3:41 PM ET Associated Press Reigning US Open champion Bianca Andreescu pulled out of the Grand Slam tournament Thursday, saying the coronavirus pandemic prevented her from properly preparing for competition. Andreescu joins 2019 men’s champion Rafael Nadal in skipping the US Open. A year ago at age 19, Andreescu became the first woman in the
Tennis
8:11 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Angela Buxton, a British tennis player who was the doubles partner of Althea Gibson when the American became the first Black person to win a major title in 1956, has died. She was 85. The International Tennis Federation announced the death of Buxton on Monday, describing her as
1:53 PM ET Kim Clijsters will be striving to create a record at the US Open by becoming the only player to win the American Grand Slam as a wild card in two different years. A four-time Grand Slam singles champion, Clijsters leads the parade of US Open wild cards announced on Thursday by the
3:27 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Kei Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and said he will pull out of the tuneup tournament at Flushing Meadows that starts next week. Nishikori posted what he called “some unfortunate news” on his mobile app. While he is withdrawing from
1:57 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jennifer Brady won her first WTA title at the Top Seed Open, overcoming a shaky serve and using a five-game run to seize control for a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jil Teichmann in Sunday’s final. It was the first professional tennis event in the United States since
10:43 AM ET Top seed Simona Halep claimed her second successive title, albeit six months apart, as she comfortably beat Elise Mertens to win the Prague Open on Sunday. The Romanian world No. 2, playing her first event since winning in Dubai in February, won 6-2, 7-5. 2 Related Halep had struggled to shake off
3:24 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Belinda Bencic became the latest top tennis player to pull out of the US Open, meaning three of the four female semifinalists in 2019 will not be at the Grand Slam tournament this year. Bencic wrote on social media on Saturday that she “made the difficult decision
1:01 PM ET Romanian top seed Simona Halep beat compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets in the semifinals of the Prague Open on Saturday to set up a final with third seed Elise Mertens of Belgium. Halep was broken three times in the first set but managed to win the tiebreak before Begu, who finished
1:01 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jil Teichmann reached the third final of her career by beating Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-2 Saturday at the Top Seed Open, the first tennis tournament in the U.S. since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The 116th-ranked Rogers, who is from South Carolina, was coming off a
6:30 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Entering Friday, Serena Williams had played 967 tour-level singles matches as a professional, with just four losses against opponents ranked outside the top 100 — and none in eight years. Well, it’s time to add to that list: Williams was beaten by No. 116 Shelby Rogers 1-6,
1:45 PM ET Simona Halep said she was slowly returning to her best form following the coronavirus hiatus as she cruised past Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-0 on Friday to reach the Prague Open semifinals. World No. 2 Halep made a rusty start to the claycourt tournament and needed three sets to win each of
10:19 AM ET The ATP on Friday issued a revised provisional calendar for the rest of 2020, highlighted by the Italian Open changing dates to take the place of the canceled Madrid Open. Play in Rome will now begin a week earlier than planned, on Sept. 14, the day after the US Open men’s final.
6:18 PM ET Associated Press Robert Ryland, the first Black professional tennis player and later a coach to such stars as Arthur Ashe and Serena and Venus Williams, has died. He was 100. Ryland died Aug. 2 at his stepson’s home in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, his wife, Nancy Ingersoll, confirmed to The New
4:29 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — Serena Williams came back and won the last four games to beat her older sister, Venus, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a hard-hitting, back-and-forth, second-round matchup at the Top Seed Open on Thursday. It was the 31st meeting of their careers — 22 1/2 years after the first.
1:09 PM ET Associated Press Five lower-level tennis tournaments in the United States in September have been called off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Tennis Association — which plans to hold the U.S. Open and another tournament in New York starting Aug. 20 — announced Thursday the cancellations of all ITF World Tennis
8:42 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Moments after her dominant first-round win over former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka at the Top Seed Open on Tuesday, Venus Williams could barely contain her excitement during her on-court interview. After thanking the healthcare workers and the WTA, reflecting on what it was like to be back on court
7:21 PM ET Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ky. — American teenager Coco Gauff overcame some shaky serving Wednesday to beat No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 and reach the Top Seed Open quarterfinals with her third career victory over a top-15 opponent. Gauff, 16, hit 10 double-faults and was broken seven times. “I
1:23 AM ET MUMBAI — The 2021 Australian Open could be moved to later in the year due to COVID-19 but tournament director Craig Tiley told Reuters that organisers are confident of hosting the Grand Slam tennis event in its usual January slot with full prize money and fans in the stands. Melbourne is in