Tennis for tennis players. Athletes guide to tennis. Racket selections, strategy tips, tennis training, tennis clubs, and a some coverage of professional tennis too.
In-form third seed Novak Djokovic reached the ATP Paris Masters final after eliminating second seed Rafael Nadal with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 victory at the Bercy arena here on Saturday. Djokovic, who won the Basel tournament last weekend, looked in control from the very start of the match and encountered little resistance from an uncharacteristically subdued Nadal, who is without a title since May. The Serb will play the winner of the second semi-final between French 15th seed Gael Monfils... Read Full Story
PARIS (Reuters) - Serbia's Novak Djokovic extended a brilliant run of form by outclassing world number two Rafael Nadal 6-2 6-3 to advance to the Paris Masters final on Saturday. World number three Djokovic, who beat world number one Roger Federer in the Basel final last week, will face local favorite Gael Monfils or Czech Radek Stepanek in the final of the last event of the regular season on Sunday. Spaniard Nadal, who has not won a title since beating Djokovic in the Rome Masters final... Read Full Story
Second seed Rafael Nadal set up a Paris Masters semi-final clash with third seed Novak Djokovic on Friday by defeating title-holder Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-5. Djokovic had earlier defeated Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the first of the day's quarter-finals to reach the last four in Paris for the first time. The losses for Tsonga and Soderling meant that Spain's Fernando Verdasco was assured of the eighth and final spot in the November 22-29 ATP Tour Finals in London. The other... Read Full Story
Novak Djokovic wrecked Robin Soderling's hopes of a first-ever appearance in the ATP World Tour Finals by beating him 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday. Soderling, who made the final of the French Open the last time he played in Paris in June, went into the match knowing that he needed to at least reach the final here to clinch the eighth and final spot in the season-ending tournament which takes place in London from November 22-29. But having lost all four of his... Read Full Story
REGGIO CALABRIA, Italy (Reuters) - When Italy won the Fed Cup final last weekend, the screaming crowds and the buzzing media covering the event showed just how much tennis has moved up on the public radar in the soccer-mad nation. Fans of all ages filled out a nearly 5,000-strong stadium during the two-day final in Reggio Calabria, on the toe of Italy, and newspapers praised the 4-0 victory over the United States on their front pages. The team was then hailed when they appeared on one of... Read Full Story
PARIS (Reuters) - Swede Robin Soderling kept alive his slim hopes of making the World Tour Finals in London by beating Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday. World number seven Davydenko, seeded sixth in a tournament he won in 2006, would have made sure of entering the November 22-29 season's finale featuring the world's top eight players had he reached the quarter-finals. French Open runner-up Soderling, the world number 10, needs to... Read Full Story
Rafael Nadal survived five match points against Nicolas Almagro to reach the ATP Paris Masters third round with a gritty 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 win on Wednesday, after Marat Safin bowed out of the sport. World number two Nadal lost the first set before his Spanish compatriot, who had never taken a set off Nadal in four previous meetings, spurned five chances to win the match in the second. Nadal dominated the second-set tie-break but fell 3-1 down in the decider, escaping a 4-1 deficit only... Read Full Story
The curtain fell on Marat Safin's tempestuous tennis career when the Russian former world number one lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Paris Masters second round here on Wednesday. Safin has decided to retire from the sport at the age of 29 and was unable to prolong his career despite warm encouragement from the crowd at the Bercy arena, where he has previously tasted title success on three occasions. "This day will stand out for a long time, until I pass into a different... Read Full Story
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Marat Safin, widely regarded as one of the most gifted players of his generation, brought down the curtain on a chequered career when he bowed out to U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in the Paris Masters. Safin's swansong in the second round on Wednesday came against a player whose career resembled his own in many ways. Like the Argentine, Safin won his first major title at the U.S. Open at the same age, nine years ago. Typically, the volatile Russian did not go... Read Full Story
The curtain fell on Marat Safin's tempestuous tennis career when the Russian former world number one lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Paris Masters second round here on Wednesday. Safin has decided to retire from the sport at the age of 29 and was unable to prolong his career despite warm encouragement from the crowd at the Bercy arena, where he has previously tasted title success on three occasions. "This day will stand out for a long time, until I pass into a different... Read Full Story
