The No. 1 ranking was a special way for Rafael Nadal to cap a successful season in which he won two Grand Slam titles and two Masters events. The Spaniard said he was a little surprised to finish at the top because he had decided not to chase the ranking.

While the ultra silent atmosphere at this week’s Battle of the Brits in Roehampton leaves a little to be desired, the quality of tennis does not. When the point is over, and the blasting echo from the tennis ball finally fades, it’s so quiet you can almost hear the players

MELBOURNE—There were a couple of question marks surrounding the generally unquestionable Serena Williams’ game tonight, but the American didn’t take long to answer them in her quasi-routine, 6-3, 6-2 win over Tamira Paszek. First, there was the question of rust. Williams had played only two matches in preparation for this

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Maria Sharapova’s shriek when she hits the ball is “pretty annoying” and “just too loud,” according to one of her rivals. No. 8-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska spoke out on Tuesday at the Australian Open after her loss to Victoria Azarenka, whose high-pitched hoot has also attracted plenty of criticism.

He may not care for the nickname “Baby Fed” any longer, but I don’t think Grigor Dimitrov would mind being described as “in full flight,” a term often associated with Roger Federer. The promising 22-year-old was just that, just when he needed to be against Rafael Nadal—though it was only

CHARLESTON, S.C.—With the smell of blowout still wafting through the azure sky, the bonnet-and-pastel crowd was within its right to wonder if another rout was in the offing. Serena Williams had just won the first five points of an Easter Sunday final at the Family Circle Cup, the last via

MADRID (AP)—Serena Williams cruised past No. 2 Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 Friday to advance to the Madrid Open semifinals along with top-ranked Victoria Azarenka. Williams sealed her seventh straight win over Sharapova with an emphatic slam on the new blue-clay court. Azarenka overcame a shaky start to beat French Open

MONTPELLIER, France (AP)—Third-seeded Gael Monfils of France defeated defending champion Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to win the Open Sud de France on Sunday. Monfils served 11 aces and made the most of Ljubicic’s 39 unforced errors to claim his third career title, his first since winning in

Vanderbilt University's annual commencement features a strawberries-and-champagne celebration. Thus logic prevailed that the school would invite Venus Williams—13 times a champion at Wimbledon, haven of strawberries and cream—to deliver an address on campus in Nashville. Williams spoke to Vandy's 2019 graduating class on May 9, addressing her own triumphs and

Wolfgang Puck's new HBO Max show, The Event, Inside Wolfgang Puck Cateringfeatures an episode entirely about the Spago restaurant at Indian Wells. The show shares what goes on behind the scenes to pull off the two-week restaurant inside Stadium 1 year after year. “I love tennis. I play tennis and

Following a straight-set loss to Sofia Kenin in the third round of Roland Garros, Serena Williams wanted to go home. But press duties called and she headed into the main room... where Dominic Thiem was sitting mid-interview. The defending finalist and world No. 4 got up and switched rooms, but

It's OK to make the first move—be it in dating, when making friends or in a business meeting. Serena Williams is spreading that message to girls and women everywhere with the help of her partnership with Bumble, a dating app that allows only women to send the first message after

Tennis fans routinely follow Grand Slam champion millionaires like Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Winning Wimbledon is the ultimate accomplishment for the best of the best, but there are countless others chasing the dream from the many less-glorified rungs below. A recent New York Times piece gives a thought-provoking view

Venus Williams is set to play her first tournament of 2021, and couldn't be more excited to reunite with sister Serena on the court. "We have been playing doubles together since we were eight years old, so people know us for playing against each other, but we have done so

Grigor Dimitrov may have had a mercurial relationship with his racquets in the Istanbul final in May (a spectacle no one will forget anytime soon). But his partnership with Wilson is deeper than meets the eye. Though the former No. 8's ranking has dropped a bit this year, he upset

The WTA Finals—the season-ending championship of women's tennis—begins on Monday, October 20 in Singapore. Throughout eight days, we'll take a closer look at the seasons put forth so far by the eight singles competitors. Petra Kvitova stunned the world when she more or less came out of nowhere win Wimbledon

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—The main news of the night was perhaps that Roger Federer actually did step onto the court, and leave it on his own two feet with a win. After a fall in practice on Friday, Twitter was awash with speculation that the world No. 3 was nursing an

NEW YORK -- Victoria Duval couldn't believe little kids were telling a teenager that she's their role model. "I think for a 17-year-old, that's pretty cool to hear," she said about her U.S. Open experience that lasted all of two matches but will be remembered much longer. After upsetting 2011

Milos Raonic is looking forward to collaborating with John McEnroe, saying that the tennis legend can help him with his net play on grass and on other surfaces. They plan to work together leading up to Wimbledon, where Raonic has reached the semifinals. "It's a great honor, you know,” he

Serena Williams has thrown more than her fair share of temper tantrums over the years, with her vocal assault of a lineswoman during her loss to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 U.S. Open semifinals the most notorious. But the man with most notoriety for his outbursts doesn’t think she been