Confident Shapovalov primed to step up against Djokovic
IMAGES from the Australian Open final played on Sunday
With professional tennis tours closed down until mid July at the earliest because of the coronavirus pandemic, an esports version of the claycourt event is being staged online. Nadal showed impressive fingerwork to beat young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in his opening round-robin match on a digital representation of the Spanish capital's Manolo Santana Stadium.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
Driven by having started out in life with "literally nothing", Novak Djokovic is determined to end up as the man with the most Grand Slam singles titles when he finally hangs up his racket. Djokovic said his hunger for success came from growing up in a time of conflict and privation.
It took the COVID-19 pandemic to put a brake on Djokovic's 18-match unbeaten run in 2020, as he won the ATP Cup with Serbia, an eighth Australian Open title and a fifth Dubai Tennis Championships before the season came to a halt in early March.
Novak Djokovic believes Rafa Nadal may soon displace him as world number one and has plenty of time to break Roger Federer's benchmark 17 major titles after the Spaniard roared to the US Open title at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Serena Williams faces her first seeded opponent at the French Open on Thursday and will hope to use her booming serve to beat Australian Ashleigh Barty in the second round.
A summary of Saturday's action in Serie A and La Liga.
Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic led the tennis world in mourning for "mentor" Kobe Bryant on Monday after Melbourne Park awoke to the news that the NBA great had died in a helicopter crash along with his daughter and seven others. Djokovic had spoken fondly of his relationship with the former Los Angeles Laker in an interview at the weekend and the 16-times Grand Slam champion signed off his Tweet of condolence with the words: "RIP my friend".
German seventh seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a slow start to beat former champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open on Wednesday to reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final. Swiss Wawrinka, who won the first of his three Grand Slams at Melbourne Park in 2014, broke Zverev twice early in the opening set to breeze through the opening set but the 22-year-old German came roaring back into the contest.
Security was breached at the French Open on Sunday when a fan jumped onto Court Philippe Chatrier and attempted to take a selfie with Roger Federer.
Roger Federer has secured his place in the ATP Finals for a record 15th time after the Swiss world number three won a record eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday, the Association of Tennis Professionals confirmed on Monday.
DeAndre Yedlin has joined Championship (second tier) side Newcastle United on a five-year deal from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee, the clubs have announced.
A year in which a British man won Wimbledon, Roger Federer's star began to fade and doping reared its ugly head was defined by the dominance of two players - Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams.
Australian great Ken Rosewall will bestow the French Open trophy on the men's singles champion next month and sees only one grateful player ready to claim it -- Rafael Nadal.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said it was a "special feeling" and an extra motivation knowing he is poised to become the first man to coach six different clubs in the Champions League.
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has a full squad available, including forward Karim Benzema, for Saturday's La Liga Clasico at home to Barcelona.
German tennis legend Boris Becker has issued a stringing rebuke against second-ranked Andy Murray for saying that he has been suspicious of his opponents doping in the past and described his comments as "totally out of order".
Read on to know how Federer mauled Murray during their quarter-final natch at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Having headed into the match tied on 47 league goals with West Ham's former stalwart Paolo Di Canio, Antonio was delighted to have surpassed the Italian as he celebrated by lifting a cardboard cut-out of himself at the side of the pitch.
Organisers played a wrong national anthem for Moldova ahead of their tie against Belgium in Sydney. Denis Shapovalov won the battle of the next generation against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas to help Canada to an emphatic 3-0 victory in the inaugural ATP Cup men's team event in Brisbane on Friday.
Having achieved the glittering distinction of becoming the only man to win eight singles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament, French Open champion Rafa Nadal was soon dreaming of another priceless thing on Sunday -- to be left alone.
Venus Williams has pulled out of the upcoming Brisbane International after suffering a 'setback' in training
Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo could leave Real Madrid this summer, after reportedly being miffed over club president Florentino Perez's growing closeness with teammate Gareth Bale.
Rafa Nadal has returned to the Spain team as they seek to maintain their Davis Cup World Group status with a playoff tie against Ukraine in Madrid later this month, captain Alex Corretja said on Monday.
The message from Novak Djokovic could not have been more emphatic after the Serb retained his title at the ATP World Tour Finals with a crushing victory over Rafa Nadal on Monday.
Switzerland's challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals melted away like an Alpine glacier in a heatwave on Sunday as Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic marched on to the grand finale.
If Stanislas Wawrinka's life depended on the outcome of one tennis match he would surely want Rafa Nadal fighting his corner, and while the stakes were not as high as life or death on Friday the Swiss player's fate was in safe hands.
Rafael Nadal will return to his old routine in a bid to recapture the Wimbledon crown.
Before we choose our favourites for the US Open men's singles title this year, let's get one fact in place -- since the 2005 French Open, only five men have won Grand Slam singles titles but rarely have all five been in contention at the same event.
Been there, done that. Roger Federer does not need to be World No 1 anymore and he might well be a top contender at next year's Australian Open, his chief rival Rafa Nadal said.
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal advanced to a mouthwatering semi-final showdown at the Rogers Cup after they crushed their quarter-final opponents in ruthless fashion on Friday.
Rafa Benitez has been sacked as coach of Real Madrid, according to reports in the Spanish press. Sunday night's 2-2 draw with Valencia has proved to be the final straw for president Florentino Perez with the club likely to confirm the news soon. France legend Zinedine Zidane - the coach of Real Madrid's second team, Castilla - is expected to take over.
Former Inter Milan, Liverpool and Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez will return to Italy to take charge of Serie A club Napoli.
Chelsea winger Eden Hazard will miss Wednesday's Europa League final against Benfica with a hamstring strain while John Terry's ankle problem is still being assessed, interim manager Rafa Benitez said.
A summary of Wednesday night's action in the UEFA Champions League.
For the third time in five years, Rafa Nadal's Australian Open title hopes were ended by injury as he was beaten by Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
Rafa Nadal said playing Roger Federer always brings the best out of him after he bludgeoned his way past the Swiss on Friday to reach the final of the Australian Open.
