Serena, Venus move on; Ivanovic falls in Rome
By Sports Network
Austrian lefthander Sybille Bammer was an upset victim on a rainy Tuesday at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay- court French Open tune-up.
Justine Henin, the No. 1 tennis player in the world and winner of seven Grand Slams, unexpectedly retired Wednesday at age 25, saying, ``I have experienced everything I could have.''
Austrian lefthander Sybille Bammer was an upset victim on a rainy Tuesday at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay- court French Open tune-up.
Top-ranked Belgian star Justine Henin has decided to retire from professional tennis, effective immediately.
Top-ranked Justine Henin is retiring from tennis, effective immediately.
The determination that helped Justine Henin beat bigger, stronger opponents time and again was fading. "I decided," the 25-year-old Belgian said, "to stop fooling myself and accept it." Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and spent more than 100 weeks ranked No. 1.
Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and American stars Serena Williams and Venus Williams reached the third round, while top-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic was a second-round upset victim Wednesday at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tune- up.
Belgian Justine Henin, the world's top- ranked women's tennis player, will reportedly announce her retirement on Wednesday.
The world's top-two stars -- Swiss Roger Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal -- were a pair of second-round winners Wednesday at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
The determination that helped Justine Henin beat bigger, stronger opponents time and again was fading.
The U.S. Davis Cup team will head to Madrid to play Spain in the semifinals from September 19-21.
Fourth-seeded Russian star Nikolay Davydenko and fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer were easy second-round winners Tuesday at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
Maria Sharapova reached a compromise with the WTA Tour and completed a promotional photo shoot before the Italian Open began Monday.
Tenth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva and 11th- seeded Hungarian Agnes Szavay were among Monday's first-round winners at the $1.34 million Italian Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.
Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was among Monday's opening-round winners, while 10th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny came up a loser at the $2.955 million Masters Series Hamburg, a clay-court French Open tuneup.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.