Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna made winning starts to their respective campaigns at the Australian Open with contrasting opening-round victories with their doubles partners, in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The former world number one, who is easing his way back to full match fitness after a career-saving resurfacing procedure in January, saved all four break points he faced and dropped only six points on his first serve.
IMAGES from the matches played at the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Wednesday
Indian Aces, already assured of a place in the title clash, suffered a 20-24 defeat against UAE Royals in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis entered the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open. Sania Mirza and Brazil's Bruno Soares were was beaten in the other semi-final.
Indian Aces lost all but one match as they suffered their first defeat of the 2016 IPTL season, losing 20-30 to Singapore Slammers, in Tokyo.
The Indian pair of Purav Raja and Divij Sharan upstaged the 15th-seeded Austrian-Croat combo of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic to enter the men's doubles pre- quarterfinals of the French Open.
Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas shocked top seeds Marcelo Melo and Lukas Kubot to storm into the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open
Nick Kyrgios ended Novak Djokovic's 19-match winning run at Indian Wells by beating the Serb 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals in Indian Wells on Wednesday, while Roger Federer also advanced with a straight sets win over Rafael Nadal.
Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.
India's Leander Paes and Purav Raja sailed into the men's doubles second round in the duo's first outing at a Grand Slam but Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of their respective events in the US Open.
Drained Medvedev pulls out of home tournament in Moscow
Nadal, 31, pulled out of the Paris Masters before his quarter-final match last week after experiencing discomfort in his right knee during his third-round win over Pablo Cuevas.
Former world number one Djokovic saved four match points but cracked under his opponent's tremendous pressure on the fifth as Goffin set up a last-four meeting with either clay court king Rafael Nadal or Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Roger Federer was given a fright before reaching the semi-final of the inaugural Istanbul Open.
The positive cases were recorded after the charter flight from Los Angeles landed in Melbourne for the tennis Grand Slam, according to online posts from players.
Two coronavirus infections were reported on Saturday on a flight to the Australian Open, forcing two weeks of strict hotel quarantine for all the tennis players and entourage on board.
Rohan Bopanna's campaign at the last Grand Slam of the season ended with defeat in the mixed doubles along with Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrwoski while India's juniors also fizzled out in the singles in the US Open in New York.
Paes and his Italian partner Daniele Bracciali were shown the exit at the Thailand Open, in Bangkok, while Somdev and his South African partner Rik De Voest went down fighting in their last four match at the Malaysian Open, in Kuala Lumpur.
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.
World number one Rafa Nadal's participation in the season-ending Tour finals hung in the balance when the Spaniard pulled out of the Paris Masters with injury on Friday.
Italy's Fabio Fognini said it was a 'strange feeling' playing a Davis Cup tie with no fans. Japan were also playing their tie against Ecuador in an empty stadium in Miki because of the coronavirus spread, which has played havoc with sporting fixtures across the world.
Rafa Nadal's below-par season has continued with the former world number one dumped from the Rio Open semi-finals with a 6-7(6) 7-6(3) 6-4 defeat by unseeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas on Saturday. The top seed pipped Cuevas in a first set tie-break and denied his opponent two set points in the second but succumbed to his first defeat against the world number 45. "I lost an opportunity, that's it," Spaniard Nadal said after being denied his 100th ATP final by claycourt specialist Cuevas who fired 48 winners to clinch the contest. "I fought until the end. I have to accept it and keep working to try to change the dynamic. That's what's happening today and I have to work hard to change it," added the 14-times grand slam champion. "I didn't win a title, so it wasn't a positive two tournaments. I had my chances in both. I lost in the semi-finals of both tournaments and just have to look forward to Indian Wells."
It was a mixed day in office for Indian tennis players in the season-opening Australian Open with Sania Mirza sailing into the third round of the women's doubles event even as Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the men's doubles, in Melbourne on Friday.
India caused a stir in Zagreb where veteran duo Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna edged Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor in Saturday's doubles to keep alive the tie but Marin Cilic quickly doused Indian hopes with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sumit Nagal.
Tennis: Felix Auger-Aliassime toppled in Morocco
The 38-year-old, who has lost six games so far in the tournament, dispatched his hapless opponent in only 62 minutes winning the second-round match 6-0, 6-3.
'I felt like I was very focused today. Every match I've played this year, I've been pretty good. It's probably because of everything going on'
A look at the records of Austria's Dominic Thiem and Spain's Rafael Nadal before their title clash at the French Open on Sunday.
Fabio Fognini pulled off a huge upset, stunning top seed and holder Rafael Nadal 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the Rio Open semi-final on Saturday.
Sania Mirza and her Czech partner Barbora Strycova stormed into the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 2017 tennis tournament with a straight-set win over their opponents in the women's doubles at Indian Wells.
Andy Murray is within one match of securing his place in the ATP World Tour Finals after easing past local favourite Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Paris Masters.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
Tsitsipas regained his composure to save a set point in the 10th game before sealing the victory in the tiebreak for his third career title.
Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a maiden Paris Masters title when he survived a second set blip to beat Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas
Rafael Nadal overcame a temporary blip on his way to victory at the ATP Cup on Saturday
Bopanna lost just four points on his serve during the entire match as the top seeded Indians produced a dominating 6-3, 6-4 win over British pair of Luke Bambridge and Jonny O'Maara.
Images from Day 5 of the 2021 French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis entered the final at the Madrid Open after a crushing 6-2, 6-0 victory over Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva on Friday. It is the second successive final for the Indo-Swiss pair following the runners-up finish in Stuttgart.
Garbine Muguruza's preparations for next week's Australian Open were thrown into disarray when the world number three pulled out of the Sydney International with a thigh injury on Wednesday.
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