Tennis

LONDON: Naomi Osaka will defend her title at the US Open, organisers said on Wednesday (Jul 21), after she withdrew from this year's French Open and Wimbledon on mental health grounds. Japan's Osaka stunned the tennis world when she quit the claycourt major in Paris in May following her first-round match after being fined and threatened with disqualification when she refused to attend mandatory post-match press conferences. The world number two, who said she had social anxiety, also skipped Wimbledon but is scheduled

Italy's Stefano Travaglia pulled off an upset Monday as the Plava Laguna Croatia Open began in Umag, beating sixth-seeded Jaume Munar of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (1). Travaglia won 73 percent of his first-serve points and converted four of his seven break-point opportunities. Munar won just 58 percent on his first serve and went 2-for-7 on break-point chances. In other first-round matches, Radu Albot of Moldova rallied past Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune of Denmark 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 thanks to a strong performance on return

WASHINGTON: American teen tennis star Coco Gauff will miss the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, she announced on Sunday (Jul 18). Gauff, coming off a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, tweeted her sadness at missing out on "a dream come true" at age 17. "I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won't be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo," Gauff tweeted. "It has always been a dream

PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic said on Thursday (Jul 15) he will play at the Tokyo Olympics, paving the way for the first Golden Grand Slam by a male player. "I booked my flight for Tokyo and will proudly be joining #TeamSerbia for the Olympics," tweeted Djokovic. The Serb has already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles this year and needs just Olympic gold and the US Open to become the first man to sweep the Golden Grand Slam.

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece needed a first-set tiebreak but then handled business against Germany's Dominik Koepfer, winning 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Hamburg European Open in Germany. It marked Tsitsipas' first match since being upset in the first round at Wimbledon by American Frances Tiafoe. He won 86 percent (30 of 35) of his first-serve points en route to securing his tour-best 40th win of the season. Tsitsipas advanced to the quarterfinals to face Serbian No. 6 seed Filip

LONDON: Canada's Bianca Andreescu has decided not to compete at the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the former US Open champion said on Monday (Jul 12). Andreescu is the latest big-name player to opt out of the Jul 23-Aug 8 Games. Rafa Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams and Simona Halep have already announced their decisions to skip the pandemic-delayed Olympics. "I have been dreaming of representing Canada at the Olympics since I was a little girl," world

REUTERS World number one Novak Djokovic beat Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4 6-3 on Sunday to win his sixth title at Wimbledon. His third straight triumph at the All England Club also earned the Serbian a 20th Grand Slam title, equalling the men's record haul held by Switzerland's Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal of Spain. "It means none of us three will stop," Djokovic said during the presentation ceremony when asked what the milestone meant to him. "I have to

Nick Kyrgios will not represent Australia at this year's Olympics in Tokyo because he does not want to compete if there are no fans in the stands, he said on Thursday (Jul 8). Earlier in the day, Olympic organisers said the Games would take place without spectators in host city Tokyo as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will continue throughout the event which starts on July 23. "It has been my dream to

Japan's Naomi Osaka, a self-confessed introvert who withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon on mental health grounds, has encouraged girls around the world to embrace what makes them different. Osaka, 23, one of Japan's best gold medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics, used her spot in the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) "Stronger Together" campaign to say that the definition of an Olympian is broader than sometimes thought. "People might think I'm quiet. Different. That I don't fit the box of what an

Emma Raducanu's brilliant Wimbledon run comes to an end in the fourth round as she is forced to withdraw during the second set of her clash with Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic after struggling with her breathing Emma Raducanu's remarkable story at Wimbledon came to an end after she was forced to retire from her match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. The teenage sensation has quickly become the story of the Championships, having only played one WTA Tour level match before this tournament. But she was

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer headline Wimbledon on Monday (Jul 5) with the two Grand Slam heavyweights looking to edge closer to a dream title showdown. World number one Djokovic, chasing a sixth Wimbledon title and record-equalling 20th major, is already halfway to becoming just the third man to complete a calendar Grand Slam. The Serb faces Cristian Garin of Chile while eight-time champion Federer takes on Italy's Lorenzo Sonego. Chilean 17th seed Cristian Garin had never previously won a main draw match

People are often put in a jam when they are asked a question that they don't fully understand, and try to talk their way out of it as they don't wish to reveal that they didn't get it. However, Roger Federer had no qualms in admitting that he did not comprehend a certain English phrase while being interviewed after getting a walkover in his Wimbledon first round match against France's Adrian Mannarino. Federer's honesty left the crowd at Centre Court in splits. The official Twitter

US Open champion Dominic Thiem on Thursday joined Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal in withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics. World number five Thiem said he wanted to concentrate on Wimbledon and then defending his only Grand Slam title in New York. "Hi everybody, I have some sad news to share with you all. After talking with my team and analysing the situation I have taken the very difficult decision to withdraw from competing in the Tokyo Olympics," the 27-year-old Austrian wrote on Twitter. "For me, like all

Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka, with 24 Grand Slam titles between them, both withdrew from Wimbledon on Thursday (Jun 17) with the Spanish star also pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics in a bid "to prolong my career". Nadal's snub of the Olympics was later followed by world No 5 Dominic Thiem also withdrawing from Tokyo. Osaka, however, said she still intended to take part in her home Olympics. The 35-year-old Nadal, who won Olympic gold and Wimbledon in 2008, triumphing again at

LONDON: Former champions Venus Williams and Andy Murray were named in Wimbledon's initial list of wild cards on Wednesday (Jun 16) for this month's grass court Grand Slam. American Williams, who will turn 41 on Thursday, won five out of her seven Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon, but has slipped to 103rd in the women's world rankings. She has not made it past the opening round at any tournament since reaching the second round of the Australian Open in February. Britain's Murray

For the second time in six years Novak Djokovic is halfway to a calendar year sweep of all four Grand Slam titles after winning the French Open for a second time on Sunday. The 34-year-old dug deep into his reserves of resilience to hit back from two sets down against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas to win 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 and increase his Grand Slam tally to 19. That takes him only one behind the men's record 20 held by Rafa Nadal and

Unseeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova sealed her rapid rise in the singles game by claiming a first Grand Slam title in an emotional French Open win. Krejcikova beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 2-6 6-4 in only her fifth major singles draw appearance. The former doubles world number one paid tribute to mentor Jana Novotna, who died in 2017 at the age of 49, saying she owed her success to her. "She is looking after me from up there," said 25-year-old Krejcikova. Krejcikova has often

Czech Barbora Krejcikova reached the French Open final as she beat Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari 7-5 4-6 9-7 on Thursday in a nail-biting, see-saw contest in which she saved a match point and overcame a wrong line call that held up her celebrations. Krejcikova dragged herself back from the brink of facing a match point at 3-5 in the third set and then rode an emotional roller coaster when she thought she had booked her place in the final before a wrong

PARIS: A fired-up Novak Djokovic repelled a stirring fightback by Italian Matteo Berrettini to claim a 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 victory on Wednesday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with defending champion Rafa Nadal. The 34-year-old bellowed a series of frightening roars after completing a victory that at one stage looked like a formality but became increasingly fraught as Berrettini threw the kitchen sink at the Serb who becomes only the second man to reach 40 Grand Slam semi-finals after Roger Federer.

Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev says French Open organisers "preferred Amazon to people" by putting his quarter-final against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on at night without fans. Medvedev, 25, lost in straight sets in a match played behind closed doors because of France's coronavirus curfew. Asked if he was disappointed there were no fans, Medvedev said: "Yes, 100%. "Our match was definitely the match of the day, so Roland Garros preferred Amazon to people. It's easy as that." This year's French Open has featured