Rafael Nadal

By tennisplanet McEnroe was even more impressed with Sampras, saying again he thinks the American great still has the ability to be playing on tour with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. “He’s right there with Nadal and Roger,” Sampras said of the fourth-ranked Murray, adding that he hasn’t been asked to gi...

By tennisplanet This would be a perfect time for Agassi to leave the buffet and hold a tennis racket so Borg-McEnroe drama may have some rivalry, with Federer-Nadal to follow.        Guy is playing tennis while getting out of changing diapers, has no pressure to either win or earn money, has defeated Fede...

By Julie Share This Roger Federrer has cut back his 2009 clay court schedule. He will only play 2 clay court tournaments before the French Open, which is the only Grand Slam tournament he has never won. He lost the 2008 French Open to Rafael Nadal. This year, Federrer played 4 clay court tournaments ahe...

PR-inside.com) BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Roger Federer will play only two clay-court tournaments in 2009 before the French Open, the only Grand Slam tournament he has never won. Federer will head to Paris on May 24 after playing Masters series events on his least favorite surface in Rome a...

TENNIS great Pete Sampras has predicted a short-lived reign at the top for Rafael Nadal as his chief rival Roger Federer vowed yesterday to regain the Australian Open crown next month.

World No.2 Roger Federer has already turned his attention to winning the Australian Open after ending a disappointing season that saw him lose his No.1 ranking to Rafael Nadal for the first time in over four years.

Pete Sampras believes Andy Murray is on the cusp of winning a Grand Slam title - and voices doubts over whether Rafa Nadal is equipped for a long reign as world number one.

By tennisplanet It will feed the most intense desire burning within Nadal today: Trump Federer by winning a calendar Grand Slam. If not that, at least win three majors in a year to dampen Federer’s feat. Based on Federer’s season this year, Nadal may already be taking Roland Garros and Wimbledon for grante...

By tennisplanet Who do you think dished out the most bagels this season? Here they are: Nadal: 10. Murray: 9. Djokovic: 8. Federer: 6. Verdasco: 6. Del Potro: 4.        Who do you think dished out the most bagels this season? Here they are: Nadal: 10. Murray: 9. Djokovic: 8. Federer: 6. Verdasco: 6. Del Potro: 4.       

By tennisplanet First step to the ‘Senior’ tour? Why would you opt for Roddick for an exhibition match of all the freaking events? Isn’t the goal for all this BS to raise as much money as you can? And wouldn’t you get more people paying more money if you have a Federer, Nadal etc.?

By tennisplanet Should Federer then hope to make the illusive Roland Garros breakthrough this year?        He will play a charity exhibition to fight malaria with some Real Madrid player on December 16. The event will include tennis, soccer and go-karting events. Really? There’s no way Nadal’s knees cou...

By tennisplanet The draw may help Federer here, if Murray lands on Nadal’s half of the draw and Roddick on Federer’s. But if that set-up gets disturbed, Federer’s chances will be somewhere between nil and slim unless Nadal’s knees are still acting up.

By Steve Bierley So Spain won the Davis Cup for the third time, and thereby denied Argentina their chance finally to get their hands on a trophy that has been won by only 12 nations since its inception in 1900. Eight years ago Spain were successful for the first time, beating Australia in Barcelona. Four years...

By By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY Even without Rafael Nadal, Spain is one victory away from winning tennis's Davis Cup. Argentina is failing to make full use of its home-court advantage.

By Steve Bierley If Del Potro is able to play, and is fully fit, then Argentina could turn the tie around, though there was no doubting that Spain, even without the injured world No 1, Rafa Nadal, went to their hotel on Saturday evening believing that that a third Davis Cup final win was in their grasp, the Spa...

By Rich(tips@downthelinetennis.com) You could see it on his face: the moment Rafael Nadal knew that after 160 weeks as the second-best tennis player in the world, he was about to become number one. It came four hours into the Wimbledon final, when it seemed that the 22-year old was again going to crumble at the All England Club, as...

By Steve Bierley Spain without Nadal remain strong, though lacking the obvious thrust and charisma. Much, as so often is the case, may depend on the doubles. In the singles Spain opted for the left-handed Feliciano López, who is a natural serve and volleyer, and David Ferrer, badly out of form, in Friday's o...

By tennisplanet Based on this year’s performance from both Federer and Djokovic, it’s merely a formality now unless the kick from Djokovic stimulates Federer the way it did Nadal. Despite Federer not winning anything until the clay season this year, he has some serious points to defend: Two semis at th...

Bill Rapp has weathered economic downturns in his 26 years in tennis, the last eight as tournament director for the SAP Open, a men's event in San Jose, Calif. No alarm bells are sounding, but Rapp is not sitting idle.With significant prize money increases next year and an economic crisis of...

By tennisplanet Nadal, by his standards, is not even at the half way mark of his career. He has just 7 Slams, OK 5 (Geeeeeeeeezzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!). More importantly four of them are on clay. He has clearly established himself as one of the greatest clay court players ever, but like Federer, Nadal has Borg da...

By tennisplanet Is anyone really surprised other than Federer’s mom? Maybe the injury to his back should have been as severe as the injury to Nadal’s knees to force him to pull out like Nadal did with Davis Cup. Or is Federer working hard to get there so it can happen at the Australian Open?

By tennisplanet Never taken aback either by impressive displays or failures of his challengers, Nadal moves to the deuce court, preparing to receive in his intense manner. Federer serves well, Nadal retrieves the wide angled ball with a fast-paced backhand return down the middle, Federer’s there, he’...

By tennisplanet Nadal serves fast, it’s in first time this time, straight at the body again, after all it worked well last time. Federer sidesteps it and flicks the ball with his topspin forehand across court to Nadal’s backhand for a short ball, and Nadal is forced to come into the net to return the ball, whi...

By Mike McIntyre Although Rafael Nadal had to pull out of the event with an injury, the tournament still boasts perhaps one of the strongest fields it has ever seen. The draw consists of two Grand Slam champions, five Grand Slam finalists, and with an average age of 23.5, the youngest crew in recent memory. 

By tennisplanet Federer may be at a point now where win over Nadal on any surface will get him more bang for his buck than any win over Murray. Not only will that win get Federer some points towards the No. 1 rank, it will cut into the massive H2H lead Nadal has over Federer, even though most of it is on clay.

By tennisplanet While Federer was lucky to have taken that gamble and still come out injury free from the other side, Nadal’s pursuit of the No. 1 rank to the exclusion of laser focus on the Slams may not be as painless. You think Federer had decided to win as many Wimbledons as possible BEFORE he turned pro? You...

By tennisplanet Having said that, it appears the mini run Federer had at Madrid was only second to the one he generated at Halle and Wimbledon. Not only were the wins in straight sets and play consistent, they were against opponents with much impressive credentials than even at events where he won the title...

By tennisplanet But despite all that there was never a doubt that any player was seriously capable of dismantling a 100% Federer on surface not called red. Even Djokovic’s win at the Australian Open, despite the flood of accolades it triggered, was laced with mono. Besides two convincing Federer wins ove...

By tennisplanet Nadal: Federer: Had Nadal played the first match and lost leaving Simon to face the music in the finals, you think Federer could have squeezed out a ‘W’ against Murray? Probably. Just the fact that Nadal couldn’t clinch the year-end No. 1 would be enough fodder for Federer to somehow find a w...

By tennisplanet If the seeds hold their own, Federer now has to play either Djokovic or Murray before facing Nadal in the finals irrespective of the surface, considering how Nadal’s been playing lately on hard surfaces. Based on this year’s showing there appears to be very little separating Djokovic a...

By tennisplanet 4. Next tough guy on hard court, Murray may have defeated Nadal at the US Open and reached his first Grand Slam final elevating his status as one of the contenders on hard courts, but Nadal had defeated him five straight times before this match - three of them on hard courts, one on grass and one...

By tennisplanet He has played Nadal thrice and Federer twice, but has never won a set against them. But all these five matches were played last year. He could have met Nadal at this year’s US Open, but lost a close four-setter to Murray in the quarterfinals.

By tennisplanet No one man has held the tennis center stage alone for so long during the modern era. True—Nadal held his own on clay. Had Nadal not been a factor—the tennis legend of Federer would be irrefutable—untouchable by anyone using today’s standards. Federer single-handedly dictated the tennis la...

By tennisplanet Federer: Nadal: Djokovic: Murray: Federer can hope to play more freely and his natural game for the rest of the season if he can bag No. 14. Nadal will have covered another post in his quest to trounce Federer by clinching the career slam. Djokovic will have restored his position as the next bes...

By Andy Roddick For Spain, world number one Rafael Nadal will head the singles rubbers along side one of three possible teammates, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, or Feliciano Lopez, with the other two leading the doubles line-up. Team USA, however, boasts an unfamiliar roster for the first time sinc...

By Mike McIntyre It all began with Novak Djokovic's first Grand Slam result at the Aussie Open in January. An on going story line has been the fact that Roger Federer has looked so human this year and enters the Open without a Slam to his name thus far in 2008. The big news of the year is clearly Rafael Nadal's domi...

By thedoublebagel As much as I dislike Andy Murray, he's been having quite a run lately topping it with winning his first AMS shield in Cincinnati just a couple of weeks ago beating Novak Djokovic in the finals. Juan Martin Del Potro has been on a mini tear this past weeks winning back to back titles in Los Angele...

By Steven Downes But it all ended in defeat last night against the American James Blake (pictured below), one match short of the medal round. Federer, who carried the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony a week ago, now faces the loss of his world No1 ranking to Rafael Nadal on Monday, as he plays the Olympic dou...

By Mike McIntyre I watch Nadal a lot, he's an idol." Del Potro woke up in the third, and Sela looked to have run out of gas after all of the side to side sprints that he was forced to make. He recovered to win the match 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 and keep his winning streak alive at 16 in a row.

By Andyroddick.com Staff Stay tuned to AR.com as Andy will face the winner of the Kohlschreiber(GER)/qualifier match in round two on Wednesday or Thursday in Cincy. To follow scores online, find coverage on the Tennis Channel, or catch our American Firepower live, go to www.cincytennis.com. Go Andy!

By Mike McIntyre In his on court interview after the match Kiefer praised Nadal as the next number one. A statement that is impossible to argue with at the moment. All eyes will now shift to Cincinnati to see if the torch is ready to be passed. By Mike McIntyre Rafael Nadal easily took the Rogers Cup today leaving...

By Mike McIntyre Nadal would take his physical game up a notch from there and serving at 3-4, the pressure would force Murray to hit three unforced errors en route to being broken again. Nadal would then hold en route to a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory. Murray gave us all he had on this night. As he does to many, Nadal would p...

By Andyroddick.com Staff Andy then went on to back up his 25th career ATP title in Dubai with a landmark victory over World No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Andy had lost his past 11 meetings against the Swiss maestro, but as he said in his most recent blog – “nobody (not even Rog...

By Andyroddick.com Staff Serving at 3-5, Bolelli once again found himself in trouble on serve as a forehand long handed Andy his first match point. Andy did not need asking twice, a beautiful little backhand slice past the net rushing Bolelli secured the victory and a spot in the quarterfinals against either Tommy...

By Andyroddick.com Staff Fighting for the game’s most prestigious titles doesn’t figure to be easy, but then again, Andy Roddick has never shied away from putting in what his Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe likes to call “the hard yards.”Gauging the future of America’s best men’s tennis player is a tough propos...

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) � Locked in the toughest test of his Wimbledon reign, against his only real rival in today�s game, Roger Federer summoned the strokes and resolve that allow him to chase records set by the greats of yesteryear. And after Federer finally overcame Rafael Nadal in a fi...

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Who could blame Rafael Nadal and Robin Soderling for being a bit sick and tired of each other and, well, Wimbledon as a whole? They did, after all, spend an awful lot of time trying to finish their third-round match, until the No. 2-seeded Nadal finally won 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 7-5 Wednesda...

It's that time of the year again! The tennis world has cleaned clay off their shoes and recovered from the slow and bouncy French Open. Once again Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finished up another major in a Championship match-up. And once again, Nadal defeated Federer on clay to win his 3rd...

By Rachel Bobak Last year was an upset at the French Open. Federer was on Nadal's turf, who is a two-time defending champion on clay. He conquers the clay court, unlike Federer who conquers the grass court. But last year on June 11, 2006, Federer lost to his tennis nemesis and ultimate opponent 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7...