A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Nadal also won through to the final of the doubles with fellow-Spaniard Feliciano Lopez at the Barcelona Open.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi stunned top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach in straight sets to storm into the doubles final of the Valencia Open.
While Leander Paes- Nenad Zimonjic crashed out in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters
Serbia's former World No 12 Viktor Troicki has been handed an 18-month suspension by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after violating doping regulations.
The Russian registered an easy 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round of the Rome Masters.
Rafael Nadal eased past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Barcelona Open third round on Wednesday as he began his bid for a ninth title on the clay in the Catalan capital.
A doubles title continued to elude Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi as they lost the Valencia Open final to British brothers Andy and Jamie Murray in Valencia.
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic suffered a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the French Open on Saturday.
World number one Rafael Nadal has booked a place in the end-of-season ATP World Tour finals being staged in London for the first time, organisers said on Tuesday.
Ferrer, 37, announced earlier in the year he would end his 19-year career at the Madrid Open and prolonged his time on court by a day by beating Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday, but was easily overpowered by world number four Zverev.
Roger Federer inflicted a rare claycourt defeat on his great rival Rafael Nadal on Sunday when he beat the world number one 6-4, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final. Nadal was bidding to become the first man to win all three claycourt Masters Series events in one year after his victories in Monte Carlo and Rome but slipped to only his fifth loss on his favoured surface in 155 matches since 2005.
Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy entered the quarterfinals of the euro 2,750,000 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco, defeating unseeded Spaniard duo of Albert Montanes and Tommy Robredo in a match tie-breaker.
Carlos Alcaraz crashed to a humbling 6-3 7-6(4) defeat by Hungarian qualifier Fabian Marozsan in the third round of the Italian Open.
Images from Day 2 of the 2024 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Monday.
The Spanish teenager produced another dazzling performance to storm into the Barcelona Open quarter-finals.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile upset eighth seeds Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Todd Perry of Australia at the Monte Carlo Tennis Masters Series.
The world's top four players will face off at the Cincinnati Masters on Saturday as Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic go head-to-head in two mouth watering semi-finals.
They sailed into the semi-finals of the Master Series with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over the Swiss pair of Roger Federer and Yves Allegro.
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas were knocked out of the Madrid Masters after being crushed in straight sets in the opening round of the men's double event here last evening.
Roger Federer's struggles continued when he was beaten 7-6 (2), 6-4 by fast-rising Austrian Dominic Thiem in the third round of the Italian Open in Rome, on Thursday.
The Spanish teenager edged out Argentine ninth seed Guillermo Coria in five sets to win the Rome Masters.
They won the Monte Carlo Masters doubles at Monaco after their third seeded opponents Bob and Mike Bryan conceded a walk-over in the final.
Fifth seeds Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia entered the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters, beating the Czech pair of Martin Damm and Radek Stepanek.
The top seeds lost to seventh seeds Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez of Argentina in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters.\n\n
Lleyton Hewitt's run in the Monte Carlo Masters was halted by Germany's Rainer Schuettler.
The second seed was shocked by seventh seeded Argentinian Guillermo Coria in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
World number one Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from next week's Madrid Open for a second consecutive year to rest before the Rome Masters and the French Open, organisers of the clay Masters event said on Wednesday.
From bloody noses to sparks on the race track, Rediff.com has the best pictures from the last week snapped right here...
Roger Federer said he trusts the anti-doping procedures in tennis despite rival Novak Djokovic's claim that fellow Serb's Victor Troicki's one-year ban was the result of negligence by the authorities.
For the first time this week Novak Djokovic needed only two sets to triumph at theRome Masters, beating Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4 as he reached the final to close in on a 24th Masters 1000 title. The world number one, who is chasing a fourth title in the event, next meets Roger Federer, who knocked out fellow-Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
It was a memorable day for Indian tennis as Rohan Bopanna won the Erste Open in Vienna, partnering Pablo Cuevas, while the team of Saketh Myneni and Vijay Sundar Prashanth clinched the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City.
Nadal to make injury return at Madrid Open
Swiss tennis ace Stanislas Wawrinka has revealed this week that his on-off relationship with wife Ilham has ended.
With each passing year questions are inevitably asked about whether Nadal's vice-like hold on the French Open will be loosened. Each time, the answer has been an emphatic NO.
World number one Nadal will meet Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's showpiece when he will target a record-extending 11th title in Barcelona a week after claiming the Monte Carlo Masters for the 11th time.
Roger Federer claimed one of the few titles to have previously eluded him after he overcame a sluggish start to beat injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday.
Veteran tennis player Rohan Bopanna said he plans to team up with Divij Sharan and represent India in the men's doubles event in next year's Tokyo Olympics.
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