MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Li Na returned to the tournament that launched her onto the global stage last year, breezing to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan on Monday in the first round of the Australian Open. Li was a trailblazer for China last year, reaching a Grand

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Novak Djokovic briefly looked vulnerable. Serena Williams just looked lost. Djokovic, the defending champion, dropped six straight games to Lleyton Hewitt in losing his first set at the Australian Open but kept his composure and won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 late Monday night, ensuring all of the

The just-concluded Australian Open offered some of the best tennis over two weeks that I can remember, with the emergence of a new star, the re-emergence of an “older” one, and perhaps the end of one era and the beginning of another. If you watched the year’s first Slam unfold—kudos,

MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Ana Ivanovic's hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes Friday, losing to Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2. With 19-year-old Kleybanova of Russia constantly aggressive, fifth-ranked Ivanovic lost her serve nine times and finished with 50 unforced errors

WIMBLEDON, England(AP) As Week 1 gives way to Week 2 at Wimbledon on Monday, the primary story lines have not shifted since the beginning of the tournament. Will Roger Federer win a sixth Wimbledon championship and record 15th Grand Slam title? Will Andy Murray end Britain's 73-year wait for a

NEW YORK(AP) Dinara Safina is the first to admit that what she really needs is some time off. She got it, though hardly at a good time - eliminated in the third round of the U.S. Open after an ugly week's stay at Flushing Meadows. It included: -Three poorly played,

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)—Maria Sharapova was upset by Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, her worst performance at a Grand Slam event since 2003. The 14th-seeded Sharapova was unable to defend her 2008 Australian Open championship while sidelined 10 months because

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Roger Federer saved a parting shot for anyone who thinks his time is up and a changing of the guard in tennis awaits. ``Yeah, I mean, they say that very quickly. ... Let's talk in six months again,'' he said. The heavily hyped duel between Federer and

PARIS (AP) It's been eight years since the last time Roger Federer was not seeded No. 1 or 2 at a Grand Slam tournament. It's also been that long since he went more than 12 months without winning any major title. With the French Open starting Sunday, top-seeded Rafael Nadal's

NEW YORK (AP) Venus Williams' smile was tinged with a bit of sadness when she said goodbye to the U.S. Open for 2011 - certainly not on her terms and certainly not the way most people expected. The two-time champion and one of the headliners of the game for nearly

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Nick Kyrgios handed over a racket as a sympathetic gift for accidentally hitting a young fan and the umpire left her chair to check on the boy's condition. And that was all in the opening few games of the latest version of tennis played in a

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Rafael Nadal faced down the future and emerged victorious, outlasting Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Saturday night to reach the BNP Paribas Open final and improve to 20-0 this year. The 21-time major champion threw his head back, smiled and raised both arms

WATCH: Alcaraz was nearly speechless after overcoming the world No. 1 in their first meeting.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Nick Kyrgios stepped into a nearly full Centre Court to polite applause at precisely 1:30 p.m. on Monday, exited about 3 1/2 hours later to a louder ovation and, somehow, the 100-year-old stadium survived the experience. In the warmup period, Kyrgios flicked a ball between his

WATCH: Grigor Dimitrov reached his second Masters 1000 semifinal in six months in Monte Carlo earlier this spring.

The Break: We have a new No. 1; what a tournament

WATCH: Jon Wertheim on the rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal—his inspiration for Strokes of Genius and RIVALS.

WATCH: Remember the life and legacy of Nick Bollettieri, one of the sport's greatest coaches and pioneer of tennis academies, after opening Bollettieri Tennis Academy in 1978.

FLASHBACK: Upstart Felix challenged an aging all-time great on his home turf, and Rafa responded by lifting his game to a level that no one has ever been able to match on a clay court.

The wait is over for Stefanos Tsitsipas. After seeing three Australian Open bids ended in the semifinals, the world No. 4 has gone a step further at the tournament he lovingly calls his home Slam. Tsitsipas battled past No. 18 seed Karen Khachanov, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3, on