Tennis

Britain's Andy Murray defeated American lucky loser Noah Rubin in the Winston-Salem Open first round after scheduled opponent Nick Kyrgios withdrew. Former world number one Murray, 34, beat Rubin 6-2 6-0 and clinched victory by winning 10 successive games. The three-time Grand Slam champion was due to face Australia's Kyrgios, who pulled out because of a knee injury. Murray, who is set to compete at the US Open from 30 August, will face American Frances Tiafoe next in North Carolina. "I didn't know

World number one Ashleigh Barty warmed up for the US Open by clinching the Cincinnati Open with a straight-set win over Jil Teichmann in the final. Barty, 25, produced a polished performance to beat the 24-year-old Swiss wildcard 6-3 6-1. The Australian managed eight aces and 28 winners as she cruised to another commanding victory. Alexander Zverev took the men's title with an impressive 6-2 6-3 win over Andrey Rublev. It is a fifth title of the season for Barty, who is favourite

CNA Britain's Andy Murray has been handed a wildcard for next week's Winston-Salem Open, the final tournament before the start of the U.S. Open Grand Slam, organisers said. Murray, who lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday, was added to the main draw of the U.S. Open following the withdrawal of Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka. The three-time Grand Slam champion, who had hip surgeries in 2018 and 2019, has played only a handful

THE HINDU Naomi Osaka has no regrets over her stunning third-round loss on August 19 at the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters to Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann. The four-time Grand Slam champion went down 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to the world number 76 and admitted after the upset that her Tokyo Olympic third-round loss was on her mind. “I was doing all I was supposed to do,” the Japanese world number two said. “In the second and third sets I was too defensive. “I

Naomi Osaka says she felt "ungrateful" at points during the last year for being unable to appreciate her success. The world number two was speaking after beating American teenager Coco Gauff at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday. She also discussed her reasons for withdrawing from the French Open in May, having said on the eve of that tournament that speaking to the media was damaging her mental health. "I wonder what affected me... made me not want to do media?" she said. "I'm wondering if

Naomi Osaka broke down in tears before resuming her first news conference since the controversy over refusing to speak to media at the French Open. Osaka became emotional shortly after being asked about "dealing with media in this format" - and the Cincinnati Masters video call was briefly halted. Earlier, the Japanese star, 23, said she was "proud" of the stand she took in Paris. "It was something that needed to be done," she said. At May's French Open, four-time Grand Slam winner

The 40-year-old Swiss, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, had two knee operations last year. In a video post on Instagram, Federer said he hoped the surgery would give him "a glimmer of hope" to return to action. He was knocked out in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in July and then missed the Tokyo Olympics. "I'll be on crutches for many weeks, and also out of the game for many months," Federer, who turned 40 a week ago, said on Sunday evening. "It's going

Venus and Serena Williams as well fellow American Sofia Kenin on Tuesday withdrew from the upcoming Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, dimming the star power at the U.S. Open tune-up event. "Unfortunately, I will not be playing in the Western & Southern Open next week as I am still in recovery from my leg injury at Wimbledon," two-time champion Serena said in a tournament press release. "I will miss all of my fans in Cincinnati whom I look forward to seeing every

TOKYO: Daniil Medvedev struggled with the heat in Tokyo on Wednesday (Jul 28) before reaching the Olympic quarter-finals, staying on course for a heavyweight clash with Novak Djokovic. Second seed Medvedev defeated Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a last-eight meeting with Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain at Ariake Tennis Park. Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Medvedev, who had urged organisers to delay start times after his opening match, again found the temperatures testing as the extreme weather policy once more

Britain's two-time defending champion Andy Murray has withdrawn from the men's singles at the Tokyo Olympics with a minor thigh strain. The Scot, who won his opening men's double match with Joe Salisbury on Saturday, had been due to face Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime on day two. The 34-year-old will still compete in the doubles but was advised not to compete in both events in Japan. He has been replaced in the singles draw by Australian Max Purcell. "I am really disappointed at having

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan's Naomi Osaka will return to the spotlight on Sunday, kicking off her Olympic campaign as a home crowd favourite after taking a mental health break two months ago. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and world number two, has not played a competitive match since pulling out of the French Open in May amid controversy https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/osaka-withdraws-french-open-following-row-over-media-boycott-2021-05-31 over her decision to skip all press conferences at the tournament in an effort to protect her mental well-being. But with all of her

TOKYO: World No 1 Novak Djokovic's road to the Golden Slam is not an easy one, with possible matches against Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev in his path at the Tokyo Olympics. Djokovic, representing Serbia, has won the season's first three grand slams and could become the first male player ever to win the Golden Slam if he first captures gold in Tokyo. Then all that's left is winning the US Open in August. Steffi Graf is the only player to ever do

LONDON: Naomi Osaka will defend her title at the US Open, organisers said on Wednesday (Jul 21), after she withdrew from this year's French Open and Wimbledon on mental health grounds. Japan's Osaka stunned the tennis world when she quit the claycourt major in Paris in May following her first-round match after being fined and threatened with disqualification when she refused to attend mandatory post-match press conferences. The world number two, who said she had social anxiety, also skipped Wimbledon but is scheduled

Italy's Stefano Travaglia pulled off an upset Monday as the Plava Laguna Croatia Open began in Umag, beating sixth-seeded Jaume Munar of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (1). Travaglia won 73 percent of his first-serve points and converted four of his seven break-point opportunities. Munar won just 58 percent on his first serve and went 2-for-7 on break-point chances. In other first-round matches, Radu Albot of Moldova rallied past Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune of Denmark 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 thanks to a strong performance on return

WASHINGTON: American teen tennis star Coco Gauff will miss the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, she announced on Sunday (Jul 18). Gauff, coming off a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon, tweeted her sadness at missing out on "a dream come true" at age 17. "I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won't be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo," Gauff tweeted. "It has always been a dream

PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic said on Thursday (Jul 15) he will play at the Tokyo Olympics, paving the way for the first Golden Grand Slam by a male player. "I booked my flight for Tokyo and will proudly be joining #TeamSerbia for the Olympics," tweeted Djokovic. The Serb has already won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles this year and needs just Olympic gold and the US Open to become the first man to sweep the Golden Grand Slam.

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece needed a first-set tiebreak but then handled business against Germany's Dominik Koepfer, winning 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Hamburg European Open in Germany. It marked Tsitsipas' first match since being upset in the first round at Wimbledon by American Frances Tiafoe. He won 86 percent (30 of 35) of his first-serve points en route to securing his tour-best 40th win of the season. Tsitsipas advanced to the quarterfinals to face Serbian No. 6 seed Filip

LONDON: Canada's Bianca Andreescu has decided not to compete at the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the former US Open champion said on Monday (Jul 12). Andreescu is the latest big-name player to opt out of the Jul 23-Aug 8 Games. Rafa Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams and Simona Halep have already announced their decisions to skip the pandemic-delayed Olympics. "I have been dreaming of representing Canada at the Olympics since I was a little girl," world

REUTERS World number one Novak Djokovic beat Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4 6-3 on Sunday to win his sixth title at Wimbledon. His third straight triumph at the All England Club also earned the Serbian a 20th Grand Slam title, equalling the men's record haul held by Switzerland's Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal of Spain. "It means none of us three will stop," Djokovic said during the presentation ceremony when asked what the milestone meant to him. "I have to

Nick Kyrgios will not represent Australia at this year's Olympics in Tokyo because he does not want to compete if there are no fans in the stands, he said on Thursday (Jul 8). Earlier in the day, Olympic organisers said the Games would take place without spectators in host city Tokyo as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will continue throughout the event which starts on July 23. "It has been my dream to