Tennis

Tennis star Novak Djokovic released a long statement on Wednesday, with details on why he was not in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in December and saying his agent made a mistake in filling out his Australian travel declaration. The statement came as Australia's Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was considering whether to cancel the world no.1 tennis player's visa ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on Jan. 17, amid controversy over whether he was eligible for a medical exemption from the

Novak Djokovic dominated the men's game once again and a new star in Emma Raducanu exploded onto the scene at the U.S. Open, but the sport finished 2021 in a stand-off with China over the safety of former doubles number one Peng Shuai. Djokovic started the year by winning a record ninth Australian Open title and by the time the season reached the final of the fourth and last major of the year at the U.S. Open, the Serbian was standing on the

Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut has been ruled out of the Davis Cup after suffering an abdominal injury in training and will be replaced by Albert Ramos, the Spanish tennis federation said. World number 19 Bautista Agut, who helped Spain clinch the 2019 title against Canada in the inaugural edition of the revamped event, was the highest-ranked singles player in the team. Ramos, 33, will join Pablo Carreno Busta, Feliciano Lopez, Marcel Granollers and 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who will be making his Davis Cup

Chinese player Peng Shuai has still not directly been in contact with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), which says "no amount of money" would stop it pulling events out of China. Peng, 35, made sexual assault allegations against a former China vice-premier two weeks ago. WTA chairman Steve Simon told the BBC there will be no events in China next year without proof that Peng is safe. "We cannot stand by compromises. This is a right and wrong issue," he said. The WTA

World number three Stefanos Tsitsipas retired injured from his second-round match against Australian Alexei Popyrin with what appeared to be a right arm problem on a bad day for seeds at the Paris Masters on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Greek was trailing 4-2 during the first set when he called the trainer on court before shaking hands with his opponent to signal his retirement. Tsitsipas declined to share details of his physical condition but added that he did not want to aggravate the problem

Alexander Zverev notched his first career win against Andy Murray on Tuesday with a 6-4 7-6(4) victory that moved him into the fourth round at Indian Wells. Former world number one Murray, who got the better of the German in their two previous meetings, jumped out to a 3-0 lead and seemed to unnerve the 24-year-old by standing well inside the court when returning his second serves. But Zverev, seeded third, regrouped to win six of the next seven games and took the

REUTERS MUMBAI, Sept 16 - Inordinately long toilets breaks or medical timeouts at critical moments could soon be a thing of the past in men's tennis with the ATP Tour planning to impose stricter rules, a source at the men's governing body told. The practice has long been a bugbear of players, most recently at the U.S. Open where Stefanos Tsitsipas was accused of gamesmanship by Andy Murray for taking a lengthy trip to the bathroom at a critical point in their first-round

Russia's Daniil Medvedev won his first Grand Slam title by shattering Novak Djokovic's hopes of completing a calendar sweep of the majors in a one-sided US Open final. Second seed Medvedev, 25, lost his two previous Grand Slam finals but was composed throughout a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win. World number one Djokovic had already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles this year. The 34-year-old Serb was also chasing a record 21st Grand Slam men's title. Victory would have moved him

World number one Novak Djokovic won a gruelling five-setter against Alexander Zverev to set up a US Open final against Daniil Medvedev and keep his bid for a calendar Grand Slam on track. Russian second seed Medvedev had earlier kept alive his hopes of a first major title with a 6-4 7-5 6-2 win over Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Djokovic then recovered from falling a set behind to win 4-6 6-2 6-4 4-6 6-2. He now has the chance to win a record 21st

British teenager Emma Raducanu continued her fairytale run at the US Open by reaching the semi-finals with a dominant straight set win over Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic. Raducanu, 18, again showed all of her quality and composure in a 6-3 6-4 win. Victory means she will rise to the cusp of the world's top 50 and become the British women's number one. Raducanu will play Maria Sakkari in Thursday's semis after the Greek beat Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova. It will be the second

Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez continued her remarkable US Open run as she beat 2016 champion Angelique Kerber to advance to the quarter-finals. On the eve of her 19th birthday, Fernandez backed up her win over Naomi Osaka with a 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Germany's Kerber. She battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to force a tie-break and barely let up from then on. Fernandez will face fifth seed Elina Svitolina for a semi-final spot. Fernandez doubled over as her

World number one Ashleigh Barty fell in the US Open third round after Shelby Rogers produced a superb comeback in front of a raucous New York crowd. Wimbledon champion Barty held a 5-2 lead in the final set and twice served for the match but home favourite Rogers battled her way back into contention. The world number 43 then came through the resulting tie-break to stun the top seed 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-5). She will face British teenager Emma Raducanu next. Barty was

ZEENEWS Novak Djokovic missed an overhead and stared over toward a section of the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands. After taking the next game, Djokovic glared in that direction again. Later, he spoke to the chair umpire about someone making noise in the middle of points, considered a no-no in tennis. That, then, is pretty much what provided some intrigue and interest for Djokovic’s second-round match at the US Open, because the ultimate outcome seemed fairly obvious after all of about 15 minutes on

Defending champion Naomi Osaka claimed a straight-set victory at the US Open on her first Grand Slam appearance since withdrawing from the French Open. The Japanese third seed, 23, ground down Czech world number 87 Marie Bouzkova for a 6-4 6-1 first-round win. She will play world number 145 Olga Danilovic of Serbia next. Osaka withdrew from Roland Garros in May, revealing she had "suffered long bouts of depression" since winning her first major title at the 2018 US Open. The four-time major

Venus Williams joined sister Serena in withdrawing from the US Open as the final Grand Slam of the year lost another two high-profile players. Serena, 39, wrote in a social media post on Tuesday that she needed time to allow her body to "heal completely" from a torn hamstring. The 41-year-old Venus then withdrew hours later with a leg injury. It will be the first time since 2003 that neither Williams sister has appeared at Flushing Meadows. The tournament, which begins on 30

Britain's Andy Murray defeated American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdrew. Former world number one Murray, 34, beat Rubin 6-2 6-0 and clinched victory by winning 10 successive games. The three-time Grand Slam champion was due to face Australia's Kyrgios, who pulled out because of a knee injury. Murray, who is set to compete at the US Open from 30 August, will face American Frances Tiafoe next in North Carolina. "I didn't know

World number one Ashleigh Barty warmed up for the US Open by clinching the Cincinnati Open with a straight-set win over Jil Teichmann in the final. Barty, 25, produced a polished performance to beat the 24-year-old Swiss wildcard 6-3 6-1. The Australian managed eight aces and 28 winners as she cruised to another commanding victory. Alexander Zverev took the men's title with an impressive 6-2 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev. It is a fifth title of the season for Barty, who is favourite

Naomi Osaka says she felt "ungrateful" at points during the last year for being unable to appreciate her success. The world number two was speaking after beating American teenager Coco Gauff at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday. She also discussed her reasons for withdrawing from the French Open in May, having said on the eve of that tournament that speaking to the media was damaging her mental health. "I wonder what affected me... made me not want to do media?" she said. "I'm wondering if

Naomi Osaka broke down in tears before resuming her first news conference since the controversy over refusing to speak to media at the French Open. Osaka became emotional shortly after being asked about "dealing with media in this format" - and the Cincinnati Masters video call was briefly halted. Earlier, the Japanese star, 23, said she was "proud" of the stand she took in Paris. "It was something that needed to be done," she said. At May's French Open, four-time Grand Slam winner

The 40-year-old Swiss, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, had two knee operations last year. In a video post on Instagram, Federer said he hoped the surgery would give him "a glimmer of hope" to return to action. He was knocked out in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July and then missed the Tokyo Olympics. "I'll be on crutches for many weeks, and also out of the game for many months," Federer, who turned 40 a week ago, said on Sunday evening. "It's going