ARYNA SABALENKA

At least Novak Djokovic knows who he'll face in the first-round of his Australian Open title defense — if he’s allowed to play.

Top-ranked Ash Barty has started her 2022 season with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 comeback win over 17-year-old American Coco Gauff in the second round of the Adelaide International.

While the “will he or won’t he” question remains for No. 1 Novak Djokovic and his participation in the Australian Open the rest of the tennis world returns to work this week to prepare for the season’s first major.

Shelby Rogers beat Anhelina Kalinina 7-6 (2), 6-2 and Sloane Stephens outlasted Heather Watson 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in opening matches at the BNP Paribas Open.

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka says she has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss the upcoming BNP Paribas Open.

Emma Raducanu’s qualifier-to-champion run at the U.S. Open has vaulted her 127 spots in the WTA rankings to a career-high No. 23.

Novak Djokovic has moved one victory away from completing the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969 by beating Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the U.S. Open final.

Emma Raducanu first met Leylah Fernandez at a tournament for players 12 and under.

British teenager Emma Raducanu has become the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final in the professional era by beating 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 at the U.S. Open.

Leylah Fernandez's first major semifinal, at the U.S. Open just days after her 19th birthday, did not go her way at the start. No matter what, Fernandez did not worry. Speedy afoot and steady at crunch time, the unseeded Fernandez edged Sabalenka 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 on Thursday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, earning right to play for a Grand Slam title.

Emma Raducanu has set up an all-teenager U.S. Open women’s final.

British teenager Emma Raducanu has become the first qualifier in the professional era to reach the U.S. Open semifinals.

Daniil Medvedev is the first player into the U.S. Open semifinals.

Carlos Alcaraz is the youngest male quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open since 1963.

American tennis player Frances Tiafoe had a small, late-night crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium going wild on every point in an upset win that pushed the record for the latest finish in tournament history. Tiafoe outlasted fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1 and reached the fourth round for the second straight year. There were three U.S. Open finishes at 2:26 a.m., in 1993, 2012 and 2014.

After reaching the U.S. Open final last year with no fans, Victoria Azarenka appreciates playing in front of people again.

Ash Barty and Bianca Andreescu are back at the U.S. Open after missing it last year.

Novak Djokovic will begin his bid to win the U.S. Open for a men’s-record 21st major tennis championship and to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam by facing a player who comes through qualifying.

Daniil Medvedev was struggling so much with the suffocating heat and humidity in the Olympic tennis tournament that at one point the chair umpire asked him if he could continue playing.

Naomi Osaka made quick work of her first match in nearly two months.

The Centre Court crowd enjoyed a bit of royal and Hollywood glitz during the women’s final at Wimbledon.

Ash Barty will face Karolina Pliskova in the first Wimbledon final for both.

Top-seeded Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic have reached their 10th doubles final of the season by beating Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury at Wimbledon.

Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has been beaten in straight sets by 14th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Angelique Kerber has reached the semifinals at Wimbledon for the first time since winning the title there in 2018.

British 18-year-old Emma Raducanu says she retired reluctantly from her fourth-round Wimbledon match because of dizziness and difficulty breathing.

Wimbledon's last Manic Monday brought the usual packed schedule and an unusual number of first-time quarterfinalists.

Wimbledon’s traditional Middle Sunday of rest will disappear in 2022.

Sebastian Korda is the son of two former professional tennis players and the brother of two current stars of women's golf.

Wimbledon crowd favorite Andy Murray has been eliminated in straight sets in the third round by No. 10-seeded Denis Shapovalov.

Andy Murray can still win a five-setter at Wimbledon, even at age 34 and after two hip operations.

Wimbledon has returned after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic and some things have not changed at the All England Club.

Eleven matches on Wimbledon’s outer courts have been suspended because of darkness.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have been placed on opposite sides of the Wimbledon bracket.

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.

Even a 23-time Grand Slam champion needs to remind herself now and then how to play winning tennis.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all are in the same half of the French Open men’s field.

Rafael Nadal showed he’s still got the stamina to withstand much younger challengers in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) comeback win over 22-year-old Denis Shapovalov that secured him a spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals.

There are no American men in the ATP's Top 30 for the first time in the nearly half-century of ATP computerized tennis rankings.

Aryna Sabalenka is glad she changed her mind about playing at the Madrid Open.

Barty didn't wilt, ousting Sabalenka 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 for her third three-set win in four matches at the tournament. Medvedev beat Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3, and has gone 10-1 in sets against the American in their past four head-to-head matchups. Ad“Everywhere in the world there are different conditions and at times it suits you more than other places,” Barty said. Medvedev had 11 aces and showed no signs of wear, two days after cramping in the heat during a third-round win. 21 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals; Sinner advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia, returns to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 29, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)MIAMI – Ash Barty is tough to beat under any circumstances, especially when she’s on the ropes. The world’s top-ranked player has reached the Miami Open quarterfinals, getting there by holding off 14th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1, 1-6, 6-2. This, too, was cool: The match lived up to its showdown potential, with the reigning Miami Open champion and current world No. 1 in Barty facing someone who has won the Miami title three times and a previous world No. Svitolina will play unseeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the quarters; Sevastova was a 6-1, 7-5 winner over wild-card Ana Konjuh of Croatia.

(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.

Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic smashes the ball to Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei in front of rows of empty seats during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. The Australian Open continues but without crowds after the Victoria state government imposed a five-day lockdown in response to a COVID-19 outbreak at a quarantine hotel. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)MELBOURNE – Hey, Australian Open TV viewers: The crowd's loud clapping and mid-match chatter you hear on the telecasts are not real. It just happened here.”Aslan Karatsev is a 27-year-old Russian who is ranked 114th and needed to go through three rounds of qualifying just to get into the main draw at the Australian Open. And not since Patrick McEnroe — John's brother — in 1991 has a man ranked as low as 114th made it to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

United States' Serena Williams falls during her fourth round match against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)MELBOURNE – Serena Williams tumbled to the ground, her heavily taped right ankle turning, her body contorting, her racket flying. Grabbing the last two games, Williams pulled out 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over No. Oh, my goodness.”Sabalenka — a 22-year-old from Belarus playing in only her second fourth-round Slam match — was visibly and audibly frustrated. Dominic Thiem — the Australian Open runner-up and U.S. Open champion in 2020 — looked physically compromised in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 loss to three-time major semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov.

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.

Competition at the year's first Grand Slam tournament will be allowed to continue, but no fans can attend as of Saturday. Hopefully it will be all right.”A year ago, Williams dropped just three games against Potapova in the first round. But the 2016 Wimbledon junior champion double-faulted five times in that game, including twice on set point. 8 Diego Schwartzman became the highest-seeded man to lose so far, eliminated 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 by Aslan Karatsev, a qualifier from Russia ranked 114th and making his Grand Slam debut at age 27. AdIn other action, 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev won in straight sets and now takes on No.

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.

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.

Kenin is the top-seeded woman in Abu Dhabi, where the first womens tour-level tennis event of 2021 begins main-draw play on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)ABU DHABI – Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States came back from match point down to beat Yulia Putintseva and reach the quarterfinals of the Abu Dhabi Open on Saturday. Kenin posted 57 unforced errors to Putintseva's 43 but still prevailed 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 over the 13th-seeded Putintseva. Kenin dropped the opening set for the second consecutive match in Abu Dhabi. Also, Aryna Sabalenka recorded her 12th consecutive win in tour matches with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ons Jabeur.

OSTRAVA – Third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka cruised to the title at the inaugural Ostrava Open on Sunday, defeating fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-2 in the first WTA all-Belarusian final. It was the second title of the season for the 12th-ranked Sabalenka after the Qatar Total Open in Doha in February, and seventh overall of her career. “I hope you’ll get better soon,” she wished Azarenka in a brief on-court speech after her victory. The 14th-ranked Azarenka tried to come back after she received treatment when she was 4-1 down in the second set, breaking Sabalenka who then replied immediately with her fifth break and served out the match. Last month, Azarenka eliminated Sabalenka 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open before reaching the final.

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___11:10 p.m.Danielle Collins grabbed the last four games to come back and beat 2016 champion Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the last third-round singles match at the French Open. Next up for Djokovic as he pursues a second French Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall: No. ___4:20 p.m.Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the fourth round at the French Open for the second year in a row. He came through the qualifying tournament to reach the French Open main draw. ___1:10 p.m.Andrey Rublev advanced to the French Open fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win against the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson.