Safina Stuns Henin
A day after the King of Clay falls in Rome, the Queen of Clay crumbled in Berlin. Dinara Safina upset the top ranked Justine Henin on Thursday. Safina, a former top ten player, beat Henin 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Like Nadal, Henin cannot afford to lose early on clay as Ana Ivanovic and others can close in on the top ranking. Though she is a proven winner on hardcourts, clay is by far her best surface.
Svetlana Kuznetsova joined Henin on the sidelines after a three set loss to Alona Bondarenko 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. Serena Williams easily beat Agnieska Radwanska 6-3, 6-1 and Elena Dementieva beat Vera Dushevina 7-5, 6-3. Agnes Szavay upset Marion Bartoli 7-5, 7-5, Jelena Jankovic beat Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4 and Ana Ivanovic needed three sets to get past Sybille Bammer 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
In Rome, Novak Djokovic had a tough match against Igor Andreev but prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Roger Federer beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 and Andy Roddick advanced past Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Ryan Harrison Joins Elite ClubRyan Harrison joined an elite club on Monday when he beat Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3 in the first round at the US Clay Court Championship in Houston. Harrison, who will turn 16 on May 7th, became the 10th youngest player to win a main draw match on the ATP Tour. Richard Gasquet was 18 days older [...]
Clay-court king Nadal happy to be second best to Federer (TODAYonline)Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero (L) comforts his compatriot and Spanish clay-court king Rafael Nadal at the end of their ATP Tennis Open match in Rome, May 7. Nadal, the favourite for the Hamburg Masters Series which starts Monday, admitted on Sunday he takes some solace being second behind Swiss master Roger Federer.
Djokovic cruises into third round in Rome Masters tennis (TODAYonline)Serbian Novak Djokovic returns a backhand to Belgian Steve Darcis during their WTA Tennis Open in Rome. Djokovic won 6-4, 6-0.