Professional Tennis
World number one and 21-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams defeated the unseeded Kiki Bertens 7-6(7), 6-4 Friday in one hour and 40 minutes to reach the finals of the 2016 French Open. Bertens got out to a 5-3 before Serena saved a set point to recover and force a tie-break. Serena is seeking her…
Pursuing the one Grand Slam that has eluded him, world number one Novak Djokovic moved into the semifinals of the 2016 French Open Thursday with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 win over the seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych. An 11-time Grand Slam champion, Djokovic, who will be playing for the third consecutive day Friday due to rainy conditions…
Defending French Open champion Serena Williams completed a comeback in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Thursday, coming back from a set and a break down to defeat 60th-ranked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Serena survived two break points at 4-4 in the second set, which she eventually won when world number 60 Putintseva…
World number one and defending champion Serena Williams bulldozed her way into the French Open quarterfinals, moving past Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1 in just 62 minutes on Wednesday. “I think it’s definitely a whole new ballgame,” said Serena. “I didn’t play my best in the third round and I really wanted to come out and…
Resuming a match originally started on Tuesday, world number one Novak Djokovic knocked off Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the French Open quarterfinals, the 28th consecutive Grand Slam where he has advanced to the final eight. Djokovic and Bautista-Agut had split the first two sets and Djokovic opened up…
Two of the French Open’s top six seeds were ousted from the tournament on Tuesday morning, as second-seed Agnieszka Radwanska and sixth-seed Simona Halep both lost their respective fourth-round matches. After play was suspended on Sunday due to rain, Radwanska began Tuesday with a commanding 6-2, 3-0 lead over Tsvetana Pironkova, a player ranked 100…
Hometown favorite Richard Gasquet upset the fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Sunday, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to move into the French Open quarterfinals. Gasquet had lost in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros four times previously (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015), but found success Sunday to advance to face Andy Murray, a winner Sunday over…
American Shelby Rogers continued her storybook run at Roland Garros on Sunday, advancing to her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu in just under 90 minutes. Begu was the latest victim in Rogers’ run to the quarters, defeating the 17th-seed Karolina Pliskova, Elena Vesnina and the 10th-seeded Petra…
In Sunday action at the French Open, it was eighth-seeded Milos Raonic who was shocked by world number 55 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Ramos-Vinolas moves into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros where he will square off with defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who defeated the 22 seed Viktor Troicki in four sets on Sunday. Ramos-Vinolas…
American Shelby Rogers advanced to the French Open fourth round on Friday, bageling 10th seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic twice for the 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-0 victory. Rogers hit 25 winners to just 18 unforced errors while taking advantage of 36 unforced errors from Kvitova. “She started playing much better in the second,” said…