9:38 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-ranked Ash Barty built a big lead in her quarterfinal match at the Australian Open before her opponent took an injury timeout and left the court. More than an hour later, it was Barty heading abruptly out the exit. She was upset Wednesday by Karolina Muchova 1-6,
Tennis
11:31 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Jessica Pegula surprised even her coaches with her quarterfinal run. It was the 2005 Eddie Herr International Junior Championship and the 12-and-under field included Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Ajla Tomljanovic and Eugenie Bouchard. Pegula hadn’t played in many tournaments, so no one knew how she would handle the pressure competing
10:55 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com When Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka met at the 2018 US Open final, Arthur Ashe Stadium descended into chaos. Williams was given three highly controversial code violations — with the last resulting in a game penalty to give Osaka a 5-3 lead in the second set. The crowd booed throughout
10:08 PM ET ESPN News Services MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka advanced Tuesday to a potential semifinal showdown against Serena Williams at the Australian Open. Osaka earned her 19th victory in a row by overpowering Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 6-2, and will next meet the winner of the quarterfinal match Tuesday night between Williams and No.
1:12 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia — The grimace on Novak Djokovic‘s face after slipping on the white “MELBOURNE” lettering behind the baseline at Rod Laver Arena was enough to suggest the world No. 1’s chances of defending his Australian Open title had just taken a serious hit. In the third round at Melbourne Park on
12:00 PM ET When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady walloped the Kansas City Chiefs to earn Brady his seventh Super Bowl ring, it prompted a series of “Is Brady the GOAT of all GOATs?” conversations. Most of those greatest-of-all-time discussions ended, or should have, upon remembrance that Serena Williams exists. Like Brady, Williams
9:32 PM ET Associated Press Jessica Pegula has reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open by earning her first victory over an opponent ranked in the Top 10. The 61st-ranked American, whose parents own Buffalo’s NFL and NHL franchises, beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod
7:56 PM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com Upon advancing to her first major fourth round on Saturday, Jessica Pegula grabbed the blue marker to write on the on-court camera lens, as is customary for winners at the Australian Open. She could have written anything. Before saying hi to her sister, she wrote: “Let’s go Jen Brady!” 🇺🇸
5:00 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com As a smiling Serena Williams made her way to the net after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three hard-fought sets Sunday in the fourth round of the 2021 Australian Open, 18-time major champion Chris Evert seemed in awe over what she had just seen. “Is this the next level of women’s
9:17 PM ET Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia — So good for so long lately, Naomi Osaka was just one point from the end of her lengthy winning streak, one point from leaving the Australian Open with a loss to Garbine Muguruza. Bleak as things looked for her late in a big-hitting matchup of Grand Slam