Rafael Nadal suffered his first claycourt defeat in 23 matches on Thursday and threatened to boycott next year's Madrid Open if officials did not ditch the blue clay that players have labelled 'too sl

World number three Roger Federer had to use all his guile and experience to battle back from a set down to see off fast-rising Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6 7-5 7-6 in the Madrid Open second round on Wedn

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna overcame a late resistance from Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas to move to the quarterfinals of the ATP Madrid Masters.

The seventh seed Indian pair took one

Novak Djokovic scraped and slid to an opening victory at the Madrid Masters on Tuesday, then let loose with a blistering appraisal of the event's controversial blue clay courts.

"That was not tennis,

Serena Williams marked her first European appearance of the season with victory on the Madrid Open's striking blue clay courts on Monday, but her sister Venus crashed out in the second round.

Holder

Sania Mirza and Anastasia Rodionova suffered an upset first round exit from the Madrid Open, a premier WTA event, after losing to Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Shuai Zhang, here.

The sixth seed Indo-Austr

The top two seeds advanced to the Madrid Open second round on Sunday when Victoria Azarenka dispatched Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 6-4 and Maria Sharapova crushed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0 6-2.

Making a les

Rafael Nadal defeated Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6(1), 7-5 to win his seventh Barcelona Open men's tennis title.

It was Nadal's 34th successive match victory on the clay court of Barcelona and

Rafa Nadal has played down the significance of his victory over Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo, saying winning tournaments was his priority rather than reclaiming the world number one spot.

The Spania

Wimbledon's early victims will be comforted by a significant increase in prize money this year after organisers on Tuesday announced a 26 percent pay rise for first-round losers.

The winners' cheques