Tennis star Stanislas Wawrinka has backed 18 time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer to become the oldest player in history to seal the world number one spot at the age of 35.
Stanislas Wawrinka will bid to break the 'Big Four' strangle-hold on Grand Slam silverware after edging Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3), 7-6(4) in the first semi-final.
Tomas Berdych moved within a victory of retaining his World Indoor Tournament title in Rotterdam with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 defeat of eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon on Saturday. The Czech faces Stan Wawrinka in the final.
Stan Wawrinka reached his second final of the season as Nick Kyrgios retired injured from their semi-final at the ATP Dubai Championships on Friday. The Australian quit due to back pain while trailing 6-4, 3-0, having had on-court treatment after the seventh game of the opening set. Wawrinka now moves into position for a possible second trophy of the season after winning in Chennai to start the year. The French Open champion will face either sixth seed Feliciano Lopez, who advanced in the quarter-finals when Novak Djokovic was unable to continue due to an eye infections or former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis. Wawrinka, ranked fourth, carries an enviable record into the Saturday title match at the Aviation Club, having won his last eight finals.
Man of many faces, Medvedev now a Grand Slam finalist
Nick Kyrgios continued his impressive run of form ahead of this month's Australian Open by powering the host nation to the mixed-team Hopman Cup title against Ukraine in Perth on Saturday.
Andy Murray crushed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2 to win his group at the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday and stay on course for a season-ending climax with Novak Djokovic.
Nadal has won his 13th French Open singles title and 20th Grand Slam tournament by beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Japan Warriors did not have to break much sweat in getting past Philippine Marvericks 29-15 but it was a tough day out for UAE Royals, who edged out hosts Singapore Slammers 27-23 in their IPTL match, riding on Roger Federer's win in the deciding men's singles, in Singapore on Friday.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has followed in the footsteps of his Bollywood counterparts and invested in a sports team.
Andy Murray put down an early warning for the Davis Cup final when he dismantled David Goffin 6-1, 6-0 in awe-inspiring fashion to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.
Defending champion and world number one Andy Murray was swept aside by home favourite Fabio Fognini at the Italian Open on Tuesday, being completely outplayed in a 6-2, 6-4 defeat.
After Nick Kyrgios, another Aussie involved in verbal volley as tempers flare in Ohio.
It took the COVID-19 pandemic to put a brake on Djokovic's 18-match unbeaten run in 2020, as he won the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships before the season came to a halt in early March.
Naomi Osaka, winner of the past two Grand Slam tournaments, has parted ways with her coach Sascha Bajin.
Novak Djokovic's muted celebrations after ending Rafa Nadal's reign as claycourt king were partly out of respect for his Spanish victim but mainly due to the fact the his French Open mission is far from accomplished.
It was a freak accident that set the claycourt major abuzz.
Wily Czech Radek Stepanek, the oldest player in the men's singles, will take his bag of tricks out on Philippe Chatrier Court against World No 2 Andy Murray as the French Open plays catch-up on Monday.
Rafa Nadal's return to form was stopped in its tracks when he lost his opening match at the Aegon Championships to Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4 on Tuesday.
Roger Federer set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour finals after battling past Juan Martin del Potro in their Group B shoot-out.
Images from Day 1 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Sunday
Britain's Andy Murray joined world number one Novak Djokovic and newly-crowned US Open champion Rafa Nadal as definite qualifiers for the ATP World Tour finals on Tuesday, but Roger Federer faces an uphill task to make the eight-man field.
Spain's third seed Roberto Bautista Agut made a smooth entry into the men's quarter-finals at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament with a fluent 6-3, 6-2 win over German Peter Gojowczyk.
Leonardo Mayer beat Joao Souza in a Davis Cup singles match that lasted a record six hours and 42 minutes.
For someone who was the only man to beat world number one Novak Djokovic in a grand slam in 2015, Stan Wawrinka was indifferent about the attention on the feat heading into this year's Australian Open. Djokovic was virtually untouchable last year as he compiled an 82-6 win-loss record and won three grand slam titles as well as six of the eight ATP 1000 top-tier tournaments he played. Wawrinka, however, surprised the tennis world when he produced a barrage of backhands on the clay at Roland Garros to beat the Serb in the Paris final and claim his second grand slam title.
A marauding Ramkumar Ramanathan dished out yet another commendable performance, albeit in a losing cause as he exited from Chennai Open after an intensly-fought singles quarterfinal against world number 45 Aljaz Bedene on Friday. The gritty Indian youngster gave a terrific fight to a top-50 player and saved four match points before losing 7-6(5), 4-6, 3-6, battling hard for two hours and 13 minutes against Britain's number two player. "Ramkumar has made good progress. It was not easy. He was playing well and I was fighting. I was focusing on my game. It could have gone either way," Bedene said after the match. "I was practising with him here last year and he has made progress, specially his forehand. His serve has been superb. I was surprised," he added.
Somdev Devvarman joined compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the singles main draw of the ATP Chennai Open with a come-from-behind victory over Briton James Ward in the final qualifying round in Chennai on Sunday.
Switzerland's two greatest tennis players will join forces at next year's Rio Olympics when Roger Federer and Martina Hingis play together in the mixed doubles.
Rafael Nadal will be pose a significant Grand Slam threat again next year after showing signs of returning to his best, according to two of the Spaniard's greatest rivals.
Djokovic dropped only three games against Klizan.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza, one of the rising stars of women's tennis, beat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky to win the China Open on Sunday, her biggest title to date.
After 17 trips to Flushing Meadows and six US Open titles Serena Williams did something on Thursday she had never done before -- win a match indoors.
Roger Federer survived a stern test from Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, while top-seeded Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka was eliminated on his birthday.
Switzerland took advantage of Novak Djokovic's absence to open a 2-0 lead over last year's runners-up Serbia in their Davis Cup tie on Friday with Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka winning their singles rubbers.
Former champions Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal gave Australian Open organisers a massive boost on Tuesday when they both said they were looking forward to next week's season opening Grand Slam after battling long-term injuries.
India's top singles tennis player Somdev Devvarman has been handed a direct entry in the main draw of the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament after Estonia's Jurgen Zopp pulled out of the event due to a back injury.
Croatia's Donna Vekic came from a set down to win the Nottingham grasscourt event in a pulsating final against Britain's Johanna Konta on Sunday to remind the tennis world why she was once considered one of the game's hottest prospects.
Andy Murray will need to be at his streetwise best to beat Stan Wawrinka in the French Open semi-finals on Friday, three-times former Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander told Reuters.
Stanislas Wawrinka started the run at last year's US Open, followed by a 35-year-old Federer at Melbourne Park and Rafael Nadal in Paris.
Tommy Haas kept alive his slim chances of qualifying for next month's ATP World Tour Finals when he edged past near namesake Robin Haase 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to lift his 15th career title at the Vienna Open on Sunday.
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