Monaco: Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek were routed 2-6, 0-6 by top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan as the Indian challenge ended at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters came to an end on Friday. The crushing defeat of the fifth-seeded Indo-Czech pair came about in just 50 minutes in the quarter-final contest. The Bryan brothers gained sweet revenge for this year's Australian Open and Sony Ericsson Open losses to Paes...
12:35 PM, Apr 21, 2012
New Delhi: Sania Mirza continued to slide down the rankings ladder as the Indian is now placed at number 182, after a loss of 41 places, in the latest WTA list issued on Monday. Sania slipped in the rankings after she missed out on making the singles main draw of the Miami WTA Premier event, losing in straight sets to American 10th seed Sloane Stephens. The Hyderabadi girl has also...
07:12 PM, Apr 09, 2012
Miami: India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek pulled off an amazing victory over top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to secure their berth in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open. However, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the tournament in straight sets on Thursday. Paes is one win away from a third consecutive Sony Ericsson Open doubles title - with three different partners...
02:19 PM, Mar 30, 2012
Indian Wells: Australian Open winners Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek saw off a stiff resistance from Juan Monaco and Kei Nishikori to advance to the quarter-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters on Tuesday. The seventh-seeded Indo-Czech pair scored a tough 7-6(5), 6-4 win in the second round over their unseeded opponents. They will now fight it out with the giant-killing Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal for...
01:40 PM, Mar 14, 2012
Indian Wells: Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina recovered from a second-set lapse against Timea Bacsinszky and Alberta Brianti to advance to the doubles quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA Premier event. The second-seeded Indo-Russian pair scored a 6-1, 3-6, 10-2 victory in the second round of the USD 5,536,664 hard court tournament. They await the winner of the other second-round match between the pairs of Irina-Camelia Begu/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez...
03:55 PM, Mar 12, 2012
Dubai: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who need to improve their rankings to earn a direct entry into the London Olympics, stormed into the summit clash of the ATP Dubai Open with a straight sets win on Friday. The fourth-seeded Indian pair of Bhupathi and Bopanna edged past the giant-killing Austrian pair of Julian Knowle and Alexanderin Peya 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7) in the semi-finals of the USD 1,700,475 hard...
06:44 PM, Mar 02, 2012
Dubai: India's Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina edged out Shuai Peng of China and Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh to book a place in the doubles final of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Tennis Championships. The second seeded Indo-Russian pair took an hour and 40 minutes to beat their opponents in the super tie-break, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (13/11) here late Friday night. The duo converted five of...
11:58 AM, Feb 25, 2012
Dubai: Sania Mirza squandered a one-set lead to crash out of the qualifying event of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, losing the first round match to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak. Sania won the first set comfortably but lost steam as the match progressed to lose 6-2, 3-6, 2-6 in the opening round of the USD 2,000,000 hard court event. The Indian will now hope to do well in the doubles...
06:31 PM, Feb 20, 2012
Prague: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will team with countryman Radek Stepanek to play the mixed doubles at the London Olympics. Kvitova, who also considered Tomas Berdych as a partner, announced her plan on Friday. Stepanek won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open when he and Leander Paes of India won the doubles final. Kvitova said, "As an experienced doubles player, Radek will be the leader." Kvitova and...
08:35 PM, Feb 17, 2012
Pattaya: Sania Mirza's singles campaign at the Pattaya Open ended on Friday with a 5-7, 3-6 quarter-final defeat against Chinese Taipei qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh, but the Indian has kept herself in the title contention for the doubles by making the semi-finals. The 111-ranked Indian lost to the talented Tapiei player after battling for one hour and 20 minutes. However, in the doubles, Sania and her Australian partner Anastasia Rodionova continued...
07:02 PM, Feb 10, 2012
Pattaya: Sania Mirza dug deep into her reserves to overcome a fighting Anne Keothavong 6-4, 7-5 to progress to the singles quarter-finals of the USD 220,000 Pattaya Open on Thursday. The unseeded Indian, ranked 111, tamed her giant-killing British rival in a hard-fought second-round match after one hour and 40 minutes of struggle. Keothavong, ranked 88, had shocked second seed and world number 16 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the...
03:44 PM, Feb 09, 2012
Karachi: They may no longer be partners on the international circuit but Pakistan's top tennis player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has not given up on the idea of teaming up with India's Rohan Bopanna for a 'peace match' to bolster Indo-Pak ties. Bopanna and Qureshi parted ways after the Indian decided to team up with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi for this season. "We may no longer be playing as a doubles team but...
12:55 PM, Jan 31, 2012
Melbourne: A second title eluded Leander Paes at this year's Australian Open as he and Elena Vesnina ended runners-up in the mixed doubles event after being outplayed by Horia Tecau and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the summit clash in Melbourne on Sunday. The fifth-seeded Indo-Russian pair lost 3-6, 7-5, 3-10 to the eighth-seeded Romanian-American combination in one hour and 48 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena. Paes and Vesnina hit 14...
01:37 PM, Jan 29, 2012
Melbourne: India's veteran tennis ace Leander Paes created history by becoming the first Indian to complete a career Grand Slam of winning all the four Major titles by winning the Australian Open men's doubles event in Melbourne on Saturday. Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek thrashed world No.1 pair Mike and Bob Bryan from the US in straight sets in the final at the Rod Laver Arena. The Indo-Czech...
06:12 PM, Jan 28, 2012
Melbourne: With singles play on their minds, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva nearly forgot to sign up in time for doubles at the Australian Open. The Russians were lucky they got in under the wire. On Friday, they rallied to beat the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the women's doubles championship. "We focus on singles. Sometimes I go to a Grand Slam,...
05:20 PM, Jan 27, 2012
Melbourne: Leander Paes is in line to win two Grand Slam titles as he and Elena Vesnina reached the mixed doubles summit clash even as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out after their semi-final defeat at the Australian Open on Friday. Fifth seeds Paes and Vesnina came from behind to tame a fighting Italian pair of Roberta Vinci and Daniele Bracciali 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 in the semi-finals. Paes has...
03:34 PM, Jan 27, 2012
Melbourne: Sania Mirza yanks her thumb down to touch the underside of her forearm. "See?" she giggles. "I'm double-jointed." The 25-year-old Indian, whose tennis world ranking once rose as high as 27th in singles, has endured a torrid time with injuries that left her unable to hold cutlery properly let alone a racquet. The Mumbai native, who married former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik and is now based out of...
10:37 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Melbourne: Leander Paes had a great day at the Australian Open as he reached the final of the men's doubles pairing Radek Stepanek, and also made it to the mixed doubles semi-finals with Elena Vesnina in Melbourne on Thursday. The unseeded Indo-Czech pair of Paes and Stepanek fought brilliantly to come back from a set down and stun second seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canadian Daniel Nestor 2-6, 6-4,...
02:26 PM, Jan 26, 2012
Melbourne: Sania Mirza had a productive day at the Australian Open on Monday as the Indian ace reached the quarter-finals of both the women's doubles and the mixed doubles events with Elena Vesnina and Mahesh Bhupathi respectively. Sania and Bhupathi, the 2009 mixed doubles champions, came from behind to beat Czech Iveta Benesova and Austria's Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 in the second-round match. The sixth-seeded Indian team took one...
02:01 PM, Jan 23, 2012
Melbourne: India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the Australian Open men's doubles while Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek cruised into the quarter-finals on Sunday. Bhupathi and Bopanna, seeded fourth, went down in straight sets to Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in their pre-quarterfinal match. The Indian pair had dropped just one set in the entire tournament. However, three double faults and 11 unforced...
02:22 PM, Jan 22, 2012
