Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas yet again failed to click as a team, losing the closely-fought opening round of the ATP Indian Wells Masters to Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki, in Indian Wells
Top seed Andy Murray slumped out of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament on Friday after being outplayed 6-4, 6-2 in the quarter-finals by Frenchman Gilles Simon.
Novak Djokovic began his bid to hold on to his number one ranking with an easy win over Gilles Muller in the Paris Masters second round while Andy Murray struggled through and Stan Wawrinka faltered on Wednesday.
Paire won his first ATP Tour title on the clay at Bastad in July and will go in search of his second against French Open champion Wawrinka, who served strongly in taking out Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
The 24-year-old started brightly by taking the first set off the 19th seed on Monday but his lack of match fitness told as, despite frequent treatment from the trainer, he lost the next three to bow out at the first hurdle in a third straight grand slam.
Second seed Gael Monfils edged past Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 7-6(6), 7-6(6) and Marin Cilic ousted Argentine Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-1 to progress to the Japan Open semi-finals in Tokyo on Friday.
Novak Djokovic has admitted that Andy Murray's attempt to surge to the top of the rankings has rejuvenated an otherwise mediocre season for the World No. 1.
The Serbian second seed's match against France's Adrian Mannarino was delayed because of the epic five-setter between Gilles Muller and Rafael Nadal.
In the women's draw, Halep is seeded 2nd after top-ranked Kerber
India's tennis stars enjoyed comfortable wins in the Australian Open on Thursday as Sania Mirza eased into the second round with partner Martina Hingis while Rohan Bopanna also registered a straight sets victory in the men's doubles first round.
The Frenchman, seeded five, had no answer to left-hander Muller's swinging serve as he bowed out 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic feels technology will decide future of serve and volley game in men's tennis
Images from all the action on Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
A gutsy Ramkumar Ramanathan buried a sluggish start to eke out an inspiring win over Alexander Kudryavtsev and enter the men's singles quarterfinals of the Chennai Open on Thursday. Wild-card Ramkumar worked his way to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over higher-ranked Russian, who had entered the event as a Lucky Loser. He next plays world no.45 Aljaz Bedene, who defeated Luca Vanni 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov on Saturday.
World No.4 Stan Wawrinka will look to win his third successive Chennai Open title, while the Indian challenge will be spearheaded by rising star Yuki Bhambri
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a scare against Pierre-Hugues Herbert before holding his nerve to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday, while Dominic Thiem edged out Russian youngster Andrey Rublev.
Stanislas Wawrinka survived a thriller against Mikhail Youzhny in the second round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday, fighting back in both sets to prevail 7-6(3), 7-6(8).
Top seed Serena Williams turned an early challenge into an eventual cakewalk as she beat Russian-born Yulia Putintseva 7-6(2), 6-0 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal powered to third-round wins at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering rematch of their recent Australian Open final.
24th seed American Sam Querrey caused the biggest upset at this year's Wimbledon as he stunned defending champion Andy Murray 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1, in the quarter-finals, on Wednesday.
Defending champion and top seed Stanislas Wawrinka scored a clinical 6-1, 6-4 win over Borna Coric of Croatia to progress to the men's singles quarter-finals at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament.
Rafael Nadal has cast doubt on his participation at Wimbledon, saying he needs to see how his body recovers after a long clay court campaign culminated in an 11th French Open title.
Spain's third seed Roberto Bautista Agut made a smooth entry into the men's quarter-finals at the ATP Chennai Open tennis tournament with a fluent 6-3, 6-2 win over German Peter Gojowczyk.
'I feel like I'm rested enough. I've had... not the toughest matches. I can look at this quarter-final (on Wednesday against Milos Raonic) in a totally relaxed fashion'
Somdev Devvarman joined compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the singles main draw of the ATP Chennai Open with a come-from-behind victory over Briton James Ward in the final qualifying round in Chennai on Sunday.
Ivan Lendl says it is the ability to deal with distractions and overcome obstacles such as a lack of playing time that sets the top players in the world apart from the rest.
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal were winners but six seeds were beaten in a day of upsets in the second round at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Thursday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic, second seed Andy Murray and three-time champion Rafael Nadal were all cheered into the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup on Thursday.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
Roger Federer thinks a tie-breaker at 12-12 would be the best compromise following calls for Wimbledon to step into line with the US Open and scrap long deciding sets.
Britain's Johanna Konta overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-2 in a one-sided victory in the final of the Sydney International on Friday to claim her second career WTA title.
I've got to do my homework, sit down with the team, prepare myself well with the video analysis, says Novak Djokovic.
Dustin Brown's audacious attempt to unseat defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray with a show-boating brand of serve and volley tennis was always likely to end in failure.
Rafa Nadal got his usual confidence boost from Nicolas Almagro at Roland Garros, reaching the third round with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory -- his fourth without dropping a set against his Spanish compatriot on the Paris clay.
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).
The 'Big Four' has become a 'Big Three' with the shock exit of Rafael Nadal, and the remaining trio of Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will all be aiming to prove their elite credentials in Wednesday's quarter-finals.
Not since Croatian Goran Ivanisevic beat Australian Pat Rafter in 2001 has there been a final featuring two players adopting the serve-and-volley style once deemed mandatory.
Rewarding as it was for Rafael Nadal to become the only player to win the same Grand Slam 12 times by chalking up his dozen at last month's French Open, the Spaniard arrived at Wimbledon this year like a man on a mission. In the end, however, it became mission impossible as he lost to inspired Roger Federer in Friday's blockbuster semi-final.
'I would say winning the US Open has helped me for all these grand slams I have played so far, and I believe the rest of my career' 'It's great for me to hear that even he, and a lot of players around, even ex-players, when they were looking before the tournament started, that they were seeing me as a player that could go quite deep (into the tournament)'
