My Sports News Digest

Updated Apr 26, 2012 7:06 PM ET BARCELONA, Spain Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray cruised into the Barcelona Open quarterfinals with straight-set victories on Thursday. Nadal broke Robert Farah of Colombia in the first game on his way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory for his 31st straight win at the tournament. Nadal set up a quarterfinal match with fifth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic after the Serbian beat Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-2. “It may sound stupid but against players like him you have to go for victory, if you look for a fight you’ve already lost,” Tipsarevic said. “Rafa is playing like he [...]

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Updated Apr 25, 2012 3:08 PM ET BARCELONA, Spain Rafael Nadal overcame a sore knee to open his bid for a seventh Barcelona Open title with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Guillermo Garcia Lopez in the second round Wednesday. Nadal had a bye in the first round after defeating Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday and improved to 31-1 on the clay in Barcelona after breaking his fellow Spaniard six times. “My knee bothered me a little, but that’s normal. In 15 days, the discomfort isn’t going to go away, but it doesn’t keep you [...]

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Updated Apr 24, 2012 1:25 PM ET BARCELONA, Spain Andy Murray easily beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday in the second round of the Barcelona Open, his first appearance at the clay-court tournament in four years. The fourth-ranked Murray broke his Ukrainian opponent three times and saved both break points he faced to reach the third round alongside 2010 champion Fernando Verdasco. The ninth-seeded Spaniard beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 6-3, 6-1. In the first round, Kevin Anderson of South Africa, Bernard Tomic of Australia and Albert Ramos of Spain all advanced. Defending champion Rafael Nadal is set to play [...]

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Updated Apr 23, 2012 1:04 PM ET BUCHAREST, Romania Potito Starace of Italy defeated ninth-seeded Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-0 in the opening round of the Nastase Tiriac Trophy on Monday. Seventh-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland saved nine of 10 break points in a 6-2, 6-3 win against Gabriel Moraru of Romania, and Matthias Bachinger of Germany served nine aces in rallying to beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Gilles Simon of France, the 2007 and 2008 winner, is the top-seeded player in the tournament. Defending champion Florian Mayer of Germany is seeded No. 2. MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This [...]

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Updated Apr 22, 2012 3:46 PM ET MONACO If the match itself was anticlimactic, the achievement was not. By defeating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1, Rafael Nadal won the Rolex Monte Carlo Open for the eighth straight year while also breaking the stranglehold the Serb had enjoyed against him, winning the last seven finals they had played. “First of all you need luck,” Nadal said afterward. True. You also need to be an extraordinary athlete and an amazing competitor. This is one of the nine ATP Masters Series 1000 tournaments, a level just below the Grand Slams. Winning it once is [...]

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Updated Apr 21, 2012 1:36 PM ET MONACO Seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal will try to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic for the first time in eight finals when they meet in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday. Nadal advanced to the final without dropping a set in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Gilles Simon, while Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and reach his second final at Monte Carlo. Djokovic has beaten the Spaniard in seven consecutive finals, including the recent Australian Open, and handed Nadal his only two defeats on clay [...]

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Updated Apr 20, 2012 2:00 PM ET MONACO Winning his second match since hearing of the death of his grandfather 30 hours before, Novak Djokovic moved into the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters by beating Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-2. The death of Vladimir Djokovic on Thursday was a hard blow for the world No 1 because his grandfather had been his inspiration and biggest supporter. Grieving is difficult for anyone but particularly so when you have to go out on a world stage and perform. Djokovic was quick to point out that he realized he [...]

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MONACO (TENNIS/) – Novak Djokovic dropped to a crouch, his hands on his knees. He then appeared to wipe away tears with his forearm before pointing with both hands to the sky. Alexandr Dolgopolov, his beaten opponent, stood at the net and applauded. Djokovic had just finished his third-round match at Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday, hours after learning of his grandfather’s death. He skipped the post-match news conference, with the ATP saying he “just felt totally exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally.” Djokovic defeated Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, winning on his first match point. He reached the quarterfinals along with [...]

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