My Sports News Digest

HALLE, Germany (TENNIS/Newsfeed) — Rafael Nadal lost in the quarterfinals of the Gerry Weber Open on Friday, beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 in the Spaniard’s first tournament since winning a record seventh French Open. Roger Federer, a five-time winner of this grass-court Wimbledon tuneup, was taken to three sets but defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3). Kohlschreiber, who is seeded eighth, won this tournament last year. The 34th-ranked German ended Nadal’s 13-match winning streak. “It’s not the time to look for excuses,” said Nadal, who won in Paris four days ago. “He played much better than [...]

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MADRID (WTA/Newsfeed) – Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Open’s second round, while sister Venus lost 6-4, 6-1 to Angelique Kerber on Monday. The ninth-seeded Williams had 13 aces and 40 winners against Vesnina, who was struggling with her game on the slippery blue clay court. The Russian lost her balance in the sixth game and set up a break point for Williams, who pulled ahead to lead 4-2. Williams’ ninth ace of the match provided a set point for the ninth-ranked American to take the first set and wrap up the match against the [...]

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MADRID (WTA/Newsfeed) -Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and second-seeded Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open with straight-set wins Sunday on the event’s new blue-clay court. Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a tough opening match. The Australian Open champion and Kuznetsova traded breaks in the first set. Just when it looked as if the second set was going to end in another tiebreaker, Azarenka broke again to close out the match. “It was a really close match, so I was just happy that I won because they were difficult games to break,” said [...]

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STUTTGART (WTA/Newsfeed) – Second-ranked Maria Sharapova cruised past top-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to win the Porsche Grand Prix for her first title of the year. Sharapova lost the finals of the Australian Open and Indian Wells this year to Azarenka, and the Russian had never beaten her rival from Belarus in four previous encounters in a final. “I am really pleased to win such a tough tournament, against such tough opponents,” said Sharapova, before collecting the white sports car donated by the sponsor. “Victoria could not perform at her best because of her injury.” Azarenka, who fell [...]

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BELGRADE (ATP/Newsfeed) – Top seeds Pablo Andujar, Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau joined Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic and tournament director Goran Djokovic for a game of mini-tennis Tuesday on the newly opened Ada bridge in Belgrade. “This was a very nice experience,” said Andujar, who is making his Serbian Open debut this week. “I never played on a bridge before. It is very high and nice to look at. We had a great time and a lot of fun today.” The players met the bridge’s construction crew, before bringing traffic temporarily to a halt for their hit. “It’s great, they closed [...]

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BARCELONA (ATP/Newsfeed) – Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 7-5 in Sunday’s Barcelona Open final. The second-ranked Nadal’s 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight win in Monte Carlo, as Nadal won the 10th all-Spanish ATP final for a 48th career win. The sixth-ranked Ferrer lost his fourth Barcelona Open final to Nadal, who saved 12 of 15 break points for a 34th straight victory at Barcelona. Nadal skipped toward the net in celebration after hitting a backhand winner on match [...]

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BARCELONA (ATP/Newsfeed) – Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win two tournaments seven times after beating David Ferrer 7-6 (1), 7-5 in Sunday’s Barcelona Open final. The second-ranked Nadal’s 21st straight victory on clay followed up his eighth straight win in Monte Carlo, as Nadal won the 10th all-Spanish ATP final for a 48th career win. The sixth-ranked Ferrer lost his fourth Barcelona Open final to Nadal, who saved 12 of 15 break points for a 34th straight victory at Barcelona. Nadal skipped toward the net in celebration after hitting a backhand winner on match [...]

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Updated Apr 28, 2012 12:53 PM ET BARCELONA, Spain Six-time champion Rafael Nadal defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 6-4 Saturday to ease into the Barcelona Open final, where he will face fellow Spaniard David Ferrer for a fourth time. Nadal dominated from the start, winning 21 of 27 points to break Verdasco’s first three service games and set him on his way to his 33rd straight win at the competition. In the other semifinal, Ferrer held off Milos Raonic’s powerful serve for a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5) victory to give him a shot at his fourth title of the year. “Rafa [...]

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