Tennis

An impromptu practice session between Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal in Rome got a lot of attention this week, but the Russian revealed she almost didn’t make the request. Sharapova says she had to be talked into asking the all-time great to hit on his favorite surface. “Well, I saw he was practicing on the court right before me,” Sharapova told press in Rome. “And ...

PARIS: Rafael Nadal’s surprise quarter-final exit at the Madrid Masters has seen the Spaniard replaced as world number one by Roger Federer in the latest ATP rankings published on Monday. Federer returns to the top spot despite not having played since March. Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic slipped six places to 18th after his second-round defeat in Madrid, his ...

MADRID — Second-seeded Alexander Zverev eased past fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 to win the Madrid Open on Sunday, claiming his second title in a week. The German broke Thiem’s opening service games in each set and didn’t give his Austrian rival a single break chance, winning in 1 hour, 19 minutes. Zverev won his eighth career title and second ...

Stan Wawrinka was beaten 6-4 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open on his return from injury. The Swiss three-time Grand Slam champion lost to 55th-ranked American Steve Johnson on the clay in Rome. The 33-year-old sat out the second half of 2017 after knee surgery following his first-round exit at Wimbledon and has not competed since February. ...

MADRID: Rafael Nadal suffered his first clay-court defeat in almost a year when the world number one was shocked 7-5, 6-3 by Austria´s Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals on Friday. Defending champion Nadal, who came into the tournament having won his 11th titles at Monte Carlo and at Barcelona, also saw his record 50-set winning streak on clay ...

Madrid:- World number one Rafael Nadal broke John McEnroe’s 34-year-old record for successive set wins on a single surface as he moved into the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. Nadal, 31, beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 on clay to take his winning streak to 50 sets in a row. He will play Austria’s Dominic Thiem on Friday for a ...

Serena Williams has withdrawn from this month’s Italian Open, five days after opting out of the WTA event in Madrid. The decision puts in doubt her participation at the French Open, which begins on 27 May. Williams is a four-time winner of the Rome event, which takes place from 14-20 May. She withdrew from the Madrid Open on Thursday, saying ...

Novak Djokovic said his first-round win over Kei Nishikori at the Madrid Open was “exactly” what he needed for his confidence after a run of poor form. The 30-year-old former world number one has failed to reach the quarter-finals in five tournaments since returning from elbow surgery in January. But he impressed in beating Nishikori 7-5 6-4 to set up ...

Petra Kvitova came from a set down against Mihaela Buzarnescu to win the Prague Open on home soil – her third WTA title of the year. The Czech raced into a 3-0 lead but Romania’s Buzarnescu took the opening set after winning five straight games. But world number 10 Kvitova hit back before taking a hard-fought decider to win 4-6 ...

Seven-time champion Serena Williams could still be made the number one seed at Wimbledon this year, even if the American does not climb back into the world’s top 32 before the tournament. Williams, 36, has dropped to 449th in the world since giving birth last year. She believes players returning from pregnancy should have protected seedings as well as protected ...