Tennis Sports

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has welcomed amended tax rules announced in the Budget that could make it easier for Britain to attract the world’s top tennis players.

The UK tax system requires players to pay tax on a percentage of their endorsement deals as well as their earnings while competing in the country. Andy Murray is the only member of the top four who will play at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club this year, with Rafael Nadal particularly vocal in his opposition to the tax payments, saying: “I am playing in the UK and losing money.

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INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. – Triple champion Roger Federer survived an early storm from Milos Raonic before taking control to complete a 6-7 6-2 6-4 victory in the third round of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Tuesday.

Stunned by the young Canadians power serving in the opening set, the Swiss maestro delivered a master class in the next two, sealing victory in just over two hours when the towering Raonic netted a forehand.

Federer, who had never previously played the 21-year-old Canadian, will next face Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who benefited from a walkover when Russian Nikolay Davydenko withdrew due to illness.

For me it was a difficult match, Federer said in a courtside interview after receiving rapturous applause from the near-capacity crowd at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

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Seventh seed Kevin Anderson claimed the second title of his career after he recorded a 6-4 7-6 (7/2) win over Marinko Matosevic at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

Australian qualifier Matosevic, ranked 173rd in the world, held his own in a tight first set, breaking his South African opponent twice, but he was unable to command on serve.

In the second set, Matosevic saved all eight break points he faced but could not make an impact in the tie-break.

In the end Anderson needed an hour and 58 minutes to add the Delray Beach crown to Johannesburg title he won last season.

Andy Murray has ended a three-match losing streak against Tomas Berdych to reach the semi-finals at the Dubai Duty Free Championships for the first time.

It has not been a happy hunting ground for the world No4 in the past but he made a flying start to the match, then survived a topsy-turvy second set to win 6-3, 7-5.

Murray, who is likely to face the world No1 Novak Djokovic in the last four, had played two qualifiers in the first two rounds but this was a real test, with the 24-year-old’s only previous win against Berdych coming back in 2005.

The fast surface also appeared to be in the Czech’s favour but he could not find his range in the early stages and Murray reeled off the first seven points.

Berdych saved two break points but not the third, and the British No1 then found some big serves just when he needed them to save three break points and move 3-0 ahead.

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Not even winning is second straight SAP Open could keep Canadian tennis sensation Milos Raonic from dropping three spots in the ATP world rankings.

Raonic, who knocked off Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan Sunday to defend his title in San Jose, Calif., slipped to 35th in the rankings. That’s 10 spots off his career-best.

But the 21-year-old from Thornhill doesn’t expect to stay in the 30s for long. In fact, he’s aiming to break into the top 10 very soon.

“That’s where I want to be by the end of the year,” Raonic said on a conference call. “I don’t think there’s anything that really tells me that I don’t belong there. I feel just in general my confidence is growing, my respect from the other players is growing.

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