My Sports News Digest

Updated Apr 3, 2012 10:18 PM ET CHARLESTON, S.C. Sam Stosur, Vera Zvonareva and Serena Williams all swept into the round of 16 at the Family Circle Cup with straight sets victories on Tuesday. On a day in which results went mostly according to plan at the clay-court tournament, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also made it to the third round, Venus Williams continued her comeback from illness with a first-round victory and No.10 seed Anabel Medina-Garrigues was the highest-ranked casualty. Australia’s Stosur, seeded fifth and the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after Agnieszka Radwanska’s withdrawal, beat American Jamie Hampton 6-0, 7-5. [...]

Read the full story

Updated Apr 2, 2012 9:16 PM ET Hours after losing his most recent match, Mardy Fish woke up in the middle of the night feeling ill and immediately went to be checked by a doctor. He saw another doctor the next day, too, and the diagnosis was fatigue. World Group First RoundFeb. 10-12Roundup | Photos US 5, Switzerland 0 | Evans Spain 5, Kazakhstan 0 Austria 3, Russia 2 Canada 1, France 4 Czech Rep. 4, Italy 1 Serbia 4, Sweden 1 Croatia 3, Japan 2 Argentina 4, Germany 1 Told he needed to rest, and citing what the U.S. [...]

Read the full story

Updated Apr 2, 2012 9:16 PM ET Hours after losing his most recent match, Mardy Fish woke up in the middle of the night feeling ill and immediately went to be checked by a doctor. He saw another doctor the next day, too, and the diagnosis was fatigue. World Group First RoundFeb. 10-12Roundup | Photos US 5, Switzerland 0 | Evans Spain 5, Kazakhstan 0 Austria 3, Russia 2 Canada 1, France 4 Czech Rep. 4, Italy 1 Serbia 4, Sweden 1 Croatia 3, Japan 2 Argentina 4, Germany 1 Told he needed to rest, and citing what the U.S. [...]

Read the full story

Updated Apr 1, 2012 7:51 PM ET KEY BISCAYNE, Florida Two boys stood on the top row of the stadium, beautiful Biscayne Bay at their back and the world’s best tennis player down below, as they waved a sign in his support. “Djokovic in the house,” it read. From the youngsters’ remote perch, Novak Djokovic looked like a tiny figure, yet he still loomed large. The top-ranked Djokovic won his third Sony Ericsson Open title Sunday, holding every service game to beat Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (4). Djokovic improved to 20-2 this year and 90-8 since the start of 2011. [...]

Read the full story

Updated Mar 31, 2012 7:58 PM ET KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. The two finalists met at the net to shake hands, Maria Sharapova standing a head taller, even with her shoulders slumped in disappointment. She finished second again Saturday. Sharapova lost serve in the final game of each set and fell short in the latest bid for her first Sony Ericsson Open title, losing to Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 6-4. Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam champion, is winless in four Key Biscayne finals. She was also the runner-up in 2005, 2006 and last year. The pattern extends beyond South Florida. Ranked No. [...]

Read the full story

Updated Mar 30, 2012 11:52 PM ET KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. A marathon second set was all even in a tiebreaker Friday night when Novak Djokovic found himself involved in yet another grueling point. He hit 13 shots, all smacked aggressively from the backcourt, many landing within a foot or two of the baseline at the far end. Finally Djokovic’s dogged opponent cracked. Juan Monaco sailed a weary forehand long, and moments later the top-ranked Djokovic clinched a berth in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open by winning 6-0, 7-6 (5). “In the tiebreak I stayed calm and focused and [...]

Read the full story

Updated Mar 29, 2012 8:38 PM ET KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. Maria Sharapova advanced to the Sony Ericsson Open final on Thursday with a blistering victory over Caroline Wozniacki, but the three-set battle didn’t end without a note of controversy. The second-seeded Sharapova rallied after dropping the first set to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, but the fourth-seeded Dane wasn’t happy about the way the match ended – and she left the court without shaking umpire Kader Nouni’s hand. Sharapova served for the match at 5-2, but Wozniacki broke back to extend the drama. At the second time of asking, however, Sharapova [...]

Read the full story

Updated Mar 29, 2012 2:32 AM ET KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka lost for the first time this year when she was beaten by Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Current No. 1 Azarenka was off to the best start on the women’s tour at 26-0 since Martina Hingis went 37-0 to begin 1997. An unreliable serve and atypical mistakes from the baseline doomed her against Bartoli. “I’m a human, not a superwoman, and I wish I could be, but I’m not,” Azarenka said with a smile. “I feel disappointed, sure. [...]

Read the full story