Being labelled a quitter was unwarranted, Novak Djokovic said on Friday. The Serbian, who defends his title at this week's ATP event in Indian Wells, was criticised for pulling out midway through the fourth set of his Australian Open quarter-final against Andy Roddick, citing heat exhaustion.
Rafa Nadal has returned to the Spain team as they seek to maintain their Davis Cup World Group status with a playoff tie against Ukraine in Madrid later this month, captain Alex Corretja said on Monday.
Federer, who skipped the entire clay court season after winning the Australian Open and claiming titles at Indian Wells and Miami this year, will next play defending champion Florian Mayer who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille in three sets.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova made a successful return to singles from long-term injury with a 6-1 6-7 6-3 victory over Italian Tathiana Garbin in the first round of the Warsaw Open on Monday.
The duo of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis sailed into the 10th final of the year at the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) Finals after beating Chinese Taipei's Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan in straight sets, in Singapore, on Saturday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic recovered from another slow start to beat Spain's David Ferrer.
World No 1 Serena Williams overcame a dreadful second set to beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki.
Rafael Nadal has never felt so relaxed ahead of the claycourt season, the world number one said on Monday.
Factbox on Serbia's Novak Djokovic who won his sixth Australian Open men's singles title on Sunday.
World number two Roger Federer said he is not going to analyse his recent defeats by Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray and believes an aggressive approach would bring him back to winning form.
Andy Roddick is banking on his booming serve and improved court speed to help him beat world number one Rafael Nadal in Saturday's semi-final of the ATP event at Indian Wells.
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.
Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a strong challenge from Belgium's David Goffin to reach the Miami Open final with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory on Friday as he continued his pursuit of a fifth title in six years on Key Biscayne.
Novak Djokovic continued his awe-inspiring run of form to claim the Monte Carlo Masters.
A near flawless Novak Djokovic crushed Marin Cilic 6-0, 6-3 to set up a blockbuster Monte Carlo Masters semi-final with claycourt king Rafa Nadal, who came through a testing workout by David Ferrer on Friday.
India's Sania Mirza is standing on the cusp of history as she is now one win away from becoming World No 1.
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.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic heads into the European clay court season in ominous form after his victory over Andy Murray in the final of the Miami Open on Sunday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
