Federer, Serena retire; tennis moves on to Alcaraz, Swiatek
The timing of it all hardly could be more symbolic: All within a span of two weeks, Serena Williams plays what is believed to be her last match at age 40, Roger Federer announces he’ll be retiring at 41, Iga Swiatek wins her third Grand Slam title at 21, and Carlos Alcaraz gets his first at 19.
Barty, Medvedev rise to challenge on tough day at Miami Open
Barty didn't wilt, ousting Sabalenka 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 for her third three-set win in four matches at the tournament. Medvedev beat Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3, and has gone 10-1 in sets against the American in their past four head-to-head matchups. Ad“Everywhere in the world there are different conditions and at times it suits you more than other places,” Barty said. Medvedev had 11 aces and showed no signs of wear, two days after cramping in the heat during a third-round win. 21 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals; Sinner advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland.
The Latest: Shapovalov edges teenage Sinner in 1st round
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.
With quarantines almost over, tennis set to start Down Under
It was a controversial start to the government-mandated quarantine ahead of the Australian Open beginning Feb. 8, 2021. The government-mandated quarantine ahead of the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open had a controversial start. There was some considerable doubt during that second wave whether the Australian Open would even be remotely possible in Melbourne. Players, coaches and officials were flown in on 17 jets chartered by Tennis Australia and met by biosecurity officials and placed immediately into hotel quarantine. They include 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, whose coach was among those who tested positive, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
French Open champ Swiatek rises to 17th; Djokovic, Nadal 1-2
2, followed by U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem and Federer. The 19-year-old Swiatek entered the French Open at No. 54 and became the lowest-ranked female champion at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975. The top three in the women’s rankings remained as they were before the French Open, with Ash Barty at No. Halep did compete at the French Open, but her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Swiatek in the fourth round didn’t affect the three-time major champion’s ranking.
'Both gave everything': Schwartzman tops Thiem; Nadal next
A reporter wanted to know whether Schwartzman would be watching Nadal vs. Sinner. “For sure, I’m going to be awake,” said Schwartzman, who defeated Nadal at a clay-court tuneup in Rome last month. The ninth break put Schwartzman up 4-2 in the fifth when Thiem netted a backhand, and the last ended it, when Thiem put two drop shots into the net. From early on against Schwartzman, Thiem would bail out of points by trying mediocre drop shots, a bit of foreshadowing of the day’s denouement. He led the fourth 5-3, and held three set points while serving for it at 5-4.
Years after anorexia, hiatus, Italian reaches French Open QF
Italy's Martina Trevisan celebrates winning the fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Netherlands' Kiki Bertens in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. So after Trevisan’s 6-4, 6-4 victory against No. U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev lost 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to 19-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy, then said he had a fever and was short of breath, two symptoms that raise red flags during a coronavirus pandemic that postponed the French Open from May-June to September-October. 12 seed Diego Schwartzman, a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 winner against Lorenzo Sonego. 3 Elina Svitolina beat Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 and next takes on Nadia Podoroska, a qualifier from Argentina who is ranked 131st and eliminated Barbora Krejcikova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The Latest: Thiem vs. Schwartzman in French quarterfinals
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___8:30 p.m.Two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem survived a spirited comeback by a French wild-card entry to win their fourth-round match in five sets. He equaled his best Grand Slam showing by reaching his fourth major quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego. Organizers said the sixth-seeded German player did not consult their doctors before his fourth-round match against Italian teenager Jannik Sinner, despite the symptoms he later disclosed in his news conference after he was beaten 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. While there have been upsets in the women's draw, it's business as usual for Rafael Nadal among the men at the French Open. It's quickly becoming a day of upsets at the French Open, with Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan beating the fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic leads been-there-done-that crew at wild French Open
Is it the two-week gap from the end of the U.S. Open to the start of the French Open? The women’s matchups established Saturday: Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin against Fiona Ferro; two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova against Zhang Shuai; Paula Badosa against Laura Siegemund; and No. “You can go out any round,” said Garbiñe Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion who was beaten by the 57th-ranked Collins 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in Saturday's last match. The 22-year-old from Spain, ranked 87th, defeated 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-3. “It’s really nice, I think, overall for tennis to see new faces, young players,” Djokovic said.
The Latest: Collins beats 2016 champ Muguruza at French Open
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___11:10 p.m.Danielle Collins grabbed the last four games to come back and beat 2016 champion Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the last third-round singles match at the French Open. Next up for Djokovic as he pursues a second French Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall: No. ___4:20 p.m.Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the fourth round at the French Open for the second year in a row. He came through the qualifying tournament to reach the French Open main draw. ___1:10 p.m.Andrey Rublev advanced to the French Open fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win against the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson.
The Latest: US Open runner-up Zverev wins 1st match in Paris
The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that does not use tiebreakers in the final set. 9 seed Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-3 at Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday. ___7:30 p.m.Stan Wawrinka made quick work of Andy Murray in their reunion of sorts at the French Open. One of his coaches is Wolfgang Thiem, the father of fellow Austrian Dominic Thiem — the U.S. Open champion, and French Open runner-up the past two years. The 20-year-old Korda beat Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
No chill for Coco: Gauff ousts 9th seed in French Open debut
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – Prepping in the relative warmth of a gym before heading out with leggings and long sleeves to make her French Open debut against the tournament’s No. I realized it’s just a tennis match. Such a far cry from last year’s French Open: Gauff failed to make it out of qualifying, while Konta was making her way to her third Grand Slam semifinal. She also made it to the fourth round at this year’s Australian Open, beating 2019 champion Naomi Osaka en route. The lack of match play coming in.
The Latest: 11th-seeded Goffin knocked out by Sinner
Belgium's David Goffin plays a shot against Italy's Jannik Sinner in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament against at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – The Latest on the opening day at the French Open:___David Goffin has become the first seeded player to be knocked out of the French Open. The 11th-seeded Belgian lost 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 to 19-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner, who beat Goffin for the second time this year after winning on hard courts at Rotterdam in February. Sinner showcased his talent as one of the world's best young players by winning the Next Gen ATP Finals last year. In the women's draw, tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Danka Kovinic 6-1, 6-2 in chilly conditions.