My Sports News Digest

MONACO (ATP/Wire) – Seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic began their clay-court seasons with comfortable wins in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday. Djokovic opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Andreas Seppi of Italy, while Nadal followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. “I played a really normal match, nothing special. Nothing very bad, but nothing very good,” said Nadal, who improved his overall record here to 40-1, including 38 straight wins. “First match on clay after long time without touching a racket.” Nadal’s last match was against [...]

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BRUSSELS (WIRE/WTA) – Kim Clijsters will skip the French Open and clay-court season to focus on adapting to grass ahead of the London Olympics and Wimbledon. The Belgian is recovering much slower than expected after tearing a hip muscle during the Sony Ericsson Open in Florida last month. She will resume training in about three weeks. Clijsters said Tuesday that “my current physical condition does not allow me to be ready for Roland Garros.” In her farewell season, Clijsters has focused on the Olympics. She will open her grass-court season at the Rosmalen tournament in the Netherlands starting June 17, [...]

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MONACO (Tennis) – Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Jurgen Melzer of Austria advanced to the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Monday. The 13th-seeded Verdasco, a finalist in 2010, dropped serve twice in the first set, but then did not face another break point in beating Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. He next plays Croatia’s Ivan Dodig. The 15th-seeded Melzer had an easier match, breaking Poland’s Lukasz Kubot five times en route to a 6-2, 7-5 win. He next faces Marcel Granollers of Spain or Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Paul-Henri Mathieu, trying to find his way back after [...]

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Updated Apr 15, 2012 7:59 PM ET HOUSTON Juan Monaco indicated he will be a threat to the big-name players at the upcoming French Open by claiming his second clay court title of the season with victory in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships. The 28-year-old Argentine defeated American John Isner 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the final. Monaco rushed through his post-match media commitments, because he had to catch a flight to Europe and be in Monte Carlo in time for his match there on Tuesday. “No time to rest,” Monaco said. “I’m just going to make a quick warmup, [...]

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Updated Apr 14, 2012 11:59 AM ET COPENHAGEN, Denmark Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki beat Petra Martic 6-3, 6-2 Saturday to set up an e-Boks final against Angelique Kerber of Germany. Wozniacki is looking for her third straight title in her home tournament in Copenhagen and broke the Croatian’s serve twice in each set to wrap up the win in 1 hour, 8 minutes. She lost her serve once in the first set, but didn’t face a break point the rest of the way. “We played tennis on a high level today. Petra played a good match, she served well and put [...]

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Updated Apr 12, 2012 10:07 PM ET HOUSTON Qualifier Michael Russell took advantage of the ailing Mardy Fish for a 6-3, 6-1 victory Thursday in the second round of the US Men’s Clay Court Championships. Fish, the top seed in the tournament and ranked ninth in the world, was playing for the first time since pulling out of Davis Cup competition against France for what he called a health issue. “What happened a couple of weeks ago scared me,” Fish said. “Obviously, I’m not over it. I think anyone could see I wasn’t myself.” Second-seeded John Isner had 16 aces [...]

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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. Serena Williams is on the U.S. Fed Cup roster for matches against Ukraine on April 21-22, but her sister Venus is not. “She just played Miami and Charleston, so she’s trying to gauge now her recovery, how much she can play,” U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez said Wednesday about Venus. “She’s, I believe, planning on playing a couple of tournaments now before the French Open.” Venus recently returned to action after being sidelined for more than six months. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, Sjogren’s syndrome. Joining Serena, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, on [...]

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