Top seed Rafa Nadal ran hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic ragged in a 7-5, 6-3 victory to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Thursday.
Rafa Nadal overpowered qualifier Go Soeda 6-3, 6-2 as he began the defence of his Japan Open title in a blur of swashbuckling winners on Tuesday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will miss next week's China Open in Beijing with a back injury, the 24-year-old Serb said on Thursday.
The man who enjoyed the privilege of opening Centre Court proceedings at the All England Club for seven successive years - including 2009 when Rafa Nadal was unable to defend his title - is now back to reclaim his crown.
Champion Rafa Nadal and the three other leading men's contenders charge into Wimbledon with major expectations despite all battling minor fitness issues in the run-up to the grasscourt Grand Slam.
World number one Rafa Nadal will open the defence of his Wimbledon title against American Michael Russell and has been drawn in the other half of the draw to Roger Federer, raising the possibility of another final between the great rivals.
Rafa Nadal ran himself to the point of exhaustion in Monday's US Open final against Novak Djokovic then ran out of answers.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic outplayed Spain's Rafa Nadal to win the US Open final 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 at Flushing Meadows on Monday and show why he really is the hottest player in the game right now.
Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will meet in the US Open final for the second year in a row after winning their semi-finals on a day of unrelenting drama and precision tennis at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Spain's Rafa Nadal and Briton Andy Murray made up for lost time by demolishing their fourth round opponents in straight sets at the US Open on Thursday to remain on course for a blockbuster semi-final showdown.
Rafa Nadal swapped clay for grass on Wednesday but the result was just as emphatic with the world number one overpowering Australia's Matthew Ebden at the Queen's Club championships on a chilly evening in west London.
Reports of Roger Federer's demise were as wide of the mark Rafa Nadal's own prediction he was not playing well enough to win a sixth Roland Garros title.
Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal are seemingly not the only ones sick of the sight of Novak Djokovic and his domination of men's tennis.
The last of the reigning women's Grand Slam champions was shown the door at the US Open Tuesday when error-prone French Open winner Li Na succumbed to unseeded Romanian teenager Simona Halep 6-2, 7-5.
Andy Murray has scoffed at John McEnroe's suggestion that this week's US Open represented his best chance of winning a Grand Slam.
Images from Day 9 at the French Open in Paris, on Monday.
Novak Djokovic faces the daunting prospect of possibly having to beat Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal to win the US Open for the first time and end the year as the world number one.
World number two Rafa Nadal scraped into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open after beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 in a fierce battle on Thursday but his rivals all had comfortable paths into the last eight.
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffered a surprise defeat to qualifier Alex Bogomolov while Spain's Rafa Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic passed their second-round tests at the Cincinnati Open on Wednesday.
A rested Roger Federer will come out swinging when he begins his French Open campaign after being left behind by favourites Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal.
Rafa Nadal soothed his disappointment at yet another loss to Novak Djokovic in the longest ever Grand Slam final by declaring he was at least free of the mental chokehold the Serb had placed him under throughout last year.
While prone to losing to modest opponents, Kyrgios often produces his best tennis when up against one of the 'Big Three' of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Nadal.
Novak Djokovic's 37-match winning streak since the start of the year is already more impressive than the record 42 consecutive wins posted by John McEnroe in 1984, the American said on Tuesday.
In an epic encounter, Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to defeat Roger Federer 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 in the Australian Open semi-final at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
World number one Rafa Nadal set up the prospect of another mouthwatering claycourt final against Novak Djokovic after beating Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-1 in the Rome Masters semi-finals on Saturday.
Rafa Nadal fluffed his lines on the return from five-week break when the Spanish world number two was stunned 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 by unheralded Croatian Ivan Dodig in his opening match of the Montreal Masters on Wednesday.
Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez delivered another of his famous statistically-led retorts on Monday to prove that his team were not suffering more than their fair share of injuries.
Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka became the latest high-profile casualty at the Italian Open on Thursday when the Swiss was knocked out in the third round by American John Isner.
World No 2 Rafa Nadal took a little bit of time to get into his work but advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on Monday with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alex Kuznetsov.
Robin Soderling and Andy Murray served up reminders that there are more than two contenders for the men's title at the Australian Open with dominant third-round victories on Saturday.
American Madison Keys overcame late leads by Svetlana Kuznetsova in both sets to defeat the Russian for the Cincinnati Masters title on Sunday.
Spain booked their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals against France after taking an unbeatable 3-1 lead over the United States Sunday.
With a crop of talented young players knocking on the door of the exclusive men's Grand Slam club, the 'Big Four' hegemony over the game's top tournaments may be coming to a close.
Rafa Nadal lost the Wimbledon final on Sunday and will concede the number one ranking to his conqueror Novak Djokovic but the gritty Spaniard has known worse times.
Twelve years after leaving home with a racket bag full of dreams Novak Djokovic saw two of them come true in three remarkable days at Wimbledon, culminating in an emphatic victory over Rafa Nadal in the men's singles final on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic proved he is the dominant force in men's tennis by outplaying defending champion Rafa Nadal to win Wimbledon for the first time with an emphatic 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday.
Roger Federer cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Peter Gojowczyk in his first appearance since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
The mercury was rising at Wimbledon on Saturday as the serial trophy hunters gathered in the last 16 with defending champions Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams and Roger Federer leading the charge.
It was Venus's turn to write the Williams plot line at Wimbledon on Wednesday as she survived a gripping three-set battle with 40-year-old Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm.
Rafa Nadal made a dazzling start to his Wimbledon title defence with an easy win over American Michael Russell on Monday before home favourite Andy Murray produced some indoor fireworks to join the Spaniard in the second round.
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