Professional Tennis
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London due to his lingering left knee injury. Nadal has not played since June 28th at Wimbledon when he was upset by Czech Lukas Rosol 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round. "It’s disappointing for…
Serena Williams scored a straight-sets victory over Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday. Coming into the match against the world number one-ranked Azarenka, Serena had 15 straight wins against top five players, 10 straight wins against top players and five straight wins against world number one-ranked players….
Top-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Wednesday, with a 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5 win over Thomaz Bellucci. Federer won 77 percent of his service points and converted a late break in the deciding set for the win in just over two hours. Federer is seeking his seventh tour-level trophy of…
Serena Williams defeated China’s Li Na on Wednesday at the 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul in straight sets 7-6(2), 6-3. With two wins from her opening two matches so far in Istanbul, it would now take an unlikely passage of events to deny Serena a place in the final four. Williams had six…
Russian Maria Sharapova defeated Italy’s Sara Errani in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in opening round action at the 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. "It was a slow start—I gave Sara a lot of time, and that’s what she likes," Sharapova said. "Her variety is what has won her so many matches…
Agnieszka Radwanska defeated defending Istanbul champion Petra Kvitova on Tuesday, 6-3, 6-2 to kick off action at the 2012 TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. The previous three meetings between the two had all gone Kvitova’s way. "I’m just very happy about my performance," Radwanska said. "The first match is always tough and adjusting to a new surface is…
Serena Williams was a 6-4, 6-1 straight sets winner on Tuesday over Angelique Kerber at the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. In her last appearance at the tournament three years ago, Serena played two sets of near-flawless tennis to defeat her sister, Venus Williams. The last time Serena went head to head with Kerber, she came…
Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero retired from professional tennis on Tuesday at the Valencia Open 500, after a 7-5, 6-3 loss to fellow Spaniard and close friend Nicolas Almagro in the first round. The 32-year-old Ferrero won 16 tour-level titles, including 2003 Roland Garros. "I simply want to thank everyone for all their support,…
Venus Williams was a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Monica Niculescu of Romania to win the 2012 Luxembourg Open title on Sunday. Unseeded at the event, Venus had to defeat ninth-seeded Mona Barthel in the second round and top-seeded Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets, and faced a tough semifinals match against Andrea Petkovic,…
World number 11 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the finals of the 2012 Kremlin Cup to win her 20th career WTA title. Wozniacki dominated early against Stosur, but then looked to be in trouble after Stosur leveled the match and then broke to love in the first game of the third set….