Tennis

Rafael Nadal swept to an historic 12th Roland Garros title and 18th Grand Slam crown on Sunday with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem. The 33-year-old Spaniard becomes the first player, man or woman, to win the same Slam 12 times after seeing off a brave challenge from a weary Thiem in a repeat of the ...

Roger Federer set up a mouthwatering French Open semi-final clash with Rafael Nadal on Tuesday when he defeated Stan Wawrinka in four sets to become the oldest men’s Grand Slam semi-finalist in 28 years. The 37-year-old Swiss beat his compatriot 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to reach his 43rd major semi-final and eighth at Roland Garros. Defending champion Nadal, ...

World number one Naomi Osaka’s hopes of winning a third successive Grand Slam ended Saturday when she was knocked out of the French Open in the third round by unheralded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. Japanese top seed Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, crashed to a 4-6, 2-6 defeat to the 42nd-ranked Czech. Osaka was undone ...

Serena Williams’s bid to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title was thwarted again on Saturday when she was knocked out of the French Open 2-6, 5-7 by US compatriot Sofia Kenin in the third round. It was 37-year-old Serena’s earliest exit at the Slams since a third round loss to Alize Cornet at Wimbledon in 2014. Kenin, the 20-year-old ...

Roger Federer breezed into the third round of the French Open for the 15th time on Wednesday by seeing off German lucky loser Oscar Otte, while 11-time champion Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed, but women’s contender Kiki Bertens retired with illness. The 37-year-old Federer held off a persistent world number 144 Otte, saving all four break points he ...

Caroline Wozniacki, who won the Australian Open in 2018, is a former world number one Former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says she “ran out of steam” in a surprise first-round defeat by Russian world number 68 Veronika Kudermetova at the French Open. The Danish 13th seed lost 0-6 6-3 6-3 despite winning the first seven games and said her ...

Roger Federer said on Monday his motivation is sky-high as he bids for a possible return to the number one ranking if he reaches the final at the Stuttgart Cup. The 36-year-old Swiss, second in the ATP standings behind 11-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, has it all to play for this week at the hilltop Weissenhof club, where he ...

Sara Errani’s ban for an anti-doping violation has been extended from two to 10 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The 2012 French Open runner-up tested positive for letrozole – a substance used in the treatment of breast cancer – in an out-of-competition test in February 2017. CAS said on Monday it accepted that the source of ...

PARIS: Rafael Nadal admits that his desire to clinch an 11th French Open title on Sunday is fired by his growing realisation that the end of his career may not be too far away. The 32-year-old Spaniard, with 16 majors to his name, will play his 24th Grand Slam final at Roland Garros against Dominic Thiem who is in his ...

PARIS — Simona Halep finally got the major breakthrough that she had been waiting for. American Sloane Stephens, however, didn’t make it easy. The top-seeded Halep beat the 10th-seeded Stephens 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier to win the French Open on Saturday. The 26-year-old Romanian had gone 0-3 in her previous three major finals. Halep, who will continue to ...