Rome: After all these years, Rafael Nadal still knows how to dominate Roger Federer. In the 30th meeting between the two tennis greats, Nadal controlled the final from start to finish to win 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday for his seventh Italian Open title. It was the most lop-sided win in the series since Nadal also lost just four games, but over three sets, in the 2008 French Open final against...
09:34 PM, May 19, 2013
Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna ended runners-up at the Rome Masters after a tame straight sets defeat at the hands of top seeded American team of Mike and Bob Bryan here on Sunday. The sixth seeded Indian combination lost 2-6 3-6 in the summit clash of the euro 3,204,745 clay court event. Such was the domination of the veteran American pair that Indians could not earn even a single...
08:11 PM, May 19, 2013
Rome: Serena Williams won her fourth consecutive title of the year in dominating fashion Sunday, beating third-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 in the Italian Open final. The top-ranked American will enter the French Open, which starts next Sunday, on a career-best 24-match winning streak. Williams was coming off consecutive titles in Miami; Charleston, South Carolina; and Madrid last week. Williams' only previous title at this clay-court event came in 2002,...
06:58 PM, May 19, 2013
Rome: Rafa Nadal beat Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 to reach the Italian Open final on Saturday with a dominant performance that he described as emotional after his long injury absence. Nadal, who returned to action in February after seven months out with a knee problem, will have the chance to win his sixth title since his comeback when he faces either Roger Federer or Benoit Paire in...
11:49 PM, May 18, 2013
Rome: Serena Williams is one victory away from winning her fourth consecutive title this year - with the French Open only one week away. The top-ranked American overcame an early break of her serve to ease past Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday and reach the Italian Open final, extending her career-best winning run to 23 matches. Williams is coming off consecutive titles in Miami; Charleston, South Carolina;...
05:26 PM, May 18, 2013
Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna reached the semi-finals of the Rome Masters after getting a walkover from rivals Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek even as Sania Mizra and Bethanie Mattek-Sands crashed out of the women's event, here. Berdych, who shocked world number one Novak Djokovic in the men's singles in a gruelling three-setter, cited muscle fatigue as the reason for him withdrawing. Bhupathi and Bopanna will now fight it...
01:49 PM, May 18, 2013
Rome: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic wasted a chance to serve out the match and was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the Italian Open quarterfinals on Friday. It's the second consecutive week that Djokovic has struggled, having also lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the Madrid Open, where he was bothered by a right ankle injury. Djokovic said he had been playing pain free this...
08:17 PM, May 17, 2013
Rome: Serena Williams is on the longest winning streak of her career. The top-ranked American beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 Friday to reach the Italian Open semi-finals and extend her victory run to 22 matches. Williams had twice won 21 in a row before, although both of those streaks came a decade ago, in 2002 and 2003. In the other half of the draw, two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova...
06:43 PM, May 17, 2013
Rome: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna entered the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters but it was curtains for Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer, here. Sixth seed Indian combo of Bhupathi and Bopanna scored a 6-2 6-3 win over unseeded British team of Dominic Inglot and Jonathan Marray in the second round of the Euro 3,204,745 elite clay court tournament. However, Paes and Melzer made an early exit...
05:19 PM, May 17, 2013
Rome: Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Italian Open before her quarter-final with Italy's Sara Errani on Friday because of "physical problems", organisers said. The Russian is set to defend her French Open title later this month. Italian Open officials did not eleborate further on the reasons for Sharapova's Rome exit. ...
04:17 PM, May 17, 2013
Rome: Six-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame one of the worst opening sets of his career to edge Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 Thursday and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals. Nadal's performance, and sometimes sluggish movement on the court, raises questions about whether he will be able to successfully defend his title at the French Open. The year's second Grand Slam starts in 10 days. Nadal will next face...
11:29 PM, May 16, 2013
Rome: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic improved his clay-court record this season to 8-1 and reached the Italian Open quarter-finals by beating Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 Thursday. The only danger Djokovic faced came while serving at 3-2 in the second set. He saved two break points - one with a big serve down the middle and the other with some crisp shot-making that forced Dolgopolov to net a backhand. The start of...
06:10 PM, May 16, 2013
Rome: Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands scored a straight set win over Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur to move to the quarter-finals of the WTA Premier event, here. The sixth seeded Indo-American pair registered a 6-4 6-3 win over the Italian-Australian combination in one hour and 13 minutes in the second round of the prestigious clay court tournament. There was little to separate the two teams as...
03:55 PM, May 16, 2013
Rome: Back pain forced Andy Murray to retire midway through his second-round match at the Italian Open on Wednesday. He may have to sit out the French Open, too. Elsewhere at the Foro Italico, two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova eased past Spanish qualifier Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2. Also, rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz upset eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (5) and celebrated by ripping his shirt apart. Murray, who was...
10:34 PM, May 15, 2013
Rome: Rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz upset eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday. The 22-year-old Janowicz improved his record against top-10 opponents to 3-5, having closed last year by reaching the Paris Masters final as a qualifier, beating Andy Murray and Janko Tipsarevic along the way. The 24th-ranked Janowicz is one of only five players under the age of 24...
06:33 PM, May 15, 2013
Rome: World number one Serena Williams inflicted swift revenge on behalf of her older sister when she beat Britain's Laura Robson 6-2 6-2 in the Rome Masters on Tuesday. Venus Williams was despatched in straight sets by Robson in Monday's first round but Serena, fresh from her defeat of Maria Sharapova in the Madrid Open final at the weekend, was a different proposition once she had warmed up. Robson broke...
09:08 AM, May 15, 2013
Rome: Novak Djokovic reached the third round of the Italian Open, beating Spanish qualifier Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday and appearing to have no problems with his injured ankle. Djokovic has reached the final in four of the five past years at the Foro Italico, winning the title in 2008 and 2011. He dropped serve to trail 2-1 in the opening set but broke back immediately and took control from...
10:57 PM, May 14, 2013
Rome: Laura Robson overcame strong winds to beat Venus Williams 6-3, 6-2 at the Italian Open on Monday and set up a second-round match with top-ranked Serena Williams. Both players struggled with the wind at the Foro Italico, with Robson hitting eight double-faults and Venus six, although Venus' errors came at more inopportune times, notably two double-faults in the final game. Robson, who at No. 39 is ranked 15 spots...
08:34 PM, May 13, 2013
Torino: Indian golfer Shiv Kapur played carded a second-round 69 to keep himself in contention at the BMW Italian Open here. Kapur, whose five-under 67 on first day put him in tied 10th place, is now tied 14th but is only four behind leader Richard Bland, who has played identical rounds of 66 on both the days. Meanwhile, SSP Chowrasia was done in by a triple bogey as he carded...
01:55 PM, Sep 15, 2012
