try and heal the injury. But “unfortunately it’s not enough.” She has had a “minor procedure” on both hands to resolve the issues, she wrote.

“I’m disappointed to share that I will be out for the next few months,” she continued, writing that she will undergo an additional procedure on her ankle.

The top British player has been managing the wrist injury for the last few months, and she withdrew from the Madrid Open last week shortly before her opening match.

It’s unknown when Raducanu will return to competition, although she noted that she will “miss the summer events.” That puts her out for both the French Open and Wimbledon, and possibly for the US Open as well.

“I tried to downplay the issues so I thank all my fans who continued to support me when you did not know the facts,” she wrote. “Looking forward to seeing you all back out there.”

Simona Halep is calling for a hearing to give her the chance to clear her name after being provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency in October.

In an interview with Tennis Majors earlier this week, the former world No. 1 spoke publicly for the first time since learning of a failed drug test at the US Open. She said that up to this point, she’s been denied a right to a hearing by an independent court.

“I didn’t want to get out and talk because it was very emotional,” Halep said. “Actually, I couldn’t handle it very well. But now I feel the need to speak out loud to my supporters, my fans and to the public because I am sure they really want to know why it’s taking so long and I really felt the need to do that.”

At the US Open last year, Halep’s A and B samples both confirmed the presence of a blood booster, roxadustat, which is banned. The drug can stimulate the production of red blood cells, similarly to another banned substance erythropoietin.

Halep denied taking the substance knowingly and said that she has evidence proving that low-qualities of the drug entered her body from an authorized supplement that was contaminated.

She sent that evidence to the International Tennis Federation in December. Her case was scheduled to be heard by an independent tribunal in February. The hearing was postponed to a March date that was also pushed back. She now hopes to have the hearing in May.

“The ITF requested that the hearing on March 24 should be canceled,” Halep said. “I did not agree with that because, as the rule says, a player that is provisionally suspended is entitled to get an expedited hearing. Everything takes so long.

“I asked the ITF to lift my sanction to be able to play, but they also refused it.”

In a statement, the ITF said that anti-doping cases do not fall under its jurisdiction. The ITIA said that Halep’s case was being processed in line with the World Anti-Doping Code.

Since her positive result, Halep says she has taken 10 tests, which have all been negative.

“I believe that it’s not fair to spend eight months without even being judged by the tribunal. Emotionally, the whole period has not been easy,” said the 31-year-old. “I’m not asking for special treatment. I just ask to be judged. How much longer is this going to take?”

Halep’s last match came in the first round of the 2022 US Open, when she was stunned by Daria Snigur in three sets. The Romanian has won two Grand Slam singles titles in her career, the French Open in 2018 and Wimbledon in 2019.

The WTA is set to return to China, ending its boycott despite continued concerns for the safety of former player Peng Shuai.

WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon originally implemented the boycott in late 2021 due to the public disappearance of Peng, who had made sexual assault accusations against a high-ranking Chinese government official. All WTA tournaments pulled out of the country as a result.

Peng later rolled back those allegations and made a few public appearances – including meeting with members of the International Olympic Committee. But she has not been seen in public since the Beijing Olympics in February 2022.

Still, Simon told the Associated Press that the WTA has “received assurances from people who are close to her, that we’ve been in contact with, that she is safe and living with her family in Beijing.”

Conditions of the boycott – which were that someone from the tour was able to meet with Peng, and that a full and transparent investigation was conducted into the Grand Slam doubles champion’s accusations – were never met. But Simon told the AP that input from player and tournament representatives led to the decision to return to China.

“The stance that we took at the time was appropriate. And we stand by that. But 16 months into this, we’re convinced that our requests will not be met. And to continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense,” Simon said. “So we needed to look at a different approach.

“With this, our members believe it’s time to resume the mission in China, where we believe we can continue to make a positive difference, as we have for the last 20 years, while at the same time making sure that Peng is not forgotten. By returning, hopefully more progress can be made.”

Additionally, the WTA has been assured by the Chinese Tennis Association that players will not have issues when competing within the country.

He called the change in course “an organizational decision.” He also noted that “the great majority of the athletes were supportive and wanted to see a return and felt it was time to go back.”

The tour schedule in China is set to be announced in the coming weeks, beginning in September and will include the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek continued her run of dominance at the Dubai Tennis Championships in Friday’s semifinal round, besting American teenager Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2. 

The win marked Swiatek’s sixth against Gauff in six meetings, and the 21-year-old Polish star advances to her 15th career final.

The straight-sets win was nonetheless the closest Swiatek has had at this tournament. She has dropped just 14 games through six matches. The semifinal match is the only one so far in which she has not won a set 6-0 or 6-1.

Still, Swiatek believes she still has room for improvement in her game, even as she stands at the peak of the tennis world.

“I feel I have many things to improve on the court. Sometimes it’s not going to be visible by results or the way I play,” she said.

“It’s more about how I want to approach the tournaments mentally, my attitude, and developing as a player because I feel I have many things to improve on the court. Sometimes it’s not going to be visible by results or the way I play. I think I can have more options on court. These are my goals.”

Swiatek is coming off a career year in 2022, in which she won the French Open and the US Open. She lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to start 2023 but won the Qatar Open over Jessica Pegula on Feb. 18.