Monte Carlo: Rafael Nadal admitted he is still trying to recapture his best form but remained optimistic for the French Open after losing his Monte Carlo crown to Novak Djokovic on Sunday. Nadal, who returned to action in March after seven months out with injury, went down 6-2 7-6 to the Serbian world number one, ending his eight-year reign on the principality's clay. "I need to put in a little...
12:05 AM, Apr 22, 2013
Monte Carlo: Current anti-doping measures in tennis are a "disaster" and the introduction of biological passports can only improve matters, world number six Tomas Berdych said. "The system right now... I don't know how it works with the others but with me, it does not work at all," the Czech told Reuters in an interview at the Monte Carlo Masters this week. "You have to say every single day... where...
11:52 PM, Apr 21, 2013
Monte Carlo:For the first time in nine years, the Monte Carlo Masters trophy belongs to someone other than Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard's record reign at the clay-court tournament finally ended Sunday as he lost 6-2, 7-6 (1) to top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the final. Nadal won his 46 previous matches and the last eight titles at Monte Carlo - beating Djokovic in last year's final - and his last defeat...
08:33 PM, Apr 21, 2013
Monaco: Eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal recorded his 46th consecutive win at the Monte Carlo Masters by beating Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (3) Saturday to set up a repeat of last year's final against top-ranked Novak Djokovic. The Spaniard has reached five straight finals since returning from a seven-month layoff following a left knee injury. He will go for his fourth title of the season against Djokovic, who cruised...
08:49 PM, Apr 20, 2013
Monte Carlo: Jurgen Melzer and Leander Paes lost their men's doubles quarterfinal clash against the top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan here at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday. The Bryan brothers won 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in one hour and 13 minutes to proceed to the semifinals of the 1000-point ATP clay court tournament. The Indo-Austrian pair broke the top seeds twice in as many chances they got to get...
09:55 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Monte Carlo: Rafael Nadal was pushed all the way by Grigor Dimitrov before winning his 45th straight match at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching the semifinals with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory and staying on course for a rematch of last year's final against Novak Djokovic. The top-ranked Djokovic had less of a struggle against Jarkko Nieminen, beating the Finnish veteran 6-4, 6-3 and getting through another test on his...
08:18 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Monaco: Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Stanislas Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Monte Carlo Masters to set up a potential semi-final clash with eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal. Wawrinka made short work of beating second-seeded Andy Murray on Thursday and looked well on the way to another clinical win as he held to love to win the first set, clinching it with an ace on second serve. But Tsonga raced...
04:42 PM, Apr 19, 2013
Monte Carlo: A string of errors put world number two Andy Murray out of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday when he lost 6-1 6-2 to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. Fourth seed Tomas Berdych and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro, seeded five, were also beaten at the first big claycourt event of the season, while Rafael Nadal calmly continued his bid for a ninth consecutive crown with...
11:38 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Monte Carlo: Leander Paes and Jurgen Melzer overcame sixth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to advance to the quarter-finals of the men's doubles of the Monte Carlo Masters here on Thursday. The Indo-Austrian pair took 57 minutes to defeat Bhupathi-Bopanna 6-2, 6-3 at the 1000-point ATP clay-court tournament. Paes-Melzer broke their opponents thrice out of the nine opportunities they got in comparison to the Indian pairings' zero conversion rate...
08:18 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Monaco: Second-seeded Andy Murray was thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday. The Brit dropped serve five times and made a number of sloppy unforced errors, lasting less than an hour against the 13th-seeded Wawrinka, who had won their two only previous meetings on clay. Murray was jeered off the court. Earlier, eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal extended his Monte...
07:19 PM, Apr 18, 2013
Monaco: Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal extended his Monte Carlo Masters winning streak to 43 matches, and top-ranked Novak Djokovic was relieved his right ankle held firm despite hurting it again as both reached the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday. Nadal beat Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-2, but Djokovic spent twice as long on court against Mikhail Youzhny before beating the Russian 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in 2 hours,...
10:18 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Monaco: Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak at the Monte Carlo Masters to 43 matches, beating Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday in the second round. The eight-time defending champion nearly trailed 3-0 in the second set, but he saved break points before taking control of the match. The third-seeded Nadal will face Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in the third round. Later, top-ranked Novak Djokovic was to play Mikhail Youzhny as...
06:22 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Monte Carlo: Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 7 Richard Gasquet all advanced to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday. Tsonga beat Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (3), 6-2, while Gasquet had a little more trouble overcoming Benoit Paire 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 and Del Potro was pushed even further as he struggled past Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Del Potro,...
01:00 AM, Apr 17, 2013
Monte Carlo: World number one Novak Djokovic, who has been struggling to shake off an ankle injury, will play in this week's Monte Carlo Masters, organisers said on Tuesday. Last year's runner-up picked up the injury when he led Serbia to a Davis Cup quarter-final win over the United States last week. Djokovic practised on Tuesday but did not put too much pressure on his right leg when serving. He...
10:24 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Monte Carlo: Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer advanced to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters here with a comfortable straight sets victory over local pair Benjamin Balleret and Guillaume Couillard. The unseeded Indo-Austrian pair beat the wildcards 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and eight minutes on Monday. Paes and Melzer will play Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who were given a bye in the opening...
08:27 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Monaco : Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (3), 6-1 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday Dimitrov had seven aces and broke Tipsarevic's serve four times. Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, Marinko Matosevic of Australia and qualifier Albert Ramos of Spain advanced to the second round. Wawrinka won 6-3, 7-5 against Denis Istomin, breaking the Uzbek's serve five times; Matosevic beat Fernando Verdasco...
06:10 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Monaco: Ninth-seeded Marin Cilic overcame a shaky serving performance to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-2 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday. Cilic looked set for an easier win after converting all three of his break points in the first set, before both players dropped serve three times in the second set. Cilic stepped it up in the third, hitting three aces...
08:52 AM, Apr 16, 2013
Monaco: Rafael Nadal will talk about almost anything except his knee injury as he bids to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the ninth straight time. The Spaniard has made a staggering return to the circuit after seven months out with a left knee injury, reaching the final of the four tournaments he's played in - winning three - and racing to a career best 17-1 start to the season....
07:57 PM, Apr 15, 2013
Monaco: Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain upset Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday. Bautista Agut closed it out on his fifth match point when the 11th-seeded Frenchman hit a forehand into the net. The Spaniard will play either Florian Mayer of Germany or Benjamin Balleret of Monaco. In other first-round matches, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and...
06:56 PM, Apr 15, 2013
