Tennis

5:12 AM ET Japan joined leading figures in tennis in rallying around Naomi Osaka on Tuesday after the world number two withdrew from the French Open in a row about post-match media duties, saying she had been suffering from “depression” and “anxiety.” One of the biggest names in sport, Osaka stunned the tennis world when

5:59 PM ET Simon Cambers When Roland Garros added night sessions to its schedule for the first time this year, the French Open organizers knew they would need a star for the opening night. Step forward, Serena Williams. Though there were no fans allowed inside the Court Philippe Chatrier stadium Monday night, due to the

2:07 PM ET Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the French Open, saying Monday that she will “take some time away from the court” one day after she was fined and threatened harsher sanctions for skipping her mandatory media obligations. Osaka, in a statement posted to social media, said she “never wanted to be a distraction”

10:28 AM ET Simon Cambers Something strange happened to Daniil Medvedev on the way to Roland Garros. He started to believe he can play on clay. Few top players in recent memory have been as open about their distaste for a surface as Medvedev. The Russian comes to Paris as the world No. 2, but

10:50 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com With the eyes of the tennis world locked on her, Naomi Osaka quietly strode to victory Sunday during one of the first matches of the 2021 French Open. The four-time major champion took the court at Philippe-Chatrier to face Patricia Maria Tig engulfed in controversy following Osaka’s decision not to

6:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com SEBASTIAN KORDA COULDN’T believe what he was seeing. It was the first day of his two-week preseason training block in Las Vegas and across the net was his father, Petr, the 1998 Australian Open champion who reached the world No. 2 ranking. Next to him was Steffi Graf, the 22-time

4:27 PM ET While the French Open returns to its normal May/June time slot after the COVID-19 pandemic pushed last year’s edition of the Grand Slam event to the fall, there is still one constant: Everyone on the men’s side will be trying to figure out how to beat the King of Clay. Four-time defending

1:55 PM ET Associated Press PARMA, Italy — Sebastian Korda won his first ATP trophy with a straight-sets victory over Italian wild-card Marco Cecchinato at the Emilia-Romagna Open on Saturday. Korda became the first American man in 11 years to lift a trophy on European clay, since Sam Querrey won in Belgrade in 2010. The

11:27 AM ET Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia — Novak Djokovic warmed up for the French Open by beating Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-3 to take his 83rd career title Saturday on home soil at the Belgrade Open. Top-ranked Djokovic struggled on serve in the first set, as he was broken three times by his Slovakian opponent.

1:33 PM ET Associated Press PARIS — Five Americans made it through the qualifying rounds for the French Open tennis tournament, the most since 2004. Jenson Brooksby of Sacramento, California; Bjorn Fratangelo of Pittsburgh; and Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, California, give the U.S. three men who qualified for the Grand Slam event played on red

6:17 AM ET The Women’s Tennis Association said it would welcome dialogue with world No. 2 Naomi Osaka over her decision to boycott news conferences at this year’s French Open. Osaka, who said the nature of questions can impact on players’ mental wellbeing, has received support from several athletes but was slammed by the French

2:26 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Although it’s been less than eight months since Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek hoisted trophies at Roland Garros, the tours are already back in Paris for the 2021 French Open. After the 2020 event was held in the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s tournament was postponed by

12:08 PM ET ESPN News Services Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all ended up in the same half of the French Open men’s field in the draw Thursday, meaning no more than one of them can reach the final. The Big Three top the leaderboard for Grand Slam men’s singles titles. Federer and

1:20 PM ET Retired Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg said he respects Naomi Osaka’s decision to shun French Open press conferences for mental health reasons and added that she is “ballsy,” but recognised opponents could find it unfair. The German made considerable use of sports psychology as he battled and beat Mercedes teammate Lewis

11:09 AM ET Associated Press MADRID — Expanding the Davis Cup Finals to more venues will help attract more fans and avoid some of the late finishes that hurt the revamped event’s first edition, organizers said Thursday. Madrid was the sole host of the inaugural edition of the restructured Davis Cup Finals in 2019. This

6:49 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Naomi Osaka will not be participating in any news conferences during the upcoming French Open, she announced in a post on social media on Wednesday. Osaka, a four-time major champion and the No. 2-ranked women’s player in the world, said her decision was motivated by her mental health. “I’ve often

12:59 PM ET Associated Press The Winston-Salem Open men’s tennis tournament will be back in August with full spectator capacity and full prize money after the 2020 edition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The hard-court tournament announced Monday it will be played Aug. 21-28, in its usual spot on the ATP calendar right

1:00 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com The US Open will use Hawk-Eye Live electronic line-calling on all competition courts during this year’s tournament for the first time, the USTA said in a statement on Monday. Seven of the nine US Open Series events leading into the year’s final major, including the Western & Southern Open and