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.
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.
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 – 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.
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – Minutes after suddenly becoming a Grand Slam champion at age 19, while ranked just 54th, Iga Swiatek held a microphone during the French Open trophy presentation and was hesitant for pretty much the only time over the past two weeks. “Two years ago, I won a junior Grand Slam, and right now I’m here. This was, after all, only her seventh major tournament; she'd never been past the fourth round. So it made sense that Swiatek would handle the fourth-seeded Kenin, even if the 21-year-old from Florida won the Australian Open in February and entered Saturday 16-1 in Grand Slam play this year. “Everybody is stressed when they’re playing Grand Slam finals.
She never had made the quarterfinals at any clay-court tournament until this trip to Roland Garros — and lost her only tuneup match on the surface 6-0, 6-0 last month. “My mentality has obviously changed,” said Kenin, who said she derived a boost of confidence from upsetting Serena Williams at Roland Garros a year ago. On the other hand, consider how dominant she has been along the way to becoming the lowest-ranked women’s finalist at Roland Garros since the WTA computer rankings began in 1975. Swiatek vs. Podoroska was the first women’s semifinal at Roland Garros between unseeded opponents since 1983 — and only one, Swiatek, truly seemed ready for the stage. I’m, like, not letting my opponents play their best tennis,” Swiatek said.
(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.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):6:40 p.m.Unseeded Americans Ann Li and Shelby Rogers have pulled off upset victories in the second round of the U.S. Open. ___6:05 p.m.Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova has been upset in the second round of the U.S. Open by Caroline Garcia of France. It was the first time since 2008 that the top-seeded woman lost in the second round at the Open. Pliskova was a finalist at the Open in 2016 for the best Grand Slam result of her career. Seeking his fourth U.S. Open title, Djokovic lost a physical first set that took more than an hour.
I didnt play good, Pliksova said, so thats it.When another member of the media said this back-and-forth must be boring to Pliskova, she said, Yeah, a little bit. Three Americans turned in upsets of seeded women. Other seeded women who were eliminated: No. Pliskova had chances to take the second set against Garcia, who had been 0-8 against top-five opponents at Grand Slam tournaments. On the second, Garcia smacked a quick-strike forehand to a corner and Pliskova's running reply found the net.
___11:25 p.m.Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is headed to a third set against Misaki Doi in the first round of the U.S. Open. ___9:55 p.m.Naomi Osaka wore a black mask with the name of Breonna Taylor emblazoned across the front before the start of her U.S. Open match. ___9:30 p.m.Top-seeded Novak Djokovic breezed past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 at the U.S. Open. ___12:50 p.m.Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber is sticking around longer at Flushing Meadows than she did a year ago. Kerber eliminated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4 in a nearly empty Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Top-ranked Ash Barty has withdrawn from the U.S. Open because she is not comfortable with traveling during the coronavirus pandemic. 1-ranked Ash Barty is skipping the first tennis major since January after deciding it's too risky to travel for the U.S. Open during the coronavirus pandemic. The 24-year-old Australian is the highest-profile player so far to opt out of the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 Grand Slam tournament in New York because of the global health crisis. The clay-court Grand Slam event was postponed earlier in the year and rescheduled to start Sept. 27, after the U.S. Open. Barty reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, the only major tennis tournament completed this year.
