Tennis

5:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com As a smiling Serena Williams made her way to the net after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three hard-fought sets Sunday in the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open, 18-time major champion Chris Evert seemed in awe over what she had just seen. “Is this the next level of women’s

9:17 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — So good for so long lately, Naomi Osaka was just one point from the end of her lengthy winning streak, one point from leaving the Australian Open with a loss to Garbine Muguruza. Bleak as things looked for her late in a big-hitting matchup of Grand Slam

11:00 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — From warming up with your opponent before a match to the mandatory all-white Wimbledon outfits and strawberries and cream at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, tennis purists are proud of the sport’s rich history of tradition, and have always grappled with the idea of having it altered too

1:14 AM ET ESPN News Services Daniil Medvedev finally worked out how to a win a five-setter. All by himself. The fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev was 0-6 in five-setters, and his match against No. 28-seeded Filip Krajinovic looked like it was going all the way in the third round of the Australian Open. After some angry

10:38 PM ET Jake Michaels Close ESPN Associate Editor Jake Michaels is a Melbourne-based sports writer who covers everything from Aussie Rules to Formula One, basketball to boxing. He joined ESPN in June, 2013 and works as an Associate Editor, covering sport in Australia and around the world. Matt Walsh Close Assistant Editor Matt Walsh

12:40 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com The scene at John Cain Arena was electric until the final moments Friday night. As the clock counted down on fans’ final seconds of freedom before a mandatory minimum five-day lockdown, as well as on Nick Kyrgios‘ run in the 2021 Australian Open, those in attendance only grew louder with

2:14 AM ET Alexander Zverev needed just 1 hour, 43 minutes to defeat Adrian Mannarino on Friday at Rod Laver Arena and move on to the fourth round of the Australian Open. Zverev, the No. 6 seed who made the semifinals of last year’s tournament, had 19 aces and 35 winners en route to a

9:15 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — Tennis fans will be locked out of the Australian Open from 11:59pm Friday [AEST] as the state of Victoria prepares for a five-day lockdown amid a growing COVID-19 cluster in the city’s suburbs. The state’s outbreak began at Melbourne Airport’s Holiday Inn last week and has now risen to

8:35 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Sofia Kenin, looking to defend her Australian Open singles title, was in tears after losing in straight sets to Kaia Kanepi in the second round on Thursday. “I feel like everyone was always asking me, ‘Would you want to [defend the title]?” she said about the overwhelming pressure she had

9:38 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty carries the hopes of her homeland at the Australian Open, which may be why she stumbled before closing out a second-round win Thursday. Barty blew a big lead in the second set and survived a shaky tiebreaker to beat fellow Aussie Daria

5:58 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — A little over 12 months ago, Novak Djokovic had been crowned Australian Open champion for the eighth time, American upstart Sofia Kenin secured a maiden Slam win, millions of dollars had been raised for Australia’s bushfire relief fund and the tennis season was just getting underway. And then the

5:16 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com When asked earlier this week about her legendary journey in professional tennis that has spanned over 25 years, Venus Williams took a moment and reflected on what was most important to her. “I’m trying to get better every day,” she said Monday after her first-round victory at the Australian Open.

2:00 AM ET Novak Djokovic‘s path to another Australian Open title won’t necessarily be an easy one for the No. 1 seed. Through to third round after his straight-sets victory against American Frances Tiafoe on Wednesday, Djokovic’s quarter of the draw includes 2020 US Open finalist Alexander Zverev and former Australian Open semifinalist Milos Raonic,

9:40 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu‘s comeback from injury stalled Wednesday at the Australian Open when she became the latest top-10 player to be beaten by crafty veteran Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan. Andreescu’s power was no match for Hsieh’s shotmaking in a second-round upset, 6-3, 6-2.

7:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com There was only a smattering of fans in the crowd at Rod Laver Arena on Monday for Naomi Osaka‘s first-round victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the Australian Open. The 15,000-seat stadium sat largely empty with those in attendance generously spaced throughout. Any other year the vacant chairs would be disappointing,

2:00 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — If Rafael Nadal has a bad back, he didn’t show any signs of it in his 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Laslo Djere on Tuesday in the first round at the Australian Open. The No. 2-ranked Nadal is aiming to go one better than Roger Federer and

9:14 PM ET Associated Press Sofia Kenin‘s Australian Open title defense got off to a bit of a rocky start before she righted herself and pulled out a two-set win Tuesday. The 22-year-old American trailed by an early break and took about 45 minutes to wrest some semblance of control before eventually beating 133rd-ranked Australian

1:23 PM ET It’s bizarre to think the world No. 1 player entering the year’s first Grand Slam hadn’t played a competitive match in almost 11 months before last week, but these are strange times. While many others were following a considerably pared-down WTA tour around the world last year, Ashleigh Barty made a decision