Five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams beat Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in Memphis on Monday at a WTA and ATP event in only her third match since last July because of a left wrist injury.
Seventh seed Williams made her debut this year by reaching the second round of the US$757,000 event, while men's fifth seed Xavier Malisse made an exit in the first round after a right wrist injury forced a retirement from his match.
Williams, ranked 53rd, has not won a title since capturing the 2005 Wimbledon crown.
Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili advanced 4-6, 2-2 when Malisse dropped out and another Russian, Evgeny Korolev, ousted US eighth seed Robby Ginepri 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-3.
Also joining the seeded scrap heap was France's number three Marion Bartoli. American Laura Granville ousted Bartoli 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.
Australian fifth seed Nicole Pratt defeated American Lilia Osterloh 6-3, 6-0 while US sixth seed Shenay Perry downed France's Youlia Fedossova 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 7-5 and US eighth seed Jill Craybas beat Ireland's Kelly Liggan 6-4, 6-4.
Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun eliminated Aussie Chris Guccione 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Starting with three fights in the first nine seconds and ending with a celebration and a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off final, the US on Saturday delivered exactly what Matthew Tkachuk hoped for by beating Canada. “We needed to send a message,” Tkachuk said. “The message we wanted to send is ‘It’s our time.’” Tkachuk fought Brandon Hagel off the opening faceoff, brother Brady tussled with Sam Bennett the next time the puck dropped, J.T. Miller dropped the gloves with Colton Parayko next and the Americans followed those fisticuffs with a 3-1 victory over their biggest rival. “That was one of the
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Aaliyah Edwards on Monday pulled off the stunner of the opening round of the Unrivaled one-on-one tournament, beating top-seeded Breanna Stewart 12-0. The tournament to be played over three days featured 23 of the WNBA’s 36 players. A few had other commitments and a couple others were out with injuries. Stewart got the ball first against Edwards and missed a contested layup. Edwards then hit a three-pointer from the corner and a jumper from the elbow to go up 5-0. The player who scores keeps the basketball. Edwards hit two layups and a three-pointer to seal the win. Stewart, a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player,