Federer, Serena retire; tennis moves on to Alcaraz, Swiatek
The timing of it all hardly could be more symbolic: All within a span of two weeks, Serena Williams plays what is believed to be her last match at age 40, Roger Federer announces he’ll be retiring at 41, Iga Swiatek wins her third Grand Slam title at 21, and Carlos Alcaraz gets his first at 19.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/KMYCAILDGVHSRMKSQ37F35PBAI.jpg)
Hobbled Daniil Medvedev limps to 3rd-round win at Miami Open
Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, walks gingerly to the net after defeating Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 28, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)MIAMI – Daniil Medvedev could barely walk, much less run. The top-ranked Medvedev held his final two service games despite being hobbled by cramps and beat Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (3), 6-7 (7), 6-4 in the third round at the Miami Open. “Winning a Grand Slam final in straight sets doesn’t feel the way I felt after the match point today,” he said with a grin. Medvedev failed to convert three match points in the second set after taking a 5-2 lead. When Popyrin misfired on a backhand on the final point, Medvedev shuffled to the net with a smile that turned into a wince.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/XEARS2VLWFGDLEEWKZOCHFSKFM.jpg)
Kenin beats Putintseva to reach Abu Dhabi quarterfinals
Kenin is the top-seeded woman in Abu Dhabi, where the first womens tour-level tennis event of 2021 begins main-draw play on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)ABU DHABI – Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States came back from match point down to beat Yulia Putintseva and reach the quarterfinals of the Abu Dhabi Open on Saturday. Kenin posted 57 unforced errors to Putintseva's 43 but still prevailed 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 over the 13th-seeded Putintseva. Kenin dropped the opening set for the second consecutive match in Abu Dhabi. Also, Aryna Sabalenka recorded her 12th consecutive win in tour matches with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ons Jabeur.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/PXIEKXFTBNFXHAWIUYTVGMYGDY.jpg)
'Both gave everything': Schwartzman tops Thiem; Nadal next
A reporter wanted to know whether Schwartzman would be watching Nadal vs. Sinner. “For sure, I’m going to be awake,” said Schwartzman, who defeated Nadal at a clay-court tuneup in Rome last month. The ninth break put Schwartzman up 4-2 in the fifth when Thiem netted a backhand, and the last ended it, when Thiem put two drop shots into the net. From early on against Schwartzman, Thiem would bail out of points by trying mediocre drop shots, a bit of foreshadowing of the day’s denouement. He led the fourth 5-3, and held three set points while serving for it at 5-4.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/JPOIJIO2J5BS7KNVXENWOYKC74.jpg)
The Latest: 19-year-old Swiatek into French Open semifinals
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___10:25 p.m.Polish teenager Iga Swiatek made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal by ending the surprising French Open run of qualifier Martina Trevisan of Italy. The reports said suspicious betting patterns concerned the fifth game of the second set when Sizikova was serving and broken to love. ___2:55 p.m.Nadia Podoroska is the first female qualifier in the Open Era to reach the French Open semifinals. Collins looked in control at 3-0 up in the second set but her Tunisian opponent won five straight games. This was her best run at the French Open while Collins had never previously been past the second round here.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/IQA24AD57BFY3BWSK3FZNAJTJY.jpg)
If at 1st, or 14th, you don't succeed: Zhang's Slam history
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – For eight long years, Zhang Shuai and Grand Slam tennis simply weren’t friends. Now she is the first Chinese player into the fourth round in Paris since Li in 2012. Kvitova beat 18-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round for the fifth time. 5 seed from Greece showed up for his third-round match at the French Open on Saturday with a pandemic-appropriate facial covering that had a picture of himself drawn on it. 30 seed from Tunisia, arrived sporting one, too, for her post-match news conference after becoming the first Arab woman to get to the fourth round at Roland Garros.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/YSZSWKFMBNDYBLCVWUODOAW2ME.jpg)
The Latest: Collins beats 2016 champ Muguruza at French Open
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___11:10 p.m.Danielle Collins grabbed the last four games to come back and beat 2016 champion Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the last third-round singles match at the French Open. Next up for Djokovic as he pursues a second French Open title and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall: No. ___4:20 p.m.Fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the fourth round at the French Open for the second year in a row. He came through the qualifying tournament to reach the French Open main draw. ___1:10 p.m.Andrey Rublev advanced to the French Open fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win against the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/DGBZC3ONZRALDLTGXPPE3KKJNQ.jpg)
Osaka withdraws in protest; W&S put on hold Thursday
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, leaves the court after winning her match with Anett Kontaveit, of Estonia, during the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in New York. Soon after, the whole tournament was put on hold for a day. Osaka tweeted that as a Black woman, she feels compelled to pull out of the tournament to put a focus on police shooting Black people. "Watching the continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach. I have to be patient, to try to enjoy every single match I play here after six months without competing.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/7INOPXQQ3ZEOFLYZVTU6OQCM4A.jpg)
Djokovic's neck better, as is his play; now 20-0 in 2020
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns a shot from Tennys Sandgren during the third round at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK Novak Djokovics neck felt much better, and his tennis looked much better, in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded American Tennys Sandgren at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday that improved the No. The Western & Southern Open is usually held in Ohio but was moved to the U.S. Opens site in Flushing Meadows this year to make for a two-event, no-spectator bubble amid the pandemic. He has won five of the past seven Grand Slam tournaments, including at the Australian Open in February. Womens quarterfinal matchups set earlier in the day were two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka against Anett Kontaveit, former No.