Andy Murray knows what he must do to stretch his winning streak over 13-times grand slam champion Roger Federer -- the Swiss, though, is still unsure how to stop his nemesis.
World number two Roger Federer beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to book a semi-final meeting with Andy Murray at the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament. Murray spoiled Ivan Ljubicic's birthday celebrations, with a 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) victory over the Croatian.
Ivan Ljubicic had a double birthday letdown on Thursday when he lost to Andy Murray in the quarter-finals of the ATP event at Indian Wells and was wrongly denied a point by the Hawk-Eye system. The big-serving Croat was beaten 7-5, 7-6 on his 30th birthday after being frustrated by a successful Murray challenge at 4-4 in the ninth game of the second set.
World number one Rafa Nadal saved five match points before beating David Nalbandian 3-6 7-6 6-0 in a classic fourth-round encounter at the ATP event in Indian Wells on Wednesday.
World number one Rafael Nadal continued his smooth progress at the ATP event in Indian Wells on Tuesday, easing past Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round. Champion Novak Djokovic though survived a testing second set to beat German Tommy Haas 6-2, 7-6.
World number two Dinara Safina battled into the fourth round of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Sunday, beating Peng Shuai of China 7-5, 6-4. Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia booked her place in the last 16 with a routine 6-3, 6-1 win over Czech Petra Kvitova.
World number one Rafael Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer. Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro and number seven Andy Roddick also advanced.
Pre-tournament favourites Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva suffered shock defeats in the second round of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Saturday.
Leander Paes advanced in men's doubles but it was curtains for Sania Mirza who crashed out of the women's singles event after a straight-set loss to 12th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Top seed Dinara Safina survived a tough test of her title credentials before beating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 7-6, 6-2 in the second round of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Friday.
On a mixed day for the Indians, Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the men's doubles second round but Sania Mirza crashed out of the women's doubles event at the US $ 4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells. Sania and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Taipei went down 1-6, 4-6 to the Argentine-Israeli team of Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer in the opening round.
Roger Federer is to become a father for the first time, the world number two announced on Thursday. The 27-year-old Swiss revealed on his website that his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec is pregnant.
India's tennis ace Sania Mirza staged a great comeback after losing the first set to beat Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva in the first round of the Indian Wells tennis tournament on Thursday. The 87th ranked Indian recovered in time after losing the opening set to beat world no. 96 Koryttseva 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Sania Mirza became the first Indian to climb to the top of the WTA doubles ranking after she teamed up with Swiss great Martina Hingis to claim the Family Circle Cup title on Sunday.
Big-serving American Andy Roddick hammered an out-of-sorts Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the ATP event at Indian Wells. Roddick broke the third-seeded Serb twice in each set to book his place in the last four against world number one Rafael Nadal, who crushed Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2, 6-4 in a later match.
Russian Dinara Safina lost her chance to become the world number one when she was beaten 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 by Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Wednesday. The top seed, who would have replaced Serena Williams as the world's top ranked player had she reached the final, was well beaten by the 19-year-old eighth seed.
Roger Federer battled into the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Wednesday with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Fourth seed Andy Murray cruised into the last eight when his opponent Tommy Robredo retired with a right wrist injury. The Scot, who was leading 6-2, 3-0 when Robredo quit, will meet either Croat Ivan Ljubicic or Russian Igor Andreev.
Rafael Nadal had taken anti-inflammatories and undergone intensive physiotherapy to alleviate a lower back problem and still planned to compete in Buenos Aires next month, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
The sixth seeds beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in their second round match at the Masters Series. Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley, seeded eighth, will take on Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in the quarter-final on Tuesday.
Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Monday
There has been many cherished moments in her eventful tennis journey during the last decade but the enormity of becoming World No 1 is such that Sania Mirza has been left with a "surreal feeling" even though she had always dreamt of achieving this feat.
Maria Sharapova captured her first claycourt title when she defeated Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 7-6, 6-3 in the final of the Amelia Island Championships on Sunday. Sharapova became the first woman to win three titles this season following her success at the Australian Open and Qatar Open and improved her 2008 win-loss record to 22-1.
'The suspicion of doping will hang over numerous men and women players including the elite stars,' says Desh Gaurav Chopra Sekhri.
Simona Halep is emerging as one of the few players on Tour.
Former champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season to join fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open on Wednesday. Sharapova, the Australian Open champion and fourth seed, stormed back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat holder Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6, 6-1.
Russia's Nikolay Davydenko became the highest seed to exit the Pacific Life Open but three-times champion Roger Federer barely broke sweat in reaching the fourth round in Indian Wells on Tuesday. Crowd favourite and top seed Federer, back in action at Indian Wells after recovering from illness, outclassed Frenchman Nicholas Mahut in only 53 minutes.
Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova, holder Daniela Hantuchova and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the Pacific Life Open quarter-finals in contrasting styles on Tuesday. Fourth seed Sharapova, winner at Indian Wells in 2006, maintained her perfect start to the season but had to work hard to beat Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-2 5-7 6-4.
Leander Paes and his Australian partner Paul Hanley warded off the challenge of Argentina's David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas to enter the doubles quarter-finals at the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells. The eighth seed Indo-Australian pair beat the Argentine duo 7-5, 2-6, 10-5 in the second round.
The duo appear to have shaken off their respective ailments and return this week for the Pacific Life Open where they both triumphed in 2006.
Novak Djokovic will take over as world number two if he beats Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the Hamburg Masters.
Lindsay Davenport revived memories of when she was the game's top-ranked player by crushing Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 in Miami.
The fourth seeds scored a 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 win over Czechs Tomas Berdych and Lukas Dlouhy in the first round of the Miami Masters.
Novak Djokovic held off a fightback by American Mardy Fish to win the Pacific Life Open final 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
World No 1 Roger Federer was stunned by unseeded American Mardy Fish after Rafael Nadal's lost to Serb Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open. Federer lost to an American player for the first time in 42 matches when he was crushed 6-3, 6-2 by Fish in a match lasting just over an hour.
The Indo-American pair went down 6-7, 7-5, 10-4 to Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China in the semi-final of the Indian Wells tournament.
World number one Roger Federer reached the last four of the Pacific Life Open without hitting a shot on Friday when his quarter-final opponent Tommy Haas pulled out with a sinus infection. Swiss Federer, three times champion at Indian Wells and seeking his first ATP title of the year, will next meet unseeded American Mardy Fish, who scraped past seventh-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal stayed on course for his first ATP title of the year with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of American wildcard Donald Young in the Pacific Life Open. Ninth-seeded American James Blake powered past Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-3 6-4 to set up a fourth-round clash with Richard Gasquet of France.
The top seed crushed Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2 in a second-round encounter at the Pacific Life Open.
The Australian Open champion believes Roger Federer's top ranking is under threat from himself, second-ranked Nadal and fourth-ranked Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Djokovic, who piled up five ATP titles in 2007, has targeted another year of consistent performances and wants to produce his best form in the big events.
The Russian claimed her second title of the year when she defeated unseeded Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 in an all-Russian final in Doha.
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