Djokovic, Federer, Del Potro and Berdych: In pictures and quotes
So the prestigious, award-winning, $2m Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships are down to the last eight, and each of the quarter-finals has its allotted seed.…
ATP Tour Archives: 02/2013
Silver assassins Federer and Djokovic slice to Dubai quarter-finals
Both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are multiple winners in Dubai, and the prospect of a final between them—a repeat of the 2011 final—is an…
Big men Berdych and Del Potro win in centre-stage sun in Dubai
It’s mid-week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre, and the 32 men who began the journey towards a share of the $2m prize money…
Djokovic wins battle of Serbs but Tsonga loses French contest in Dubai
A confident world No1 is a scary No1, and the prospect of a confident Novak Djokovic is a particularly intimidating prospect. The top man has…
Dubai 2013: Davydenko & Del Potro open up Tuesday’s box of delights
The second day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was like a fine box of chocolates: The selection of matches catered for every taste…
Shanghai, Dubai and Bastad claim top ATP tournament awards – again!
Timing is everything, and with the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in full swing when the ATP announced the winners of its tournament awards for…
Dubai 2013: Federer, Seppi, Youzhny spearhead day of 30-somethings
The buzz throughout the opening day at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was of Roger Federer, five-time winner and defending champion. He alone of…
ATP’s top men Federer and Djokovic celebrate birth of the rankings
In the grander scheme of things, perhaps 40 years is not such a long time, but in the fast-moving kaleidoscope of modern sport it is…
Dubai? Grand Slam? No1? For Roger Federer, ‘anything is possible’
By almost any measure, it would be hard to describe the 24-carat life of Roger Federer tough—and with good reason. Gifted the kind of talent…
Desert song: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer headline Dubai
And so, after a brief sojourn in Europe and North America, the men’s tour bids farewell to the indoor courts and moves back beneath the…
Rotterdam 2013: Del Potro takes 14th title as bold Benneteau impresses
The odds may have been stacked against the 31-year-old Frenchman Julien Benneteau, but even the most hard-hearted of tennis followers would surely have found a…
Rotterdam 2013: Del Potro out-powers Dimitrov – & aims to improve
They had never met before, the No2 seed Juan Martin del Potro and the younger man newly into the top 40, Grigor Dimitrov. It was,…
Rotterdam 2013: Roger Federer suffers shock exit to Julien Benneteau
Roger Federer had been the hot favourite—give or take a certain Juan Martin del Potro—to defend his title in Rotterdam. His chances, and the hopes…
Rotterdam 2013: Grigor Dimitrov steps into limelight & semi-finals
If age is a state of mind, then three of the eight men in the Rotterdam quarter-finals that got under way on Friday probably feel…
Rotterdam 2013: Baghdatis halts Gasquet in France’s Dutch surge
The early indoor season is showing a distinct liking for Gallic flair. In the first week of February’s indoor swing, Montpellier saw five French names…
Rotterdam 2013: Everyone wants a piece of Roger Federer
In case it’s escaped the notice of anyone in the Netherlands, Roger Federer is back in town—in an ice-cold Rotterdam—and everyone wants a piece of…
Rotterdam 2013: Impressive Del Potro dispatches Monfils
It was still only day two, yet there had already been rather more upsets than the 40th anniversary edition of the prestigious Rotterdam 500 might…
Rotterdam 2013: Indoor stars Federer, Del Potro and Tsonga fire up
The rigours of the tennis year begin early and demand much. Steamy tournaments in Doha, Chennai and the Antipodes barely work limbs and rackets into…
Rafael Nadal begins comeback in South America’s ‘golden swing’
While most of the tennis tour ploughs the furrow of the northern hemisphere’s indoor courts—Rotterdam and Marseille, Memphis and San Jose—the burnished clay of South…