Professional Tennis
Simona Halep made quick work of her compatriot Alexandra Dulgheru on Friday, beating the Romanian qualifier 6-1, 6-0 to reach the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Halep secured her first break in the fourth game of the first set and never looked back. She forced Dulgheru to chase down balls all across…
Rafael Nadal played some of his best tennis of the year on Thursday, as he defeated American John Isner 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The 16th seed Isner entered the match with a streak of 84 consecutive service games with a hold, dating back to his third-round…
Victoria Azarenka outlasted Caroline Wozniacki in a second round matchup at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Wednesday, defeating the fifth-seeded Dane 6-2, 7-6(2). Azarenka entered Wednesday’s contest with wins in her two previous matches this year against Wozniacki, and looked as if she would take this one easily early on. She cruised through…
Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday, rolling past Turkey’s Marsel Illhan 6-2, 6-0. Nadal needed just 74 minutes to defeat Illhan. He dominated on serve, winning 92 percent of his first service points and saved the only two break point chances he allowed. “I am…
Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened up his defense of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with a three-set win over Nicolas Almagro on Tuesday. Djokovic hung on to defeat Almagro 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to reach round three of the event in Rome, Italy. It looked as if Djokovic would cruise early on, capturing the first set…
American John Isner continued his solid clay-court season on Monday, defeating Brazil’s Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-3 in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia first-round. Isner ripped 13 aces and saved the only break point chance he faced to move past Sousa. He also managed to notch a break point in each set to dictate the play and…
Andy Murray continued his recent success on clay on Sunday afternoon, beating the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the Mutua Madrid Open final. Murray’s title in Madrid comes on the heels of his win in Munich last week, which was the first clay-court title of his career. He followed that victory up…
Eighteen-year-old Louisa Chirico of Harrison, N.Y. will make her Grand Slam singles main draw debut at the 2015 French Open after winning the Har-Tru USTA Pro Circuit Wild Card Challenge this weekend. Chirico finished the wild card challenge with 128 points by winning the singles title at the $50,000 USTA Pro Circuit event in Dothan, Ala., three…
Rafael Nadal rolled into the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday, defeating 10th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4. After an exchange of break points in the opening set, Nadal jumped out to a 4-2 advantage. Nadal regained his service form and would go on to close out the 50-minute opening set 6-3. In…
Defending champion Maria Sharapova and world number one Serena Williams were both ousted in the Mutua Madrid Open semifinals on Friday, each bowing out in straight sets. In the first semi, the third-seeded Sharapova took on fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was by far the aggressor from the start. She proceeded to pounce on Sharapova’s…