Tennis

Britain's Cameron Norrie fought back to beat second seed Cristian Garin and reach the Estoril Open semi-finals. Norrie, who came through a three-hour match in Portugal on Thursday, beat the 22nd-ranked Chilean 3-6 7-5 6-3. The British number two received treatment on his left wrist after the first set but rallied to register his 17th win of the season and reach a second semi-final of the year. He will face sixth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia for a place in the final. Norrie,

World number one Ash Barty said her tennis had reached a new level during a "phenomenal" week in Stuttgart where she pulled off three successive comeback wins to claim her second title on clay. The Australian, who turned 25 on Saturday, defeated fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-0 6-3 in the final to hoist her third WTA trophy this season and cement her place at the top of the rankings. The Sabalenka win followed victories over fourth seed Elina Svitolina and sixth seed

Rafael Nadal saved a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5 on Sunday and claim a 12th Barcelona Open title in the ATP's longest match of 2021. The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo last week. Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarter-final loss to Tsitsipas and will return to second in the ATP rankings on Monday by climbing back above Daniil Medvedev after his marathon

Rafael Nadal stayed on course for his 12th Barcelona Open title with a 6-1 6-4 win over British number two Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals. The 34-year-old had far too much skill and guile on his favoured clay surface. The world number three swept through the opening set but although Norrie made more of a fight of it in the second, Nadal was too good. "I played well at the beginning then I stopped a little bit in the second," said the Spaniard.

Roger Federer has confirmed he will play in this year's French Open as he continues his return from injury. Federer, 39, is making his comeback after two knee operations and has not played a Grand Slam since January 2020. The 20-time Grand Slam winner made his return after 14 months out at last month's Qatar Open but has not played since. On Sunday, he said will play the clay-court Geneva Open in May followed by Roland Garros, which begins on 30 May. Federer, who won his only

Great Britain moved a step closer to the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Katie Boulter clinched victory in their play-off tie against Mexico. With Britain leading 2-1 in the best-of-five tie, 24-year-old Boulter won 6-4 6-1 against Giuliana Olmos. Anne Keothavong's team progress to next year's qualifiers, where another win will put them in the 12-team finals. "We came in with high expectations and the players delivered," said Keothavong. "It is a special feeling at this stage of the competition to

British number one Dan Evans saw his run at the Monte Carlo Masters ended in the semi-finals by Greek world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas. Evans had previously enjoyed little success on clay until this week, when he shocked world number one Novak Djokovic on the way to the last four. However, beating Tsitsipas proved a step too far as 30-year-old Evans was outclassed in a 6-2 6-1 defeat. Tsitsipas will meet Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the final on Sunday. Despite the

American teenage prodigy Coco Gauff says she is spending less time on social media now as she focuses on charting her own course to success in tennis. Gauff has been in the spotlight ever since her astounding run as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019, where she knocked out her idol and five-time champion Venus Williams after becoming the youngest player in the professional era to survive the qualifying draw. Her dream run at the grass court Grand Slam continued until the fourth

Jack Draper’s ATP main-draw debut at the Miami Open ended bitterly after he collapsed with a heat-related illness and was forced to retire from his first-round match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Draper, the 2018 Wimbledon boys’ runner-up and one of the UK’s best young prospects, was granted a wildcard into the tournament due to his status as a promising client of the sports agency IMG, which runs the event. During the time he did spend on court the world No 316 handled himself

World number three Simona Halep withdrew from the WTA and ATP Miami Open on Saturday because of a right shoulder injury, sending Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova into the round of 16. The 29-year-old Romanian isn't set to play again until next month's Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup. "I'm very sorry I have to pull out of singles and doubles at the Miami Open, but my injury doesn't let me play here as expected," Halep said in a statement. "I'm sad that I can't

The 20-times Grand Slam champion had match point in the third set but Basilashvili held on for a deserved victory Roger Federer’s hopes of a fairytale title on his return from injury were cut down by the big-hitting Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili as the world No 42 came from behind to beat the 20-times Grand Slam champion 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Doha on Thursday. The 39-year-old, who played superbly to beat British world No 28 Dan Evans

Roger Federer is targeting a third Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games this year after missing out in 2016 due to injury as he looks to gain momentum when he returns to the court this week after 13 months on the sidelines with a knee problem. Federer, 39, is making his long-awaited comeback at the Qatar Open - where he plays Britain's Dan Evans in the second round on Wednesday (March 10) - after two knee surgeries ended his season last year. The

Roger Federer says he never seriously considered retirement in his 14 months away from tennis, and is returning as he feels "the story's not over yet". The 20-time Grand Slam champion is competing at this week's Qatar Open. It will be his first tour appearance since losing to Novak Djokovic in last year's Australian Open semi-finals. "I know it's on the rare side for almost a 40-year-old to come back after a year being out. What's important is I'm injury and pain-free," he

Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer’s all-time record for most weeks as ATP world No 1 on Monday. He has now held the top spot for the 310 weeks. Djokovic’s ninth Australian Open title last month guaranteed that he will surpass Federer’s record on 8 March. Having reached another milestone in his illustrious career, Djokovic has said he will adjust his playing calendar and make overhauling Federer and Rafael Nadal’s joint-record of 20 men’s grand slam titles his top priority. “Now, after achieving the historic No 1

No.4 seed Petra Kvitova came through a stellar hard-hitting clash 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over Anett Kontaveit to reach her third Qatar Total Open semifinal in one hour and 46 minutes. In the last four, the 2018 champion will face qualifier Jessica Pegula, who needed just 57 minutes to upset No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1. WTA's official website said that Both players have been in top form this week, reaching the quarterfinals without dropping more than five games in any match, and were

HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani attended Monday part of the opening day of the 19th Qatar Total Open 2021 for women's tennis held at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex. HH the Amir followed the match between Spain's Garbine Muguruza (the world no. 15) and Russia's Veronika Kudermetova (world no. 26) in the third round. The Spaniard won the match 6-2 and 7-6. The match was attended by a number of their excellencies guests of the competitions and tennis

MELBOURNE: Confidence is king and Daniil Medvedev has plenty of it, with the affable Russian morphing into not just one of tennis's best players and premier athletes, but among the smartest. Standing at a lanky 6 ft 6 in and pencil-thin, he has emerged at the forefront of the next wave looking to smash the 'Big Three' monopoly of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. After reaching the 2019 US Open final, where he lost to Nadal, he has worked hard on

Naomi Osaka ended Serena Williams’ bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title with an imperious 6-3 6-4 win on Thursday, a victory that booked her spot in her second Australian Open final and left the American great in tears. In a rematch of their tumultuous 2018 U.S. Open decider, Osaka underlined her status as the new queen of women’s tennis and soaked up the cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd as fans returned to the Grand Slam after a five-day lockdown.

Novak Djokovic beat Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev  6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 53 minutes to reach his ninth final in of the Australian Open. He will now face the winner of the second men's singles semi-final between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev. Through the tournament, Djokovic has spoken about the abdominal injury that has hampered his movement but the Serb looked his best so far in the tournament and played an incredibly consistent game to get this easy victory. Karatsev made history by becoming the

In the middle of the first set, sensing her peril, Serena Williams bent at the waist and screamed to herself. “Make a shot,” she yelled. “Make a shot.” If only it was that easy. Unlike most of her matches during her legendary, two-decade-plus career, the Australian Open semifinals wasn’t so much about what Serena could do, but what her opponent could do … only better. Williams’ latest quest for her 24th Grand Slam championship ran into the buzzsaw known as Naomi Osaka in