“Out of nowhere”: that’s the cliché-filled cloud that followed unseeded Jelena Ostapenko for most of the French Open. But if you had been paying close attention to the hard-hitting Latvian’s rise over the past few years, and particularly this season, she has not come from “out of nowhere” at all.

Things looked dire for a set, but like she’s done so many times, Serena Williams raised her level when it mattered most. In the end, the American defeated Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round of the French Open, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. It was the milestone 800th tour-level win of her

Reilly Opelka isn’t in the ATP’s Top 10 just yet, but according to him, he’s among the elite in another important category. He’s “first-team all-bot.” Servebot, that is. Among tennis fans, this is a less-than-affectionate term for the sport’s towering ace machines, the players who rely on their serves to

You might think that once a player has won a tournament 11 times, there wouldn’t be much that could make him anxious or throw him off his game. You would be wrong. That’s not how tennis, or its greatest champions, operate. From the first moments of his semifinal with Fabio

Until Sunday afternoon, it looked as if there would be two races to follow this week at the year’s final ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris. But one of them, the battle for the No. 1 ranking between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, was abruptly short-circuited when Federer pulled out

“Maybe it’s better if Rafa loses again, then everybody will stop asking me about it.”—Robin Soderling It’s true, Robin, that with every match Rafael Nadal wins at Roland Garros, your one-of-a-kind victory over the Spaniard in 2009 becomes more mythical than marvel. But there’s another streak-snapping win the Swede posted

*71314314 by Pete Bodo Alright, alright. Sorry to be AWOL for a spell there, but I had a lot going on here in the office and I wanted to clear the decks before we settle in to jaw about Indian Wells. I've got a post up at ESPN today on

source: APWF Serena Williams of the U.S. waves after defeating Brazil's Teliana Pereira during their second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Paris. Williams won 6-2, 6-1. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) PARIS (AP) First it was Serena Williams' turn

This week, we're highlighting our top five ATP players of the year. Last week, we revealed our Top 5 WTA list. Click here to read each selection.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — The Latest on Wimbledon (all times local): 8:25 p.m. Coco Gauff lost on Wimbledon's Centre Court for the second day in a row. Gauff and Catherine McNally were eliminated in the third round of the women's doubles. The Americans lost to Russian duo Veronika Kudermetova and

NEW YORK (AP)—Sam Querrey wants to put the “U.S.” back in the U.S. Open. It’s been seven years since a man from the United States won the country’s most important tennis tournament. Indeed, it’s been that long since an American man won any Grand Slam singles title. Querrey is all-too-aware

“It’s just a matter of belief within myself, that no matter how well or bad or good I’m playing, or my opponent is playing, I know I can tough it out,” the No. 3-seeded Sharapova said after her 2 1/2-hour victory. “No matter what the situation is, I have the

Philipp Kohlschreiber was pinned so far behind the baseline, he could have used the radar display as a step stool to return Lukas Rosol's serve, which sprung to shoulder heights. When Rosol wasn't twisting the ball out of Kohlschreiber's strike zone, be was busy blasting drives down the line. Broken

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local): 11:45 p.m. Emma Raducanu has set up an all-teenager U.S. Open women's final. The 18-year-old from Britain beat No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4, becoming the first player to come through qualifying to reach

MASON, Ohio (AP)—Serena and Venus Williams moved into the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open by handling the afternoon heat, humidity and wind. The conditions were too much for Andy Murray. Murray's off-day turned into the biggest upset of the tournament, a straight-sets loss Thursday that left him with

Hard-court and clay-court tournaments share space on the calendar this week before the start of the U.S. Open Series, which leads up to the season's final Grand Slam in Flushing Meadows. While several top players are recovering from grass-court—and wedding—season, many of the rank-and-file are back on court making mid-summertime

NEW YORK—Benoit Paire was about to serve at 5-4 in the fifth set, and he really needed to talk to someone. This being a tennis match, he couldn’t call his coach over from the other side of the court, or even ask for advice from the fans sitting nearby. So

NEW YORK (AP)—Venus Williams arrived at this U.S. Open with a bum knee. She hadn't played a match in more than two months. She hadn't reached the semifinals at any Grand Slam tournament in more than a year. And now? Williams is two victories away from her first U.S. Open

Serena Williams' quarter-century professional tennis career came to end with a 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday night. Williams turns 41 on Sept. 26 and says she wants to grow her family — she has a 5-year-old daughter,

PARIS(AP) Regarding the damp, slow conditions Thursday at the French Open, John Isner had a different perspective. Maybe that's because he's 6-foot-9. The big American hit 38 aces and reached the third round at Roland Garros for the first time by beating Marco Chiudinelli 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7),