EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA

A player at the French Open was allowed to continue her match — and ended up winning it — after she threw her racket and it bounced into the stands.

John Isner believes in his chances against Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Italian Open.

Rafael Nadal has gotten is off to a good start in his return from injury, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic in two sets to reach the third round at the Madrid Open.

Czech Republic Tennis Billie Jean King Cup Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenko celebrates after defeating Alize Cornet of France in their group A Billie Jean King Cup finals tennis match in Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) (Petr David Josek)PRAGUE — (AP) — Russia eliminated defending champion France to become the first nation to reach the semifinals of the Billie Jean King Cup on Wednesday. After sweeping Canada 3-0 the previous day, Russia needed only one win from the best-of-three match against France to advance from Group A. After the 2019 champion was upset by outsider Canada 2-1 in its opener on Monday, France needed to beat Russia 3-0 to advance. Only the group winners advance to Friday's semifinals.

Russia has eliminated defending champion France to reach the semifinals of the Billie Jean King Cup.

Carla Suárez Navarro has made her return to competition after being treated for cancer.

The American veteran in her 24th appearance at the French Open lost 6-3, 6-1 to Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia. ___5 p.m.Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev has lost in the first round of the French Open. ___4:35 p.m.Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova says on Instagram that she has pulled out of the French Open because of an ankle injury. ___2:50 p.m.Teenage wild card Oceane Babel's inexperience was too much for her to overcome on her Roland Garros debut. ___12:40 p.m.Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady breezed past Anastasija Sevastova to reach the second round and match her best performance at the French Open.

Rafael Nadal showed he’s still got the stamina to withstand much younger challengers in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) comeback win over 22-year-old Denis Shapovalov that secured him a spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals.

Russia's Daniil Medvedev gestures after defeating Serbia's Filip Krajinovic in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)MELBOURNE – Daniil Medvedev finally worked out how to a win a five-setter. The fourth-seeded Medvedev was 0-6 in Grand Slam matches that went to five sets, and his Australian Open third-round match against No. here I was really calm to finish the match," Medvedev said. Medvedev, the U.S. Open finalist last year, will next play McDonald, a player he compared with Roger Federer in style.

He reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the 14th time in 16 trips. The top-seeded Australian beat Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia 6-2, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third straight year. The seventh-seeded Rublev will meet Casper Ruud of Norway in the fourth round. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Mikael Ymer of Sweden 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the third round. ___3:35 p.m.Unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald has matched his best Grand Slam result by reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open.

The 10th-seeded Frenchman is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, but he can't seem to win anywhere at the moment. ___4:55 p.m.U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem has moved into the second round at the Australian Open, where he was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic a year ago. Thiem had been 0-3 in Grand Slam finals until emerging for the championship at Flushing Meadows in September. The first tournament of this year’s Grand Slam season began after a three-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. Serena Williams begins her latest bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title in the following match against Laura Siegemund.

(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)PARIS – Sebastian Korda was 9, heart set on a hockey career, when he went with his father, Petr, to the 2009 U.S. Open. By then, Petr — 1998 Australian Open champion, 1992 French Open finalist — had retired as a competitor and turned to coaching. Went home, came back the next year, and said, ‘This is exactly what I want to do,’” Korda said. “Everybody is always asking him: ‘Are you the son of Petr Korda?’ Which I would love to change in the future,” Dad said in a telephone interview, “so that people ask me, ‘Are you Sebastian’s father? On Sunday, Korda plays 12-time champion Rafael Nadal, while Gaston meets U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___7:00 pm. Wawrinka won the French Open in 2015. ___2:50 p.m.Simona Halep had no trouble reversing the result of her loss to Amanda Anisimova at last year’s French Open. She opened her campaign with a first-round upset of 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova. The two-time French Open quarterfinalist defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 7-5.