American tennis ace Serena Williams has pulled out of next week's Madrid Open, saying that she needs more time to prepare for clay-court season.
The batters could be in for some challenging times with the Supersport Park track expected to aid the fast bowlers as rain threat looms large over the opening Test between India and South Africa, curator Bryan Bloy said on Saturday.
Both Balaji and Bhambri have got some decent results on clay in lead up to the Roland Garros, where the action will unfold during the Summer Olympics from July 27.
Day 12 of the French Open witnessed the unveiling of a brand new pink clay court. The women's legends doubles semi-final match between American Martina Navratilova and Jana Novotna of Czech Republic and Nathalie Tauziat and Sandrine Testud of France was the first match to be played on the freshly-laid surface.
Images from Day 7 of the 2024 French Open.
World number one Iga Swiatek edged Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 4-6 7,-6(7) in a gripping and gruelling Madrid Open final to win the title for the first time on Saturday in what was a repeat of last year's summit clash at the WTA 1000 claycourt tournament.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt is raring to go on Belgium's indoor clay courts in the Davis Cup tie this weekend.
Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova lost their respective fourth round matches at the French Open
Mahesh Bhupathi is looking forward to a successful year along with the Wesley Moodie
The French Open will be held in Paris from May 22 to June 5.
Rublev came into the tournament on a four-match losing streak, but has eased into the final, knocking out second seed Carlos Alcaraz on the way, and will face unseeded Canadian Auger-Aliassime for the title on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal racked up his 30th successive match win on clay with a brutal 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hugo Armando
Twice finalist Ruud overcomes Davidovich Fokina test
Andy Murray claimed the first claycourt title of his career on Monday with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(4) victory over twice champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in the rain-delayed Munich Open final.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka beat Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-2 under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday to move into the French Open third round.
Swift Dzire has clocked 2.5 million in sales, and you might, in a non-too-distant future, see headlines that the DZire has done 3 million as well, observes Suveen Sinha.
KKR trumped SRH in the league stage matches and it will give them an edge going into Sunday's summit clash, Matthew Hayden and Kevin Pietersen.
In fine fettle after a month-long rest, Roger Federer is ready to get his clay season underway and continue his bid to recapture the World No 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic.
The fifth seed's success made it the first time a Japanese male player had reached the last eight at Roland Garros since Jiro Satoh made it to the semi-finals in 1931 and 1933.
The new season coasts along on the simple anecdotes that make up the piggy bank of family lore; the performances are as wonderful as before, but the sharpness of humour is starting to dull a bit, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Beaten twice by Nadal in the space of a month, in the Barcelona and Madrid Open finals, Thiem took his revenge by handing the 30-year-old Spaniard a first clay court defeat of the season in Rome.
Take a look at the five top contenders for the men's singles title at the French Open:
Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.
Swiatek will face Czech Karolina Muchova in the final.
Rafael Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells on Wednesday on the eve of his first-round match.
Novak Djokovic's erratic form, Rafael Nadal's fitness woes and untimely injuries to top-ranked youngsters have set up an uncertain French Open men's tournament
15-year-old American Ryan Harrison beat Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3 at the US Men's Clay Court Championship.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Wednesday.
Ivo Karlovic utilised a single break of service to upset world number 10 Tommy Haas 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the US Men's Clay Court Championships on Friday.
'Right now I think that I have to find to myself again and just trying to forget the clay court season as soon as possible'
Rafael Nadal took his remarkable record to 100 wins in his last 101 matches on clay by beating fellow-Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the Barcelona Open quarter-finals. The top seed, chasing his fourth consecutive title here, appeared unaffected by strapping on his left shoulder as he eased through.
Former world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu combined with Mansher Singh and Birendeep Singh to clinch the men's trap team gold but settled for silver in the individual event of the Asian Clay Shooting Championship in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Still wearing a compression sleeve after a recent forearm issue, Carlos Alcaraz produced a stellar show in a rematch of the duo's 2022 encounter to firmly put himself back in the conversation as the favourite to lift the title in Paris and a third major.
Rafael Nadal rediscovered his clay court form after a rare wobble in the semi-finals to beat fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2, in Sunday's rain-hit final and claim his fifth Rome Masters title in six years.
Alcaraz will face German Alexander Zverev or two-time runner-up Casper Ruud of Norway on Sunday.
Iga Swiatek will have her task cut out as she aims to pick up her third title in four years in Paris.
World number one Rafael Nadal began his campaign for a fifth successive Barcelona Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil on Wednesday.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Saturday.
Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday tipped Prakash Amritraj and new kid on the block Somdev Devvarman as ideal players for India's upcoming Davis Cup tie in Romania.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the French Open played at Roland Garros on Wednesday
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