IMAGES from Day 9 of the US Open, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York.
Defending champion Roger Federer guaranteed his place in the last four of the ATP World Tour Finals with a straight-sets win over Spain's David Ferrer on Thursday.
Nadal, whose last grasscourt final came at Wimbledon in 2011, has dropped to 10th in the ATP rankings after a difficult year in which he has won only a single title.
David Ferrer has ensured Spanish representation at the ATP World Tour finals by booking his place at the eight-man finale taking place in London for the fourth year next month.
Belgian Xavier Malisse won the first ATP title of his career as he upset Jiri Novak 7-6 6-2 in the final of the Millennium International Tennis Championships at Delray Beach on Sunday.
Thiem blazed 50 winners, many of them jaw-dropping backhands, to beat Djokovic
Former world number one Rafael Nadal displayed more signs of a return to top form with a ruthless 6-2, 6-1 hammering of Stanislas Wawrinka to reach the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Friday.
Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy's bid for a second successive ATP title ended in disappointment after the top seeds were stunned by the Russian-German pair of Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev in the finals of AIG Japan Open in Tokyo on Sunday.
Penpix of the top men's contenders at the 2021 French Open which begins on Sunday:
Towering Argentine Juan Martin del Potro snapped Roger Federer's three-year unbeaten sequence at the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday to earn a semi-final against world number one Novak Djokovic at the season-ending showpiece.
Davis Cup: Strong Indian team is firm favourite against Pakistan in historic clash
Novak Djokovic's star still burns bright as he returns to Melbourne Park in search of a record seventh Australian Open title.
Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna is in line for his second ATP Challenger doubles title this season after making the final of the Aachen event in Germany along with his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.
Roger Federer produced another masterly display to beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2 and move a step closer to the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Tuesday.
Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz won his second ATP Masters 1000 title at the Madrid Open after defeating defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in front of his home crowd on Sunday.
Unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi won the first ATP title of his career in extraordinary circumstances on Saturday when Serbian opponent Janko Tipsarevic retired hurt in a rain-interrupted Eastbourne International final.
Roger Federer became the first player to win the ATP World Tour finals six times when he beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in the final at the O2 on Sunday.
Prakash Amritraj and Harsh Mankad are one step away from winning ATP challenger Tour's doubles titles, having reached the final of different events along with their respective partners.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Wednesday.
World number one Rafa Nadal notched up his 500th career win on Saturday and clinched a place in the Barcelona Open final by beating unseeded Croatian Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-2.
Seventh seeds Leander Paes-Radek Stepanek caused a major upset, beating formidable top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan 6-4, 6-4, but Mahesh Bhupathi-Rohan Bopanna went down 2-6, 4-6 to second seeds Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canada's Daniel Nestor.
Carlos Alcaraz ended Novak Djokovic's reign to usher in a new era at Wimbledon -- a win that was being trumpeted as the changing of the guard in men's tennis.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after losing to eighth-seeded Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski via the super tie-break in the semi-finals in London on Saturday. Fyrstenberg and Matkowski needed an hour and 39 minutes to prevail over the fourth seeds and three-time former finalists 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 and reach their 31st tour-level doubles final.
Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi extended their good run at the ATP South Africa Open to the final after scoring a hard-fought semi-final victory in the doubles event. The third seeded Indo-Pak pair edged past the fifth seeded American duo of Erico Butorac and Rajeev Ram 7-6(5), 6-4 in the semi-finals on Friday night.
World No. 16 Marco Cecchinato will spearhead Italy's challenge, while they also have the experienced world No. 37 Andreas Seppi as they look to continue their good record against India.
With Sunday's win, the world number one took his Grand Slam tally to 18, just two shy of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's men's record of 20.
Top seed Andy Murray cruised past Spain's David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday and Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov received a walkover into the China Open final after Milos Raonic withdrew due to an ankle injury.
Somdev Devvarman entered the final of the Lexington Challenger after Xavier Malisse retired from the semi-final with an injury.
Paes and his Italian partner Daniele Bracciali were shown the exit at the Thailand Open, in Bangkok, while Somdev and his South African partner Rik De Voest went down fighting in their last four match at the Malaysian Open, in Kuala Lumpur.
Harsh Mankad and Scott Oudsema had to be content with a runners-up finish at the ATP Challenger event at Louisiana in United States after losing the valiantly fought final against top seeded American pair of Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram.
The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna squandered two match-points before losing to Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen in their opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals, in London, on Tuesday. The Indians, making their debut as a pair in the elite season-ending event, lost their Group B match 6-4, 7-6(1), 10-12 in 96 minutes.
India's second seeds Purav Raja and Divij Sharan were upset in straight sets in the final of the Tashkent Challenger by the unseeded Russian pairing of Mikhail Elgin and Teymuraz Gabashvili, in Tashkent, on Saturday.
Daniil Medvedev handed Novak Djokovic his first loss of the year, defeating the world no. 1 6-4, 6-4 in Dubai.
Defending champion Tomas Berdych advanced to the Stockholm Open final after his opponent Marcos Baghdatis was forced to withdraw from their semi-final due to injury trailing by a set.
Rafael Nadal ended Andy Roddick's bid for a record fifth title at Queen's by charging into the final with a 7-5, 6-4 win.
Mardy Fish beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-4 to reach the final of the ATP event in New Haven.
Djokovic may never feel the affections of the crowd savoured by Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal but his record of 16 Grand Slam titles is proof that tennis is no popularity contest.
Top seeds Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy earned a shot at their second title of the season after reaching the summit clash of the UNICEF Open with a win over Benjamin Becker and Scott Lipsky.
Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a maiden Paris Masters title when he survived a second set blip to beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas
