Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has defended giving Roger Federer 'prime time' treatment at the year's first Grand Slam, saying it was a matter of meeting fans and broadcasters' demands for the 'box office' athlete.
The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics has disappointed athletes around the world but, if the coronavirus pandemic eases over the next few months, it could turn out to be a blessing for the tennis world.
'I'm always surprised when I walk off court after a final and I'm like 'where is anti-doping?'
World number three Roger Federer has pulled out of next month's Shanghai Masters to rest and recover after a gruelling summer, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said on Friday.
The claycourt Grand Slam at Roland Garros would now take place from Sept. 20-Oct. 4, dates that clash with several other events. With players already counting the cost of the tennis shutdown, the decision did not go down well.
World No 2 Roger Federer was bestowed with two honours by The ATP following his victory over Canadian Milos Raonic on Sunday.
The 29-year-old former French Open finalist failed the out-of-competition test in February after a urine sample was found to contain letrozole - a substance used in the treatment of breast cancer which is also on the banned drug list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Reaching ATP Finals like winning a tournament, says Zverev
Novak Djokovic was in imperious form before the circuit came to a halt. Djokovic said he initially struggled to cope with the uncertainty surrounding when tennis can restart after its shutdown in early March due to the novel coronavirus.
Roger Federer has fallen outside the world's top 10 for the first time since 2002 but he could still win another grand slam title, according to former great Stefan Edberg. While Andy Murray's rise to world number one was the main talking point of Monday's new ATP rankings, 17-times major champion Federer's slide to 16th was largely overlooked. The Swiss ended his season in July in a bid to recover fully from knee surgery, although he is aiming to be fit for the Australian Open in January.
India's tennis legend Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna moved to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP BNP Paribas Masters with their respective partners after getting byes in their first rounds in Paris.
Wawrinka splits with long-time coach Norman
India's Sumit Nagal gave a mighty scare to three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka by taking off the first set but then wilted under pressure to bow out of the Prague Open in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Novak Djokovic may be asking Roger Federer for one or two tips in the coming weeks about how to combine parenthood with playing on the ATP Tour.
Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek beat Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot while Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin got the better of Andreas Seppi and Mikhail Youzhny in second round matches.
A look at the top men's contenders at the 2020 French Open.
World number one Novak Djokovic still has some way to go before he can boast the same aura Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have on the circuit, according to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Novak Djokovic's intentions in organising the ill-fated Adria Tour were good but the world number one could have applied a bit more common sense to how the exhibition event was run, former ATP players' council head Vijay Amritraj said. The Serbian has faced fierce criticism after he, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki contracted COVID-19 following the charity event in Serbia and Croatia.
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic fought off a determined challenge from Swiss great Roger Federer on Sunday to claim back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and celebrate his 50th tournament win on the ATP Tour.
He is the first player to win an ATP tournament three times in succession on seven different occasions!
"It has been an amazing year. One year ago, for sure I never dreamed about being World No. 1 again at the end of the season. It's something that means a lot to me. But the season is not over."
Top seed Roger Federer was finally forced to work hard for a win at the Swiss Indoors tournament as he fought back to beat Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in his quarter-final on Friday.
Novak Djokovic claimed his third ATP World Tour title in a perfect season by beating top-seeded Spaniard Rafa Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Sunday.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja shocked top seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah to breeze into the summit clash of the ATP Claro Open, in Bogota, Colombia.
Tennis is like "riding a bike" for Federer, who is not worried about his game or starting with "really low" expectations, but is more interested to see how his knee reacts to the rigours of competitive tennis.
'If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born.'
French Open champion Rafael Nadal has said he nearly ended his season after being forced to withdraw from the Indian Wells semi-finals with a knee injury in March.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer believes that Rafael Nadal is still the favourite to win the French Open next month despite the Spaniard's recent struggles to regain form.
Factbox on Rafael Nadal, who beat Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday to win a record-extending 13th French Open title:
Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov believes his first season on the ATP Tour has helped him grow into a better player and he is relishing the challenges ahead.
Spaniard David Ferrer's late push for a place in the ATP tour finals got off to a laboured start with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at the Valencia Open on Tuesday.
With the ATP Finals coming up next month, Nadal said on his Facebook page he had made the decision to pull out of next week's Basel tournament after getting medical advice.
Top seed Roger Federer dispatched Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Swiss Indoors championships in Basel.
Djokovic continues to lead ATP Rankings
World number five Dominic Thiem heads into Friday's Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev knowing he will have to put their friendship aside to continue his charge towards a maiden Grand Slam title.
Defeat by Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals on Saturday left Roger Federer stuck on 99 career titles, but despite missing out on his century the Swiss said he was happy with his season.
'When we play against Djokovic, many times we didn't know exactly what we had to do. This is more difficult, for me. I prefer to play against Federer'
Anyone banking on the ravages of time taking their toll on Roger Federer had better think again -- the Swiss is only getting better, according to his latest victim.
Off-court distractions and a neck injury could not prevent Novak Djokovic from extending his winning run this year to 23 matches and the Serbian could not be in more intimidating form ahead of the US Open.
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