Tennis

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

9:00 AM ET Roger Federer is practising pain-free after undergoing two knee surgeries this year and said he expects to return to the circuit at the Australian Open in January. The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park at the start of the year but missed the rest of the season

9:17 AM ET Novak Djokovic said he has decided not to enter the Paris Masters because he has no points to win at the Nov. 2-8 event as he bids to retain the world No. 1 spot come end of season. “I won’t play in Paris as I can’t add to my points tally but

6:56 PM ET Star Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt believes the club has grown stronger and closer after overcoming a series of controversies this year. The Tigers have the chance to cement themselves as one of the great modern-day teams when they take on Geelong in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final. 1 Related Richmond won the flag

10:11 PM ET Tennis world No.1 and lifelong Richmond supporter Ashleigh Barty will present the premiership cup if the Tigers win Saturday’s AFL Grand Final. Queensland local Barty – who is Richmond’s inaugural AFLW member – had been a constant presence in the crowd at the Tigers’ two finals this month at Metricon Stadium and

5:55 AM ET Andy Murray has suffered another injury setback and has pulled out of this week’s ATP Tour event in Germany due to a lingering pelvic problem, raising doubts over his participation for the remainder of the year. The former world No. 1 returned from a second hip surgery in January 2019 to win

2:09 PM ET Associated Press SANTA MARGHERITA DI PULA, Sardinia — Laslo Djere of Serbia beat Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato to win the Sardegna Open on Sunday. Djere won 7-6 (3), 7-5, sealing the final with a deep backhand return. It was the 74th-ranked Djere’s second title. Both have come on clay and 11

12:51 PM ET Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Andrey Rublev joined Novak Djokovic as the only men to win four tour singles titles in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as he beat Borna Coric 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the St. Petersburg Open. Rublev came back from 5-2 down to win

11:29 AM ET Associated Press COLOGNE, Germany — Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his US Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne Indoors on Sunday. Zverev has had a breakthrough year in Grand Slam tournaments with his first semifinal