While most of the country was enjoying the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs, there was some top tennis being played on the other side of the world as the opening tournaments of the 2016 season came to a close. Djokovic Buries Nadal for Doha Title World number one Novak Djokovic earned the 60th title…
The Qatar ExxonMobil Open finals will be a star-studded affair as world number one Novak Djokovic will take on Rafael Nadal, after each player won their respective semifinal matches in straight sets on Friday. Nadal was up first on Friday and he squared off with Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, who had come through the draw with…
American Allison Riske continued her strong start to 2016, defeating Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Shenzhen Open finals. Riske gave herself 12 break point opportunities, converting on five of them to dismiss Babos in straight sets. “It was definitely a tough match for me,” said Riske. “Babos is a great competitor and…
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka put an end to the run of American Samantha Crawford in Brisbane on Friday, defeating her 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the Brisbane International finals. Azarenka came out determined to put away the American qualifier from the start. She broke Crawford in the opening game, and then followed suit…
Australian Bernard Tomic moved into the Brisbane International semifinals on Friday at the Pat Rafter Arena, holding off second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan for a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory. Tomic came out sharp in the opening set, and after saving a couple of early break points, he capitalized right away, and broke Nishikori at 4-3….
The United States won its first match at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Thursday, defeating the Czech Republic 2-1 behind the play of Jack Sock. Sock squared off with Jiri Vesely in the men’s singles match, and dropped the opening set 4-6. But the American’s serve picked up in the second which allowed…
Caroline Wozniacki reached the ASB Classic in Auckland, Australia semifinals on Thursday, getting by Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1, 6-0, a day after dropping just two games to American Christina McHale. “I played really well tonight. I started off strongly and played aggressively, came to the net a few times, served well and it was a…
American qualifier Samantha Crawford continued her outstanding run to at the Brisbane International on Thursday, rolling past Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-0 to reach the semifinals. After the two exchanged breaks midway through the opening set, Crawford held a 4-3 advantage as Petkovic was serving. The young American responded right away with another break point,…
Roger Federer opened up his 2016 campaign with a routine 6-2, 6-1 victory over German qualifier Tobias Kamke on Thursday in Brisbane, Australia. The tournament’s defending champion needed less than an hour to advance to the Brisbane International quarterfinals. “I’m extremely pleased I was able to win today,” said Federer, who was playing his first…
World number one Novak Djokovic moved into the Qatar Open quarterfinals in Doha on Wednesday, downing Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2. “I’m very pleased with the way I have started this season, two matches, straight sets,” said Djokovic. “Tonight was tougher than the first round. Obviously I expected that. Verdasco is a former top-10 player,…