Professional Tennis
Defending champion Rafael Nadal made his way into the Rio Open quarterfinals on Thursday, moving past fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 7-5. Nadal notched the only break of the opening set and won 81 percent of his first serve points to take it 6-3. The second set saw both players struggle on serve with five…
France’s Jeremy Chardy moved into the Delray Beach Open quarterfinals on Thursday, getting past Long Island’s Noah Rubin 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 10 minutes. Chardy fell down a break early and was one point away from going down 0-3 and a double-break in the opening set, but the fifth-seeded Frenchman dug in and…
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was bounced out in the first round at the Rio Open on Wednesday, as Brazilian wild card Thiago Monteiro upset Tsonga, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Monteiro, who is ranked 338th in the world and was making his ATP World Tour debut in this match, secured the only break in the third set to…
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic defeated top-seeded Simona Halep at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday, knocking off the defending champion 7-6(2), 6-2 to move into the quarterfinals. “Honestly, I’m delighted,” said Ivanovic afterwards. “It was a great battle in the first set, and she’s such a great player and I really…
Rafael Nadal cruised past fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the Rio Open second round. After rolling in the opening set, the top-seed and 2014 champion broke Carreno Busta for a 2-1 lead in the second set. That break started a trend of five straight breaks between both players, but…
Long Island’s Noah Rubin continued his impressive start to 2016, saving three match points to hold off big-serving Australian Sam Groth 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6) on Tuesday and reach the Delray Beach Open second round. After the two traded sets through the first two, Rubin fought off match points at 4-5 and 5-6 in the third…
Americans Coco Vandeweghe and Madison Brengle won their respective first round matchups on Monday to advance to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships second round. Vandeweghe pulled the day’s biggest upset with a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova. In a matchup between two big hitters, it was Vandeweghe who held her nerve…
American Venus Williams won the 49th title of her career on Sunday, defeating Japan’s Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2 to win the Taiwan Open championship. “I’ve had so much success in Asia,” said Williams after the match. “I feel like it’s very lucky to play here. My opponent was incredible today. It’s fun to win a final…
Kei Nishikori made history on Valentine’s Day in Memphis by defeating Taylor Fritz to win his fourth consecutive Memphis Open championship title. Jimmy Connors is the only other player to have won a Memphis title four times, but Connors’ titles were not consecutive. “I had a slow start, but after that I served really well…
Rafael Nadal felt right at home playing once again on the Buenos Aires clay on Thursday. In a rematch of last year’s Argentina Open final, top-seed Nadal moved past Argentinean Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4 to reach the tournament’s quarterfinals. Despite Nadal dropping serve three times, but displayed an excellent return game, breaking Monaco five times…