Marianne Bevis Archives: 05/2014

Bearing in mind that Serena Williams comes to the defence of her title at Roland Garros as the only woman on the tour with three…

And so comes the culmination of the spring swing across the world’s clay. The red stuff has held sway over the men and women since…

In an era of great rivalries between the four men who have dominated the rankings, Grand Slams and the elite tier of the tour—Rafael Nadal,…

Title-winning Sunday at one of the biggest tennis tournaments on the tour, and one of the most important ahead of the clay climax at the…

In almost six years since Andy Murray first arrived at No4 in the rankings, the “big four” have dominated tennis proceedings at almost every turn.…

With the top two men in tennis, No1 Rafael Nadal and No2 Novak Djokovic, headlining quarter-final day at the Rome Masters, the big question was:…

With her first Madrid title at the weekend, following hot on the heels of her third consecutive Stuttgart title, Maria Sharapova rose back to No7…

It’s been an era of tennis dominated by four men. All the Grand Slams except two for almost a decade have been won by Rafael…

Third-round Thursday is not a headline designed to grab the attention, but in the case of Rome, on a typically hot, bright day, it heralded…

No matter what the measure, the record of Rafael Nadal in Rome is startling. Nine times he has played here, and he won it at…

Roger Federer surprised many when he arrived in Rome so soon after the birth of his twin sons Leo and Lenny. He admitted that even…

Andy Murray would open his 2014 Rome campaign with quite a few things stacked against him. There’s was the matter of appointing a coach to…

Roger Federer’s fans around the world were holding their breath. The Foro Italico, and everyone involved in the Rome Masters, were on tenterhooks. And no…

Novak Djokovic has been the centre of a near storm every time he has taken to the terracotta courts of the Foro Italico. First it…

It’s not that Stanislas Wawrinka lacks confidence: That much has been plain in his journey back inside the top 10—a place he visited for five…

The ‘will she, won’t she’ buzz around Rome since Serena Williams pulled out of the Madrid quarter-finals has been halted, certainly for the time being.…

Maria Sharapova may have missed slipping out of the top 10 by a hair’s breadth a couple of weeks back, but her prowess on clay—now…

Rafael Nadal celebrated his first title of the European clay-court season after a back injury forced Kei Nishikori to retire during Sunday’s Madrid Masters final.…

It was obviously an eventful journey to Rome from Madrid, where Andy Murray continued to practise after his third-round loss to the impressive qualifier Santiago…

There is just something about the clay in Rome. Sure, Monte Carlo bathes in the Mediterranean sun, is all but washed by the Mediterranean waters,…

Madrid may have rued the early withdrawal of two of tennis’s top attractions, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. It may have regretted the injury absence…