Russian Vera Zvonareva, Czech Petra Kvitova and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova -- names that are barely household names in their native towns let alone in the wider world -- earned their golden tickets to the semi-finals after a day of topsy-turvy tennis at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win at the Pat Rafter arena was the 25-year-old's first in four attempts against world number five Nishikori and will boost his confidence ahead of the Australian Open, which starts on January 16 in Melbourne.
Magdalena Maleeva returned to competitive tennis after a five-year absence and won the Bulgarian championship in style on Friday. The youngest sister of the Maleeva dynasty beat Izabela Shinikova 6-4, 6-4 in the final in the southern town of Plovdiv.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
World number one Ash Barty delighted the Memorial Drive crowd by breezing through to the Adelaide International semi-finals with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sofia Kenin on Friday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Serie A soccer matches in the northern Italian regions of Lombardy and Veneto will not be played on Sunday because of an outbreak of the coronavirus, the government said in a statement. The three impacted fixtures are clashes between Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona against Cagliari. Italy is tackling the worst outbreak of coronavirus yet recorded in Europe, with two people dying in the north since Friday and nearly 60 infected.
The German world number seven claimed his first ATP crown of the year after besting Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 to win the bett1HULKS Indoor title at the same venue last Sunday.
Arsenal striker Theo Walcott expects Bulgarian side Ludogorets to be fearful ahead of their visit to the Emirates for the Champions League group stage tie on Wednesday.
The Libyan court found six Bulgarian medics an a Palestinian doctor guilty of infecting 426 children with the HIV virus during blood transfusions at the Al Fateh hospital.
The 36-year-old American barely broke sweat in a one-sided first set but was tested by the world number 135 in the second without ever looking troubled.
'Baby Fed' steals hearts with the same ease that he wins matches.
Arsenal might be struggling in the Premier League but they are 100 per cent in Group B of the Europa League
'We wanted to protect every player and fan after learning that Dimitrov tested positive. It was a charity event and all we wanted was to play tennis and give the fans a good show'
The first leg of Djokovic's Adria Tour is being held at his tennis complex by the Danube River, with Germany's Alexander Zverev, Austrian Dominic Thiem and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov arriving for the event.
Indian businessman Pramod Mittal has signed a preliminary agreement for sale of debt-ridden club CSKA Sofia to Bulgarian company Titan.
The prime minister appealed to citizens for making a renewed commitment to adherence to norms and regulations governing the lockdown restrictions
University of Delhi offeres two separate courses regarding to Russian studies.
Nadal converted two of three break chances to claim his 19th win in 22 encounters against the Swiss.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
"After much thought I have decided to end my working relationship with Roger," the 24-year-old tweeted.
The fifth-seeded Ukrainian reached her second straight Grand Slam semi-final after also making the last four at Wimbledon in July.
Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka began her warm-up to the first Grand Slam of the year in convincing fashion with a 6-2,6-0 win over Russian Elena Vesnina in their first round match at the Brisbane International on Monday.
Fourth-seeded Venus Williams outpowered Bulgarian Tatiana Poutchek 6-1 6-2 to move into the second round of the Istanbul Cup on Tuesday.
Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh continued his remarkably dominant run on the professional circuit, notching up a third successive knockout win by thrashing Bulgaria's Samet Hyuseinov in less than two rounds in Manchester on Saturday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Grigor Dimitrov was playing his first Wimbledon semi-final, but the television cameras were more interested in his girlfriend, Maria Sharapova.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan hit back from two goals down against Celtic to claim a 4-2 victory that sent them into the Europa League knockout phase on Thursday as they were among 14 teams to progress in Europe's second-tier competition.
Sesil Karatantcheva failed a doping test during the French Open, L'Equipe reported
Kenin, Andreescu to be part of team event in Charleston in June
Napoli went down 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig, Arsenal and AC Milan enjoyed comfortable away wins, and Borussia Dortmund's Michy Batshuayi scored twice to secure a 3-2 victory in Europa League last 32, first leg action
Novak Djokovic destroyed a woeful Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters.
The unseeded Indo-Canadian combine beat the Romanian-Dutch pairing of Tecau and Rojer 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in a quarters
Third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea progressed into the men's doubles semifinals.
Roger Federer eased into the final of the Rogers Cup with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Saturday, putting the Swiss maestro on the brink of a landmark 80th career title.
India has been battling a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced many countries to ban travellers from India.
The problem with allowing a bunch of rowdy gate crashers into the party is they will repay you by re-arranging your furniture.
IMAGES from Day 8 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Monday
The final of the Croatia event in the coastal resort of Zadar, the second leg of the tour which would have featured world number one Novak Djokovic and Russian Andrey Rublev, was cancelled as a result.
Nadal faced no break points in a ruthless display to set up a meeting with Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
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