The world number one began his Australian Open campaign in impressive form dismissing Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Indian tennis ace Leander Paes and Andre Begemann of Germany went down to local hero Denis Istomin and Mikhail Elgin of Russia in the doubles finals at the ninth edition of the $125000 Tashkent ATP Challenger at the Olympic Tennis School in Tashkent on Friday.
The world number one admitted he is concerned about finding out something about his first round opponent, Uzbek Denis Istomin.
Veteran Mahesh Bhupathi and his partner Denis Istomin erased a one set deficit to edge past Oliver Marach and Florin Mergea in their opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Championships.
'I surprised myself also today'
Exhausted by a near five-hour contest, Denis Istomin struggled to formulate his thoughts following his stunning upset of Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Images from the Friday's play at the Australian Open.
Top seed John Isner narrowly avoided a second straight first round exit as the big serving American edged past Canadian Jessie Levine 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 at the Delray Beach International on Tuesday.
A deflated Novak Djokovic blamed a bad day at the office for his stunning second-round elimination by Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin which condemned the Serb to his earliest grand slam exit in nearly a decade.
Top seed Andy Roddick survived a bombardment of 32 aces from compatriot Sam Querrey to take a 2-6, 7-6, 7-6 victory and move into the final of the San Jose Open for the fourth time on Saturday. Roddick, the winner of the title on his three previous visits to the final, will meet Spanish second seed Fernando Verdasco, who overcame Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Swiss Roger Federer came back from a slow start to beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round at the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel.
Leander Paes earned himself a shot at his third ATP Challenger title of the season by reaching the final of the $125000 Tashkent event with partner Andre Begemann, in Tashkent on Thursday.
Defending champion Andy Murray ground his way past Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin with a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open where he will face Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.
The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
Grigor Dimitrov reached his first grand slam quarter-final in over two years on Monday by defeating an injury-hampered Denis Istomin 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 to end the Uzbek wildcard's fairytale run at the Australian Open.
The Indian challenge at the $125,000 Tashkent ATP Challenger, being played at the Olympic Tennis Stadium, ended on Thursday when second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Hsun Yen Lu went down to the local pair of Denis Istomin and Murad Inoyatov in the semi-finals. The Uzbek pair of Istomin and Inoyatov beat the Indo-Taipei 3-6, 6-1, 10-5 in a well-contested semi-final.
- At 18 years and 109 days, Bencic is the youngest player to win a premier-level title since Caroline Wozniacki won in New Haven almost seven years ago - Uzbek Istomin wins men's title
Swiss maestro Roger Federer has revealed that Wimbledon, where he won his first Grand Slam title, could be the ideal place for a farewell tournament when he decides to call time on his illustrious career.
The seventh seeded pair of Indian veteran Leander Paes and Austrian Alexander Peya advanced to the French Open second round after notching a three-set victory in their opening men's doubles match at the Roland Garros in Paris. Paes-Peya defeated Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in a contest lasting a little over two hours.
India salvaged some pride by winning the two inconsequential reverse singles to reduce their margin of defeat against Uzbekistan to 2-3 in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie in Namangan (Uzbekistan) on Sunday.
Somdev Devvarman failed to make the singles main draw of the Toronto ATP Masters after going down fighting to third seed Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round of the qualifying event. The 14th seed Indian began well but lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(10) to the world number 54 Uzbek in the second and final round.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna beat Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov in the Group 1 Asia/Oceania Davis Cup match.
Third seed Sunil Kumar Sipaeya went down to Kuwait's Mohammed Al Ghareeb in the first round of the Asian Tennis Championship.
Former World No. 1 and Wimbledon champion has emerged as the surprised as the surprise candidate to take over Novak Djokovic's coach, The Daily Telegraph reported.
A winner of 12 Grand Slam titles, the Serb has suffered a noticeable dip in form since winning his maiden French Open last June, relinquishing top spot in the ATP rankings to Briton Andy Murray five months later.
A floundering Novak Djokovic should seek advice from evergreen Swiss maestro Roger Federer in order to rediscover his vintage self, the Serb's former Davis Cup coach Bogdan Obradovic said.
An All-Asian tie that catches the eye is rarer than a bottle of Australian wine at Roland Garros but Kei Nishikori's clash with Chung Hyeon in the third round of the French Open could be one to savour.
IMAGES from all the action on Day 8 the Australian Open on Monday
Andy Murray is yet to reach his maximum potential and should only get better but the world number one has not seen the back of Novak Djokovic, according to eight-times Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi.
Downs Uzbek Isamilov in four-set thriller
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a record seventh Australian Open title on Tuesday with an impressive 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-2 win over hard-hitting Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
While knowing the limits of his body and full of praise for his team for being able to patch him up repeatedly, the 37-year-old admitted fortune has played a part in his longevity.
'This will be my first trip to Eastbourne, I have heard great things about the tournament'
In a big setback to the Indian Davis Cup team, country's leading singles player Yuki Bhambri was, on Sunday, ruled out of the upcoming tie against Uzbekistan due to a knee injury.
Here is a timeline of Djokovic's decline since the last of his 12 Grand Slam titles.
5 exceptional players who surprised us at Melbourne.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis went through several anxious moments before getting past Russian girls Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova in their opening doubles match at the French Open on Wednesday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champions prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2.
Rediff.com presents the early surprises at the year's first Grand Slam.
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