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Bartoli and Paszek dumped out at first hurdle in Strasbourg Top two seeds Marion Bartoli and Tamira Paszek were bounced out of the opening round in Strasbourg in straight sets. No.1 seed Bartoli, who has had an inconsistent season to date, fell to a 6-3 6-2 defeat against Camila Giorgi. The...

Greipel captures first stage in Belgium German powerhouse Andre Greipel claimed the opening stage of the Tour of Belgium. A strong field has assembled for the five-stage race and a bunch sprint finish in Knokke-Heist saw the Lotto-Belisol sprinter beat Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma QuickStep) and...

Hewitt falls at first hurdle again Lleyton Hewitt’s clay court season suffered another setback as the Australian suffered a second successive first round loss at the hands of Pablo Andujar at the Nice Open on Monday. Hewitt slipped to a 6-3 4-6 6-3 defeat to his Spanish opponent, the loss...

Rasmussen takes Bayern-Rundfahrt opener Alex Rasmussen won the opening stage of Bayern-Rundfahrt in Muhldorf in a bunch sprint. The Garmin-Sharp rider took the first stanza of the five-day German stage race ahead of Ben Swift (Sky) and Juan-Jose Lobato del Valle (Euskaltel). Henning Bommel...

Baltacha through in Brussels Elena Baltacha booked her place in the second round of the Brussels Open after beating Stefanie Voegele 7-6 7-5. The 29-year-old Scot, who required foot surgery in October, battled through in 119 minutes against the 58th ranked Swiss. Baltacha has slipped to 234 in...

Wade: Murray continues to lack belief on clay Three-time Grand Slam winner Virginia Wade believes British number one Andy Murray needs to believe in himself on clay if he is to impress at the French Open. Murray has struggled at the French Open in the past and was knocked out at the...

Newton excited with team pursuit stars Chris Newton has expressed his excitement as he attempts to help an all conquering Great Britain women's pursuit team raise the bar even higher. It was Paul Manning who coached the trio of Laura Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell to six consecutive world...

Georges's failed ***** test confirmed by B sample An analysis of Sylvain Georges's B sample has confirmed his failed ***** test during the Giro d'Italia, the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Tuesday. Georges, the French AG2R rider, tested positive for the stimulant Heptaminol in a...

Nadal destroys Federer to defend Rome Masters title Rafael Nadal warmed up for the French Open in perfect fashion with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of Roger Federer to defend his Rome Masters title. Nadal, who will move back up to fourth in the world when the new rankings are released on Monday, has...

Williams wins Italian Open title World number one Serena Williams won her fourth consecutive title with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Victoria Azarenka at the Italian Open in Rome. As much as the score made the match seem a completely one-sided affair, Azarenka actually had multiple chances to get...

Intxausti surges to stage 16 victory Spain's Benat Intxausti won a three-way sprint to take stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia ahead of Tanel Kangert and Przemyslaw Niemiec in Ivrea. Intxausti - who wore the leader's pink jersey for one day during the opening week's individual time trial - gave his...

Former Giro and Vuelta winner Menchov retires Russia's former Giro d'Italia and Vuelta winner Denis Menchov has announced his retirement from cycling at the age of 35, local media reported on Monday. Menchov, Russia's best stage rider of the past decade, winning the Tour of Spain in 2005 and...

Federer sets up Nadal final in Rome Second seed Roger Federer booked a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the final of the Rome Masters after beating unseeded Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6(5) 6-4 in the Italian capital. Federer was pushed by Paire early on in the match but found another level in the...

Van Garderen secures Tour of California title, Sagan wins final stage Peter Sagan won stage eight of the Tour of California from San Francisco to Santa Rosa as Tejay van Garderen crossed the line in the main field to secure the overall title. "It's a big relief [to win the overall]. I got the...

Nadal reaches Rome Masters final Rafael Nadal remained on track for his seventh Rome Masters title in nine years when he beat Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 to book his place in the final. Fifth seed Nadal was sublime in the first set, breaking in the first and fourth games to take it in exactly 30...

Visconti victorious on Galibier as Nibali retains lead Italy's Giovanni Visconti of Movistar defied the snow to take a remarkable solo victory at the Marco Pantani monument on the Col du Galibier in stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia. Former Italian national champion Visconti rode the entire final...

Serena extends winning streak in Rome to set up Azarenka final Serena Williams crushed Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3 6-0 in Rome to book her place in the Italian Open final and extend her winning streak to 23 matches. Serena Williams crushed Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3 6-0 to...

Kristoff wins Norway finale as Boasson Hagen takes home tour Alexander Kristoff won the final stage of the Tour of Norway as Edvald Boasson Hagen completed overall victory in his home tour. The 173 kilometre stage from Gjøvik to Hønefoss had a single big climb halfway through and eight riders...

Federer stops Janowicz to reach Rome Masters semis Second seed Roger Federer overcame a brief scare in the second set to beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-4 7-6(2) and reach the semi-finals of the Rome Masters. Against a tricky opponent, highly confident after back-to-back wins over top 10 Frenchman...

König wins as Van Garderen keeps lead at Tour of California Tejay van Garderen rode to a third-place finish on Saturday's summit finish at Mt. Diablo to keep the race lead with one day to go at the Tour of California. The BMC Racing Team controlled the pace on the 16-kilometre climb at the end...

Sick Sharapova withdraws from Rome, Serena marches on Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Italian Open before her quarter-final with Italy's Sara Errani on Friday because of "physical problems", organisers said. Italian Open officials did not elaborate further on the reasons for Sharapova's Rome...

Berdych stuns Djokovic in Rome, faces Nadal in semis Sixth seed Tomas Berdych recovered from a set and a break down to dump world number one Novak Djokovic out of the Rome Masters at the quarter-finals stage. Berdych was just two points away from defeat before he managed to ***** his way into...

Col du Galibier curtailed due to poor weather The Giro d'Italia's 15th stage will stop some four kilometres short of the summit of the Col du Galibier due to extreme weather in the Alps. The legendary climb was originally left out by order of the government of the Savoie region in France...

Serena hammers Cibulkova to tie career record winning streak World number one Serena Williams tied her longest career winning streak with a 6-0 6-1 Rome Masters rout of Dominika Cibulkova, taking her run of victories to 21. Williams, who served five aces in one game, looks unstoppable but...

Boasson Hagen solos to yellow, green jerseys in Norway Edvald Boasson Hagen surged into the overall lead at the Tour of Norway after a rousing stage four success. On home ground, the Norwegian rider went clear over the top of the Kinnshaugen climb before linking up with Saxo-Tinkoff’s Sergio...

Nadal battles past qualifier, Djokovic and Federer sublime in Rome Six-times former champion Rafael Nadal battled back from a shocking opening set to book his place in the Rome Masters quarter-finals with a 1-6 7-5 6-4 win over Ernests Gulbis. Nadal was one point away from being on the...

Nibali extends lead after Santambrogio win Vincenzo Nibali tightened his grip on the pink jersey with a second-place finish atop the Jafferau climb behind fellow Italian Mauro Santambrogio in a weather-affected stage 14. The Italian duo emerged through the mist shoulder-to-shoulder with 500m...

Van Garderen closes on overall victory with ITT win in California American Tejay van Garderen dominated the time trial on stage six of the Tour of California to close on his first stage race victory. The 24-year-old BMC rider finished the tough 31.6km course in San Jose - which finished with a...

Sharapova eases through in Rome Second seed Maria Sharapova eased into the third round of the Italian Open with a 6-2 6-2 win over Garbine Muguruza Blanco while third seed Victoria Azarenka also progressed. The defending champion did not face a break point and lost just 10 points in her eight...

Shirt-ripping Janowicz stuns Tsonga, Delpo meets Pope Jerzy Janowicz ripped off his shirt after stunning Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Rome Masters while Juan Martin Del Potro visited the Pope. World number 24 Janowicz could not contain his excitement after his win over eighth-ranked Tsonga...

WADA files appeal against Operation Puerto verdict The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has filed an appeal against the verdict in Spain's "Operation Puerto" trial into an alleged doping ring in professional cycling, the agency said on Friday. WADA had expressed its disappointment with the...

Bos sprints to stage win as Kristoff stays ahead in Norway Theo Bos sprinted to victory in stage three but Alexander Kristoff finished second to stay in the lead of the Tour of Norway. Dutchman Bos, of Blanco Cycling, exploited Team Sky’s lead-out for Edvald Boasson Hagen, with Katsuha’s...

Nadal off to emphatic start in Rome Six-times former champion Rafael Nadal opened his Rome Masters campaign in emphatic fashion with a 6-1 6-3 win over home favourite Fabio Fognini. Fognini made a nervy start to the match and never really looked in contention despite a slightly more...

Monfils and Razzano given wildcards Former French Open semi-finalist Gael Monfils, who has struggled for form after a string of injuries marred his 2012 season, has been given a wildcard for the Grand Slam claycourt event. The 26-year-old Frenchman, who reached the last four in 2008, has...

Wiggins quits race Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins has withdrawn from the Giro d'Italia due to a chest infection. Wiggins was dropped by the main pack in the last hour of a rain lashed stage 12 on Thursday and finished three minutes and 17 seconds back on winner and compatriot Mark...

Murray 'could miss Roland Garros' after retiring in Rome Andy Murray was ****** to retire against Marcel Granollers at the Rome Masters and has admitted he "could miss the French Open". The world number two was struggling with a hip problem, but appeared to be getting back on terms in the...

Review recommends GreenEdge reinstate ****** director A review of Australia's GreenEdge has recommended the UCI WorldTour cycling team reinstate sacked sports director and confessed doper Matt White. White admitted to doping with the U.S. Postal team and voluntarily stood down from the...

Bundesliga - Hoffenheim avoid relegation after play-off win Hoffenheim avoided relegation to the German second division after a 2-1 win at Kaiserslautern gave them an aggregate 5-2 play-off victory. A 3-1 win at home put Markus Gisdol’s side well on their way last week, and goals from...

Radwanska upset by qualifier Halep in Rome Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska was knocked out of the Rome International second round by qualifier Simona Halep. The Pole was beaten 6-7(2) 6-1 6-2 in exactly two hours by her Romanian opponent, who had lost in all their previous three meetings...

Philippe Gaumont dies at 40 following heart ****** Former French cyclist Philippe Gaumont has ****** away at the age of 40 three weeks after a heart ******. Gaumont, a bronze medallist at the 1992 Olympics in the team time trial, and winner of the 1997 Gent-Wevelgem, had been comatised since...

Napoli confirm Benitez as new manager Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed that Rafael Benitez is the new coach of the Serie A club. De Laurentiis posted a picture of him shaking hands with Benitez on Twitter with the message: "Rafa Benitez is the new coach of Napoli. A man of...

Serena ends Robson challenge in Rome Laura Robson could not add world number one Serena Williams to her list of recent scalps, the American seeing off the Brit 6-2 6-2 in Rome. Robson, who had beaten Venus Williams in the opening round, was bidding to become just the second teenager to beat...

Acevedo takes second stage of the Tour of California Janier Acevedo (Jamis) took stage two of the Tour of California in Palm Springs ahead of Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing) and Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) to assume overall lead in the general classification. Acevedo made his move with...

Falcao and Valdes set to complete moves to Monaco Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes have both reportedly arrived in Monte Carlo to complete moves to Monaco. Falcao, 27, is expected to sign for a French record fee of £51.3m while no fee has been...

:party: Congrats Maggie Green and ****** Borgia ! :party:

Djokovic and Federer return to form in Rome Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both got their clay-court seasons back on track with straight sets wins in the second round of the Rome Masters. After victory over nine-times defending champion Rafael Nadal in the Monte Carlo Masters final three...

Hesjedal's Maglia Rosa defence over Defending Giro d'Italia champion Ryder Hesjedal has been ****** to withdraw from the race. The Canadian has been suffering since the stage 8 time trial and had slipped to 38th place after 12 stages, 32 minutes and 55 seconds down on overall leader Vincenzo...

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Fognini to face Nadal in Rome after winning all-Italian clash Fabio Fognini will be the first player to attempt to beat defending champion Rafael Nadal at the Rome Masters after he beat fellow Italian Andreas Seppi 6-4 6-1 in the first round. Fognini secured the victory in just 69 minutes as...

Veteran Voigt wins in California as Van Garderen takes lead Jens Voigt sprinted away from the breakaway with 5km to go to win stage five of the Tour of California in Avila Beach. Tejay van Garderen took the overall lead as the race split in the final third of the 185.7km stage from Santa...