Rafael Nadal saw off Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the last 16 of the Barcelona Open, while Andy Murray advanced after opponent Bernard Tomic withdrew.
It was Nadal's 50th trophy on clay court, his 70th overall and his first title in almost a year
Top seed Rafa Nadal, who has won the tournament 10 times, also reached the last eight after dispatching compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and claiming a record-extending 40th consecutive set on clay.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic showed signs of rediscovering his form with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Dusan Lajovic in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
The 2020 international calendar concluded with the three tournaments in the Asia leg which was conducted in Bangkok in successive weeks.
Top seed Nadal extended his winning streak to 13 matches with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of American Jared Donaldson in the Qi Zhong Stadium before World No 2 Federer, to the delight of his sizeable Chinese fan club, got the better of Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4), 6-4.
Rafael Nadal survived a difficult start to see off Chung Hyeon of South Korea in straight sets and reach the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open for a 10th time on Friday.
The 22-year-old Australian breezed past the 15-times Grand Slam champion in about one hour and 20 minutes.
World number one Novak Djokovic blasted past qualifier Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo.
It was a repeat of the 34-year-old's straight sets victory over Andy Murray in the second round of the US Open in August.
Korean qualifier Hyeon Chung produced the first upset of the ATP Chennai Open by ousting last year's finalist Borna Coric with a straight-set win in the opening round of the $505730 hard court event in Chennai on Monday.
Rafael Nadal stayed on course for a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Masters title when the Spaniard beat David Goffin 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals after the Belgian was denied a key point in controversial fashion on Saturday.
Former world number one Garbine Muguruza was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Aryna Sabalenka in the China Open second round on Tuesday while an ailing Jelena Ostapenko lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wang Qiang.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will face Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, the player who denied him a medal in London, in the opening round of the Rio Olympics after the draw was made on Thursday.
Sharapova was broken in the first game but fought back to draw level before going on to take the first set with a hold to love.
The first meeting between Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas lived up to the hype on Saturday as the Australian saved a match point in a wildly entertaining 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7) win to reach the Citi Open final.
Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic exited the Olympic Games in the first round on Saturday, though the Serb refused to blame the wind or soaring temperatures that some players said were making it tricky to play in Rio. Ivanovic went one set up against world No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro before losing the next two error-strewn sets to the Spaniard. Ivanovic lost 2-6 6-1 6-2. "It was a tough draw for the first round," said Ivanovic, the former French Open winner currently ranked as world No. 26.
It will be the earliest meeting between the two since their first professional match in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open.
A hot-headed Viktor Troicki added his name to Wimbledon's hall of shame on Thursday after he blew his top at umpire Damiano Torella following an over-rule in the dying seconds of his second-round defeat by Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
Djokovic, playing his first tournament for six months because of an elbow problem, dropped his opening two service games and although he battled back to break Monfils twice he wavered again as scrappy opener went his opponents' way.
Serena Williams started her quest to join Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in joint fourth place on the career Grand Slam list with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Taylor Townsend at the US Open on Tuesday.
World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
World number one Rafael Nadal won a battle of attrition against fellow left-hander Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 7-6(4), 6-4 to seal Spain's spot in the final eight of the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth on Wednesday. Meanwhile his long-time rival, world number two Novak Djokovic, had an easier outing in Brisbane, strolling past Chile's Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 to stay undefeated in the new year.
Nagal said he would look to play more ATP Tour events this year but for that he would have to first improve his rankings.
Novak Djokovic began his bid to hold on to his number one ranking with an easy win over Gilles Muller in the Paris Masters second round while Andy Murray struggled through and Stan Wawrinka faltered on Wednesday.
Indian wild card entrant Jeevan Nedunchezhian crashed out of the Chennai Open after a bright start soon after Ramkumar Ramanathan stormed into the singles main draw with a superb win over higher-ranked Slovakian Norbert Gombos in Chennai.
Belarusian ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka held off a spirited challenge from American Alison Riske to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and successfully defend her Wuhan Open title on Saturday.
Images from Day 1 of the US Open in New York, on Monday.
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
Novak Djokovic sauntered past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday but Andy Murray had to claw past big-serving American John Isner after losing a first-set tiebreaker.
"Well, I don't know what his intentions are, how he feels, but he is definitely always one of the top favourites in every tournament that he plays," said Djokovic, who beat Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to join the Spaniard in the second round on Tuesday.
World number five Alexander Zverev continued his poor recent form as he crashed out of the Italian Open in the second round while Serena Williams had to pull out of the women's draw with a recurring knee injury.
A summary of sports events and sports persons who made news on Sunday.
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday.
World number one Simona Halep saved three match-points before edging past an inspired Lauren Davis 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 in a thrilling marathon to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
With the French Open starting on Sunday, Murray has accrued 1,210 to the 4,915 of Rafael Nadal and looks a pale imitation of the player who won his last 24 matches of 2016 to knock Novak Djokovic off his pedestal and seize power in men's tennis.
The seventh-seeded Bulgarian advanced to his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Del Potro, who struggled with the intense heat in the closing stages of the one hour, 39 minute match.
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