Professional Tennis
In 1983, Yannick Noah beat defending champion Mats Wilander 6-2, 7-5, 7-6(7-3) to win the French Open title, becoming the first Frenchman to win the title since Marcel Bernard in 1946. Since Noah’s title in ’83, a new streak has begun. No Frenchman has won the crown on their home soil in the 32 years…
American Madison Keys looked to be on her way to a blowout loss in the second round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Wednesday, before rallying back for a 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(0) victory over Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Keys lost the break advantage in the first set, allowing Lucic-Baroni to take it 6-4 despite being broke…
Back in the spring of 2008, a 20-year-old from Serbia named Ana Ivanovic transformed from one of the WTA’s brightest young stars to a household name. Ivanovic had already reached two Grand Slam finals, the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, but had yet to be crowned a champion at one of the…
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his dominance on the ATP Tour on Sunday, defeating Roger Federer 6-4, 6-3 in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final in Rome. It is the fourth time he was won the Rome Masters and his fifth title of the season overall. “I was able to find my way through,” said…
World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday to reach the tournament’s semifinals. The Serb notched a break in the second game of the opening set and would go on to serve the rest of it out, capturing the first set. Nishikori responded nicely in…
Simona Halep made quick work of her compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru on Friday, beating the Romanian qualifier 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Halep secured her first break in the fourth game of the first set and never looked back. She forced Dulgheru to chase down balls all across…
Rafael Nadal played some of his best tennis of the year on Thursday, as he defeated American John Isner 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The 16th seed Isner entered the match with a streak of 84 consecutive service games with a hold, dating back to his third-round…
Victoria Azarenka outlasted Caroline Wozniacki in a second round matchup at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Wednesday, defeating the fifth-seeded Dane 6-2, 7-6(2). Azarenka entered Wednesday’s contest with wins in her two previous matches this year against Wozniacki, and looked as if she would take this one easily early on. She cruised through…
Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday, rolling past Turkey’s Marsel Illhan 6-2, 6-0. Nadal needed just 74 minutes to defeat Illhan. He dominated on serve, winning 92 percent of his first service points and saved the only two break point chances he allowed. “I am…
Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened up his defense of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with a three-set win over Nicolas Almagro on Tuesday. Djokovic hung on to defeat Almagro 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach round three of the event in Rome, Italy. It looked as if Djokovic would cruise early on, capturing the first set…