4:45 PM ET Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. — On Richmond’s Monument Avenue, the collection of towering statues honoring Confederate veterans was interrupted by one noticeably different: a monument to Black tennis legend and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe. The Ashe statue seemed safe from defacement during recent protests over racism and police brutality, when protesters
Tennis
9:30 AM ET The All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon, announced Friday that it will pay prize money to all players who would have qualified for the canceled tournament. Pulling from a pot of £10 million ($12.6 million), the organization will distribute prize money to the “620 players whose world ranking would have enabled them
8:58 AM ET D’Arcy MaineESPN.com After being at home for several months because of the global coronavirus pandemic, Sofia Kenin was more than eager to return to competition. So when the opportunity arose to play World TeamTennis this summer, she jumped at the chance. It was only after she agreed to participate that she realized
7:33 AM ET Pro-tennis player Dayana Yastremska has defended pictures she posted on social media of her doing blackface as “misunderstood.” The World No. 25 ranked player posted four photos of herself with half her body painted black and a caption which read “Equality.” Following criticism, Yastremska deleted the pictures and posted an explanation on
5:29 PM ET The WTA has launched a second, new tennis event after negotiations to host both an ATP and WTA draw as usual at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. collapsed. The Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky, will take place during the same time frame (Aug. 10-16) as another new WTA event, the
3:57 PM ET In another demonstration of cooperation between the ATP and the WTA, the women’s tennis group has announced that it will reboot and substantially alter its rankings system in a way nearly identical to the path chosen by the ATP. “In order to balance fairness and flexibility for all players, the WTA Rankings
10:06 AM ET Three of the top four players from Spain will be headlining the UTR Pro Series-Spain, a three-event series that will be played on successive weekends beginning Saturday in Barcelona. Conspicuous in his absence: ATP No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal, who has not taken part in any of the growing number of “reopening”
9:21 AM ET Australia’s Nick Kyrgios has slammed Dominic Thiem for defending players who competed at the ill-fated Adria Tour and subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus. Kyrgios has repeatedly criticised organisers and players at the abandoned event in the Balkans, where Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested positive for
7:35 AM ET AFP via Getty Images Novak Djokovic has accused critics of subjecting him to a “witch-hunt” after his regional Adria Tour tennis event ended in a novel coronavirus fiasco and said he was still uncertain whether he would play at the Aug. 31-Sept 13 U.S. Open. Images and videos of the players hugging
10:31 AM ET The DraftKings All-American Team Cup, the first pro tennis event in the U.S. to take place before paying spectators, ended Sunday at a tennis and fitness center in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. It was rocked Friday night when Frances Tiafoe, the popular captain of the young “Stars” team, tested positive for the coronavirus,