Martina Navratilova Friday called for a name change of the Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park after the Australian great’s boycott of airliner Qantas over its same-sex marriage stance. Court, now a church pastor, complained Thursday the carrier’s support of marriage equality conflicted with her views and “leaves me no option but to use other … Read more
World number 10 Jang Ha-Na has dropped her LPGA Tour membership and returned home to South Korea, a decision she said Tuesday was motivated only to be nearer her family. The 25-year-old from Seoul won $2.6 million and four titles since joining the LPGA in 2015. She plans to return next month to the LPGA … Read more
Former Australian Open junior champion Oliver Anderson was fined Aus$500 (US$374) Tuesday for fixing a match, but escaped a conviction after admitting he threw a set, reports said. The 19-year-old Australian appeared in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court over the incident during a first-round clash at the second-tier Traralgon Challenger event in Victoria in 2016. … Read more
Japan’s Haru Nomura birdied the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat Cristie Kerr on Sunday for the LPGA Texas Shootout title in suburban Dallas. Nomura was the last woman standing on a brutally windy day that turned into even more of a marathon as she and Kerr both parred the first five playoff … Read more
Serena Williams has spent her career defying the odds, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and becoming the oldest world number one at age 35. But now she will face perhaps the ultimate challenge — making a comeback after motherhood. Williams, who announced her engagement to Reddit social media site co-founder Alexis Ohanian last December, … Read more
Serena Williams is expecting a baby and won’t play again this year, her publicist said, but “she looks forward to returning in 2018” Fact file on 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, who announced on Wednesday she is expecting her first child: – Deposed by Angelique Kerber as world number one last year, Williams … Read more
Roger Federer won a thrilling three-hour contest against Nick Kyrgios to set up a final against Rafael Nadal at the Miami Open. The Swiss, 35, won 7-6 (11-9) 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-5) to take his 2017 record to 18 wins and one defeat. Federer will take on Nadal for the 37th time on Sunday, and … Read more
Rafael Nadal marched into the final of the Miami Open, where he could face rival Roger Federer, with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Italian Fabio Fognini on Friday. The unseeded Fognini struggled to get going in the first set which was dominated by fifth-seeded Nadal and over with in 25 minutes. The Italian, who indicated … Read more
Bernard Tomic’s woes continued Thursday as he pulled out of the Miami Open due to a back injury, the latest setback in a disappointing year for the Australian. Ranked 17th in the world as recently as November, Tomic has tumbled down the rankings to 44th. Since a third-round Australian Open exit, the 24-year-old has lost … Read more
As Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal limbered up for a renewal of their epic rivalry, Kei Nishikori led the way into the quarter-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Wednesday. Nishikori has yet to drop a set, but his steady progress to the quarter-finals has been overshadowed by the hoopla surrounding the talent-laden bottom … Read more
US teenager Kayla Day shocked Australian Open semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at Indian Wells on Friday to earn a clash with French Open champion Garbine Muguruza. Day, 17, out-lasted the 35-year-old Lucic-Baroni 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, rallying from a break down in the third to reach the third round. Lucic-Baroni served for the match in the final … Read more
Roger Federer, riding high after an 18th Grand Slam triumph, isn’t rattled by the tennis version of the group of death. The Swiss superstar, whose Australian Open victory in January signalled a resurgence after a year disrupted by injury, is drawn in the same quarter with three-time defending champion and second seed Novak Djokovic and … Read more
Fernando Verdasco broke three times in the deciding set as the unseeded Spaniard defeated Robin Haase 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-1 to reach the Dubai Tennis Championships final on Friday. Verdasco, 33 and ranked 35th, will play for the title on Saturday against either top seed Andy Murray or French number seven, Lucas Pouille. Murray will … Read more
Angelique Kerber lost the chance to return to the top of the WTA rankings, after losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to Elina Svitolina on Friday in the Dubai Tennis Championships semi-finals. Had Kerber won the tournament, she would have retaken the world number one spot she held after winning the US Open in September, until Serena … Read more
Former world number one Angelique Kerber survived as three of the top five seeds were bundled out of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday. The top seed and winner of two Grand Slams in 2016 dispatched fellow German Mona Bartel 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round match. World number two Kerber is battling to recover the … Read more
Three players reached the quarter-finals of a soggy Qatar Open Wednesday during another rain-affected day which left top seed Anqelique Kerber still waiting to play her first match. Number three seed Dominika Cibulkova, Zhang Shuai and Monica Puig were all able to complete their matches — in fact, both Zhang and Puig played two matches … Read more
Alison Riske downed Alison Petkovic to give the United States a 1-0 lead in their Fed Cup tie with Germany, which got off to an awkward start Saturday thanks to a gaffe involving the German national anthem. “The USTA extends a sincere apology to the German Fed Cup team & fans 4 the outdated National … Read more
Forbes’ Sports Money Index has crowned Cristiano Ronaldo as the first footballer to take the lead in the list of highest paid athletes in the world in 2016. The Real Madrid forward beats his long time rival, Lionel Messi, as the world’s greatest player and his earnings are listed as $114.6 million in the survey, broken down … Read more
Roger Federer rewound his career by about ten years to edge out his old rival Rafael Nadal in a sensational Australian Open final to take his eighteenth Grand Slam title at 35. A championship climax that lived up to all its extravagant billing ended with Federer winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours … Read more
Serena Williams beat sister Venus in straight sets to win her seventh Australian Open and an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title. Serena, 35, won 6-4 6-4 to pass Steffi Graf in the all-time list of major winners since the Grand Slams accepted professional players in 1968. The American regains the number one ranking … Read more