Big-serving Andy Roddick crashed out of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday while second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced after a battling 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Much smoother progress was made by Swiss world number one Roger Federer, Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and women's title-holder Daniela Hantuchova, who all won their respective matches in straight sets.
Sunitha Rao shrugged off a poor start to beat Kristina Kuvoca of Slovakia in a tough three-setter and advance to the singles second round of the US $50,000 ITF women's tennis tournament in Boston, USA. The United States-based Indian, seeded fifth, rallied to beat her Slovakian opponent 1-6 6-4 7-6(4) in the first round of the hardcourt event.
Fifth seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black cantered into the second round, even as the duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi were shown the door in the men's doubles, at the French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
The Indo-American duo beat Janette Husarova and Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 in the first round.
A summary of Tuesday's play at the French Open.
They beat David Skoch of Czech Republic and Janette Husarova of Slovakia in their first round match at Wimbledon.
Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played on Sunday.
Froome had been the favourite to retain his title but he paid the price for the efforts he made to win the Giro d'Italia in May as he just failed to become the first man in 20 years to achieve the Giro-Tour double.
Second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova swept past Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at the Pacific Life Open on Wednesday. Kuznetsova, who was upset by Radwanska in the third round of the Australian Open in January, broke her 19-year-old opponent in the first and third games of the opening set on the Stadium Court.
The Indian ace, seeded 21, rallied after losing the first set to beat Ukraine's Olga Savchuk at the Pacific Life Open. Meanwhile, defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and fourth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova breezed through their opening matches.
French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic scooped her third title of the year after overcoming Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the final of the Luxembourg Championships.
The Indo-US duo beat Severine Bremond and Jelena Jankovic in the first round of women's doubles.
The 30-year-old Indian clocked 4 hours 7 minutes and 55 seconds, which was 26:57 seconds behind the timing of gold medallist Matej Toth of Slovakia.
In men's doubles Bhupathi and Zimonjic will next play the US-Australian duo of Eric Butorac and Ashley Fisher.
The Slovakian eventually won 6-4, 6-1 but the match will be remembered for a ludicrous umpiring decision at a crucial stage of a tight opening set.
Sania Mirza and Leander Paes were on course for a Australian Open showdown as they reached the mixed doubles semifinals with their respective partners, in Melbourne.
The Swiss champion was at his breath-taking best as he crafted 48 exquisite winners during a 90-minute match that seemed more an exhibition of his shot-making than a charge towards a record ninth Wimbledon title.
List of seeded players for the 2006 Australian Open.
France striker Olivier Giroud ended a run of 10 international games without a goal by netting a stunning winner as the world champions claimed a deserved 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in their Nations League clash on Sunday.
Ashutosh Singh shocked top seed Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the ITF Futures in Bellary.
The Russian will meet Mariya Korrytseva in Sunday's final at the Sunfeast Open in Kolkata.
Fourth seed Maria Kirilenko overcame stiff second set resistance before prevailing over Ekaterina Ivanova to move into the pre-quarter-finals of the WTA Sunfeat Open.
Marek Jankulovski's early goal gave the Czech Republic a 1-0 win over 10-man Ireland in their Group D qualifier on Wednesday and moved his team a big step closer to advancing to Euro 2008.
She upset third-seeded Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.
An early Toby Alderweireld header was the prelude to three late goals that sent Belgium past Hungary and into a UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-final against Wales.
The Indian ace will meet top seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the summit clash.
England striker Harry Kane believes they can still win Euro 2016 despite being in the harder half of the draw and he rejected the idea that the team's forwards are battling anxiety ahead of the match against Iceland. Roy Hodgson's side finished second in Group B behind Wales and face a second-round match against Iceland in the trickier part of the draw, with the teams in the bottom half boasting 20 major titles between them compared with zero for the sides in the top section.
How the teams stand in the European Football Championship.
World No 2 Andy Murray's three-point contribution to Britain's defeat of Belgium in the Davis Cup final concluded one of the most remarkable years ever achieved in the competition by an individual player. Below are the key facts:
Representing Wales at the European Championship is a welcome change from being on "holiday" during a major international tournament, Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has said. Wales will be making a first appearance at a major finals since the 1958 World Cup when Chris Coleman's side kick off their Euro 2016 Group B campaign against Slovakia on Saturday. Ramsey is keen for Wales to stamp their authority early on in the tournament with a positive result in their Bordeaux opener. "I'm excited... normally I'm on holiday now," the 25-year-old told reporters in France. "Our target is to get out of the group first and I think a win will probably get you through, maybe in third place.
Greece together with France, Germany and Romania all moved closer to a place in next year's European Championship finals.
Leander Paes and Meghann Shaughnessy survived a scare but Sania Mirza and Fabrice Santoro were knocked out of the mixed doubles at the French Open.
Sania Mirza staged a strong comeback to beat ninth seed Shahar Peer of Israel and enter the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells on Sunday. The Indian ace won 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 and will next face defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in the Tier-I event.
England must ignore talks about their Euro 2016 prospects and focus instead on getting off to a good start in their tournament opener against Russia on Saturday, midfielder Adam Lallana has said. Warm-up victories over Turkey, Australia and Portugal have raised hopes of Roy Hodgson's charges ending the country's 50-year wait for a major international trophy since England's World Cup triumph in 1966. "All the team's focus will be on Russia now. It's the first game, you don't want to lose your first match and it's important we get off to a good start and build from there," Lallana told British media. "I think it's important to treat it as much of a normal game as you can. There's always going to be hype but if we concentrate on our football and don't get too caught up in the emotion and what comes with it then I'm sure we'll be fine."
German referee Herbert Fandel will be in charge for Wednesday's Champions League final between AC Milan and Liverpool.
England must be a bit more 'streetwise' if they are to have any chance of winning the Euro 2016 in France, according to defensive midfielder Eric Dier.
Roger Federer once again conceded defeat to arch-rival Rafael Nadal when he and his fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka lost to Nadal and Carlos Moya.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The Slovak won her first title in five years when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Pacific Life Open final.
She will play number 14 seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who wore down number 12 Li Na of China 7-5 4-6 6-1.
