WIMBLEDON—As is often the case, Wimbledon revealed much about the direction of contemporary professional tennis. A veteran proved herself a champion for the ages, a significant favorite was toppled in familiar fashion, surprising new contenders emerged, and a longstanding tactical premise endured. Here are five takeaways for the WTA, post-Wimbledon:

Watching Dominic Thiem win the Barcelona Open over this past weekend, what struck me above all else was his match-playing maturity and his unmistakable comfort out on the red clay. The earnest Austrian pulled off a rare feat in the semifinals, toppling Rafael Nadal without losing his serve across two

Daniil Medvedev learned a lesson he won’t soon forget at the Australian Open, courtesy of American teenager Learner Tien. The 19-year-old held off a what would have been an epic comeback to score the biggest win of his young career, emerging from qualifying to stun the three-time finalist, 6-3, 7-6

HIGHLIGHTS: Bublik avenges Rotterdam defeat

MELBOURNE—Ever wonder what a composed, dialed-in Nick Kyrgios looks like? The world now officially knows after his 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday night. Kyrgios is one of the most-talked about players on the tour, at least among fans and media. Players though—the

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.(AP) The conversation that inspired the Andy Roddick weight-loss program occurred shortly after he hired Larry Stefanki as coach in December. I told Larry, This is your show. I'm here to follow,''' Roddick recalled.He promptly said, OK, lose 15 pounds,' and I regretted saying what I said.''

PARIS(AP) Oh, Andy Murray what have you done? Set all England aflutter that you might be the Wimbledon one. As if the home expectations weren't already heavy enough, the third-ranked Brit committed the schoolboy error of winning his first grass-court title just one week before Wimbledon starts next Monday. Cue

PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the French Open tennis tournament (all times local): 5:35 p.m. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went down fighting. On Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open. He lost to eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (0) in what was likely his final match. The

WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—When Serena Williams completed her first-round Olympic victory, the tall spectator in the front row near the Royal Box rose, smiled and added her lusty applause to the roar from the Centre Court crowd. Michelle Obama liked what she saw Saturday at Wimbledon. The first lady sat with

MELBOURNE, Australia—There’s a lot happening in Andy Murray’s life off the court. As for what he can control—his life on the court—he’s handling that very well. The world No. 2 outplayed 16th-seeded Bernard Tomic on Monday night, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4), for a spot in his seventh consecutive Australian Open

Last week, as pro tennis resumed following its longest-ever hiatus, Tennis Channel analyst Martina Navratilova addressed the challenges of returning to match play. “What people forget is how much your head can hurt if you haven’t competed in a while,” she told me. “It just takes so much concentration to

Peter Bodo: (1:00 PM ET ) Hi everybody. I'm up in Boston to check out the Senior Tour action a little bit. What's going on with you all? John W. ( Gaithersburg, MD): How much do you love the half-clay, half-grass battle between Federer and Nadal? They have to televise

NEW YORK—When the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was founded in 1973, women could not apply for a credit card on their own. Consider the literal and figurative meaning of a credit card. You will be allowed to spend money that you might not have. Call the credit card a statement

MIAMI, USA—Days after winning back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments and skyrocketing up the rankings, Mirra Andreeva is doing exactly what 17-year-olds do: posting up a storm on social media. Amid the relentless pace of the professional tennis calendar, Andreeva flew from the California desert to South Florida for an array of

The depth of the WTA Tour has been a regular topic of discussion in recent years. But only at the four Grand Slam events and the tour’s four mandatory tournaments—now called WTA 1000s—do we get to see it laid out before us, bracket by bracket. The Mutua Madrid Open is

LONDON—Of tennis’ major championships, Wimbledon remains the one where both competitors walk off the court together. Civil. Communal. Respectful. Such are Wimbledon values. Fitting indeed to have witnessed 30-year-old Angelique Kerber and 21-year-old Daria Kasatkina exit Centre Court together in the wake of what they had created. The score line

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—So far in his young career, Nick Kyrgios has been a you-never-know-what-you’re-going-to-get kind of guy. He beats Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, then struggles to win a single match at a low-level event. He plays with fire-breathing aggression one day, then tells you that he can’t stand tennis the

LONDON—“The thing about photographing tennis,” Russ Adams told me, “is that you can never put the camera down, even when the point’s over. You don’t know what somebody’s going to do next.” The indefatigable Adams, who took more pictures of tennis players than anyone else, was still pointing and shooting