3:14 PM ET Associated Press ROME — Serena Williams looked sharper than in her previous match in March as she opened her clay-court season at the Italian Open with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson Monday. In March at the Miami Open, Williams needed three sets to beat Peterson. “It’s been

12:41 PM ET The final major warm-up for the French Open — the last choice prize on the loaded Euroclay circuit — is already underway in Rome. There’s but one week left after the conclusion of this week’s Italian Open — an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA Premier 5 tournament — before the start

2:40 PM ET Associated Press MADRID — Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to win his third Madrid Open title Sunday, tying Rafael Nadal for most Masters 1000 trophies with 33. It was the second title of the season for the top-ranked Djokovic, adding to his triumph in the Australian Open. He hadn’t won

4:19 AM ET ESPN staff Serena Williams, speaking about an open letter she wrote to her mother in 2017, said: “Looking at my daughter and looking at my mom, how she went through the negative [feedback] of myself and my body, I don’t know how she did it.” We all know how big a role

4:22 PM ET Associated Press MADRID — Kiki Bertens beat two-time Madrid Open champion Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4 to take the women’s title on Saturday. Last year’s runner-up Bertens defeated Halep for her second title of the year, adding to her victory in St. Petersburg, Russia. The seventh-ranked Dutch became the first woman to win

1:19 PM ET Associated Press MADRID — Novak Djokovic defeated Dominic Thiem to reach the Madrid Open final for the third time. Djokovic outplayed Thiem in both tiebreakers, converting on his first match point in a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) victory. He will next face the winner of the other semifinal between Rafael Nadal and

8:19 PM ET ESPN News Services MADRID — For the third consecutive tournament this season, Rafael Nadal won’t be fighting for a title on his favorite surface. Nadal, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, continued his slump on clay Saturday at the Madrid Open with a third straight semifinal elimination, adding to his worst

4:17 PM ET He had been so close, yet suddenly found himself so far. That was Roger Federer‘s quandary at the end of the second set of his quarterfinal match with Dominic Thiem on Friday at the Madrid Masters. So close to making a very Federer-esque statement in his closely watched return to the Euroclay

2:05 PM ET Associated Press MADRID — Roger Federer wasted two match points in a 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4 loss to Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on Friday. The fifth-seeded Thiem outlasted Federer in the second-set tiebreaker and broke him twice in the third set to close out the match in

8:29 AM ET World No. 1 Novak Djokovic automatically progressed to the Madrid Open semifinals after his quarterfinal opponent Marin Cilic was forced to withdraw because of food poisoning on Friday. “Dear fans, Madrid Open organisers, Novak Djokovic, I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today’s match,” said the Croatian on Twitter.