Rafa Nadal was eliminated from the ATP World Tour Finals, on Thursday, after being outgunned by an inspired Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an absorbing late-night battle at the O2 Arena, in London.
Champion Rafa Nadal and the three other leading men's contenders charge into Wimbledon with major expectations despite all battling minor fitness issues in the run-up to the grasscourt Grand Slam.
World number one Rafa Nadal will open the defence of his Wimbledon title against American Michael Russell and has been drawn in the other half of the draw to Roger Federer, raising the possibility of another final between the great rivals.
An hour after one of the worst beatings of his career Rafa Nadal refused to be too downhearted on Tuesday and said he was still in contention at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Holder Roger Federer produced an hour of sublime quality to crush Rafa Nadal 6-3, 6-0 at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday and clinch a place in the last four with a match to spare.
Rafa Nadal swapped clay for grass on Wednesday but the result was just as emphatic with the world number one overpowering Australia's Matthew Ebden at the Queen's Club championships on a chilly evening in west London.
Old foes Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer will meet in the group stage of the ATP World Tour finals starting in London on Sunday while World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will clash with No. 3 Andy Murray.
A resurgent Roger Federer swept past local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 to clinch his maiden Paris Masters title on Sunday and send a deafening warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP World Tour finals.
Reports of Roger Federer's demise were as wide of the mark Rafa Nadal's own prediction he was not playing well enough to win a sixth Roland Garros title.
Images from Day 9 at the French Open in Paris, on Monday.
A rested Roger Federer will come out swinging when he begins his French Open campaign after being left behind by favourites Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.
Novak Djokovic's 37-match winning streak since the start of the year is already more impressive than the record 42 consecutive wins posted by John McEnroe in 1984, the American said on Tuesday.
World number one Rafa Nadal set up the prospect of another mouthwatering claycourt final against Novak Djokovic after beating Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-1 in the Rome Masters semi-finals on Saturday.
Britain's Andy Murray became overwhelming favourite for an Asian hat-trick as main rival Rafa Nadal was beaten in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.
Andy Murray reduced Rafa Nadal's granite-like resistance to rubble as he stunned the Spaniard 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to capture the Japan Open on Sunday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal overpowered American Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-1 behind a dizzying flurry of baseline winners to reach the final of the Japan Open on Saturday.
Rafa Nadal had to dig deep after coming under heavy fire from Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in a brutal 7-6, 6-3 quarter-final victory at the Japan Open on Friday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal ran hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic ragged in a 7-5, 6-3 victory to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Thursday.
Rafa Nadal overpowered qualifier Go Soeda 6-3, 6-2 as he began the defence of his Japan Open title in a blur of swashbuckling winners on Tuesday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will miss next week's China Open in Beijing with a back injury, the 24-year-old Serb said on Thursday.
Rafa Nadal ran himself to the point of exhaustion in Monday's US Open final against Novak Djokovic then ran out of answers.
Novak Djokovic capped one of tennis's greatest seasons with a awe-inspiring U.S. Open triumph on Monday that could just signal an end to the sport's obsession with "Rafa v Roger" finals.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic outplayed Spain's Rafa Nadal to win the US Open final 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 at Flushing Meadows on Monday and show why he really is the hottest player in the game right now.
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will meet in the US Open final for the second year in a row after winning their semi-finals on a day of unrelenting drama and precision tennis at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic survived the shock of losing the first set to beat Czech Radek Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the Wimbledon fourth round.
Spain's Rafa Nadal and Briton Andy Murray made up for lost time by demolishing their fourth round opponents in straight sets at the US Open on Thursday to remain on course for a blockbuster semi-final showdown.
Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal are seemingly not the only ones sick of the sight of Novak Djokovic and his domination of men's tennis.
The last of the reigning women's Grand Slam champions was shown the door at the US Open Tuesday when error-prone French Open winner Li Na succumbed to unseeded Romanian teenager Simona Halep 6-2, 7-5.
Andy Murray has scoffed at John McEnroe's suggestion that this week's US Open represented his best chance of winning a Grand Slam.
Novak Djokovic faces the daunting prospect of possibly having to beat Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal to win the US Open for the first time and end the year as the world number one.
World number two Rafa Nadal scraped into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open after beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in a fierce battle on Thursday but his rivals all had comfortable paths into the last eight.
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise defeat to qualifier Alex Bogomolov while Spain's Rafa Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic passed their second-round tests at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.
No man has won seven French Open titles and no man in 43 years has won four Grand Slams in a row -- and only one of these dreams will be realised at the French Open after Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic on Friday set up a lip-smacking final showdown.
A red-hot Rafael Nadal scorched his friend David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in an all-Spanish duel to reach a record seventh French Open final.
Rafa Nadal fluffed his lines on the return from five-week break when the Spanish world number two was stunned 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 by unheralded Croatian Ivan Dodig in his opening match of the Montreal Masters on Wednesday.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's office said he was still considering whether to use his discretionary power to cancel Novak Djokovic's visa.
World No 3 Roger Federer had to use all his guile and experience to battle back from a set down to see off fast-rising Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 in the Madrid Open second round on Wednesday.
The sight of a stricken Rafa Nadal being finished off by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer at the Australian Open on Wednesday was a stark reminder of the precipice he walks in search of sporting perfection.
Spain booked their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals against France after taking an unbeatable 3-1 lead over the United States Sunday.
Tennis World No 1 and Real Mallorca shareholder Rafa Nadal has hit out at governing body UEFA for excluding the financially-troubled La Liga club from European competition this season.
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