Tennis

Wimbledon allows Russian, Belarusian players to compete under neutral flags

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Wimbledon barred players from Russia and Belarus last year. In 2022, Wimbledon's ranking points were taken away due to the ban

Sania Mirza to play farewell exhibition tennis match in Hyderabad

Sania Mirza's farewell will occur on March 5 at Hyderabad's Lal Bahadur Stadium. Sania Mirza will participate in a handful of exhibition matches as part of the tournament

Carlos Alcaraz, Cameron Norrie withdraw from Acapulco ATP 500 due to injury

World no 2 Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco with a right hamstring strain while Cameron Norrie pulled out due to fatigue, the tournament organisers said

KSLTA cancels Bjorn Borg's felicitation ceremony without citing reason

The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, which had organised a ceremony to felicitate tennis legend Bjorn Borg on Tuesday, cancelled the event without citing any reason. A KSLTA official claimed that the ace tennis player was busy watching his son Leo Borg's match with Taiwanese player Hsu Yu Hsiou and hence it was 'put on hold'. However, some reports claimed that Borg, who won 11 Grand Slam titles in his career, was upset with the delay in arrival of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the venue. Bommai was supposed to attend the event at 10.30 am, according to the schedule. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had said in the daily schedule of the programme that Bommai will only interact with Borg and another legendary tennis player from India Vijay Amritraj. Bommai was late by about an hour. The KSLTA official whom PTI spoke to said, "Borg was not unhappy. He was enjoying his son's match. We did plan his felicitation but he was busy watching the match." An official fr

Tennis player Borg declines 'honour' as CM Bommai arrives late by 2 hrs

Borg was to be honoured on February 21 by Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka state in Bengaluru

I still have lots of motivation: Novak Djokovic at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic clearly is not done dominating his sport. He says so. His coach says so. And, most importantly, his performances throughout a draining run to a record-extending 10th Australian Open championship and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, plus his return Monday to No. 1 in the ATP rankings, say so. His message Sunday night, essentially, was: Look out. I still have lots of motivation. Let's see how far it takes me. I really don't want to stop here. I don't have intention to stop here, the 35-year-old Djokovic said after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, a man more than a decade his junior, by a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) score in the final at Melbourne Park. I feel great about my tennis. I know that when I'm feeling good physically, (and) mentally present, I have a chance to win any Slam against anybody. Hard to argue. Not only has no man won more major trophies ( Rafael Nadal also has 22; Margaret Court, with 24, and Serena Williams, with 23, are the only players in history with

Title eludes Sania in last Grand Slam; loses to Brazil in mixed doubles

Sania Mirza will end her career with six Grand Slam titles after failing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy with compatriot Rohan Bopanna here on Friday. Unseeded Bopanna and Sania lost 6-7(2) 2-6 to Brazilian pair of Luisa Stefani and Rafael Mataos in the final at Rod Laver Arena. Coming into her final Major tournament, Sania had three women's doubles and as many mixed doubles trophies in her cabinet. The 42-year-old Bopanna has one French Open mixed doubles title to his credit.

Tennis Australia bans Russian, Belarusian flags at Australian Open

Tennis Australia has banned Russian, Belarusian flags at the Australian Open after a controversy erupted over the Russian flag seen hanging outside the court

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can only meet in final at Australian Open

Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw Thursday, meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne Park. Djokovic, a nine-time champion in Australia, returns to the hard-court tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isn't vaccinated against COVID-19. He also couldn't compete at the 2022 U.S. Open. Fourth-seeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins Monday. Iga Swiatek, the women's No. 1-ranked player, takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No.68, in the opening round. The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022, a year in which she won the French and U.S. Open titles. But the main first-round focus will be on Nadal, who faces a potentially challenging match against ...

Two time tennis champion Naomi Osaka withdraws from Australian Open

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has confirmed she will not play at the Australian Open, adding her name to a growing list of notable withdrawals. Organizers confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that Japan's Osaka, the Open champion in 2019 and 2021, will not be playing in Melbourne. Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023, the tweet said. The 25-year-old Osaka's ranking has slipped to 47 and she hasn't played since September after withdrawing during the second round in Tokyo. She won her first round match at that tournament when Australia's Daria Saville withdrew after one game with a knee injury. Osaka won only one completed match since May and was beaten in the first round of her three previous tournaments, including the US Open at which she also is a two-time champion. Last week she posted pictures on social media of a trip to Europe with her United States rapper boyfriend Cordae and had been considered unlikely to play in the first Grand Slam of

Venus Williams withdraws from Australian Open due to injury during game

Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open for an undisclosed injury she sustained while playing in a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand this week. A seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams received a wild-card entry into the Australian Open last month to compete in what would have been her 22nd major at Melbourne Park. But the Australian Open said on Saturday the 42-year-old Williams had withdrawn from the tournament beginning Jan. 16. It did not provide specifics regarding the injury. It continues a run of misfortunes for Williams, who last played at Melbourne Park in 2021. A two-time Australian Open finalist, Williams injured an ankle and knee in that appearance when stumbling awkwardly at the net in a second-round match against Sara Errani. Her best efforts at Melbourne Park came when she was beaten by her sister Serena Williams in finals in 2003 and 2017. Now ranked 1,003, Williams said when granted the wild card in December that she was excited to be ..

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with throat, breast cancer

Tennis great Martina Navratilova said on Monday that she has been diagnosed with throat cancer and breast cancer. In a statement released by her representative, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame said her prognosis is good and she will start treatment this month. "This double whammy is serious but still fixable, and I'm hoping for a favourable outcome," the 66-year-old Navratilova said. "It's going to stink for a while but I'll fight with all have I got." She said she noticed an enlarged lymph node in her neck while attending the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, in November, and a biopsy showed early stage throat cancer. While Navratilova was undergoing tests on her throat, she said, the unrelated breast cancer was discovered. Navratilova was diagnosed with a noninvasive form of breast cancer in 2010 and had a lumpectomy. She won 59 Grand Slam titles overall, including 31 in women's doubles and 10 in mixed dou

Rafael Nadal loses in three sets to Britain's Norrie at United Cup

Rafael Nadal has ended an up-and-down 2022 with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie at the United Cup mixed teams tournament on Saturday. Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to take his career Grand Slam si ngles total to a leading 22. But foot, rib and abdomen injuries meant he played only four events after Wimbledon in July. Norrie's win gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Spain. Norrie failed to win a set in his four previous matches against Nadal. "It was pretty crazy. I was thinking I'd never won a set before, so I wanted to come out and firstly do that," Norrie said. "It was a super physical match and I enjoyed it. It's a great way to end 2022 for me." In other matches, Top-ranked Iga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1 6-3 at Brisbane. "First matches of the season are always kind of rusty, so I'm happy that in the important moments I was really composed," Swiatek said. At Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium were leve

Novak Djokovic to start 2023 in Adelaide ahead of Australian Open

Novak Djokovic will open his 2023 campaign in Adelaide as he prepares for a shot at a 10th Australian Open crown a year after having his visa revoked on the eve of his title defense. The 21-time major winner has been granted a visa by the Australian government and has been listed to play at the Adelaide International, which starts Jan. 1. Serbia isn't contesting the inaugural United Cup team competition, leaving Djokovic free to play regular warmup tournaments head of the Jan. 16-29 Australian Open. He'll be joined in the men's draw at Adelaide by Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada and Andy Murray. Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka will headline the women's draw. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles last month confirmed Djokovic had been granted a visa to compete in Australia in January. The 35-year-old Serbian had been facing a possible three-year ban after being deported last January over his stance against COVID-19 vaccination. Djokovic has won

Nick Bollettieri, man who coached Agassi, Courier, Sharapova, passes away

In 2014 Bollettieri was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2015, he became the first white man to be inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame

Canada wins maiden Davis Cup title, ousts Australia 2-0 in final

Felix Auger-Aliassime gave Canada an invincible 2-0 lead against Australia in Malaga on Sunday, advancing his country to its first Davis Cup Finals victory by defeating Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4

Manika Batra first Indian woman to reach ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup semifinals

World number 44 Manika beat Chen 4-3 (6-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9) in the women's singles quarterfinals

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz becomes youngest year-end ATP world number 1

Alcaraz soared from number 32 to the top of this sport's mountain on September 12, which is also the biggest jump to number one in 50 editions

New dad Rafael Nadal doesn't care about playing for the No. 1 rank

Rafael Nadal is a different man. He's losing sleep over his newborn baby and not so much the No. 1 ranking. Even with all of his absences, Nadal has a shot at finishing the season as the world No. 1. He has racked up 5,820 points, trailing only the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who has 6,650. But Nadal made clear on Tuesday what his priorities were when he was peppered with questions about fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot. There will be no fight. Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times, tied with Roger Federer, and trailing only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6). I don't fight to be No. 1, Nadal said at a Paris Masters news conference. Something that I said since long time ago: I will not fight anymore to be No. 1. I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career that I have been very, very happy and proud about. But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don't fight to be No. 1. For now, he wants to be a No. 1 dad. He's

It's a dream come true: Carlos Alcaraz after winning World No 1 trophy

The tennis sensation expressed his happiness to have won the trophy and stated that it means a lot to him and added that it's like a dream come true for him