My Sports News Digest

Updated Sep 2, 2011 12:37 AM ET NEW YORK (AP) Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark lost her serve in the first game, then rolled off 12 of the next 13 in an easy 6-2, 6-0 victory over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands on Thursday at the US Open. Wozniacki, in search of her first grand slam title, has lost a total of six games in her first two matches at Flushing Meadows. The runaway was the fourth straight in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 4 of the tournament. Losers in those four matches had combined to take a total of 12 [...]

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Updated Sep 1, 2011 1:45 AM ET We’re not ready for tennis’ Great American Story to end. Venus Williams deserves one last good run, one more major championship, one more leap of glory. She’s not going to get it. Williams is 31 years old, a senior citizen to tennis, and her body is breaking down. Injuries and health issues are taking her away from the game. On Wednesday, she withdrew from the US Open an hour before her second-round match against young German Sabine Lisicki, a Wimbledon semifinalist. She later issued a statement saying she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, [...]

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Updated Aug 31, 2011 12:07 AM ET NEW YORK (AP) Rafael Nadal’s first match as defending U.S. Open champion was hardly a tour de force, with the Spaniard lucky to record a straight sets victory over the relatively lowly-ranked Andrey Golubev on Tuesday. Nadal dropped serve six times, an extraordinary figure given he was only broken five times across seven matches en route to winning the 2010 title at Flushing Meadows. His shots didn’t have their normal depth and he needed to save seven set points during the second set. ”I was a little bit lucky to win today in straight [...]

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Updated Aug 29, 2011 10:25 PM ET NEW YORK (AP) Trailing big in the first round of the U.S. Open, Maria Sharapova thought — well, no, she was certain — that she’d pull through if she could push her inexperienced opponent to a third set. And Sharapova was right. Shrieking as loudly as ever, Sharapova came back from a set and a break down against 19-year-old Heather Watson of Britain to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday, improving to 12-0 this year in matches that went the distance. ”It’s just a matter of belief within myself, that no matter how well [...]

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Updated Aug 28, 2011 6:32 PM ET The US Open will begin Monday with tweaks to the day’s original schedule, including a two-hour delay for the start of play at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The US Tennis Association said Sunday that the site of the year’s last Grand Slam tournament had ”minimal damage” from Tropical Storm Irene. The gates at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will open to the public at 10 a.m. ET Monday, and matches will start as planned at 11 a.m. on nine of the tournament’s 13 courts, including Louis Armstrong Stadium. At Arthur Ashe Stadium, the [...]

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Updated Aug 27, 2011 5:34 PM ET WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) American John Isner won the Winston-Salem Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Julien Benneteau on Saturday. The native of nearby Greensboro overcame 34 unforced errors with 19 aces – the fastest was recorded at 139 mph – and won his second tournament of the year. He also won at Newport, R.I., in early July. ”It means a lot for sure,” said the 28th-ranked Isner, who will face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus on Wednesday in the opening round of the U.S. Open. ”Obviously, I could’ve have asked for anything better. [...]

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Updated Aug 24, 2011 7:16 PM ET NEW YORK (AP) Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open for the first time, followed by defending champion Rafael Nadal and five-time winner Roger Federer. The tournament followed the ATP rankings for the men’s singles seedings Wednesday. It did the same for the women’s seedings, with Serena Williams 28th. Djokovic is having one of the best seasons in tennis history: 57-2 with nine titles, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He’s seeking his first championship at Flushing Meadows, where he was runner-up to Nadal in 2010 and to Federer [...]

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Updated Aug 24, 2011 1:08 AM ET NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) Elena Vesnina shook off an earthquake and upset Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on Tuesday at the New Haven Open. Later, top seed Caroline Wozniacki won for the first time in over a month. The world’s No. 1 player easily dispatched Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 6-0 as she began her quest for a fourth consecutive title here. Vesnina was leading 2-0 in the first set and facing two break points when the quake, which was centered in Virginia, sent the Connecticut Tennis Center swaying, forced the evacuation of the [...]

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