MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- It's only been a couple of months since Kei Nishikori moved into the No. 5 ranking, and he's not yet comfortable with the number. Once success arrived it came quickly for the 25-year-old Japanese player who stands out as one of the game's rising stars and

“Oh yes, there’s a confidence in my game,” Tomas Berdych informed the media after his first-round win at the Australian Open. That’s how the 29-year-old Czech has been talking so far in 2015, and that’s how he has looked in Melbourne. It’s a time of radical change for Berdych, who,

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Serena Williams loves having Venus back to keep her company in the second week of a Grand Slam, and credits her older sister with giving her the motivation to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. The Williams siblings, with 25 Grand Slam titles between them,

Monday Order of Play Laver at 7 PM(Sunday) - Cibulkova vs Azarenka followed by S Williams vs Muguruza Court at 9:15 PM(Sunday) - Wawrinka vs Garcia-Lopez followed by Keys vs Brengle Laver at 10 PM(Sunday) - Ferrer vs Nishikori Hisense at 1 AM - Lopez vs Raonic Laver at 3

I picked Petra Kvitova to win the Australian Open on this website, and in the 2015 preview issue of TENNIS Magazine, I said the Czech would be the WTA player of the year. All I had to worry about, I thought, was a certain big-serving American getting in the way.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Novak Djokovic fine-tuned his voice and his game at the Australian Open on Saturday, advancing to the fourth round with a straight-sets win over Fernando Verdasco and then urging the crowd of 15,000 to sing Happy Birthday to his mother back home. After his 7-6 (8), 6-3,

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) When Americans Madison Keys and Madison Brengle won their first-round matches at the Australian Open, Keys was asked at a news conference if she knew anyone else with the unusual name Madison. ''I think it's actually a pretty popular name for younger people,'' the 19-year-old Keys said,

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori stayed on track for another extended Grand Slam tournament performance with a 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over American Steve Johnson at the Australian Open on Saturday. Nishikori advanced to the fourth round here last year and at Wimbledon before the

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- In her two-decade career on the tennis tour, Venus Williams has seen plenty of players come and go. She used to take the court against the likes of Steffi Graf and Jennifer Capriati. Now that they're long since retired, she's playing against women who weren't even

Each day during the Australian Open, Steve Tignor will look ahead to three of the most compelling matches in each draw.* * The question may be: Did Serena already survive her obligatory first-week wobble, when she came back from 3-5 down in the first set to beat Vera Zvonareva two

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Madison Keys remembers watching Lindsay Davenport play against Venus Williams in the Wimbledon finals. Just don't ask her for many details. ''I vaguely remember it. I was in our house in Florida. Other than that I can't tell you much,'' the 19-year-old American said. ''I was

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Unseeded and floating dangerously in the draw, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka took out No. 8-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday night to reach the third round at the first major of 2015. Azarenka's ranking slipped into the 40s due to a series of injuries

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Just like Serena Williams eight years ago, Victoria Azarenka entered the Australian Open as an unseeded player after an injury-plagued season. Williams had won the Australian title twice before then - Azarenka can match that, too, after back-to-back triumphs here in 2012 and 2013. All the dance

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Defending champion Stan Wawrinka advanced to the third round of the Australian Open for the seventh consecutive year with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Romanian qualifier Marius Copil on Thursday. The fourth-seeded Wawrinka wasn't as consistent as he was in his opening-round win,

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori stayed on track for another strong Grand Slam performance when he beat Ivan Dodig 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (0) on Thursday in the second round of the Australian Open. Dodig was serving for the fourth set at 5-4 when Nishikori broke

Each day during the Australian Open, Steve Tignor will look ahead to three of the most compelling matches in each draw.* * Thursday's showcase match has ended up on Margaret Court Arena at night, a fact that generated so much outrage in my Twitter feed last night that I thought

Saturday Order of Play Laver at 7 PM(Friday) - Lepchenko vs A Radwanska followed by S Williams vs Svitolina ending with Wawrinka vs Nieminen Court at 7 PM(Friday) - Giorgi vs V Williams followed by Lopez vs Janowicz ending with Zahlavova Strycova vs Azarenka Hisense at 7 PM(Friday) - Muguruza

Thanasi Kokkinakis worked with Roger Federer during the off-season and says he feels much stronger because of it. The 18-year-old Australian upset No. 11 seed Ernests Gulbis in the first round, 5-7, 6-0, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 8-6. “It's very important. Did a lot of training, a lot of hitting there,”

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Serena Williams claims to suffer from nerves and jitters before her first-round matches at the Grand Slams. She certainly didn't show it, winning her first set in 21 minutes on Tuesday night on the way to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Alison Van Uytvanck at the

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- As a first-time dad with a baby at home, Novak Djokovic could see merits in the tale of Serena Williams' mid-match espresso that has been brewing in the lead-up to the Australian Open. Hey, he reckons, why not open up the menu? The No. 1 seeds