Tennis

French number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday said he stood by his comments that there was little or no hope this year of a Frenchman winning at Roland Garros for the first time since Yannick Noah in 1983.

Novak Djokovic’s bid to become the first man in 43 years to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time hit its first hurdle on Friday when Roger Federer became a potential French Open semi-final opponent. The flagbearer

Natasha Palha continued her fine form in the Gail $10000 ITF Women's tennis tournament at the DLTA Complex on Thursday. The 18-year-old made short work of Prarthana Thombare (6-3, 6-2) to set up a semifinal date with Delhi's Simran Kaur Sethi.

Play tennis, get a scholarship to the US of A and settle on foreign shores. Or after playing the sport for years, quit and try one's hand at other things. This was the scenario for Indian women's tennis players even 10 years back. "We never even had a women's tennis coach when we were playing," claimed former Fed Cup player Shruti Dhawan.

It was a year ago that Li Na shot to world celebrity with a history-making win in the French Open women's singles final at Roland Garros. Since then though it has been tough going for the 30-year-old.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, two players better known for their hardcourt and grasscourt abilities, are the form players going into the climax of the claycourt season at the French Open.

It's been a good month for Natasha Palha. After making the final of her maiden ITF women's tournament a fortnight back, the 18-year-old reached the quarterfinals of the Gail $10000 ITF meet at the DLTA Complex.

Former world number one Kim Clijsters has confirmed that she will bring down the curtain on her second career at the end of this year's US Open, Belgian news agency Belga has reported.

It took a long time, but Ratnika Batra could finally sigh in relief. The seventh-seeded local girl needed over two hours to prevail 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 over compatriot Smriti Joon and move into Round Two of the Gail $10,000 ITF tournament at the DLTA Complex on Tuesday.

Eighty precious ranking points is what Yuki Bhambri pocketed after winning his maiden ATP Challenger crown in Fergana on Sunday. Sharmistha Chaudhuri reports.

World number 18 Kei Nishikori has pulled out of the French Open because of a stomach injury, the Japanese said today.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal reclaimed the world number two spot from Swiss Roger Federer in the latest ATP rankings released today, a day after beating Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic to win the Rome title.

It's never easy to play after an injury layoff. But to play without any practice proves more difficult. That's exactly the predicament second seed Prerna Bhambri found herself in during the $10000 ITF women's tournament at the DLTA complex.

Rafa Nadal enjoyed the perfect fillip ahead of his French Open defence with a commanding 7-5 6-3 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic in the delayed Rome Masters final on Monday. Vamos Rafa

Heavy rain halted Sunday's Rome International women's final between French Open champion Li Na and second seed Maria Sharapova with the match delicately poised at 6-4, 4-6, 6-6.