A ruthless Sorana Cirstea took full advantage of Karolina Pliskova's patchy form at the China Open on Thursday, reaching the quarter-finals as she consigned the recently dethroned world number one to a 6-1, 7-5 defeat.
Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko beat Briton Andy Murray 7-5 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships on Thursday.
World number two Murray, who smashed a frame in anger in the final game, said the proximity of next week's Davis Cup final on a claycourt in Ghent had not been a factor in his defeat.
It took a while, but Rafael Nadal finally showed up at the ATP's end-of-year fiesta on Monday when he lit up the second day of the World Tour Finals with a compelling round robin victory against Andy Roddick.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in straight sets on Saturday and will play Rafa Nadal in the Rome Masters final for the second year in a row.
Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina powered into the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Russian Evgeniya Rodina on Thursday.
Real Madrid fan Rafa Nadal may be distracted by the thrilling climax to the soccer season during his Madrid Open final with arch rival Roger Federer on Sunday.
World number one Novak Djokovic is on a French Open semi-final collision course with nine-times champion Rafael Nadal after the draw was made on Friday.
The Spaniard found himself outpaced 6-2, 6-4 after a breathtaking semi-final display of power and touch by the 2009 US Open champion at the Shanghai Masters.
'It's been a pleasure but also an honour and privilege to share all these years with you, living so many amazing moments on and off the court.'
Rafa Nadal is scheduled to play in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi in December, organisers said in a statement.
Second seed Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday when Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia retired in the third set after receiving treatment for a rib injury.
Nadal, playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, fell behind 5-2 in the tiebreak before roaring back to prevail in his first career meeting with world number 53 Evans.
Rafa Nadal suffered his first claycourt defeat in 23 matches on Thursday and threatened to boycott next year's Madrid Open if officials did not ditch the blue clay that players have labelled 'too slippery' and only fit for 'smurfs (to) play on'.
IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
Top seed David Ferrer summed up his error-strewn defeat by qualifier Dmitry Tursunov as "one of the worst I have played" after falling at the first hurdle at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday.
A near flawless Novak Djokovic crushed Marin Cilic 6-0, 6-3 to set up a blockbuster Monte Carlo Masters semi-final with claycourt king Rafa Nadal, who came through a testing workout by David Ferrer on Friday.
Rafa Nadal reclaimed his French Open crown in emphatic style on Sunday when he battered Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to win the title for the fifth time in six years.
The 19-year-old Spaniard also equalled Guillermo Vilas's record of 53 consecutive claycourt wins.
Legendary Rafael Nadal was at his energetic best in his two wins as rampaging Indian Aces continued their sparkling run in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) with a 30-12 rout of the Philippines Mavervicks, on the opening day of the Indian leg of the event.
The Spaniard will take on his boyhood hero, friend and compatriot Carlos Moya in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The World No 4 is unfazed by rankings drop before Madrid tournament and the French Open.
Top seed Rafael Nadal was stunned 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Italian Andreas Seppi in one of series of second-round upsets at the World Indoor Tournament on Thursday. Second seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, third seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and fifth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also suffered early exits.
Rafael Nadal, who said his injured wrist is improving daily, beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in his first-round match on Monday's opening day of the year's last Grand Slam.
Images from Day 9 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Monday.
He paid for losing the first two sets 6-3 6-4 and while he hit back impressively to win the next two by the same margin, he was unable to complete what would have been only his fourth recovery from two sets down. 'I played well for moments, but I was a lot of times fighting against the score, too many times in the fifth'
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal is optimistic he will be ready for the Rio Olympics despite heading into next month's Games having not played a competitive match since May 27 due to a left wrist injury.
It was Nadal's 50th trophy on clay court, his 70th overall and his first title in almost a year
Spain's Rafa Nadal beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to win a record seventh French Open tennis title on Monday.
'This was the first time that I played points and that was too much for me today'
Claycourt king Rafael Nadal marched into his 10th French Open final after demolishing rising Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, while third seed Stan Wawrinka edged past Andy Murray 6-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
Rafael Nadal fought off a ferocious challenge from Stanislas Wawrinka to earn his second Group A victory at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday and guarantee ending 2013 as world number one.
The Spaniard's main rival, Roger Federer, picked the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship prize for a record fifth successive year.
Novak Djokovic's latest triumph at the US Open saw him equal Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Novak Djokovic ruthlessly took Matteo Berrettini apart at the ATP Finals on Sunday as he began his quest to reclaim the number one ranking by winning his opening group match 6-2, 6-1.
Rafael Nadal continued his perfect run on the North American hardcourts taming Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 7-6 (4) at the Western and Southern Open on Saturday to setup a final showdown with big-hitting American John Isner.
Rafael Nadal defeated 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open semi-final to meet Roger Federer in dream summit clash in Melbourne.
There is not much that spooks Rafael Nadal at the French Open but David Ferrer managed to do just that - for 49 bewitching minutes - before watching in despair as his fellow Spaniard turned into a man possessed to set up a semi-final with Andy Murray.
Rafael Nadal outmuscled Tommy Robredo for his 47th consecutive claycourt victory.
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