Tennis

9:09 AM ET Professional tennis is back on one of its biggest stages after a long hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Get ready for a 2020 US Open unlike any other. There will be no spectators after more than 700,000 attended last year. Also missing? Several top players, including both 2019 champs: Rafael Nadal

9:03 AM ET Serena Williams‘ drive to earn Grand Slam singles title No. 24, thereby equaling the all-time record held by Margaret Court, will begin next week at the fan-free US Open. The tournament will be unlike any major that she, or any other tennis pro, has ever experienced. This radical and unexpected development caused

7:33 PM ET NEW YORK — The men’s singles draw for the US Open just doesn’t look right — not with the names of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal missing, not with Andy Murray buried like just another ATP schmo down on line No. 115, his name in regular typeface as opposed to the bold

1:02 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Naomi Osaka said she will play her semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open, now scheduled for Friday, after previously stating her intention to refuse to play Wednesday. “As you know, I pulled out of the tournament yesterday in support of racial injustice and continued police violence,” Osaka, who

7:52 AM ET ESPN News Services Profilic tennis doubles partners Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are retiring from the sport ahead of the US Open, they told The New York Times on Wednesday. The decision closes a professional tennis partnership that includes a men’s doubles record of 16 Grand Slam championships. “We just both feel

10:08 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Naomi Osaka, the two-time major tennis champion, announced that she would not play in Thursday’s Western & Southern Open semifinal match in reaction to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Several hours later, the tournament announced that it was pausing play for a day. “As a sport, tennis is

5:20 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Defending Western & Southern Open champion Daniil Medvedev failed to close it out in the second set Wednesday, and Roberto Bautista Agut rallied for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory that knocked yet another top player out of the tune-up tournament for the U.S. Open. With the latest

11:43 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Serena Williams let lead after lead slip away, so she figured it was her own fault when yet another match stretched to a third set and she started getting cramps in her weary legs on the way to a surprising loss at the Western & Southern

1:29 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Defending champion Daniil Medvedev returned to the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory Tuesday over Aljaz Bedene, who accidentally hit a ball that struck a TV cameraman in the stands between second-set points. The cameraman did not appear hurt, but an

9:19 AM ET NEW YORK — Entering the grounds of the National Tennis Center through the West Gate gave way to a surreal sight at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday, the first day of the unusual tennis doubleheader currently underway in New York. Instead of the familiar, restless horde of fans attracted to

5:48 AM ET Andy Murray claimed the biggest win of his comeback and a place in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open on Monday by taking out self-destructing fifth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 3-6 7-5. Murray offered hope he was on the right track after his injury woes with a tidy first-round

12:42 PM ET Carla Suarez Navarro, a two-time US Open quarterfinalist, has withdrawn from this year’s edition of the event. Suarez, 31, ranked No. 68, had previously withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open, currently underway at the National Tennis Center, citing unspecified health reasons. The US Open will follow immediately, beginning on Aug. 31.

5:17 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Her yells of “Come on!” filling a stadium devoid of spectators, Serena Williams was pushed to the brink of a stunning loss in her longest match since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreaker and edging Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0) Monday at the

6:54 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Two months after barely being able to walk while ill with COVID-19, Grigor Dimitrov played a professional tennis match at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday and — while the result was not what was most important — he won. “I said to myself, ‘I’ll give

1:26 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic pulled out of the doubles event at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday, citing neck pain. Djokovic remained in the singles draw, where he is seeded No. 1 and is scheduled to play his second-round match Monday. He received a first-round bye. The Western

6:04 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Andy Murray wore a coronavirus-conscious mask on his way to the unusual, no-spectators setting and avoided handshakes when he left. In between, the three-time Grand Slam champion offered his usual mix of hustling and muttering. Murray’s first match in nine months as he resumes his climb back

5:38 PM ET NEW YORK — A number of players including top-ranked Novak Djokovic and multiple Grand Slam champion Andy Murray are criticizing the USTA for having removed Guido Pella and Hugo Dellien from the Western & Southern Open a few days ago after their fitness trainer, Juan Manuel Galvan, had tested positive for the

3:11 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Kei Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, said Friday he tested positive for COVID-19 a second time. Nishikori wrote on his mobile app that he will take another test next week, “at which time we will update you with more information.” “I have very minimal symptoms and