World number two Novak Djokovic won’t defend his ATP Miami Masters title next week, saying Sunday that he was withdrawing because of injury. “I apologize to my fans and ppl who purchased tickets to watch me play live at @MiamiOpen. Sadly, I’m injured and won’t be able to compete,” the Serb star said on Twitter. … Read more
Eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova sped past Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday to lead the way into the women’s quarter-finals at Indian Wells. Kuznetsova is in the last eight in the California desert for the first time since reaching back-to-back finals in 2007 and 2008. The 31-year-old Russian, owner of two Grand Slam singles titles, … Read more
Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka continued his dominance of Philipp Kohlschreiber, rolling past the German 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to reach the fourth round of the ATP Indian Wells Masters. Wawrinka recorded his fifth victory over Kohlschreiber in as many meetings in a performance that left him cautiously encouraged about his prospects of making it past the … 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
Japan’s fifth-ranked Kei Nishikori, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and reigning French Open champion Garbine Muguruza were among players announced for Monday’s 10th Tennis Showdown in New York. The annual Madison Square Garden event adopts an “Americas versus the World” theme and World Team Tennis format this year, pitting North and South America stars … 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
Venus and Serena Williams will meet in a Grand Slam final for the ninth time after the American sisters came through their semi-finals in Melbourne. Thirteenth seed Venus, 36, beat fellow American Coco Vandeweghe 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3 to reach her first major final since 2009. World number two Serena, 35, saw off unseeded Croat … Read more
Venus Williams reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in 14 years with a straight-set win over Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Williams, the 13th seed, saw off 24th seed Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the first of the quarter-finals. The 36-year-old American has never won the title, her best effort a runner-up finish to … Read more
Petra Kvitova will be unable to play tennis for at least six months after undergoing surgery on “severe” hand injuries sustained in a knife attack, the player’s PR manager has told CNN. But it is still too early to assess when she will be ready for a competitive return. “The best case scenario is that … Read more
Andy Murray will face Novak Djokovic with the ATP World Tour Finals title and year-end number one ranking at stake on Sunday. The 35th meeting between the pair will also be the first time the season finale has ended with the number one spot on the line. Murray replaced Djokovic as number one earlier this … Read more
Maria Sharapova’s two-year doping ban has been reduced to 15 months following her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The five-time Grand Slam winner, 29, was initially banned by the International Tennis Federation for two years after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open. The Russian will be able to return … Read more