Page 5 - Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner again to win the Italian Open

There's only one player who is consistently beating Jannik Sinner. Carlos Alcaraz defeated the top-ranked player again, beating Sinner 7-6 (5), 6-1 to win his first Italian Open on Sunday and add another big clay-court title to his resume. Since the start of last year, Alcaraz is the only player to beat Sinner more than once and now he's done it four straight times. Alcaraz's victory before Sinner's home fans at the Foro Italico snapped the Italian's 26-match winning streak, which stretched back to October when Alcaraz beat him in the China Open final in a third-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz now leads the career series 7-4. It was Sinner's first tournament back after a three-month doping ban. Alcaraz also solidified his status as the favorite to defend his title at the French Open, which starts next Sunday.

Zheng Qinwen stuns Sabalenka to reach Italian open semis against Coco Gauff

Zheng Qinwen earned her first victory over top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-3 to set up an Italian Open semifinal match against Coco Gauff. The 22-year-old Zheng, the Olympic champion from China, had lost all six previous matches against Sabalenka. The eighth-ranked Zheng saved all five break points she faced and broke Sabalenka's serve three times to reach the last four. Rome is the last big warmup before the French Open starts on May 25. ALCARAZ BEATS DRAPER Carlos Alcaraz beat Jack Draper 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals. He saved six of the eight break points he faced. The third-ranked Alcaraz, who withdrew from the Madrid tournament due to an upper right leg problem that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final, moved well on the court, often took to the net and used his trademark drop shots and groundstrokes to the best effect. The four-time Grand Slam champion, who also had a left leg injury, had lost to Draper in their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Indian

Novak Djokovic ends coaching spell with Andy Murray ahead of French Open

Murray expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work with Djokovic, acknowledging the past six months of hard work.

Jannik Sinner returns from doping ban to great fanfare at Italian Open

Rarely has an athlete been welcomed back from a doping ban with so much fanfare. Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was treated to a stadium filled with nearly 5,000 fans for his first practice session at the Italian Open on Monday the day his three-month banishment from the sport expired. The training session which was shown live on local TV came after Sinner was the most celebrated player in a ceremony to honor the Italian teams that swept the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup last year. Both trophies were on hand and the Campo Centrale crowd belted out Italy's national anthem. It's the first time that Italy has had a No. 1 player for its home tournament. Still, Sinner was at a loss to explain why he attracts so much attention. I don't know. Honestly, I think I'm a simple 23-year-old kid. I'm good at playing tennis but I'm not changing the world, he said. I always remember that I come from a small town of 2,000 people. Being here in Rome and playing in front of so many .

Sabalenka defeats Pegula to win Miami Open, claims 19th tour title

Aryna Sabalenka entered the Miami Open final against Jessica Pegula with 18 career titles on her elite resume. The Miami Open crown had proved elusive until Saturday. The No. 1 seed from Belarus knocked off fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 for her first Miami Open title in a rematch of the 2024 U.S. Open final. Sabalenka fired up her lethal forehand in posting 24 winners on that wing to win the $1.1 million first prize. Sabalenka hit a backhand passing shot on match point after which she raised both hands to the air, looked up to the sky and blew a kiss. Thank God the rain stopped, Sabalenka said during the trophy ceremony. It was like Miami was crying that I won this tournament.' Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, had won the U.S. Open over Pegula, also in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, but in 2025, Sabalenka's finals luck had run out. The 26-year-old power player has reached the finals of four of six events this year, though only copped one title, in Brisbane,

Miami Open: Nick Kyrgios beats McDonald for his 1st win in 2.6 years

Nick Kyrgios won a match for the first time in nearly 2 1/2 years at the Miami Open, beating Mackie McDonald 3-6 6-3 6-4 while wearing a thick wrap of beige tape on his surgically repaired right wrist that he said was numb after he took five painkillers. "I'm not going to lie: I was pretty close to crying on court. I just think about the last two years, and it's been pretty brutal, to be honest," said Kyrgios, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022 on Wednesday. "I was in a cast for 12 weeks. Couldn't move my wrist. And the surgeons were saying I'd never play again. So I was listening to a lot of the outside noise whether I'd be able to play at this level and win. Playing's one thing, but winning matches and executing is another thing." The Australian, who turns 30 next month, hadn't come out on the right end of an official contest since October 2022, when he defeated Kamil Majchrzak at a tournament in Tokyo and then withdrew before what would have been a matchup ...

Why did Djokovic's players' association sue tennis governing bodies?

The lawsuit labels the sport's governing bodies- WTA and ATP tours, the International Tennis Federation, and the organisation managing anti-doping and anti-corruption efforts (ITIA)-as a cartel.

Indian Wells: Jack wins men's title, Mirra beat Sabalenka for women's title

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva came back to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open to make the 17-year-old the tournament's youngest champion since Serena Williams in 1999. The 11th-ranked Andreeva improved to 19-3 this season the most wins by a woman on tour and collected her second Masters 1000 title of 2025. The other came at Dubai in February, which earned her a top-10 ranking for the first time. Andreeva will return to that upper tier in Monday's WTA rankings. Revisiting a theme from her Dubai victory speech that referred to something rapper Snoop Dogg said when he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Andreeva told Sunday's crowd: I would again like to thank myself for fighting until the end and for always believing in me and for never quitting. I tried to run like a rabbit today, Andreeva continued, praising the way Sabalenka hit speedy shots. It was really hard to just keep up, so I just tried my best and that's why I would thank

Australian tennis legend Fred Stolle passes away at the age of 86

Fred Stolle, a two-time major winner and member of three Davis Cup-winning teams, has died, Tennis Australia said on Thursday. He was 86. Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley described Stolle as an "iconic figure" in tennis as a player and later as a commentator for Australia's Nine Network and for CBS and Fox Sports. Tiley did not provide a cause of death. Tiley said Stolle was part of Australia's successful era in the 1960s as tennis progressed from an amateur to a professional sport. "His legacy is one of excellence, dedication, and a profound love for tennis," Tiley said. "His impact on the sport will be remembered and cherished by all who had the privilege to witness his contributions. "A star member of Australia's Davis Cup team, Fred made significant contributions to the sport following his decorated career, as a coach and astute commentator." Stolle lost the first five Grand Slam singles finals he reached including four times to fellow Australian Roy Emerson before beating

Sinner ain't sinning? Doping ban raises concerns for Indian sponsors

Sinner's team stressed that they had scientific feedback that this was not a case of intentional doping, including micro-dosing

Six more tennis players banned for links to a match-fixing syndicate

Six more current or former tennis players linked to a match-fixing syndicate in Belgium were given suspensions of varying lengths one was barred for 15 years and fined, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Friday. That brings the total to about 30 players punished for their connections to the syndicate run by Grigor Sargsyan, who was previously given a five-year custodial sentence. The player who received the longest ban in Friday's announcement, 34-year-old Agustin Moyano of Argentina, was suspended for 15 years and fined $10,000 after denying the charges and requesting a full hearing. Moyano was ranked a career best 1,343 in 2015. The five other players admitted to rules breaches related to matches played in 2017-18: David Guez, Jerome Inzerillo, Romain Bauvy, Yannick Jankovits and Franois-Arthur Vibert. Their suspensions ranged from two years to five years, seven months. Guez, who is 42, reached the highest singles ranking of the group, reaching No. 116 in 2010. He ..

Zverev's past accusers names shouted during Australian Open trophy ceremony

Moments after Alexander Zverev's loss in the Australian Open final Sunday, a person in the stadium yelled out the names of two of the tennis star's ex-girlfriends who have accused him of physical abuse in the past, saying Australia believes them. As Zverev stood at a microphone waiting to speak during the trophy ceremony, a voice repeated the phrase three times. Some others in the crowd at Rod Laver Arena booed and whistled. At his news conference following the match, Zverev, a 27-year-old from Germany, was asked for his reaction to the interruption on court. I believe there are no more accusations, Zverev responded. There haven't been for what? nine months now. ... I think I've done everything I can, and I'm not about to open that subject again. On the day that Zverev reached the French Open final last June, word emerged from Berlin that a district court there ended a trial stemming from a woman's accusation of domestic violence during a 2020 argument. The resolution came with

Madison Keys returns to top 10 rankings following Australian Open triumph

Australian Open women's champion Madison Keys returned to her career-best ranking on Monday and joins three other American women in the WTA top 10, while men's champion Jannik Sinner maintained his significant lead atop the ATP list. Keys won her first Grand Slam title with a three-set victory over the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to move from No. 14 and match her career-high at No. 7. Keys joins fellow Americans Coco Gauff (No. 3), Jessica Pegula (No. 6) and Emma Navarro, who slipped one place to No. 9, in the women's top 10. Sabalenka, who was attempting to achieve a rare three-peat of the Australian Open title remains at No. 1, and Iga Swiatek stays at No. 2 after her loss to Keys in a thrilling semifinal. Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen dropped three places to No. 8, while former No. 2 Paola Badosa rose two places to round out the top 10 after her semifinal run at Melbourne Park. The men's top four rankings remained as they were with Sinner at No. 1 a spot he's h

Jannik Sinner's Australian Open triumph sparks Djokovic style parallels

Of all the praise bestowed on Jannik Sinner after he won his second consecutive Australian Open championship, and third Grand Slam title overall, nothing felt as significant as the comparison made by runner-up Alexander Zverev. Facing Sinner, particularly on hard courts, reminded Zverev a lot of trying to solve the challenge presented by none other than 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic. He's very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best. They barely miss. Like, barely miss. They make you think like you have to overhit all the time to have a chance in a rally against them, Zverev said after losing to Sinner 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Sunday night. It's very, very difficult to win a point from the back of the court against them against Novak and him," said Zverev, who is ranked No. 2 but felt much further away from No. 1 Sinner in Rod Laver Arena. "(Both) move, obviously, tremendous. They're constantly on the baseline. They don't give you any space. They don't

Australian Open 2025: Who has lifted the most men's singles titles?

Winning the most number of men's singles title in Australia (10), Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic has managed to wow the crowd for a lot of years.

Australian Open 2025 HIGHLIGHTS: Jannik Sinner beat Zverev to clinch 2nd consecutive title

Sinner beat Zverev in straight sets to successfully defend his title in Melbourne. He won 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 on the night.

Novak Djokovic takes a jab at injury 'experts' by posting MRI of his leg

Novak Djokovic posted a scan of his injured left hamstring on social media early Sunday, more than 24 hours after being booed at the Australian Open when he quit playing one set into his semifinal because of what he said at his news conference was a torn muscle. The 24-time Grand Slam champion put the picture of the MRI taken Saturday on X and wrote: Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there. He did not offer any additional information, such as the exact diagnosis he might have received or any timeline for his recovery. The 37-year-old Djokovic stopped his match against Alexander Zverev after dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker on Friday. After shaking hands with Zverev and the chair umpire, Djokovic gathered his equipment and started walking toward the locker room. Some of the spectators in Rod Laver Arena jeered him. Djokovic put both of his thumbs up before leaving. During his on-court interview, Zverev chastised those who booed Djokovic. I

Who is Madison Keys? Tennis star that stunned Aryna Sabalenka in AUS Open

Off the court, Keys is married to fellow professional tennis player Bjorn Fratangelo, who also serves as her coach.

Australian Open: Who won most titles in women's singles? Check full list

Australia's Margaret Court has the most Australian Open women's singles titles to her name (11)

Australian Open 2025 HIGHLIGHTS: Madison Keys clinches maiden AO title; beats Sabalenka in 3 sets

Sabalenka is chasing a historic third consecutive Australian Open title, a feat that would place her among tennis legends like Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles.