Page 29 - Tennis

Tennis Australia bans Russian, Belarusian flags at Australian Open

Tennis Australia has banned Russian, Belarusian flags at the Australian Open after a controversy erupted over the Russian flag seen hanging outside the court

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can only meet in final at Australian Open

Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw Thursday, meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne Park. Djokovic, a nine-time champion in Australia, returns to the hard-court tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isn't vaccinated against COVID-19. He also couldn't compete at the 2022 U.S. Open. Fourth-seeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins Monday. Iga Swiatek, the women's No. 1-ranked player, takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No.68, in the opening round. The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022, a year in which she won the French and U.S. Open titles. But the main first-round focus will be on Nadal, who faces a potentially challenging match against ...

Two time tennis champion Naomi Osaka withdraws from Australian Open

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has confirmed she will not play at the Australian Open, adding her name to a growing list of notable withdrawals. Organizers confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that Japan's Osaka, the Open champion in 2019 and 2021, will not be playing in Melbourne. Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023, the tweet said. The 25-year-old Osaka's ranking has slipped to 47 and she hasn't played since September after withdrawing during the second round in Tokyo. She won her first round match at that tournament when Australia's Daria Saville withdrew after one game with a knee injury. Osaka won only one completed match since May and was beaten in the first round of her three previous tournaments, including the US Open at which she also is a two-time champion. Last week she posted pictures on social media of a trip to Europe with her United States rapper boyfriend Cordae and had been considered unlikely to play in the first Grand Slam of

Venus Williams withdraws from Australian Open due to injury during game

Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open for an undisclosed injury she sustained while playing in a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand this week. A seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams received a wild-card entry into the Australian Open last month to compete in what would have been her 22nd major at Melbourne Park. But the Australian Open said on Saturday the 42-year-old Williams had withdrawn from the tournament beginning Jan. 16. It did not provide specifics regarding the injury. It continues a run of misfortunes for Williams, who last played at Melbourne Park in 2021. A two-time Australian Open finalist, Williams injured an ankle and knee in that appearance when stumbling awkwardly at the net in a second-round match against Sara Errani. Her best efforts at Melbourne Park came when she was beaten by her sister Serena Williams in finals in 2003 and 2017. Now ranked 1,003, Williams said when granted the wild card in December that she was excited to be ..

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with throat, breast cancer

Tennis great Martina Navratilova said on Monday that she has been diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer. In a statement released by her representative, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said her prognosis is good and she will start treatment this month. "This double whammy is serious but still fixable, and I'm hoping for a favourable outcome," the 66-year-old Navratilova said. "It's going to stink for a while but I'll fight with all have I got." She said she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer. While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, the unrelated breast cancer was discovered. Navratilova was diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer in 2010 and had a lumpectomy. She won 59 Grand Slam titles overall, including 31 in women's doubles and 10 in mixed dou

Rafael Nadal loses in three sets to Britain's Norrie at United Cup

Rafael Nadal has ended an up-and-down 2022 with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie at the United Cup mixed teams tournament on Saturday. Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to take his career Grand Slam si ngles total to a leading 22. But foot, rib and abdomen injuries meant he played only four events after Wimbledon in July. Norrie's win gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Spain. Norrie failed to win a set in his four previous matches against Nadal. "It was pretty crazy. I was thinking I'd never won a set before, so I wanted to come out and firstly do that," Norrie said. "It was a super physical match and I enjoyed it. It's a great way to end 2022 for me." In other matches, Top-ranked Iga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1 6-3 at Brisbane. "First matches of the season are always kind of rusty, so I'm happy that in the important moments I was really composed," Swiatek said. At Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium were leve

Novak Djokovic to start 2023 in Adelaide ahead of Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open crown a year after having his visa revoked on the eve of his title defense. The 21-time major winner has been granted a visa by the Australian government and has been listed to play at the Adelaide International, which starts Jan. 1. Serbia isn't contesting the inaugural United Cup team competition, leaving Djokovic free to play regular warmup tournaments head of the Jan. 16-29 Australian Open. He'll be joined in the men's draw at Adelaide by Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and Andy Murray. Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka will headline the women's draw. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles last month confirmed Djokovic had been granted a visa to compete in Australia in January. The 35-year-old Serbian had been facing a possible three-year ban after being deported last January over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination. Djokovic has won

Nick Bollettieri, man who coached Agassi, Courier, Sharapova, passes away

In 2014 Bollettieri was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2015, he became the first white man to be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame

Canada wins maiden Davis Cup title, ousts Australia 2-0 in final

Felix Auger-Aliassime gave Canada an invincible 2-0 lead against Australia in Malaga on Sunday, advancing his country to its first Davis Cup Finals victory by defeating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4

Manika Batra first Indian woman to reach ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup semifinals

World number 44 Manika beat Chen 4-3 (6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9) in the women's singles quarterfinals

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz becomes youngest year-end ATP world number 1

Alcaraz soared from number 32 to the top of this sport's mountain on September 12, which is also the biggest jump to number one in 50 editions

New dad Rafael Nadal doesn't care about playing for the No. 1 rank

Rafael Nadal is a different man. He's losing sleep over his newborn baby and not so much the No. 1 ranking. Even with all of his absences, Nadal has a shot at finishing the season as the world No. 1. He has racked up 5,820 points, trailing only the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who has 6,650. But Nadal made clear on Tuesday what his priorities were when he was peppered with questions about fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot. There will be no fight. Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times, tied with Roger Federer, and trailing only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6). I don't fight to be No. 1, Nadal said at a Paris Masters news conference. Something that I said since long time ago: I will not fight anymore to be No. 1. I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career that I have been very, very happy and proud about. But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don't fight to be No. 1. For now, he wants to be a No. 1 dad. He's

It's a dream come true: Carlos Alcaraz after winning World No 1 trophy

The tennis sensation expressed his happiness to have won the trophy and stated that it means a lot to him and added that it's like a dream come true for him

Davis Cup to become part of ATP Tour calendar from next year: ITF

The Davis Cup will become part of the ATP Tour calendar from next year under, the governing body of men's tennis said in a statement on Monday.

I am not retired, the chances of return are very high, says Serena Williams

The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams said she has not retired from tennis yet and that the chances of her returning to the court are "very high"

Jessica Pegula beats Maria Sakkari to clinch Guadalajara Open title

Jessica Pegula clinched the first WTA 1000 title of her career on Sunday, as the No.3 seed from the United States overpowered No.4 seed

Fenesta Open Tennis Championship: Mahalingam trumps Tejas in Boys U16

Mahalingam Kandhavel upset the apple cart of Tejas Ahuja, the top seed, as he posted a fluent 6-4, 6-1 win in the under-16 section second round of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship

Novak Djokovic beats Van de Zandschulp to enter Astana Open quarterfinals

Add Botic van de Zandschulp to the long list of players to have been schooled by Novak Djokovic. Djokovic eased past Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday in his first career meeting with the 27-year-old Dutchman to reach the quarterfinals of the Astana Open. Van de Zandschulp earned one break point in each set but couldn't seriously threaten Djokovic, who is looking for a second straight indoor hardcourt title after winning in Tel Aviv last week. (In the) second set I think I started to read his serve better and just started swinging through the court more, Djokovic said. Botic is a quality tennis player. When he has time, he can hurt you, so I tried to take away that time from him and I'm very pleased with the way I played, particularly in the second. Djokovic will next face Karen Khachanov, who rallied to beat Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. If the 21-time Grand Slam champion gets past that one, he could come up against fellow former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. The second-seeded Russian

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, Petra Kvitova enter quarterfinals at Agel Open

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarterfinals of the Agel Open after Ajla Tomljanovic retired with an injury during the second set of their second-round match. The Polish U.S. Open champion was leading 7-5, 2-2 when her Australian opponent retired due to a left knee injury at the indoor hardcourt event in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava. Swiatek, who also won the French Open in June, will next face American qualifier Catherine McNally or Karolina Muchova. Home favorite and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova upset second-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against this year's Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, who rallied to eliminate Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5. Czech players also won the last two first-round matches on the schedule. Muchova knocked out seventh-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-4, 6-4 and Barbora Krejcikova ousted American Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-2 for her sixth straight victory after she won the Tallinn O

Novak Djokovic defeats Span's Pablo Andujar in Tel Aviv Watergen Open

The 88-time tour-level titlist Novak Djokovic cruised past Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Tel Aviv Watergen Open here on Thursday.