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Serena and Federer look to make early mark in cool Paris The familiar sound of sliding feet on red Parisian brick dust ushered in the 112th French Open on a cool and blustery Sunday with several former champions keen to make an early mark on the year's second grand slam tournament. World...

Top players 'intrigued' by IPTL - Bhupathi If Novak Djokovic is to be believed then Mahesh Bhupathi has lit the touchpaper for a revolution in tennis. The Indian doubles specialist is the driving ***** behind the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), launched earlier this week to great...

New tennis league takes steps to combat spot-fixing The founder of the soon to be launched International Premier Tennis League is planning to meet with the sport's integrity unit in London next month to try to insure the competition is not affected by ******* ******** and spot-fixing. The...

Kanepi beats Peng to win WTA Brussels title Kaia Kanepi triumphed in her first final of the year at WTA Brussels with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Shuai Peng on Saturday. The Estonian, 27, lost just two games in the opening set before securing a crucial break from 5-5 in the second to lift the title...

France's Cornet wins title in Strasbourg Alize Cornet became the second Frenchwoman to win WTA Strasbourg after sealing a 7-6 6-0 victory over Lucie Hradecka in the final on Saturday. Cornet emulated compatriot Aravane Rezai in 2009 in winning the title in Strasbourg as she edged out her Czech...

Montanes downs Monfils to win Nice title Albert Montanes warmed up for the French Open in perfect fashion with a 6-0 7-6 victory over Gael Monfils in the final of the Nice Open on Saturday as he claimed his sixth career title. Only a rain break during the fifth game could interrupt the...

Monaco wins inaugural Dusseldorf title Juan Monaco won his first title of 2013 with a 6-4 6-3 win over Jarkko Nieminen in the final at Dusseldorf. The Argentine third seed, 29, needed just over an hour and 11 minutes to see off the Finnish world number 42, who will rise back into the top 40...

Djokovic and cold weather threaten Nadal's Paris bid Old foe Novak Djokovic and damp weather conditions are the most likely obstacles to claycourt machine Rafael Nadal's bid for a record-extending eighth French Open title over the next two weeks. Nadal, who last year beat Bjorn Borg's record...

Three Americans through to main Paris draw The third round of qualifying for the French Open was a good day for the American men, Denis Kudla joining compatriots Steve Johnson and Jack Sock in the main draw. Kudla followed up his marathon 15-13 win over Canada’s Peter Polansky in the second...

Cavendish wins Giro finale as Nibali clinches title Mark Cavendish won the final stage of the Giro d'Italia while Vincenzo Nibali wrapped up the overall title on the final stage in Brescia. Astana rider Nibali needed only to avoid disaster in the final stage to claim the title, and he finished...

Martin wins Tour of Belgium despite Sanchez heroics Tony Martin won the Tour of Belgium despite Luis Leon Sanchez's brilliant solo victory on the final stage. Sanchez went out on his own and won the final stage by 27 seconds from a four-man chasing pack consisting of Francesco Gavazzi...

Monfils to face Montanes in Nice final Gael Monfils will face Albert Montanes in the final of the Nice Open. Monfils, who has been handed a wildcard into the men’s draw of the French Open after an injury plagued season, backed up his comfortable quarter-final win over Robin Haase with another...

Nieminen sets up Monaco final in Dusseldorf Jarkko Nieminen will face Juan Monaco in the final of the Dusseldorf Cup. Finn Niemenen came through a tight three-set encounter against Igor Sijsling of The Netherlands whilst Monaco beat Argentine compatriot Guido Pella 6-4 7-6. Niemenen holds a...

Damp Paris a danger for claycourt ace Nadal Making his comeback after missing the last two grand slams, Rafa Nadal probably expects a warm reception next week when he returns to Roland Garros - an event which is supposed to be one of the summer highlights of the French sporting calendar. Yet...

Djokovic adopts head in sand approach for French Open Despite the popularity of social media and the widespread presence of traditional media, Novak Djokovic appeared to believe he could be spared the unbearable truth of discovering who his second-round opponent at the French Open might be...

Robson draws Wozniacki, Sharapova on course to meet Stosur Britain's Laura Robson was paired with world number 10 Caroline Wozniacki in an intriguing highlight of the women's singles French Open first round draw. The British number one will go into the contest against Wozniacki as the underdog...

Nadal and Djokovic in same half of draw World number one Novak Djokovic and defending champion Rafael Nadal could meet in the 2013 French Open semi-finals. The two contested last year's final at the clay court Grand Slam, with Nadal capturing his record seventh title at Roland Garros, but...

Malori wins Bayern-Rundfahrt as Haussler takes final stage Adrian Malori clinched overall victory in the 2013 Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany, while Heinrich Haussler won the final stage. Malori had taken the lead in Saturday's time trial, and finished safely in the pack during a rainy ten-lap...

Stephens ousted in Brussels, Cornet through in Strasbourg Sloane Stephens fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of Peng Shuai going down 6-2 6-3 at the Brussels Open. Stephens has struggled for form since reaching her first ever Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open in January, and her...

Malori wins Bayern-Rundfahrt TT; Dumoulin wins Plumelec GP Italy's Adriano Malori won the time trial fourth stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt to take the overall lead in the race with one stage left. Malori won the 31.2km time trial in Schierling by 18 seconds from Germany's Jasha Sutterlin to...

Monaco through in Duesseldorf, Haas retires Juan Monaco beat Tobias Kamke 6-3 6-4 to move into the semi-final of the ATP Duesseldorf Cup. Monaco won his opening match comfortably against Brazilian qualifier Andre Ghem 6-4 6-4 and moves into his second ATP World Tour semi-final of the year -...

Iglinsky pips Greipel to win fourth stage in Belgium Maxim Iglinskiy of Astana broke away to win the penultimate stage of the Tour of Belgium with a brilliant solo ride on Saturday. The 32-year-old was part of a seven-man breakaway early on in the stage, and he held his nerve to win by two...

Nadal back in old routine and looking invincible Watching Rafa Nadal churn his way through the claycourt season over the past few weeks, it seems nothing much has changed since his French Open triumph a year ago despite a lengthy injury layoff. Titles in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome, where he...

Champion-elect Nibali extends lead in snow Vincenzo Nibali braved foul conditions to win a mountainous stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia and all but seal the title. The Astana rider attacked at the foot of the highest climb in the 2013 Giro d'Italia to power through the snow and lay claim to the...

Dominant Serena fearful of enemy within Based on form, Serena Williams is a stand-out favourite to win a second French Open title but her record at Roland Garros means she approaches the tournament with a touch of apprehension and fearful of the "lady in the mirror". Williams is world number...

Martin storms to TT win in Belgium Germany’s Tony Martin won stage three of the Tour of Belgium, winning from France’s Tom Dumoulin and the Russian duo of Artem Ovechkin and Alexander Serov in the Beveren time trial. Martin clocked an impressive time of 17 minutes 42 seconds as Dumoulin...

French Grand Slam drought set to drag on at Roland Garros After 30 years without a male Grand Slam winner, France's tennis establishment is beginning to question whether the absence of success is purely down to a lack of natural-born winners. Since Yannick Noah's triumph at the French Open in...

Ciolek wins Bayern-Rundfahrt stage three Germany’s Gerald Ciolek won stage 3 of the 34th Bayern-Rundfahrt, leading home France’s Arnaud Demare and Australian Heinrich Haussler. Ciolek crossed the finish line ahead of Demare, Haussler and Britain’s Ben Swift in the bunch sprint finish at the...

Raonic sees a gain from training in Spain Milos Raonic would probably not feature on most people's list of potential French Open champions but the two-metre Canadian with the booming serve has been working hard on his clay game in Spain and has the potential to cause an upset. The...

Giro positives do little to help public perception For all the recent protestations cycling is moving on from its ****-ridden past, the public remains unconvinced and two positive tests during this month's Giro d'Italia will have done little to convince otherwise. A day after the International...

Rip-roaring Janowicz ready to take Paris by storm Whether ripping shirts or forehand winners, or thumping down serves with frightening velocity, Jerzy Janowicz is making a big impression at the top of men's tennis and is ready to take Paris by storm again. The 22-year-old Pole, whose fiery...

Haas marches on in Duesseldorf, Tipsarevic out Veteran German Tommy Haas continued his recent rich vein of form by coming back to defeat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in the ATP Duesseldorf Cup. Second seed Haas, who won the recent BMW Open in Munich before reaching the third round in Rome, dropped the...

Stage 19 cancelled due to snow Heavy snow ****** Giro d'Italia organisers to call off Friday's mountainous stage 19 from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello. "Due to adverse weather conditions and, in particular, snow on the stage route in its entirety, stage 19...has been cancelled," race...

Di Luca sacked by team after testing positive for EPO Former Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the ****** ***** booster EPO. Italian Di Luca, who had a previous positive for the same ****** substance in 2009, failed an...

Croft backs Robson to enjoy glory run Former British number one Annabel Croft believes Laura Robson is capable of a “terrific run” at this year’s French Open and compensate for injured fellow Brit Andy Murray's absence from the men's draw. Robson has impressed in recent weeks, demolishing...

Armitstead looking to build on London success Lizzie Armitstead is looking to go one better than her silver medal at London 2012 at the next Olympics in Rio. The 24-year-old was the one that kick-started Team GB's medal rush in the capital last summer, claiming the host's first medal as she...

Zheng shocks Wozniacki in Belgium China’s Zheng Jie sent top seed Caroline Wozniacki tumbling out of the WTA Brussels Open with a convincing 6-2 6-4 win. There were few problems for the other seeded players on Wednesday, fourth seed Sloane Stephens completed her delayed match against Tsvetana...

Impey takes stage two of Bayern-Rundfahrt Daryl Impey won stage two of Bayern Rundfahrt, taking his third win of the season in commanding fashion. The Orica rider took the second stage of the five-day German event ahead of Gerald Ciolek (Team MTN) and Adriano Malori (Lampre), and the victory...

Konta through, Keothavong out in Roland Garros qualifying Anne Keothavong lost her first preliminary round contest to Eva Birnerova at the French Open, but Johanna Konta advanced. Konta, the British number three, beat China’s Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-3 and will meet Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan...

Del Potro pulls out of Roland Garros World number seven Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina has pulled out of next week's French Open after failing to recover from a virus. Del Potro, who reached the quarter-finals at the claycourt Grand Slam event last year, flew home after losing to Frenchman...

Greipel wins second straight stage at Tour of Belgium Andre Greipel won the second stage of the Tour of Belgium from Danny van Poppel to make it a second win from two in the five stage event. Tom Boonen came in third but is second behind Greipel in the general classification with Van Poppel...

Tomic to play in Paris despite ***'s ban for alleged assault Bernard Tomic will play at next week's French Open despite his off-court troubles if only to keep some momentum going for the grasscourt season ahead, Tennis Australia's Todd Woodbridge said. Tomic's ****** John faced a charge of...

Nibali wins stage 18 time trial to cement lead Italy's Vincenzo Nibali convincingly won the 20.6km uphill time trial to move more than four minutes ahead of closest rival Cadel Evans in the battle for the Giro's maglia rosa. Defying heavy rain, Astana's Nibali was the only rider in the peloton...

McQuaid: Long way to go to repair Armstrong damage Cycling has a long way to go to repair the damage done to the sport by the Lance Armstrong case, International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said following the publication of the UCI's stakeholder consultation. A summary of the...

Davydenko dumped out at first hurdle in Dusseldorf Nikolay Davydenko fell to a 3-6 6-4 6-3 defeat to Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia in the opening round in Dusseldorf. Bedene took less than two hours to consign Davydenko to a fourth straight defeat following losses in the opening rounds at Munich...

Manning taking clean slate into new coaching role British Cycling's Paul Manning might have won Olympic gold alongside two of the men he may well now instruct, but he insists he will approach his new role as men's team pursuit coach with a clean slate. In a coaching reshuffle at British...

Andy Murray withdraws from Roland Garros Britain's world number two Andy Murray has pulled out of the French Open after failing to recover from a lower back injury which he aggravated at the Italian Open last week. "It's a really tough decision and I love playing in Paris, but after seeking...

Evans to lead BMC team Australian Cadel Evans will get the nod ahead of American Tejay van Garderen as BMC Racing's number one rider at the Tour de France, team president Jim Ochowicz said. Evans, the first Australian to win the Tour in 2011, was blown away by Briton Bradley Wiggins last year...

Klein falls to loss in Roland Garros qualifier Brydan Klein went down 7-6 6-3 to 19-year old Mathias Bourgue at the qualifiers for the French Open in Roland Garros. Bourgue, who became the youngest player since Richard Gasquet to make the final of the French junior championships, had to save...

Visconti doubles up with victory in stage 17 Italy's Giovanni Visconti took a second - and his Movistar team's fourth - triumph on the Giro after an audacious solo ****** on the only climb of day near the finish in Vicenza. Just three days after his glory on the gruelling Galibier, 30-year-old...