Tennis

Simona Halep is into the semi-finals of the Doha Open after edging Julia Goerges in two tiebreaks.

Simona Halep eased into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open after a 6-2 6-3 win over Lesia Tsurenko.

Despite the loss of world number one Naomi Osaka through injury, six of the women’s top 10 players descend on Doha this week for the Qatar Open. Australian Open champion — and the sport’s new superstar — Osaka withdrew last week due to a back injury, leaving a big hole to fill for tournament organisers, which they have done with a strong field including three former world number ones. Simona Halep is now the top seed and the Romanian will be joined by the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and Germany’s Angelique Kerber as the top seeds.

Alexander Zverev described Novak Djokovic as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘the best player in the world’ when discussing his straight-set Grand Slam final victory over Rafael Nadal.

The newly-minted number one women’s tennis player opens up about her journey and her future plans live on “GMA.”

Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka is the first player from Asia to top the men’s or women’s tennis rankings — and the youngest woman to make her debut at No. 1 in nine years. “I feel like I’m literally just still learning,” the 21-year-old Osaka said. Simona Halep’s 48-week stay atop the WTA rankings ended Monday as she slid to No. 3 after a fourth-round loss to Serena Williams, one year after getting to the final at Melbourne Park.

After defeating Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic now ranks third all-time with 15 Grand Slam titles. But where exactly does he stack up against the sport’s best ever?

Complete dominance by one team or individual is rarely popular, since inevitably such a situation breeds jealousy, resentment and boredom. Women’s tennis meanwhile has veered between both of these extremes over the last 15 years – an era that can be broadly split into two sections. Or when Williams has been absent a series of understudies have grappled unconvincingly to take centre stage.

Dane Caroline Wozniacki, whose defence of her Australian Open title ended in the third round, fell six places to ninth. The biggest rise of the week was by the 25-year-old American Danielle Collins who leaped 12 places to 23rd after her run to the semi…

When the latest world rankings are released on Monday, Naomi Osaka – the freshly minted Australian Open champion – will become the sixth woman to stand atop the ladder since the spring of 2017, when Serena Williams stepped off the tour to have a baby. …

Novak Djokovic has won his record seventh Australian Open championship and a third consecutive Grand Slam title by beating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in the final at Rod Laver Arena. The No. 1-ranked Djokovic raised his major trophy total to 15, behind only Roger Federer’s 20 and Nadal’s 17. Djokovic improved to 7-0 in finals at Melbourne Park with a remarkably dominant and mistake-free performance against Nadal.

Newly-minted Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka said she was not satisfied with back-to-back majors Sunday and hoped to complete a “Naomi Slam” after her success at Melbourne Park. Japan’s Osaka becomes the first Asian to hold the top ranking after downing Czech Petra Kvitova in a tight final on Saturday night and adding the Australian crown to the US Open title she won last year. While her maiden Grand Slam was marred by losing finalist Serena Williams’ umpire-baiting histrionics and boos from the Flushing Meadows crowd, Osaka was allowing her follow-up success in Melbourne to soak in.

Led by a congratulatory tweet from the prime minister, Japan reveled in Naomi Osaka’s dramatic Australian Open win on Sunday. Osaka beat Petra Kvitova 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-4 on Saturday to claim a second consecutive Grand Slam singles title. The 21-year-old Osaka also became the first tennis player from Japan to reach No. 1 in the rankings.

Incredibly, the two have played each other 52 times. And fittingly, given how both stand among the greats to have graced the game, the victories are very evenly distributed. Djokovic has the edge with 27 of the wins, with Nadal taking 25 victories.

Naomi Osaka made history with her Australian Open win, as she sealed back-to-back grand slam titles.