LONDON — Dominic Thiem will not admit to being superstitious. He said his 5-year-old habit of twirling the tennis ball around in his fingers before every serve is no different than Alexander Zverev tugging at his shirt in between points or Rafael Nadal lining up his bottles in perfect order beside his chair. It is […] More
LONDON — For the first time since 2007, and only the second time in the ATP Finals’ 49-year history, only one American player competed in singles or doubles at the elite year-end event. He was not John Isner, the highest-ranked American man in singles, who played in the tournament last year. He was not Jack […] More
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, the twins who are far and away the most successful American men in professional tennis over the past two decades, announced Wednesday that they planned to end their careers at next year’s United States Open. Starting at the 2003 French Open, the Bryans have won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles […] More
PERTH, Australia — Kristina Mladenovic inspired France to a drought-breaking Fed Cup triumph, a nail-biting 3-2 win in the final against Australia on Sunday. Mladenovic combined with Caroline Garcia to beat Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-3, in the decisive doubles match at Perth Arena. She produced a herculean effort on the outdoor hard […] More
Matteo Berrettini could not bring himself to watch the match, or even to check the score. The Italian player knew he was on the precipice of becoming one of only eight players to qualify for the year-end Nitto ATP Finals at London’s O2 arena. All he needed was for Denis Shapovalov to beat Gaël Monfils […] More
Juan Sebastián Cabal and Robert Farah became stars this season when they won Wimbledon and the United States Open. But for the Colombian doubles team, which leads the field at the Nitto ATP Finals in London starting on Sunday, stardom is relative. While the men’s and women’s doubles tours are experiencing something of a boom […] More
The end of the tennis season has not been kind to Rafael Nadal. While the 33-year-old Spaniard has ended the year ranked No. 1 four times from 2008 to 2017, he did it on the strength of early-season success at the major championships. In 2008, Nadal won the French Open and Wimbledon. In 2010, he […] More
It was once again Serena Williams’s decade, but the last year of the 2010s was not her year, though she made her presence and power felt by reaching two Grand Slam finals. In 2019, the biggest moments and most prestigious trophies belonged to players much younger than Williams, who turned 38 in September. The emergence […] More
