Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER) Match Preview

Victoria Azarenka (BLR) vs. Andrea Petkovic (GER) Match Preview live on 12bet.com on 4/27 12:30 AM GMT+8

Watch this two ladies as they brag for the title.

Raonic no Falla guy in Spain

Ukrainian Stakhovsky books showdown with second seed Murray

 

Milos Raonic recorded a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over Colombian Alejandro Falla to reach the second round of the ATP Barcelona Open. The Canadian, seeded 11th for the tournament, converted three of his four break-point opportunities on his way to a straight-sets win in one hour and 42 minutes. The only other seed in action on the opening day was Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, who was a surprise 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 casualty to another Colombian, Santiago Giraldo.

Lucky loser Eduardo Schwank took advantage of his reprieve to beat Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 2-6 6-4 6-0. Albert Montanes won his all-Spanish showdown against Gerard Granollers-Pujol 7-5 6-2, while Finland's Jarkko Nieminen started out with a 6-4 6-1 defeat of Spaniard Javier Marti.

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky comfortably saw off Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-3 to set up a clash with Andy Murray, who has won just once in two appearances in Barcelona, in the next round on Tuesday. Top seed Rafael Nadal, who made history by winning an eighth straight Monte Carlo title on Sunday, begins his campaign on Wednesday.

 

NADAL WINS EIGHTH STRAIGHT MONTE-CARLO CROWN

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal clinched his eighth successive Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title on Sunday, dismissing top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 to end a seven-match final losing streak to the Serb.

"It's very important to break that situation," said Nadal. "It's important to win a tournament another time. Especially [this] tournament. [Breaking] that situation [and] winning a Masters 1000, one of my favourites, [makes] everything perfect today."

 

The 25-year-old Nadal broke a tie with Roger Federer for the most ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns, lifting his 20th trophy. It’s his first triumph since winning a record-tying sixth Roland Garros title in June 2011.

"To start the clay-court season winning here is an amazing feeling," Nadal said. "This tournament is very special for me. My level of tennis was high during the last four matches, since the second round."

The Spaniard, who did not drop a set all week, broke Djokovic’s serve in the third game courtesy of a backhand error, and had his opponent under more pressure in the seventh game. Djokovic saved a break point to hold for 3-4, but Nadal broke down his defences again in the ninth game to clinch the opener as the Serb hit wide.

Nadal ran away with the second set, racing to a 4-0 lead before Djokovic capitalised on his lone break point opportunity to get on the scoreboard. Nadal converted his fifth break in the ensuing game, and served out the match to claim victory in one hour and 19 minutes.

"He took his opportunities [in the] first set and made a break, and that's it," said Djokovic. "I didn't make him play at all. I just was out there trying to put the ball in the court."

Djokovic was bidding to win his third title of the season, having captured his fifth Grand Slam championship over Nadal at the Australian Open, and finishing in the winners’ circle at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (d. Murray). It was an emotional week for Djokovic, who learned on Thursday that his grandfather had passed away.

"It's been a tough week, not just for me but for everybody in my family," Djokovic said. "We're going through this together. In the end, I played the final and I'm really happy for that."

 

Djokovic to face Nadal

World number one proves too tough for Berdych in Monte Carlo

Novak Djokovic fought back from a set down to defeat Tomas Berdych and secure a place in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters where he will face seven-time champion Rafael Nadal. The world number one grew stronger throughout his clash with Berdych and eventually emerged a convincing winner on the clay in Monaco, triumphing 4-6 6-3 6-2. The Serb is now a step closer to securing a title he has never previously won but will have to overcome defending champion Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final after the Spaniard saw off France's Gilles Simon in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.

Nadal's success was his 41st consecutive win at a tournament where he has been the champion since 2005. Berdych - who was so impressive in defeating Andy Murray on Friday - started well against Djokovicand was more than a match for his opponent in the opening set. Indeed, having secured a break, the Czech held his nerve and served out for the set despite facing a break-point on his own delivery at 5-4. But Djokovic raised his level at the start of the second and secured an immediate break, after a wonderful defensive lob had allowed him into the net to put away a winning volley.

Andy Murray (GBR) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) match preview

ATP - Monte Carlo Rolex Masters: 12BET odds Andy Murray (GBR) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) 4/20 4:30PM GMT+8

Andy Murray will play against Thomas Berdych in a very balanced match. Murray , no 4 ATP, comes at Paris after he reached the quarterfinal from Madrid (he lost the match played against David Ferrer). At Roland Garros, Murray won against Richard Gasquet, Juan Igancio Chela and Marcos Bagdathis. On the other side, Berdych , no 17 ATP , is in a very good period and he managed to reach the quarterfinals from Munchen and to win all the 3 matches for his country at the Dusseldorf tournament. Here, at Paris, Berdych won against Jorge Aguilar , Edouard Roger-Vasselin and John Isner . 

MURRAYS TO FACE BRYANS IN MONTE-CARLO

ATP - Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 12BET odds 4/18 4:30PM GMT+8

Andy Murray and Jamie Murray will face top seeds and defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters after defeating Santiago Gonzalez and Christopher Kas 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.


The brothers were unable to save the three break points faced on serve, but broke the Mexican-German pairing five times from 10 opportunities for the 67-minute victory. It was their first match win together on clay courts.


The Murrays and Bryans will be facing off for the first time. The Bryans are two-time champions at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, having won the title in 2007 and in '11.


Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya, the Heineken Open champions, topped Eric Butorac and Bruno Soares 6-2, 3-6, 12-10 in one hour and 18 minutes to set a second-round meeting with eighth seeds Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek.


David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco will square off against No. 3 seeds Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic after easing past Tomas Berdych and Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 6-2. Marrero and Verdasco won 75 per cent of their second serve return points to break the Czech-Ukrainian duo four times.


The Spanish tandem is looking to lift their third clay-court trophy of the season, having won back-to-back titles at the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires and Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco.


Their countrymen Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez also advanced in first-round action, defeating Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 6-4. Granollers and Lopez will play seventh-seeded Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau for a place in the quarter-finals.

DOLGOPOLOV SETS TOMIC CLASH; VERDASCO BATTLES PAST ROCHUS

Alexandr Dolgopolov notched his first main draw win in three visits to the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Monday as he defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-2. The 16th-seeded Ukrainian broke serve four times from five opportunities and won 74 per cent of points on serve to claim victory over the experienced Argentine in 57 minutes.

The 23-year-old Dolgopolov improved to an 11-8 match record on the season, highlighted by reaching the final at the Brisbane International (l. to Murray). He goes onto face Australia’s Bernard Tomic, whom he lost to in five sets in the third round of the Australian Open in January.

Spanish No. 13 seed Fernando Verdascowas made to work hard in his opener, battling from a set down to defeat Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 10 minutes. The left-hander, who was runner-up in 2010 (l. to Nadal), broke serve for the fourth time in the last game of the match to notch his 11th win of the year. He reached his 17th ATP World Tour final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) on clay in February.

DJOKOVIC: "NADAL IS THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE ON CLAY"

ATP - Monte Carlo Rolex Masters - 12BET odds 4/16 4:30PM GMT+8

 

Nadal’s triumph last year in Monte-Carlo, however, came in Djokovic’s absence. In the two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments to follow - the Mutua Madrid Open and Internazionali BNL d’Italia - the Spaniard surrendered his titles with straight-sets losses to Djokovic in both finals.

Those two victories helped Djokovic finish ahead of Nadal in the 2011 clay-court FedEx ATP Reliability Index, with a 17-1 record (.944) to Nadal’s 28-2 mark (.933), and gave him an extra lift coming into this season’s campaign.

Djokovic will be looking to become the first player to win back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Miami and Monte-Carlo, and stated that he was well-prepared for the transition from hard to clay courts.

Djokovic also joked about one added advantage that he and Andy Murray would have this week, commenting on the British No. 1’s recent buzz cut. “I tried to copy him. I didn’t go as short. Well, one thing is for sure: we’ll both be faster on the court with less hair.”

 

Nadal returns to training

Former world number one Rafael Nadal has returned to training after recovering from a knee injury.

The Spaniard withdrew from his semi-final at March's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami with a knee injury and has not been in competitive action since. Many believed it was a recurrence of the tendonitis that plagued him throughout 2009 but he rejected these claims saying it was just a slight twist. He has now confirmed his return to training, posting on his Facebook page: "I started to train on clay at the Manacor tennis club, to prepare myself for the Monte Carlo and Barcelona tournaments." The 25-year-old has won the Monte Carlo event for the last eight years and is also the defending champion at the tournament in Barcelona. He will now be hoping his knee holds up under the strain ahead of the French Open in May, where he'll be hunting his seventh Roland Garros title.

Russell batters Fish Qualifier stuns top seed in Houston

 ATP - U.S. Mens Clay Court Championships 4/14 7AM GMT+8 

Michael Russell recorded the biggest win of his career as the qualifier beat top seed Mardy Fish 6-3 6-1 in the last 16 of the US Men's Clay Court Championship.

The 33-year-old, who lives in Houston, was dominant in every department, winning 70 per cent of points on first serve and breaking his compatriot five times to claim his first-ever win over a top-10 player. He will now face fellow American Ryan Harrison after the teenager beat Russia's Igor Kunitsyn 6-2 6-4. Second seed John Isner avoided an upset by battling back to secure a 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 6-2 win over Horacio Zeballos. That sent Isner through to an all-American quarter-final against defending champion Ryan Sweeting, who beat compatriot Bobby Reynolds 6-3 6-2. Fourth seed Juan Monaco is through after a routine 6-3 6-3 win over Tatsuma Ito, however fifth-ranked Kevin Anderson had to dig deep before overcoming Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 7-6 (7-2).

Sweeting Begins Title Defense With Win

Ryan Sweeting began his title defense with a 6-3 7-6(6) win over Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Mello on Tuesday night. Sweeting, who won his first career title in Houston last year, moved to 7-3 lifetime at River Oaks with Tuesday’s win. Other players who have enjoyed success at River Oaks played Tuesday, with mixed results. Former finalist Wayne Odesnik was knocked out of the tournament Tuesday, falling to Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3. Horacio Zeballos, a former semifinalist in Houston, qualified into this year’s event and won his opening round match against Adrian Ungur 6-3 6-3. In other action, Igor Kunitsyn defeated Xavier Malisse 6-4 6-2 while Tatsuma Ito of Japan defeated his countryman Go Soeda 6-4 7-5. Houston resident Michael Russell closed out the day in spectacular fashion, coming from behind for a 2-6 7-5 6-1 win over Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

RAMOS, CHARDY WIN CASABLANCA OPENERS

ATP - U.S. Mens Clay Court Championships: 12BET odss 4/11 1AM GMT+8



Seventh seed Albert Ramos dismissed countryman Pere Riba 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca Tuesday.Ramos capitalised on five of eight break point opportunities and won 26 of his 31 first serve points to advance in 74 minutes.The 52nd-ranked Ramos improved to a 11-9 season record and will faceVictor Hanescu or Malek Jaziri next.Jeremy Chardy defeated qualifier Federico Delbonis 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 40 minutes to win his opener. The Frenchman saved eight of nine break points against his serve to set a second-round clash with top seedFlorian Mayer.All seven of Chardy’s tour-level victories in 2012 have come on clay, having reached the semi-finals of the VTR Open in Vina del Mar (l. to Monaco). He started the year by winning the Noumea Challenger, a hard-court tournament.

FOUR MEMBERS OF TOP 20 LEAD STRONG FIELD IN HOUSTON

This year’s US Men’s Clay Court Championship at the River Oaks Country Club features a solid field led by the top two Americans on the ATP World Tour, No. 9 Mardy Fish and No. 10 John Isner. This is the only ATP World Tour 250 clay court tournament in the United States. Fish returns as the top seed for the second year in a row and Isner was No. 4 one year ago. Isner helped the U.S. into the Davis Cup semi-finals (vs. Spain) by winning both of his singles matches vs. France over the weekend. There are a tournament-high eight Americans in the draw, including defending champion Ryan Sweeting.

The other seeds are: No. 3 Feliciano Lopez of Spain, No. 4 Juan Monaco of Argentina, No. 5 Kevin Anderson of South Africa, No. 6 Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, No. 7 Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia, and No. 8 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. Lopez, Monaco and Anderson are all wild card entries. On Monday’s schedule, there are four qualifying, three singles main draw and one doubles match. The final round of qualifying includes Houston resident Michael Russell, who is first on Center Court vs. Daniel Kosakowski followed by 2004 champion Tommy Haas against Go Soedaof Japan. In the evening session, former World No. 4 and 2008 runner-up James Blake takes a 2-0 career advantage against No. 6 seed Berlocq. Blake won the last meeting here in the first round one year ago in three sets. In the final match, 2010 finalist Sam Querrey takes on Frenchman Eric Prodon for the first time. Prodon is looking for his first ATP World Tour match win of the season (0-5).

No Williams clash as Venus loses

There will be no Williams-sisters semi-final meeting at the Family Circle Cup after Venus crashed out to Samantha Stosur.

 

Serena has made it into the last four after Sabine Lisicki withdrew from their match with a twisted ankle, but Venus could not set up a family showdown as she lost 6-3 4-6 6-3 to the second-seeded Stosur in her quarter-final. Venus has made good progress in what was just her second appearance following seven months out with injury and is now expected to play in Madrid next month. Serena, meanwhile, was 4-1 up when Lisicki was forced to quit and now moves into the last four in good shape although Stosur is likely to be a formidable opponent next up. Later, ninth seed Lucie Safarova saw off number four Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-3 to set up a semi-final meeting with Polona Hercog, who herself beat number 13 seed and 2006 champion Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-2.

Fantastic Quarterfinal Friday Set

It's going to be a fantastic Quarterfinal Friday at the Family Circle Cup, with a slew of star names - including both Williams sisters - battling it out to make it to Semifinal Saturday.



The first quarterfinal is a blockbuster, as No.5 seed Serena Williams takes on No.6 seed Sabine Lisicki. The only time they played before this was in the semifinals of Stanford last year, with Williams rolling, 61 62.

"It can only get better," Lisicki said. "I was very nervous in Stanford in the beginning. In the second set I had chances - the games were close, so it was a good match from mid-second set on. I hope I can start like that this time."

The second match pits Venus Williams against either No.2 seed Sam Stosur or Galina Voskoboeva, the match that took the court on a rainy Thursday night. If it's Stosur in the quarters, she might have a tough time - Williams has won all four of their previous meetings in straight sets, including three on clay.Next is No.4 seed Vera Zvonareva against No.9 seed Lucie Safarova. Zvonareva has a few edges - she won their only previous meeting, and she is also a two-time finalist here, in 2008 and 2010.At night, No.13 seed Nadia Petrova faces No.14 seed Polona Hercog, a match-up between two players who sprung upsets on Thursday (Petrova beat No.8 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Hercog beat No.3 seed Marion Bartoli). The two played twice on hardcourts last summer, the series tied one apiece.

Venus Moves On, Stosur & Zvonareva Cruise

After reaching the quarterfinals in her WTA comeback at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Venus Williams took a few days to rest and came to Charleston fresh - and that was obvious on Tuesday, as she moved comfortably through to the second round of the Family Circle Cup with a 64 63 win over Iveta Benesova.



The 31-year-old Williams looked strong on serve against her fellow veteran Benesova, 29, getting broken in the first game of the match but never being broken again the rest of the way. "My serve felt great," Williams said after the victory. "I feel calmer here. I feel more match tough, as they say."Williams was one of eight players who won first round matches on Tuesday.The second round also began, with No.2 seed Sam Stosur and No.4 seed Vera Zvonareva among the winners. Stosur beat American Jamie Hampton, 60 75, though Hampton showed her toughness in fighting from 2-5 to 5-all in the second set before falling; Zvonareva took 50 minutes to drop some knowledge on Kateryna Bondarenko, 61 61.Stosur was the 2010 champion here; Zvonareva is a two-time runner-up here, in 2008 (losing to Serena Williams) and 2010 (losing to Stosur).Serena Williams, the 2008 Family Circle Cup champion was in action at night against Elena Vesnina, who was a finalist last year.

Williams Sisters, Stosur & Zvonareva On Stadium Court

The WTA stars will be out in full force on Tuesday, with Grand Slam champions (and Family Circle Cup champions) Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur all playing their first matches of the week on Stadium court.







Venus Williams is the first of the three to play, facing fellow veteran Iveta Benesova in a first round match. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and the 2004 champion here, came back to the tour in Miami two weeks ago after not playing since the US Open due to illness. Williams is 3-0 against Benesova.Stosur is next, taking on the winner of Monday's match between Sloane Stephens and Jamie Hampton. Stosur won the Family Circle Cup in 2010 then her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2011 - she is this week's No.2 seed and the highest seed left in the draw, since Agnieszka Radwanska is now out.The feature night match pits Serena Williams against last year's finalist here, Elena Vesnina. Williams is a 13-time Grand Slam champion and the 2008 winner here, and is now back in the Top 10 for the first time since last spring. She beat Vesnina in straight sets in their only previous meeting back in 2008.Vera Zvonareva, a multiple finalist here and this year's No.4 seed, opens her campaign against Kateryna Bondarenko. Other players in action include 2006 Family Circle Cup champion Nadia Petrova and talented young American Vania King, who plays Yanina Wickmayer in the first match of the day on Stadium.