Watching a recent doubles match played in humid conditions, I saw a player make a short-angled, putaway volley. Her racquet slipped from her hand and into the net right after the ball bounced in the opponents’ court. The opponents, who had no play on the volley, contended that since her

After abiding in the shadow of Suzanne Lenglen, in life and death, Simonne Mathieu quite asserted herself at Roland Garros in 2019. She had some help, as the French Tennis Federation saw fit in 2017 to name its new, garden-style show court after Mathieu. The court's creation included placing it

Aryna Sabalenka is in the groove at Roland Garros, on and off the court. The reigning Australian Open champion kicked off her campaign at the clay-court major on Tuesday with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 win over Erika Andreeva, but Court Philippe-Chatrier isn't the only place that Sabalenka's shown off her

Iga Swiatek made a winning start to her 2024 clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, defeating Elise Mertens, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals in her title defense. "I played many tough matches here, so it doesn't really matter what happened in the past," Swiatek said on the

With the beginning of May comes the perfect weather for playing tennis, and the return of pick-up matches, summer leagues and plenty of recreational tennis action. That also means the return of debates over lines and serves, questionable calls and the perennial query: What does The Code say? Court of

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND—Can a first-round win by the No. 1 player in the world actually be a surprise? I’m not going to go that far, but there was a serious buzz of uncertainty inside Centre Court as Rafael Nadal walked out for his opener on Tuesday against Martin Klizan. That buzz

INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—The best courts at the Grand Slams are, in no particular order of preference, Margaret Court Arena at Melbourne Park, the Grandstand at the U.S. Open, Court 3 at Wimbledon, and Court 2 at Roland Garros. They share many of the same traits. Each is either the third-largest

NEW YORK (AP) — It's become a stink at the US Open: a pungent marijuana smell that wafted over an outer court, clouded the concentration of one of the world's top players and left the impression there's no place left to escape the unofficial scent of the city. While the

My partner broke a string on a shot, sending his dampener flying all the way to the court next to us. One opponent returned the shot long, then asked for a let due to hindrance. We said it was our point because the dampener is not like a tennis ball

MADRID (AP)—A Spanish court has found John Tomic, the father of Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic, guilty of head-butting his son's former training partner last May. The court handed John Tomic an eight-month sentence, but he will not have to go to prison since he has no criminal record and

For some players, competing on clay can feel like an entirely different sport. Between the sliding, tricky bounces and heavier conditions, it tests you in ways not found on a harder surface. But it’s not just added patience and defter footwork that are required on the dirt; fine-tuning your equipment

Naomi Osaka, in a bathing suit and huge earrings, put her boyfriend YBN Cordae in his place on the tennis court. "Mr. Confidence" as the 22-year-old calls him, failed to return the ball back into the court. His attempt actually launched out of the bounds of the court into the

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek couldn’t brush off any grass-court concerns at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old lost to Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, and that was after she barely escaped with a victory over Belinda Bencic. All in all, she never quite put together extended stretches in which she played her

Dubai tournament organizers have scheduled the semifinal between Shahar Peer and defending champion Venus Williams for an outside court because of security concerns surrounding the Israeli's presence. Peer, who was refused entry to Dubai for last year's event, has played all her previous matches on outer courts under heavy security,

Cats storming tennis courts around the world have almost become the norm thanks to a trend of feline invasions in Doha. But it's still surprising to witness. In Rome, one cat was nearly very unlucky as it sprinted across the court in the middle of a doubles point and just

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The days are numbered for clay-court tennis in Latin America. The clay-court circuit lost a major event several years ago when the Mexican Open in Acapulco switched to hardcourts. The tournament is on this week. The Rio Open, which ended on Sunday, is likely to

Doubles is too often—and unfairly—considered a hacker’s game that doesn’t require as much movement as singles. The doubles court is wider than the singles court, but you have a partner to make up the difference. With that safety cushion, it’s easy to fall into lazy footwork habits. But to be

Nadal arrives at the 2013 US Open with impressive records of 15-0 on hard courts and 15-1 against Top 10 opponents this season. Fresh off winning back-to-back hard-court titles in successive weeks for the first time in his career, Rafa is on the best hard-court roll of his career while

The Break is back with a new episode to get you caught up on all the off-court news in tennis. 1 New Kicks Just because Roger Federer isn’t competition again in 2020 doesn’t mean he can’t win off the court. On the 17-year anniversary of his first Wimbledon title, Federer