Tennis

1:11 PM ET Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Top-ranked Novak Djokovic eased into the quarterfinals at the Dubai Championships by beating Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday. Djokovic extended his winning streak to 19 matches in tidy fashion a day after being pushed to a third-set tiebreaker by 130th-ranked Tomas Machac. The 35-year-old

11:16 PM ET Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Top-seeded Magda Linette was eliminated from the ATX Open in the first round with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 loss to 88th-ranked Varvara Gracheva on Tuesday. Linette, ranked a career-high 21st this week, has lost three of her past five matches. That follows a five-match winning streak that

9:16 PM ET Associated Press SANTIAGO, Chile — Former No. 3-ranked and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem has continued to struggle on clay courts in South America as he works his way back from right wrist and abdominal injuries. Thiem, a 29-year-old Austrian, lost to Cristian Garin on Tuesday in the first round of

12:52 PM ET ESPN News Services Rafael Nadal pulled out of upcoming hard-court tournaments in Indian Wells, California, and Miami because of the left hip flexor injury that has sidelined him since the Australian Open. The 22-time Grand Slam champion announced Tuesday on Twitter that he would not be competing in the two U.S. events.

10:55 PM ET Associated Press Andrey Rublev began his Dubai Championships title defense by spoiling Filip Krajinovic‘s birthday when he won 7-5, 6-2 on Monday. Krajinovic, who turned 31, raced 5-2 ahead. The second-seeded Rublev then reeled off 11 of the next 13 games. Rublev next faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat Malek Jaziri in

7:15 PM ET Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas — Women’s professional tennis made its WTA tournament debut in the capital of Texas on Monday, and Katie Volynets beat Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in an all-American matchup to reach the second round of the ATX Open. The 21-year-old Volynets, ranked a career-high 92nd this week, was

11:33 AM ET ESPN News Services Novak Djokovic is atop the men’s tennis rankings for the 378th week, breaking Steffi Graf’s record for most weeks as world No. 1. “It’s surreal to be that many weeks No. 1, to match Graf — one of the all-time greats,” Djokovic said Sunday. “Just being amongst these legendary

8:01 PM ET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — Cameron Norrie waited a week for his revenge against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, rallying from a set and 3-0 down to beat the Spanish teenager in the Rio Open final on Sunday for his first title of the year. Second-seeded Norrie won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to win

10:44 PM ET M.A. VoepelESPN.com Close M.A. Voepel covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996. Tennis superstar Serena Williams received the Jackie Robinson Sports Award, and Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was recognized at Saturday’s NAACP

6:53 PM ET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — Second-seeded Cameron Norrie advanced to the final of the Rio Open after beating Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) on Saturday. Norrie’s third final of the year on Sunday will be against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Nicolas Jarry. Norrie lost to Alcaraz in the

1:28 PM ET Associated Press DOHA, Qatar — Daniil Medvedev won the Qatar Open on debut when he defeated Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4 in a final matchup of former No. 1s on Saturday. Medvedev converted fast starts in each set. He reached 4-1 in the first and 3-1 in the second. Murray fought but was

Feb 25, 2023 Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek was upset by Barbora Krejcikova 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday. Krejcikova closed the tournament by beating the top three players in the WTA rankings: No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in

5:00 PM ET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — A rematch is in sight for Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie in the Rio Open final. Both advanced to the semifinals of the clay-court tournament on Friday and could repeat last weekend’s Argentina Open decider, which the Spaniard won. Defending Rio Open champion Alcaraz beat Dusan

2:14 PM ET Associated Press DOHA, Qatar — Andy Murray saved five match points to beat Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (6) on Friday and advance to the final of the Qatar Open. The 35-year-old Murray reached his first ATP Tour final since June and will face former No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. “He’s a legend,”

11:58 AM ET Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek stayed undefeated against Coco Gauff, beating the American teenager 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final at the Dubai Championships on Friday. The three-time Grand Slam champion improved to 6-0 against the 18-year-old Gauff, and each victory has been in straight sets. The

8:53 PM ET Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was far from his best against veteran Fabio Fognini but managed to advance to the Rio Open quarterfinals on Thursday. Alcaraz, the tournament’s top seed, overcame Fognini 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours, 47 minutes. Alcaraz’s next opponent will be Dusan

5:31 PM ET Associated Press DOHA, Qatar — Andy Murray reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open by beating French qualifier Alexandre Muller 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. The 35-year-old Murray will next face Jiri Lehecka after the Czech player upset top-seeded Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Murray, a three-time Grand Slam

11:04 PM ET Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Saudi Arabia is entering a female team for the first time at an International Tennis Federation tournament — this week’s Asia/Oceania pre-qualifying event for the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors in Sri Lanka. Saudi Arabia and Brunei are making their Billie Jean King Cup Juniors debuts