Tennis

Naomi Osaka said that she had just two hours’ sleep before crushing title-holder Caroline Wozniacki to sweep into the China Open final on Saturday. The 21-year-old Japanese will play world number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia in Sunday’s championship match in Beijing – and will hope to have had a bit more rest. The Australian Open champion said that she ...

Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was left disappointed Wednesday after suffering a fresh injury setback in China that forced her to retire from the Wuhan Open with a lower back problem. Halep said the problem that caused her to quit her third-round match felt different to the herniated disc she had suffered at the China Open in Beijing a year ago ...

Two-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka has now won two WTA titles this season. Naomi Osaka has hailed her first Pan Pacific Open title win in her hometown as “special” after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. Osaka, 21, who had finished runner-up on two previous occasions at the tournament, beat the Russian 6-2 6-3. The Osaka-born world number four ...

WUHAN, China: Venus Williams´ first visit to Asia since 2017 was cut short as she crashed out of the Wuhan Open first round on Sunday 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) to fellow American Danielle Collins. The 39-year-old Williams, a 2015 Wuhan champion now 59th in the world rankings, squandered a lead in the first set before eventually losing to Collins, who recorded ...

Kim Clijsters is to make her tennis comeback at the age of 36 with a return to the WTA Tour in 2020. The Belgian, who first retired in 2007 to start a family, says she has been “inspired” by other mothers such as Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. The ex-world number one returned in 2009 and won three more Grand ...

Johanna Konta will not play any tournaments in Asia this autumn and so will not be able to qualify for the season-ending WTA Championships. The British number one has withdrawn from the China Open in Beijing because of “slight knee pain” and did not enter next week’s lucrative tournament in Wuhan in China. She is next expected to play in ...

World number one Novak Djokovic will begin his 2020 season in Brisbane, Rafael Nadal in Perth and Roger Federer in Sydney after Monday’s draw for the ATP Cup, the new world tennis team event. The championship, which will take place from January 3-12 in the lead-up to the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open in Melbourne, will feature 24 ...

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has said the upcoming Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and India has been rescheduled for the week commencing November 15 in Islamabad. The ITF in its statement regarding the Asia/Oceania Group I tie between Pakistan and India said, “The Davis Cup Committee has determined that the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I tie between Pakistan and ...

Brazilian tennis player Diego Matos has been banned from professional tennis for life and fined $125,000 (£100,600) after being convicted of multiple match-fixing offences. Matos has also been ordered to repay $12,000 (£9,650) received in winnings in tournaments played in Ecuador. An independent anti-corruption hearing found that 31-year-old Matos had contrived the outcome of 10 tennis matches played during 2018 ...

Teenager Bianca Andreescu became Canada’s first Grand Slam singles champion Saturday with a rollercoaster 6-3, 7-5 win over 23-time major champion Serena Williams in the US Open final. The 19-year-old Andreescu became the youngest Grand Slam winner since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open, handing Williams a fourth consecutive defeat in the final of a major to again deny ...