Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova is retiring as a professional tennis player at age 32 after a career that includes five Grand Slam titles and 21 weeks at No. 1 in the rankings

Maria Sharapova announced on Wednesday that she is retiring from professional tennis.  Sharapova won five grand slam titles during her career.

Smoke haze and poor air quality caused by wildfires temporarily suspended practice sessions for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday, but qualifying began later in the morning in “very poor” air quality.

Serena Williams was not about to let Maria Sharapova make a match of this. So facing a break point early in the second set, Williams conjured up a backhand passing shot so good, so powerful, so precise, that Sharapova had no chance to reach it. Williams watched the ball land, and then raised a clenched left fist toward the night...

The year’s last Grand Slam tennis tournament gets started with quite a matchup: Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are scheduled to face each other at the U.S. Open for the first time.

This was one mistake too far for Serena Williams. Sure, the bad backhand put her behind only 15-30 at the outset of the second set of her opening match at Roland Garros on Monday. What made the miscue so bothersome? She’d already dropped the first set against 83rd-ranked Vitalia Diatchenko — and Williams’ unforced error total already was at 15...

Serena Williams is set to return from injury at the upcoming Italian Open. Tournament director Sergio Palmieri told The Associated Press on Friday that he spoke with Williams’ agent and that Williams “has already reserved her rooms and should be here a few days early” for the May 13-19 event. Williams has not played since withdrawing from her third-round match...

The events and the arguing and the booing that would make this a U.S. Open final unlike any other began when Serena Williams’ coach made what she insisted was an innocent thumbs-up, but the chair umpire interpreted as a helpful signal. It was the second game of the second set Saturday, in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Williams’ bid...

With the temperature topping 95 degrees and the humidity approaching 50 percent, nearly everything became a struggle for every player across the grounds on Day 2 of the U.S. Open, so much so that no fewer than six quit their matches, with five citing cramps or heat exhaustion.

Some players, like top-ranked Simona Halep, freely acknowledge they don’t deal well with the hustle-and-bustle of the U.S. Open and all it entails. Others, like 44th-ranked Kaia Kanepi, take to the Big Apple and its Grand Slam tournament. Put those two types at opposite ends of a court at Flushing Meadows and watch what can happen: Halep made a quick-as-can-be...

Simona Halep kept telling everybody who would listen: She was a different player. She was stronger mentally. She wanted so much to finally win a Grand Slam title and was sure that, one day, she would. After three losses in major finals, maybe Halep was trying to convince herself as much as anyone else she actually could do it. Either...

Simona Halep kept telling everybody who would listen: She was a different player. She was stronger mentally. She wanted so much to finally win a Grand Slam title and was sure that, one day, she would. After three losses in major finals, maybe Halep was trying to convince herself as much as anyone else she actually could do it. Either...

For the first time in eight years, not a single woman made it onto Forbes’ annual list of the world’s 100 top paid athletes, NBC News reported. Boxer Floyd Mayweather topped off the list at $275 million, while NBA players make up the majority of the list, followed by football and baseball players. Combined, they racked up $3.8 billion in...

The curling world was floored when word broke that Russian Olympic curler Aleksandr Krushelnitsky was facing a doping charge....
On Monday, Krushelnitsky’s fellow curlers were trying to make sense of the scandal, with some openly questioning whether he had been slipped a banned substance without his knowledge....
Russian women’s curling coach Sergei Belanov said he didn’t believe that a young and “clever...

Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky has been charged with a doping offense at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
Krushelnitsky, who won bronze in mixed doubles with his wife Anastasia Bryzgalova, tested positive for meldonium, Russian officials said Monday.
Here are some of the key issues surrounding meldonium.

An unwanted rivalry with roots going back 20 years had its latest chapter Monday night at the BNP Paribas Open, with Venus Williams beating sister Serena 6-3, 6-4 in the third round for her first win over her younger sibling since 2014.

Walking on court for the first match of her latest comeback, Serena Williams allowed herself a rare smile. This time, tennis is different for the 23-time major winner. What didn’t change is Williams winning.

Serena Williams makes her return to the pro tour after a 14-month absence with a first-round match at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, which she noted in an Instagram post marking the occasion is International Women’s Day.

Motivated more than usual, Eugenie Bouchard used her game to send a message to Maria Sharapova by defeating the Russian 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a thrilling second-round match at the Madrid Open on Monday....
Bouchard, one of the most outspoken players against Sharapova’s return to tennis following a doping ban, jumped up and down after converting her second match point in...