Serena Williams wins 1st match of comeback after year away
Britain Tennis Eastbourne Serena Williams of the United States celebrates after wining their doubles tennis match with Ons Jabeur of Tunisia against Marie Bouzkova of Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain at the Eastbourne International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, England, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) (Kirsty Wigglesworth)EASTBOURNE, England — (AP) — As “What A Feeling” boomed around Devonshire Park, Serena Williams strode onto center court at Eastbourne to a standing ovation for her first competitive tennis match in nearly a year. Williams partnered Ons Jabeur to victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova in the first round of the women’s doubles. Williams and Jabeur recovered from losing the first set 6-2 to win the second 6-3 and then the match tiebreaker 13-11 on their third match point. The win means Williams will have at least one more competitive match before playing singles at Wimbledon as a wild-card entry.
wftv.comThe Latest: Raducanu storms into 4th round at U.S. Open
US Open Tennis Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, returns a shot to Sara Sorribes Tormo, of Spain, during the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig)NEW YORK — (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):___4:45 p.m.Emma Raducanu continues to roll at the U.S. Open, using a straight-sets victory to advance to the fourth round. Raducanu, who was born in Canada and represents Britain, is into the fourth round at the U.S. Open after getting to Week 2 of Wimbledon in her major debut at age 18. ___2 p.m.Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic and French Open semifinalist Maria Sakkari are back in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows after straight-set victories. Next for her will be a match against either two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari.
wftv.comNaomi Osaka wins in debut at Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo Olympics Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, plays against Saisai Zheng, of China, during the first round of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig)TOKYO — (AP) — Naomi Osaka is back and still winning. Osaka hadn't played since she withdrew from the French Open in May to take a mental health break, revealing that she has dealt with depression. For other top players in the tennis tournament at the Tokyo Games, it wasn't so straightforward. ___More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports___Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampfCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.
wftv.comOlympics Latest: Top-ranked Barty upset in Olympic tennis
The U.S. won silver medals in 2008 and 2012 and then bronze five years ago in Rio de Janeiro. ___MEDAL ALERTAustralia has set the first swimming world record of the Tokyo Games in the women’s 4x-100-meter freestyle relay. ___MEDAL ALERTSwimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia was the surprise winner in the men’s 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Games. Australia’s Jack McLoughlin settled for silver after leading much of the race, and Kieran Smith grabbed another Olympic medal for the Americans. The American men’s team of Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne play their first match on Sunday night.
wftv.comNo 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.
Perfect prep: Halep takes 14-match win streak to French Open
Amid all the tumult of the coronavirus pandemic, Simona Halep might very well have found the perfect formula to prepare for the French Open. When the clay-court Grand Slam tournament begins Sunday, 2018 champion Halep will be on court against 70th-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo. Separated from her Australian coach Darren Cahill for seven months during the pandemic, Halep spent the extended break from competition with her Romanian coach, Artemon Apostu-Efremov. At the Italian Open, Halep’s final three matches came against Yulia Putintseva, Garbiñe Muguruza and Karolína Pliskova — all three of whom played at the U.S. Open. Halep added a second major trophy by dropping only four games against Serena Williams in last year’s Wimbledon final.