Kei Nishikori admitted Friday that he’s just not a very good grass-court player after suffering a seventh first week exit in nine visits to Wimbledon. The 27-year-old world number nine slumped to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 loss to Spanish 18th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who booked a place in the last 16 for … Read more
Kei Nishikori suffered fresh Wimbledon misery as the Japanese star crashed out on Friday, while Victoria Azarenka stepped up her bid to become the first mother to win the All England Club title for 37 years. Former US Open finalist Nishikori had hoped to finally advance past the fourth round at Wimbledon after years of … Read more
Japanese second seed Kei Nishikori saved three match points to defeat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) on Thursday to reach the Geneva Open semi-finals. Nishikori took his head-to-head record against Anderson to 4-1 and reached his first semi-final on clay this season as he builds towards the French Open which starts in … Read more
Steve Johnson rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over top-seeded Jack Sock on Saturday to set up a title clash with Thomaz Bellucci in the ATP clay court tournament in Houston, Texas. Johnson, the fourth seed, came back from a break down in the third set to claim a second career win against Sock. … Read more
High seeds John Isner and Sam Querrey were sent packing in three sets, while No. 1 seed Jack Sock survived a scare at the ATP Tour’s Houston event. Second-seeded Isner was ousted by fellow American Ernesto Escobedo 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5) and third-seeded Querrey lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Brazilian eight-seeded Thomaz Bellucci … Read more
US pair Steve Johnson and Jack Sock kept the Davis Cup quarter-final against Australia alive with a gritty five-set win over John Peers and Sam Groth in Brisbane on Saturday. After losing both singles rubbers on Friday, the US needed to win the doubles to give themselves some hope heading into Sunday’s reverse singles. And … Read more
Rafael Nadal did his part to set up a fourth-round clash with Roger Federer at the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday, powering past Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5. Nadal’s victory marked the second straight year he has vanquished his fellow Spaniard in the third round at Indian Wells. Federer, who beat Nadal in a five-set … Read more
Canadian top seed Milos Raonic advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Delray Beach Open on Wednesday by defeating Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (7/2). On a night when rain delayed the start of play for more than eight hours, world number four Raonic fired 12 aces on his way to victory after 94 minutes … Read more
British eighth seed Kyle Edmund and Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun booked a second-round matchup on Monday at the ATP Delray Beach Open while US defending champion Sam Querrey advanced on a retirement. Edmund, ranked 49th, fired five aces and faced only one break point in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino, while Lu, ranked … Read more
Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili upset Croatian top seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Memphis Open. A week shy of his 25th birthday, the world number 67 on Thursday won all 37 of his first-serve points and took only 69 minutes to dispatch hard-serving 37-year-old Karlovic, ranked 20th. Basilashvili, seeking … Read more
Nick Kyrgios was knocked out of his home Grand Slam as he blew a two-set lead and a match point in losing to Andrea Seppi at the Australian Open. Italy’s Seppi triumphed 1-6 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-2 10-8 in round two against the typically unpredictable Australian. Kyrgios was given two warnings, for swearing and racquet … Read more