With six of the world’s top eight players on the WTA Tour out of this year’s US Open, one key word comes to mind when looking at the draw: opportunity. Even though there’s a slew of major champions in the field, the chance for other contenders, both past and present,

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Shahar Peer is proving unstoppable at the Dubai Championships one year after the Israeli was denied a chance to play in the tournament. Peer beat a seeded player for the third time in four matches and advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 3-0 win over

With a number of top stars missing in Miami this week (notably Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams), it’s going to be a huge opportunity for a first-time champion. Two players that seem to possess the most potential—if they can stay healthy—are Madison Keys and Milos Raonic. While the

Since the beginning of this century, no country can match Spain’s overall body of work in the tennis world. While Rafael Nadal hogs the majority of the nation’s Grand Slam hardware, players like Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero, David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Verdasco, Roberto Bautista-Agut, and Tommy Robredo— all

by Pete Bodo Alisa Kleybanova turned 22 on Friday, July 15th, and her birthday "celebration" included a less than festive communication with her fellow players, fans, and tour officials. She posted a message on the WTA website explaining her absence from Roland Garros and Wimbledon. In a telephone interview that

The Last Word returns, and each weekday, starting on Monday, December 5, we'll give you our year-end thoughts about tennis' best players—this time focusing on the ATP and WTA Top 10. We'll alternate tours each day; here's who we've looked at so far. Best of 2011 No stranger to a

Yevgeny Kafelnikov looked for his second major as he faced first-time Slam finalist Thomas Enqvist in the Australian Open championship match. Oftentimes, the label “dangerous floater” is affixed to a player who’s had some past success but is entering a tournament unseeded due to a poor stretch of form or

Maria Sakkari made a major shift in the off-season, and it’s already paying dividends at the 2024 Australian Open. “I don't know if you noticed,” she teased after a 6-4, 6-1 win over Nao Hibino. “I changed racquet. It's a completely new frame. After ten years using the same racquet,

“There isn’t much that separates No. 1 from No. 100.” Every so often, you hear a version of that statement from a professional tennis player. Your reaction probably goes something like this: “Yeah, right.” But this week in Doha, Rafael Nadal, the current world No. 1, seems to have set

When Tommy Haas made his debut at the French Open, in 1998, Jack Sock was all of five years old. So it was an extreme case of youth vs. experience when the two players, one of them now 35 years old, the other 20, met today in the second round

Has there ever been a player who smiles more than Sabine Lisicki? The young German laughed her way through a rain-interrupted match on No. 1 Court today and in the end was beaming through her tears as she upset world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, 6-4 6-3. Last year, Lisicki was

Prediction No. 4: Marin Cilic Takes the Slow, Steady—and High—Road to Success Young players are nothing more than giant questions marks to me. I can rarely decide on first sight whether a talented kid is a sure-shot or a no-shot. Will he be a future No. 1? Top 10? Top

“Tennis lost its most colorful character.” These words were written by former player Bill Talbert, about the 1957 motorcycle accident that prematurely ended the tennis career of his fellow American Art Larsen. They could have been written again 55 years later, in December 2012, when Larsen died at the age

LONDON—Stanislas Wawrinka explains why he complained to the chair umpire in the second set of his 7-6, 7-6 loss to Rafael Nadal Wednesday at the ATP World Tour Finals. “It's nothing personal against Rafa or against [Nadal uncle and coach] Toni," Wawrinka said. "We all know, players and umpire, that

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates(AP) Andy Murray dominated Roger Federer again, beating the 13-time Grand Slam title winner 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) Friday in the semifinals of the Capitala World Tennis Championship. The exhibition event, which is not part of the ATP Tour, features six of the top 10 players

SAN JOSE, California (AP)—Andy Roddick reached the quarterfinals for the eighth time in nine tries at the SAP Open by defeating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-1 in the second round on Thursday. The top-seeded Roddick is on course to become the fourth player to win the tournament at least four times.

Before each day's play at the 2020 Australian Open, we'll preview three must-see matches. A 24-year-old vs. a 35-year-old. The 26th-ranked player in the world vs. No. 61. An Aussie playing in Melbourne, and a Frenchman far from home. Everything stacks up in favor of Kyrgios here. Yet: In their

Three years ago, Ellie Carmody was looking for an enjoyable way to fulfill her school’s required service hours. As an avid tennis player, she was drawn to Omaha Tennis Buddies, a tennis program for disabled athletes. Founded in 2005, the program provides a year-round supplement to the tennis opportunities available

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla.—Can a match in which two players combine to double fault 13 times and make 36 more errors than winners still be considered must-see tennis? In the case of Novak Djokovic’s gritty, grouchy, anything-but-straightforward 6-3, 6-4 win here over Dominic Thiem, the answer was an emphatic yes. It

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) Novak Djokovic dominated both tiebreakers to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, setting up a semifinal against Rafael Nadal featuring two players who own a combined seven titles in the California desert. Nadal defeated Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3,