Fifty years ago on Wednesday, holding a dollar bill and wearing smiles illuminated by more hope than certainty, nine women changed the course of professional sports.

Stymied by a system that relegated them to back courts and meager paydays while favoring their male counterparts, eight female tennis players joined influential World Tennis ...Read more

Dominic Thiem of Austria, three times a loser in Grand Slam singles finals, ended his drought by overcoming a terrible start and defeating Sascha Zverev of Germany 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Sunday in the U.S. Open men's final. It was the first time the U.S. Open men's title had been decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Before Thiem's ...Read more

Naomi Osaka chose a spot and carefully lowered herself to the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, settling onto her back to stare upward at nothing and everything.

Precautions dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic meant there were no fans to serenade her after she staged a stirring comeback to defeat Victoria Azarenka in the U.S. Open women's final, but ...Read more

Victoria Azarenka had been flattened by Serena Williams in the first set of their U.S. Open semifinal. There's no other word to describe it. Azarenka couldn't hold serve, couldn't dent Williams' formidable serve, and had little chance against Williams' walloped ground strokes.

Yet, when the circumstances were darkest, Azarenka found the light ...Read more

NEW YORK - Not only does Novak Djokovic have to deal with the shame of being disqualified from the US Open after accidentally hitting lineswoman Laura Clark with a ball, he has to quell angry fans from adding insult to injury, literally.

Clark, who was not at the Flushing Meadows site on Monday, received hundreds of hostile message after a ...Read more

Serena Williams obviously felt comfortable enough to play at the U.S. Open with no fans. But with the French Open announcing its intention of hosting crowds for its tournament beginning this month, Williams, whose medical history has left her afraid of falling severely ill if infected with COVID-19, isn't sure if she'll compete in Paris.

"I'm ...Read more

NEW YORK - Novak Djokovic won again Friday night, which is a bit like reporting that Donald Trump has posted an insult on Twitter or that teenagers are partying without masks.

This is not news anymore. It's just background noise, a muffled rumble of thunder, at the U.S. Open. Djokovic's 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory in the third round over Jan-Lennard ...Read more

NEW YORK - Serena Williams is the greatest women's tennis player in the history of the sport. She's also a rusty, 38.9-year-old mother with a history of health problems, playing in the era of COVID-19 before empty stadiums. She's holed up in a private home not far from Flushing Meadows in a bubble of her own making. Her daughter, Olympia, turned...Read more

NEW YORK - I wasn't prepared for the sanitizer gun.

That's probably not the correct label for this contraption near the outdoor dining area, but it's an apt description. There's a foot pedal at the bottom, and a hand sanitizer bottle covered by metal. It felt logical, at first glance, that pressing the pedal would lift the metal top to uncover ...Read more

Jennifer Brady knew that by reaching the final at the Top Seed Open in Kentucky last month her ranking would improve enough to secure her a spot among the 32 seeded women at this year's US Open. She also knew that her seeding in New York would get a nice bump after she won the Kentucky title, her first Women's Tennis Association singles ...Read more

Celebrating his triumph in the final of the Western & Southern Open, held at the site of the U.S. Open as a pandemic-defying rehearsal for the larger Grand Slam event, Novak Djokovic turned toward each side of the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday and saluted a crowd that wasn't there.

That eerie silence will prevail again when the ...Read more

The Milwaukee Bucks stood together after they refused to take the court for a playoff game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, finding strength in numbers as they repeated fervent pleas for racial justice.

After the Dodgers decided they couldn't be silent about the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wis., outfielder Mookie Betts,...Read more

LOS ANGELES - Taylor Fritz has been on the verge of tennis stardom for so long it's difficult to remember he's only 22 and still refining his game.

Fritz has been on the rise since 2015, when he reached the French Open junior final and won the U.S. Open junior title at 17. He affirmed his promise a year later by reaching the final of the 2016 ...Read more