Simon Cambers

When Rafael Nadal limped out of the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London last November, the whispers became more like murmurs.

As leaps of faith go, saying that you will definitely go on to win a Grand Slam title is one that Andy Murray is far too sensible to make.

World number one Rafael Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2 6-1 victory over German Micha

Roger Federer and Andy Murray both shrugged off the rust of enforced layoffs with second-round victories at the ATP event in Indian Wells on Saturday.

Venus Williams declared she was playing the best tennis of her career after demolishing Ukrainian 27th seed Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal produced a flawless exhibition of claycourt tennis to demolish world number one Roger Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 on Sunday and win his fourth straight French Open title.

Roger Federer said victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open on Sunday would be the crowning moment of his career.

Top seed Rafael Nadal will meet David Ferrer in an all-Spanish showdown at the Barcelona Open after contrasting semi-final victories on Saturday. Nadal produced a claycourt masterclass to demolish German Denis Gremelmayr 6-1 6-0 while Ferrer had to work much harder to tame big-hitting Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 6-3.

Novak Djokovic survived a late bout of nerves to beat Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer 6-0 6-3 7-5 on Wednesday and reach the Australian Open semifinals. The Serbian missed four match points and was broken when serving for victory but recovered to set up a semifinal against either Roger Federer or James Blake.

Russian Maria Sharapova produced a blistering performance to overpower world number one Justine Henin 6-4 6-0 in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. The fifth seed was in ebullient mood, smashing 30 winners as she took a tight first set and ripped through the second to line up a semifinal against Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic.

Eighth seed Venus Williams moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-4 victory over talented Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska on Monday. The Wimbledon champion, who had her right thigh strapped, recovered from an early breakdown to win the first set and staved off a late fightback from the Pole.

Victoria Police vigorously defended its use of pepper spray on a section of the crowd at the Australian Open tennis on Tuesday night, saying its officers had feared for their own safety. Three people were arrested and charged with offences relating to assaulting police, resisting arrest and failing to obey the lawful instructions of the police force.