Tennis

Apr 21, 2024, 02:36 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Simona Halep has pulled out of next week’s Madrid Open to work on her fitness, saying she needs more time get physically ready to compete at the highest level after being out of action for over 18 months. The former Wimbledon and French Open champion had

Associated Press Apr 21, 2024, 01:04 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MUNICH — Jan-Lennard Struff won his first title with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Taylor Fritz in the BMW Open final Sunday. “To do it on home soil is just incredible,” Struff said. “I waited so long. I’m 33 years old and played so

Apr 21, 2024, 01:02 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Casper Ruud gained sweet revenge over Stefanos Tsitsipas as he beat the Greek fifth seed 7-5, 6-3 to win the Barcelona Open on Sunday. Just seven days after Tsitsipas thumped Ruud in straight sets to win the Monte Carlo Masters, it was the

Apr 21, 2024, 08:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions STUTTGART, Germany — Elena Rybakina had little trouble in seeing off Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-2 to win the Stuttgart Open on Sunday for her third title this year. The Kazakhstani fourth seed broke to love in the opening game and cruised through the first set, breaking

Associated Press Apr 20, 2024, 02:43 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet in consecutive clay-court finals after they won their Barcelona Open semifinals on Saturday. Tsitsipas, ranked seventh, got the better of sixth-ranked Ruud in straight sets in the Monte Carlo final last weekend. On Saturday,

Associated Press Apr 20, 2024, 11:43 AM ET Open Extended Reactions STUTTGART, Germany — Elena Rybakina defeated top-ranked Iga Świątek 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the Porsche Grand Prix final and end Swiatek’s hopes of a third consecutive title on Saturday. Rybakina, the world No. 4, hit 10 aces and saved 11 of the 13

Associated Press Apr 20, 2024, 11:14 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Two-time major champion Garbine Muguruza announced she is retiring from professional tennis at age 30 after an extended time away from the court. “I feel that it is time to retire and open up a new chapter in my life,” the former world No.

Associated Press Apr 19, 2024, 05:07 PM ET Open Extended Reactions STUTTGART, Germany — Emma Raducanu‘s winning run came to an end in a 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss to top-ranked Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Friday. Raducanu, ranked 303rd, had produced some of her best form since winning the

Associated Press Apr 19, 2024, 02:48 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas won Friday to advance to the Barcelona Open semifinals, keeping them on course to meet in a second straight final. Ruud beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-3 to notch his season-leading 27th win. The sixth-ranked Norwegian has

Apr 19, 2024, 09:57 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Bulgarian umpire Pavel Atanasov has been banned from tennis for life after withdrawing his appeal for betting-related violations and charges of corruption, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Friday. Atanasov, a national-level official, was also given a $10,000 fine for 21 breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption

Associated Press Apr 18, 2024, 02:33 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Casper Ruud defeated Jordan Thompson in straight sets to earn his season-leading 26th win and secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday. The third-seeded Norwegian won 6-1, 6-4 to move one victory ahead of Australian Open

Associated Press Apr 18, 2024, 08:47 AM ET Open Extended Reactions LONDON — Italy will kick off the defense of its Davis Cup title against Brazil in Bologna on Sept. 11. The full schedule of the Davis Cup Finals group stage was announced on Thursday, with all the matches taking place from Sept. 10-15 across

Associated Press Apr 17, 2024, 01:10 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal‘s first tournament since January lasted only two matches, with the Spaniard losing 7-5, 6-1 to Alex de Minaur at the clay-court Barcelona Open on Wednesday. Nadal, back from an injury layoff, looked like his old self for brief moments

Associated Press Apr 17, 2024, 04:31 PM ET Open Extended Reactions STUTTGART, Germany — Coco Gauff battled her way to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over compatriot Sachia Vickery. The 134th-ranked Vickery created 19 break points but could only convert seven of them against

Apr 17, 2024, 06:22 AM ET Open Extended Reactions World No. 3 Coco Gauff said she is full of optimism heading into the clay-court season as she targets a first French Open crown, but the American said her immediate focus was on ending her trophy drought on the surface over the coming weeks. Gauff last

Associated Press Apr 16, 2024, 04:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions STUTTGART, Germany — Zheng Qinwen eased past Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Tuesday despite a long journey from China to reach the clay-court tournament. The seventh-ranked Zheng traveled from Changsha to Beijing and then on

Associated Press Apr 16, 2024, 02:32 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BARCELONA, Spain — Taking it easy after months away from competitive tennis, Rafael Nadal was good enough to earn a comfortable first-round win at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday. Nadal looked injury-free in a 6-2, 6-3 win over Flavio Cobolli to advance to the

Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterApr 15, 2024, 08:26 PM ET Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Open Extended Reactions Andy Murray will avoid surgery on the ankle injury he suffered last month but there