Tennis

8:25 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Standing on the court as her ever-so-slight lead slipped away and now just one point away from entering a third-set tiebreak, Naomi Osaka prepared for Amanda Anisimova‘s next serve during their third-round match at the Australian Open on Friday. Osaka, the tournament’s defending champ, had looked frustrated as she walked

12:55 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — World No. 77 Miomir Kecmanovic is in line to receive the biggest payday of his career, and he has compatriot and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in part to thank. When the Australian Open draw was first released, Kecmanovic was scheduled to play Djokovic in the first round. But

10:23 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com There were no Americans in the quarterfinals of the singles draw at the US Open in September. No men. No women. No one. It was the first time in over a century of tournament history there had been such an absence, and it was the latest blow for the once-dominant

7:12 AM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — On paper, a second-round Grand Slam match featuring the highest-ranked player in the tournament and a man languishing outside the top 100 wouldn’t be one to stir even the slightest amount of interest or excitement in the average tennis fan. But when that lowly ranked player is the flamboyant

1:12 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Taylor Fritz advanced to the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday with a dominant 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over fellow American Frances Tiafoe — but it was what happened after the final point had been won that really got everyone talking. After Fritz sealed the win in

11:12 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Few expected Sofia Kenin to win the 2020 Australian Open. She was the No. 14 seed and had never advanced past the fourth round at a major. The then-21-year-old American was barely on the radar. But point by point and match by match, Kenin stormed through the draw, setting up

6:32 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Athletes spend decades trying to trick the mind. But what happens when the mind tricks the athlete? Aryna Sabalenka arrived in Australia earlier this month with her focus set squarely on achieving her longtime dream of winning a Grand Slam. Having had a breakthrough season in 2021 in which she

1:22 AM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal moved into the third round at the Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win over 126th-ranked German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday. Nadal didn’t get it all his own way in an afternoon match on Rod Laver Arena, needing five match points and

4:59 PM ET British qualifier Liam Broady has admitted he struggled to cope with the level of verbal abuse hurled at him by the crowd during his first-round Australian Open defeat to Nick Kyrgios. Broady was jeered as he walked out to play on Kyrgios’ favourite court at John Cain Arena, where the Canberran showman

7:59 AM ET Emma Raducanu got her Australian Open campaign off to a winning note as she saw off Sloane Stephens in three sets in the first round. US Open champion Raducanu ended up winning 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 in an entertaining match on day two of the first Grand Slam of the year. After Raducanu

9:28 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Garbine Muguruza extended her first-round success at Melbourne Park on Monday, and did so in straight sets. The 2020 Australian Open finalist and winner of the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon tournaments has never lost a first-round match in 10 years of competition at the

5:04 AM ET ESPN News Services Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said Monday there would be no exemption from France’s new vaccine law. World No. 1 Djokovic arrived in his native Serbia on Monday after being deported from Australia on Sunday

6:57 AM ET Associated Press BEIJING — Former NBA great Yao Ming said Monday he and others had a pleasant talk when they met last month with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, whose disappearance after making a sexual assault allegation against a former government official raised international concern. He also said it is unfortunate that

12:42 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Defending champion Naomi Osaka didn’t need luck to win her opening-round match over Camila Osorio 6-3, 6-3 at the Australian Open on Monday. But that didn’t stop her from trying to create some. In an act of superstition that would surely make Rafael Nadal proud, Osaka took great lengths, literally

7:53 AM ET It’s been a wild ride to the start of this year’s Australian Open, but on Monday the tournament will officially begin. With Sunday’s court decision upholding the decision that Novak Djokovic is to be deported and will not play, the drama over his visa cancellation is over — but that leaves other

6:51 AM ET Former world No. 1 Andy Murray has expressed sympathy for Novak Djokovic after the Serb’s hopes of winning a record 21st Grand Slam title at this year’s Australian Open ended on Sunday at the conclusion of a long-running visa saga. A Federal Court’s decision to uphold a government decision to cancel Djokovic’s

2:01 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic‘s hopes of playing at the Australian Open were dashed Sunday after a court dismissed the top-ranked tennis star’s appeal against a deportation order. Three Federal Court judges upheld a decision made on Friday by the immigration minister to cancel the 34-year-old Serb’s visa on public

12:53 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal‘s first Grand Slam match in more than seven months is on the horizon. He is coming back from a painful left foot problem that limited him to one tournament over the last half of last season, and he got COVID-19 in December. Plenty to talk