Tennis News Blog

Cops: Connors arrested for not complying (AP)
Tennis great Jimmy Connors was arrested outside the campus arena where UC Santa Barbara and top-ranked North Carolina were playing a basketball game. The eight-time Grand Slam champion was taken into custody Friday night after refusing to comply with an order to leave an area near the entrance of the Thunderdome following a confrontation, police Sgt.

Spain wins doubles, takes Davis Cup lead (AP)
Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco sent a chill through Argentine tennis Saturday, winning their doubles match to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final. Lopez and Verdasco defeated David Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5), 6-3, boosting Spain’s hopes of winning the best-of-five championship on the road despite the absence of an ailing Rafael Nadal.

Bjorkman falls in Shanghai in final career match
Jonas Bjorkman will miss the camaraderie, even the trash talk, but he won’t miss the travel. The 36-year-old Swede, who announced retirement plans at Wimbledon, played his last match Friday. He and teammate Kevin Ullyet lost in a tiebreaker to the Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, eliminating them from the Masters Cup.

Djokovic wins season-ending Masters Cup (AP)

Novak Djokovic is trying his best to complete Serbia’s ascension to the top of the tennis world. Jelena Jankovic, the U.S. Open runner-up, already is No. 1 on the women’s side. Compatriot Ana Ivanovic, the French Open winner, held the spot earlier in the year before slipping to No. 5. Nenad Zimonjic became the top doubles player when he and Canada’s Daniel Nestor teamed to beat Bob and Mike Bryan for…

Ex-No. 1 doubles player Graebner dies (AP)
Carole Caldwell Graebner, who won doubles titles at the U.S. and Australian Championships in the 1960s, died Wednesday. She was 65. Graebner died in New York City following a brief battle with cancer, said her daughter, Cameron Graebner Mark. The top-ranked doubles player in the United States in 1963, Graebner teamed with Nancy Richey to capture doubles titles at the 1965 U.S.

Wimbledon to regain All England Club (AP)
Wimbledon organizers will pay $83 million to regain total control of the All England Club, buying back the 50 percent it gave away in 1934. The amount will be paid to Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association in installments over a likely five-year period from 2013, after the existing agreement expires, All England Club chairman Tim Phillips told The Associated Press on Wednesday.