As expected, Serena Williams officially withdrew from the year-end WTA Finals to be held in Singapore starting October 23. Citing a shoulder injury, it’s the second straight year Serena has skipped playing the event, or any events following the US Open for that matter.

“I was looking forward to competing in Singapore this year and playing against the best players in the world,” said Williams. “However, I have received disappointing news …

Wozniacki Beats Mladenovic to Win 2nd 2016 Title at Hong Kong

Caroline Wozniacki continued her torrid run, putting together a 19-3 record since the US Open and on Sunday raising the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis trophy after a 6-1, 6-7(7), 6-2 win over France’s Kristina Mladenovic, improving to 2-0 in finals in 2016.

In September the Dane won the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Wozniacki saved three break points in the opening …

World No. 2 Andy Murray put down some early resistance by Roberto Bautista Agut, beating the Spaniard 7-6(1), 6-1 in the Shanghai Rolex Masters final on Sunday.

Bautista Agut had upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. With three tournaments left on his schedule including the year-end championships, and Djokovic’s wavering motivation, Murray is seeing the opportunity to steal the top spot.

“I believe I can get there,” the …

IF STOCKHOLM OPEN
Stockholm, Sweden; Surface: hard

Seeds: Gael Monfils, Grigor Dimitrov, Ivo Karlovic, Alexander Zverev, Steve Johnson, Jack Sock, John Isner, Marcos Baghdatis

Floaters: Gilles Muller, Dustin Brown, Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, Kevin Anderson

Notes: Monfils the lone Top 10er in the field, but a solid line-up of seeds follow him…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Some dangerous floaters pose some early problems for seeds, including (7) Isner starting against Del …

No Maria Sharapova in Russia as the former No. 1 remains sidelined for doping until April 2017, but Russian fans still get defending champion and former world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova, and on the men’s side Roberto Bautusta-Agut who upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic today in the semifinals at Shanghai.

Here’s a look at the women’s and men’s fields in Moscow:

KREMLIN CUP
Moscow, Russia; Surface: hard

Women’s Seeds: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dominika Cibulkova, Carla …

Novak Djokovic’s struggles continued Saturday in Shanghai. The defending champion was heavily favored to beat Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals but Djokovic suffered his first career loss in six meetings falling 6-4, 6-4 to the Spaniard.

During the defeat, Djokovic smashed his racquet and ripped his shirt in frustration.

“He was a better player, no question about it,” Djokovic said. “In important moments, he was more consistent. He was more …

Earlier this week the ATP Challenger in Casablanca took a new approach to clearing standing water off their clay courts, and that’s by lighting it on fire!

Explanation please!

“We had a long rain break and the side of the court was still holding a lot of water in the surface. To solve this, you pour gas on it and set it alight,” said ATP Challenger Tour …

The Masters TV production team released a cool graphic Friday showing the court speeds of all nine Masters 1000 events.

As you can see, this week’s Shanghai event is by far the quickest, followed by Toronto and then Cincinnati. At the bottom, are the three clay Masters.

According to TennisTV, here’s the formula for the Court Pace Index:
The CPI …

It’s becoming a habit. When Novak Djokovic loses he rips his shirt. He did it at the US Open in his last event and again earlier today in a shocking 6-4, 6-4 loss to Roberto Bautista Agut in the Shanghai Masters.

After dropping the first set to the Spaniard, Djokovic smashed his racquet, then proceeded to clean up the debris.

A few …

Friends and rivals Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray closed to within one match from a Shanghai Sunday showdown in the finals.

Earlier today, the top seed and defending champion Djokovic overcame a set down to deny qualifier Mischa Zverev 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in 2-hours, 21-minutes.

Djokovic struggled early against the world No. 110 and was down 2-0 in the second before he found his footing.

“I had to dig myself out of a …

Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray continued on their Shanghai final collision course on Thursday. The defending champion Djokovic rolled past Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4.

“I thought it was a great quality of tennis today from both players,” said Djokovic. “I was very pleased with the way I played from the first to last point. I don’t think I dropped my level at all.

“And on the other side, Vasek …

Novak Djokovic still hasn’t made a decision yet on his future with coach Boris Becker. Speaking Thursday in Shanghai following a 6-4, 6-3 win over Vasek Pospisil, Djokovic said there is no arrangement in place after 2016.

“We still haven’t talked about it.”

Djokovic added Becker just before the start of the 2013 season.

Under Becker, Djokovic has produced some of his best career tennis, winning half of his 12 Grand Slam …

The ATP hit tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios with a $16,500 fine Thursday for his actions during a loss to Mischa Zverev a day earlier in Shanghai.

The ATP broke down the fine as follows:
$10,000 – Lack of best effort
$5,000 – Verbal abuse of a spectator
$1,500 – Unsportsmanlike conduct

For reaching the second round, Kyrgios made $35,845, so he loses just less than half of his Shanghai earnings. No …

Rafael Nadal suffered a rare Masters early exit Wednesday in Shanghai falling to big-serving Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-6 in the second round.

Troicki, who was previously 0-5 against Rafa, walloped 11 aces with 31 winners and never dropped serve in the 94-minute match.

“I played really well,” said Troicki. “I was aggressive, I served well, I hit the ball nice.

“It was a great feeling on the court playing like this …

Last month Novak Djokovic admitted that he no longer was motivated by the No. 1 ranking or winning Grand Slams. A few weeks later, Djokovic was asked if anything had changed in his outlook. Well, it hasn’t. And he doesn’t even have catching Roger Federer’s 17 Slams as a goal.

“Right now, no,” Djokovic said of reaching 17. “I don’t think about that at all. I don’t think about any achievements. …