Tennis

                                                                        Larry Ellison, the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, has become the new owner of the BNP Paribas Open and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  Ellison, who formed Tennis Ventures, LLC, purchased 100% of the assets from the previous ownership group. Long-time owners Charlie Pasarell and Ray Moore will continue to manage the event and the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Steve Simon will continue as Tournament Director and... Read Full Story

Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer completed Spain's Davis Cup whitewash over the Czech Republic here on Sunday. Defending champions Spain had sealed their fourth Davis Cup title on Saturday when the doubles pair of Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez demolished their Czech opponents to give the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead. And world number two Nadal and Ferrer completed the job on Sunday by beating Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy respectively for a final 5-0 scoreline for the hosts. Nadal downed... Read Full Story

Holders Spain, led by world number two Rafael Nadal, on Thursday preferred David Ferrer to Fernando Verdasco in their opening singles rubber against the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup final starting here on Friday. Verdasco, the world number nine, had been suffering in recent days with leg and groin problems. But Spanish captain Albert Costa insisted that Verdasco was fully fit and could be called on for duty later this weekend. Ferrer, ranked 18, will now face top Czech pick Radek Stepanek... Read Full Story

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain secured their second successive Davis Cup triumph, and their fourth in all, when they extended their lead over Czech Republic to an unassailable 3-0 in Saturday's doubles. A home victory was hardly in doubt after singles wins for Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer on Friday and Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco ensured there would be no last-day nerves by beating Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 7-6 7-5 6-2. The two Spaniards embraced and sank to the floor... Read Full Story

Spain's prime minister honored the Davis Cup-winning team in a ceremony at his official residence on Monday. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised Rafael Nadal and his teammates for successfully defending the title after completing a 5-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the final on Sunday. The country's overall sporting success has coincided with a period of dominance in tennis, Zapatero said. "We have a generation of athletes that is without doubt the best in the history of Spain... Read Full Story

Spain lead 1-0 against the Czech Republic in the final of the Davis Cup after Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 7-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the opening singles match here on Friday. After an awkward start, world number two Nadal compensated for a tense exchange of service breaks in the first few games of the match by winning 13 straight games from 5-5 in the first set. Berdych, ranked 20th in the world, faded badly and was powerless to stop the match deteriorating rapidly during the 2 hour 29 minute... Read Full Story

LONDON (Reuters) - Spain playing Davis Cup tennis on clay in front of a home crowd is about as close to a sure thing as sport provides, and just because Rafael Nadal suddenly looks vulnerable the Czech Republic are not about to forget it. Spain go into this weekend's final as defending champions and with every reason to relish the prospect of a return to Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi, the indoor arena that played host to their first Davis Cup final win in 2000. Nadal has been struggling of... Read Full Story

The 2010 Australian Open Tennis Championship gets underway on the 18th January and concludes on 31st January with the Men’s Singles Final. It is the first tennis Grand Slam of the year and for many of the players it is their favourite tournament, due to the fun atmosphere created by the half a million spectators that visit Melbourne Park each year. Reigning Australian Open singles champion is Rafael Nadal, who won his first hard court Grand Slam following a titanic five set battle with his... Read Full Story

The Czech Republic fielded Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych, who both lost their opening rubbers, in Saturday's crucial doubles match against Spain in the Davis Cup final, in place of the scheduled pair. The Czechs must win the doubles to stand any chance of snatching the cup from the defending champions. Captain Jaroslav Navratil had initially planned to send out Jan Hajek and Lukas Dlouhy to face Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the doubles. But at the last minute he replaced them... Read Full Story

Federer v Nadal is up there with tennis’ greatest rivalries, including McEnroe v Borg and Sampras v Agassi, says Simon Mundie. But what will 2010 hold for the world numbers one and two? At the outset of 2009, there were a number of potential challengers for the top spot in the men’s game, such as Andy Murray (7.6 to win the Australian Open) and Novak Djokovic 8.2. But they were no more than pretenders. The main plotline was still all about Roger and Rafa, the duo which had dominated... Read Full Story