12:25 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com NEW YORK — Belinda Bencic has already lived her biggest dream. One month after winning Olympic gold in Tokyo, the 24-year-old was frank when she said she didn’t think anything else could ever compete with her podium-topping performance. “For me, it’s forever, and for me, it’s probably going to be
Tennis
4:58 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — For half an hour and a full set at the start, then one particularly compelling and competitive game later, Novak Djokovic‘s opponent in the US Open’s fourth round, Jenson Brooksby, gave him fits and created a raucous atmosphere under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. That
4:45 PM ET NEW YORK — Leylah Fernandez was down a set and a break — 4-6, 2-4 — against 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber on Sunday, and the scorecard suggested that the teenager’s dream run was probably going to end soon. Still, Fernandez’s eyes glinted. She served with abandon, faster and more precise.
6:45 AM ET Golfer Rory McIlroy has backed Naomi Osaka’s decision to take a break from tennis following the Japanese world No. 3’s elimination from the U.S. Open last week, saying that it was important that athletes did not let results define them. A tearful Osaka told reporters that she would be taking some time
7:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com NEW YORK — Two days after making his auspicious introduction to tennis fans, Carlos Alcaraz took the court in front of a capacity crowd of more than 8,000 in Grandstand stadium for his fourth-round match at the US Open on Sunday. Even with the looming threat of rain, there was
4:00 PM ET ESPN staff One week into the US Open, there has been no shortage of excitement, upsets, and yes, drama. No. 1 Ash Barty was stunned in the third round by American Shelby Rogers on Saturday night. A day earlier, Naomi Osaka lost in third round to Leylah Fernandez. Elsewhere in the tournament,
8:00 AM ET NEW YORK — While all eyes have been on Novak Djokovic and his quest for the Calendar Slam, three teens have been creating their own storylines at this year’s US Open. It has been an impressive stretch — Carlos Alcaraz, 18, became the youngest man to beat a top-three player at the
12:30 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com NEW YORK — There were 22 American women in the draw at the start of the US Open. Among them were rising stars, teen phenoms and even a former champion. But on Saturday night, just one countrywoman remained, and she frankly was none of those things. After defeating world No.
5:44 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic did not seek to keep his thoughts to himself on court Saturday, the way he mostly did through his first two US Open matches. Instead, he let it all out, slapping his chest or sneering with a fist raised to celebrate success, pointing to his
9:00 AM ET NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka did not want to be cut off. She did not want to be rescued. Yes, she was crying in her US Open postmatch news conference, crying as she struggled to find the right words so she could share what was on her mind, but each time the
11:51 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com NEW YORK — After losing in the third round at the US Open on Friday night, a tearful Naomi Osaka told the media she wasn’t sure when she will next play a competitive tennis match and will be taking an indefinite break from the sport. In a news conference following
4:32 PM ET ESPN News Services No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev continued an easy first week to reach the fourth round at the US Open, routing Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4, 6-3 on Friday in New York. The 2019 runner-up at Flushing Meadows has lost only 22 games in his three matches thus far. Medvedev improved
9:10 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Novak Djokovic missed an overhead along the way to getting broken for the only time Thursday night and stared at a man in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands who made noise during the point. After breaking right back in the next game of his second-round victory
5:19 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — About the only problems No. 1 seed Ash Barty and other top women’s players encountered Thursday afternoon at the US Open came in the delays trying to get to Flushing Meadows in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida’s remnants blowing through the Northeast a night earlier. Barty,
8:08 AM ET NEW YORK — On Day 1 of the US Open, the first time in two years fans were allowed into the stands at Flushing Meadows, 53,783 people walked through the gates. Some were masked, some were unmasked, but all attending were supposed to have had at least one dose of the COVID-19
11:38 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com NEW YORK — Coco Gauff became the envy of all of her friends when Sloane Stephens came to her 10th birthday party at a water park. They couldn’t believe a professional tennis player was there with them. At the time, Gauff was training with Stephens’ childhood coach and the two
8:51 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Three years ago, a reporter asked Sloane Stephens to point out a younger tennis player most fans might not have heard of yet, someone she thought could become a household name some day. Stephens paused to ponder, but not for long, before responding: Coco Gauff, then
4:32 PM ET Associated Press Ash Barty, the No. 1 seed on the women’s side of the U.S. Open, held off 2010 runner-up Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 7-6 (7). Barty won Wimbledon for her second major title and now is back in New York after remaining in Australia last year when the event was played with