Tennis

Associated Press Oct 9, 2024, 11:38 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SHANGHAI — Jannik Sinner avenged his defeat to Ben Shelton in the fourth round of last year’s Shanghai Masters with a 6-4, 7-6 (1) victory to spoil the 22-year-old American’s birthday on Wednesday. Like last year, the duel again featured some incredible shot-making and

Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterOct 9, 2024, 06:17 AM ET Close • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Open Extended Reactions Line judges will be scrapped at next year’s Wimbledon championships and replaced by artificial intelligence-powered

ESPN News Services Oct 8, 2024, 12:41 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Frances Tiafoe directed an expletive-filled tirade at a chair umpire after losing his third-round match Tuesday at the ATP Shanghai Masters event. Tiafoe lost to unseeded Roman Safiullin 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5), minutes after chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote called a time violation on

D’Arcy Maine, ESPN.com Oct 8, 2024, 10:55 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It’s been an up-and-down season for Coco Gauff. After winning her first major title at the 2023 US Open, the now 20-year-old started her year by earning the trophy at Auckland and reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open but never quite found

Associated Press Oct 8, 2024, 09:54 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SHANGHAI — Pursuing a 100th career title, Novak Djokovic had an easier time in his second match at the Shanghai Masters in ousting Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday. Djokovic clinched with his 19th winner, placing a forehand behind the Italian, who was racing

Associated Press Oct 7, 2024, 07:33 PM ET Open Extended Reactions GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Longtime Florida women’s tennis coach Roland Thornqvist retired Monday, ending his career with more than 500 wins and four national championships. Thornqvist, 54, led the Gators to NCAA championships in 2003, 2011, 2012 and 2017. He won 11 Southeastern Conference titles

Associated Press Oct 7, 2024, 03:48 PM ET Open Extended Reactions PASADENA, Calif. — Tennis great Billie Jean King will preside over the 136th Rose Parade as grand marshal next year. King, who turns 81 next month, was introduced Monday in a shower of confetti on the lawn of Tournament House as “Philadelphia Freedom,” the

Oct 7, 2024, 07:32 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka has pulled out of the Japan Open due to a back injury that forced her retirement from the China Open last week, organizers said Monday. The 26-year-old was forced off court in the second set of her last-16 match at

Associated Press Oct 6, 2024, 10:17 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SHANGHAI — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner overcame a one-set deficit to rally to a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Shanghai Masters. A night after winning his 250th career match with a straight-sets victory, the 23-year-old Italian faced a much

ESPN News Services Oct 6, 2024, 09:13 AM ET Open Extended Reactions BEIJING — Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday. The sixth-ranked Gauff, 20, became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is

Associated Press Oct 5, 2024, 02:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions SHANGHAI — Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner showed no signs of fatigue from their China Open final this week as they advanced in Shanghai with comfortable straight-set victories in their opening matches. The second-ranked Alcaraz, who beat the Italian in Beijing on Wednesday

Associated Press Oct 5, 2024, 07:20 AM ET Open Extended Reactions BEIJING — Coco Gauff rallied from a set down for the third consecutive match as she beat Paula Badosa 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the final of the China Open. The sixth-ranked Gauff will play either Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen

Associated Press Oct 4, 2024, 11:10 AM ET Open Extended Reactions LONDON — The Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup competitions are both changing their formats next year. The International Tennis Federation announced the changes Friday, with the Billie Jean King Cup Finals transitioning from 12 teams to an eight-team event to mirror the

Associated Press Oct 4, 2024, 07:50 AM ET Open Extended Reactions SHANGHAI — Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner is “very confident” that he will avoid a doping ban after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed a decision to clear him of wrongdoing following two positive drug tests. The Montreal-based body known as WADA announced Saturday that

Associated Press Oct 4, 2024, 05:52 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Top-ranked Iga Swiatek is separating from her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. The Polish tennis player announced the split Friday, saying the decision was taken together. During the three years Swiatek worked with Wiktorowski, the Polish player won four of her five Grand Slam titles and

Associated Press Oct 3, 2024, 09:32 AM ET Open Extended Reactions BEIJING — Sixth-ranked Coco Gauff again made a slow start and had to rally to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to make the China Open semifinals on Thursday. Gauff will next play Paula Badosa of Spain, who earlier ended local wild

Associated Press Oct 2, 2024, 06:15 AM ET Open Extended Reactions BEIJING — Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka matched her career best with 15 straight wins after beating Madison Keys 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of the China Open on Wednesday. The three-time Grand Slam winner started her streak with a title at Cincinnati in

ESPN News Services Oct 2, 2024, 08:51 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Carlos Alcaraz won seven straight points in the decisive tiebreaker to beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3) and win the China Open on Wednesday, extending his recent mastery over one of his biggest rivals. The third-ranked Alcaraz has won all