Former finalist Thiem withdraws from Australian Open
Still regaining his form from a wrist injury, former finalist Dominic Thiem announced Tuesday that he is withdrawing from the Australian Open and will instead begin his 2022 season in South America. Thiem said he had a “slight setback” in his preparation but is “now feeling well again.” “I will start the season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina, end of January, and therefore I will not play this year at the Australian Open,” Thiem said.
news.yahoo.comOsaka back to No. 2; Medvedev No. 3; Karatsev jumps 72 spots
(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)Naomi Osaka's Australian Open championship moved her up one spot to No. 2 in the WTA rankings Monday, while men's finalist Daniil Medvedev rose to a career-best No. Aslan Karatsev's historic run from qualifying to the final four before losing to nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic allowed him to vault 72 places from 114th to 42nd. Barty took nearly a full year off, for example, but still has her points from winning the 2019 French Open and reaching the semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open. Aryna Sabalenka now leads the WTA doubles rankings after pairing with Elise Mertens to win the Australian Open women's doubles title.
Cloud 9: Djokovic wins 9th Australian Open, 18th Slam title
Plus, he's still gaining on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam standings, now up to 18 overall, two shy of the men’s record those rivals share. After greeting Medvedev, Djokovic went to the sideline, lifted his white shirt and peeled off pieces of beige athletic tape along his abdomen. “It has been a roller-coaster ride for me, especially in the last couple weeks,” Djokovic said, cradling his silver trophy in his left arm. 4-seeded Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam final; he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open. “There are a lot of mixed feelings about what has happened in the last month or so with tennis players coming to Australia,” Djokovic said.
Injured Djokovic advances to quarters at Australian Open
Serbia's Novak Djokovic hits a backhand return to Canada's Milos Raonic during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. For anyone curious about the severity of his injury, he put it into context after qualifying for the Australian Open quarterfinals for the 12th time. The eight-time Australian Open champion planned to spend most of the next two days recovering ahead of his quarterfinal against sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev. “If you’re here, it’s for a reason - there’s no doubt about it,” Dimitrov said after his 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 win. AdAnd not since Patrick McEnroe — John’s brother — in 1991 has a man ranked as low as 114th made it to the Australian Open quarterfinals.
The Latest: Djokovic beats Raonic, reaches QFs in Australia
AdHe said: “If it’s any other tournament than a Grand Slam, then I’d withdraw from that event, that’s for sure. Defending champion Novak Djokovic has started his fourth-round match against Milos Raonic at the Australian Open. He'll play either U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem or Grigor Dimitrov next and he says he doesn't have a preference. Their match is to be followed by eight-time Australian Open champion Djokovic against 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic — assuming Djokovic decides he can play. Other men in action include reigning U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem and the man he beat in that final, Alexander Zverev.
Australian Open goes quiet as lockdown keeps crowds away
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic serves to compatriot Karolina Pliskova during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Crowds were gone from the Australian Open on Saturday because of a five-day hard lockdown imposed by the state government to contain an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. And with the lack of fans, players were faced with an all-too-familiar feeling: a distinct lack of buzz. The Australian Open was allowed to continue during the lockdown — but without fans. He struggled without a crowd in a warm-up tournament before the Australian Open.
No crowds, but Australian Open will continue during lockdown
(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)MELBOURNE – The Australian Open will be allowed to continue but without crowds after the Victoria state government imposed a snap, five-day lockdown starting Saturday in response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a quarantine hotel. Andrews said the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open could continue “because these people are at their workplace.”“It will be happening, but there’ll be no one there watching it," he said. The seven-time Australian Open winner didn't hear the news until after the match. “It was a good last match before the lockdown, it's really sad to say.”The Australian Open was the first Grand Slam tournament in a year to allow sizeable crowds. Under the initial plan for the Australian Open, the government allowed up to 30,000 people daily the first week at Melbourne Park, or about 50% of capacity.
Djokovic holds off Tiafoe; Venus hobbles out in Australia
Serbia's Novak Djokovic makes a forehand return to United States' Frances Tiafoe during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. 1, had never beaten anyone in the Top 5, and now he'd just won a tiebreaker against Novak Djokovic to level their second-round match at the Australian Open. But it wasn't quite enough to beat the eight-time Australian Open champion, who won the 3 1/2-hour afternoon match 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 6-3. AdAnother U.S. Open champion, Naomi Osaka, needed only an hour to sweep Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3. 29 Ugo Humbert 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a rollicking night cap full of turns and twists.
The Latest: Shapovalov edges teenage Sinner in 1st round
The 10th-seeded Frenchman is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, but he can't seem to win anywhere at the moment. ___4:55 p.m.U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem has moved into the second round at the Australian Open, where he was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic a year ago. Thiem had been 0-3 in Grand Slam finals until emerging for the championship at Flushing Meadows in September. The first tournament of this year’s Grand Slam season began after a three-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. Serena Williams begins her latest bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title in the following match against Laura Siegemund.
Serena Williams, Osaka drawn in same half at Australian Open
United States' Serena Williams makes a forehand return to compatriot Danielle Collins during a tuneup event ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. 3 Naomi Osaka, the U.S. Open champion. Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, Johanna Konta and Elina Svitolina are also in Kenin's quarter. Williams already has won seven Australian Open titles and her 23 major titles is a record in the Open era. In the top half, Djokovic’s bid for a third consecutive Australian title — and ninth overall — could get tricky.
Nadal sidelined; team Djokovic wins to open ATP Cup defense
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after defeating Canada's Denis Shapovalov in their ATP Cup match in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)MELBOURNE – Rafael Nadal didn't make it for Spain's ATP Cup opener because of a sore back, deciding it wasn't worth the risk a week ahead of the Australian Open. Nadal played more of a hand in that, with Djokovic limiting his time on court because of a blister. Back at Melbourne Park, where he has won a record eight Australian Open titles, he had plenty of energy to consume. Osaka, who won the U.S. Open last year and the Australian Open in 2019, will next face No.
Serena visits zoo; Djokovic finally on court in Australia
United States' Serena Williams plays a forehand return to Japan's Naomi Osaka during an exhibition tennis event in Adelaide, Australia, Friday, Jan. 29. (Kelly Barnes/AAP Image via AP)ADELAIDE – Serena Williams was preparing to play Naomi Osaka at an Adelaide exhibition tournament on Friday. Krajinovic won the first set 6-3 and Djokovic the second by the same score to give the Serbian tag-team victory. “It’s part of what we do, we learn over the years to play with the pain," Djokovic said. Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said players who had been in hard lockdown would be given priority.
With quarantines almost over, tennis set to start Down Under
It was a controversial start to the government-mandated quarantine ahead of the Australian Open beginning Feb. 8, 2021. The government-mandated quarantine ahead of the Feb. 8-21 Australian Open had a controversial start. There was some considerable doubt during that second wave whether the Australian Open would even be remotely possible in Melbourne. Players, coaches and officials were flown in on 17 jets chartered by Tennis Australia and met by biosecurity officials and placed immediately into hotel quarantine. They include 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, whose coach was among those who tested positive, and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
ATP: Start of 2021 calendar includes delayed Australian Open
The 2021 Australian Open will begin three weeks later than planned. That is part of a pandemic-altered 2021 tennis calendar released by the mens professional tour Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. The ATP Cup, two ATP events and two WTA tournaments will take place in Melbourne the week before the Australian Open. One WTA tournament will happen during the second week of the Australian Open, local media said. The ATP is looking for new dates for the Rio Open, which was supposed to begin Feb. 17 but now conflicts with the two-week Australian Open main draw.
Tennis champion Daniil Medvedev says it’s ‘tough’ to talk about the future of the sport
Newly crowned Nitto ATP Finals champion Daniil Medvedev told CNBC that tennis has a cloudy future, with players still not knowing when — or if — the Australian Open will go on due to the coronavirus pandemic. Medvedev, who won the highly prestigious ATP Finals tournament on Sunday at London's O2 Arena, said a lot of uncertainty remains in the sport. "(It's) tough to talk about the future, because we see with the Australian Open, it's not easy at this moment. Medvedev made history on Sunday when he defeated the current U.S. Open Champion and world number three, Dominic Thiem, to clinch the much sought-after title. The Russian tennis champion said the match was "one of the biggest wins of my career," after coming back from a set down to take the title.
cnbc.comThiem, Nadal win opening matches at ATP Finals in London
(John Walton/PA via AP)LONDON – Dominic Thiem made sure this year's ATP Finals didn't begin the same way last year's ended. Nadal is looking to cap a season in which he earned his record-equaling 20th Grand Slam title and 1,000th match win on tour by capturing his first trophy at the ATP Finals. Nadal broke in the opening game of the second set as well and never faced a break point of his own. He served out the win on his second match point when Rublev's return sailed long. This is the 12th and last year that the ATP Finals is played at the 02 Arena before moving to Turin, Italy, next year.
Zverev beats Auger-Aliassime in Cologne to end title wait
COLOGNE – Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne Indoors on Sunday. Zverev has said he thinks almost constantly about that final, and he credited it with raising his game in Cologne. Zverev's previous title was at the clay-court Geneva Open in May 2019 and he is now 12-8 in career finals. The second Cologne tournament was already holding qualification matches before Sunday's final in the first tournament took place. It will feature Zverev and U.S. Open quarterfinalist Denis Shapovalov, while former top-ranked player Andy Murray has withdrawn citing tendonitis.
French Open champ Swiatek rises to 17th; Djokovic, Nadal 1-2
2, followed by U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem and Federer. The 19-year-old Swiatek entered the French Open at No. 54 and became the lowest-ranked female champion at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975. The top three in the women’s rankings remained as they were before the French Open, with Ash Barty at No. Halep did compete at the French Open, but her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Swiatek in the fourth round didn’t affect the three-time major champion’s ranking.
No. 1 Djokovic escapes in 5, will face No. 2 Nadal in final
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – Novak Djokovic seemed well on his way to yet another ho-hum victory, yet another French Open final, yet another matchup against rival Rafael Nadal. It will be their 56th meeting, the most between two men in the professional era (Djokovic leads 29-26), 16th at a major (Nadal leads 9-6) and eighth at the French Open (Nadal leads 6-1). Tsitsipas broke again to steal that set when Djokovic netted a forehand, then got things to a fifth. After the fourth set, Djokovic changed socks and shoes, and Tsitsipas got a medical visit for a check of his left leg. Then there was this: Schwartzman upset Nadal in straight sets on clay at the Italian Open last month.
'Both gave everything': Schwartzman tops Thiem; Nadal next
A reporter wanted to know whether Schwartzman would be watching Nadal vs. Sinner. “For sure, I’m going to be awake,” said Schwartzman, who defeated Nadal at a clay-court tuneup in Rome last month. The ninth break put Schwartzman up 4-2 in the fifth when Thiem netted a backhand, and the last ended it, when Thiem put two drop shots into the net. From early on against Schwartzman, Thiem would bail out of points by trying mediocre drop shots, a bit of foreshadowing of the day’s denouement. He led the fourth 5-3, and held three set points while serving for it at 5-4.
The Latest: 19-year-old Swiatek into French Open semifinals
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___10:25 p.m.Polish teenager Iga Swiatek made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal by ending the surprising French Open run of qualifier Martina Trevisan of Italy. The reports said suspicious betting patterns concerned the fifth game of the second set when Sizikova was serving and broken to love. ___2:55 p.m.Nadia Podoroska is the first female qualifier in the Open Era to reach the French Open semifinals. Collins looked in control at 3-0 up in the second set but her Tunisian opponent won five straight games. This was her best run at the French Open while Collins had never previously been past the second round here.
The body clock of France thrown off-kilter by autumn tennis
The sun sets over court 14 as Italy's Jannik Sinner, right, and Argentina's Federico Coria, left, play their third round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Friday, Oct. 2, 2020. Students would have one eye or — don't tell teacher — both on the tennis as they crammed for baccalauréat high-school final exams. Instead, they are wondering who is beating who at the tennis while they're stuck in class with face masks in a new academic year. In short, the country's whole body clock has had to adjust to the postponement not only of the tennis but also of the Tour de France. Sitting here like ducks” when a match supervisor asked that she wait on court for a downpour to pass.
The Latest: Thiem vs. Schwartzman in French quarterfinals
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___8:30 p.m.Two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem survived a spirited comeback by a French wild-card entry to win their fourth-round match in five sets. He equaled his best Grand Slam showing by reaching his fourth major quarterfinal with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego. Organizers said the sixth-seeded German player did not consult their doctors before his fourth-round match against Italian teenager Jannik Sinner, despite the symptoms he later disclosed in his news conference after he was beaten 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. While there have been upsets in the women's draw, it's business as usual for Rafael Nadal among the men at the French Open. It's quickly becoming a day of upsets at the French Open, with Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan beating the fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4.
'Are you Sebastian’s father?' Korda, 20, takes on idol Nadal
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)PARIS – Sebastian Korda was 9, heart set on a hockey career, when he went with his father, Petr, to the 2009 U.S. Open. By then, Petr — 1998 Australian Open champion, 1992 French Open finalist — had retired as a competitor and turned to coaching. Went home, came back the next year, and said, ‘This is exactly what I want to do,’” Korda said. “Everybody is always asking him: ‘Are you the son of Petr Korda?’ Which I would love to change in the future,” Dad said in a telephone interview, “so that people ask me, ‘Are you Sebastian’s father? On Sunday, Korda plays 12-time champion Rafael Nadal, while Gaston meets U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem.
The Latest: Wawrinka out, marathon tiebreak at French Open
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___7:00 pm. Wawrinka won the French Open in 2015. ___2:50 p.m.Simona Halep had no trouble reversing the result of her loss to Amanda Anisimova at last year’s French Open. She opened her campaign with a first-round upset of 2019 French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova. The two-time French Open quarterfinalist defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 7-5.
'Bad timing and bad luck': Injured Serena out of French Open
“If it was my knee, that would be more really devastating for me. I feel like my body is actually doing really, really well,” said Williams, who turned 39 on Saturday. “That’s disappointing on many levels, of course,” said John Isner, the 21st-seeded man who was beaten in four sets by 20-year-old American qualifier Sebastian Korda. Williams took a long pause, clutched at that leg and then took a medical timeout so a trainer could wrap it. “I’m so close to some things, I just feel like I’m almost there," she said, "so I think that’s what keeps me going.”___AP Tennis Writer Fendrich reported from Washington; AP Sports Writer Pugmire reported from Paris.
'Runaway train': Serena wins French Open opener; Nadal, too
Serena Williams of the U.S. screams in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Kristie Ahn of the U.S. at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Monday, Sept. 28, 2020. Both began this French Open with straight-set victories against overmatched foes in Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday. Nadal began his attempt to pull even with rival Roger Federer for the most by a man, 20, by beating Egor Gerasimov of Belarus 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. He'll be aiming for his 18th major championship at this French Open, which he finally gets underway Tuesday with his first Grand Slam match since being disqualified at the U.S. Open. Among the other key results on Day 2 of a chilly, pandemic-postponed French Open were losses by 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova, who was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Polish teenager Iga Swiatek; three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber; 2017 U.S. Open finalist and 2018 French Open semifinalist Madison Keys; and men’s seeds No.