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/ 31 May 2008

Venus, Serena bow out as Nadal strolls on

The Williams bandwagon rolled out of Roland Garros on Friday when sisters Venus and Serena were humbled in the third round by a pair of tenacious opponents who never lost belief. A day after the French Open lost three top-10 seeds, 2002 champion Serena joined them at the exit squeue as he roared and screamed her way to a 6-4 6-4 mauling by Katarina Srebotnik.

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/ 30 May 2008

Nadal, Federer stay on course at French Open

Triple champion Rafael Nadal and the man whose ambitions he has thwarted each time in winning those titles, Roger Federer, both made smooth progress into the third round at the French Open on Thursday. Second seed Nadal brushed aside French qualifier Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 to take his Roland Garros record to 23 wins in 23 matches.

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/ 26 May 2008

Tearful Kuerten ends Paris love affair

Gustavo Kuerten briefly rekindled his Parisian love affair on Sunday before bidding a tearful farewell to the French Open. The Brazilian has enjoyed a special relationship with Roland Garros since he celebrated his third and final triumph in 2001 by drawing a giant love-heart in the red clay with his racket.

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/ 17 March 2008

Federer finds his feet as Haas halts red-hot Roddick

World number one Roger Federer, in search of his first title of 2008, took no chances on Sunday as he moved smoothly into the third round of the Indian Wells Masters Series. The top-seeded Swiss, who enjoyed a first-round bye, defeated Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2 in his first ATP outing since a first-round ouster at Dubai last week.

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/ 10 February 2008

US, France and Argentina into Davis Cup last eight

Defending champions America and France, two of the most successful countries in Davis Cup history, will clash in this year’s quarterfinals after cruising through their World Group first-round ties. The United States, the 31-time champions, saw off Austria 3-0 while nine-time winners France also opened up a 3-0 lead over Romania.

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/ 29 December 2007

Golden Slam beckons for Federer, Henin

It will be the year of the Golden Slam for tennis in 2008 and realistically only two names are in the running. Both Roger Federer and Justine Henin finished this year as clear number ones in their sport and they are set to dominate again. But from there to winning all four Grand Slams events plus Olympic gold in Beijing in the same calendar year is a huge step.

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/ 18 December 2007

Federer eyes Sampras’s grand-slam record

Roger Federer again came close to winning the Grand Slam in 2007, reaching the final at all four major tournaments and winning three of them. This year, however, the top-ranked Swiss also came close to losing his record 54-match winning streak on grass at Wimbledon, and then struggled a bit after winning the United States Open.

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/ 18 November 2007

Federer blasts Ferrer to win fourth Masters Cup

World number one Roger Federer put on a vintage display to beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-2 6-3 6-2 in securing his fourth Masters Cup title at the season-ending event on Sunday. Federer’s victory at the showcase eight-man tournament put him level with Ilie Nastase and one behind the record of five titles held by Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

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/ 10 November 2007

Federer looking for turnaround in Shanghai

World number one Roger Federer will aim to put an unusually patchy tennis season behind him with victory number four at the elite Masters Cup starting on Sunday. The defending champion, smarting from two rare defeats in the past month, signalled his determination by arriving nearly a week early for the year-ending showpiece.

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/ 9 November 2007

Nadal wants winning stamp on 2007

Rafael Nadal hit the practice court with 48 hours to go before his start at the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai, determined to fulfil the goal of ending this season on a high note. Nadal, losing finalist last weekend in the Paris final to David Nalbandian, said he wants to put a winning stamp on this season.

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/ 4 November 2007

Nalbandian crushes Federer to win Paris Masters

David Nalbandian of Argentina handed out a tennis lesson to world number two Rafael Nadal to win his second straight Masters Series title in Paris on Sunday. The Argentinian won at a canter — 6-4, 6-0 — taking nine games in a row from 3-4 down in the first set against an increasingly disillusioned-looking Spaniard, who has been struggling with his fitness since the summer.

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/ 3 November 2007

Nalbandian to face Nadal in Paris final

Argentine David Nalbandian extended his brilliant run of form by crushing local favourite Richard Gasquet 6-2 6-4 on Saturday to set up a Paris Masters final against world number two Rafael Nadal. The unseeded Nalbandian needed just over an hour to take his record against the Frenchman to a perfect 5-0.

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/ 7 September 2007

Djokovic and Ferrer set up US Open semifinal

Serb shot-maker Novak Djokovic and Spanish grafter David Ferrer on Thursday set up a US semifinal showdown for a possible challenge to top seed and defending champion Roger Federer. Dvkovic, the 20-year-old revelation of the year, showed remarkable composure in defeating Spanish veteran Carlos Moya 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.

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/ 5 September 2007

Nadal stunned by Ferrer at US Open

Spain’s David Ferrer put in an inspired performance to upset second-seeded compatriot Rafael Nadal 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-2 in a US Open fourth-round encounter that finished well into the early hours of Wednesday morning. Ferrer’s stunning victory over the French Open champion earned him a quarter-final showdown against 20th seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.