Sat, 11/27/2010 - 09:48 by Rakhi
London -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal won the last five games of his Friday match and secured a spot in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal topped No. 6-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in completing a 3-0 run through the Group A round robin. Berdych finished 1-2.
Novak Djokovic then claimed the final semifinal berth with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Andy Roddick.
Second-seeded Roger Federer, like Nadal unbeaten this week, and No. 5 Andy Murray qualified Thursday for the semifinals from Group B.
|
Sat, 11/27/2010 - 05:42 by harsheeb
London-- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal won the last five games of his Friday match and secured a spot in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal topped No. 6-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 in completing a 3-0 run through the Group A round robin. Berdych is 1-2 but had a slim chance of advancing, needing a loss by third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a match against No. 8-seeded Andy Roddick later Friday.
Second-seeded Roger Federer, like Nadal unbeaten this week, and No. 5 Andy Murray qualified Thursday for the semifinals from Group B.
|
Thu, 11/25/2010 - 07:12 by Prince damin
London -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych claimed straight-set, round-robin victories Wednesday at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Nadal won six consecutive games in one stretch of a 7-5, 6-2 win over third-seeded Novak Djokovic after Berdych had beaten No. 8-seeded Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3.
Those decisions left Nadal leading Group A with a 2-0 mark while Djokovic and Berdych are 1-1 and Roddick is 0-2 going into Friday's final matches of the round robin.
Djokovic was tied 4-4 with Nadal when he had a contact lens issue. After a lengthy stoppage of play, Djokovic returned and the players split two games. But then Nadal ran off six straight games, winning the first set and taking a commanding 4-0 lead in the second.
|
Sat, 11/06/2010 - 11:02 by Prince damin
Paris -- Rafael Nadal, who has already locked up the world No. 1 ranking through the end of the year, has withdrawn from next week's Paris Masters for medical reasons.
Nadal said he would disclose this weekend exactly why he had pulled out of the next-to-last tournament of the 2010 ATP schedule. His status for the ATP World Tour Finals Nov. 21-28 in London is unknown.
Nadal has reportedly been fatigued in recent weeks. He's appeared in 20 tournaments in the last year, including wins at the French Open, Wimbledon Championships and U.S. Open. He's 67-9 with seven titles in 2010.
Nadal's withdrawal leaves No. 2-ranked Roger Federer the likely top seed for the Paris Masters with defending champion Novak Djokovic probably in the No. 2 position.
|
Thu, 10/14/2010 - 23:51 by harsheeb
Shanghai -- Jurgen Melzer fired 14 aces in his upset victory Thursday over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament.
Melzer, seeded 13th, was able to break Nadal's serve three times en route to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 third-round win. He hadn't so much as taken a set from Nadal in their previous three meetings, which includes a semifinal loss at the French Open.
But Thursday Melzer quickly established control, pounding seven aces and getting two service breaks in the first set. He didn't face a break point in the third set, serving out at love to finish the match.
|
Thu, 10/14/2010 - 21:56 by harsheeb
Shanghai -- Jurgen Melzer fired 14 aces in his upset victory Thursday over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament.
Melzer, seeded 13th, was able to break Nadal's serve three times en route to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 third-round win. He hadn't so much as taken a set from Nadal in their previous three meetings, which includes a semifinal loss at the French Open.
But Thursday Melzer quickly established control, pounding seven aces and getting two service breaks in the first set. He didn't face a break point in the third set, serving out at love to finish the match.
|
Sun, 10/10/2010 - 21:55 by Prince damin
Tokyo -- Rafael Nadal collected his seventh ATP title of the year with a straight-set victory Sunday over Gael Monfils in the finals of the Japan Open tennis tournament.
Nadal, who is assured of being the No. 1-ranked player through the end of the year, improved to 66-8 in 2010 with a 6-1, 7-5 win over the fifth-seeded Monfils.
Nadal didn't face a break point and dropped just 11 points -- only four in the first set -- in his 10 service games.
Monfils landed 85 percent of his first serves and had nine aces in winning 62 percent of points on serve. But he had little answer for Nadal's serve and was unable to counter the three service breaks he suffered as Nadal won more than 90 percent of the points when his first serve was in.
|
Sat, 10/02/2010 - 00:17 by harsheeb
Bangkok -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal won in straight sets Friday and upsets left him the only seeded player headed to the semifinals of the Thailand Open tennis tournament.
Nadal cruised through a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin in 71 minutes. The Spaniard, who is 21-2 since starting play this summer at Wimbledon, took 62 percent of the points in the match. He won 84 percent -- 36-of-43 -- of the points while serving.
Upsets eliminated No. 3-seeded Jurgen Melzer and fourth-seeded Ernests Gulbis.
|
Thu, 09/30/2010 - 23:29 by Shruti Sharma
Bangkok -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal had no trouble in getting through his second-round match Thursday at the Thailand Open tennis tournament.
Nadal, in his first tournament since winning the U.S. Open and completing the career Grand Slam, improved to 60-7 on the year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ruben Bemelmans.
Nadal lost only eight points over nine service games and didn't face a break point in the match. He won 24 of the 26 points when he landed his first serve.
While the top-seeded Nadal advance into the quarterfinals, second-seeded and world No. 8 Fernando Verdasco was beaten by Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-4. Verdasco dropped serve three times in losing to Becker for only the second time in six career matches.
|
Tue, 09/14/2010 - 21:51 by Prince damin
London -- Rafael Nadal's completion of the career Grand Slam cemented his hold on the world No. 1 spot in tennis and U.S. Open runner-up Novak Djokovic moved to No. 2.
Nadal finished off the rain-delayed Open with a four-set victory Monday over Djokovic. It was his ninth major tournament title but first at the U.S. Open. Nadal has won the French Open five times, Wimbledon twice and the Australian Open once.
He has won the last three Grand Slam events and will go for the "Rafa Slam" in January in Australia.
Djokovic returned to the world No. 2 position with his finals appearance. He got there by beating Roger Federer, keeping Federer out of the U.S. Open finals for the first time since 2003 and knocking him to No. 3 in the rankings.
|
Sun, 09/12/2010 - 08:48 by harsheeb
New York -- Top-seeded Rafael Nadal will meet No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open men's final after both registered semifinal victories Saturday.
Nadal gained his first career U.S. Open final in the day's first semifinal match-up, dispatching Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, while Djokovic shocked five-time champ Roger Federer 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in a thrilling second semifinal.
Nadal was rarely threatened by the 12th-seeded Russian. Youzhny perked up a bit in the third set when he broke the Spaniard's serve for the only time, evening the set at 4-4. Nadal broke right back, however, and served out to claim the victory.
|
Sun, 09/12/2010 - 08:13 by harsheeb
New York -- Rafael Nadal gained his first career U.S. Open final Saturday, dispatching Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, in a semifinal match-up.
Top-seeded Nadal was rarely threatened by the 12th-seeded Russian. Youzhny perked up a bit in the third set when he broke the Spaniard's serve for the only time, evening the frame 4-4, but Nadal broke right back and served out to claim the victory.
Nadal now goes on to play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between No. 2 seed Roger Federer and third-seeded Novak Djokovic in his quest to become only the seventh player ever to rack up a career Grand Slam.
The men's final is set for Sunday.
|
