by Jed Court Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are both back in action at the French Open on Thursday looking to reach the third round, while Rafael Nadal continues his bid for an 11th title. Here are three matches to watch at Roland Garros on Thursday: Serena Williams (USA) v Ashleigh Barty (AUS x17) — Having previously not played a Grand Slam match since the 2017 Australian Open […]
Tag: tennis
Serena set for Grand Slam return at Roland Garros
by Jed Court Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Three-time champion Serena Williams will make her eagerly-awaited return to Grand Slam tennis on Tuesday with a French Open first-round match against Kristyna Pliskova on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 36-year-old last played a major tournament in a victorious 2017 Australian Open campaign while two months pregnant, before taking time out of the game to give birth to her daughter. Serena has since crashed to 453 […]
Nadal breaks McEnroe record in Madrid but Del Potro, Sharapova, Halep beaten
by Thomas Allnutt Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Rafael Nadal broke John McEnroe’s 34-year record on Thursday by winning his 50th consecutive set on clay at the Madrid Open. But while the world number one cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Diego Schwartzman, Juan Martin del Potro, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep all crashed out. Nadal’s straight-sets victory means he establishes a new Open era best for consecutive sets won on a single surface, […]
No Williams sisters, no problem as USA target Fed Cup final return
PARIS, France (AFP) — The United States aims to prove again that they can thrive without Serena and Venus Williams when they tackle France for a place in a second consecutive Fed Cup final this weekend. In 2017, the US won the tournament for the 18th time with a nerve-racking 3-2 victory over Belarus which was only decided in the last doubles rubber when CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers claimed the winning point. The Williams […]
Nadal beats Zverev to set up Davis Cup decider with Germany
VALENCIA, Spain (AFP) — Rafael Nadal kept Spain’s Davis Cup hopes alive by beating Alexander Zverev on Sunday in the fourth rubber of their quarter-final against Germany. Nadal’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win in Valencia draws the tie level at 2-2, with Spanish world number 33 David Ferrer up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fifth and decisive match. Two breaks in each set were enough for Nadal to seal an impressively comfortable victory over Zverev in […]
Venus Williams rallies to reach Miami Open quarters
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Venus Williams exacted revenge on reigning Miami Open champion Johanna Konta on Monday with a superlative display to book her place in the quarter-finals. Williams, 37, was made to work hard for her passage into the fourth round, fighting off three match points before eventually seeing off Kiki Bertens in a three-hour battle on Sunday. But in Monday’s repeat of last year’s semi-final, which was won by the British number […]
Tennis: Giant-killer Kasatkina hits prime time at Indian Wells
by Greg Heakes © Agence France-Presse INDIAN WELLS, United States (AFP) — Daria Kasatkina defeated her second straight top 10 player as she needed less than an hour to rout Angelique Kerber and book her first Indian Wells semi-final on Thursday. The 20-year-old Russian rolled to an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory in 58 minutes over the 10th seeded Kerber at the joint WTA/ATP hardcourt tournament on Thursday. Kasatkina, who is ranked 19th in the world, […]
Tennis: Venus Williams reaches third round at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, United States (AFP) — Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the WTA Indian Wells hardcourt tournament on Saturday. The 37-year-old American moves on to the third round where she will face either her younger sister Serena or Dutch player Kiki Bertens, who are scheduled to follow Venus on the centre court Stadium. Venus Williams reached last year’s Wimbledon final where she lost in […]
Mental battle key to Djokovic comeback, says Becker
by Pirate Irwin © Agence France-Presse MONACO, Principality of Monaco (AFP) — Former world number one Novak Djokovic’s toughest hurdle when he returns to the ATP Tour after a long injury absence will be a mental one, believes former coach Boris Becker. The 30-year-old Serbian’s return to competitive action is yet to be confirmed although he published photos of himself on the practice courts earlier this week for the first time since he underwent a […]
Tennis: Williams says terrifying health scare almost killed her
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Serena Williams says she lives in fear of blood clots, a condition that surfaced during a harrowing postnatal ordeal in September when she almost died giving birth to her first child. In an op-ed piece she wrote for CNN on Tuesday, the tennis legend lifted the lid on her near-death experience while giving birth to daughter, Olympia, after getting blood clots in her lungs. “I almost died after giving […]
Federer confirmed as oldest world No.1
PARIS, France (AFP) — Roger Federer officially returned to world number one as the latest ATP rankings were released on Monday, replacing old rival Rafael Nadal at the summit. The 36-year-old, who beat Andre Agassi’s record as the oldest-ever No.1 en route to winning the Rotterdam Open title last week, will now look to stretch his lead over Nadal before the start of the claycourt season. “It’s unbelievable to be number one again after all these (six) […]
Federer quietly hoping for dream return to No. 1
by Scott Williams © Agence France-Presse ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) — Roger Federer said Monday he could allow himself to dream about recapturing the world number one spot at this week’s Rotterdam tournament and becoming the oldest man ever to hold the position. To climb back to the top at the age of 36, the Swiss must at least reach the semi-finals. If seedings hold up, that means he would have to defeat compatriot and friend Stan Wawrinka […]





