World number one Simona Halep battled past Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-1 6-4 to set up a repeat of last year’s Italian Open final against defending champion Elina Svitolina. Halep, whose only other title this year came in January, fell behind after an error-strewn first set in which there were nine breaks of serve in total.
Rafael Nadal came out on top in a captivating Italian Open semi-final against long-term rival Novak Djokovic as he won 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in Rome. A gruelling contest was full of heavy-hitting and dramatic points, with Nadal edging the first set on a tie-break. Djokovic, who is trying to get back to his peak after
Britain’s Gordon Reid has won the Japan Open men’s singles wheelchair tennis title for the second year running. The Rio 2016 Paralympic champion defeated Japanese world number three Shingo Kunieda 6-4 4-6 6-1 in Iizuka. World number five Reid, 26, ends the tournament as singles and doubles champion after his triumph with fellow Briton Alfie
See the moment this unexpected visitor decided to steal the spotlight at the tennis competition in Rome! Doubles players Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo were battling against Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for a place in the semi-finals of the tournament. Then this cheeky cat sprinted across the court mid-point. Thankfully it wasn’t too
Former world number one Maria Sharapova reached the Italian Open semi-finals after fighting back to beat reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Sharapova, 31, won 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 7-5 against the 20-year-old Latvian, taking her third match point to end a gripping contest which lasted over three hours. She will play world number one Simona
Andy Murray has not asked for a wildcard into next week’s ATP Challenger event in Loughborough. The double Wimbledon champion, 31, has not played competitively since Wimbledon last year and had an operation on his right hip in January. It is thought the Scot had initially targeted the new event, which begins on Monday, to
Rafael Nadal reached his first Italian Open semi-final since 2014 with a hard-fought victory against home player Fabio Fognini in Rome. The Spanish world number two won 4-6 6-1 6-2 to set up a last-four clash with either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori. Nadal, who has lost twice to Fognini on clay, took his second
Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won the men’s doubles at the Japan Open wheelchair tennis tournament. The top-seeded pair defeated Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda of Japan 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. Reid will play again in Saturday’s men’s singles final against Kunieda after beating Hewett in the last four. Britain’s Lucy Shuker and Dutch
World number six Juan Martin Del Potro has suffered an injury scare before the French Open, retiring from his Italian Open match with David Goffin. Belgium’s Goffin was leading 6-2 4-5 when Del Potro, who had just missed a set point, retired with a groin injury. World number one Rafael Nadal cruised into the last
British number one Johanna Konta was knocked out of the Italian Open on her 27th birthday by French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Latvian fifth seed Ostapenko, 20, recovered from losing the first set to win the last-16 match 2-6 6-3 6-4 in Rome. Defeat was world number 22 Konta’s fifth in a succession against a