The North American summer hardcourt series kicked off Monday in Atlanta where big men John Isner, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson stand tall in a modest field. But the real fun begins next week with Top 10 players like Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov taking the court in D.C. And then it’s back-to-back Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati in August before week off to make final preparations …

Milos Raonic showed off his baseball skills last night at the Toronto Blue Jays game. With the Canadian Open now just weeks away, Raonic was at the Jays game promoting the event. The Canadian star who just made the semifinals at Wimbledon uniquely “served” the traditional first pitch before the game then made his way up to the booth for a quick tennis chat with the commentators.

“That was my first …

Just days after wedding longtime girlfriend Jelena Ristic, Novak Djokovic has made his first public statement.

In a post earlier today, the world No. 1 wrote on facebook: “Mrs. Djokovic and myself are sending you one big #hug from Belgrade Thank you all for beautiful wishes! Last couple of weeks were the best weeks of our lives and now with new energy we are turning to new challenges!”

And he added …

Viktor Troicki is back playing pro tennis for the first time in 12 months. Troicki, who was suspended a year ago for a doping violation – he infamously refused to give a blood sample – served out his suspension and yesterday, he returned to beat rising star Dominic Thiem 76, 64.

“Today was a bit tough to play because I was kind of nervous and I didn’t play my best …

Another high profile sports romance is over. Former Top 10 Maria Kirilenko has announced that her engagement to NHL star Alex Ovechkin is over.

“I have decided to terminate the engagement,” the 27-year-old Kirilenko said. “There are many reasons, but I do not want to go into details. I’ll say one thing: our relationship completed, but I respect Sasha as a person and athlete and I sincerely wish him continued athletic …

Wozniacki Keeps Pace with McIlroy with Tournament Title at Istanbul

Not to let her former beau Rory McIlroy steal the entire spotlight at the British Open, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki won her first title of the year on Sunday on the same day at the TEB BNP Paribas Instanbul Open, rolling over Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1.

“I’m happy to have won my 22nd WTA title,” Wozniacki said. “I served well …

BB&T Atlanta Open
Atlanta, Ga., USA; Surface: hard

Seeds: John Isner, Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils, Vasek Pospisil, Denis Istomin, Yen-Hsun Lu, Marinko Matosevic, Sam Querrey

Floaters: (WC) Robby Ginepri, Jack Sock, Steve Johnson

Notes: Radek “The Worm” Stepanek withdraws with a hamstring injury, allowing Querrey to sneak into the seedings…The kickoff event for the 2014 US Open Series…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Potential tough starts for (1) Isner vs. American compatriot (WC) Ginepri …

Rafael Nadal’s sponsor, PokerStars.net, released this video of the tennis great enjoying some poker fun and BBQ at his house in Mallorca.

“My history with this game is simple,” Nadal told Marca via Google Translation. “Those Sunday afternoons where it rains and not much to do, I played a little game with my friends or my family.”

Nadal, who admitted he doesn’t like to bluff, also said that post tennis he …

After her mysterious exit from Wimbledon and subsequent withdrawal from this week’s Bastad event, based on the media it looks like Serena Williams is feeling a lot better. The 17-time Slam champion returned to Europe accompanying hitting partner Sascha Bajin on his trip home to Croatia.

The DailyMail had this picture spread with Serena and a new beau (that isn’t the ex Partrick Mouratoglou) at the beach.

And there …

In the midst of one of his best season, Alexandr Dolgpolov will be sidelined for the upcoming North American hardcourt swing due to a knee injury he suffered earlier this week during Hamburg where he lost in the third round to Tobias Kamke in three sets.

“I am really unhappy to announce that I injured my knee in Hamburg and I will probably need a surgery and will be out for …

Ana Ivanovic announced yesterday that she has made a coaching move. The Serbian beauty who has been coachless will now take instruction from Dejan Petrovic on a trial basis this summer.

The Australian born Petrovic, a former Challenger level player and Davis Cup captain, worked with Novak Djokovic during the World No. 1’s teen years and currently runs a tennis academy in Serbia. He also has recent coaching ties to …

The dream run for Alexander Zverev continued on Friday. Playing in his hometown of Hamburg, the 17-year-old Zverev rallied to beat compatriot Tobias Kamke 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals at the ATP 500 German Open.

“I wasn’t nervous, I just didn’t expect him to play as well as he did in the first set,” said Zverev who won a total of six points in the first set. “He played …

The young guys are coming, the young guys are coming. That’s been the mantra all season. And after breakout performances from Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard, Nick Kyrgios and last year Jerzy Janowicz, their not just coming, they are here!

And today we can add another name to the growing mix of future talent, his name is Alexander “Sascha” Zverev. Earlier on Thursday the 17-year-old German overcame some nerves to …

Tennis power couple Maria Sharapova and her boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov were at ESPN’s ESPY Awards last night in L.A. Sharapova, who was there to pick up the Female Tennis Player of the Year Award (Rafael Nadal won the men’s honor), and Grigor were both dressed to the nines for the all-star occasion.

Here are some pictures:

Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) taking her turn in the 360 cam #ESPYS

…

Pop star Drake and up-and-coming phenom Nick Kyrgios crossed cultures and continents this past week thanks to a minor misunderstanding. The 19-year-old Kyrgios rose to stardom status earlier this month at Wimbledon taking out World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the biggest shock of the tournament and maybe of the year. And Nick’s notoriety continues to climb now that he’s involved in a public feud with Drake.

What happened was after …