11:04 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — With calls urging the hierarchy of the Australian Open to change the timing of the event to allow players a longer offseason gaining momentum, tournament director Craig Tiley described the claims as “ridiculous” and “bizarre.” Tiley was responding to an Australian media report which suggested the first
Tennis
5:16 AM ET Associated Press AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Top-seeded American Coco Gauff has capped a commanding start to the new season Sunday by beating Spanish qualifier Viktoria Masarova 6-1, 6-1 in the final of the ASB Classic. Gauff claimed her third WTA Tour title but her first in years on hard courts, boosting her
7:12 AM ET Associated Press ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic showed no signs of an injury that might derail his Australian Open campaign when he beat unseeded American Sebastian Korda 6-7 (8), 7-6 (3), 6-4 Sunday to win the Adelaide International. Djokovic worried Open organizers when he said after his semifinal in Adelaide against Daniil
11:51 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has confirmed she will not play at the Australian Open, adding her name to a growing list of notable withdrawals. Organizers confirmed in a tweet on Sunday that Japan’s Osaka, the Open champion in 2019 and 2021, will not be playing in Melbourne.
1:02 AM ET Associated Press ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to advance to the Adelaide International final despite sustaining a leg injury during the match. In the seventh game of the first set, Djokovic caught his left foot when sliding for a ball and immediately began stretching out
2:33 AM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Venus Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open for an undisclosed injury she suffered while playing in a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, this week. A seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, Williams, 42, received a wild-card entry into the Australian Open last month to compete in what
1:16 AM ET Associated Press AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Top-seeded Coco Gauff advanced to the final of the ASB Classic by beating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-0, 6-2 on Saturday. The American hasn’t yet dropped a set at the Auckland hardcourt tournament and needed a little more than an hour to defeat seventh-seeded Kovinic to
4:47 PM ET Associated Press Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Australian Open on Friday because of an injured right leg. The 19-year-old from Spain wrote on social media that he got hurt “through a chance, unnatural movement in training.” The year’s first Grand Slam tournament begins Jan. 16 at Melbourne Park. The draw
7:48 AM ET ESPN News Services ADELAIDE, Australia — Novak Djokovic beat Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 at the Adelaide International on Friday to set up a semifinal with Daniil Medvedev. The combined ATP-WTA event is a warmup for this year’s Australian Open, which the top-seeded Djokovic missed last year after being barred from the country
12:50 AM ET Associated Press Jessica Pegula‘s rout of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the United Cup in Sydney on Friday has placed the United States in a dominant position to progress to the final of the mixed teams event. The American defeated Swiatek 6-2, 6-2, leaving the world’s top-ranked woman sobbing afterward as