Having already displayed his prowess on hard courts this season, Novak Djokovic is showing he's capable of dominating on clay, too. Djokovic won the 10th title of his career Sunday, rallying to beat unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Rome Masters. "I was aiming for Rome and Roland Garros as my two priorities on clay courts this season," Djokovic said.
Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open, winning the title Sunday by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The 17th-ranked Safina also beat No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams at the clay-court event. The 22-year-old Russian overcame a slow start and dropped the first set -- just like in her two other upsets -- before her shots...
Ivan Ljubicic was two points from losing the match when he rallied to beat Steve Darcis 6-7 (6), 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a rare Sunday start for the clay-court Hamburg Masters. In other first-round matches, Ivo Karlovic edged Mischa Zverev 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) and Gilles Simon defeated Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-5. Two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Marat Safin qualified for the main draw when he beat Evgeny...
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Top-ranked Justine Henin has withdrawn from next week's Italian Open, citing fatigue, and the WTA Tour said Friday she will be fined $20,000 for the late withdrawal. On Thursday, Henin lost to Dinara Safina 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round of the German Open. That loss followed a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing by Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open last month, the worst for a No.
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Rejecting pleas from its players and coach, the Spanish tennis federation chose Madrid's bullring Friday as the venue for the Davis Cup semifinal series against the United States. The Spanish players had preferred one of the three other candidates -- Benidorm, Tenerife and Gijon -- for the Sept. 19-21 matchup against the defending champion Americans.
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Madison Brengle and Wayne Odesnik earned wild-card berths for the French Open by winning U.S. Tennis Association mini-tournaments. The 18-year-old Brengle, a recent Fed Cup team selection, defeated Ahsha Rolle to emerge from an eight-woman field for a USTA wild card into the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, which begins May 25.
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Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva won her sixth career WTA title Sunday by beating third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the Prague Open final. The 13th-ranked Russian didn't drop a set in Prague in winning for the first time in two years. It was her fourth final of the year. "It was really difficult," Zvonareva said.
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