Tennis

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan's Naomi Osaka will return to the spotlight on Sunday, kicking off her Olympic campaign as a home crowd favourite after taking a mental health break two months ago. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and world number two, has not played a competitive match since pulling out of the French Open in May amid controversy https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/osaka-withdraws-french-open-following-row-over-media-boycott-2021-05-31 over her decision to skip all press conferences at the tournament in an effort to protect her mental well-being. But with all of her

TOKYO: World No 1 Novak Djokovic's road to the Golden Slam is not an easy one, with possible matches against Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev in his path at the Tokyo Olympics. Djokovic, representing Serbia, has won the season's first three grand slams and could become the first male player ever to win the Golden Slam if he first captures gold in Tokyo. Then all that's left is winning the US Open in August. Steffi Graf is the only player to ever do

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

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.

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

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

Stefanos Tsitsipas has learnt the hard way over the last two months that Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will take some shifting from the top of the men's game. The Greek led world number one Djokovic by two sets in the French Open final on Sunday, but still ended up losing and it has become a familiar feeling to be so close and yet so far. Tsitsipas led Djokovic in the Rome Masters quarter-finals this year, but lost. He also pushed 13-time French

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

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

Taking a hard line with elite athletes – that they are contractually bound to show up before the media - can backfire when there is anxiety among the best performers, says a psychologist. QUEENSLAND: Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka took a stand this week that called attention to the mental health of professional athletes. She refused to conduct interviews with the media after her matches at the French Open, citing concerns over her own mental well-being. And, in return, the tennis authorities fined

American 17-year-old Coco Gauff clinched her second WTA title by beating Wang Qiang 6-1 6-3 in the final of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma. Third seed Gauff - ranked a career-high 30th in the world - needed just one hour 14 minutes to overcome Wang - a player 12 years her senior. Gauff saved three break points at 5-1 before sealing the first set. She then broke Wang in the fifth game of the second set to cruise to her first clay-court title

Rafael Nadal won his 10th Italian Open with a 7-5 1-6 6-3 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic in Rome. Both players dropped serve early on in the first set before Nadal took it after securing the key break at 5-5. Djokovic dominated the second set but paid for not taking two break points in the fifth game of the decider. A stunning backhand from Spaniard Nadal saw him break the Serb in the next game before he went on to hold

Aryna Sabalenka put on a powerful display to beat world number one Ashleigh Barty 6-0 3-6 6-4 and win the Madrid Open. The Belarusian raced through the opening set in just 25 minutes as Barty failed to win a game in a set for the first time in four years. Sabalenka's standard dropped in the second set as Barty dug in to level it. A sloppy service game from Barty at 4-4 in the third handed the advantage to Sabalenka who served out

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt's induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame will be deferred by a year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions from Australia to the United States, the Hall of Fame said on Thursday. Australian great Hewitt, who won two Grand Slam titles during his career, was named to the Class of 2021 in February and was to be honoured at a July 17 induction ceremony at the Newport, Rhode Island-based Hall of Fame. "Unfortunately due to the circumstances

Britain's Dan Evans reached the second round of the Madrid Open with victory over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The British number one, who had never won in Madrid, came through 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (7-9) 6-2. Evans had three match points in the second set but the world number 51 saved them to send it to a decider. However, the world number 26 started the third set positively and broke his opponent twice, sealing it with an ace to go through to the last 32.