After nearly eight years away, Kim Clijsters, now a mother of three, returned to the tennis tour on Monday. She lost in straight sets in the opening round of the WTA event in Dubai, but her 6-2, 7-6 (6) defeat to Garbiñe Muguruza felt more like a triumph than a letdown. There were signs of […] More
MELBOURNE, Australia — Men’s and women’s tennis are in drastically different phases. The men have a triopoly that could quickly transform into a monopoly if Novak Djokovic stays fresh and focused. The women have something closer to mob rule with new winners emerging at a madcap clip. In the last 12 Grand Slam tournaments, the […] More
MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic extended his record by winning his eighth Australian Open singles title on Sunday, defeating Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. The victory allowed Djokovic to reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal and to reassert his dominance in Melbourne. Based on the evidence, the hardest task in men’s […] More
MELBOURNE, Australia — Sofia Kenin became the youngest Australian Open champion in 12 years on Saturday, beating Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to claim her first Grand Slam title. Kenin’s victory, in her first major final, represents a growing youth takeover in women’s tennis. At 21 years and 80 days of age, Kenin is 22 […] More
MELBOURNE — Margaret Court? Martina Navratilova had seen and heard enough. The outspoken tennis great had long opposed the fact that Court, a fellow legend who has become known more for her homophobic comments than her sterling game, had been honored at the Australian Open with a show court stadium bearing her name. Then, as […] More
MELBOURNE — Dominic Thiem will get another chance to win his first major championship after defeating Alexander Zverev, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), in a taut men’s semifinal at the Australian Open on Friday night. Thiem, a 26-year-old Austrian, will play Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s men’s final. It will be first time the two […] More
MELBOURNE, Australia — At age 21, Sofia Kenin has not arrived at her numerical goal in tennis. “I want to be No. 1,” she said recently in Melbourne, as she has been saying since she was 6 years old. But for now Kenin, a fiery and driven Floridian, is one match away from her first […] More
How to watch: ESPN, 2:30 a.m. Eastern; streaming on ESPN+, 7:15 p.m. and ESPN3, 2:30 a.m. Friday’s schedule: Men | Women Sofia Kenin vs. Garbiñe Muguruza Sofia Kenin, the 14th seed, reached her first Grand Slam final by beating Ashleigh Barty, the world No. 1 and homegrown favorite at the Australian Open. Kenin and Barty […] More
