Tennis

3:35 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic tied Rafael Nadal‘s record by winning his 35th title at a Masters 1000 tournament, overcoming a sluggish start to beat Milos Raonic 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Western & Southern Open final Saturday and remain unbeaten this season. Getting tuned up ahead of the US

9:52 AM ET NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka, who battled through to the Western and Southern Open women’s singles final while navigating an intense degree of attention because of her social activism, has withdrawn from Saturday’s championship match, citing a hamstring injury suffered in her semifinal. Osaka was scheduled to play resurgent former No. 1

4:54 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — After two days of little sleep and unexpected stress, Naomi Osaka was up to the moment. The two-time Grand Slam champion returned to the court after bringing the push for racial justice to the forefront on the tennis tour, and she advanced to the finals of the

9:03 AM ET Serena Williams‘ drive to earn Grand Slam singles title No. 24, thereby equaling the all-time record held by Margaret Court, will begin next week at the fan-free US Open. The tournament will be unlike any major that she, or any other tennis pro, has ever experienced. This radical and unexpected development caused

9:09 AM ET Professional tennis is back on one of its biggest stages after a long hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Get ready for a 2020 US Open unlike any other. There will be no spectators after more than 700,000 attended last year. Also missing? Several top players, including both 2019 champs: Rafael Nadal

7:33 PM ET NEW YORK — The men’s singles draw for the US Open just doesn’t look right — not with the names of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal missing, not with Andy Murray buried like just another ATP schmo down on line No. 115, his name in regular typeface as opposed to the bold

2:06 PM ET Associated Press Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and 16-year-old Coco Gauff could face each other at the US Open again after Thursday’s draw for the Grand Slam tournament set up a possible third-round rematch. The U.S. Tennis Association quietly posted the women’s and men’s singles draws online, without the usual TV

1:02 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Naomi Osaka said she will play her semifinal match at the Western & Southern Open, now scheduled for Friday, after previously stating her intention to refuse to play Wednesday. “As you know, I pulled out of the tournament yesterday in support of racial injustice and continued police violence,” Osaka, who

7:52 AM ET ESPN News Services Profilic tennis doubles partners Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan are retiring from the sport ahead of the US Open, they told The New York Times on Wednesday. The decision closes a professional tennis partnership that includes a men’s doubles record of 16 Grand Slam championships. “We just both feel

10:08 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Naomi Osaka, the two-time major tennis champion, announced that she would not play in Thursday’s Western & Southern Open semifinal match in reaction to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. Several hours later, the tournament announced that it was pausing play for a day. “As a sport, tennis is

3:05 PM ET Associated Press BERN, Switzerland — Juan Martin del Potro had surgery on his right knee Wednesday, the third operation for the 2009 US Open champion since getting injured two years ago. His management team tweeted the news, saying del Potro had tested his knee on a court in Argentina “in recent months”

1:29 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Defending champion Daniil Medvedev returned to the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory Tuesday over Aljaz Bedene, who accidentally hit a ball that struck a TV cameraman in the stands between second-set points. The cameraman did not appear hurt, but an

11:43 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Serena Williams let lead after lead slip away, so she figured it was her own fault when yet another match stretched to a third set and she started getting cramps in her weary legs on the way to a surprising loss at the Western & Southern

9:19 AM ET NEW YORK — Entering the grounds of the National Tennis Center through the West Gate gave way to a surreal sight at the Western & Southern Open on Saturday, the first day of the unusual tennis doubleheader currently underway in New York. Instead of the familiar, restless horde of fans attracted to

5:48 AM ET Andy Murray claimed the biggest win of his comeback and a place in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open on Monday by taking out self-destructing fifth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 3-6 7-5. Murray offered hope he was on the right track after his injury woes with a tidy first-round

5:17 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Her yells of “Come on!” filling a stadium devoid of spectators, Serena Williams was pushed to the brink of a stunning loss in her longest match since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreaker and edging Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0) Monday at the

12:42 PM ET Carla Suarez Navarro, a two-time US Open quarterfinalist, has withdrawn from this year’s edition of the event. Suarez, 31, ranked No. 68, had previously withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open, currently underway at the National Tennis Center, citing unspecified health reasons. The US Open will follow immediately, beginning on Aug. 31.

6:54 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Two months after barely being able to walk while ill with COVID-19, Grigor Dimitrov played a professional tennis match at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday and — while the result was not what was most important — he won. “I said to myself, ‘I’ll give