There comes a moment in all great sporting careers when the puzzle fits together and for Kei Nishikori it arrived on a sweltering early September afternoon in New York.
'Of course I feel that I can beat Rafa. He is looking good and injury free. But if I didn't think I could win I would not bother going out on the court'
From a career-high ranking of 62 in 2011, Somdev Devvarman has plummeted to 279.
India's number one singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran beat Jay Clarke of Great Britain in straight sets to enter the main draw of the Miami Open, on Wednesday.
Having ticked off all the boxes during an eventful 2016, a 'hungry' Leander Paes is in search of a new partner with an aim to take his coveted Grand Slam titles tally to 20.
Earlier on Wednesday, Czech Karolina Pliskova was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a viral illness.
Making a stupendous start to the fresh season, Ramkumar Ramanathan scalped higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena to set up a second round clash with tournament-favourite Marin Cilic at the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune.
Maldini, an ace defender, who donned the Italian national team colours 126 times, made his AC Milan debut in 1985, and played his last Serie A match in May 2009.
Ukrainian second seed Elina Svitolina ended Naomi Osaka's remarkable recent run with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over the Indian Wells champion in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.
IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
The Russian five-times Grand Slam champion struggled for rhythm initially on the low-bouncing grasscourt at the Mallorca Open but picked up the pace to beat Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0.
"Well, I don't know what his intentions are, how he feels, but he is definitely always one of the top favourites in every tournament that he plays," said Djokovic, who beat Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to join the Spaniard in the second round on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal celebrated his 1,000th tour level match with a come-from-behind victory over German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open.
The Czech scored his first victory over Rafael Nadal to enter the semis of the Australian Open.
Two-time champion Novak Djokovic thumped Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 to march into the last four of the Shanghai Masters on Friday and set up a semi-final showdown with third seed Roger Federer.
Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.
With the physical demands of modern-day tennis taking its toll the tournament will start without four of the top 11 in the ATP rankings including defending champion Stan Wawrinka who ended his season early with a knee injury.
Ramkumar Ramanathan's good run at the Chennai Open continued as he combined with compatriot N Sriram Balaji to knock out fourth seeded Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniel on Wednesday and storm into the doubles quarter-finals.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Vandeweghe, who had been suffering from flu, told reporters that Babos had been "getting in my face", prompting her to shout at her and fling her racket to the ground.
The Indian qualifier, who savoured his best ever performance on the ATP World Tour, went down fighting 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 against the world number 45 from South Africa in the quarter-finals played on Friday.
Since returning in January Rafael Nadal looks a man reborn. No wonder it is hard to find anyone not backing him to claim 'La Decima' in Paris.
Forget the past and communicate as much as possible -- that's how Rohan Bopanna plans to make his partnership with Leander Paes click in next month's Olympics as he feels there is no point in holding on to the bitterness which has marred Indian tennis. Bopanna, who wanted to play with Saketh Myneni but was teamed with Paes by AITA for Rio, says it's better to forget a few episodes. And he credits the tough and lonely life on the ATP tour for helping him overcome such setbacks. Bopanna and Paes are here for the Davis Cup tie against Korea. They will play on Saturday against Hong Chung and Yunseong Chung.
All major sporting events in the Paris region were suspended on Saturday as France mourned the victims of the attacks in the capital city the night before that left 129 people dead and 352 wounded.
Defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were ousted from the Tata Open Maharashtra but Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan combined to shock the top seeds, keeping the Indian hopes alive, in Pune, on Thursday.
Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe won the opening singles matches to give holders the United States a commanding 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup World Group opener against the Netherlands in Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic destroyed a woeful Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2 to book his place in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Surprised by the sacking of his elder brother as India's Davis Cup skipper, the legendary Vijay Amritraj says Anand Amritraj is the country's best captain in the last three decades and it is quite against the trend to remove a winning leader.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have shared the grand slam spoils this year and it would take a hard heart not to hope for a fairy tale rematch next month of their epic 2008 Wimbledon final.
Nadal faced no break points in a ruthless display to set up a meeting with Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
The Big Four were always going to come into the year's first Grand Slam knowing fully well that their days of dominance are drawing to a close, if not already a thing of the past, says Dhruv Munjal.
Images from Day 5 of the 2021 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
Lucas Pouille was not prepared to say his pulsating four hour, fourth-round upset of 14-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal at the US Open on Sunday was a career changing moment.
'This was the first time that I played points and that was too much for me today'
The ambitious Champions Tennis League (CTL) suffered a major setback when World No.10 David Ferrer pulled out of the event on Monday, citing 'health issues'.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
His US Open triumph made him, at 40, the oldest man to win a major title in the open era. Bikash Mohapatra believes Leander Paes's decision to switch to doubles at the peak of his singles career is the reason behind his longevity.
Cycling: Olympic champion Vogel stable after operation
India face one of the most ferocious Davis Cup challenges at home as nothing less than their best would be required to challenge world number two Serbia, who will test skill and strength of the hosts even without world number one Novak Djokovic in Bangalore from Friday.
