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
Tennis
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
3:33 PM ET Associated Press PALERMO, Sicily — Fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit will play 53rd-ranked Fiona Ferro on Sunday for the first tour-level tennis title in five months at the Palermo Ladies Open. Kontaveit beat top-seeded Petra Martic 6-2, 6-4, and Ferro rallied past Camila Giorgi of Italy 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, in the semifinals Saturday. It’s
4:28 PM ET Associated Press A player testing positive for COVID-19 will be dropped from the US Open, but the U.S. Tennis Association has not established how many infected participants would force the Grand Slam tournament to be called off. According to a 10½-page “Player Q&A Update” sent out this week by the USTA, “There
10:19 AM ET Women’s world No. 5 Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens, ranked seventh, joined a growing list of players withdrawing from this month’s US Open due to the coronavirus pandemic on Friday. Men’s defending champion Rafael Nadal and women’s world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty have opted against travelling to New York to play the
12:51 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Past US Open champions Kim Clijsters and Andy Murray received wild-card invitations for the Grand Slam tournament Thursday. The U.S. Tennis Association gave all of its other wild cards for singles play to Americans. 2 Related Clijsters is a four-time major champion and former No. 1 who
1:52 AM ET New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro says his state would be willing to act as a temporary host for major sports events such as the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam if they cannot be held in neighbouring Victoria due to COVID-19. Barilaro told Australian radio on Friday he had written to
6:22 PM ET Associated Press PALERMO, Sicily — Top-seeded Petra Martic rallied past Russian qualifier Liudmilla Samsonova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Palermo Ladies Open quarterfinals Thursday in the first tournament following a five-month break due to the coronavirus. “The struggle was real out there today,” Martic said after the 2.5-hour match. “She’s not
6:19 PM ET Associated Press PALERMO, Sicily — Former French Open finalist Sara Errani showed signs of reviving her clay-court prowess by rallying past Kristýna Plíšková 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday to reach the Palermo Ladies Open quarterfinals. It was the second consecutive three-set win for Errani, who received a wild-card entry for the first tour-level