Tennis

British number one Dan Evans will face Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters after easing past Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets. Evans, who sealed his first tour-level win on clay in four years on Tuesday, beat the Polish 13th seed 6-4 6-1. Djokovic beat Italian teenager Jannik Sinner 6-4 6-2 in what was the world number one's first match since winning the Australian Open in February. "It was a very good encounter," said the Serb, 33. "I thought

Fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece recorded a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aslan Karatsev of Russia on Tuesday in their second-round match at the Rolex Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco. Tsitsipas smashed four aces en route to dispatching Karatsev in one hour, 24 minutes. He advanced to the third round of the tournament for the second straight edition. “I’m putting (in) hours on the court, trying to become consistent (and) get close to the legends of our sport,” Tsitsipas said. “I am working every

Mixed doubles will return for the 2021 French Open after being cancelled last year because of Covid-19 restrictions. The draw will feature 16 pairs, rather than the usual 32, when the tournament begins in May. Latisha Chan of Taiwan and Croatia's Ivan Dodig are the two-time defending champions on the Roland Garros clay. The French Open will run from 30 May to 13 June after being pushed back by a week in the hope that more spectators will be able to attend. Source:

Top-seeded Daniel Evans of England fell in three sets to Italian Lorenzo Musetti on the clay courts of the Sardegna Open on Thursday in Cagliari, Italy. Musetti won 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (8). Australian and No. 6 seed John Millman was also upset, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Laslo Djere of Serbia. Third-seeded Lorenzo Sonego of Italy defeated Gilles Simon of France in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Also, Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann defeated Marco Cecchinato of Italy 7-5, 6-1. Andalucia Open Third-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway

MADRID: Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal, has confirmed he will work with the 20-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Auger-Aliassime is 22nd in the ATP world rankings and one of the rising stars of men's tennis. "When the offer reached me, I told him to come to the Academy (the Rafa Nadal Academy) for 10 days so that he could see if what I could offer him may or may not suit him," Toni Nadal told Marca on Thursday, adding

The French Open has been postponed by a week in the hope that more spectators will be permitted to attend. The Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros will now run from 30 May to 13 June with qualifying the week before. France is in a third nationwide lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus cases, which president Emmanuel Macron previously said he expected to end in mid-May. The French Tennis Federation (FFT) said postponing was the "best solution". "I am delighted that the discussions

Toni Nadal, the uncle and former coach of 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, has joined the coaching team of Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Nadal, widely known as 'Uncle Toni', coached his nephew from childhood and through his adult career until he stood down in 2017. He will now join the team of highly-rated Auger-Aliassime, 20, starting at next week's Monte Carlo Masters. "I never considered before to work for someone else," Nadal, 60, said. Nadal left his nephew's team after helping him to

Sloane Stephens, looking to shake off a poor start to the season, notched her biggest victory of 2021 on Wednesday, upsetting eighth-seeded Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Volvo Car Open at Charleston, S.C. Stephens lost in the first round of each of her first four events of the year, including the Australian Open, before falling in the second round at the recent Miami Open. On Tuesday, she defeated China’s Xinyu Wang in straight sets before winning an all-United

Heather Watson will lead Great Britain squad for their Billie Jean King Cup play-off tie against Mexico. British number one Johanna Konta was not available for selection as she continues to manage a longstanding knee problem. Heather Watson is the highest-ranked player in the squad, which also includes Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Jodie Burrage and Katie Boulter. The tie will take place behind closed doors in Roehampton on 16-17 April. With the WTA season about to enter the clay swing, Konta did not

American teenage prodigy Coco Gauff says she is spending less time on social media now as she focuses on charting her own course to success in tennis. Gauff has been in the spotlight ever since her astounding run as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019, where she knocked out her idol and five-time champion Venus Williams after becoming the youngest player in the professional era to survive the qualifying draw. Her dream run at the grass court Grand Slam continued until the fourth

Britain's Beth Potter ran the second-fastest road 5km ever by a female athlete at a race in the Lancashire village of Barrowford. Scottish runner Potter, 29, who competed at the 2016 Olympics, clocked a time of 14 minutes 41 seconds on Saturday. Potter's time may also eventually be classified as a world record. Only Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei has ever run faster - recording 14:32 during a 10km race in Prague in 2017. However, 5km road racing has only been recognised as an official

The No. 1-ranked Ash Barty won her second successive Miami title. Ash Barty pushed a forehand winner into the open court as her opponent, Bianca Andreescu, laid on her back in the far corner, injured yet again. With that, the Miami Open final was decided. Andreescu limped through 11 more points before she retired, crying, shaking her head and trailing 6-3, 4-0. The No. 1-ranked Barty won her second successive Miami title Saturday, and the Australian was already in control of the match

MIAMI: Italian teen Jannik Sinner advanced to the Miami Open final on Friday, rallying past Spanish seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the biggest championship match of his young career. Sinner, who reached last year's French Open quarter-finals, defeated Bautista 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 28 minutes to become only the fourth teen to reach the men's final in the 36-year history of the ATP Masters 1000 hardcourt event. The 19-year-old Italian, playing only his third Masters 1000, joined 1990

Jack Draper’s ATP main-draw debut at the Miami Open ended bitterly after he collapsed with a heat-related illness and was forced to retire from his first-round match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Draper, the 2018 Wimbledon boys’ runner-up and one of the UK’s best young prospects, was granted a wildcard into the tournament due to his status as a promising client of the sports agency IMG, which runs the event. During the time he did spend on court the world No 316 handled himself

World number three Simona Halep withdrew from the WTA and ATP Miami Open on Saturday because of a right shoulder injury, sending Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova into the round of 16. The 29-year-old Romanian isn't set to play again until next month's Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup. "I'm very sorry I have to pull out of singles and doubles at the Miami Open, but my injury doesn't let me play here as expected," Halep said in a statement. "I'm sad that I can't

LONDON: World number three Simona Halep said she is more interested in silverware than her ranking and will focus on the Grand Slams and the Olympics as she looks to add to her trophy cabinet this year after a chaotic 2020 rattled by COVID-19. The 29-year-old Romanian is among a women's field stocked with top talent at the Miami Open, Halep's first tournament in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, after she dropped out of the U.S. Open in August

LONDON: Stefanos Tsitsipas is keeping expectations low heading into the Miami Open but said the absence of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the tournament gives players like him a better chance for success. The 22-year-old Greek, who is ranked fifth, reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month and the final of the Mexican Open on Saturday, in a solid start to what he hopes will be his breakthrough year. "It is an opportunity, I won't lie," he told

A great athlete who has represented our country has left us,” the Salvadoran Surf Federation said in a post paying tribute to Katherine Diaz on social media. “See you soon, great warrior. El Salvador is in mourning.” The 22 year-old had entered the water to start a training session on Friday near her home in El Tunco when she was struck. Emergency services tried to revive her on the beach, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Spanish newspaper AS reported that a sudden change

Wimbledon’s famous queue will not operate for this summer’s Championships, the All England Club has confirmed. The snake of people and tents in Wimbledon Park has become one of the defining sights of the event as tennis fans camp out overnight to secure access to the show courts. Coronavirus restrictions mean tickets will be distributed differently this year, and there will also be no reselling of tickets within the grounds. Tournament organisers are working on the basis a reduced number of fans will

LONDON: Rafa Nadal will skip the Miami Open that begins later this month in a bid to recover from a back injury in time for the clay court swing, the Spaniard said on Tuesday. Nadal had not played since his quarter-final exit at the Australian Open last month and also skipped the ATP 500 event in Dubai. The 34-year-old has since dropped down one place in the rankings to third after Russian Daniil Medvedev leapfrogged him. "Sad to announce that I won't be