Simona Halep held Serena Williams’s fate at the WTA Finals in her hand today. A straight set loss to Ana Ivanovic would have eliminated Serena from the event she had won four times. A set win would put Serena in the semifinals.

In the match, Halep led Ivanovic 52 in the first set before losing in a breaker 76. With Ivanovic holding the momentum and the motivation – to qualify …

With Maria Sharapova elimination from the WTA Finals in Singapore, Serena Williams officially clinched the WTA’s year-end No. 1 ranking.

It marks the fourth time in Serena’s career that the American has finished a season ranked No. 1 after 2002, 2009 and 2013. She’s also just the fifth player in WTA history to do it four or more times after Steffi Graf (who did it eight times), Martina Navratilova (seven times), …

Serena Williams back-doored her way into WTA Finals semifinal round on Friday while Maria Sharapova was eliminated from contention in Singapore.

Sharapova was out after she failed to defeat Aggie Radwanska on Friday in round robin play in straight sets, while Caroline Wozniacki’s straight-set win over Petra Kvitova secured Radwanska into the semis.

Wozniacki, now into the Saturday semifinals where she will meet her friend Serena, would not have even qualified for …

Citing “personal reasons”, Rafael Nadal officially withdrew from the Paris Masters next week. Nadal, who is battling appendicitis, will play through the Basel event but will forego the final Masters 1000 event of the season.

The withdrawal likely also indicates Nadal will miss the London Finals so he can undergo surgery to remove his inflamed appendix.

Nadal has never won the Paris Indoors.

The tournament also announced the withdrawals of Ernests Gulbis …

One of the downsides of round robin play in the awkward situation we have on Friday at the WTA Finals in Singapore. Simona Halep, who won her group and qualified for a spot in the semifinals on Saturday, holds Serena Williams’s fate in the tournament on her racquet.

Halep, who beat Serena along with Genie Bouchard, in 2-0 and on top of her Red Group. Serena, a 6-1, 6-1, winner today …

A couple of good matches are lined up Friday in Basel. Five-time tournament champion – and favorite to win a sixth – Roger Federer meets his younger doppelganger Grigor Dimitrov. Rafael Nadal is also in quarterfinal action against rising star Borna Coric.

Federer dropped the first to Denis Istomin today before recovering to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. I was able to only catch the first set, a set in which Federer …

Top tennis draws Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both breezed today in early round play in Basel. Playing in his first match, home favorite and 5-time tournament champion Federer blew out Gilles Muller 6-1, 6-2 in just 47 minutes.

“I am very happy with how the first round went here,” said Federer. “It was totally different to Shanghai, when I saved five match points [v Mayer]. This time around, I was …

World No. 1 Serena Williams was made to look like a failed qualifier on Tuesday at the WTA Finals in Singapore, receiving a 6-0, 6-2 beatdown at the hands of Romanian former world No. 2 Simona Halep.

Williams described the encounter as “embarrassing” in a post-match conference where she maintained a smile while at the same time looking like she could begin crying at any moment.

“My forehand was off today,” Williams …

Earlier today the WTA Finals in Singapore saw its first big upset as Simona Halep not only ended Serena Williams’s 16-match win streak at the event, but also dominated the World No. 1 beating her in resounding fashion 60, 62.

The 60 bagel Serena ate was just the 7th of a career that began 19 years ago in 1995! That’s seven bagel sets in 801 career matches!

Here’s a list of all …

A very happy Novak Djokovic took to twitter to officially confirm the birth of he and wife Jelena Ristic’s first child. The new baby boy, named Stefan, was born yesterday in Nice, France, which is near their home in Monte Carlo.

Stefan, our baby angel was born! I am so proud of my beautiful wife Jelena! Thank you so much for your love and support. We love you all!!!

— …

In a breaking story, media out of Serbia are reporting that Novak Djokovic’s wife, Jelena Ristic, has given birth today to a baby boy.

According to the story, the families have been celebrating at the “Novak” restaurants. Good times for everyone and congratulations to the happy couple!

As this is still not 100% confirmed publicly by Djokovic, we don’t have a name yet for the baby. Just a hunch, it probably …

With the clock running out, Roger Federer and Andy Murray are both in action on Wednesday in Europe, with both aiming for lofty goals.

Despite going Slam-less in 2014, Federer finds himself with a decent shot at the year-end No. 1 ranking, and that chase resumes this week in Basel where 500 points are available for the taking.

“It’s all to play for and I hope to start off well in Basel,” …

In one of the better matches of the season, Caroline Wozniacki continued her resurgence beating Maria Sharapova Tuesday in round robin play at the Singapore WTA Finals.

Wozniacki, who also beat Sharapova at the US Open, took this one 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

“I just feel like right now with all the training and running I’ve been doing, I can keep being out there and keep running,” said …

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During 64, 64 win over Ana Ivanovic in the opening day of the WTA Finals, Serena Williams did one of her trademark splits.

The World No. 1 is one of the more muscular players on the women’s tour, so it’s quite extraordinary she has …

Playing with an inflamed appendix, Rafael Nadal dominated Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2 in his first round of Basel.

“This was a very important victory for me,” said Nadal who is playing in Basel for the first time in 10 years. “I played a good match, a solid one. I played with not many mistakes.”

The 29-year-old Bolelli dropsh to 0-33 lifetime against Top 10 players.

Nadal will play the winner of the Edouard …