Tennis

10:18 AM ET Associated Press BERLIN –_ Alexander Zverev denied accusations of domestic abuse on Friday, saying they are “simply not true.” The 23-year-old German tennis player was responding to an interview former girlfriend Olga Sharypova gave to Russian sports website Championat on Thursday. Sharypova, a former Russian tennis player, said Zverev attempted to strangle

6:53 PM ET Associated Press VIENNA — Grigor Dimitrov outlasted third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 Thursday to complete the quarterfinal lineup at the Erste Bank Open. Dimitrov held serve throughout but lost the opening set despite leading 5-0 in the tiebreaker. “It’s never easy to come out of a situation like that,” Dimitrov

2:11 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — A 21-year-old Californian who once earned a US Open berth by winning the U.S. Tennis Association’s national girls’ championship was given a four-year doping ban after testing positive at a tournament. Ashley Kratzer‘s punishment was announced by the International Tennis Federation on Thursday. Kratzer was provisionally suspended in

8:24 AM ET Associated Press The Paris Masters tennis tournament will be held without fans next week as France enters a second lockdown phase amid the coronavirus pandemic. French President Emmanuel Macron has said the national lockdown will begin at midnight and will last until at least Dec. 1. The indoor tournament at the Bercy

8:23 PM ET Associated Press NEWPORT, R.I. — Two-time Grand Slam title winner Lleyton Hewitt led the fan voting for the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 and will get a bonus of 3% added to his tally from the official voting group. The Hall announced the results of four weeks of fan

4:18 PM ET Associated Press VIENNA — Novak Djokovic saved four set points in a 7-6 (11), 6-3 win over Borna Coric on Wednesday to reach the Erste Bank Open quarterfinals and move one step closer to sealing the year-end No. 1 ranking. Djokovic can lock up the top position by winning the title on

4:22 PM ET Associated Press VIENNA — Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem overcame first-set slumps in their opening-round matches Tuesday before advancing at the Erste Bank Open. Top-seeded Djokovic lost four straight games and had to save a set point before beating Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (6), 6-3 in an all-Serbian match, and No. 2 Thiem

2:06 PM ET Associated Press AMSTERDAM — Top 10 tennis player Kiki Bertens will miss the start of next season, including the Australian Open, after having surgery on her left Achilles tendon. The 28-year-old from the Netherlands announced the news on Instagram on Tuesday, posting a picture of herself in a hospital bed with her

5:16 PM ET Associated Press VIENNA — Andrey Rublev started his quest for a fifth ATP title of the season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Norbert Gombos at the Erste Bank Open on Monday. The eighth-ranked Rublev hit 11 aces and never faced a break point against his Slovakian opponent, who had won their

12:14 PM ET Associated Press OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka cruised to the title at the inaugural Ostrava Open on Sunday, defeating fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-2 in the first WTA all-Belarusian final. The big-hitting 22-year-old Sabalenka dominated the match but her former top-ranked opponent was visibly limited by an unspecified health problem

5:22 PM ET Associated Press COLOGNE, Germany — Alexander Zverev made it back-to-back ATP Tour titles on Sunday when he beat Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the Cologne Championship. Zverev hit nine aces, saved the only break point he faced and converted five of his own to beat the French Open semifinalist.

4:20 PM ET Associated Press ANTWERP, Belgium — Ugo Humbert won his second career title on Sunday, defeating Alex de Minaur 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the European Open final at Antwerp. The 22-year-old left-hander, who saved four match points during his semifinal win over Dan Evans on Saturday, erased the couple of break points he

7:06 PM ET Associated Press COLOGNE, Germany — Alexander Zverev moved one match away from winning back-to-back ATP Tour titles after he beat Jannik Sinner in the Cologne Championship semifinals on Saturday to set up a final against Diego Schwartzman. Zverev came back from 3-1 down in the first set to force the tiebreak on

12:41 PM ET Associated Press OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka will meet in the first WTA all-Belarusian final of the inaugural Ostrava Open. Former world No.1 Azarenka eased past Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday to book a spot in her 40th career WTA final. Azarenka will seek her

10:27 AM ET Associated Press French Open champion Iga Swiatek said she will quarantine after meeting with Polish president Andrzej Duda. Duda’s office announced Saturday that he tested positive for the coronavirus. The 19-year-old Swiatek met with Duda on Friday. The Polish player said on Twitter that she has no symptoms but that she’ll quarantine

2:50 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Imagine being a youth tennis instructor and heading out to your first lesson with a new player. You think to yourself, “It’s a 3-year-old, this should be easy” as you make your way to the court. You know the young girl’s name but not much else. But then you see

7:36 AM ET Coco Gauff has said she was inspired by Andy Murray after the former world No. 1 highlighted a lack of Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) board members at the Lawn Tennis Association and All England Club. Murray posted a screenshot on Instagram of an interview in which 1996 Wimbledon finalist MaliVai

12:50 PM ET Associated Press BERLIN — Former Wimbledon semifinalist Julia Goerges announced her retirement from tennis Wednesday at the age of 31. The German reached her highest ranking of 9th in the world in 2018 and was ranked 45th at her retirement. Her most recent match was a second-round loss to fellow German Laura