Tennis

6:36 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals at the ATP Finals for the first time in five years and knocked out the defending champion in the process, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 Thursday at the O2 Arena. It is the sixth time in 10 appearances that Nadal has

12:35 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Alexander Zverev kept his tournament hopes alive with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday at the season-ending ATP Finals. With Zverev’s victory, Daniil Medvedev can advance to the semifinals if he beats top-ranked Novak Djokovic later Wednesday in the empty O2 Arena. Djokovic also

1:29 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — The political leader of Australia’s Victorian state says despite “incredibly complex” negotiations, he is confident January’s Australian Open tennis tournament will proceed. Daniel Andrews, the state’s top lawmaker, on Monday had cast doubts over planning for the season’s first tennis Grand Slam tournament which is scheduled for

12:11 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Dominic Thiem mastered the tiebreakers again to get the better of Rafael Nadal, beating the 20-time Grand Slam champion in straight sets Tuesday for a second win at the ATP Finals. Thiem clinched a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) win on his fifth match point in their first meeting

11:19 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Novak Djokovic overcame an early break to beat Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2 Monday at the season-ending ATP Finals in an empty O2 Arena. The top-ranked Djokovic has won the tournament five times — one short of Roger Federer‘s record. Schwartzman broke Djokovic for a 2-1 lead in the

6:58 PM ET Tennis Australia (TA) will employ a ‘hub’ model by shifting all Australian Open lead-up events to the state of Victoria to ensure the strongest-possible field for the first major of 2021. TA will transfer at least five events usually held in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart to Melbourne and its

1:25 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Dominic Thiem made sure this year’s ATP Finals didn’t begin the same way last year’s ended. Thiem outlasted Stefanos Tsitsipas in a rematch of the 2019 final, beating the defending champion 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 Sunday in the opening singles match of the tournament inside a largely empty

12:20 PM ET Associated Press LINZ, Austria — Aryna Sabalenka beat Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 to win the season-ending Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Sunday for her third title of the campaign. The 11th-ranked Sabalenka from Belarus joined Simona Halep as the only players with three tournament wins in the shortened 2020 season. Sabalenka also

11:50 AM ET Italy’s Jannik Sinner became the youngest first-time winner on the ATP Tour in 12 years on Saturday after edging Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3) to claim the Sofia Open. Sinner, contesting his first ATP Tour final, served notice of his intentions early on when he forced Pospisil to save three break

11:41 AM ET ESPN News Services German tennis player Alexander Zverev gave a more detailed denial of domestic abuse allegations made by a former girlfriend, saying Friday “that’s not who I am.” Olga Sharypova said last month that the 23-year-old Zverev tried to strangle her with a pillow before last year’s US Open. The seventh-ranked

8:36 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com After one of the strangest and most unpredictable years in modern history, we’ve made it to the end of the 2020 tennis season. The coronavirus pandemic stopped the ATP and WTA seasons in March. Following months of uncertainty, tour-level competition resumed in August. The WTA was forced to cancel its

6:47 PM ET Italy’s Jannik Sinner advanced to the semifinals at the Sofia Open after beating Alex de Minaur for the second time in his career on Thursday. The pair faced one another at the Next Gen finals in November last year, when top seed de Minaur suffered a shock defeat. Sinner, 19, recovered from

6:50 PM ET Italy’s Jannik Sinner defeated lucky loser Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-3, 6-4 to reach the ATP Sofia Open quarterfinals. Sinner beat the Swiss in 78 minutes to claim his 16th victory of the shortened season. The 19-year-old will face Australia’s No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The pair met

9:23 AM ET Associated Press BERLIN — Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki ended her latest comeback attempt Wednesday because of a severe knee injury. The German player has struggled with injuries in recent years and was trying to rebuild her form when she tore an anterior cruciate ligament on Monday during a doubles match in

11:48 AM ET Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has opened up on his experiences with depression and has said returning to live with his parents in Canberra this year has been good for his mind and soul. Kyrgios, who started seeing a psychologist in 2018, has been criticised by some for not caring enough about his tennis

12:05 PM ET Associated Press Daniil Medvedev won the Paris Masters for the first time by beating Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Sunday for his eighth career title and third at a Masters event. The third-seeded Russian secured just his second win against the fourth-seeded Zverev in seven matches, and his previous victory against the

1:01 PM ET Associated Press PARIS — Alexander Zverev advanced to the Paris Masters final for the first time by beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday, denying Nadal the chance to win a tournament that continues to elude him. The fourth-seeded Zverev faces No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, and leads him

12:58 PM ET Associated Press PARIS — Diego Schwartzman missed securing a place in the season-ending ATP Finals after losing to Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-1 in the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Friday. A semifinal berth would have sealed the last place at the finals in London from Nov. 15-22. Schwartzman remained favored to qualify, however,