Rafael Nadal has reached the French Open last eight as title rival Novak Djokovic was handed a free pass into the semifinals.
Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal had coasted into the last 16 of the French Open after beating Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic.
Ivan Ljubicic celebrated his first Masters 1000 title after upsetting seventh-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6, 7-6 at the Indian Wells tournament.
Gael Monfils has found himself with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders after he blasted his way into the quarterfinals of the French Open on Monday with a four-set win over Ivan Ljubicic. No Frenchman has won at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah’s emotional triumph in 1983.
Top seeds Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova both moved smoothly into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday. Federer outplayed close friend Mario Ancic of Croatia, winning 6-3, 6-4 6-2 in cool, rainy, evening conditions on the Philippe Chatrier Centre Court. Earlier in the day, Sharapova defeated Italy’s Karin Knapp 7-6 (7/4), 6-0.
Gustavo Kuerten has just two more tournaments left before he slips reluctantly into retirement, a desperate leave-taking forced on him by a crippled hip that simply refuses to heal. But the former world number one, and triple French Open champion, is taking a sackful of memories with him and even the bad times are being filed away amongst the golden moments.
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko became the highest seed to exit the Pacific Life Open but three-times champion Roger Federer barely broke sweat in reaching the fourth round on Tuesday. Davydenko, the fourth seed and world number four, was swept aside by American Mardy Fish 6-3 6-2 in an evening match lasting 75 minutes.
No image available
/ 14 February 2008
Fifth seed Rik de Voest won the battle of the South Africans and set up a quarterfinal clash with top seed Ivan Ljubicic at the South African Airways Tennis Open on Wednesday. De Voest lifted the level of his game from his first-round encounter to beat up-and-coming 21-year-old Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.
No image available
/ 13 February 2008
Top seed Ivan Ljubicic had to survive a second-set scare before putting away qualifier Lamine Ouahab of Algeria in the first round of the SAA Tennis Open at Selborne Park on Tuesday. After one hour and 40 minutes, the Croatian finally won through 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and set up a second round encounter against Laurent Recourderc of France.
No image available
/ 10 January 2008
Andy Roddick continued his bid for a Kooyong Classic hat-trick on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Marat Safin to reach his fourth consecutive final. Roddick braved 41°C temperatures for the quickfire win, which sets him up for Saturday’s final against either Marcos Baghdatis or Fernando Gonzalez.
Roger Federer’s Australian Open preparations suffered a blow on Monday as the defending champion was forced to withdraw from the Kooyong Classic warm-up event owing to a virus. Federer said that he came down with the bug on the weekend after arriving in the city on Friday from Dubai, where he trains in the off-season.
No image available
/ 7 September 2007
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.
Maria Sharapova opened the defence of her United States Open crown in commanding style on Tuesday by overpowering Italy’s Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour. There were wins also for two former New York champions, Martina Hingis and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and for Andy Roddick, among others.