The Championships, Wimbledon (commonly referred to as Wimbledon) is the oldest tennis championship in the world. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and the only one played on grass courts. Although I’m sure any tennis fan already knows all of this and more.

So without further ado, here’s how its going to happen on Indian television. Star Sports India will broadcast the matches Live. The matches will begin at 4:00 p.m. going right up to 11:30 p.m.

To check out the draw for the tournament, head over to the Wimbledon website, where they have complete details of who is playing whom and a flash based Slamtracker which is very convenient. read all »

Sania Mirza might have suffered a first-round exit in her comeback match but she managed to retain her ranking of 33 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) list Monday.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the quarterfinal final of the DFS Classic in Birmingham last week, jumped eleven places to a career-high 149. This has been a good year for Sunitha, who in May achieved her career high doubles ranking of 108. She along with Hungarian Melinda Czink won the ITF doubles title in Croatia last month and also made a quarterfinal appearance in the DFS Classic.

In the men’s section, Mahesh Bhupathi, who has not been in his best form losing early in French Open and Gerry Weber Open in Germany, maintained his 13th position in the ATP rankings. Leander Paes entered his first final of the season at Gerry Weber last week with new Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy. But the doubles ranking of the Indian tennis ace remained at the 23rd spot. Rohan Bopanna climbed two places to break into the top-50 rankings in d

Roger Federer beat home favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in tennis’s Gerry Weber Open final today, extending his unbeaten streak on grass to 59 matches while Rafael Nadal claimed the Artois Championship in London.

Top-ranked Federer, who has now claimed the title five times in six years, defeated Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon warm-up event in Halle, Germany.`That was very special,” Federer told the BBC after taking his 55th career title. “I never lost my serve in this tournament, that had never happened to me.” The victory comes a week after the Swiss was outclassed by No. 2-ranked Nadal in the final of the French Open, the only clay-court Grand Slam tournament. Federer excels on grass, having won five straight Wimbledon titles. Federer, who pulled out of the Gerry Weber Open last year because of fatigue, has won 24 straight matches at the event.

Spain’s Nadal, runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon the past two years, prepared for this season’s event by taking his maiden grass-court title. He beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 at the Queen’s Club in London. Nadal rallied from 3-0 down in the first set to take it in a tie-break, then established a 2-0 lead in the second set. Djokovic broke back in the next game and after another break, served for the set at 5-4. Nadal responded by breaking back and taking the next two games to take the title.

Elsewhere, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko won his third title of the year at the Warsaw Open. He beat Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in the final while Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine claimed a maiden WTA title, defeating Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) in the DFS Classic in Birmingham.

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy made a remarkable comeback through the super-tie breaker of their semifinal match to enter the summit clash of the euro 713,000 Gerry Weber Open here.
After pocketing the first set, the fourth seed Indo-Czech pair lost the second set without getting on board but eventually pulled off a 6-4 0-6 10-4 win against Ivan Lubicic and Robin Soderling in one hour and 30 minutes. Paes-Dlouhy saved five breakpoints in the second set but failed to save another three to allow their opponents to push the result through the super tie-breaker. They held their nerves in the decider and win six points on their serve and four on the service returns to storm into the final match. They face winners of the other semifinal match between Mikhail Youzhny/Mischa Zverev and Christopher Kas/Phillip Petzschner.

Meanwhile,top-seeded Roger Federer handled German Nicolas Kiefer in Saturday’s semifinals to advance to Sunday’s final. The Swiss grass-court king taught Kiefer a lesson in the art of grass court tennis. It took Federer just 22 minutes to win the first set. Federer broke in the second and sixth games to win the opening set. In the second set, Federer saved four break points in the sixth game and then broke in the ninth game before serving it out. Federer goes into the final without losing serve this week, holding all 39 games and will face German Philipp Kohlschreiber in Sunday’s championship.

Catch Roger Federer Vs Nicolas Kiefer in the finals of the Gerry Webber tournament today on Neo Sports from 18.30 onwards

Roger Federer returned to winning ways when he saw off Michael Berrer 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open.

The Swiss star, whom Rafael Nadal had manhandled 6-1 6-3 6-0 in the final of the French Open, revealed he was glad to be back on the surface he has now won 55 straight matches on. “It was easier than expected, especially towards the end,” he said after destroying his opponent in 61 minutes. “My reaction was good, my movement was good and my service was excellent. I even tried out a few things when I was up 30-0 or 40-0. I am very happy with my performance. It feels good to be back on grass.” ( Read- I am actually really happy that Nadal isn’t playing in this tournament.)

Meanwhile, defending Gerry Weber Open champion Tomas Berdych crashed out of the tournament following a 6-2 7-5 loss against Robin Soderling. The Swede easily took the first set before winning the last eight points of the contest to kick his opponent out. “He served extremely well and my return did not work,” third-seeded Berdych said. “I was not in the match today. I did not move well. It was very difficult after losing the first set. He played very solid.” Elsewhere, second seed James Blake came from one set and one break down to edge Germany’s Benjamin Becker 4-6 7-5 6-3. In two all-German battles, Philipp Kohlschreiber also defeated Tommy Haas 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7/5) and Andreas Beck toppled fellow German Mischa Zverev 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/5) 6-1.

Indian ace Leander Paes Made has made it to the semifinals of the doubles event partnering Czech Luca Dlouhy. The duo swept aside local favourites Tommy Haas and Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-4.

The Gerry Webber tennis tournament is being shown live on Neo Sports from the 13th to the 15th of June. The semifinals are on the 14th of June from 17.30 IST onwards and the final is on 15th June and starts at 18.30 IST

Just three days after claiming his record fourth French Open title in Paris, Rafael Nadal made an impressive transition to grass by defeating former Wimbledon semifinalist Jonas Bjorkman at The Artois Championships. Nadal, who is attempting to become the first player to win Roland Garros and at The Queen’s Club in the same year, took just 65 minutes to register a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bjorkman to reach the third round.

“Happy to be here another year,” said Nadal. “Always is a pleasure to play on grass. Well, for sure the first day, the sensation is a little bit strange. For the first day, was good for me. Important thing, I gonna have another match tomorrow. For sure this tournament is very important. If I can have a very good result here, is going to be very important for me.” The top seed will now meet rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori for a place in the quarterfinals after he overcame Olivier Patience in straight sets. “He won a tournament in Delray Beach this year, beating very good players,” said Nadal of Nishikori. “Probably one of the next stars, the next top 10s. I’m sure tomorrow going to be a tough match, very tough.”

Meanwhile, second seed Novak Djokovic also made a quick adjustment to grass with a 6-2, 7-6(7) victory over Croatia’s Roko Karanusic, and No. 10 seed Fernando Gonzalez booked his place in the third round after defeating former World No. 1 Marat Safin in straight sets.

Only matches from the quarter finals onward will be aired in India. You can catch the first two quarter finals of the Artois Championships live on ESPN on the 13th of June from 17.00 IST onwards. We will update you on the T.V schedule for the semi finals and finals.

Sania Mirza’s comeback from injury ended in agony but Sunitha Rao’s dream run continued as she advanced to the quarterfinals of the USD 200,000 WTA DFS Classic in Birmingham on Wednesday.

Sania, seeded sixth, went down 3-6 0-6 to New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic.The sixth seeded Indian, who had been laid low by a wrist injury that needed to be operated upon in the US, went down in just an hour. It was heartbreak for Sania, who was handed a bye in the first round here, as she never found her footing in the match and was outplayed by her Kiwi opponent in all departments of the game, marking a disappointing start to her build-up for the Wimbledon Grand Slam Championship later this month. In the doubles event Sania has teamed up with American Bethanie Mattek in the doubles, and the fourth-seeded pair will be up against Natalie Grandin of South Africa and American Raquel Kops-Jones in the opening round.

However, Sunitha, a qualifier, continued her winning run as she rallied to beat local challenger Naomi Cavaday 4-6 6-3 6-1. The US-based Indian will take on the winner of the match between sixth seed Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko and Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual in the last-eight stage.

Rafael Nadal goes down in the record books as the second player since Bjorn Borg to win four consecutive Grand Slam titles as he trashed the world number 1, Roger Federer at Roland Garros today. The three time defending champion opened up with a dominant 6-1, and pushed forward with 6-3 in the second set and finally, a 6-0 in the final set. 

Nadal took control from the start, breaking Federer in the opening game of the match. Federer was unable to take advantage of two opportunities to break back in the next game.

The Swiss faced two break points in game three, saving the first with an ace and recovering to deuce when Nadal missed with a backhand. He held, though failed to take another game in the set.

The Swiss made 12 unforced errors in the first set, four times more than Nadal, as the Spaniard consistently attacked his backhand. Attempts by Federer to shorten the points by coming to the net were met by unreachable passing shots from Nadal.

“Winning four times in a row is incredible,” Nadal said. “The comparison with Borg is always very nice, especially because he’s much better than me.”

It was Federer’s worst loss in his 173 Grand Slam matches, and the most lopsided men’s final at Roland Garros since 1977. ’Rafa was really very, very strong,’ Federer told the crowd in French after the match. ‘It wasn’t a lot of fun, I will try again next year,’ he added, as he received a cheer. ”After a loss like this you, don’t want to play Rafa again tomorrow, that’s for sure,” Federer said.

Personally I found the match a little too predictable. There wasn’t any tension which a final should largely consist of. Rafa just kept hitting the wind out of Federer. What did you think of the outcome? Do leave a comment if you feel otherwise. 

We also have a torrent for you to download of this match. Get it if you want to keep it for some time.

It was time for another French Open women’s final, and though Justine Henin was still on the grounds, she was no longer on the clay. Ana Ivanovic of Serbia celebrates with the trophy after winning the French Open women’s final by defeating Dinara Safina of Russia 6-4, 6-3 at the French Open Roland Garros finals. 

“Obviously the nerves were still there, but that’s normal,” Ivanovic said. “Last year’s final was a great learning experience for me.” referring to the 2007 finals where she let the finals slip from her hands to Justine Henin.

Ivanovic, 20, was already guaranteed to become No. 1 in the women’s rankings Monday after beating her compatriot Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. Now, Ivanovic has her first Grand Slam singles title to go with the top spot.

Safina on the other hand had beaten three top-10 seeds, Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova and saved match point in two of them on her way to the final, said fatigue had been a key factor.

“I didn’t have any more of that fire that I had in those matches,” Safina told reporters. “I was just, I think, tired, mental and physically. If I had been just a little bit fresher, it would have been different, because I spent way too many hours for those two matches against Maria and Elena, because comebacks always take so much heart and mental strength.”

“I think we both played a very nervous match, lots of chances for both of us,” Ivanovic said. “I’m just so happy to keep my composure until the end. It’s amazing.”

French Open women’s finals have rarely been great theater of late. The last truly compelling final was in 2001, when Jennifer Capriati beat Kim Cljisters in a third set that stretched to 10-8. Since then, it has been straight sets all the way, with routs being more the rule than the exception. Henin was the primary cause, surrendering an average of just four games in the four finals she won here.

But after her surprise retirement last month, Henin was only in Paris on Saturday to hand over the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, and her former rival Ivanovic was soon holding it up on this overcast afternoon with a broad, bright smile.

Now to wait for the results of the male singles showdown between Federer and Nadal tomorrow. The Roland Garros Men’s Finals will air Live on ESPN India at 6:30 p.m. on 8th June. 

The Atrois Championships at the Queen’s Club in London is a much anticipated yearly tournament. It’s the premier warm up event to Wimbledon, and is a last chance hit out on the grass surface. Grass courts are the least common playing surface for top-level events on the ATP Tour and for the clay court specialists’ adjustments to their game are needed. Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt have dominated the tournament since 2000, each winning on four occasions.

British teenager Dan Evans has been given a huge opportunity to test himself against the world’s best players after being awarded the fifth and final wild card into The Artois Championships. Evans has been given a huge opportunity to test himself against the world’s best players after being awarded the fifth and final wild card into The Artois Championships.

The official draw is out, with the tournament kicking off on the 9th, right after the French Open. However, the early matches will not be aired Live in India. Star Sports will only broadcast the Quarter Final matches and onwards. read all »

Roger Federer will play Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open after the world number one beat Gael Monfils 6-2 5-7 6-3 7-5.

The top-ranked Federer endured some messy moment in the semifinal. Knocked down but not out, he wiped off the dirt and defeated unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

On the other side, Nadal’s earlier semifinal was close only by his standards: He lost 12 games and nearly lost a set. The king of clay beat No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Nadal had lost only three games in each of his previous two matches. He’s one win from becoming the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win four consecutive French Open titles, while Federer seeks the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win.

“Against Federer is special,” Nadal said. “I will try and face history.”

With regard to the Women’s singles, Ana Ivanovic and Dinara Safina will bid for their first Grand Slam title Saturday in the women’s final.

The Roland Garros Men’s Finals will air Live on ESPN India at 6:30 p.m. on 8th June. 

Ana Ivanovic came through a wildly fluctuating semi-final against fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic to reach the French Open final for the second successive year. Ivanovic, who will move up a place to dislodge Maria Sharapova as world No1 when the new rankings are published next week, saw off Jankovic in three tight sets to clinch a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory. She will meet Russia’s Dinara Safina, who earlier beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets, in Saturday’s final.

In terms of grand slam decider’s, Ivanovic, who was also a beaten finalist at the Australian Open in January, will be hoping to make it third time lucky. In terms of an unpredictable contest which she trailed 3-0 in the first set and 3-1 in the third - and which, at one stage, was slipping so rapidly from her grasp that she lost six consecutive games - she may she count herself lucky to remain in the tournament at all. “It was a very tough match today and she’s a tough opponent,” said Ivanovic. “She started playing really good tennis and I became too passive. She’s a really good player and if you give her chances she will take them.”

As for Safina, big brother was doubtless watching but, having reached the first grand slam final of her career, she will not have been unduly perturbed. Safina, who has been chastised about her approach to the game by older brother Marat, emerged from her more celebrated sibling’s shadow to reach Saturday’s title showdown with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over fellow Russian Kuznetsova. Having come within a point of defeat against both Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva in the previous two rounds, Safina’s progress to the last four had been physically and emotionally draining. But if the world No14’s feet understandably looked a little slower than normal at times, the mind remained sharp enough to outwit a strangely lackluster Kuznetsova.

Working the angles shrewdly to draw her compatriot out of position, Safina capitalized on a tentative, error-strewn start by the the world No4 to break in the second game. Kuznetsova, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2006 and former US Open champion, quickly broke back with a series of booming ground strokes, but fell behind again quickly as she struggled to find her usual rhythm and fluency. “It feels amazing,” said Safina. “I didn’t expect to get to the final, I’ve just been taking it day by day. But when you take it easy, sometimes the results come. I was trying to push myself to be aggressive and I’m happy because I really played well. I’m doing it for Marat and for myself; for the family.”

Catch the womens final live on Star Sports on 7th June from 6.30 onwards.