Tennis

8:52 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — While it’s not easy to fly under the radar as the fourth seed at a Grand Slam, Daniil Medvedev has managed to do exactly that at this year’s Australian Open. In a tournament beset by drama two weeks before a ball was even hit, the rangy Russian somehow avoided

6:09 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Daniil Medvedev simply does not lose right now. Not to Top 10 opponents. Not to anyone, really. Certainly not to a drained Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open semifinals. Now let’s see what happens against Novak Djokovic. Medvedev made it to his second Grand Slam final as

2:10 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka won the Australian Open women’s doubles final Friday night to collect a second Grand Slam title as a team. Mertens of Belgium and Sabalenka of Belarus had a 6-2, 6-3 win over the third-seeded Czech team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

8:20 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open is expecting to record a loss of more than $78 million (AU$100 million) for running the tennis season’s first Grand Slam amid the COVID-19 pandemic, tournament director Craig Tiley said Friday. The government-imposed restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus meant Tennis

12:25 AM ET Excitement generated by the showdown between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Australian Open could not be overstated. The 23-year-old Osaka grew up idolizing Williams, who was trying to reach her ninth Australian final in a bid to win a record-tying 24th Grand Slam, and Osaka (the third

3:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com As she made her way off court Thursday at Rod Laver Arena, Serena Williams stopped for a moment as the recently returned crowd stood and showered her with applause. She raised her left arm to wave before moving her hand over her heart, as if to let them know the

11:07 PM ET ESPN staff Serena Williams is two wins away from capturing the Australian Open to tie Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam championships with 24. The first hurdle for the No. 10-seeded Williams is a semifinal matchup against No. 2 Naomi Osaka. Osaka already has prevented Williams from reaching the record 24th

11:43 AM ET For most of tennis’s existence, winning even a single Grand Slam tournament meant career affirmation. From 1990 to ’98, 16 different players won a major, six for the first and only time. If there was a big-picture narrative involved, it likely had to do with reaching No. 1 in the ATP rankings.

9:38 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-ranked Ash Barty built a big lead in her quarterfinal match at the Australian Open before her opponent took an injury timeout and left the court. More than an hour later, it was Barty heading abruptly out the exit. She was upset Wednesday by Karolina Muchova 1-6,

11:31 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Jessica Pegula surprised even her coaches with her quarterfinal run. It was the 2005 Eddie Herr International Junior Championship and the 12-and-under field included Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Ajla Tomljanovic and Eugenie Bouchard. Pegula hadn’t played in many tournaments, so no one knew how she would handle the pressure competing

10:55 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com When Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka met at the 2018 US Open final, Arthur Ashe Stadium descended into chaos. Williams was given three highly controversial code violations — with the last resulting in a game penalty to give Osaka a 5-3 lead in the second set. The crowd booed throughout

10:08 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka advanced Tuesday to a potential semifinal showdown against Serena Williams at the Australian Open. Osaka earned her 19th victory in a row by overpowering Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 6-2, and will next meet the winner of the quarterfinal match Tuesday night between Williams and No.

1:12 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — The grimace on Novak Djokovic‘s face after slipping on the white “MELBOURNE” lettering behind the baseline at Rod Laver Arena was enough to suggest the world No. 1’s chances of defending his Australian Open title had just taken a serious hit. In the third round at Melbourne Park on

12:00 PM ET When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady walloped the Kansas City Chiefs to earn Brady his seventh Super Bowl ring, it prompted a series of “Is Brady the GOAT of all GOATs?” conversations. Most of those greatest-of-all-time discussions ended, or should have, upon remembrance that Serena Williams exists. Like Brady, Williams

9:32 PM ET Associated Press Jessica Pegula has reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open by earning her first victory over an opponent ranked in the Top 10. The 61st-ranked American, whose parents own Buffalo’s NFL and NHL franchises, beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod

7:56 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Upon advancing to her first major fourth round on Saturday, Jessica Pegula grabbed the blue marker to write on the on-court camera lens, as is customary for winners at the Australian Open. She could have written anything. Before saying hi to her sister, she wrote: “Let’s go Jen Brady!” 🇺🇸

5:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com As a smiling Serena Williams made her way to the net after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three hard-fought sets Sunday in the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open, 18-time major champion Chris Evert seemed in awe over what she had just seen. “Is this the next level of women’s

9:17 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — So good for so long lately, Naomi Osaka was just one point from the end of her lengthy winning streak, one point from leaving the Australian Open with a loss to Garbine Muguruza. Bleak as things looked for her late in a big-hitting matchup of Grand Slam