Tennis

10:58 AM PT -- More sad news ... Serena just announced her beloved Jackie has passed away.

Williams wrote a touching note about her dog ... saying, "My special friend in which I got at 17 (2 weeks before I won my very first Grand Slam) left me today."

Tennis star James Blake says he won't hold a grudge against the entire NYPD after he was body-slammed by a cop last month ... but he's still scared of the dude who roughed him up.

Blake was back out in NYC Wednesday -- where he's gearing up to run the marathon -- and told us he strongly believes 95% of the cops in the NYPD are great ... it's that other 5% he's worried about.

As we previously reported, Blake was tackled down to the ground when cops mistook him for a suspect in a credit card fraud investigation.

Blake tells TMZ Sports he is NOT planning a lawsuit against the force ... but does have one request to help make things right.

Since Blake knows a thing or two about police brutality, we asked him how he felt about the situation at Spring Valley High, where a deputy was fired for attacking a student.

Check out the clip.

Serena Williams proved her ass is buoyant ... floating it down the San Marcos River in Texas this past weekend ... with the guy who played Oliver Queen's sidekick on "Arrow."

The tennis superstar strapped on her bathing suit and grabbed some inner tubes -- along with Colton Haynes ... who played Roy Harper (aka Arsenal) on the CW show.

The San Marcos River is basically a summer party spot -- where people grab beers and other alcoholic beverages and booze away as they float down the river.

Anna Karolina Schmiedlova’s eyes are causing quite a racket on the tennis court! Take a closer look at the sexy Slovakian tennis player serving up a serious case of crazy eyes while on the court.

Drake is the new Jessica Simpson ... because he showed up Friday to watch girlfriend Serena Williams in the U.S. Open ... and she lost!!!

Williams was on the road to making history as only the sixth player ever to win all 4 grand slams in a year ... but that dream got derailed by Roberta Vinci, who beat Williams in 3 sets.

Drake was there to cheer her on to victory ... the first time he's watched her there. To be fair, he was present when Serena won at Wimbledon.

After the loss, Serena was understandably devastated -- but watch for her comment about Vinci's age. Is she throwing praise or shade?

Think we may have just found the biggest tennis fan in the world 'cause this dog can't contain his excitement watching Serena Williams vs Venus Williams during the U.S. Open.

We're guessing George is more of a Venus fan since his tail turns into a tornado of fur every time she's on the screen.

Donald Trump tried to stay eyes wide open on one of the highlights of the U.S. Open Tuesday, but he put a lid on it.

D.T. dozed off as he watched Serena Williams beat big sister Venus.

Good news for Drake ... he's already getting the big thumbs up from one of Serena Williams' famous pals -- Rafael Nadal -- who tells TMZ Sports the rapper is a "good guy."

We broke the story ... Drake and Serena were all over each other in a Cincinnati restaurant this weekend ... and they'd been flirting pretty hard at some of her tennis matches lately.

Now, it seems Drake's been making the right impression on Serena's contemporaries ... because when Nadal was leaving his NYC hotel yesterday, he made it clear he approved of Drizzy.

Game. Set. Smash.

Here it is ... proof Drake and Serena Williams are officially a thing -- making out at a fancy Cincinnati restaurant Sunday night ... and TMZ has the pics.

Hours after Serena dominated and won the WTA tournament in Cinci -- with Drake in the crowd -- the two hit up the uber-fancy Sotto restaurant in downtown for some hoity-toity Italian food (the porterhouse is $85).

The two had a private room in the back of the eatery -- where they couldn't keep their hands and lips off of each other ... while several patrons watched.

People inside the restaurant tell us the two were joined by 6 other people ...and at one point ordered a round of tequila shots for the table.

There have been rumors about the two hookin' up for months -- ever since Drake was spotted cheering for Serena at Wimbledon -- but now the pics confirm it ... it's game on.

Even John McEnroe might say this crossed the line -- tennis player Nick Kyrgios telling his opponent, DURING a match ... that his girlfriend is juggling another tennis player's balls.

The supreme trash talking went down during a televised match in Montreal ... Kyrgios had just aced French Open champ Stan Wawrinka, and as he prepped for his next serve, Kyrgios mutters, "Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate."

Unclear if Wawrinka heard him from cross-court, but spectators and the TV audience definitely did. More importantly ... we have no idea if Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis really did have sex with Wawrinka's chick ... tennis player Donna Vekic.

Point is ... Kyrgios is ready for the NBA with a mouth like that.

Wawrinka is demanding the ATP punish Kyrgios.

They may not be together anymore, but Common still has Serena Williams' back ... and front ... saying criticism of her body is INSANE -- 'cause she has a physique that people pay a LOT of money for!!!

Williams' body has been the focus of a TON of news reports lately -- especially after "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling ripped an Internet troll for comparing Serena to a man.

But when Common was leaving the gym in L.A. yesterday, he called the criticism "crazy" - saying, "That's a GIFT God gave her ... people pay for them bodies."

Tennis stud Bernard Tomic -- the 25th ranked player in the world -- was arrested in Miami Beach yesterday after cops say he fought WAY TOO HARD for his right to PAAAAARRTTYYYY!!!

The 22-year-old Australian was staying at the W Hotel ... and according to the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, dude was having a BLOWOUT rager in the penthouse suite.

Officials say the neighbors (read: squares) complained about the loud noise and music several times -- so hotel security went up to ask Bernard to keep it down.

But Bernard is no slave to "the man" ... and allegedly "pointed his finger aggressively" at the security guards and slammed the door in their faces.

The hotel decided to EVICT Bernard from the room ... and called the cops who told Bernard and his guests to pack up their stuff and leave ... or else they'd be arrested.

Everyone left ... except Bernard -- who told cops he was standing his ground and wouldn't leave the room.

So, they arrested him and forced him to leave.

They destroyed their competition on the court -- but there was one last match for Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic last night ... an all out disco dance battle!

It all went down at the Wimbledon champion's dinner in London --where the two were onstage being honored by a bunch of fancy Brits ... when the band began to play "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees.

There was some awkward disco pointing by Novak ... a valiant effort ... but in the end, IT WAS ALL SERENA!

Afterward, Williams tweeted ... "Wimbledon champions/ Clowns 😜 congrats @djokernole we brought back the dance!"

It was a power summit at Wimbledon today with rich and powerful people from all over the world filling the grandstands -- so, how the hell did Bear Grylls get the seats behind Prince William?

Seriously.

Here are the stars he beat out for the 2nd best seats in the house -- David Beckham was there. So was Prince Albert of Monaco. Sophie, Countess of Wessex. Even Bradley Cooper attended.

So, again ... how did Bear Grylls get those seats???

Now, Grylls does have some serious political ties ... his father was a pretty big British politician. But still, more clout than David Beckham ... in England??

Weird, right?

The perks of being the #1 tennis player in the world ...

With just days until he's scheduled to hold court at the BNP Paribas Open in California, Rafael Nadal was chillin' in Mexico with his hot girlfrend Maria Xisca Perello.

The two were seen kayaking together on Tuesday -- the tournament begins on Thursday ... though Rafa has a first round bye since he's a #1 seed.

Venus Williams was the recent victim of grand theft auto in Los Angeles ... TMZ has learned -- but lucky for Venus, the boys behind the badge got her car back.

Venus' white Fiat 500 was recently stolen ... however it's unclear how long the car had been missing before it was recovered on Saturday ... according to law enforcement sources.

Lucky for Venus ... cops initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle early Saturday morning on the 110 freeway ... and when they pulled it over in front of L.A. Live cops discovered the ride was hot.

Officers matched up the car with Venus' stolen Fiat ... and swiftly took the driver into custody.