6:30 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Entering Friday, Serena Williams had played 967 tour-level singles matches as a professional, with just four losses against opponents ranked outside the top 100 — and none in eight years. Well, it’s time to add to that list: Williams was beaten by No. 116 Shelby Rogers 1-6,
Tennis
1:45 PM ET Simona Halep said she was slowly returning to her best form following the coronavirus hiatus as she cruised past Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-0 on Friday to reach the Prague Open semifinals. World No. 2 Halep made a rusty start to the claycourt tournament and needed three sets to win each of
10:19 AM ET The ATP on Friday issued a revised provisional calendar for the rest of 2020, highlighted by the Italian Open changing dates to take the place of the canceled Madrid Open. Play in Rome will now begin a week earlier than planned, on Sept. 14, the day after the US Open men’s final.
6:18 PM ET Associated Press Robert Ryland, the first Black professional tennis player and later a coach to such stars as Arthur Ashe and Serena and Venus Williams, has died. He was 100. Ryland died Aug. 2 at his stepson’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, his wife, Nancy Ingersoll, confirmed to The New
4:29 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams came back and won the last four games to beat her older sister, Venus, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a hard-hitting, back-and-forth, second-round matchup at the Top Seed Open on Thursday. It was the 31st meeting of their careers — 22 1/2 years after the first.
2:30 PM ET Associated Press Top-seeded Simona Halep came from a set down to defeat Barbora Krejcikova 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the quarterfinals of the Prague open on Thursday. Down 2-0 in the final set, Halep replied by winning six consecutive games, converting her first match point when the 118th-ranked Krejcikova double-faulted. “She played
8:42 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Moments after her dominant first-round win over former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka at the Top Seed Open on Tuesday, Venus Williams could barely contain her excitement during her on-court interview. After thanking the healthcare workers and the WTA, reflecting on what it was like to be back on court
7:21 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — American teenager Coco Gauff overcame some shaky serving Wednesday to beat No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 and reach the Top Seed Open quarterfinals with her third career victory over a top-15 opponent. Gauff, 16, hit 10 double-faults and was broken seven times. “I
2:13 PM ET Associated Press Kristyna Pliskova upset second-seeded Petra Martic 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Prague Open on Wednesday. Pliskova, ranked 69th, hit nine aces and 28 winners on the way to her first win over her 14th-ranked opponent. It’s the eighth clay-court quarterfinal for the hard-serving Czech since she
2:58 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams won the hard way in her comeback following a six-month layoff, rallying to beat unseeded American Bernarda Pera 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Tuesday’s first round of the Top Seed Open. Aiming to return to form following the break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the 23-time
4:27 PM ET Serena Williams said on Tuesday that she has become a student of the Bible during the long lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and believes that the book holds the key to achieving racial justice. “A lot of my time off, I’ve been studying the Bible,’ Williams said in a Zoom call
11:55 AM ET The International Tennis Federation has dropped a doping violation charge against American player Maksim Tikhomirov because of a lack of evidence. Tikhomirov had been charged with evading a doping test while playing a tournament in Cancun, Mexico, in January. However, the ITF said Tuesday that its Independent Tribunal found there wasn’t enough
10:25 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Marie Bouzkova expected some adjustment to her first tennis tournament in nearly six months. First was the matter of shedding rust from the layoff caused by the coronavirus shutdown. The Czech Republic player also had to get her mind around the inaugural Top Seed Open and a
12:58 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, added her name to the growing group of players withdrawing from the Grand Slam tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic. Kuznetsova wrote Monday on Instagram that she was pulling out of the U.S. Open and the tournament preceding it at
9:19 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com After seven years away from the sport, Kim Clijsters announced her much-hyped return to professional tennis in September. It hasn’t exactly been the comeback year she envisioned. Yet despite the unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances of the 2020 season, she somehow has already has won a title. Following three grueling weeks
4:10 PM ET Associated Press PALERMO, Sicily — Fiona Ferro of France upset fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the Palermo Ladies Open final on Sunday to win the first tour-level tennis title in five months. Ferro, who is ranked 53rd in the world, won 6-2, 7-5. She had lost just one set on her
1:33 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Alexei Popyrin withdrew from the US Open on Sunday, allowing 2012 champion Andy Murray to move into the main draw. That means Murray can relinquish the wild-card invitation he received from the U.S. Tennis Association, which now will be given to American Mitchell Krueger. Popyrin is a
4:47 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams flexed and then kissed a sinewy right biceps to show downtime well spent in training even without bench pressing. “This is God-given, thank you very much,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion said as she thanked her mother, Oracene. Williams now looks to flex her muscles