to move up and down
Nadal on cruise control: A rain shower stopped play at Roland Garros for a minute or two in the middle of Rafael Nadal’s quarter-final.
Nicolas Almagro? He couldn’t do anything to slow Rafa at his favourite tournament.
Second-seeded Nadal defeated his fellow Spaniard 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday to move to the French Open semi-finals, two wins away from a record seventh title on the red clay of Paris.
Photo: Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic won his third Sony Ericsson Open title Sunday, holding every service game to beat Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (4).
The lone break point Djokovic faced came in the fifth game, and he erased that. In the tiebreaker he lost only one service point, went ahead to stay when Murray double-faulted to make it 3-2, and closed out the victory when the Scotsman sailed his final forehand long.
Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Your favourite tennis stars made an appearance at the Oscars last night.
Spanish King Juan Carlos jokes with tennis player Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer as he holds a replica of the Davis Cup trophy the Spanish team won in 2011 for the fifth time during a meeting at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. (Photo: SUSANA VERA/AFP/Getty Images)
Here is our front page for Jan. 30: “After nearly six hours of tennis, only one man is left standing — and he is not the winner.”
‘The best feeling’
Victoria Azarenka started celebrating, then suddenly did a double-take to ask her coach, “What happened?”
The answer: She had just produced one of the most lopsided Australian Open final victories to capture a Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking for the first time.
Azarenka routed three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on Saturday night, winning 12 of the last 13 games after dropping her first service game and falling behind 2-0.
Photo: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
The age gap only two years, the difference in experience is vast between Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.
Sharapova will play her sixth Grand Slam final at the Australian Open on Saturday against Azarenka, who is making her debut. And it isn’t just a major title on the line — the winner will claim the No. 1 ranking.
Four years after winning the last of her three major titles and approaching eight years since she lifted the Wimbledon trophy at 17, Sharapova has another chance to add to her Grand Slam haul.
Gratuitous sports-related animal photo of the day: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark feeds a baby kangaroo during day six of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 21, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.
The world No. 1 beat former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 6-0, 7-5 in the last match Sunday night. Wozniacki is set to face Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals.
“My confidence is high, my fitness is good, my play is improving and I’m very positive,” Wozniacki said. “If I play like I did today, Kim will have to really play well to beat me.”
Photo: Robert Prezioso/Getty Images
Canada’s Milos Raonic ousted in Australia
An emotional Lleyton Hewitt somehow dragged his battered body into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday with a 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over young gun Milos Raonic.
The former world No. 1, a wildcard in his record 16th appearance at Melbourne Park, rode a wave of emotion from a frenzied 15,000 crowd on Rod Laver Arena to rally from a set down to beat the 23rd seed.
Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
Another title for Milos
Canada’s Milos Raonic powered his way to a second world tennis title Sunday taking the Aricel Chennai Open in Chennai, India in a third-set tiebreak.
The 21-year-old bested the top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, winning the last two sets in dramatic fashion and taking the tournament with a final-round score of 6-7, 7-6, 7-6.
Photo: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images
