Tennis Sports

Russia have been dealt a blow ahead of this weekend’s Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic after their No1 player Vera Zvonareva was ruled out because of a shoulder injury. The world No7 Zvonareva said she has had inflammation in her right shoulder since last month’s Kremlin Cup.

“She can’t serve properly, therefore she has little chance against any of the Czech girls,” the Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev said during the draw at the Olympic indoor arena.

“I don’t think we can be considered the favourites now,” Tarpischev added after being asked to assess his team’s chances of winning their fifth Fed Cup title since 2004.

Zvonareva’s place was taken by the 27th-ranked Maria Kirilenko, who will face the in-form Petra Kvitova in the opening rubber while Svetlana Kuznetsova will take on the Czech No2 Lucie Safarova in the second singles on Saturday.

Read full article…

Canadian Vasek Pospisil, 21, suffered a narrow loss Wednesday in the first round of the St. Petersburg Open tennis tournament in Russia.

Pospisil, playing in his second career ATP World Tour event, was edged 7-5 7-6(4) by Andreas Seppi of Italy in a men’s singles match that lasted two hours.

Pospisil, ranked No. 133 in the world, played three rounds of qualifying to participate in the tournament. Seppi is ranked No. 52.

Top seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the semi-finals of the Stockholm Open after battling to a straight-sets victory over Kevin Anderson on Friday night.

The French world number 10 overcame a second-set wobble to prevail 7-5 7-5 and book a showdown with Canadian youngster Milos Raonic.

Raonic enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a 7-5 6-4 victory – which included 14 aces – over Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov.

Injury-plagued David Nalbandian was forced to pull out of his scheduled quarter-final with James Blake, though, leaving Argentina with a Davis Cup headache six weeks ahead of the final against Spain.

Nalbandian suffered a thigh injury and was unable to take to the court for his match against America’s James Blake.

“I felt tension in the hamstring during the match yesterday (a 6-1, 6-1 win over Croatia’s Ivan Dodig).

Read full article…

Defending champion Andy Murray powered through to the Shanghai Masters final after a commanding performance in which he brushed aside Japan’s Kei Nishikori. The No2 seed will face Spain’s David Ferrer on Sunday, looking to secure a title for the third week in a row.

Murray, enjoying a superb run in Asia, will be out to add to his titles from Bangkok and Tokyo after a 6-3, 6-0 demolition of unseeded Nishikori. The Scot was taking on a player currently being tutored by his former coach, Brad Gilbert, but Murray and Nishikori were incomparable today. They shared the opening six games, but thereafter Murray was merciless as he closed in on a fifth title in 2011.

Read full article…

Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko had a difficult time against American Ryan Harrison on his way to a 6-3 6-2 victory in the first round of the Malaysian Open.

The fifth seed saved nine of 12 break points having taken a 4-0 lead in the second set in Kuala Lumpur.

“My legs were getting heavy but I tried to do everything on court to survive and win the match,” Davydenko, a winner of the event in 2009, said in a post-match press conference.

“It doesn’t matter how you feel or play, you just have to win.

“It was 6-3, 6-2 today but for me it was tough.

Read full article…