Andy Murray beat Fernando Verdasco in an epic three set encounter, but that failed to secure him a place in the semi finals due to the fact that Juan Martin Del Potro beat the world number one, Roger Federer, 6-2. 6-7, 6-3 in what was one of the greatest matches of the tournament so far.

This means that Juan Martin Del Potro has booked himself a place in the semi finals at the O2 Arena on Saturday alongside the player he beat last night, Roger Federer.

Today’s matches see Rafael Nadal take on Novak Djokovic in the afternoon match followed by Nikolay Davydenko v Robin Soderling in the final.

Tixdaq can confirm that ATP World Tour Finals tickets are still available for both semi finals as well as the final on Sunday (November 29).

Compare and buy ATP World Tour Finals tickets online.

Andrew Murray was all to aware of what had let him down against Roger Federer. Murray’s serving was well below his usual high standards last night and Roger Federer made sure he capitalised on Andy Murray’s poor form. Murray told SkySports: “I served so poorly that anyone would have looked good against me because you get a chance pretty much every single point.”

Andrew Murray and Roger Federer have now met four times this season, and they have each claimed two wins. Andrew Murray claimed victories in Indian Wells and Doha, while Roger Federer has won the two most recent matches at the Cincinnati Masters as well as last night’s victory.

The 2009 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals continues this afternoon. The first match of the day sees Novak Djokovic take on Robin Soderling which is followed by Rafael Nadal v Nikolay Davydenko.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are proving to be hugely popular with British tennis fans and Tixdaq can confirm that tickets are still available for most of the remaining matches.

Compare and buy Barclays ATP World Tour Finals tickets now!

Rafael Nadal, who has had one of his worst season’s since joining the ATP tour was clearly no match for an in-form Robin Soderling who disposed of the former world number one in straight sets. Robin Soderling was not originally due to take part in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, however, an injury to Andy Roddick meant that the number nine seed was called up to fill the empty spot.

The second of today’s singles matches sees Novak Djokovic take on Nikolay Davydenko. Novak Djokovic has been in fine form of late and he is the bookies’ favourite.

Tomorrow sees Juan Martin Del Potro v Fernando Verdasco  followed by Andy Murray taking on the world number one, Roger Federer.

Tixdaq can confirm that tickets are still available to all of the remaining days of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, including the final which is set to take place next Sunday (November 29).

Compare and buy Barclays ATP World Tour Finals tickets now!

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals are set to take place at the London O2 Arena later this month. The ATP Finals begin on November 22 and the final match takes place a week later on November 29.

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals features only the top eight seeds of the current ATP roster and UK fans will have the chance to see the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in action.

Following Andy Murray’s failure to capture his first Grand Slam title this year, he will be looking to make his mark at the ATP Finals in front of his British fans. Andy Murray will no doubt be in a confident mood following last week’s triumph in Spain where he beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the 2009 ATP Valencia Open 500.

Novak Djokovic will also be in a confident mood after beating Roger Federer in the final of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis championship which also took place last week.

Tixdaq can confirm that there are still hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets available to compare online. ATP Finals tickets are available for every day of the event with prices starting below £20.

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals are set to take place at the London O2 Arena next month. The ATP Finals begin on November 22 and the final match takes place a week later on November 29.

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals features only the top eight seeds of the current ATP roster and UK fans will have the chance to see the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in action.

Following Andy Murray’s failure to capture his first Grand Slam title this year, he will be looking to make his mark at the ATP Finals in front of his British fans. Whilst Andy Murray will be in a confident mood, last year’s ATP World Tour Final winner Rafael Nadal’s will no doubt be looking to secure his second successive championship.

Tixdaq can confirm that there are still hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets available to compare online. ATP Finals tickets are available for every day of the event.

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals are set to take place at the London O2 Arena next month. The ATP Finals begin on November 22 and the final match takes place a week later on November 29.

The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals features only the top eight seeds of the current ATP roster and UK fans will have the chance to see the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in action.

Following Andy Murray’s failure to capture his first Grand Slam title, he will be looking to make his mark at the ATP Finals in front of his British fans. Whilst Andy Murray will be in a confident mood, last year’s ATP World Tour Final winner Rafael Nadal’s will no doubt be looking to secure his second successive championship.

Tixdaq can confirm that there are still hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets available to compare online. ATP Finals tickets are available for every day of the event.

Andy Murray says that his past experiences has led him to think that there might be some surprise results as the US Open tournament progresses, meaning the draw could be blown wide open.

Speaking of the draw, Andy Murray could face the big server Ivo Karlovic in the US Open second round, and there are potential matches against the world number six Juan Martin del Potro and the world number three Rafael Nadal along the way.

Andy Murray also says that he is constantly trying to improve regardless of where he is in the rankings, and that this mentality was key to the success of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal over the years; the motivation to keep improving despite already being at the top of their game.

The world number one Roger Federer played his first round match against the wild card teenager Devin Britton in the opening day of the tournament, and Roger Federer took one hour and 28 minutes to kick start his US Open campaign winning 6-1, 6-3, 7-5.

The scoreline suggests that the defending champion had it all his way, but was made to work hard as the American Devin Britton did manage to break Roger Federer twice and nearly set up a tie break in the third set to please the home crowd.

After the match, Roger Federer admitted it was a tricky game as his opponent had nothing to lose, whilst he had to deal with the pressure of playing as a five-time defending champion. Next up for Roger Federer is Simon Greul.

Also through to the US Open second round are Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko, both coming through in straight sets. The world number five Andy Roddick will face Marc Gicquel next whilst the world number eight Nikolay Davydenko will play against Jan Hernych.

Other top seeded players hoping to make it safely through to the US Open second round are Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco.

The world number four Novak Djokovic faces Ivan Ljubicic, world number seven Jo-Wilfried Tsonga faces Chase Buchanan, and the recent ATP 250 New Haven champion Fernando Verdasco faces Benjamin Becker. All these matches are scheduled to take place later today.

The US Open is taking place at the New York Flushing Meadows until September 13. However, not only are players hoping for success in this last Grand Slam of the year, but are hoping to qualify in the top eight to compete at the end-of-season Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which takes place from November 22 at the London O2 Arena.

So far, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have qualified, so players will be hoping to rack up as many ATP points as they can from the upcoming ATP tournaments, including the US Open, in order to be in the top eight with the most ATP points.

Hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets for each day of the tournament are still available to compare and buy at Tixdaq.com.

It seems that the number one seed Roger Federer is the one to beat once again, after becoming the 2009 French Open champion and the 2009 Wimbledon champion, breaking the previous record held by Pete Sampras with 15 Grand Slam titles. Roger Federer is the top seeded player for the US Open for the fifth time.

Roger Federer also won the ATP 1000 Cincinnati Masters title earlier this month, despite some suggesting the birth of his twin baby girls would cause detriment to his tennis performance.

Roger Federer has had a chance to reflect on his recent developments both on and off the court, claiming that it was unbelievable for him to win the French Open followed so closely by the win at Wimbledon.

He also claims that regaining the world number one at Wimbledon was amazing and came at the right time, now being able to call himself the world number one to his new twin daughters, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose.

Roger Federer was quick to dispel any suggestions that having the twins was going to negatively impact his career, saying that he does not see anything changing in terms of his tennis future and that he does not feel like he is being pulled back in any way. He says any impact the twins make is a positive one.

Meanwhile, Britain’s number one Andy Murray, who has been seeded second for the US Open, has declared that he can win his first Grand Slam title at the US Open and that he feels better coming into this tournament than ever before.

He seems to believe that momentum is the key, claiming that if he plays well then he can win. Andy Murray has also suggested that being able to last physically during the potential five-set matches was something he feels he has improved on.

It seems improving his fitness was something Andy Murray was serious about, having spent several weeks doing intensive training in Miami after Wimbledon, and all the hard work seems to be pulling off having won the ATP 1000 Montreal Masters (the Rogers Cup) earlier this month.

Despite trying to become the first Briton to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in 1936, Andy Murray claims to feel no extra pressure because of the pressure he already puts on himself.

After all the 22 year-old has achieved and the improvements he has made to his performance, Andy Murray says winning a Grand Slam is the last thing for him to do. He would want to do it at what he describes as the best court in tennis, describing his love for the atmosphere at the US Open and his love for New York City.

Andy Murray recently booked his place to be in the top eight players competing at the end-of-season Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which takes place from November 22 at the London O2 Arena.

Hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets for each day of the tournament are still available to compare and buy at Tixdaq.com.

Andy Murray won his opening match of the Montreal Rogers Cup against Jeremy Chardy.

Andy Murray was back to winning ways in his first competitive match since Wimbledon at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal, otherwise known as the Rogers Cup.

After receiving a bye in the first round, Andy Murray took one hour and 33 minutes to beat Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-2.

After the win, the world number three Andy Murray claimed that he needs to work on his match sharpness and wants a good run of games in this tournament especially as he has been in Miami to work on his game in the weeks leading up to the Rogers Cup.

He also admitted that the match was tougher than the scoreline suggests, claiming both players had their chances but Jeremy Chardy made a few more errors and Andy Murray was able to raise his game when needed.

Andy Murray will now face Gael Monfils or Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Montreal Rogers Cup third round.

Another top seed playing his first match of the tournament was world number one Roger Federer. A rain delay forced Roger Federer to wait for his return to tennis action since Wimbledon and had a tough time against his second round opponent Frederic Niemeyer.

Roger Federer came through winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 whilst Frederic Niemeyer, who is retiring at the end of the season, played with the spirit like he had nothing to lose and even saved three match points before Roger Federer eventually wrapped up the win.

Roger Federer reflected on his opening match, saying he was pleased with his performance as he played the big points well, especially as his opponent was playing in front of his home crowd.

Another player playing in front of his home crowd was Peter Polansky, who gave the world number four Novak Djokovic a run for his money in the second round of the Montreal Rogers Cup.

Novak Djokovic looked far from his best as he beat Peter Polansky 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) and will face either Mikhail Youzhny (who beat the 14th seed Marin Cilic) or John Isner in the ATP Montreal Masters third round.

Scheduled to play later today are the world number six Juan Martin Del Potro against Jan Hernych, world number five Andy Roddick against Igor Andreev, and the world number two Rafael Nadal against David Ferrer.

As the tennis season draws to a close, the world’s top eight players will battle it out to be the champion of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which takes place at the London O2 Arena from November 22.

Hundreds of ATP World Tour Finals tickets for each day of the tournament are still available to compare at tixdaq.com

Andy Murray will start his Rogers Cup campaign in Montreal later today against Jeremy Chardy

Andy Murray returns to action since Wimbledon for the second round of the Montreal Rogers Cup, an ATP 1000 Masters event with 1000 ATP points up for grabs.

Andy Murray has recently been preparing for the Rogers Cup in the heat of Miami and after receiving a bye in the first round, will face Jeremy Chardy in the second round scheduled to play later today.

The Rogers Cup also sees the return of Rafael Nadal, who missed the entire Wimbledon Grand Slam earlier this year due to tendinitis in his knees. His return got off to a good start with a doubles win with partner Francisco Roig against Novak Djokovic and partner Dusan Vemic.

All the top names in men’s tennis are competing in the Montreal Rogers Cup in preparation for the final Grand Slam of the season: the US Open.

British number one Andy Murray is in the same half of the draw as the world number one Roger Federer, and so if the two were to meet it would be at the semi-final stage.

World number two Rafael Nadal is in the same half of the draw as the number four seed Novak Djokovic, number six seed Andy Roddick, and the recent Washington Legg Mason Classic champion Juan Martin Del Potro.

Rafael Nadal has admitted that retaining the Montreal Rogers Cup title was not on the cards because of his lack of practice, and that his main focus was to work hard and try not to suffer any more injury setbacks. He says that he was aware he was going to Montreal to lose, and that winning was almost impossible.

Also suffering from lack of match practice was Roger Federer, who is returning to action since the birth of his twin daughters three weeks ago.

As well as Andy Murray, other top seeds scheduled to play later today include Roger Federer against Frederic Niemeyer, Novak Djokovic takes on Peter Polansky, and the world number eight Nikolay Davydenko against Paul-Henri Mathieu.

So far at the Montreal Rogers Cup, the first shock result was the 14th seed Marin Cilic losing to Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 despite winning the first set.

Players on the cusp of qualifying for the end-of-year Barclays ATP World Tour Finals include 9th seed Gilles Simon, 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez and 11th seed Fernando Verdasco.

Only the top eight players can compete at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and so they hope to play as well as possible at the Montreal Rogers Cup to gain as many ATP points as possible for a place in the top eight.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals takes place at the London O2 Arena from November 22. ATP World Tour Finals tickets are available to compare at tixdaq.com

Thousands of Andy Murray fans are expected to watch his second round match at the Wimbledon ‘Henman Hill’ on the large screen, just as they did for his first round match earlier this week.

Andy Murray did not make it easy for himself as it took four sets to beat Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match at the All England Club Grand Slam.

Andy Murray is scheduled to play against Ernests Gulbis later today in the Wimbledon second round, hoping for a more straight forward victory.

The last time Andy Murray faced Ernests Gulbis was at last year’s Queen’s Club tournament and Ernests Gulbis had suggested Andy Murray took a medical time-out for no real reason when the scores were 5-5 in the last set.

Ernests Gulbis knows he would not have necessarily won the game, but claims that the medical time-out disrupted his rhythm as Andy Murray went on to win the match.

Andy Murray denies playing such tactics, and had to withdraw from the Queen’s Club tournament last year with an injury the following day.

Elsewhere at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, world number two Roger Federer comfortably booked his place into the third round after easing past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Roger Federer will be up against Philipp Kohlschreiber next.

Novak Djokovic, who is just behind Andy Murray in the world rankings, also booked his place into the Wimbledon third round by beating Simon Greul 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 and faces Mardy Fish next.

World number seven Fernando Verdasco had to battle through three tie breaks before eventually beating Kristof Vliegen 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Next up is an all-Spanish affair as Fernando Verdasco takes on Albert Montanes in the Wimbledon third round.

It seems all the top seeds were easing into the Wimbledon third round, but the case could not be said for the number five seed Juan Martin del Potro, who earlier today lost to former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

Also playing their second round matches today was number six seed Andy Roddick who beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, and the number eight seed Gilles Simon who beat Thiago Alves 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

The 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships is in full swing now and fans will be pleased to hear that Wimbledon tickets are still currently available to compare at tixdaq.com, with pairs of tickets currently priced from £330.

British tennis fans will also be pleased to hear that the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will be taking place at the London O2 Arena in November 2009.

At the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the top eight players will compete to become champion in this end-of-season tournament.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are all still available to compare at tixdaq.com currently priced from £20.

Andy Murray is one of many top seeded players to have won their opening game of the French Open at Rolland Garros.

The number three seed, Andy Murray, beat 2004 French Open quarter finalist Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina with an emphatic straight sets victory (6-2, 6-2, 6-1).

Andy Murray hopes to pass the third round stage of the French Open tournament for the first time in his career.

Also through to the second round at Rolland Garros is world number one Rafael Nadal who had to work hard to beat Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.

Andy Murray is in the same half of the French Open draw as Rafael Nadal and the two could meet in the semi-final stage.

In the other half of the draw are world number two Roger Federer and world number four Novak Djokovic.

Roger Federer beat Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and may face Rafael Nadal for the fourth consecutive time in the French Open final.

Roger Federer has lost the previous three finals against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros but can take comfort with his win at their most recent meeting at the Madrid Masters, which was Roger Federer’s first title win of the season.

Top seeds due to play their opening games of the 2009 French Open later today are Novak Djokovic who will face Nicolas Lapentti, while recent Madrid Masters semi-finalist Juan Martin del Potro is up against Michael Llodra of France.

Other top seeded players through to the second round of the French Open are Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco and Gilles Simon.

The top eight seeded players by the end of the tennis season will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

However, the next Grand Slam tournament after the French Open is the 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships. British tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at Wimbledon, which takes place from June 22.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

World number one Rafael Nadal was the first player to book his place at the end of season Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, being held at the London O2 Arena and making it the biggest indoor tennis event in the world ever.

Rafael Nadal has qualified for the showpiece event, previously called the Tennis Masters Cup, for the past four years. However, Rafael Nadal has had to withdraw twice with injury, including last year with a knee injury, where the event was held in Shanghai and Novak Djokovic became the eventual winner.

Despite being world number one, Rafael Nadal has never won this end of season tournament. In 2006 and 2007, Rafael Nadal was not able beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

At the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, only the top eight singles players and doubles teams will play against each other in a round-robin structured tournament.

The eight players are divided into two groups of four, where each player will play against the other three players in their group. Then the two players from each group with the best match statistics make it to the semi-finals before the winners fight it out in the grand final.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion will win $5million (£3.2m) and 1,500 ATP world ranking points.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are taking place at the London O2 Arena every year until 2012. This year, the tournament starts from November 22-29 and organisers said 150,000 out of 250,000 tickets have already been sold. 65,000 tickets have been released for general sale since May 19.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com

Beforehand, players must win as many ATP world ranking points as possible to in order to qualify in the top eight for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Points are gained by playing in the upcoming tournaments, such as the Wimbledon Championships which takes place from June 22.

Wimbledon tickets are also available to compare at tixdaq.com

Top seeded players Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are safely through to the quarter finals of the ATP Madrid Masters.

World number three Andy Murray beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1 and will now face Juan Martin del Potro after he battled against Stanislas Wawrinka from one set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in almost three hours.

Andy Murray found it tough going in the first set failing to convert a total of eight break points before taking the set 7-5. The breezy conditions did not help either player and in between sets, water had to be laid down on the clay surface after it had dried out.

Tommy Robredo produced too many unforced errors in the second set whilst Andy Murray’s groundstrokes proved to be vital in his win, breaking serve three times to take the second and final set 6-1.

Roger Federer was hardly troubled by James Blake winning 6-2, 6-4 and now faces Andy Roddick in the ATP Madrid Masters quarter finals. Andy Roddick was gifted a place in the quarter finals after third round opponent Nikolay Davydenko had to withdraw with a leg injury.

World number one Rafael Nadal is also through to the ATP Madrid Masters quarter finals after third round opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber had to also withdraw with a foot injury. Rafael Nadal takes on either fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco or Juan Monaco in the quarter finals.

Novak Djokovic will face either Gilles Simon or Ivan Ljubicic in the quarter finals of the ATP Madrid Masters after beating Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-4.

The next Grand Slam tournament after this month’s French Open is the 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships. British tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at Wimbledon, which takes place from June 22.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

Top seeded players Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick won their opening games of the ATP Madrid Masters. The top seeds are now through to the third round of the Madrid Masters in preparation for this month’s French Open Grand Slam at Roland Garros.

World number one, Rafael Nadal, eased past Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1 taking the win on his first match point. This was the 31st consecutive clay court win for Rafael Nadal, who has only lost four times on clay in the last 152 matches since the start of 2005.

World number four, Novak Djokovic, also won in straight sets to beat Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 6-3. Novak Djokovic did, however, fall awkwardly after slipping on the clay court at the start of the second set, but recovered to win break points in the fifth and ninth games.

Number six seed, Andy Roddick, had a tougher time having to come from a set down to take the 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory against Tommy Haas, finishing off with his ninth ace and his only break point win of the match.

Many top seeded players involved in third round matches of the ATP Madrid Masters are due to play later today.

British number three seed Andy Murray has an early start taking on Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Scheduled to play in the early afternoon is world number two Roger Federer against James Blake, and Novak Djokovic against Andreas Seppi.

On Thursday evening, scheduled matches include Rafael Nadal taking on unseeded Philipp Kohlschreiber and Andy Roddick facing a tough opponent in tenth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

The next Grand Slam tournament after this month’s French Open is the 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships. British tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at Wimbledon, which takes place from June 22.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

Andy Murray had a tough opening game in the ATP Madrid Masters against Simone Bolelli, but Andy Murray is through to the third round winning 7-6, 6-4.

It was a fairly even in the first set, with Simone Bolelli and Andy Murray winning all their service games. Both had a break point each but failed to convert.

A first set tie break followed where both Andy Murray and Simone Bolelli started to struggle on their serve.

Andy Murray and Simone Bolelli made a series of mistakes during the tie-break, however,  Andy Murray eventually won the tie break 11-9.

Again in the second set, games were won with serve. Andy Murray faced two break points but saved them both.

Later, Simone Bolelli saved one match point by serving an ace, but could not save the second match point and the match slipped away from him.

A break point win from Andy Murray proved to be the difference so Andy Murray progresses into the ATP Madrid Masters third round.

Andy Murray is still in with the chance of defending his Madrid Masters title despite playing on a clay surface this year after the tournament was played on a hard surface last year.

Andy Murray’s third round opponent is Tommy Robredo. Tommy Robredo beat Mardy Fish in his second round match. Another second round match winner was number two seed Roger Federer who defeated Robin Soderling in straight  sets. Roger Federer will now face either James Blake or Ivo Karlovic.

Also in the second round of the ATP Madrid Masters, Fernando Verdasco won the all-Spanish affair by beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-2. However, number nine seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost 6-4, 7-5 to wild card entry Ivan Ljubicic.

Due to play their opening games of the ATP Madrid Masters later today, world number one Rafael Nadal takes on Jurgen Melzer, number five seed Juan Martin del Potro faces Tomas Berdych, and number six seed Andy Roddick is up against Tommy Haas.

Also, recent Serbia Open champion Novak Djokovic will try to claim the third seed position back from Andy Murray with his opening game of the ATP Madrid Masters against Oscar Hernandez.

The next Grand Slam tournament after this month’s French Open is the 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships. British tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at Wimbledon, which takes place from June 22.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

The new number three seed, Andy Murray, will start defending his Madrid Masters title later today when he takes on Simone Bolelli of Italy in the second round.

Andy Murray has overtaken Novak Djokovic as the number three seed and is one of many top players in action at the 2009 ATP Madrid Masters later today.

Andy Murray will be hoping to improve on his second round exit to at the recent ATP Rome Masters where Andy Murray was defeated by Juan Monaco.

Juan Monaco is through to the second round of the Madrid Masters after beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 7-5.

Some of the second round matches scheduled for later today include an all-Spanish clash between Fernando Verdasco and Juan Carlos Ferrero in front of their home crowd, whilst another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, takes on Mardy Fish,. The world number two, Roger Federer, takes on Robin Soderling.

So far in the Madrid Masters, number nine seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga admitted former world number one Marat Safin was an idol to him and so found it very special to beat him 6-4, 7-5.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will now face wild card entry Ivan Ljubicic later today in the second round of the 2009 ATP Madrid Masters.

This was a good start for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in preparation for the forthcoming French Open Grand Slam, as he will be looking tio impress in front of his home crowd.

In other results so far in the first round of the ATP Madrid Masters, ,Stanislas Wawrinka cruised past qualifier Marco Crugnola 6-2, 6-0 and David Ferrer beat Argentine, Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-2. David Ferrer will meet Juan Monaco in the second round.

The next Grand Slam tournament after this month’s French Open is the 2009 Wimbledon tennis championships. British tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at Wimbledon, which takes place from June 22.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Final in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

World number one, Rafael Nadal, was the king of clay once again as he beat Novak Djokovic 7-6, 6-2 in the final of the Rome Masters.

Rafael Nadal had cruised past Fernando Gonzalez whilst Novak Djokovic fought hard against Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Rome Masters to set up a repeat clay-court final from the Monte Carlo Masters.

At the Monte Carlo Masters final, Novak Djokovic took Rafael Nadal to three sets before Rafael Nadal became victorious.

However, this time around Rafael Nadal took two sets to take the Rome Masters title away from the defending champion.

In the first set, Novak Djokovic battled to win two break points before taking the set into a tiebreak. Novak Djokovic also saved a set point from Rafael Nadal on his own serve in the 9th game.

A frustrated Novak Djokovic smashed his racket as he lost serve in the 11th game when the scores were 5-5 whilst Rafael Nadal made some uncharacteristic loose forehands.

In the end, a number of unforced errors from the Rome Masters defending champion meant a 7-2 tiebreak win for Rafael Nadal in the first set and Novak Djokovic would have to go all the way if he were to defend his title.

In the second set, the scores were level at 2-2 before a dominant Rafael Nadal won the next four games in a row to win his 30th consecutive match on clay.

Rafael Nadal has not lost on clay since his second round defeat to Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Rome Masters last year.

Novak Djokovic’s failure to defend his Rome Masters title means that he will now drop one place in the ATP world rankings to number four.

Andy Murray will become the new number three seed on Monday May 11 and is the first British player to break into the top three since computerised rankings were introduced in 1973.

Novak Djokovic will now head to his home town of Belgrade for the first ever Serbia Open ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

The next ATP World Tour Masters 1000 will be in Madrid from May 10 before the French Open Grand Slam from May 25.

The Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament starts from June 22 and tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Wimbledon tickets and tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

Having received a bye into the second round, Andy Murray was not able match his opponent on clay.

Andy Murray cruised in the first set having broken Juan Monaco’s serve twice early on to lead the set 5-0 and then win 6-1.

However, Juan Monaco looked revitalised in the second set, taking advantage of Andy Murray’s errors.

Both players exchanged two breaks each but more decisively, Juan Monaco broke in the eighth game and was then able to hold on to win the set 6-3.

The third and final set followed in the same pattern with Andy Murray losing too many service games.

Andy Murray lost the game whilst serving for the match as fatigue became apparent.

Juan Monaco then took the set 7-5 with no problems on his serve and will now face number 15 seed Marin Cilic.

It is the first time since August 2008 at the Beijing Olympics where Andy Murray has lost his opening match of a tournament.

Elsewhere in the Rome Masters, world number one Rafael Nadal beat Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3 to set up a third round match against Robin Soderling.

World number two Roger Federer beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 to face the number 16 seed. Radek Stepanek, in the third round of the ATP Rome Masters.

Also, world number three Novak Djokovic will face number 13 seed Tommy Robredo and 5th seed Juan Martin Del Potro will face the recent Monte Carlo Masters semi-finalist Stanislas Wawrinka.

Number six seed Fernando Verdasco has also made it through to the Rome Masters third round, but number seven seed Nikolay Davydenko has not made it through after suffering a 7-5, 7-6 defeat to Jurgen Melzer.

Tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at the Wimbledon 2009 Grand Slam tournament in June. Wimbledon tickets are currently available with prices from £189.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com.

The first match for Andy Murray in the Rome Masters has been put back one day because of rain interruptions throughout the day on Tuesday April 28.

As Andy Murray aims to take over the world number three spot from Serbian Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray’s first opponent in the second round of the Rome Masters is qualifier Juan Monaco.

Andy Murray has been drawn in the same group as Rafael Nadal and therefore poses as a potential semi-final opponent in the Rome Masters.

Andy Murray’s previous meeting against Rafael Nadal resulted in a semi-final loss to the world number one in the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month.

After receiving a bye into the second round and winning the Barcelona Open last Sunday, Rafael Nadal is due to play Italian Andreas Seppi after Andreas Seppi beat American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Monte Carlo Masters finalist Novak Djokovic was able to complete his second round match against Spaniard Albert Montanes despite rain interruptions causing play to start late at 22.30 local time, and Novak Djokovic won 7-6, 6-0.

It was a frustrating first set for Novak Djokovic and he smashed his racket in half during an error made in the first set tie-break. However, Novak Djokovic turned it around with a dominating second set display without losing a game.

World number two Roger Federer is due to get his Rome Masters campaign under way with a second round clash against Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

Also, number five seed Juan Martin Del Potro is up against Viktor Troicki in the Rome Masters second round.

The biggest shock of the Rome Masters tournament so far was the number 14 seed American James Blake losing 7-5 6-3 to Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi in the first round.

Tennis fans can catch their favourite players in action at the Wimbledon 2009 Grand Slam tournament in June. Wimbledon tickets are currently available with prices from £189.

The world’s top seeded players will also be in action in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available to compare at tixdaq.com. ]]> http://www.tixdaq.com/news/2009/04/29/andy-murrays-first-match-on-hold-due-to-rain-in-rome/feed/ 0 http://www.tixdaq.com/news/2009/04/23/rafael-nadal-through-to-next-round-of-barcelona-open/ http://www.tixdaq.com/news/2009/04/23/rafael-nadal-through-to-next-round-of-barcelona-open/#comments Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:29:57 +0000 Peter Bevan http://www.tixdaq.com/?p=942 Rafael Nadal is on course to winning his fifth consecutive Barcelona Open title after clinching a 6-2 6-2 victory in his first match over Portuguese star Frederico Gil.

Rafael Nadal will now face unseeded Belgian Christophe Rochus in the last 16 of the Barcelona Open.

It was a successful round for the top seeded Spaniard players in front of their home crowd.

Barcelona Open second seed Fernando Verdasco beat Nicolas Lapentti 7-5 6-3 and will now face the Czech number 15th seed Tomas Berdych in the next round.

Spaniard number four seed David Ferrer meets unseeded Italian Potito Starace in the last 16 after Potito Starace’s surprising win over 14th seed Robin Soderling.

Sixth seed Tommy Robredo, winner of the Barcelona Open title in 2004, is up against Russian 12th seed Igor Andreev next after beating Argentine Gaston Gaudio 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.

Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Nicolas Almagro face tough opponents in the next round of the Barcelona Open.

Number 16 seed Feliciano Lopez will face the Russian number three seed Nikolay Davydenko whilst tenth seed Nicolas Almagro takes on Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian.

Elsewhere, recent Monte Carlo Masters semi-finalist Stanislas Wawrinka meets number nine seed Radek Stepanek in the third round of the Barcelona Open.

Rafael Nadal will be hoping to continue his top form and defend his crown at the Wimbledon 2009 tennis tournament in June. Wimbledon tickets are currently available with prices from £225.

British Tennis fans will also get the chance to see the world’s top seeded players in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November, being held in the London O2 Arena.

Tickets for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals are available from £45.