Saudi Tennis Federation

'Worlds best ever player' to head field in regions top tennis spectacle

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:03:47 +0000

Normal service is resumed next month when four-time former champion Roger Federer returns to the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships after an injury-forced absence in 2009.

SPANISH PAIR CAPTURE DUBAI DOUBLES TROPHY

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:42:42 +0000

Second seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez captured their ninth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour team title on Saturday.

Williams makes it two in a row with straight sets victory over Azarenka

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:29:38 +0000

Venus Williams became just the second woman in the history of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to retain the title when she defeated fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3 7-5.
The finale

Nadal leads march of top seeds in Miami

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:24:25 +0000

MIAMI (Reuters) - World number one Rafael Nadal needed two tie-breaks to outlast Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 7-6 at the Sony Ericsson Open on Tuesday, the Spaniard's win completing an ominous march into the quarter-finals for the top seeds.
Earlier, second seed Roger Federer enjoyed a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over American qualifier Taylor Dent to set up a clash against local favorite Andy Roddick, while Britain's Andy Murray crushed Serbian Viktor Troicki in just 58 minutes 6-1 6-0.Third-seed Novak Djokovic also advanced with a routine 6-3 6-2 win over Czech Tomas Berdych, setting up a quarter-final showdown with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who rallied for a 6-7 6-3 6-2 win over compatriot Gilles Simon.Nadal and his Swiss opponent slugged it out for two hours and 43 minutes in the match of the tournament to date, with both players displaying high levels of determination and quality.

The first set went with serve before Nadal seized the tie-break 7-2 and the excitement intensified in the second.

Wawrinka bamboozled Nadal with two excellent lobs to break in the fourth game but the Spaniard broke back and looked to have the contest wrapped up when leading 6-5 and 40-0 on his opponent's serve.

Marathon man Szabo wins opening day epic

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:38:22 +0000

You have to hand it to Australian qualifier Jordan Szabo, who certainly earned his place in the second round of the Australian Open boys’ tournament with a stomach-churning 76 16 1311 win over Ronak Manuja of India which got the tournament off to a dramatic start. “I just kept going,” said Szabo afterwards. “I had a match point at 9-8 on his serve and then another three or four at 10-11 and then finally took one to go 13-11. I was definitely starting to get tired at the end. I felt pretty good but I was definitely starting to feel like I needed food and stuff. It felt like we’d been going for well over three hours and then I found out afterwards it was three and a half hours. It’s quite a long time, especially when one of the sets was 6-1. It’s the longest match I’ve ever played.”

Australian Open Preview

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:25:44 +0000

The Australian Open Juniors gets underway on Sunday with India’s Yuki Bhambri the clear favourite to win the boys title. Bhambri enjoyed great success in the second half of the 2008 Circuit, claiming two Grade A titles including The Osaka Mayor’s Cup in Japan. An unbeaten run of 17 matches also saw him crowned the Asia/Oceania Boys’ Champion before he clinched his second Grade A title at the Orange Bowl, running the eventual World Champion Tsung-Hua Yang very close for the title of top ranked boy. In a year in which a Grand Slam title must be a priority for the Indian, taking his chance at the first opportunity will allow him to exert some early dominance in the absence of his closest rivals. However, last year’s beaten semifinalist – who lost to eventual winner Bernard Tomic (AUS) – did not have an impressive return to the Circuit, losing in the second round of the Nottinghill ITF this week.

Bhambri brings the heat to Melbourne Park

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:20:11 +0000

ndia’s Yuki Bhambri is showing no signs whatsoever of wilting in the fierce heat of the Antipodean summer. The Australian Open’s top seed was a convincing 76 60 winner over local hope Stephen Hoh and afterwards sounded bullish about his chances of winning a debut junior grand slam title at Melbourne Park. “It’s an honour to be the No.1 seed in the Australian Open,’ said Bhambri. “It probably gives me extra motivation to do well in the tournament because I know I’m the favourite and probably one of the best right now in the world, so I’m actually looking forward to it I think I’m currently the best player in the draw. I’ve done well and I believe in myself,” said Bhambri. “I’ve definitely felt much better from the first day onwards. I think I was a bit nervous in the first match. It’s been really hot but I’ve been coping quite well; I’ve been serving great and moving well on the court and feeling good. I think playing these juniors slams is probably the next step to the senior level. You are playing with your own age group and it’s altogether a different pressure playing with kids your own age and your own size. When you are younger and you play the men’s circuit there is no pressure on you to do well. I think it’s a good atmosphere in the juniors and a good experience”, said Bhambri.

Juniors heat up in Melbourne

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:17:17 +0000

As the temperature rose above 40 degrees Celcius at Melbourne Park it was a case of survival of the fittest at the junior Australian Open on Wednesday.France’s Kristina Mladenovic was delighted to get past Victoria Kamenskaya of Russia 46 61 62 but she admitted afterwards that the conditions were brutal in the Australian summer sun. “I have never felt anything like that before. Today there was no wind. It was so hot. It was like being in an oven,” said Mladenovic.“It was very tough match conditions. The worst it could be. It was very, very difficult and very hot. After the first set I said to myself ‘Oh my Goodness, how can I win this match because it is so hot’, then she left to go to the locker room and I breathed a little bit and I told myself to come on and try to do everything I could just to win the first few games. I did that so I just push the ball in the court and told myself that she would be tired also. It was just unbelievable.”

Serena struggles through, Dementieva out

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:51:52 +0000

World number one Serena Williams struggled to a 7-5 5-7 6-3 win over China's Zheng Jie on Monday to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open.After Sunday's surprises, another contender fell with Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva making a surprise exit at the hands of Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 6-4.Serena's sister Venus came from a set down to beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6 6-1 6-4, keeping alive the chances of an all-Williams semi-final.

Second round line up complete in Brasil

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:29:05 +0000

Day two at the Copa Gerdau saw the completion for first round matches, with 29 of the 32 seeds making it through to round two.Top seed Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) began her campaign in style with an emphatic 60 60 win over qualifier Isadora Busch (BRA). In round two the world No.11 faces Isaura Enrique Aguilar (PAR), who dropped just one game in her 60 61 demolition of Catalina Pella (ARG). In form Camila Silva (CHI), seeded three, who has won three of her last four tournaments and reached the final in the other, began slowly against Fernanda Faria (BRA) before fighting back to win 46 64 61 and set up a second round encounter with Yuliana Lizarazo (COL), who beat Xue Zhang (CHN) 62 60.Fifth seed Silvia Njiric (CRO) eased past Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 61 75 and Seventh seed Jana Cepelova was a convincing 63 60 winner over Marcela Henriques Brandao (BRA). The only upset in the girls’ event on day two was the defeat of promising fourteen-year-old Madison Keys (USA), seeded nine, by world No. 219 Gabriel Coglitore (VEN), 64 63.