Tennis

Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from a U.S. Open tuneup tournament in Montreal after his victory over Rafael Nadal at the Paris Olympics. The 37-year-old Djokovic beat Nadal in straight sets on Monday at Roland Garros to reach the third round of the Summer Games. He had been planning to play in the National Bank Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event that begins Aug. 6. The tournament announced his withdrawal. Djokovic has won a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles but has never won Olympic gold. Roman Safiullin took Djokovic’s spot in the main draw at Montreal.

Rafael Nadal has reached his first final since the 2022 French Open by rallying to beat Duje Ajdukovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Nordea Open. After needing four hours to beat the 36th-ranked Mariano Navone in Friday’s quarterfinals, Nadal had a slow start against Ajdukovic and was a break down in the second set before turning things around. Nadal will play Nuno Borges, who beat Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first tour-level final.

The Billie Jean King Cup will switch venue from Sevilla to Malaga for this year’s finals, organizers said. The tournament - formerly known as the Fed Cup - will be played alongside the men’s Davis Cup Final 8 at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena in November. The scheduled dates for both tournaments have not been altered. The finals will run from November 13-20. The Davis Cup Final 8 runs through November 19-24.

Rafael Nadal is on the U.S. Open entry list via a protected ranking, although that doesn’t necessarily mean he will compete in the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Nadal has been dealing with injuries the past two seasons and playing sporadically. He is participating in his first tournament in 1 1/2 months this week in Bastad, Sweden. The 38-year-old Nadal won four of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 26. He sat out the event in three of the past four years. The U.S. Tennis Association announced its entry lists for women’s and men’s singles on Tuesday, based on Monday’s WTA and ATP rankings.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova has returned to the WTA’s top 10 for the first time in six months, and runner-up Jasmine Paolini rose to a career-best No. 5. Krejcikova’s run to her second Grand Slam title moved her up 22 places to No. 10 on Monday. She had last been that high in the rankings the week of Jan. 8. Carlos Alcaraz’s second consecutive championship at the All England Club did not affect his ranking. He stayed at No. 3, with Jannik Sinner still at No. 1 despite losing in the quarterfinals, and runner-up Novak Djokovic holding on to the No. 2 spot.

Carlos Alcaraz is achieving all sorts of things Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic didn't by his age. The 21-year-old Spaniard already owns two Wimbledon titles and four Grand Slam trophies in all. His straight-set victory over Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday was only Alcaraz's latest impressive triumph. But he is hardly satisfied. He wants to keep going, keep improving and keep winning. He says he won't place any limits on what he can accomplish and has no idea whether he can collect as major championships as the so-called Big Three of men's tennis did.