Serena's gone, Open must go on: Kvitova, Pegula set rematch
Much like for so many other folks, Serena Williamsโ last match at the U.S. Open was must-see TV for players still in the tournament, so Jessica Pegula and Petra Kvitova tuned in from their hotel rooms the night before their victories led off Saturdayโs schedule and set up a fourth-round showdown.
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Feeling pressure: 2020 champ Kenin loses at Australian Open
United States' Sofia Kenin leaves the court following her second round loss to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi during at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)MELBOURNE โ Sofia Kenin knew this would be a tough test at the Australian Open, a potentially early end to her first attempt to defend a Grand Slam title. Upon realizing she probably would be playing big-hitting veteran Kaia Kanepi in the second round, Kenin acknowledged, she โmaybe kind of broke down a little bit.โKenin was right to be worried. Kenin walked off the court crying after a 6-2, 6-2 loss last week in a tuneup event at the site of the Australian Open and explained afterward that her left leg was sore. 21 Alex de Minaur and Mackenzie McDonald, who beat 22nd-seeded Borna Coric 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and 39-year-old Feliciano Lopez.
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The Latest: Nadal beats Mmoh in straight sets in Melbourne
Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating United States' Michael Mmoh during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)MELBOURNE โ The Latest from the Australian Open (all times local):11:50 p.m.Rafael Nadal shrugged off some heckling from a spectator before beating American qualifier Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Australian Open. The Australian Open is the first major in a year to allow sizeable crowds with the government allowing up to 50% capacity. Ad___11:20 p.m.Fabio Fognini and Salvatore Caruso clearly still hadnโt had enough of their all-Italian second-round duel at the Australian Open even after four hours and five sets. ___9:30 p.m.Fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina beat 16-year-old Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.
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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, Djokovicโs bid for a third consecutive Australian title โ and ninth overall โ could get tricky.
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Williams withdraws from semifinals in Australian Open tuneup
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. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)MELBOURNE โ Serena Williams withdrew from an Australian Open tuneup tournament citing a right shoulder injury on Friday within hours of setting up a semifinal match against top-ranked Ash Barty. Garbine Muguruza beat defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals, reversing their result of their 2020 final at Melbourne Park. On either side of a delay on outside courts because of rain, former Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Australian champion Angelique Kerber beat No. 4 Borna Coric out in the quarterfinals after wins over Australian players earlier in the day.
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Serena Williams through easily in Australian Open tuneup
United States' Serena Williams makes a backhand return to Australia's Daria Gavrilova during a tuneup tournament ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Hamish Blair)MELBOURNE โ Serena Williams found a silver lining in the delayed start to the Australian Open, the season-opening Grand Slam tournament that is starting three weeks later than usual because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Williams is playing in the Yarra Valley Classic, along with top-ranked Ash Barty and defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. โSo I definitely was pushing the limits, but Iโm here.โWilliams has been stalled on 23 major singles titles since the 2017 Australian Open, when she was two months pregnant with now-3-year-old daughter Olympia. AdFrances Tiafoe, an Australian Open quarterfinalist in 2019, lost to Corentin Moutet 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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Djokovic's body acts up at French Open; faces Tsitsipas next
Carreรฑo Busta, for his part, had at least a bit of doubt about what was going on. Nadal eyes a 13th championship at the French Open, which would give him 20 majors overall, equaling Roger Federer's record for men; Schwartzman never has played in a Slam semifinal. At the U.S. Open, Tsitsipas failed to convert a half-dozen match points in a third-round loss. Then, against Rublev in the final of the clay-court Hamburg Open on Sept. 27 โ Day 1 of the French Open โ Tsitsipas served for the victory but wound up absorbing another disheartening defeat. At the changeover before the second set, Djokovic was attended to by a trainer, who returned for another massage three games later.
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The Latest: Djokovic has arm issue but wins at French Open
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS โ The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___9:50 p.m.Novak Djokovic has overcome a bothersome left arm and early deficit to reach the French Open semifinals for the 10th time. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in one of Fridayโs semifinals as he seeks a second French Open championship and 18th Grand Slam title. ___5:15 p.m.Polish teenager Iga Swiatek has reached the French Open semifinals in both singles and doubles. ___4:50 p.m.Laura Siegemund has taken issue with the chair umpire for giving her a time violation during her 6-3, 6-3 loss to Petra Kvitova in the French Open quarterfinals. Rublev won their final at the clay-court Hamburg Open on the same day main-draw competition began at the French Open.
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'Both gave everything': Schwartzman tops Thiem; Nadal next
A reporter wanted to know whether Schwartzman would be watching Nadal vs. Sinner. โFor sure, Iโm going to be awake,โ 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 dayโs denouement. He led the fourth 5-3, and held three set points while serving for it at 5-4.
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The Latest: 19-year-old Swiatek into French Open semifinals
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS โ 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.
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The Latest: Collins beats 2016 champ Muguruza at French Open
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS โ 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 Garbiรฑe 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.
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Does Djokovic's next foe have hope? 'I was wondering that'
Serbia's Novak Djokovic serves against Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis in the second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS โ At the mere mention of Novak Djokovicโs name, at the mere thought of sharing a court with a 17-time Grand Slam champion and the French Openโs No. He used these phrases: โreally, really excitedโ and โreally, really happyโ and โreally, really special.โGalan is, after all, ranked 153rd and never had won so much as one main-draw match at any major tournament until this week. Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champ, plays 87th-ranked Paula Badosa, who arrived in Paris with a 1-5 Grand Slam record. โWell,โ came Galanโs reply, โI was wondering that, to be honest.โAnd then he launched into a story about how he was โreally, really nervousโ before playing former top 10-member David Goffin in the Davis Cup Finals last November.
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The Latest: Earliest French Open exit for Stephens since '11
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS โ The Latest from the French Open (all times local):____6:10 p.m.Former runner-up Sloane Stephens lost in the second round for her earliest exit at Roland Garros since a first-round defeat on her debut in 2011. ___4:15 p.m.Novak Djokovic's biggest concern seemed to be dealing with a rare bit of sunshine during his second-round victory at Roland Garros. ___2:30 p.m.Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin reached the third round at Roland Garros by beating Ana Bogdan 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. ____1:10 p.m.Danish teen Clara Tauson's surprise run is over after losing to American player Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-3 in the second round. Pliskova's twin sister, Kristyna, was also playing a former French Open champion when she faced 2016 winner Garbiรฑe Muguruza.
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Washington tennis tournament canceled; US Open still planned
WASHINGTON The hard-court tournament in the nations capital that was supposed to mark the official return of mens professional tennis amid the pandemic was scrapped Tuesday but the group in charge of the U.S. Open immediately said the tuneups cancellation in no way impacts its Grand Slam event. That is to be followed by the U.S. Open, where main-draw play is due to begin Aug. 31 without any spectators. The next Grand Slam tournament will be the clay-court French Open, which postponed its start from late May to late September because of the pandemic. After the ATP and Citi Open announced the decision to abandon plans to play this year, the U.S. Tennis Association put out a statement saying it understands the rationale behind that cancellation. The USTA's statement continued: This decision in no way impacts the U.S. Open or the Western & Southern Open.