Tennis Page 54 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Zhizhen Zhang makes history at Shanghai Masters
Zhizhen Zhang became the first Chinese player to reach the third round of the Shanghai Masters with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win Friday against No. 28 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina....

Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek to clash in Beijing semifinals
No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 3 Coco Gauff will meet in the semifinals of the China Open in Beijing....

Diego Schwartzman, young Frenchmen win in Shanghai
Former World No. 8 Diego Schwartzman, who has struggled mightily this season, topped Luca Van Assche of France 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday in opening-round play at the Shanghai Masters....

Coco Gauff extends win streak to 15 in Beijing
No. 3 seed Coco Gauff defeated No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals at the China Open in Beijing....

Marc Polmans apologizes for hitting chair umpire with ball
Marc Polmans apologized for hitting a tennis ball into the face of the chair umpire, leading to his disqualification during final-round qualifying at the Shanghai Masters....

It shouldn't be this funny to see a tennis player mistakenly hit an umpire in the face. But it is
I’m told tennis is up there with golf on the list of leisure activities that aren’t as calming as they’re intended to be. While any miscue during a round of 18 is technically an unforced error, they’re documented in tennis, and there is a cumulative effect as the slight screwups can build to a momen...

ATP roundup: Jannik Sinner captures Beijing crown
No. 6 seed Jannik Sinner finally broke through for a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) victory against Daniil Medvedev to capture the China Open title on Wednesday in Beijing....

Jelena Ostapenko jolts Jessica Pegula in Beijing
Jelena Ostapenko recorded a 6-4, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula on Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals at the China Open in Beijing....

Novak Djokovic is tennis' unquestioned GOAT. Is there anyone who could catch up to him?
It isn’t a question as to who the male tennis GOAT is anymore. In recent years Novak Djokovic’s almost-robotic dominance as he continues to age has pushed him ahead of his contemporaries and predecessors. One of Djokovic’s greatest challengers to the crown conceded the throne recently when Rafael Na...

Anti-fossil fuel protestors disrupt Coco Gauff U.S. Open semifinal
There were some folks in the stands during Coco Gauff and Karolína Muchovás semifinal showdown at the U.S. Open who were quite concerned about climate change....

Ben Shelton's moment has arrived
I went to the US Open last night. First time inside Arthur Ashe Stadium and on the grounds in Flushing. It was also my first professional tennis event since attending the semifinals of the 2003 Legg Mason Tennis Classic and watching Andre Agassi lose in a third-set tiebreaker. The US Open dangles be...

Coco Gauff is proof that tennis is wack without Black women
They used to not want Althea Gibson’s “kind” around. Now we don’t know where tennis would be without them. That’s how you ace an opportunity....

After 30 years (!!), it is finally time for Venus Williams to call it a career
Unlike at this time last year, the central figure of the US Open isn’t a Williams sister. Serena’s matches were all appointment television, maybe because of the known stakes, being one of tennis’ all-time great’s last event. And Flushing lost its luster after Serena’s third-round exit, until the sta...

Maria Sakkari didn’t complain about the smell of weed at the U.S. Open, she simply noted its presence
This is how marijuana gets a bad rap. A tennis player says she could smell weed during her match, and goes out of her way to say it didn’t affect her whatsoever, yet media outlets still take it out of context. During a changeover, Maria Sakkari informed the chair official that she detected a hint of...

History has its eyes on Carlos Alcaraz and his early quest to become tennis’ GOAT
Tennis is undergoing its Steph Curry moment. The way Carlos Alcaraz controls the country club sport through his racket is unlike anything we’ve seen before. Nearly a decade after Curry’s rise to superstardom, every high school sophomore thinks swishing a 40-footer is routine. It’s not, and every air...

Despite Wimbledon exit, Chris Eubanks proclaimed himself as an irreplaceable part of the American tennis scene
What a rollercoaster sport can be sometimes. In the first set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev, little hope existed for Chris Eubanks to overcome the world’s No. 3-ranked player. Eubanks’ serve and volley game were on point, but while Medvedev was serving, the American upstart l...

Wimbledon brings Venus back showing the Williams sisters still own tennis
Athletic greatness is proven by performance. Athletic immorality is defined by how debilitated your sport becomes when you aren’t around. Tennis doesn’t know what to do without the Williams sisters and it’s why Wimbledon keeps bringing them back. ...

Alcaraz’s cramps robbed us of satisfying conclusion to dream match against Djokovic
Well, that escalated quickly. It was nearly even in one of the biggest matches tennis has had in decades with a clash of the generations between old-standard Novak Djokovic and rising star Carlos Alcaraz. Then that damn charley horse in Alcaraz’s right leg happened and Djokovic won 10 of the next 11...

The Garbiñe Muguruz tennis selfie-turned-seduction story is an outlier
Attractive people can get away with things non-thirst-inducing people cannot, and as fucked up as it is to overtly tell anyone that they’re not pretty enough to do something, it’s true. Whether that’s cutting in line, waiting for drinks, wearing crop tops, or turning a selfie with a Wimbledon winner...

Sports serving as a weekly reminder that racism is thriving
It’s easy to disregard and move past Sloane Stephens’ comments about the worsening racial abuse that’s directed her way on social media. Sports and racism go hand-in-hand, with a new story of prejudice seemingly weekly. The world’s never short on assholes, and this is basically a reminder to not be ...