Rafael Nadal

Nadal’s coach slams female Davis Cup captain

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press Rafael Nadal’s coach criticized the appointment of a woman as the captain of Spain’s Davis Cup team on Tuesday, arguing there are substantial differences between the men’s and women’s games. His comments have been labeled sexist by Spain’s leading political parties, and go against the backing the decision has received … Read more

5 things at Wimbledon : newcomers vs half of big 4

By HOWARD FENDRICH At 35 of the past 37 Grand Slam tournaments, a member of tennis’ so-called “Big 4” – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – won the championship. The quartet’s dominance is even more pronounced at Wimbledon: They’ve collected the last 11 titles, seven for Federer. For nine years in … Read more

Tennis – 5 things to look for at Wimbledon

By HOWARD FENDRICH A lot about Rafael Nadal’s match Thursday will be similar to the last time he played in the second round at Wimbledon, back in 2012. He just hopes the result will be different. Like two years ago, his opponent will be Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. And like two years ago, … Read more

Murray seeded third for Wimbledon defence

LONDON (Reuters) – Briton Andy Murray will be seeded third when he attempts to defend his Wimbledon title, while Novak Djokovic has been installed ahead of world number one Rafael Nadal as top seed for the grass-court major. Murray became the first Briton to win the men’s singles title since 1936 when he beat Serbian … Read more

Murray could face Djokovic in Wimbledon semis

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN The draw for Wimbledon was relatively kind to defending champion Andy Murray. It was a lot more daunting for top-ranked Rafael Nadal. Murray, who last year became the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, was drawn Friday to open the defense of his title against 104th-ranked David … Read more

Nadal holds onto no. 1; Sharapova up to no. 5

Rafael Nadal has held onto the ATP’s No. 1 ranking thanks to his ninth French Open title. Maria Sharapova’s second trophy at Roland Garros moved her up three spots to No. 5 on the WTA list Monday. If Nadal had lost Sunday’s final to No. 2 Novak Djokovic, they would have swapped places in the … Read more

Nadal on cloud nine after soaring to new heights

By Pritha Sarkar PARIS (Reuters) – One man’s despair was another man’s ecstasy as the most inopportune of double faults propelled a world-beating Rafa Nadal into a nine-times French Open champion on Sunday. Waiting to launch into a second serve on match point down, a yell from the stands, followed by another, left a distracted … Read more

Nadal masters young apprentice, Murray hits form

By Julien Pretot PARIS (Reuters) – Rafa Nadal provided a claycourt lesson for one of the game’s young apprentices at the French Open when he crushed rising Austrian Dominic Thiem with a masterly display to reach the third round on Thursday. The eight-times champion showed flashes of his intimidating best in a 6-2 6-2 6-3 … Read more

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