Category: Tennis

Karolina Pliskova put on a ruthless display of big-hitting to sweep aside crowd favourite Venus Williams 6-2 6-2 in the opening match of the WTA Finals on Sunday. The 37-year-old Williams is making her first appearance since 2009 at the elite eight-woman event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. But her Czech opponent hit the ground…

Former women tennis world number one Maria Sharapova eased past defending champion Peng Shuai 6-3 6-1 at the Tianjin Open on Saturday. The victory enabled the Russian to reach her first WTA final in almost two and a half years. Sharapova, who returned to the tour in April following a 15-month doping ban, will meet…

British tennis player Dan Evans has been banned for one year after testing positive for cocaine, which he explained had accidentally mixed with his medication in a washbag. The British number four provided the positive sample at the Barcelona Open on 24 April and his suspension is back-dated to begin from that date. Evans, 27,…

Sloane Stephens played a near-perfect match to beat Madison Keys 6-3 6-0 in an all-American final as she clinched her maiden Grand Slam title on Saturday. Stephens, who spent a year off the courts because of a foot injury, was never in trouble as her defensive play derailed the 15th-seeded Keys. In the first all-American…

Top seed Rafael Nadal swept past Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in brilliant style to set up a US Open final against Kevin Anderson. The Spaniard won nine games in a row at one stage on his way to a 4-6 6-0 6-3 6-2 victory in the second semi-final. Nadal, 31, will try for a…

Roger Federer’s hopes of claiming a record-extending 20th Grand Slam title ended on Wednesday when he was beaten 5-7 6-3 6(8)-7 4-6 by Juan Martin del Potro at the U.S. Open. Del Potro, who swept aside Federer in the 2009 final at this same Flushing Meadows, now faces world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain…

Top seed Rafael Nadal swept past Russian teenager Andrey Rublev to set up a possible US Open semi-final against Roger Federer. Nadal, 31, saw off 19-year-old Rublev 6-1 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof. The Spaniard will face Federer for the first time in New York if…

Venus Williams booked her place in the US Open quarter-finals with a three-set victory over Carla Suarez Navarro. The Spanish world number 35 capitalised on an error-strewn Williams display in the second set to level the match and take it to a decider. But the 37-year-old American ninth seed recovered to win six games in…

World number one Rafael Nadal dismissed Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (6) 6-2 6-2 to ease into the U.S. Open second round on Tuesday. It was a victory which set the Spaniard on a collision course for a long overdue Flushing Meadows showdown with Roger Federer. While the year’s final grand slam is just underway, many tennis…

Twelve-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will not play again in 2017 because of an elbow injury. Former world number one Djokovic, 30, retired injured during his Wimbledon quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych on 12 July. He said then he had suffered an elbow problem for over a year and a half. “Professionally this is…