Venus Wins Tailor-made Title in Taiwan

The Venus Williams Open, otherwise known as the Taiwan Open, ended on Sunday when the top seed defeated No. 2 seed Misaki Doi of Japan 6-4, 6-2, for her 49th career title.

“I’ve had so much success in Asia, I feel like it’s very lucky to play here,” said Williams, who trailed a break in the first set. “My opponent was incredible today. I was leading …

RIO OPEN
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Surface: clay

Men’s Seeds: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Dominic Thiem, Jack Sock, Fabio Fognini, Thomaz Bellucci

Men’s Floaters: Nicolas Almagro, Alexandr “The Dog” Dolgopolov

Men’s Notes: Three Top 10 players in the field…What are Americans Isner and Sock doing here?…Not a lot of floating talent in the field…(1) Nadal looking at a second round meeting with Almagro, and (8) Bellucci starts against former finalist …

Defending champion Rafael Nadal’s title hopes came to a crashing end today in Buenos Aires where the Spaniard was stunned by Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) in the semifinals.

Nadal, who hadn’t lost a set all week, beat Thiem at the French Open almost two years ago. But the powerful and much-improved 22-year-old wasn’t shy and took advantage of an error-filled tiebreak to earn his first career win over a Big …

DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dubau, U.A.E.; Surface: hard

Seeds: Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Carla Suarez Navarro, Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Roberta Vinci, Svetlana Kuznetsova

Floaters: Ana Ivanovic, Daria Gavrilova, Julia Goerges, Caroline Garcia, Jelena Jankovic, Ekaterina Makarova

Notes: Four Top 10ers in the field, and all seeds are in the Top 20…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…A tough field yields a number of strong first-round match-ups: (1) Halep vs. the …

Despite a ab injury which has forced him out of next week’s Delray Beach event, Milos Raonic was among the stars on court during last night’s NBA Celebrity game in Toronto.

And Raonic, who has been practicing for the event, show off some of his basketball skills including this dunk!

Even Drake approved.

Also on the court was Genie Bouchard who with Raonic helped pace Canada to …

Defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the Buenos semifinals following a 7-6, 6-2 win over Italian Paolo Lorenzi on Friday. Nadal battled both the heat and continued issues with his stomach during the victory.

“The conditions were really extreme and they made me very tired,” said Nadal. “So I am happy to be in the semi-finals as this is an important week for me. I thank all the fans who put …

It wasn’t his best performance, but Rafael Nadal was a winner in his opener in his Buenos Aires title last night. In a rematch of the 2015 final Nadal beat good friend Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-4, also overcoming a stomach ache.

“I’m happy for the victory,” Nadal said. “The start was tough, as Juan is a good player and the big humidity here in Argentina made it difficult. I am happy …

Justine Henin is returning to tennis joining the wave of former champions to coach current players. The Belgian has signed on to become a special consultant for Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian star announced.

“Henin will undoubtedly be utilized by Elina not only in terms of play style, but also psychologically. In December Svitolina shared that she will be very satisfied if Justine adjoins her team,” Svitolina’s website posted.

Henin will make …

In a losing effort at the Bergamo Challenger in Italy, Dustin Brown hit one of the better volleys you will see, connecting on this behind-the-back winner:

Brown eventually lost the match to Aldin Setkic in three sets.

Gael Monfils won the match yesterday beating Borna Coric in three sets, but…

Rafael Nadal opens his title defense tonight in Buenos Aires against friend Juan Monaco in a rematch of their 2015 final.

Nadal will make his clay court debut and appear in his first match since his shock first round loss last month at the Australian Open. The Spaniard is trying to avoid his first three-match losing streak since 2009.

Second seed David Ferrer is also in action against Renzo Olivo. Yesterday, American …

Dear International Tennis Federation,

Please stop crushing the reputation of professional tennis worldwide, with tennis fans and the general public perception.

On Tuesday, on the bottom news scroll on ESPN screens around the world, sports fans learned that the ITF banned two tennis umpires for corruption, and suspended four more who are under investigation.

The problem is, these aren’t “tour” umpires. They’re nobody Futures-level or ITF-circuit or Crap-stanistak Challenger umpires. And the ITF …

Rafael Nadal returns to his beloved clay this week ready to begin his title defense in Buenos Aires. Though talk was still on his shock first round exit at the Australian Open last month.

“I didn’t like at all the defeat in Australia, but that I cannot solve,” Nadal said. “It was a bad tournament. [It] just did not work out despite having prepared very well. So I’m in Buenos …

Andy Murray is now a father! Murray’s wife Kim Sears gave birth on Sunday to a baby girl, according to British reports.

Details – like the name of the baby – are still to come, but the BBC spoke with Murray’s grandmother, Shirley Erskine.

“I don’t have any details I just know that I’ve got a great granddaughter so that is just lovely.

“All I could think of after Andy had finished …

NETHERLANDS d. RUSSIA 3-1
Yow! It’s the Fed Cup upset of the year, or century, as the unheralded Netherlands comes into Moscow and comes out with a win. Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens upsets Ekaterina Makarova, and then No. 141-ranked Richel Hogenkamp ousts former world No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 10-8 in the third. Bertens hands Kuznetsova another loss in the third match and it’s game over man — a 3-0 Dutch sweep.

“The thing …