• Czech player won 6-3, 6-4 to claim second title of the season• Konta made it to Rome final as an unseeded playerJohanna Konta’s hopes of winning the Italian Open were dashed as Karolina Pliskova powered her way to victory in Rome. Related: John McEnr…
In the Realm of Perfection uses archive footage no one knew existed to chart Superbrat’s failure to win the French OpenA new documentary, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, has been called, in US Vogue, “the best tennis film ever made”. This in …
• Win is best in Briton’s clay-court career • Dutchwoman won Madrid Open last weekJohanna Konta defeated the sixth-seeded, Kiki Bertens 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in nearly three hours to reach the Italian Open final for the biggest clay-court result of her career….
• British No 1 beats Czech 6-3, 3-6, 6-1• Naomi Osaka pulls out of quarter-finals with injuryJohanna Konta booked her place in the semi-finals of the Italian Open with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Marketa Vondrousova on Friday.After her exp…
Who came back? Who took off? Who lashed out?A couple of years ago, Santi Cazorla underwent 11 operations and was told he would never play football again. What did he do this week?Returned to the pitch for one final game before retirement Played in a Cu…
Who came back? Who took off? Who lashed out?A couple of years ago, Santi Cazorla underwent 11 operations and was told he would never play football again. What did he do this week?Returned to the pitch for one final game before retirement Played in a Cu…
Nick Kyrgios is out of the Italian Open after being defaulted in his second-round clash with Caspar Ruud. With scores level at 6-3 6-7(5) 1-1 in the third set, Kyrgios was given a game penalty, apparently for swearing at a line judge, and promptly erup…
Federer beat Coric, Nadal thrashed ChardyWednesday’s washout forces two matches in dayRoger Federer and Rafael Nadal advanced with routine wins in the first of their two matches at the Italian Open on Thursday.A washout on Wednesday backed up play, cau…
Konta beats Stephens 6-7, 6-4, 6-1Osaka beats Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3Johanna Konta came back from a set down to beat Sloane Stephens for arguably the best win of her career in the second round at the Italian Open. However, she must return to the court later…
World No 34 hammers men’s tennis champions during Rome Masters podcastFree-speaking Australian calls Fernando Verdasco ‘most arrogant person ever’Nick Kyrgios has launched a remarkable volley of insults at some of the leading players in men’s tennis ah…
• Two-times champion still struggling with shoulder injury• ‘Sometimes the right decisions aren’t always the easiest ones’Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the French Open because of a shoulder problem. The two-times Roland Garros champion has not pla…
American has been dealing with a knee injury this yearWorld No11 had been due to face her sister, VenusSerena Williams has withdrawn from the Premier 5 tournament in Rome, the last big event before this month’s French Open.Williams said she has been de…
• Williams beats qualifier in comeback game from injury• Konta eases through, but Edmund out in first roundSerena Williams fell behind 3-1 in the first set before opening her clay court season with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca …
Frances Tiafoe used to sleep at the tennis centre where his father was janitor. Now the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone is taking on the great names in the sport“It’s a movie, man, an absolute movie. I say it all the time,” Frances Tiafoe exclaims …
Liverpool lost just one match in the Premier League this season but still finished second. They are not alone in their bad luckLiverpool just lost one game in the Premier League this season but finished second. Which Italian club went a full season unb…
• World No 1 defeats 20-year-old Greek 6-3, 6-4 in final • Djokovic’s 33rd Masters title puts him alongside Rafael NadalNovak Djokovic, without a trophy since the Australian Open and distracted for too long by off-court politics, ground down the best y…
• World No 1 wins 7-6, 7-6 and will face Nadal or Tsitsipas• Kiki Bertens beats Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4 in women’s finalNovak Djokovic might never unseat the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, but the world No 1 showed why he remains the most lethal heir appare…
• Romanian emerges from tricky semi-final 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-0• Halep will return to No 1 in the world if she wins finalSimona Halep is one win away from returning to No 1 in the world for the third time after breaking the resistance of the resurgent worl…
Sports writer Alex Hutchinson picks the best books that explore sex, gender and the nature-nurture debateThe essential goal of sport, according to the bioethicist Thomas Murray, is the “virtuous perfection of our natural talents”. But what counts as “n…
• Federer saves match points and wins 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (3)• Novak Djokovic eases to 6-1, 7-6 (2) victory against ChardyRoger Federer, as only he would dare to do, serve-volleyed on second serve to save one of two match points and then went on to claim the…
