With Serena Williams sidelined in early 2018, Simona Halep is looking to define herself among the throng of women who held the No. 1 ranking in 2017.

On Saturday the Romanian bolstered her current No. 1 status by winning the title at the Shenzhen Open in China, defeating defending champion Katerina Siniakova to 6-1, 2-6, 6-0.

The final was played indoors after a number of rain delays.

“It was a difficult match …

In the first big official ATP clash of 2018, Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios collide Saturday in the Brisbane semifinals.

Dimitrov, who won the Brisbane title last year, hung on to deny Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-7(3, 6-4. Kyrgios has to overcome a set deficit against Alexandr Dolgopolov 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Dimitrov leads the Australian favorite 2-0 including a win in the Cincinnati final over the summer.

“He can do everything pretty much out …

Defending champion Katerina Siniakova collected one of her biggest career wins upsetting former No. 1 and idol Maria Sharapova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Shenzhen semifinal. In the Saturday finale, the Czech will meet current No. 1 Simona Halep, who cruised past Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-4.

“I can’t even describe it. I’m really happy and I think you could see the emotion when I finally won the last point,” Siniakova said. …

Where has Thomaz Bellucci been? Serving a “silent ban” that’s where. The former Brazilian No. 1 tested positive for the masking agent hydrochlorothiazide while in Bastad on July 18 and hasn’t hit a ball on tour since the US Open, the ITF announced today.

Bellucci had his sentence reduced from up to four years down to five months by successfully arguing the prescription vitamins he was taking over the summer were …

Seven-time champion Serena Williams withdrew from the Australian Open on Thursday. The former No. 1 hasn’t played an official match since winning her 23rd Grand Slam there last year beating sister Venus in the final.

Since then, she made a shock announcement that she was pregnant during the title run. She later gave birth to daughter Olympia in September, and then wed Alexis Ohanian and in November.

The …

A right wrist injury has put an end to the hopes of Asia’s top player of participation in his “home” Slam after 29-year-old Kei Nishikori withdrew from the Australia Open last night.

“I am very sorry to announce that I will miss the Aussie Open this year,” said Nishikori. “The Aussie Open is my favorite Slam.

“It’s the Slam that takes incredible care of the players and their teams, and it hurts …

Andy Murray made it official Thursday pulling out of the Australian Open due to his hip injury.

“Sadly I won’t be playing in Melbourne this year, as I am not yet ready to compete,” Murray said in a statement. “I’ll be flying home shortly to assess all the options but I appreciate all the messages of support and I hope to be back playing soon.”

Murray had earlier said he would stay …

Simona Halep clinched her first No. 1 seeding at Grand Slam last night by advancing to the quarterfinals rallying past Duan Ying-Ying 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The win ended Caroline Wozniacki’s No. 1 hopes next week. Garbine Muguruza had previously been eliminated from the 3-way race after retiring in Brisbane.

Halep will make her debut as a top seed at a Slam at the Australian Open in 10 days. She will be the …

With so many of the top players in the men’s game wounded and ailing, it’s worthwhile to go back a couple months to here from Roger Federer on why this is happening. And the Swiss gave the best explanation: It’s that the tour is so much older now.

Federer speaking at the ATP Finals in London:

Shave 10 years of our age, and we probably will do better.

A lot of the guys …

Milos Raonic fell short in his comeback match earlier today in Brisbane. In his first match in three months, the former Brisbane champion was stunned by 18-year-old Alex de Minaur 64, 64.

“I am heavily disappointed,” said Raonic. “I was hoping to do better.

“It’s normal, you don’t expect to have everything clicking, you expect to go out there and have to fight and hopefully put things together, and I wasn’t able …

A glimmer of hope for fans of Novak Djokovic. Following a withdrawal from desert events in Abu Dhabi and Doha, the Serb has entered the Kooyong exhibition next week and confirmed his participation at next Wednesday’s Tiebreak Tens event, both in Melbourne.

Does this mean his ailing elbow will be ready for best-of-5 in Melbourne in less than two weeks? We’ll see.

Bad news for Andy Murray. The Scot who lifted hopes by playing a set last week in Abu Dhabi then showing up in Brisbane, had to withdraw from Brisbane due to his hip.

In a heartfelt Instagram post, Murray revealed that after five months off tour, surgery is an option.

Hey everyone.. Just wanted to write a little message on here for anyone interested in what in going through right now.

Firstly I …

Non tennis posts here.

Marin Cilic is the Top 10 representative leading the field of the ATP World Tour tournament that in 2018 makes the move from Chennai to Pune in India.

Roberto Bautista Agut will defend his title against the two-time top-seeded winner Cilic.

Here’s a look at the field:

TATA OPEN MAHARASHTRA
PUNE, India; Surface: hard

Seeds: Marin Cilic, Kevin Anderson, Roberto Bautista Agut, Benoit Paire, Robin Haase, Jiri Vesely, Mikhail Kukushkin, Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Floaters: Gilles Simon

Notes: The …

The two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn due to an ongoing elbow injury, leaving Dominic Thiem as the headliner this week in Doha.

Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta are the lone Top 10 players in the field.

Here is a look at the field:

QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN
DOHA, Qatar; Surface: hard

Seeds: Dominic Thiem, Pablo Carreno Busta, Tomas Berdych, Albert Ramos Vinolas, Richard Gasquet, Filip Krajinovic, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez

Floaters: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Borna Coric

Notes: …