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Honors even after day one of Spains Davis Cup defense

Honors even after day one of Spain\'s Davis Cup defense David Ferrer claimed a straight sets win 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-1 over Marco Chiudinelli to leave the Davis Cup first round tie between defending champions Spain and Switzerland finely pointed after the opening day\'s singles matches. Apart from one moment when he went a mini-break down at the start of the second set tiebreak, Spanish number one, Ferrer was rarely troubled by the Swiss number two. The same could not be said of his teammate...

Spains Davis Cup defense gets off to losing start

Spain\'s Davis Cup defense gets off to losing start Spain got its defense of the Davis Cup off to a losing start when Nicholas Almagro lost the opening singles match of its tie against Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. With Spain missing Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco and the Swiss without World Number one Roger Federer, it was down to Almagro to start the defense of the tennis competition against Switzerland¡¯s Stanislas Wawrinka. Playing on a beaten clay surface which had been laid...

Nicklaus believes Woods will return for Masters

Nicklaus believes Woods will return for Masters Jack Nicklaus said he would not be surprised if Tiger Woods ended his seclusion and decided to play the US Masters at Augusta National next month. \"I\'ve been very non-committal because it\'s none of my business,\" Nicklaus told reporters on Wednesday following his pro-am round at this week\'s Honda Classic at Palm Beach Garden, Florida. \"But playing golf, my guess as a golfer, he\'s going to probably try to (play the Masters). \"It would...

Swiss pass pressure to Spain ahead of Davis Cup

Swiss pass pressure to Spain ahead of Davis Cup Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi Wednesday put his team in an underdog position when they play Spain in this weekend\'s tennis team event in the first round tie. Spain, last year\'s champion, begins its defense of the Davis Cup against the Swiss in Logrono. The Spanish are without key players Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, while the Swiss are without World number one Roger Federer. \"I agree that Spain is the favorite,...

Liang and Strange to star at Luxehills Chengdu Open

Liang and Strange to star at Luxehills Chengdu Open Chinese number one Liang Wenchong and Australian Scott Strange have both confirmed they will compete at the 1 million U.S. dollar Luxehills Chengdu Open from April 1-4, the opening event of the second OneAsia season. Liang became OneAsia\'s first Chinese champion when he won the Midea China Classic in Guangdong last October and the 31-year-old is keen to add to that title against an international-quality field at the Luxehills International...

Kleybanova, Djokovic bask in title triumphs

Kleybanova, Djokovic bask in title triumphs Alisa Kleybanova won her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open yesterday, beating top-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in an all-Russian final in Kuala Lumpur.The 21-year-old Kleybanova dominated the Olympic champion, using her raw power and booming first serve to earn most of her points. Once described as the new Monica Seles due to her aggressive play, Kleybanova served four aces in the first set.\"It has been a tough week with many tough sets and...

Zheng sent packing in another upset

Zheng sent packing in another upset Chang Kai-chen of Chinese Taipei crushed China\'s 20th-ranked and third-seeded Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.The 19-year-old played fearlessly against an opponent ranked 72 places above her and completed a disastrous week for Chinese players after second-seeded Li Na was knocked out by Germany\'s Tatjana Malek on Monday. Both Zheng and Li had reached the semifinals of the Australian Open last...

Karlovic beats Petzschner at Delray Beach

Karlovic beats Petzschner at Delray Beach Second-seeded Ivo Karlovic of Croatia beat Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to reach the second round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships on Tuesday. Third-seeded German Benjamin Becker also advanced by defeating Japan\'s Kei Nishikori 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. Defending champion Mardy Fish advanced when Belgian Christophe Rochus retired at 3-3 in the third set with a back injury. Fish served up 25 aces against Rochus as he rallied to take...

Hass to miss Germanys Davis Cup tie with France

Hass to miss Germany\'s Davis Cup tie with France German No. 1 tennis player Tommy Haas was not included in the German Davis Cup team because of his poor form, the team captain Patrick Kuhnen said Tuesday. Instead, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benjamin Becker will spearhead the German tie with France in their Davis Cup World Group first round clash to be held in Toulon from March 5-7. The other two members of the German team will be the Simon Greul and Christopher Kas. The winner of the clash...

Djokovic, Murray advance in Dubai

Djokovic, Murray advance in Dubai Defending champion Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Andy Murray advanced to the second round of the Dubai Championships on Monday.The second-seeded Serb beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-4 and Murray defeated Russia\'s Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-3 in Monday\'s first round of the US$1.6 million tournament.The fourth-ranked Murray had a nervous start, with the first two games lasting more than half an hour. Kunitsyn kept it tight in the third game, but Murray...