Tennis

DOHA: Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova suffered a shock defeat in the first round of the Qatar Open on Monday, dumped out in three sets by outsider Monica Niculescu. The Romanian, ranked number 92 in the world, 51 places behind the Russian, won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. In a match lasting more than two and a half hours, Sharapova hit ...

ASHEVILLE – Serena Williams made her long-awaited comeback to tennis on Sunday but the 23-time Grand Slam title winner and former world number one suffered defeat, playing alongside big sister Venus in a Fed Cup dead rubber. They lost 6-2, 6-3 to the Dutch pairing of Lesley Kerkhove and Demi Schuurs, with 36-year-old Serena appearing particularly slow on her feet ...

Roger Federer has signed up to play at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam next week where he could be crowned world No 1. Federer successfully retained his Australian Open crown with a five-set victory over Marin Cilic last month to find himself just 155 points behind top-ranked Rafael Nadal. But with the Spaniard not scheduled to play ...

LONDON- World number one Rafael Nadal has confirmed he will play in the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen s Club later this year. Nadal has missed the grass-court tournament in west London for the last two years after suffering a wrist injury in 2016 and then prioritising rest after his French Open victory in 2017. But the Spaniard, who won the ...

Sania Mirza is suffering from a knee injury. HYDERABAD: – Indian tennis star Sania Mirza’s injury has continued to keep her out of tennis court as she will not be able to make comeback at least for two more months. Mirza has not been competing since October, 2017 owing to a knee injury. The 31-year-old said in an interview that ...

Sharapova is currently ranked No 41 in the world after serving a 15-month ban that stretched over the whole of 2016 and then suffering a series of injuries that hampered her 2017 progress. The Russian has been relying on wildcard entries to help her play in the biggest tournaments and today the Dubai Championship authorities have confirmed that she will ...

Nadal is currently recovering from a leg injury that forced him out of the Australian Open in the fifth set of his quarter-final against Marin Cilic. The 31-year-old is confident of completing his rehabilitation in the coming weeks and returning to action on February 26 in Acapulco. But Nadal, who has endured a series of punishing injuries throughout his career ...

MELBOURNE: Caroline Wozniacki finally lifted her first Grand Slam title at the 43rd attempt as she beat Simona Halep 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open on Saturday. The Dane, who will take over as world number one, burst into tears as she secured the title against the battling Romanian top seed on her first match point of ...

Defending champion Roger Federer strolled into the Australian Open final in a bitter-sweet win after Chung Hyeon’s retired injured in their semi-final on Friday. The Swiss star was leading 6-1, 5-2 when the South Korean called it quits with foot blisters and will now face Marin Cilic in Sunday’s final. Chung, the first South Korean man or woman to play ...

South Korean sensation Hyeon Chung is through to his maiden grand slam semi-final after scoring a straight-sets victory over American surprise packet Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in their unexpected Australian Open quarter-final at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday. Chung, the first Korean tennis player to make it to the final four of a major, will now face either ...