Tennis

Novak Djokovic made the second round of the French Open after beating Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva. The former world number one, seeded 20th at Roland Garros, went 2-0 down at the start of the first two sets but recovered to come through 6-3 6-4 6-4. The injury-hit Serb, 31, has not won a Grand Slam title since his victory ...

Eighth seed Petra Kvitova came back from a set down to beat Veronica Cepede Royg 3-6 6-1 7-5 and reach the French Open second round. The Czech, among the title favourites, made 17 unforced errors in the first set before finding her rhythm. Second seed Caroline Wozniacki was also tested in her first set before running away with the next ...

British number one Johanna Konta’s struggles at Roland Garros continued as she lost in the French Open first round for the fourth successive year. The 22nd seed lost 6-4 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. Konta spoke positively in the build-up about her ability on the red clay, but made too many unforced errors against an opponent ranked 93rd in the ...

PARIS: When Maria Sharapova last played the French Open in 2015, she did so as defending champion. Denied a wildcard by Roland Garros organisers last year on her return from a 15-month doping ban, the Russian was dogged by injury and controversy as she tried to get her career back on track. Now 31, it would have been understandable had ...

Elina Svitolina underlined her status as a top favourite for the French Open by sweeping Simona Halep aside 6-0, 6-4 to successfully defend her Italian Open crown on Sunday. In a repeat of last year’s final at the Foro Italico, Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded fourth, was up against Halep a day after the Romanian top seed had ousted Russian Maria Sharapova. ...

Rafael Nadal survived a stunning fightback from Alexander Zverev to win a record eighth Italian Open. Nadal cruised to the first set before defending champion Zverev won nine of the next 11 games to take the second set 6-1 and lead 3-2 in the decider. But Nadal turned the match around following a lengthy rain delay and closed out a ...

ROME: Rafael Nadal closed in on an eighth Rome Masters title as he dismissed old rival Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final for a record-extending 10th time. The Spanish top seed will meet second-seeded holder Alexander Zverev, a 7-6 (15/13), 7-5 winner over Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic. His impressive win over Djokovic will give ...

Andy Murray has not asked for a wildcard into next week’s ATP Challenger event in Loughborough. The double Wimbledon champion, 31, has not played competitively since Wimbledon last year and had an operation on his right hip in January. It is thought the Scot had initially targeted the new event, which begins on Monday, to start his comeback. The BBC ...

ROME: Maria Sharapova fired a French Open warning with an epic three-hour win over Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the Rome semi-finals on Friday as Rafael Nadal continued his clay court domination. Former world number one and five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova found herself in a dogfight with her Latvian opponent. Playing her fourth match in as many ...

ROME: Rafael Nadal continued his clay domination on Friday, rallying from a set down to reach the Italian Open semi-finals with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Fabio Fognini. The world number two needs to lift an eighth career title at the Foro Italico on Sunday to return to the top of the ATP rankings after losing that position to ...