NEW YORK—“It was a hot one tonight, wasn’t it guys?” Ben Shelton asked the crowd in Ashe Stadium after his 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Frances Tiafoe on Tuesday. It was certainly hot out—in the 80s and humid. Spectators were still fanning themselves well into the evening, and

MELBOURNE—Efficiency appeared to be the watchword of the evening for Novak Djokovic. No reason to repeat the late-night, shirt-ripping theatrics of his five-hour win over Stan Wawrinka, as entertaining as they might have been. With a reliable pair of silver sneakers under him this time, Djokovic began as crisply tonight

This isn’t exactly the women’s final I expected, but maybe it should have been. Kim Clijsters, defending champion, lover of Flushing Meadows, part-time resident of New Jersey, was an obvious contender. I’m pretty sure I picked her as the runner-up (to Maria Sharapova, whoops). But, even though she was the

MASON, Ohio (AP)—Novak Djokovic’s remarkable winning streak ended with a grimace, one that puts a new spin on the U.S. Open. The world’s top-ranked player was forced to retire in the second set Sunday because of a sore right shoulder, giving Andy Murray the championship at the Western & Southern

BARCELONA—Last year, during Rafael Nadal’s worst season in over a decade, he lost to Fabio Fognini three times, including a straight-sets defeat at the Barcelona Open. But after winning a rematch with the Italian on Friday, 6-2, 7-6 (1), Nadal insisted that his impressive form had nothing to do with

NEW YORK—Emma Navarro gave U.S. fans plenty to cheer for as quarterfinal action got underway at the 2024 US Open, clinching the best major result of her young career with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Paula Badosa. Playing her second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, the No. 13 seeded-American backed up

As she always does, Aryna Sabalenka had an expression for every occasion in her win over Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open on Sunday. She rolled her eyes toward the sky after easy misses. She gave her coaching team a cold-eyed stare after failing to convert break points. She laughed

In February 2011, Mario Ancic hung up his tennis racquets at the age of 26 when a string of injuries and illnesses ultimately proved insurmountable. Adept at serve-and-volleying, Ancic translated that tactic into hitting the books, eyeing another ambitious world that eventually landed him on Wall Street. Ten years later,

NEW YORK—Fresh in the moment, staggered and delighted upon having reached the US Open final the first time she’d played the tournament, Bianca Andreescu could likely relate to these words written by her fellow Canadian native, author Saul Bellow: “Only the present is real—the here-and-now. Seize the day.” This was

Twice Jack Sock ranged to his left on a break point in the third set. Twice he got the shot he wanted to hit, an inside-out forehand. Twice he missed it. Twice his opponent, Milos Raonic, held serve. If Sock had made one of those forehands, he would likely have

News, gossip and other items of interest from the world of tennis: Eye Candy, or Something Like It Can you believe we’re just three months away from 2010? I always find this time of the year exciting. Fall is in the air. The holidays are right around the corner. There

(2) Rafael Nadal vs. (19) Tommy Robredo What Robredo must do to win: Play flawless baseline tennis, take some risk with his serve and forehand, and stay close early. Robredo is at his best grinding away from the baseline, but beating Nadal in a long baseline battle is as easy

NEW YORK (AP)—Rafael Nadal was not quite ready to contemplate his place in tennis history. It had been less than two hours since a gripping victory over Novak Djokovic earned Nadal his second U.S. Open championship and 13th Grand Slam title overall. So when a question came about the likelihood

PARIS—It was now all about the fight. It hadn’t started that way on Court 18, but as usually happens in a tennis match, it was about to end that way. Never mind that 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina was the favorite versus 38th-ranked Maria Sakkari in this third-round matchup. Never mind that

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) In the same half of a Grand Slam singles draw for the first time since 2005, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are taking similar paths to a potential semifinal matchup at the Australian Open. Neither the four-time Australian champion Federer nor 2009 titleholder Nadal have dropped a

• Picby Pete Bodo* When we left Long John Isner at Wimbledon, he was not merely a beaten man—the victim of a first-round upset inflicted by Alejandro Falla—but a confused one. He tried to explain in a doleful press conference that might just as easily have been conducted on a

Well, that last post went well, don’t you think? Thanks for all the jibber-jabber. I welcome it, except the comments about me being fat. Not true, in case anyone was wondering. Also, I don’t have kids, I didn’t go to SW19 this time around, and I would make a horrible

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Serena Williams wins with so much more than serving, of course. Her groundstrokes are as intimidating as they come. Superb speed and anticipation fuel her court-covering defense. Her returns are more than solid, too. When that serve is on-target, though, it sure is something special, quite possibly

NEW YORK—Milos Raonic and Jerzy Janowicz are the twin towers of tennis’ future. The tower part is easy to see. Janowicz is 6’8”; in his hands, a Babolat looks as much like a toothpick as it does a racquet. Raonic is 6’5"; with his long legs and lanky frame, he

Which is more surprising on the women’s side right now, a day filled with upsets or a day devoid of them? It has been a season of WTA surprises so far in 2016, and the early going at the French Open seemed to promise many more. No one was safe: