Naomi Osaka opened her title defense with a strong win Monday night at the US Open, overwhelming Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.

The Czech had a chance to serve for the first set at 4-all, but thanks in large part of her serve, Osaka swatted all eight break chances she faced, and won 8 of the last 9 games to ease in the second round.

“I actually thought I …

The US Open day one scheduled features several former champions in action.

On Arthur Ashe alone, fans will be treated to defending champion Naomi Osaka in the evening in her match against Marie Bouzkova. But earlier, Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet for a very first time.

The 34-year-old Murray who won the US Open in 2012, is looking forward to the challenge of facing the third-seeded Greek.

“Physically, I’ve been good since …

Daniil Medvedev doesn’t want Novak Djokovic to win the US Open. And he wants to keep the Big 3 all locked at 20 Grand Slams…forever.

Speaking to the New York press today, the second-seeded Medvedev who made the 2019 US Open final and the 2021 Australian Open final is tired of finishing runner-up at Grand Slam level. He wants the big titles.

“Now I have two finals,” Medvedev said. “Need to win, …

Things are escalating in the Alexander Zverev vs. Olga Sharypova case. Sharypova has accused the German star she recently dated for over a year of domestic abuse citing four different incidents in Monte Carlo, the 2019 US Open, 2019 Laver Cup and 2019 Shanghai Masters.

The Russian went public with the allegations in Racquet Magazine last November, and hasn’t backed down in a second report published in Slate Wednesday.

Prior …

On the topic of COVID vaccinations, Novak Djokovic has been on the side of anti-vax. Today, while he’d like to see stadiums back at full capacity. He doesn’t want vaccinations to be forced on the public.

“I feel like that should be always a personal decision whether you want to get vaccinated or not,” Djokovic said. “So I’m supportive of that. So whether someone wants to get a vaccine or not, …

Novak Djokovic is ready and excited for the challenge of winning a Calendar Grand Slam. Speaking to the media today at the US Open, the Serb said to win it would be his greatest achievement.

“Obviously I know how big of an opportunity is in front of me here in New York where historically I’ve played really well over the years. It’s probably the most entertaining tennis court that we have. …

Novak Djokovic has a huge and historic two weeks ahead of him at the US Open. While he’ll have plenty more chances to pass the injured Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal atop the all-time Grand Slam leaders list, this is his first and likely last shot at completing an ultra rare Calendar Slam, an achievement not seen since Rod Laver in 1969.

Djokovic will be the heavy favorite to win a …

Serena Williams made it official today withdrawing from the US Open. The 6-time US Open winner last took the court at Wimbledon where she injured her hamstring during her first match.

“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” Serena posted on Instagram. “New York is …

With fans packed in on a beautiful night in Winston-Salem, Nick Kyrgios failed to take the court in his much-hyped first round match against Andy Murray

The Australian withdrew from the match just before the 7pm local start time due to a left knee injury he’s been carrying for a couple weeks. With a boos from fans on the timing of the announcement, it marks yet another misstep in the controversial …

Alexander Zverev couldn’t ask for a better lead-up to the US Open. The 24-year-old won the gold earlier this month in Tokyo and Sunday won his fifth Masters title in dominating fashion ripping Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in under an hour.

“I felt well from the beginning. I broke him the first game and I think then the match went my way. Obviously, I’m very happy with that, because …

Ash Barty completed her Cincinnati sweep winning the Masters event without dropping a set on Sunday rolling past Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1.

“It’s been a great week,” said Barty who has won 12 of her last 13. “I felt like all week long I wanted to be really aggressive, I wanted to get up after my serve. I felt like these conditions were going to reward good serving and good first-strike …

After an in-form week in the men’s draw in Cincinnati, two surprises took place in the semifinals Saturday.

Daniil Medvedev was a perfect 4-0 and 10-0 in sets against Andrey Rublev heading into their fifth showdown. Medvedev looked well on his way to another romp taking the opener in comfortable fashion 6-2 after Rublev sprayed 18 unforced errors.

But at 1-all in the second, Medvedev, who plays so far back in the …

Ash Barty is making a very strong case that she should be the favorite at the US Open. The world No. 1 rolled into her first Cincinnati Masters final breezing past Angelique Kerber 6-2, 7-5 to improve to 6-0 in semifinals in 2021.

The two had met a month ago in the Wimbledon semifinals and this meeting was virtually no different with Barty coming out in straight sets.

“I didn’t feel …

We could see a Wimbledon rematch in the Sunday women’s final of the Cincinnati Masters. But there’s still one round to go before Ash Barty and Karolina Pliskova could meet again.

Today in the quarterfinals, both rolled. Barty stayed in form trouncing Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-4 in a meeting of the last two Grand Slam champions.

Barty improves to 14-1 against Top 20 players this year as she reaches her second Cincinnati …

For the first time since 2009, the top 4 seeds all made the Cincinnati semifinals. Daniil Medvedev, though, remains the big favorite.

The 2019 Cincinnati champion rolled into the last four crushing 2-time US Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-1 to win his 8th straight match.

“That is why we like tennis, because it is made of many, many different small details,” Medvedev said on court. “Different conditions, different balls. I …