Tennis

Serbia´s Davis Cup captain Nenad Zimonjic was optimistic on Sunday that world number two Novak Djokovic will be fit to play in this week´s new look Davis Cup in Madrid. Djokovic lost to Roger Federer on Thursday, missing out on a place in the ATP Finals semi-finals in London, revealing afterwards that he had been suffering pain in his elbow. ...

Roger Federer kept alive his hopes of a seventh ATP Finals crown on Tuesday, beating Italian debutant Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 at London’s O2 Arena. The Swiss third seed put himself under enormous pressure by losing his first match on Sunday in straight sets in Group Bjorn Borg to Dominic Thiem. The six-time champion was not at his fluent ...

PERTH: A jubilant Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia led France to its first Fed Cup title since 2003 on Sunday, winning a deciding doubles rubber to crush Australian dreams 3-2. In the last tournament played under the current format, the pair kept their focus at Perth Arena to overcome Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-3, denying the home team ...

LONDON: Novak Djokovic began his quest for a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title and sixth year-end number one spot on Sunday with an imperious 6-2, 6-1 victory against Italy´s Matteo Berrettini. The Serbian was last week nudged off the top position in the rankings by Rafael Nadal, who is also in the eight-man field in London. Djokovic must reach the ...

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters has delayed her WTA Tour comeback because of a knee injury. Clijsters, 36, says she will not be able to compete in January as she continues rehabilitation and treatment. “It’s a setback but I’m determined as ever to get back to the game I love,” the Belgian mother of three said. Clijsters, who first ...

Australia’s world number one Ashleigh Barty will play France’s Caroline Garcia on the opening day of the Fed Cup final in Perth on Saturday. Barty, who won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, is on a 14-match unbeaten streak in the event. Ajla Tomljanovic will make her debut for Australia in Saturday’s first rubber against Kristina Mladenovic, ...

LONDON:Rafael Nadal is facing a race against time to be ready for the ATP Finals as he battles Novak Djokovic for the year-end number one ranking, admitting he is struggling with his serve. The 33-year-old said he was happy to be in London after being forced to pull out of last week’s Paris Masters at the semi-final stage with an ...

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) on Wednesday decided to appeal against ITF’s decision to shift their Davis Cup tie against India to a neutral venue, saying the world governing body and the Indian tennis federation have lowered their stature with this move. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Monday agreed with the safety concerns in Islamabad, raised by the All ...

Ashleigh Barty of Australia tops the end of season women´s tennis rankings released Monday, a day after her triumph in the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China. With 7,851 points, Barty, who has topped the rankings since early September, eclipsed second-placed Karolína Plísková (5,940 points) by almost 2,000 points. Naomi Osaka (5,497) held on to third place from Simona Halep, who ...

Rafael Nadal’s return to the world number one position for the eighth time in his career was confirmed when the ATP rankings were released on Monday. The Spaniard leapfrogs Novak Djokovic even though the Serb sealed his fifth Paris Masters title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Nadal, whose last stint at the top ended ...