World No. 1 Serena Williams and first-time WTA Finals competitor Simona Halep were winners on Day 1 at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Williams was tested against former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic is a spirited 6-4, 6-4 win.

“Today I was really fighting all the way,” said Serena, whose participation was in doubt after a knee injury earlier in the month. “Ana played so well, I was just trying to fight …

With just two weeks to go, the Race for the London finals is really heating up. Already five spots have been booked with Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych all but assured berths in the prestigious year-end event.

That leaves one remaining spot open and right now thanks to a second title in four weeks it belongs to Andy Murray. The Scot now holds a significant 110 point lead over No. 9 …

Cilic Wins Moscow, Secures Year-end Championship Berth; Pavlyuchenkova Perseveres

US Open champ Marin Cilic used the week at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow to shore-up a spot at the year-end championships, in the Sunday final defeating No. 5 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4 for his fourth title of the year.

“After winning such a big tournament as a Grand Slam you have a lot of emotions and it’s important to bounce …

Two players fighting for London berths will play in finals on Sunday. In Vienna, Andy Murray meets David Ferrer in a crucial London clash. After a win over Viktor Troicki today, at No. 8 Murray is just a few points ahead of Ferrer in the Race, with the winner of the match moving ahead.

“My plan is to try and play very aggressively with my forehand,” said Ferrer who beat Philipp …

WTA Finals
Singapore; Surface: hard

Red Group: Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Ana Ivanovic

White Group: Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova, Aggie Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki

Notes: Play begins Monday…Half the field is new from last year with Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki not present in 2013, and Halep and Bouchard making their debuts…Serena has won the last two year-end championships, four overall…Ivanovic is 2-11 career against the players in her …

Andy Murray is in Vienna this week chasing a berth in London. But off the court Murray was spotted at Cafe Sacher where the Wimbledon champion got to serve and eat some good looking cake.

Take it away Andy:

Murray’s first trip to the tournament has been a success thus far. Today he made the semifinals with a 62, 75 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff. Tomorrow he’ll …

At the start of the year new coach Roger Rasheed wanted his star pupil Grigor Dimitrov to shed his “showtime” lavel and cut out the shenanigans. But…watch this:

Incredible!

Dimitrov had lost the first set to Jack Sock but with some ridiculous shotmaking came back to win 57, 64, 63, to reach the semifinals at the Stockholm Open and also improve his chances for London. He’ll …

In a new interview, Rafael Nadal says that he is going to have surgery by the end of the year for appendicitis, but he won’t put a date on it yet.

“It’s not been an easy season for me at the end,” he told Sky Sports. “I have to do the surgery, but I need to find the right moment.”

If Nadal does have surgery after Paris as speculated he …

What would Roger Federer rather do, finish No. 1 or win the Davis Cup? If asked, the Swiss who finished in the top spot five times, might choose the Davis Cup, arguably the biggest omission from his stellar resume right now.

The 33-year Federer is set to return to Basel next week. But instead of practicing on indoor hardcourts in preparation for his home event, according to this tweet from yesterday …

Fifteen year tour veteran and former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko announced his retirement from pro tennis earlier today.

“I am 33 years old. I won 21 ATP World Tour tournaments, including three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. I don’t have any regrets about not winning a Grand Slam or not being No. 1 in the world. I was in the …

According to a new report from IB3, Rafael Nadal will not play in the year-end ATP Finals. The World No. 3 will still play Basel then Paris, but then have surgery to remove his inflamed appendix at the start of November.

The timing of the surgery will give Nadal a full 6-8 weeks of recovery before the Australian Open and the start of the new season. If true, Nadal’s withdrawal also …

Juan Martin del Potro has decided to officially end his 2014 season. There was some hope the Argentine would return to Basel to defend his 2013 title, but he announced earlier today that he will make his comeback fresh at the start of 2015.

“I’m training well, but the recovery from the wrist surgery is slow and I’m still not ready to be in the competitive level that allows me …

According to a DPA report, Juan Martin del Potro still could play next week in Basel where the Argentine is the defending champion.

Del Potro has been sidelined since March after undergoing surgery on his left wrist. The 26-year-old is said to be weighing the option of coming back for Basel and Paris or simply making a fresh return at the start of 2015.

Del Potro is currently ranked No. …

It’s been over three years since Robin Soderling last played on the ATP. Now 30, still fighting mono, Soderling hopes to one day return to the sport he loved, the one that saw him twice reach the French Open final, and the one that saw him beat Rafael Nadal on those same Roland Garros clay courts in 2009.

With the Stockholm Open this week, Soderling is back in the …

Tomas Berdych has expressed interest in having Ivan Lendl as his coach since his countryman left Andy Murray. But unfortunately for Berdych, Lendl isn’t available.

I had a great time talking about tennis with Ivan Lendl today. Result? Ivan would like to help me, but he is too busy…

— Tomáš Berdych (@tomasberdych) October 13, 2014

Berdych talked about working with Lendl at Wimbledon, and mentioned …