A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
Doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna said it would take some more time for him and senior partner Mahesh Bhupathi to get adjusted to each other before they strike a right chord in ATP tennis circuit.
The 29-year-old former French Open finalist failed the out-of-competition test in February after a urine sample was found to contain letrozole - a substance used in the treatment of breast cancer which is also on the banned drug list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
'I still have the exact budget which I had in 2018 when I was ranked 350. It's that when I needed the most which is right now, I see people turning around and walking away.'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Roger Federer moved to within one win of his 1,000 career victory when he crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
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.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek were routed 2-6, 0-6 by top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan as the Indian challenge ended at the ATP Monaco Masters.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has defended giving Roger Federer 'prime time' treatment at the year's first Grand Slam, saying it was a matter of meeting fans and broadcasters' demands for the 'box office' athlete.
Cecchinato in 'dreamland' after stunning David Goffin on Sunday
India's Divij Sharan broke into the top-100 in the ATP doubles ranking as he jumped 15 places to a career best 94th spot, while Yuki Bhambri also achieved his career-best singles rank with a nine-place jump to 179 in the latest list released on Tuesday.
Rohan Bopanna Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi won their first ever ATP Masters tournament after whipping away the challenge of Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the final, in Paris, on Sunday.
The 2020 international calendar concluded with the three tournaments in the Asia leg which was conducted in Bangkok in successive weeks.
Nadal may have 19 Grand Slam titles, one shy of Federer's all-time men's record, but when it comes to IT skills, he resembled a Sunday morning park hacker crumbling under pressure. After some pleasantries, the conversation moved on to the forthcoming virtual Madrid Open being contested with joysticks rather than tennis rackets.
Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek downed Jonathan Erlich and Richard Gasquet in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters tournament.
Korean qualifier Hyeon Chung produced the first upset of the ATP Chennai Open by ousting last year's finalist Borna Coric with a straight-set win in the opening round of the $505730 hard court event in Chennai on Monday.
Frenchman Benoit Paire confirmed that he had tested positive for COVID-19. This has meant they have been barred from using any on site player facilities.
Former world number one and double Grand Slam title winner Marat Safin became the latest Russian tennis player to confirm he intends to run for his country's parliament.
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.
Somdev Devvraman crashed out of the the $ 850,00 ATP Malaysian Open after losing to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in straight sets in the second round of the men's singles event in Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
The only Indian survivors in the Delhi Challenger will face off for a quarter-final place on Wednesday.
Roger Federer took a big step towards securing his endangered place in the ATP World Tour Finals by overcoming rising Canadian talent Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 in the Basel Open semi-finals on Saturday.
Indian challenge ended at the ATP Rogers Cup as Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi conceded their doubles quarter-final match to top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan due to an injury to the Indian Davis Cupper.
The Indo-Pakistan duo will take on third seeds Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Robert Lindstedt in the championship round.
Rohan Bopanna and Andre Begemann suffered a quarter-final exit from the ATP Citi Open after a close defeat against Treat Huey and Dominic Inglot in Washington.
The Tamil Nadu-based Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who recently made his Davis Cup debut and is expected to lead India's doubles challenge in coming years, is spending time hitting at private courts and handling the marketing of their family resort in Pondicherry.
Spaniard Nadal was in all sorts of trouble, trailing by a set and 5-4 and with 69th-ranked Rosol serving at 30-0, but his Czech opponent framed a basic backhand volley at 30-15 and blew his chance, Nadal going on to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).
Peter Luczak and Anastasia Rodionova will spearhead Australia's challenge at the tennis event of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi as Tennis Australia on Wednesday named its squad, sans Lleyton Hewitt and Samatha Stosur.
After stunning top seed Karan Rastogi on Thursday, sixth seed Yuki Bhambri turned giant-killer, scalping No 4 Gero Kretschmer of Germany in straight sets, to storm into the final of the CCI-ITF US$15,000 Men's Futures tennis tournament at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Friday.
The Indo-Pakistan duo beat top seeds Harel Levy of Israel and Lars Burgsmuller of Germany in the semi-finals.
The Indo-Paki pair overcame a tough challenge from Olivier Charroin and Thomas Oger of France in the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Challenger.
Prakash Amritraj entered the main draw of the US $416,000 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, Rhode Island.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
India number one Somdev Devvarman registered the biggest win of his career, beating world No 5 Juan Martin Del Potro in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, on Tuesday. The victory, though, was achieved after the Argentine retired mid-way through the contest.
India tennis ace, Sania Mirza finds herself at No 6 as the new WTA doubles chart was released on Monday.
Somdev Devvarman recovered from his shock Chennai Open defeat against little-known compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan to edge past Belgium's Niel Desein in a tight opening round of the ATP Apia International qualifiers in Sydney on Saturday.
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic gave Australia an unwanted reputation as a breeding ground for tennis brats during a tempestuous 2015 and the pair will be firmly under the spotlight in front of home crowds at Melbourne Park. With former world number one Lleyton Hewitt set to retire and the last of his two grand slam titles at the 2002 Wimbledon championships a distant memory, Australia has long yearned for a new force in men's tennis to challenge at the majors. Tomic, 23, and Kyrgios, 20, have both been tagged as the future of the sport in the country but the excitement generated by their undeniable talent gave way to dismay last season as the pair hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Somdev Devvarman failed to make the singles main draw of the Toronto ATP Masters after going down fighting to third seed Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round of the qualifying event. The 14th seed Indian began well but lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(10) to the world number 54 Uzbek in the second and final round.
legend Leander Paes and Daniel Nestor disposed off the challenge of Marc Lopez and Rafael Nadal in straight sets to progress to the semifinals of the ATP Aegon Championships.
IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
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