Djokovic rallies past Wawrinka to win Rome Masters
By ANDREW DAMPF
Having already displayed his prowess on hard courts this season, Novak Djokovic is showing he's capable of dominating on clay, too.
Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic rallied to beat Swiss star Stanislas Wawrinka to win the $3.5 million Italian Masters on Sunday.
Having already displayed his prowess on hard courts this season, Novak Djokovic is showing he's capable of dominating on clay, too.
Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia was among a trio of winners during the opening day of play at the Hamburg Masters Series open on Sunday.
Dinara Safina rallied to defeat Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian final at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay- court French Open tuneup.
Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open, winning the title Sunday by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer suffered a quarterfinal setback Friday at the hands of gritty Czech Radek Stepanek at the $3.5 million Italian Masters. Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and former top-ranked star Andy Roddick avoided upsets in order to reach Saturday's semifinals at this clay-court French Open tuneup.
For the second time in two days, Dinara Safina knocked off a top-10 superstar, as the Russian ousted previously red-hot American Serena Williams on Friday to reach the semifinals at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
World No. 1 superstar Roger Federer, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and former top-ranked American Andy Roddick led the charge into the quarterfinals at the $3.5 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
Rejecting pleas from its players and coach, the Spanish tennis federation chose Madrid's bullring Friday as the venue for the Davis Cup semifinal series against the United States.
SPOTLIGHT | ON TENNIS
Maria Sharapova is miffed at the WTA tour for trying to force her to do a pre-tournament photo shoot in Rome early next week, and she lashed out on her website. She was asked to do a promotional shoot Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week to promote the Rome Open, and she's in no mood to say, ``Cheese.''
With the 2008 French Open set to get underway in less than three weeks, the clay-court master that is Rafael Nadal is still in the process of tuning up to claim a fourth straight title at the Parisian Slam.
Berlin, Germany (Sports Network) - Surging American Serena Williams posted a third-round win, while top-ranked star Justine Henin went by way of the upset Thursday at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay-court French Open tuneup. Also, second-seeded and defending champion Ana Ivanovic snuck into the quarterfinals here on Day 4.
Three-time champion Justine Henin, reigning titlist Ana Ivanovic and 2007 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
For only the second time in his last 105 matches on clay, Rafael Nadal came up a loser Wednesday at the $3.5 million Italian Masters, a French Open tune-up.
Rafael Nadal lost for only the second time in his last 105 matches on clay, falling to Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-1 Wednesday in the second round of the Rome Masters.
Several seeds, including Hungarian Agnes Szavay and Russian Nadia Petrova, won first-round matches Monday at the $1.34 million German Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
Ninth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet and former world No. 1 Russian Marat Safin went by the way of first-round upsets Monday at the $3.5 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
Second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile outlasted Simone Bolelli to win the clay-court BMW Open on Sunday.
Clay court specialist Rafael Nadal defeated countryman David Ferrer to win the $1.29 million Open Sabadell Atlantico tennis event for the fourth straight time.
Top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva cruised to a straight-set victory Saturday and advanced to the $145,000 Prague Open.