LAURA SIEGEMUND

The tennis player who disappeared after accusing a former top Chinese official of sexually assaulting her is known for her grit and determination.

Forget all that speculation about Serena Williams considering retirement after her emotional hand-to-heart gesture upon her Australian Open exit three months ago.

The 10th-seeded Frenchman is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, but he can't seem to win anywhere at the moment. ___4:55 p.m.U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem has moved into the second round at the Australian Open, where he was the runner-up to Novak Djokovic a year ago. Thiem had been 0-3 in Grand Slam finals until emerging for the championship at Flushing Meadows in September. The first tournament of this year’s Grand Slam season began after a three-week delay because of the coronavirus pandemic. Serena Williams begins her latest bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title in the following match against Laura Siegemund.

3 Naomi Osaka, the U.S. Open champion. Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, Johanna Konta and Elina Svitolina are also in Kenin's quarter. Williams already has won seven Australian Open titles and her 23 major titles is a record in the Open era. In the top half, Djokovic’s bid for a third consecutive Australian title — and ninth overall — could get tricky. Djokovic and Zverev were playing against each other in an ATP Cup doubles match when the draw was made for the Australian Open.

Badosa who is in Melbourne for the Australian Open says she tested positive for COVID-19. She wrote on Twitter, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, that she received her test result for the illness on the seventh day of her hard quarantine in Australia. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)MELBOURNE – A Spanish tennis player ranked in the top 70 who was forced to quarantine in her hotel room after potentially being exposed to the coronavirus on an Australian Open charter flight says she tested positive for COVID-19. “Today I received a positive COVID-19 test result. Tennis Australia has refused to identify those dozens of players, but several have posted on social media about being in the hard quarantine.

PARIS – Novak Djokovic overcame a bothersome left arm and an early deficit to reach the French Open semifinals for the 10th time. At the U.S. Open, Tsitsipas failed to convert a half-dozen match points in a third-round loss. Two days after that, in Paris, Tsitsipas lost the initial two sets of his first-round match against 109th-ranked Jaume Munar. In the opening set, Djokovic accumulated a whopping 16 unforced errors — accounting for nearly half of Carreño Busta’s 33 points. At the changeover before the second set, Djokovic was attended to by a trainer, who returned for another massage three games later.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – The Latest from the French Open (all times local):___9:50 p.m.Novak Djokovic has overcome a bothersome left arm and early deficit to reach the French Open semifinals for the 10th time. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in one of Friday’s semifinals as he seeks a second French Open championship and 18th Grand Slam title. ___5:15 p.m.Polish teenager Iga Swiatek has reached the French Open semifinals in both singles and doubles. ___4:50 p.m.Laura Siegemund has taken issue with the chair umpire for giving her a time violation during her 6-3, 6-3 loss to Petra Kvitova in the French Open quarterfinals. Rublev won their final at the clay-court Hamburg Open on the same day main-draw competition began at the French Open.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic celebrates winning her fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament against China's Zhang Shuai in two sets 6-2, 6-4, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – Petra Kvitova owns two Wimbledon titles, so making it to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 13th time should not necessarily feel like a big deal to her. Which is why Kvitova’s emotions swelled and her eyes watered after she beat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-4 on Monday at the French Open, where she hadn’t reached the round of eight since 2012. Everything came to my mind -- my whole family, people who I loved, (who helped) me through the tough, tough time,” Kvitova said. I just wanted to get some carbs, some potato or rice, whatever.”MAINSTREAM MEDIAFrench Open quarterfinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas plugged into his YouTube channel during his run to the Australian Open semifinals in 2019.

“First of all, I mean, I don’t know, like, why HER coach sat in that section,” said Kenin, who is seeded No. Djokovic is seeking a second French Open championship and 18th major trophy overall. Tsitsipas and Rublev both dropped the first two sets they played in Paris last week — and now both are making a French Open quarterfinal debut. Their meeting Wednesday comes 10 days after Rublev beat Tsitsipas in three sets in the final of the Hamburg Open on Sept. 27 — Day 1 of the French Open. “I know he’s a tough cookie.”___AP Tennis Writer Fendrich reported from Washington; AP Sports Writer Pugmire reported from Paris.

France's Kristina Mladenovic plays a shot against Germany's Laura Siegemund in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – Kristina Mladenovic blamed her French Open meltdown on her U.S. Open lockdown — and she wasn’t too pleased about a no-call on a double bounce that helped her opponent avoid ceding the first set Wednesday, either. Mladenovic was furious that chair umpire Eva Asderaki didn’t spot the extra bounce that came during a 10-stroke exchange. “If she would have done it, she would have all my respect and be super fair play,” Mladenovic said. “It’s brutal for the body when you (have) eight days (of) lockdown in a hotel room,” Mladenovic said Wednesday.

France's Kristina Mladenovic plays a shot against Germany's Laura Siegemund in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)PARIS – Kristina Mladenovic's first match since her nightmarish end to the U.S. Open produced another collapse and a controversial umpire's call at the French Open on Tuesday. The French player lost to Laura Siegemund of Germany 7-5, 6-3 after serving for the first set at 5-1. Mladenovic was furious with chair umpire Eva Asderaki for not spotting a double bounce on set point. Mladenovic slowed up, looked confused, and wound up touching the net, which automatically gave the point to Siegemund.

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, reacts during a match against Borna Coric, of Croatia, during the quarterfinals of the US Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK – The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times EDT):___12:30 p.m. The men's semifinal matches will be played after the women's doubles championship is awarded at the U.S. Open. They were to be followed by Alexander Zverev against Pablo Carreno Busta, along with 2019 runner-up Daniil Medvedev facing No. ___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports