Alexandr Dolgopolov signs an autograph. The Ukrainian put the troubles of his country out of his mind long enough to win in straight sets.

Squinting into sun glare, Karin Knapp caught several tosses and tried relocating her release to a spot where she could see the ball clearly. No matter how much she shifted sight lines, the 49th-ranked Italian couldn’t escape her serve struggles — or Taylor Townsend’s brand of heat stroke. The 17-year-old

Editor's Note: UCLA and Virginia have reached the semifinals of this year's NCAA Men's National Championship, and are each a win away from a rematch of last year's memorable final. That match, and the call that changed a champion, are described in intimate detail below. On Court 3 at the

“Honestly I think this is how you win your first title again after a while, and then hopefully from here on, it’s easier.” That was how Roger Federer described his championship run in Dubai this weekend, after his first tournament win in nine months. The “this” in that sentence was

NEW YORK -- Andy Murray smiled a few times during his match at Madison Square Garden. This is a player who rarely cracks a grin after winning Grand Slam titles, but Monday night's meeting with friend and rival Novak Djokovic was an exhibition, and even Murray was happy to play

NEW YORK—The first time Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray faced off, they were a pair of scrawny pre-teens calling their own lines. When the pair square off in tonight's BNP Paribas Showdown at Madison Square Garden, in front of more than 10,000 people (including a chair umpire and linesmen) they

In anticipation of next week's doubles exhibition between the McEnroes and the Bryans in New York, Pete Bodo and I discuss the role of doubles in today's pro game, and how it might, or might not, be expanded.

“Everything is bad and black, a black mind.” Those ominous words were spoken by Juan Martin del Potro in an interview with Sport 360 in Dubai earlier this week. The big man had reason, it turned out, to feel gloomy. Today del Potro, the tournament’s second seed, retired after losing

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Rafael Nadal returned from a troublesome back injury to win the Rio Open on Sunday, defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (3). Nadal's victory comes four weeks after he lost the Australian Open, beaten in that final by underdog Stanislas Wawrinka after tweaking his back while warming

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Venus Williams won her 45th career WTA title at the Dubai Championships in an impressive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Alize Cornet of France in the final on Saturday. The 44th-ranked Williams, playing courtesy of a wild card, also won this title in 2009 and 2010.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla.—Jacob Goldman spent $5,000 and traveled 4,529 miles to fly from his home in Paris just to have a hit with Andy Roddick. Then, with Roddick as his partner for the Delray Beach Open Champions Tour pro-am, Goldman panicked. “I’m just so nervous,” said the 60-year-old internet consultant,

The biting precision of Jelena Jankovic’s shots was as unwavering as the gleeful expression on the smiley-face vibration dampener embedded in her strings. The Serb absorbed Petra Kvitova’s power effectively, redirected drives down the line masterfully, and played with plenty of positive emotion in reeling off five consecutive games to

Those of you who get the Tennis Channel will likely have noticed the new weekend format that the network has rolled out this year, called Center Court. The name may not be fresh, but the concept is. Instead of showing a match from each event in its entirety and then

Here's a look at the latest viral videos circulating this week—and happily none of them has anything to do with Facebook's "Look Back" series. AUSSIE FOIBLES Enjoy this clip of hapless and hilarious (and sometimes unfortunate) blunders Down Under at the Australian Open. With more than 13 minutes of Melbourne

Most tennis fans know who Greg Sharko is, if only by reputation. He’s the director of media information for the ATP, a gold-level follow on Twitter (@SharkoTennis), and a master statistician who goes to sleep each night with a smile on his face, counting not sheep but unforced forehand errors

Andy Murray and James Ward transformed the portable clay court in Petco Park into a burial ground for American hopes yesterday. The Bryan brothers turned the dirt into a bounce house today. Playing with exuberance and commanding the center of the court from the first ball, the twins kept flickering

MELBOURNE—Once this year's Australian Open climbed out of its swampy first days, it was a tournament to cheer, with a new surprise in store each day of the second week. If its two singles finals were underwhelming and unfortunate, in that order, its champions were anything but. Li Na and

MELBOURNE—“This wasn’t the way I wanted to win a tennis match,” Stan Wawrinka said a few minutes after winning the biggest tennis match of his life. “But it’s a Grand Slam, so you have to take it.” “Take” is the operative word in that last sentence, because for an hour

To wind up 2014, I’m reposting 14 articles I liked from this past season. I’ll put up one each day until January 5, when the new season begins. This review of Li Na’s Australian Open win can now do double duty as a tribute to the retired pioneer. MELBOURNE—Li Na

MELBOURNE—Very little separated Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka as they came into their semifinal here. Berdych was the No. 7 seed, Wawrinka No. 8. Wawrinka held an 8-5 lead in the head-to-head record, but none of their last five matches had ended in straight sets. Which isn’t surprising, because their