Tennis

No. 7 seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany moved into the second round of the BMW Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory Tuesday against Slovakia's Andrej Martin in Munich, Germany. Struff struck six aces and only faced two break points (saving one) during the 76-minute match. Up next is compatriot Dominik Koepfer, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner against three-time Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. No. 5 Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia cruised 6-2, 6-3 over Brazil's Thiago Monteiro. American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald upset No. 6 seed

Roger Federer's decision to make his long-awaited Grand Slam return on his least favourite surface at next month's French Open is part of a grand plan to peak in time for his beloved Wimbledon, according to ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe. Federer, who due to injury or schedule preference has not competed on the clay courts at Roland Garros in four of the last five years, returned to competition last month after sitting out more than a year following two knee operations. "He wouldn't

World number one Ash Barty said her tennis had reached a new level during a "phenomenal" week in Stuttgart where she pulled off three successive comeback wins to claim her second title on clay. The Australian, who turned 25 on Saturday, defeated fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-0 6-3 in the final to hoist her third WTA trophy this season and cement her place at the top of the rankings. The Sabalenka win followed victories over fourth seed Elina Svitolina and sixth seed

Rafael Nadal saved a championship point to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-5 on Sunday and claim a 12th Barcelona Open title in the ATP's longest match of 2021. The Spaniard secured his first title of the year and 87th of his career, denying Tsitsipas back-to-back triumphs following his maiden Masters 1000 title at Monte Carlo last week. Nadal avenged his Australian Open quarter-final loss to Tsitsipas and will return to second in the ATP rankings on Monday by climbing back above Daniil Medvedev after his marathon

Rafael Nadal stayed on course for his 12th Barcelona Open title with a 6-1 6-4 win over British number two Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals. The 34-year-old had far too much skill and guile on his favoured clay surface. The world number three swept through the opening set but although Norrie made more of a fight of it in the second, Nadal was too good. "I played well at the beginning then I stopped a little bit in the second," said the Spaniard.

STUTTGART: World number one Ashleigh Barty fought back to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Stuttgart clay-court tournament with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Karolina Pliskova on Friday (Apr 23). "It was an incredible match, with two very different opening sets, and the third was extraordinary," said Barty after her 18th win this year. "I felt like I created a lot of opportunities and Karolina was able to come up with some quality stuff on some massive points. "It was a really

The top two seeds, Australia's Ashleigh Barty and Romania's Simona Halep, respectively, scored quarterfinal victories Friday and moved on to the semifinal round at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. Fourth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine joined them, advancing past seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2. Svitolina needed two hours, 37 minutes to win the match, saving 13 of 16 break points (81.3 percent). The No. 5 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will meet Halep after

STUTTGART, Germany: Karolina Pliskova will face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart's WTA clay-court tournament after seeing off Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set battle on Thursday (Apr 22). Pliskova, the sixth seed, recovered from losing the first set in a tie-break by firing down 21 aces, 10 of which came in the last set alone, for a 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3 second-round win. "I like spending time on this court," joked Pliskova, the 2018 Stuttgart champion, after needing almost

STUTTGART, Germany: World number one Ashleigh Barty wasted no time on Wednesday (Apr 21) booking her place in the quarter-finals of the WTA clay-court tournament in Stuttgart. The top seed needed just 24 minutes to wrap up the first set against Germany's Laura Siegemund before claiming a 6-0, 7-5 second-round win. "It was good to play on a new surface, the court was quite quick compared to what I am used to," said Barty, who hit six aces in an impressive opening display.

Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal survived a scare before fighting back to beat Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka in the second round of the Barcelona Open. Nadal, who has not lost on clay to an opponent ranked outside the world's top 100 since 2004, won 3-6 6-2 6-4 against 111th-ranked Ivashka. British number one Dan Evans was unable to continue his excellent form on clay, losing to France's Corentin Moutet in a spiky second-round match. Evans, seeded 16th, lost 6-4 5-7 6-3. The pair

Albert Ramos-Vinolas eked out in a win in the first round of his hometown event, beating Denmark's Holger Rune 6-7 (2), 6-1, 7-6 (2) at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Tuesday. Ramos-Vinolas needed more than three hours to get past his opponent, who is ranked 323rd in the world. Four of the five seeded players in action Tuesday earned second-round wins, with fifth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, seventh-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada, eighth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium and 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner

STUTTGART: Former Stuttgart champion Laura Siegemund will face world number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia in the second round of the clay-court WTA tournament after seeing off qualifier Mona Barthel on Tuesday (Apr 20). Siegemund, 33, who won the Stuttgart tournament in 2017 and reached the 2016 final, needed just over two hours to seal a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 first-round win over Barthel, who fired down four aces without reply. Barty will make her debut in Stuttgart in the second round against the

Eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Germany's Nastasja Schunk on Monday in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany. Bencic completed the victory over the 17-year-old Schunk in one hour and 28 minutes. Schunk made it into the main draw with two qualifying victories. The day's only other first-round match featured Maria Sakkari and the Greek recorded six aces while posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory over German wildcard Andrea Petkovic. Sakkari won

Roger Federer has confirmed he will play in this year's French Open as he continues his return from injury. Federer, 39, is making his comeback after two knee operations and has not played a Grand Slam since January 2020. The 20-time Grand Slam winner made his return after 14 months out at last month's Qatar Open but has not played since. On Sunday, he said will play the clay-court Geneva Open in May followed by Roland Garros, which begins on 30 May. Federer, who won his only

Great Britain moved a step closer to the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Finals after Katie Boulter clinched victory in their play-off tie against Mexico. With Britain leading 2-1 in the best-of-five tie, 24-year-old Boulter won 6-4 6-1 against Giuliana Olmos. Anne Keothavong's team progress to next year's qualifiers, where another win will put them in the 12-team finals. "We came in with high expectations and the players delivered," said Keothavong. "It is a special feeling at this stage of the competition to

British number one Dan Evans saw his run at the Monte Carlo Masters ended in the semi-finals by Greek world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas. Evans had previously enjoyed little success on clay until this week, when he shocked world number one Novak Djokovic on the way to the last four. However, beating Tsitsipas proved a step too far as 30-year-old Evans was outclassed in a 6-2 6-1 defeat. Tsitsipas will meet Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the final on Sunday. Despite the

Rafa Nadal suffered a shock quarter-final defeat by Russian Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday as he was overpowered 6-2 4-6 6-2, only his sixth ever loss at the tournament he has won 11 times. The Spaniard was in danger of being thrashed when Rublev led by a break in the second set, having dominated the opener, but showed his trademark grit to battle back. Rublev was unrelenting, however, and bludgeoned his way into a 5-1 lead in the second

British number one Dan Evans claimed the biggest win of his career by beating Novak Djokovic in the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters. Evans, who has struggled on clay in recent times, started superbly against the world number one, breaking him in his first two service games. He was able to wrap up the opening set before Djokovic fought back at the start of the second. But Evans recovered and held his nerve to wrap up a 6-4 7-5 win. It

Empty stands has been the new normal for tennis since last year due to COVID-19 restrictions but top men's players like Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic said they still find it difficult to maintain their intensity during matches in the absence of fans. The professional circuit was shut down for several months last year before tournament organisers set up 'biosecure bubbles' for players and support staff while keeping fans away from stadiums. Barring the swing in Australia in February, tournaments continue to be

Rafa Nadal said he was not worried about contracting COVID-19 despite having trained with Daniil Medvedev, who was forced to withdraw from this week’s Monte Carlo Masters after a positive test. Russian Medvedev, who was seeded second at the ATP Masters 1000 event, was put in isolation on Tuesday, a day after he practised with world number three Nadal. “I was not worried because I practised with him, but I was never close to him,” Nadal said after his second-round victory over Federico