Professional Tennis
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…
American John Isner continued his solid clay-court season on Monday, defeating Brazil’s Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-3 in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia first-round. Isner ripped 13 aces and saved the only break point chance he faced to move past Sousa. He also managed to notch a break point in each set to dictate the play and…
Andy Murray continued his recent success on clay on Sunday afternoon, beating the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the Mutua Madrid Open final. Murray’s title in Madrid comes on the heels of his win in Munich last week, which was the first clay-court title of his career. He followed that victory up…
Eighteen-year-old Louisa Chirico of Harrison, N.Y. will make her Grand Slam singles main draw debut at the 2015 French Open after winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge this weekend. Chirico finished the wild card challenge with 128 points by winning the singles title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Dothan, Ala., three…
Rafael Nadal rolled into the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday, defeating 10th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. After an exchange of break points in the opening set, Nadal jumped out to a 4-2 advantage. Nadal regained his service form and would go on to close out the 50-minute opening set 6-3. In…
Defending champion Maria Sharapova and world number one Serena Williams were both ousted in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals on Friday, each bowing out in straight sets. In the first semi, the third-seeded Sharapova took on fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was by far the aggressor from the start. She proceeded to pounce on Sharapova’s…
John Isner continued his strong performance at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday, downing young Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-4 to reach the tournament’s semifinals. Isner’s serve was as dominant as ever, firing 20 aces and not conceding a single break point opportunity. As the match went on, Isner was the one who gained…
Defending champion Maria Sharapova edged out fifth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals. After exchanging wins through the first two sets, the matchup of former world number ones would head into a deciding third set. Capitalizing on a few untimely unforced errors from Wozniacki, Sharapova…
In one of the most compelling matches of the 2015 season so far, young Australian Nick Kyrgios dueled with world number two Roger Federer in a thrilling three set affair at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday. Kyrgios saved two match points in a final third-set tiebreaker, edging Federer 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) to reach the…