BERLIN (AP) — Rafael Nadal said Monday he will play at the Laver Cup in Berlin in September in what may be one of the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s last tournaments. Nadal has signaled 2024 may be his last year on tour and said last week that his second-round loss to Alex de Minaur at the Barcelona Open, which he has won 12 times, was “probably my last match here.” “At this stage in my career I really want to go out there and make the most of every opportunity I am given,” Nadal said in a statement. The 37-year-old Spanish superstar has long struggled with injuries and has played just five com ..read more

BARCELONA, Spain — Casper Ruud took his revenge against Stefanos Tsitsipas by winning the Barcelona Open final in straight sets on Sunday for his biggest career title, a week after losing to the Greek in the Monte Carlo Masters final. Ruud won 7-5, 6-3 for his first title of the season after losing the three other finals he played this year. “Honestly, this has been worth the wait,” Ruud said after the triumph in Barcelona. “A lot of finals that I’ve lost have been tough, a bit disappointing, of course. Any time you reach a final, it’s nonetheless a good week, so you can’t be too hard on ..read more

MUNICH — Jan-Lennard Struff won his first title at the age of 33 with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Taylor Fritz in the BMW Open final on Sunday. “To do it on home soil is just incredible,” Struff said. “I waited so long. I’m 33 years old and played so long on tour. It’s just an amazing feeling to do it here in Germany.” The 28th-ranked German player had lost on his previous three appearances in finals, but he converted five of 11 break points he earned against Fritz to win in 1 hour, 19 minutes. The ATP website said Struff became the third-oldest first-time champion, at 33 years and 11 months, sinc ..read more

MUNICH — Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime lost 7-5, 6-4 to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in a men’s quarterfinal Saturday at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships. The match that started Friday in Munich was interrupted by rain and completed Saturday.  Fourth-seeded Struff led the second set 3-1 when the match was suspended. He hit six aces to the Canadian’s three and won 66 per cent of first serve points.  Struff had no double faults while fifth-seeded Auger-Aliassime produced three in a match that went an hour and 43 minutes. Auger-Aliassime, 23, dropped to a career 2-2 ag ..read more

MADRID — Two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza announced she’s retiring from professional tennis at age 30 after an extended time away from the court. “I feel that it is time to retire and open up a new chapter in my life,” the former world No. 1 told a news conference in Madrid on Saturday. Muguruza beat Serena Williams in the 2016 French Open final and Venus Williams in the 2017 Wimbledon final, making her the only player to defeat each Williams sister in a Grand Slam title match. The Spanish player earned 10 career titles and was also the runner-up at 2015 Wimbledon and the 2020 Australi ..read more

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the quarterfinals of the Bavarian International Tennis Championships with a 6-3, 6-2 over Japan’s Taro Daniel on Thursday. Auger-Aliassime, the fifth seed in Munich, won 80 per cent of first serve points, including nine aces, and converted all four of his break point chances. Daniel broke the Canadian once on four opportunities and also struggled on serve, winning just 49 per cent of first serve points and being held without an ace. The match took just over 84 minutes to complete, a breeze compared to Auger-Aliassime’s three-hour, 25-minute slugfest ..read more

STUTTGART, Germany — Coco Gauff battled her way to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over compatriot Sachia Vickery. The 134th-ranked Vickery created 19 break points but could only convert seven of them against the world No. 3 in the second round. Gauff had 15 double faults in the match, but rallied from 4-2 down in the final set before winning in 2 hours, 26 minutes with her first match point. Gauff, who received a first-round bye at the clay-court tournament, awaits the winner between No. 7 Zheng Qinwen and Marta Kostyuk. Kostyuk ea ..read more

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Rafael Nadal’s first tournament since January lasted only two matches with the Spaniard losing 7-5, 6-1 to Alex de Minaur at the clay-court Barcelona Open on Wednesday. Nadal, back from an injury layoff, looked like his old self for brief moments in the second-round match but couldn’t keep up with the 11th-ranked De Minaur. “The moment I lost the first set, the match was over,” Nadal said. “I can’t play a three-hour match right now. This wasn’t the place for me to give everything I have. We’ll see what happens in Paris. I want to be competitive there, that’s where I hav ..read more

BARCELONA, Spain — Taking it easy after months away from competitive tennis, Rafael Nadal was good enough to earn a comfortable first-round win at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday. Nadal looked injury-free in a 6-2, 6-3 win over Flavio Cobolli to advance to the second round in his first tournament in more than three months. Nadal converted on his second match point to seal the victory over the 21-year-old Italian ranked 62nd in the world. The Spaniard will next face Alex de Minaur, who had a first-round bye. “Taking everything into consideration, it was a good first round,” Nadal said. “I played ..read more

Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime needed to rally from down a set and go the distance to solve Germany’s Maximilian Marterer in the opening round of the BMW Open. The 23-year-old from Montreal topped Marterer 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(3) on Tuesday in Munich. Auger-Aliassime, who is the fifth seed in the tournament, fired 11 aces, won 78 per cent of first-serve points and converted two of eight break point opportunities. He also committed five double faults. Marterer made four aces with two double faults. Auger-Aliassime will now face Japan’s Taro Daniel in the second round Wednesday. Daniel advanced w ..read more