Tennis

1:54 AM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Casper Ruud has taken up in 2023 where he left off in 2022, beating Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-2 in the first men’s singles match of the New Year to boost Norway at the United Cup mixed teams championship in Brisbane. Ruud had a successful 2022, rising as

9:18 PM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Jiri Lehecka has scored a 6-4, 6-2 upset win over world No. 12 Alexander Zverev to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead over Germany at the United Cup on Saturday. The 21-year-old Lehecka, ranked No. 81, broke four times in the Group C match at Ken Rosewall

10:29 PM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — It wasn’t the way Frances Tiafoe would have preferred to clinch a match at the United Cup mixed teams tennis tournament. The United States defeated Czech Republic when Tiafoe’s opponent Tomas Machac retired due to a right ankle injury in the second set of their singles match Friday.

7:42 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem was given a wild card into the main draw of next month’s Australian Open after his successful return from a right wrist injury, it was announced. Tournament officials said Friday that Thiem, an Australian Open finalist in 2020, received a

6:16 AM ET Associated Press ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic is reiterating that he bears no hard feelings on his return to Australia after his visa cancellation and subsequent deportation in January ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament. Djokovic was deported almost 12 months ago after arriving unvaccinated against COVID-19 at a time when

Dec 28, 2022 Associated Press SYDNEY — Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys gave the United States a 2-0 lead over Czech Republic at the new United Cup mixed teams tournament Thursday. Fritz broke Jiri Lehecka‘s serve in the ninth game of the second set and went on to beat the Czech player 6-3, 6-4. Keys

1:25 AM ET Novak Djokovic and the rest of the world’s premier tennis players will compete for more than AUD$100 million (USD$67.35 million) in prize money over the Australian summer. The historic high mark comes from a record AUD$76.5 million (USD$51.52 million) Australian Open purse and the addition of the lucrative new United Cup mixed

9:54 PM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Taylor Fritz broke Jiri Lehecka‘s serve in the ninth game of the second set and went on to beat the Czech player 6-3, 6-4 to give the United States a 1-0 lead in its United Cup mixed teams match on Thursday. Madison Keys played Marie Bouzkova in the

1:25 AM ET Nick Kyrgios faces a race against time to hit peak form and fitness for his Australian Open tilt after pulling out of the inaugural United Cup teams event due to injury. World No. 22 Kyrgios was scheduled to spearhead the Australian team, starting against Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sydney on Thursday

4:55 PM ET Associated Press ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic has arrived in Australia almost a year after he was deported over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination, Tennis Australia confirmed Wednesday. Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open title. The 21-time major winner

5:08 PM ET Associated Press BERLIN — Tennis great Boris Becker tearfully recounted the moment the door of his single-occupancy cell at Britain’s notorious Wandsworth prison closed for the first time, speaking publicly after serving eight months for bankruptcy offenses. “It was the loneliest moment I’ve ever had in life,” Becker said in an interview

2:44 PM ET Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has said he will keep competing as long as his body is in good shape, but added that he is one “big injury” away from calling time on his career. Murray, 35, has suffered with injuries during his career and had hip surgery in 2018 and

9:01 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister,

3:34 AM ET Andy Murray was named the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award recipient in recognition of his support for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, with the former world No. 1 raising more than $630,000 for the war-torn country. Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said in March he would donate all his prize money won

6:16 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Chilean tennis player Barbara Gatica Aviles has been banned from the sport for three years after admitting she was paid to deliberately lose a match in 2016, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Thursday. The 26-year-old Gatica Avilés, whose career-best WTA ranking is No. 158, was also fined

8:54 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal were honored by the International Tennis Federation as its 2022 ITF World Champions on Thursday after each claimed two Grand Slam titles this season. The ITF determines its awards based on criteria that include all events and give special weight to the four

7:27 AM ET Associated Press German tennis star Boris Becker has returned to Germany after serving eight months in prison in Britain, his lawyer said on Thursday. The 55-year-old German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, was released on Thursday morning and travelled back to Germany shortly thereafter. Becker “has thus served his sentence

7:56 AM ET British No. 1 Emma Raducanu branded comments about her as untrue as she said the attention she has received after her meteoric rise in tennis has been “intense.” Raducanu, who received an MBE award from King Charles for her services to tennis, broke onto the scene with an impressive Wimbledon campaign in