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Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan celebrates after defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States to reach the WTA Miami Open semi-finals (Rich Storry) World number two Elena Rybakina shrugged off a slow start to extend her dominance of Jessica Pegula and reach the Miami Open semi-finals on Wednesday. Reigning Australian Open champion Rybakina beat fifth-seeded Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was her fifth win in a row over the American, a streak that includes a semi-final victory at the Australian Open and a quarter-final win at Indian Wells this month. "It's always very difficult matches with Jessica," Rybakina said. "She started playing well, and I was a bit rushing and frustrated, but I'm happy that I managed to bounce back and turn it around in the second set." Pegula, who won last month's WTA title in Dubai, broke twice to jump to a 4-0 lead and took the opening set in 35 minutes. Rybakina missed three overhead smashes in the fifth game of the second but held s...

Frances Tiafoe returns a shot on his way to defeating defending champion Jakub Mensik at the Miami Open (Rich Storry) Defending champion Jakub Mensik was bundled out of the Miami Open on Monday, losing a gruelling three-set battle against 19th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (13/11). A 2hr 55min third-round slug-fest in searing late afternoon heat was decided by a marathon third set tiebreak when Czech 20-year-old Mensik saved six match points before finally succumbing at the Hard Rock Stadium. US hope Tiafoe, who himself saved two match points in the final tiebreak, sealed victory after converting his seventh match point when a Mensik return of serve drifted wide. Tiafoe will face France's Terence Atmane in the last 16. Atmane powered into the fourth round with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 upset of Canadian seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday. Auger-Aliassime joined a lengthening list of seeds who have stumbled in the early rounds in Miami that includes Indian Wells runner-up ...

American fifth seed Jessica Pegula advanced at the Miami Open when Britain's Francesca Jones retired due to illness (AL BELLO) World number two Jannik Sinner and fifth seed Jessica Pegula won on Saturday to reach the third round at the ATP and WTA Miami Open. Reigning Wimbledon champion Sinner dispatched 76th-ranked Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-3, 6-3 on the Florida hardcourts. "First-round matches are never easy, so I'm very happy and let's see what's coming," the 24-year-old Italian said. He will next face France's 31st-ranked Corentin Moutet, who outlasted Czech Tomas Machac 6-0, 1-6, 6-4. Four-time Grand Slam winner Sinner, who won the 2024 Miami crown, captured his 25th career ATP title by beating Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final last weekend. He is trying to become the first man to sweep the "Sunshine Double" by winning at Miami and Indian Wells since Roger Federer in 2017. Sinner broke for 2-0 lead when Dzumhur sent a...

Philippines' Alexandra Eala plays a return during her upset of Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson at the US Open (Kena Betancur) Alexandra Eala produced a jaw-dropping late comeback to carve out a piece of tennis history at the US Open on Sunday, becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a Grand Slam singles match with a first round upset of Danish 14th seed Clara Tauson. The 20-year-old from Quezon City recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the deciding set to score a thrilling 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (13/11) triumph. "I'm super over the moon with what I was able to do today, especially coming back in the third," Eala said. "It's a very special win for me." Eala's breakthrough comes at the end of a season where she had already served notice of her talent. She took down Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former world number one Iga Swiatek during a giant-killing run to the semi-finals of the Miami Open in March. But Sunday's triumph on the Grandsta...

Defending champion Jannik Sinner plays a forehand on the way to a fourth-round win over Adrian Mannarino at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open (Dylan Buell) Jannik Sinner ignored a mid-match rain interruption lasting nearly three hours as he booked his quarter-final spot at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Adrian Mannarino. The world number one, playing his first tournament since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon, notched his 24th consecutive hardcourt match win to enter his fifth quarter-final of the season. The win required patience, with the Italian who turns 24 on Saturday passing some of the afternoon weather pause by playing cards with his team. Sinner and Mannarino returned to action with Sinner leading 6-4, 1-2. But the Frenchman's tricky game took a toll as Sinner was broken while trying to serve out a straight-set win. The second set instead went to a tiebreak, with the Italian firing his 11th and 12th aces to clinch victory. "...

Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan advanced to the WTA Canadian Open semi-finals with a victory over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine (Minas Panagiotakis) Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA Canadian Open on Monday when Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk retired in the second set with a wrist injury. World number 12 Rybakina led 6-1, 2-1 when Kostyuk stopped the match, sending the Kazakhstan star into a semi-final against the winner of a later match between Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Canadian teen Victoria Mboko. The top five seeds and seven of the top 10 seeds were ousted before the quarter-finals at Montreal, opening the door for such upstarts as 18-year-old Mboko, who eliminated top seed Coco Gauff. Rybakina, seeded ninth, seeks her third WTA title after Rome and Indian Wells in 2023. She has not reached a final since last year at Miami. Rybakina broke 24th-seeded Kostyuk to open the match and led 2-1 when Kostyuk received medical treatment on ...

Top-seeded American Coco Gauff waves to fans after beating Veronika Kudermetova in the third round of the WTA Canadian Open in Montreal (Minas Panagiotakis) World number two Coco Gauff battled through another tough three-setter Thursday, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Veronika Kudermetova and reach the fourth round of the WTA Canadian Open. The top-seeded American, who won her second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, again struggled with her serve but held her nerve for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over former world number nine Kudermetova. "The goal of the game is to survive and advance," Gauff said. "It's not my best, but it was good enough for today and that's all I can ask for." Gauff arrived in Montreal having lost her tournament openers at Wimbledon and Berlin in the wake of her French Open triumph. She struggled mightily in her first match in Montreal but came up with a win over Danielle Collins despite 23 double faults. The numbers weren...

Iga Swiatek will face Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros (JULIEN DE ROSA) Carlos Alcaraz fought past American Ben Shelton in a tight four-set match to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday, while Iga Swiatek staged a comeback to defeat Elena Rybakina and keep her bid for a fourth straight title alive. Reigning champion Alcaraz clinched a 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory after three hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to book a last-eight berth for a fourth straight year. Alcaraz will take on Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals, after the 12th seed saw off Australia's Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. "Today I fought against myself in the mind," he said. "In some moments I was mad, I was thinking not very good things. But I'm really happy that I didn't let the bad thoughts play against me... I tried to calm myself down and keep going." The four-time Grand Slam champion saved three set points in a dramatic opening-set tie...

Jannik Sinner was in ominous form in reaching the Italian Open semi-finals (Filippo MONTEFORTE) Jannik Sinner marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 as Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China's Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women's final. American Gauff will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini in Saturday's title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner's toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in Madrid earlier this month.  In his previous matches Sinner looked to be still finding his feet after his suspension, accepted from the World Anti-Doping Agency for testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year. But the 23-year-old demolished sixth seed Ruud in just over an h...

Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States in the women's final of the Miami Open. (AL BELLO) World number one Aryna Sabalenka won the Miami Open on Saturday, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 in the WTA 1000 final at Hard Rock Stadium. The title was the Belarusian's first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph in Brisbane. Having lost the final at Indian Wells to Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, Sabalenka was determined not to fall at the last hurdle again. "Winning this trophy is super special," said Sabalenka, who paid tribute to Pegula's performance after repeating her win over her from last year's US Open final. Both players struggled to hold their serve in the first set, which saw seven breaks of serve, with Pegula causing Sabalenka some trouble when she brought her up to the net. But the momentum shifted when Pegula was serving to stay in the set at 6-5 down and...

Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina celebrates winning his match against Casper Ruud of Norway at the Miami Open on Tuesday. (AL BELLO) Argentine Francisco Cerundolo upset fifth-seed Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open. Cerundolo, who enjoys plenty of support from South Florida's large Argentine community, has now reached the last eight in three of his past four appearances at Miami. Cerundolo failed to make the most of three break points in the opening game but eventually broke through at 3-3, converting his fourth break point of that game. The 23rd seed, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, was dominant in the second set, but his victory was postponed by a three-hour, 30-minute rain delay that arrived when he was 5-1 up. "I’m super happy. It’s always difficult when you’re playing a really good match, controlling the game, and you have to stop for rain," said Cerundolo.  "It’s not easy, but I was...

Alexandra Eala of the Philippines upset Madison Keys at the Miami Open on Sunday. (Rich Storry) Fifth-seeded American Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, crashed out of the Miami Open on Sunday suffering a shock loss to 19-year-old Filipina wildcard Alexandra Eala. The 6-4, 6-2 win for the teenager prompted her to hug her team and celebrate passionately after she became the first woman from the Philippines to beat a top-10 opponent since the ranking system came into being in 1975.  Eala, the 2022 US Open girls' singles champion who has been based to the Rafael Nadal academy in Mallorca since she was 13, will now take on Spain's Paula Badosa for a spot in the quarterfinals. "Growing up it was tough," she said. "You didn't have anyone from where you're from to pave the way. Of course you had many people to look up to around the world, but I think -- I hope this takes Filipino tennis to the next step," Eala said in her on-court int...

Alexander Zverev of Germany serves against Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain at the Miami Open on Saturday. (AL BELLO) Britain's Jack Draper, the winner at Indian Wells, came back down to earth with a bump on Saturday, beaten by 54th ranked Czech Jakub Mensik in his opening match at the Miami Open. Draper moved into the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time in his career with his triumph over Holger Rune in the Indian Wells final last Sunday, having beaten Carlos Alcaraz in the last four. But the 19-year old Mensik rose to the occasion, winning two tie-breaks to enjoy a 7-6 (7/2) 7-6 (7/3) win. "It was tough, obviously I came up against someone today who was playing incredibly well," said Draper. "He served 10 out of 10, I couldn't get a read or a look on his serve at all. There were some things I could do better and obviously a big change in surface from last week," he said, noting he had struggled to adjust to the faster courts. Rune was caught out...

Denmark's Holger Rune celebrates his semi-final victory over Russian Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells (Patrick T. Fallon) Denmark's Holger Rune beat Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Indian Wells ATP Masters final on Saturday, denying the Russian world number six a third straight trip to the title match. Rune, ranked 13th, snapped a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals and will face either two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Britain's Jack Draper on Sunday. "It means everything," Rune said. "The job is not over yet, but it feels amazing. Playing Daniil is one of the toughest challenges for me on tour. I obviously had the right tactics, but it was still so difficult because he puts in great effort and is super solid." In a rematch of last year's quarter-finals, the 21-year-old Rune showed admirable discipline against the Medvedev's vaunted defense, sticking in the rallies and keeping the Russian off balance with a variety of shots...