Leander Paes's dream of winning ATP year-end finals remained unfulfilled as the veteran Indian crashed out of the prestigious event along with Czech partner Radek Stepanek after losing a must-win Group B match in London.
The last time Argentina met Spain in the Davis Cup, in the 2008 final in Mar del Plata, the South Americans were firm favourites to claim their first title but their challenge was wrecked by infighting within the team.
Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were just one win from securing places in the season-ending ATP World Tour finals after they safely moved into the third round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.
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.
World No 3 Andy Murray, who is enjoying his long stay at home, has been relying on fresh yoghurt and treacle, as he prepares for Wimbledon.
Rafa Nadal will make himself available for Spain's Davis Cup quarter-final against United States or Chile in July, the world number one said after Saturday's victory over Belgium.
Defending champion Roger Federer made heavy work of reaching his 27th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Tommy Robredo at the Australian Open on Sunday.
France's Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon suffered early exits from the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday.
Doubles specialists Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau combined to fire France into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Saturday with a battling four-set win over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and Christopher Kas in Toulon. The victory gave the nine-times winners an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie and set up a last-eight clash against champions Spain or Switzerland in July.
Favourite Rafael Nadal must negotiate a tricky path in his bid for a fifth French Open title following Friday's draw for the claycourt grand slam starting on Sunday.
Tournament officials said there was no heat rule in effect on Friday for the first time in three days, with cloud cover expected to bring cooler temperatures.
World No 8 Robin Soderling, the highest-ranked player left in the Barcelona Open after a slew of withdrawals, sprinted into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez on Thursday.
The world number one has been struggling with tendinitis in his knees since being knocked out of the French Open last month and was forced to miss Wimbledon.
Vishnu Vardhan won his second Challenger level title of the season with Japanese partner Toshihide Matsui but four other Indians, including Leander Paes, tumbled out of various ATP events across the globe.
Spain's hopes of a hat-trick of Davis Cup triumphs ended when they fell 3-0 behind to France in Clermont-Ferrand after losing Saturday's doubles rubber.
Holders Spain were on the brink of elimination in the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Friday after France won both the opening singles in Clermont-Ferrand.
Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will begin the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi by playing in a six-man, $250,000 winner-takes-all exhibition tournament, local media reported on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal showed his ruthless streak to overcome an early test from Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in a 6-4, 6-1 win on Friday and helped Spain to secure three of the four semi-final spots at the Rome Masters.
Rafael Nadal left no doubt that he would be the overwhelming favourite at next month's French Open after crushing fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 in the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals on Saturday.
Czech Tomas Berdych fought back from a set down to beat Spain's Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 on Thursday and set up a Sony Ericsson Open semi-final against Robin Soderling.
Andy Roddick reversed a run of three successive defeats to fellow American James Blake with a hard fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 first round victory at the Memphis Championships on Wednesday.
Bidding for their second consecutive Masters title, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles moved to the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters after edging past Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in a tough three setter.
Renowned fitness trainer Gil Reyes, who has worked with top stars like Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco, on Monday lauded Sania Mirza's 'athleticism' after working for one week with the Indian tennis ace. Sania, who missed India's Fed cup campaign due to an abdominal injury after winning her career's first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, trained with Reynes at his training centre in Las Vegas.
Spain secured their second successive Davis Cup triumph, and their fourth in all, when they extended their lead over Czech Republic to an unassailable 3-0 in Saturday's doubles.
Defending champion Andy Roddick has become the fifth top-10 player to withdraw from next week's Dubai men's championships. The American, who is playing in the semi-finals of the Memphis championships this weekend, would have to return to the United States after the Dubai tournament for Davis Cup duty against Switzerland.
Flavia Pennetta, Italy's newly-crowned US Open women's singles champion, will represent Mumbai Masters in this year's Champions Tennis League along with 1996 Wimbledon men's champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands following the players' draft, in Mumbai, on Wednesday. The second edition of the Champions Tennis League, the brainchild of former India Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj, will be played from November 23 to December 6, an increase of four days from last year's ten-day duration, announced Amritraj at a media conference after the players' draft.
World number one Roger Federer will face his US Open conqueror Juan Martin del Potro in the round-robin stage of the ATP Tour finals after getting the rough end of Wednesday's draw for the season finale. The Swiss, who is not guaranteed to end the year on top of the rankings, will also face Britain's Andy Murray and Spain's Fernando Verdasco in Group A at the eye-catching O2 Centre alongside the River Thames when play starts on Sunday.
Roger Federer advanced to the Kooyong Classic final after a tight 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 victory over Spain's Fernando Verdasco on Thursday.
World number one Rafael Nadal faces a potentially treacherous task in his bid to win a fifth consecutive French Open title following Friday's draw for the tournament starting on Sunday. The top seed, unbeaten at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, is in the same half of the draw as Briton Andy Murray and Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who gave him a rough time in the Australian Open semi-finals.
Spain's Davis Cup captain Albert Costa has a difficult task ahead of him in whittling down the nation's embarrassment of tennis riches to a team of four for December's final against Czech Republic.
Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez handed champions Spain a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final after beating German doubles pair Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 Saturday.
India's Mahesh Bhupathi and partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas overcame a stiff resistance from the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco to advance to the doubles semi-finals at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday. Meanwhile, top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe were upset in the second round of the mixed doubles.
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.
World number one Rafael Nadal survived a second-set scare to beat Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 and seal his place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open Friday.
World number two Roger Federer beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to book a semi-final meeting with Andy Murray at the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament. Murray spoiled Ivan Ljubicic's birthday celebrations, with a 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) victory over the Croatian.
Andy Murray called on umpires to get tough on players taking too long between points on Thursday after being made to work hard for victory against a determined Fernando Verdasco at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Spain took a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup semi-final against the United States on Friday after world number one Rafael Nadal survived a spirited attack from rookie Sam Querrey and David Ferrer beat Andy Roddick. Nadal won 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 while world number five Ferrer sealed the match 7-6, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 8-6.
US Davis Cup debutant Sam Querrey will face world number one Rafael Nadal in the opening rubber of the semi-final on Friday.
Briton Andy Murray regained his winning form as he eased past Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the World Indoor Tournament on Tuesday.
Rafael Nadal will lead Spain's challenge in the Davis Cup semi-final against the United States in Madrid next week.
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