VASEK POSPISIL

Canada has won its first Davis Cup tennis title, beating Australia behind victories from Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has led Canada to its second ever Davis Cup final after winning both his singles and doubles rubbers in a 2-1 fightback over Italy.

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the upcoming hard-court tournament in Montreal because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and therefore not allowed to enter Canada.

United States captain Mardy Fish hinted at a lack of passion within his team after the record 32-time champion Americans were eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals by following up a lopsided loss to host Italy with a humbling defeat to Colombia.

Elias Ymer didn’t hesitate to say Sweden could succeed at the Davis Cup Finals despite being one of the lowest-ranked nations in the competition.

Lucky losers Max Purcell and Kwon Soon-woo have won quarterfinals at the grass-court Eastbourne tournament to mark the first time in ATP Tour history that more than one man who lost in qualifying reached the semifinals of the same event.

When Tennys Sandgren resumed practicing after his can’t-go-anywhere hard quarantine ended, the American said Tuesday, his hands developed blisters from holding a racket. And, like Azarenka, both Sandgren and Pospisil lost their opening matches. “I wouldn’t say the whole tournament is a joke, but for some players, it’s not feasible. “I needed fresh air or maybe a bigger room or better conditions to play against the best players,” she said. Players in the “regular” quarantine were allowed to leave their rooms for five hours per day during the first two weeks after getting to Australia.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic reacts after missing a shot against Sweden's Mikael Ymer in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. “Winning a 6-love first set is the best possible way to start a Grand Slam," he said. With Dominic Thiem, the U.S. Open champion and two-time French Open runner-up, watching from the stands in a black winter coat, Djokovic broke Ymer nine times and ended up with a 32-12 edge in total winners. Others feeling that way on Day 3 at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament included No. Tsitsipas trailed Jaume Munar before advancing 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, while Rublev knelt on court and covered his face with his hands after turning things around to beat Sam Querrey 6-7 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.

Serena Williams, of the United States, reacts after defeating Maria Sakkari, of Greece, during the quarterfinals of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK Theres no crowd at the U.S. Open this year to pull for Serena Williams and try to push her to victory. Shouting at herself point after point, Williams came back from a third-set deficit against a woman she lost to less than two weeks ago, and took another step closer to Grand Slam title No. When the match ended, Williams turned and yelled toward her husband, who stood at his front-row seat and yelled right back. She sent a backhand return long to give Sakkari her fifth set point, then pushed a forehand out.

Dominic Thiem, of Austria, returns a shot to Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, during the fourth round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in New York. 15 Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. He is 0-3, losing twice to Nadal at the French Open and to Djokovic at the Australian Open this February. Thats all of his $250,000 prize money for reaching the fourth round, plus $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and an additional $7,500 for skipping his post-match news conference. On Monday, she extended her stay in her comeback event, beating Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the fourth round.

1-ranked Novak Djokovic and former top-30 member Vasek Pospisil would be the co-presidents of a new group they are trying to set up to represent mens professional tennis players. A letter emailed to players -- and obtained by The Associated Press on Friday -- pushes the formation of a Professional Tennis Players Association, abbreviated PTPA. Unlike many other professional sports, mens professional tennis has never had a representative body that is represented for players by players, the email said. The mens tennis tour is organized by the ATP; the womens tennis tour is run by the WTA. Djokovic is the president of the ATP Player Council and Pospisil has been a member for two years, but he tweeted Friday night that he was resigning.