Rafael Nadal is no stranger to being out of action for months due to injuries taking a toll on his body but when the Spaniard pulled out from a virtual reality tennis match that would have been contested using a game console - it raised a few eyebrows. The claycourt king had been expected to take on gamer DjMariio as part of a virtual Madrid Open charity event - but ended up being a no show on Monday.
Juventus's hopes of reaching the Champions League last eight suffered a blow when the two-times European Cup winners slumped to a 1-0 defeat in their last-16 first leg at Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday. Manchester City finally produced a Champions League performance worthy of their status as one of European football's elite clubs by beating Real Madrid 2-1 away in Wednesday's last-16 first leg after pulling off a stunning late fightback.
World number one Serena Williams has started her clay-court season in dominant style, beating Anna-Lena Friedsam in straight sets in the second round of the Italian Open in Rome on Tuesday.
Madrid were not at their best but moved three points clear of rivals Barcelona.
Iga Swiatek will have her task cut out as she aims to pick up her third title in four years in Paris.
Dani Olmo came off the bench in the second half to give Barcelona the spark they needed on his debut, against Rayo Vallecano.
Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis's double earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory.
Brazil return to winning ways with dreary win over Ecuador in their World Cup qualifiers.
An off-key Liverpool were frustrated for a second successive game by struggling opponents as they were held to a 0-0 Premier League draw at Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Top Indian shuttler PV Sindhu says she will take home a lot of positives and confidence despite losing the Malaysia Masters summit clash to China's world No. 7 Wang Zhi Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Monfils, 35, reached the last four at the 2008 French Open and repeated the feat eight years later at the 2016 US Open but has never reached a Grand Slam final.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. score twice as his side punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1, while Manchester City beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The Real Madrid striker is accused of complicity in the alleged targeting of midfielder Mathieu Valbuena, who plays for the Greek Super League club Olympiacos. Prosecutors allege that Benzema encouraged Valbuena, 37, to pay the blackmailers.
The stakes could not be higher in Sunday's Flushing Meadows final between Spanish teenaged phenomenon Carlos Alcaraz and Norwegian Casper Ruud, with the US Open trophy and the world number one ranking awaiting the winner.
Thirteen-times European champions Real, who had come through each of their last three Champions League semi-final ties, had been second best for much last week's first leg which ended 1-1.
Images from Saturday's action in La Liga.
Romania face tough test against experienced and motivated Ukraine
IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Diego Costa scored four goals as Real Madrid were embarrassed 7-3 by rivals Atletico Madrid in the final match of their United States tour, in New Jersey, on Friday
Real Madrid opened a 10-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga after Cristiano Ronaldo's sixth hat-trick of the season clinched a 4-2 comeback win at home to 10-man Levante on Sunday.
Juventus climb to top of Serie A with win over Lecce
A summary of Wednesday's action in the Champions League quarter-finals first leg.
Atletico Madrid secured a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday thanks to an own-goal by Rui Silva and a header by Alvaro Morata as Diego Simeone's side ended a three-game winless run in all competitions.
Spain's World Cup winning midfielder Aitana Bonmati was named the Sportswoman of the Year, while Serbia's Novak Djokovic captured the top men's honour at the Laureus awards ceremony on Monday.
Shailesh Karkera picks the Best Players at Euro 24.
World No. 15 Sindhu, who will be eyeing her third Olympic medal at the Paris Games in two months time, will face second seed and world no. 7 Wang Zhi Yi of China in the summit clash.
Nadal says Wimbledon ban on Russian and Belarusian players unfair
Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and others who have complained about the blue clay at the Madrid Open are 'weenies', according to former Women's No. 1 Serena Williams.
Images from Saturday's La Liga action.
Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz steamrolled past Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 to kick off his French Open campaign in solid
Images from Day 4 of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Thursday.
Images from soccer matches held across Europe on Saturday, March 16.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government is anxious to get the country up and running again without igniting a second wave of infections as the economy reels and Spaniards gradually emerge from nearly eight weeks under lockdown.
Andy Murray punctured Novak Djokovic's air of dominance by beating the out-of-sorts Serb in straight sets in the final of the Italian Open in Rome on Sunday.
Arsenal took the race to the final day last season and are strongly tipped to end Manchester City's dominance this time.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos performed another rescue act to wreck Napoli's brave comeback attempt and take the Champions League title-holders into the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric came off the bench to net a stunning strike from the edge of the box late in the second half to secure a 1-0 home win over Sevilla on Sunday and stretch their lead at the top of La Liga to eight points.
Liverpool's Slot not nervous ahead of Anfield debut
Rafael Nadal confirmed he will miss this year's French Open as he is yet to recover from injury.
Real Madrid's Gareth Bale has the qualities to fill the void left by his fellow forward Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Juventus, the Spanish side's new manager Julen Lopetegui has said.
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