Nadal was the favourite and top seed having lifted the Barcelona Open trophy last month but played below par on a sweltering spring day.
John Isner and Ivo Karlovic became the tallest doubles partnership when they played their first round match at the Australian Open.
The threadbare state of American men's tennis surfaced again on Monday when John Isner lost to Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round of the US Open to make it the worst home showing in the professional era.
Third seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crashed out of the Rome Masters after being outplayed in the super tie-breaker by Americas Sam Querrey and John Isner in the second round. The ace Indian pair was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 5-10 by their unseeded opponents in 72 minutes.
Tommy Robredo proved size is not everything in tennis, cutting towering American John Isner down to size to give Spain a 3-0 victory in their opening Hopman Cup encounter on Sunday.
Australian John Peers and Finn Henri Kontinen made a small slice of Wimbledon history when they won the first match decided by a tiebreak at 12-12 in the deciding set on Tuesday.
Top seed David Ferrer will meet former world number three David Nalbandian in the final of the Auckland Open after they both advanced with easy semi-final victories on Friday.
Novak Djokovic clawed his way to a two sets to one lead over great rival Rafael Nadal before their scintillating Wimbledon semi-final was paused on a knife-edge on Friday.
Sharapova's quarter-final defeat by Williams at the 2016 Australian Open was the last competitive match the Russian played for 15 months after she received a doping ban while American Williams was on a maternity break for most of 2017.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi advanced to the men's doubles quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters after getting a walk over. Fourth seeds Bhupathi and Mirnyi were scheduled to play against Americans John Isner and Sam Querry, who withdrew from the contest due an ankle injury to Isner.
Somdev Devvarman has got a tricky opener in the French Open singles as he has been drawn against world number 65 Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland. Somdev leads the head-to-head count 1-0 but that win in Dubai in February this year was a hard-earned one.
Madison Keys swept past Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-2, 6-4 at the Cincinnati Open on Friday, setting up a semi-final clash with Petra Kvitova after the Czech defeated Ajla Tomljanovic.
World number nine Mardy Fish saved two match points in recording a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 victory over fellow American John Isner to defend his Atlanta Tennis Championship title on Sunday.
Prakash Amritraj upset fourth seed and world number 109 Vincent Spadea in straight sets to advance to the singles quarter-finals in the US $50,000 ATP Challenger in Tallahassee, United States. The Indian, who achieved a career-best ranking of 185 last week, stunned his American opponent 6-4, 6-1 in the second round clash.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles beat American wild card duo of Mardy Fish and John Isner 7-5, 6-7(5), 12-10 in the quartfinals.
Tennis stars Venus Williams and Tomas Berdych have posed naked for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue.
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Danielle Collins were among those to win their first-round matches at the Adelaide International
Big-serving American John Isner produced the first upset at the LA Open with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over seventh-seeded German Benjamin Becker in the opening round on Tuesday. Fifth-seeded Russian Igor Kunitsyn eased into the second round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman and Argentina's Leonardo Mayer crushed French qualifier Josselin Ouanna 6-2, 6-3.
Wilander calls for fifth-set tiebreaks after six-hour semi-final
"He's got a tough task ahead of him," summed up John Isner
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Monday
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will face Britain's Andy Murray in the final of the Miami Open for a third time on Sunday after the pair triumphed in their semi-finals.
World number one Novak Djokovic and number two Andy Murray crashed out of the Western and Southern Open within an hour of each other on Friday, before Rafa Nadal restored order with a win over old rival Roger Federer.
India's tennis legend Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna moved to the pre-quarterfinals of the ATP BNP Paribas Masters with their respective partners after getting byes in their first rounds in Paris.
The tournament will be Murray's third since hip surgery in January and mark his return to the hard courts for the first time since March 2017 at Indian Wells.
Novak Djokovic believes he has left his recent poor form behind and will be in top shape when he leads Serbia in this weekend's Davis Cup quarter-final tie against the United States.
Maria Sharapova made up for lost time as she hurried into the third round of the French Open, while former champion Ana Ivanovic went down to Italian Sara Errani.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic praised the battling spirit of Nicolas Mahut after he thrashed the injured Frenchman 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 74 minutes on Saturday to reach the Australian Open last 16.
World number one Novak Djokovic looked like a man in a hurry as he thrashed Nicolas Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 74 minutes on Saturday to reach the Australian Open last 16.
Having conquered his anxiety and battled through tough situations, Rafa Nadal won possibly the sweetest of his six French Open titles on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal enjoyed a smoother time after a bumpy ride in his opening match but a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the French Open second round on Thursday still did not satisfy the champion.
World number eight Andy Roddick and 18th-ranked Sam Querrey will represent the United States in a first-round Davis Cup tie against Chile next month, captain Jim Courier said on Thursday.
Leander Paes remained on course for his second successive Grand Slam title after reaching the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Australian Open with partner Lukas Dlouhy in Melbourne on Saturday.
Rafa Nadal will take on Brazilian world number 96 Marcos Daniel in his first round of the Australian Open but faces a rocky path in his bid to become the first man to hold all four grand slam crowns simultaneously since Rod Laver in 1969.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick won in straight sets on Wednesday to march into the third round of the Paris Masters.
Rohan Bopanna is one step away from winning his second ATP doubles title of the season after making the final of the Atlanta Tennis Championships in USA, along with partner Kristof Vliegen.
Mardy Fish extended his winning streak to nine matches by defeating top seeded Andy Roddick 7-6, 6-3 on Saturday to advance to the final of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
Clay master Rafa Nadal tamed big-serving American John Isner 7-5, 6-4 to claim a place in the last eight of the Madrid Open on Thursday and was joined by Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Novak Djokovic tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Wednesday, upset 7-5, 6-3 by big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the fourth round.
David Ferrer crushed Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 to fire depleted champions Spain into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup on Sunday and set up a clash away to nine-times winners France.
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