4:03 PM ET Associated Press STUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Naomi Osaka opened her clay-court season by beating Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinals. Osaka hit 22 winners and converted three of her six break points to seal the win in 1 hour, 24 minutes and set

12:47 PM ET Associated Press LONDON — A Belgian tennis player has been suspended for one month for betting on matches. Benjamin D’Hoe, a 22-year-old player who reached a career-high ranking of No. 782 in 2017, admitted to placing more than 900 mostly low-value bets on professional tennis matches from Jan. 31-Feb. 26, 2017. The

12:43 PM ET Rafael Nadal gave a much improved performance to advance into the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, dispatching Spanish compatriot and crowd favourite David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3. The world No. 2 had produced a scrappy display against Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday, losing a set for the first time in four years

1:34 PM ET World No. 2 Rafa Nadal dropped a set at the Barcelona Open for the first time in four years before advancing to the last 16, beating Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday. The Spaniard surrendered a 5-3 lead in the first set and then spurned two set points in the tiebreak,

1:49 PM ET Associated Press WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — US Open tournament director David Brewer is stepping down after this year’s championship, the U.S. Tennis Association announced Wednesday. Brewer, who joined the USTA in 1997, also will leave his job as the USTA’s chief professional tennis officer. Since Brewer took his US Open post in

5:53 AM ET Turin’s Pala Alpitour stadium will host the ATP Finals from 2021-2025, replacing London, the governing body of men’s tennis said on Wednesday. Turin was picked ahead of Manchester, Singapore, Tokyo and London which were among the five shortlisted venues after more than 40 cities worldwide had expressed an interest to host the

8:59 AM ET It took an enormous amount of dedication, time and effort for world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to catch up with and ultimately dominate Roger Federer on the court. Now that Djokovic has also taken control of the political conversation in tennis, he seems intent on replacing Federer as the most influential player

1:17 PM ET Alexander Zverev crashed out of the Barcelona Open in the second round Tuesday, continuing his troubled start to 2019. The German, who joined the tournament on a late wildcard, was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) by lucky loser Nicolas Jarry. World No. 3 Zverev, who is looking to improve on his disappointing

12:09 PM ET ESPN News Services Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Kevin Anderson is skipping the clay-court swing this season because of a lingering right elbow injury. Anderson announced Tuesday via a post on Twitter that he is withdrawing from the French Open, as well as tuneup tournaments in Estoril, Madrid and Rome. “After discussing with

8:32 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Tennis broadcaster and coach Justin Gimelstob pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault for attacking a former friend in Los Angeles on Halloween 2017. The district attorney’s office says the 42-year-old former pro tennis player was sentenced Monday to three years of probation, 60 days of community service