BARCELONA, Spain (AP) Rafael Nadal avenged last year's loss to Nicolas Almagro by beating his fellow Spaniard 6-3, 6-1 at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday, while U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic slumped to a second-round exit. The second-seeded Nadal, who lost last week to Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Out of sorts and out of answers, defending champion Serena Williams is out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Shanking shots of all sorts, including five — yes, five! — double-faults in one game alone, Williams lost to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3 in

LONDON (AP) — Venus Williams wiped tears from her eyes during her Wimbledon news conference Monday. She shook her head, fiddled with her hair and sat, silently. The wave of emotion came as Williams attempted to answer a question about the two-car crash that police say she caused June 9

If you’re like me, when you watch Andrey Rublev play, you look forward to two things: (1) His battering-ram ball-striking style, and (2) his viscerally heartfelt reactions to his successes and failures on court. Over the course of a match, the Russian may tear at his shirt, gesture wildly at

What my eighth most memorable match of 2012 lacked in elegance and logic, it more than made up for in drama, emotion, and whiplash-inducing plot twists. With the roof closed, and two German women—I’m not going to say friends—fighting for a semifinal spot at Wimbledon, things got heated inside Centre

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—All Serena Williams had to do was look at the numbers for an explanation of her stunning loss in the fourth round at the Australian Open. Seven double-faults, including four in one game; 37 unforced errors, and a first-serve percentage of just over 50 percent Monday that had

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)—Rafael Nadal’s serve deserted him in the second set, and so did his chances of beating a streaking Novak Djokovic. Djokovic defeated the world’s top-ranked player 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title on Sunday, keeping the Serbian perfect this year. Djokovic improved to

Picby Pete Bodo **WIMBLEDON, England—Maria Sharapova trailed Sabine Lisicki by a set and 3-5, and was serving at 30-0. The No. 1 seed was fighting for her competitive life and barely hanging onto it against the 5-foot-10, German-born, 22-year-old. During the next point, Sharapova left a ball short and Lisicki,

VenusLesson1 By TennisWorld Contributing Editor Andrew Burton Evening, all. The second really big match in the ATP tournament is due up tonight, a QF between Roger Federer and Fernando Verdasco. The first, the R16 tussle between David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal last night, exceeded expectations. For two hours, Nalbandian took

The most flattering way to describe Sabine Lisicki’s upset of top-seeded and generally omnipotent Serena Williams is also the most accurate. It was one of those tennis rarities, the “shocking upset” that can’t be taken for “shocking” by anyone with two eyes in his or her head. And it was

A Grand Slam final between the No. 1 and 2 players in the world is a rare enough event to be savored, and one that should theoretically produce a tight contest. These are the best of the best, going head-to-head on one of the game’s four biggest stages, showing why

PARIS(AP) French Open matches involving Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams were postponed Thursday before play finally began after a rain delay of 4 hours, 35 minutes. Officials hoped to complete much of the schedule, although rain remained in the forecast for the rest of the day. Six second-round singles matches

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A loss didn't bother Naomi Osaka at the Brisbane International as much as the missed opportunity for more matches ahead of the Australian Open. The four-time major winner's first tournament since becoming a mother ended in a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 second-round loss Wednesday to three-time

Give Novak Djokovic a lot of credit. Gael Monfils finds a way to make every match he plays about himself, and that can be both disconcerting and frustrating—especially when the Frenchman is at his volatile, acrobatic, attention-grabbing best. This, after all, is a guy who knows how to play the

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The pragmatic pro in Gael Monfils would like to have finished off his first-round win in straight sets against up-and-coming fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Australian Open. The entertainer's instinct in him got a lot of value out of clinching it in five. In

PARIS (AP) Grimacing in pain with almost every step, Andy Murray nearly had to call it quits Thursday because of a back spasm at the French Open. Instead, the fourth-seeded Brit rebounded from an awful first set to beat Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round.

MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Being a tennis player in the age of Twitter and Facebook means Venus Williams can communicate with fans like never before. This explains the recent tweet about her outfit. The bright yellow mini-dress that Williams wore Saturday in her third-round win at the Australian Open - and all

HIGHLIGHTS: Jannik Sinner ends Carlos Alcaraz's win streak in Miami semis

WATCH:Carlos Alcaraz defeats Karen Khachanov in the 2023 Madrid Open quarterfinals

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships in contrasting fashion on Wednesday. Djokovic struggled to overcome the inspired net play of Feliciano Lopez of Spain, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Federer had an easier time, beating Marcel Granollers of