Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic exited the Olympic Games in the first round on Saturday, though the Serb refused to blame the wind or soaring temperatures that some players said were making it tricky to play in Rio. Ivanovic went one set up against world No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro before losing the next two error-strewn sets to the Spaniard. Ivanovic lost 2-6 6-1 6-2. "It was a tough draw for the first round," said Ivanovic, the former French Open winner currently ranked as world No. 26.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has pulled out of next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto so he can give his body time to rest before he sets out in defence of his Olympic singles title at the Rio Games.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu arrived, in Hyderabad, to a grand welcome at Hyderabad International Airport.
'One of the biggest things I've learned over the years is adaptability. Playing with different partners teaches you that.'
Swimming's top nations are setting their sights on how to deal with midnight finishes during the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Russian tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova blamed politics for the decision to ban her country's track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics and said it was unfair to group them all together as doping cheats.
Leander Paes is hoping that there will be not be repeat of a selection fiasco ahead of the Rio Olympics and feels he deserves to be paired with Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza for the men's and mixed doubles events.
When contacted, AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar said he does not have any objection to Bopanna playing with Balaji, ranked 84, at the Paris Olympics.
Olympic champion Monica Puig wants to capitalise on her victory, both on and off the court.
The first player to win a Grand Slam, the ATP World Tour Finals, the men's singles at the Olympic Games and a Masters title in the same calendar year.
Nadal says Olympics main goal after early Roland Garros defeat
Rio-bound Indian women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will look to boost their confidence ahead of the Olympic Games when they start their title defence at the Canada Open badminton tournament, starting in Calgary on Tuesday. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Jwala and Ashwini didn't have the best results in the run up to the Rio Olympics and the duo will look to put their best foot forward when they take the court here with just a little more than a month to go for the Games.
Vinesh had failed to win a medal in her two previous Olympics appearances.
It was double bonanza for India at the Canada Open as B Sai Praneeth and Rio-bound men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy clinched twin crowns after winning their respective title clash at the $ 55,000 Grand Prix badminton tournament, in Calgary, Canada.
Rafa Nadal's below-par season has continued with the former world number one dumped from the Rio Open semi-finals with a 6-7(6) 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by unseeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas on Saturday. The top seed pipped Cuevas in a first set tie-break and denied his opponent two set points in the second but succumbed to his first defeat against the world number 45. "I lost an opportunity, that's it," Spaniard Nadal said after being denied his 100th ATP final by claycourt specialist Cuevas who fired 48 winners to clinch the contest. "I fought until the end. I have to accept it and keep working to try to change the dynamic. That's what's happening today and I have to work hard to change it," added the 14-times grand slam champion. "I didn't win a title, so it wasn't a positive two tournaments. I had my chances in both. I lost in the semi-finals of both tournaments and just have to look forward to Indian Wells."
Olympic champion and world number one Serena Williams tumbled out of the Rio de Janeiro singles competition in the third round on Tuesday after a shock defeat to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.
World number one Novak Djokovic has disclosed that his sudden slump in form was due to ' private issues' and not because of a lingering wrist injury.
Amputee long jumper Markus Rehm is running out of time to make the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August as the world athletics body has not yet set the criteria for ruling if he can compete with his prosthetic leg. Nicknamed "Blade Jumper", the 2012 Paralympics gold medalist and 2014 German long jump champion hopes to become the second athlete with a carbon fibre running blade to compete in the Olympics after South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in 2012. But a new rule by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) requires amputee competitors to prove their prosthesis gives them no added advantage over other athletes. Competition Rule 144.3(d) bans 'the use of any mechanical aid, unless the athlete can establish on the balance of probabilities that the use of such an aid would not provide him with an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such aid.' In order to present his case to the IAAF, Rehm, who beat able-bodied athletes with a jump of 8.10 metres at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix in February, has asked for the criteria for this regulation but still not received a reply.
Only one male and five female wrestlers qualified for the upcoming edition. Here's a look at the strength and weakness of all the six contenders.
The death came when the government is partially shutdown over the dispute of funding for the border wall.
Barred from international competition, Russia is training its athletes at a series of special domestic tournaments and banking on hopes a doping ban will be lifted in time for this year's Rio Olympics.
Factbox on Carlos Alcaraz, who beat seven-time champion Novak Djokovic
'Sakshi Malik's medal is her individual and singular accomplishment.' 'So is P V Sindhu's badminton medal.' 'So is Dipa Karmakar's loss-by-a-whisker.' 'So is the surprise that is 18-year-old golfer Aditi Ashok,' says Mitali Saran.
Former Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan is confident of winning a medal at next month's Rio Games despite the lack of preparation time following his qualification drama.
Expectations will be sky-high when Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu returns to international circuit this week, spearheading the Indian campaign at Denmark Open Superseries Premier badminton tournament starting in Odense from Tuesday. A slew of felicitation programs kept her busy in the last one and a half month after Sindhu returned from Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian badminton player to win a silver and her legions of fans will expect her to replicate the Olympic success when she competes this week. The sixth-seeded Indian will open her campaign against China's He Bingjiao on Wednesday. Sindhu has been clubbed in the second half of the draw where she might face the likes of second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, Korean fourth seed Sung Ji Hyun and the tricky Chinese Taipei girl Tai Tzu Ying, seeded fifth.
Indonesian rookie Rio Haryanto's Formula One debut turned sour on Saturday when he was punished for a pit-lane crash during the final practice at the Australian Grand Prix and condemned to start the race from back of the grid.
Three years ago, India returned from Tokyo with seven medals, and it is only natural that a double-digit performance is now desired in Paris.
Meet first-time Indian athletes hoping to make an impression in Rio.
Formula One has taken over the city streets but for Cuban Olympic boxing champion Robeisy Ramirez, being in Baku is all about the road to Rio.
Kidambi Srikanth, the top-ranking male Indian shuttler who put up an impressive performance in the Badminton Asia Team Championships here, says he aims to achieve a medal in the coming Rio Olympics. "As early as possible, but I am not in a hurry to do that (achieve number one rank in world rankings). It's just that I need to perform consistently. "Then, I will automatically get that. I don't want to become number one (immediately). I want to perform really very well. That's when I can be there (at the top)," the 23-year-old shuttler told PTI. Srikanth, who is currently ranked nine in the world, led the Indian team to semi finals of the Badminton Asia Team Championships. He was the only one to win a match in the five-match tie in the semi finals against Indonesia on Saturday. Srikanth remained unbeaten in the tournament. He said he doesn't think much about expectations.
'I will put in my hundred percent in the Olympics,' promises Apurvi Chandela who took to shooting after watching Abhinav Bindra win gold in the Beijing Olympics.
Rohan Bopanna says he is playing the 'best tennis' of his career after he achieved a personal goal of winning a Grand Slam title.
Paralympic champion Markus Rehm said he hoped new scientific studies would prove he gains no advantage through his prosthesis and clear him to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
The haunting images offers a glimpse into the suffering asylum seekers face on the US-Mexico border.
Olympic judo medallist Flavio Canto is among those giving his time and money to battle the COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil. Dunga is also working with business contacts and former players - including ex-Brazil internationals Jorginho and Edmilson and Paulo Cesar Tinga - to help disadvantaged communities in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Former Brazil coach Dunga has been sacked by Internacional after a fourth successive defeat in the Brazilian Championship, the club from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul said on Friday.
Apart from the senior competition, the U-17 and U-23 Asian Championships are set to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for a second straight year. The tournament will take place from June 10 to 18.
South Korean Olympic archers will be hoping to avoid striking out in Rio after they announced plans to conduct open training sessions in a baseball dome to harden themselves for potentially hostile environments at the August 5 to 21 Games.
Through their triumphs and struggles, these athletes have not only rewritten the narrative of women in sports but have also ignited a flame of empowerment and inspiration, asserts Laxmi Negi.
