Tennis

1:25 AM ET Novak Djokovic and the rest of the world’s premier tennis players will compete for more than AUD$100 million (USD$67.35 million) in prize money over the Australian summer. The historic high mark comes from a record AUD$76.5 million (USD$51.52 million) Australian Open purse and the addition of the lucrative new United Cup mixed

9:54 PM ET Associated Press SYDNEY — Taylor Fritz broke Jiri Lehecka‘s serve in the ninth game of the second set and went on to beat the Czech player 6-3, 6-4 to give the United States a 1-0 lead in its United Cup mixed teams match on Thursday. Madison Keys played Marie Bouzkova in the

1:25 AM ET Nick Kyrgios faces a race against time to hit peak form and fitness for his Australian Open tilt after pulling out of the inaugural United Cup teams event due to injury. World No. 22 Kyrgios was scheduled to spearhead the Australian team, starting against Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie in Sydney on Thursday

4:55 PM ET Associated Press ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic has arrived in Australia almost a year after he was deported over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination, Tennis Australia confirmed Wednesday. Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open title. The 21-time major winner

5:08 PM ET Associated Press BERLIN — Tennis great Boris Becker tearfully recounted the moment the door of his single-occupancy cell at Britain’s notorious Wandsworth prison closed for the first time, speaking publicly after serving eight months for bankruptcy offenses. “It was the loneliest moment I’ve ever had in life,” Becker said in an interview

2:44 PM ET Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has said he will keep competing as long as his body is in good shape, but added that he is one “big injury” away from calling time on his career. Murray, 35, has suffered with injuries during his career and had hip surgery in 2018 and

9:01 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry to play at the Australian Open next month, 25 years after she played the Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 42-year-old Williams has reached the final twice in Australia, including a loss to her younger sister,

3:34 AM ET Andy Murray was named the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award recipient in recognition of his support for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, with the former world No. 1 raising more than $630,000 for the war-torn country. Murray, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said in March he would donate all his prize money won

6:16 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — Chilean tennis player Barbara Gatica Aviles has been banned from the sport for three years after admitting she was paid to deliberately lose a match in 2016, the International Tennis Integrity Agency said Thursday. The 26-year-old Gatica Avilés, whose career-best WTA ranking is No. 158, was also fined

8:54 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal were honored by the International Tennis Federation as its 2022 ITF World Champions on Thursday after each claimed two Grand Slam titles this season. The ITF determines its awards based on criteria that include all events and give special weight to the four

7:27 AM ET Associated Press German tennis star Boris Becker has returned to Germany after serving eight months in prison in Britain, his lawyer said on Thursday. The 55-year-old German, who has lived in Britain since 2012, was released on Thursday morning and travelled back to Germany shortly thereafter. Becker “has thus served his sentence

7:56 AM ET British No. 1 Emma Raducanu branded comments about her as untrue as she said the attention she has received after her meteoric rise in tennis has been “intense.” Raducanu, who received an MBE award from King Charles for her services to tennis, broke onto the scene with an impressive Wimbledon campaign in

12:54 PM ET Associated Press Iga Swiatek was honored as WTA Player of the Year for the first time on Monday after rising to No. 1 in the rankings in April and remaining there for the rest of the season thanks in part to two Grand Slam titles. Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland who was

11:58 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Two low-ranked French tennis players were banned from the sport for life after being found guilty of match-fixing by a hearing officer. Jules Okala, a 25-year-old with a career-best ATP ranking of No. 338, and Mick Lescure, a 29-year-old with a top ranking of No. 487, “admitted multiple

9:55 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — Top 100 tennis player Kamil Majchrzak was provisionally suspended for doping after testing positive for banned substances at three tournaments in September and October. The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced the ruling Friday, saying the 26-year-old from Poland turned in A samples at the Sofia Open, Japan Open

8:50 AM ET ESPN News Services The ATP on Wednesday fined Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) £820,000 ($1 million) for banning male players from Russia and Belarus from playing in its grass-court events this summer. The governing body of British tennis banned the players from five Wimbledon warm-up tournaments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wimbledon

10:16 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open crown a year after having his visa revoked on the eve of his title defense. Djokovic, a 21-time major winner, has been granted a visa by the

2:18 PM ET Associated Press Two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova is reuniting with coach Sascha Bajin ahead of the 2023 tennis season. Pliskova posted on her website and her Twitter account on Tuesday about the move, which comes about six months after she and Bajin stopped working together. The pair originally teamed up in