Eleven-times champion Rafael Nadal booked his place in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open semi-finals by beating German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-5 in a hard-fought match on Friday.
Underarm serve could be an effective weapon in halting Rafael Nadal's annual rampage on clay most just chuckled.
was on a 21-match unbeaten run before the season came to a halt in early March, winning the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships crown.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
German Alexander Zverev says he cannot rest on his laurels after beating Novak Djokovic to win the Italian Open on Sunday and has set his sights on bigger titles in order to retain his place in the world's top 10.
'I wake up today and say to myself, 'Today is the day that I'll play'. I need to play with the right energy, and I need to increase the level of my game'
Second seed Roger Federer powered to a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista on Tuesday, charging into the quarter-finals of the US Open for the 10th time in 11 years.
Stefanos Tsitsipas said he would not be surprised if Daniil Medvedev beat Novak Djokovic
Muguruza seals semi-final berth, Pliskova beats Krejcikova at WTA Finals.
Federer being out of the way does not hand Nadal a free path to glory in Melbourne
Djokovic was soundly beaten by Zverev in the 2018 final, a match played out in an electrifying atmosphere in front of 18,000 fans. This time the arena was empty because of the COVID-19 lockdown, a surreal backdrop for a match with so much riding on it for both men.
The extended lockdown of tennis will help Andy Murray's return from injury but it will be "a big ask" for him to add to his three Grand Slam titles, according to former British number one Greg Rusedski. Murray underwent hip re-surfacing surgery at the start of 2019 and resumed playing doubles in June before returning to singles action in August.
The three-time major winner would be given a protected ranking of number two, the Australian Open organisers said
Djokovic received a lot of heat from the tennis community and fans alike after testing positive.
Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric tested positive for COVID-19 while participating in Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour exhibition tournament
Coric's positive test follows that of Grigor Dimitrov, who said on Sunday he had contracted the novel coronavirus.
Unlike the United States and European countries, which are battling to contain the virus, Australia has not had a case of community transmission for 11 straight days and residents have regained most of their pre-COVID freedoms.
The tournaments involve eight players each, divided into two pools of four on a round-robin basis. Sets have been slashed to best-of-seven games.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal, who is hoping to recover from a knee injury to play in the season-ending showpiece, heads the other group and will face Belgian David Goffin, Bulgarian debutant Grigor Dimitrov and Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Novak Djokovic endured a fierce challenge to his Melbourne Park reign before overhauling Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch an eighth Australian Open crown and reclaim the world number one ranking. While Rafa Nadal rules Roland Garros with 12 titles, Djokovic holds sway in the title match at Rod Laver Arena having never lost a final in Melbourne Park.
With Federer certain, young Austrian Dominic Thiem is third in the ATP race to London, followed by Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Djokovic, world number one Andy Murray, and Belgium's David Goffin.
No clear favourite for Australian Open, says Djokovic
Ramkumar, who recently created ripples by scalping top-10 player Dominic Thiem, lost 3-6, 7-6(5), 2-6 to Mahut in two hours and 29 minutes.
Six months on, with an Olympic silver medal in the bag, the Argentine beat 11th seed David Ferrer of Spain 7-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the US fourth round for the first time since 2012.
The two men's quarter-final matches due to be played at the French Open in Paris on Tuesday have been postponed until Wednesday after rain disrupted play at Roland Garros.
Images from Day 1 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Sunday
The five-day lockdown, ordered after a new COVID-19 outbreak at a hotel, was due to start at midnight.
Wawrinka's last ATP title came in 2017 before the former world number three underwent knee surgery.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic trounced stand-in David Goffin 6-1 6-2 for a clean sweep of his group at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday but spiced up a leisurely afternoon workout by picking a row with the umpire. The world number two, who will be joined in the last four by Milos Raonic after the Canadian beat Austrian Dominic Thiem 7-6(5) 6-3, began the week at London's O2 Arena quarrelling with a reporter and despite being relatively untroubled on court, there has been an edginess about the 12-times grand slam champion.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
The world No 1 is certainly buoyed by the prospect of emulating his achievement of holding all four majors but knows that nothing less than perfection will be required.
Zverev has not lost to Wawrinka in two previous meetings but is not taking the 2014 Melbourne Park champion lightly.
Garbine Muguruza was relieved to finally avoid tripping at the last hurdle and end her trophy drought
Andy Murray claimed the biggest win of his comeback and a place in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open on Monday by taking out self-destructing fifth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Here are eight men to watch on the Roland Garros clay.
Japan's Nishikori was the first man representing an Asian country to break through to a Grand Slam final at the 2014 tournament before Marin Cilic stopped him in the title match.
Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a maiden Paris Masters title when he survived a second set blip to beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas
No complaints but quarantine differentials were a mistake: Zverev
Novak Djokovic's intentions in organising the ill-fated Adria Tour were good but the world number one could have applied a bit more common sense to how the exhibition event was run, former ATP players' council head Vijay Amritraj said. The Serbian has faced fierce criticism after he, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki contracted COVID-19 following the charity event in Serbia and Croatia.
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