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Australian Open
Moments after Alexander Zverev's loss in the Australian Open final Sunday, a person in the stadium yelled out the names of two of the tennis star's ex-girlfriends who have accused him of physical abuse in the past, saying Australia believes them. As Zverev stood at a microphone waiting to speak during the trophy ceremony, a voice repeated the phrase three times. Some others in the crowd at Rod Laver Arena booed and whistled. At his news conference following the match, Zverev, a 27-year-old from Germany, was asked for his reaction to the interruption on court. I believe there are no more accusations, Zverev responded. There haven't been for what? nine months now. ... I think I've done everything I can, and I'm not about to open that subject again. On the day that Zverev reached the French Open final last June, word emerged from Berlin that a district court there ended a trial stemming from a woman's accusation of domestic violence during a 2020 argument. The resolution came with
Australian Open women's champion Madison Keys returned to her career-best ranking on Monday and joins three other American women in the WTA top 10, while men's champion Jannik Sinner maintained his significant lead atop the ATP list. Keys won her first Grand Slam title with a three-set victory over the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to move from No. 14 and match her career-high at No. 7. Keys joins fellow Americans Coco Gauff (No. 3), Jessica Pegula (No. 6) and Emma Navarro, who slipped one place to No. 9, in the women's top 10. Sabalenka, who was attempting to achieve a rare three-peat of the Australian Open title remains at No. 1, and Iga Swiatek stays at No. 2 after her loss to Keys in a thrilling semifinal. Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen dropped three places to No. 8, while former No. 2 Paola Badosa rose two places to round out the top 10 after her semifinal run at Melbourne Park. The men's top four rankings remained as they were with Sinner at No. 1 a spot he's h
Of all the praise bestowed on Jannik Sinner after he won his second consecutive Australian Open championship, and third Grand Slam title overall, nothing felt as significant as the comparison made by runner-up Alexander Zverev. Facing Sinner, particularly on hard courts, reminded Zverev a lot of trying to solve the challenge presented by none other than 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic. He's very, very similar to Novak when he was at his best. They barely miss. Like, barely miss. They make you think like you have to overhit all the time to have a chance in a rally against them, Zverev said after losing to Sinner 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Sunday night. It's very, very difficult to win a point from the back of the court against them against Novak and him," said Zverev, who is ranked No. 2 but felt much further away from No. 1 Sinner in Rod Laver Arena. "(Both) move, obviously, tremendous. They're constantly on the baseline. They don't give you any space. They don't
Novak Djokovic posted a scan of his injured left hamstring on social media early Sunday, more than 24 hours after being booed at the Australian Open when he quit playing one set into his semifinal because of what he said at his news conference was a torn muscle. The 24-time Grand Slam champion put the picture of the MRI taken Saturday on X and wrote: Thought I'd leave this here for all the sports injury 'experts' out there. He did not offer any additional information, such as the exact diagnosis he might have received or any timeline for his recovery. The 37-year-old Djokovic stopped his match against Alexander Zverev after dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker on Friday. After shaking hands with Zverev and the chair umpire, Djokovic gathered his equipment and started walking toward the locker room. Some of the spectators in Rod Laver Arena jeered him. Djokovic put both of his thumbs up before leaving. During his on-court interview, Zverev chastised those who booed Djokovic. I
Iga Swiatek is dominating her Australian Open opponents the way no one has at Melbourne Park since Maria Sharapova in 2013. Swiatek's latest lopsided win came via a 6-1, 6-2 score in the quarterfinals against No. 8 seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday. The No. 2-seeded Swiatek not only has not dropped a set so far in the tournament, but also has lost a grand total of only 14 games as she seeks her first title at Melbourne Park and sixth Grand Slam trophy overall. Sharapova was the last woman to reach the Australian Open semifinals having dropped fewer than 15 games. She does everything with 100% conviction and intensity, Navarro said about Swiatek. She has a different style of movement and play. It's tough to not be sort of affected by that and not feel like, OK, I have to do everything at the same speed that she's doing it.' So that was something, for sure, I felt a little bit today. Swiatek will face No. 19 Madison Keys of the U.S. on Thursday night for a berth in the final. The other