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Rafael Nadal won an unprecedented eighth straight title at the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1.
The victory also marked the end of a seven-match losing streak in finals to the Serb world number one, whose last victory over Nadal came in a six-hour Australian Open final.
Nadal's victory was his 42nd in a row at the Mediterranean venue and marks his 47th career trophy and 20th in a Masters 1000 tournament, the first to achieve that honour.



The win was also his first ATP trophy since winning Roland Garros last June.

"I've always felt unbelievable here," said an emotional Nadal. "It's unbelievable to win this historic tournament eight times. I always feel great when I come here.

"I had lost to Novak seven times, so losing eight would not have been much different. But to win this one makes a big difference.

"Hopefully I will stay healthy and go to Barcelona (next week) and play a good tournament."

Djokovic won the first game of the match to love but slowly found himself losing grip at the cliffside club on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Djokovic, who also played and lost the 2009 final against Nadal, and was competing this week after learning of the death of his grandfather in Serbia. He had rallied from a set down in two of his four previous rounds.

The Serb world number one was playing in his 45th ATP final and now stands 30-15. He trails Nadal 14-17 in their career series. Monte Carlo is one of only two Masters 1000 tournament that Djokovic has not won (Cincinnati is the other).

"I'm sorry for my performance today, Rafa played well and deserved to win today," said Djokovic, who went down in 78 minutes. "I'm still very happy to reach the finals for the second time.

"This is one of my favourite events at the most beautiful centre court in the world."

Djokovic stands 24-3 on the season with titles at the Australian Open and Miami.

Nadal advanced as he fired his only ace of the final on match point after saving the lone break point he had faced two games earlier.

The Spanish winner now owns a 44-1 record in the principality, with titles in eight of his nine appearances.

Reigning Wimbledon champion and world number three Petra Kvitova put holders Czech Republic through to the Fed Cup final by beating Italy's Francesca Schiavone on Sunday.Kvitova handed the Czechs an unbeatable 3-0 lead after seeing off Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) in an hour and 47 minutes."It was an extremely tough game, Francesca managed to surprise me," the 22-year-old Kvitova told the public Czech TV.
Kvitova took a 3-0 lead in the first set, then lost four straight games and finally came back for a 6-4 win.


In the second, Kvitova had to come back from 3-5 before trashing the 31-year-old Schiavone in the tie-break.

"It's clear you won't play the entire game in top form," she said.

"She started to play well when she was 3-0 down in the first set, and her returns were terribly long and terribly hard to handle," added Kvitova, who has been sidelined with an illness and injury for most of the past two months.

"I handled the two rubbers quite well. The main thing is I won both," she said.

On Saturday, Lucie Safarova beat Schiavone 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 and Kvitova breezed past Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3.

In the November finals, the Czech Republic will host either Russia or Serbia, who are playing simultaneously in Moscow.

The Czechs beat Russia 3-2 in Moscow last November to win their first Fed Cup trophy since their country split with Slovakia in 1993.

In the last singles rubber of the semi-final tie, Czech Andrea Hlavackova will take on Sara Errani.

Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka are then due to face Errani and Roberta Vinci in the doubles, but the teams may change.

Wimbledon chiefs have increased the total prize money on offer at the grass-court tournament to £16.1 million ($26m, 19.7 million euros) in a bid to satisfy calls for a fairer distribution of the wealth at grand slams.
There has been growing unrest among players that too much of the prize money on offer at the four Majors went to the top stars, who routinely reach the lucrative later stages, at the expense of the lower ranked competitors.Late last year there were suggestions that the issue could even prompt strike action which would threaten the stability of the sport.But All England Club officials entered into talks with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray - the top four in the men's rankings - to debate the problem at the Indian Wells event earlier this year.

And Wimbledon has responded to the big four's demands with a 10 per cent increase of £1.5 million on the 2011 total prize money in a bid to ease the lower players' complaints that the cost of living on tour wasn't matched by the rewards on offer at tournaments.



While the men's and women's singles champions will now take home a cheque for £1.15 million, a £50,000 rise on 2011, it is the players who crash out earlier in the tournament who benefit most from the changes.

An increase of 26 per cent in prize money for first-round losers means they get £14,500 ($23,400, 17,800 euros) for just a few hours unsuccessful work compared to £11,500 last year.

Second-round losers will get £23,125, a 14.9 per cent rise, while third round defeats are worth £38,785, an increase of 13.1 per cent.

The daily allowance paid to players in the men's and women's main draws have gone up from £170 to £200, while there is also a 21 per cent rise for losers in the Wimbledon qualifying event.

The singles' runners-up will get £575,000 and beaten semi-finalists earn £287,500, both minimal rises of 4.5 per cent.

"Wimbledon continues to be successful and we are delighted to share that success with the players by increasing total prize money by 10 per cent, the largest increase since 1993," All England Club chairman Phillip Brook said.

"At the same time we appreciate the need to help players meet the rising costs associated with professional tennis, so the majority of the record £1.5 million increase will be distributed to those who are knocked out in the early rounds of the Championships."

Brook insists he was never concerned that reigning Wimbledon champion Djokovic and his fellow stars were attempting to bully the Grand Slams and he instead praised them for raising an issue that they could easily have ignored since they already hoover up much of the prize money.

"There was never talk of (strike) action from players in any discussions I have had. We had very professional discussions with all the parties and hopefully it will be received well," Brook said.

"What we have in the top four players is a group of young men who are very responsible for all those around them.

"We didn't hear a request for more money for them, they wanted something done for the sport as a whole and were representing all the players, not just themselves.

"It is a positive development. When I met the players at Indian Wells we asked for the opportunity to have meetings like that on a regular basis. It can only be good to have dialogue with them.

"We heard genuine concern from top players and tour management that this was an issue and we have reacted to that."

However, with early-round losers flying home richer than previous years despite relatively unsuccessful tournaments, Brook had to fend off accusations that Wimbledon was rewarding failure.

"I respect the comment, but for anybody who is good enough in our sport to come through qualifying or be a direct entry it is an achievement of itself," he said.

"You only get that opportunity by having considerable success elsewhere on the tour during the year."

World number two Maria Sharapova eased into the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart indoor tournament after France's Alize Cornet retired with an injury at the start of the second set.Sharapova, hoping to complete her set of Grand Slams with victory at the French Open, had added the Stuttgart clay court event to her calendar to prepare for next month's tournament at Roland Garros.Cornet, however, gave her a short start on the indoor clay courts retiring with a shoulder injury while trailing 6-3 1-0.


"It was (qualifier) Alize's fifth match in five days. Tennis is very tough on the body," said Sharapova, who wants to get clay court practice ahead of Paris.

"Practising helps but matches are always a bit different. You have to get used to the different match situations and opponents with different styles," she told reporters.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the second round by the same score after fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic also retired injured.

Germany's Mona Barthel sent Ana Ivanovic packing 7-5 7-6 to confirm her fine form this year and set up a second round clash with seventh seed Marion Bartoli.

"This was something special because Ana used to be a bit of a role model for me," Barthel told reporters. "I was still in school when she won the French Open and I watched it on TV. That was at the time a long way for me."

Wild card entrant Barthel, who won her maiden WTA tournament in Hobart earlier this year, saved two set points against the former world number one in the first set and fired a total of 11 aces as she breezed past Serbian Ivanovic.

Hungary's Greta Arn initially troubled Agnieszka Radwanska with her powerful backhand with each player grabbing an early break before the Polish world number four broke her again with a fine crosscourt smash to move 4-2 up and hold serve to clinch the first set 6-3.

Arn rescued a break point to hold serve with yet another sublime backhand and lead 3-2 but Radwanska got the necessary break a little later to win 6-3 6-4 and became the first quarter-finalist when the Hungarian sank a forehand return into the net.

Wild-card Mona Barthel claimed her second scalp at Stuttgart's clay-court WTA tournament on Thursday to reach the last eight after she knocked out seventh seed Marion Bartoli.The 21-year-old German, who blasted down 11 aces to out-muscle ex-world number one Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday in straight sets, needed just 71 minutes to beat France's Bartoli 6-3, 6-1 as she hit a further seven aces.In Friday's quarter-finals, Barthel, ranked 35th in the world, will now face either current world number one Victoria Azarenka or Germany's Andrea Petkovic, who meet later on Thursday.



"My opponent had nothing to lose, that makes a first time head-to-head difficult," said Bartoli of Barthel, who is part of a batch of promising German female tennis players having won the Hobart WTA tournament in January.

"Mona played a lot tougher than I thought, I had watched her playing Ana and had noticed that she has a hard serve and strong strokes.

"But I was still surprised about how fast she could play, I virtually had no chance to defend, especially on this slippery surface, at times it left like I was playing on ice.

"This court contributed to Mona's game as she is very tall and can play very fast, so it was very hard for me to break her rhythm with a pull-off shot.

"I am sure the match between us would look very different on hard court."

There were no such problems for French Open winner Li Na, the eighth seed, who beat Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4 in their second round tie and the Chinese will play Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarter-finals.

Likewise, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova had few problems in her 6-2, 6-2 win over Italy's Francesca Schiavone to set up a last eight match against either ex-world number one Caroline Wozniacki or Germany's Angelique Kerber.

Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, the top ranked players in the world, will contest the final of the Porsche Grand Prix on Sunday.No. 1 Azarenka of Belarus cruised past Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1 6-3 in the first of Saturday's semifinals.Second-ranked Sharapova then outlasted No. 3 Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion, 6-4, 7-6 (3).Azarenka is seeking a tour-high fifth tournament title of the year. She went on a 26-0 start to the year that included winning the Australian Open title.


Azarenka dominated the match against the fourth-ranked Radwanska, whose only four losses of the year have come against Azarenka.

On match point, Azarenka fired a forehand winner to advance to the final. She has a 29-1 record for the year.

Sharapova is off to a promising start to her clay court season.

The Russian broke serve in the fifth game and did not face a break point in the first set.

That changed in the second.

Kvitova held 11 break points in the set, but the Czech could not convert any of them.

She finally did on her 12th, after saving a match point, to level the score at 6-6 and sent the second set into a tiebreaker.

Sharapova made fewer mistakes and cruised home as she seeks her first title of the year.

Azarenka leads Sharapova 5-3 in career meetings.

Russia's Maria Sharapova beat world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-4 in the Stuttgart clay court final on Sunday to claim her first WTA tour title of the year and end a two-match losing streak against the Belarussian.Sharapova, ranked second in the world, outplayed Azarenka, who had beaten her in the Australian Open final and the Indian Wells final during her 26-match unbeaten run this year.

This was only a second defeat of the year for Azarenka, who was treated for a wrist injury at the start of the second set.

"In such a tough tournament with difficult opponents, it was a good week," Sharapova said in a courtside interview after her first appearance at the indoor event was sealed with the title.

"(Azarenka) was injured today, maybe she could not perform well but I am happy to be the champion here this year."

"I was going to use this event as a warm-up (to the French Open) so I did not come much earlier. Maybe I should continue doing it like that," said the 25-year-old.
Sharapova, far more aggressive in this battle of baseliners, snatched an early break to love and fired two successive aces to take the lead.

The Russian broke her opponent again and fired her fifth ace on set point to rush through the first set in 29 minutes.

Azarenka, who has already won four titles this year, briefly fought back despite the wrist injury but was broken again to trail 5-3.

Sharapova secured the prize money and a luxury sports car with her first match point.

"Obviously I am not happy, but congratulations to Maria," said the 22-year-old Azarenka, who has reached the final in every event she has entered this year. "Still it was a good week for me."

Rafa Nadal became the first player in the Open era to win two tournaments seven times when he fought off tenacious Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6 7-5 to win a thrilling Barcelona Open final on Sunday.
In a repeat of last year's title match and 10 years to the day since he made his World Tour debut, Nadal came out on top in a claycourt slugfest between the nation's two best players that wowed the capacity crowd in the Catalan capital.

The world number two, fresh from clinching a record eighth straight Monte Carlo Masters crown last week, claimed the giant Conde de Godo trophy for the seventh time in eight years with his 34th straight win at the event.

It was the 25-year-old French Open champion's 48th career title and his 34th triumph on his beloved clay.

"Without doubt it was my most difficult match since the start of the clay season," Nadal said in an interview with Spanish television.

"I think that David more than deserved to win this title and I really wish him the best for the rest of his career."

Sixth-ranked Ferrer went toe to toe with his Davis Cup team mate in a closely-fought first set but failed to convert five set points on his opponent's serve when leading 6-5 and faded badly to lose the tiebreak 7-1.

Meeting Nadal for a fourth time in the Barcelona final and chasing an ATP-best fourth title this year, he looked spent at that stage but after losing his serve to fall 3-1 behind managed to conjure the energy to break back.

He then drew on all his famed stamina and tenacity to carve out a 5-4 lead but again failed to convert when it counted and Nadal produced probably the shot of the tournament to help break the Ferrer serve and level at 5-5.

He just managed to get a racket on a Ferrer drive to lift the ball high over the net before anticipating his opponent's smash and playing a miraculous return that surprised his opponent into offering up a simple volley.

That appeared to be the final straw for Ferrer and Nadal reeled off the next three games, sealing victory with a backhand winner before leaping into the air to celebrate.

"David always takes you to the limit and I really had some good fortune in that first set," he said.

"When you have five set points against you and you save all of them obviously there is a good deal of luck involved," he added. "It was something of a lottery but it came down on my side and I am sorry for him but very happy."

An exhausted-looking Ferrer, who has managed only four wins against Nadal in 18 meetings on all surfaces, paid tribute to his compatriot, with whom he now heads to the capital for the Madrid Open starting on Friday.

"Rafa is Rafa and he is very good," Ferrer told Spanish TV.

"I have lost four times to him here in the final now but I know I have lost to one of the greats," added the 30-year-old.

"He is a very good player and as a person even better."

Nadal made his ATP Tour debut at the Mallorca Open aged 15 on April 29, 2002, beating Paraguay's Ramon Delgado 6-4 6-4 in the first round.

He is now only six short of Thomas Muster (40) on the list of Open era clay title winners, with Guillermo Vilas the overall leader (45).

The only players to have beaten him in a clay final are world number one Novak Djokovic and number three Roger Federer, who have both done it twice.

In fine fettle after a month-long rest, Roger Federer is ready to get his clay season underway and continue his bid to recapture the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic.The 30-year-old Swiss maestro, who has not played since losing to Andy Roddick at the Sony Ericsson Open at the end of March, said he had needed some time away from tennis to recharge his batteries and rid himself of one or two niggling injuries.


Federer has played some of his best tennis in years in winning three titles this season, including the Indian Wells Masters event, but knows that challenging Rafa Nadal on the Spaniard's favoured clay and stealing his French Open crown in Paris starting at the end of this month will be a tall order.

"I feel good about my chances of playing well in the next few months," the world number three told a news conference previewing this week's Madrid Open on Sunday.
"But then again I am coming back on clay and Rafa has been so dominant on this surface for so many years so I know the task ahead of me," added the 16-times Grand Slam singles champion.

In an intense start to the year, Federer played 23 matches and lost three, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open before falling to Nadal and winning events in Rotterdam and Dubai to add to his success in Indian Wells.

He also had a busy end to 2011, triumphing at the World Tour finals in London in November after victories at the Paris Masters and his home event in Basel.

The rest was vital, said Federer.

"I needed it because I did play so, so much and this break was also looking ahead to what's to come and there's a lot on my plate and I want to be fresh in my mind and fit in my body for those big goals ahead," he added.

"It was more about relaxing my body because I had been playing with some niggling injuries over a few weeks, or a few months almost, and I am happy they went away.
"It was just to get away from tennis for a while really, get away from the craziness that surrounds it, the matches and the press and all that stuff.

"So that was nice to just recharge the batteries, that was the key during this break."

If Federer can leapfrog number two Nadal and topple Djokovic he would equal, and then have a chance of beating, Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks at the top and the Swiss said he was in a "pretty good position" to do it over the coming months.

"All of a sudden if you do win a Grand Slam again you have a shot and if I do I'll probably be extremely close to world number one," he said.

"Then again - easier said than done. I know what it takes to win a grand slam. It's hard, it's always been hard.

"It's still far away for me and my focus is on my next match here on Wednesday.

"But it is a dream for me this year try to achieve that again. I'll try to chase that as hard as I can and see if it's possible. If not it's no problem and I'll just try to win tournaments which is a thrill in itself."

Djokovic and Nadal both have a lot of points to defend in the coming months, but the Spaniard is also eyeing a possible return to the top of the rankings, where he has spent a total of 102 weeks during his career.

"I am in a good position thanks to a good start to the year," Nadal told a separate news conference on Sunday.

"But right now I am closer to number three than number one," added the 25-year-old Mallorcan.

"Federer had a spectacular end to the year last year and has started this year very well too.

"My first objective is always to qualify for the World Tour finals and I am close to doing that so once that's done anything else is a plus."

Second seed Nadal, the 2010 champion who lost in last year's final to Djokovic, and third seed Federer, winner in 2009 when he beat Nadal in the title match, both have byes into the second round in Madrid and begin their campaigns on Wednesday.

Nadal takes on Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Ivo Karlovic on Sunday, while Federer will play the winner of the first-round match between fast-rising Canadian Milos Raonic and former world number three David Nalbandian of Argentina.

Serena Williams marked her first European appearance of the season with victory on the Madrid Open's striking blue clay courts on Monday, but her sister Venus crashed out in the second round.
Holder Petra Kvitova also started well as the third seed defeated New Zealander Marina Erakovic 6-2 6-3.Towering Czech Kvitova beat Victoria Azarenka in the final last year before going on to win the Wimbledon title.

The only seeded player to fall was number 15 Jelena
Jankovic who went out to Spanish wildcard Carla Suarez 4-6 7-6 6-4 in the first round.

Serena Williams, who reached the third round the last time she played in Madrid in 2010, powered past last week's Budapest Grand Prix runner-up Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-3 6-1.

The ninth seed delivered some powerful serves, hitting 14 aces to set up a meeting with another Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in the next round.

"I was feeling good," Serena told reporters. "It's my first tournament in Europe this year and I just hope I can keep up the good form," added the American who has yet to lose in eight clay outings this season.

"I haven't noticed a difference between the blue and the red clay. I think it's the same, it's just you don't get as dirty," added Serena.

Venus entered Madrid on a wildcard as she started her third tournament after seven months out suffering with Sjogren's Syndrome, an auto-immune disease which causes fatigue and joint soreness.

The former world number one struggled past Romania's Simona Halep in three sets on Saturday, but crumpled against stronger opposition on Monday falling 6-4 6-1 to 12th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Kerber, 24, is in the midst of her breakout season with both her career title coming in 2012

China's Li Na, the eighth seed, joined Kerber in the last 16 with a straightforward victory over Spanish wildcard Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-3 6-1.

Czech qualifier Andrea Hlavackova and compatriot Lucie Hradecka, Italian Sara Errani, Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, and Estonia's Kaia Kanepi also made it through to the second round.

Novak Djokovic scraped and slid to an opening victory at the Madrid Masters on Tuesday, then let loose with a blistering appraisal of the event's controversial blue clay courts.
That was not tennis, either I need football shoes or some advice on how to play on this court," said the Serb top seed after beating Spain's number 137 Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

"I cannot find the words to describe this court. It's really tough to play like this on a centre court.



"We cannot change anything this year, but my first impressions are not good. I don't want to be the one complaining, but I say honestly what I feel.

"We need serious discussion about the future of this blue clay."

The blue-clay plan was put into action by the tournament's billionaire impresario Ion Tiriac, the man who brought catwalk models onto court as ball-girls in another experiment that has paid public relations dividends for the ATP-WTA Masters 1000.

But Djokovic says the differences with the red clay surface to which players are more accustomed are stark.

"This has no similarities with red clay, it's totally different," said Djokovic, winner of the 2011 edition over home hero Rafael Nadal. "It's much more slippery.

"The material of blue clay and red clay are different. When you slide on red clay you can feel when you stop. Here you are always slipping.

"Most players I've spoken to share the opinion that the court is slippery."

Djokovic said that even days of training made little difference. "Centre court is different from others I trained on. If it affects me next week in Rome, we will see.

"I don't know how it will turn out in my next match. But I'm here to win. This is my work and I take things about this situation very seriously."

Djokovic said the players were overlooked in the decision to trial the controversial material.

"Player opinions have to be heard and considered to understand what is going on in our tennis world. This event and the decision to change to blue is an example of players not being considered and heard.

"Their opinions are ignored. I hope this will change in the future.

"I've not found any woman or man who is enthusiastic about this surface. I haven't heard any one say they like it."

Top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova breezed past Czech opponents into the Madrid Open third round on Tuesday along with former world number one Serena Williams.
Azarenka dispatched Andrea Hlavackova 6-3 7-6, Sharapova saw off Klara Zakopalova 6-4 6-3 and Williams, seeded nine and making her first European appearance of the season, thumped unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-1.

Serena eased through a day after her sister Venus was knocked out by Germany's Angelique Kerber.



Sharapova, who beat world number one Azarenka in the Stuttgart final last month, was first up on the unfamiliar blue clay of the Manolo Santana show court.

The colour is a controversial innovation at this year's edition of the event and has prompted complaints from Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and others.

With the sliding roof closed to keep off the morning drizzle, second-seeded Russian Sharapova found her range and broke Zakopalova's serve in the opening game.

The three-times Grand Slam singles champion wobbled when serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set but broke again in the next game for a comfortable win.

Sharapova next meets another Czech, unseeded Lucie Safarova, who beat Spanish wild card Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-4.

Sharapova said the blue clay was a little more slippery than its red counterpart but added that she generally approved of the decision to switch colours, which organisers argue makes it easier to follow the yellow balls on television.

"I did feel a bit of a difference with the amount of clay that is on the court and the bounces were a bit off, especially the first couple of days of practice, but I feel like it's got better and settled in a little bit," she told a news conference.

"You just have to work on your balance a bit more," added the 25-year-old world number two, who will be chasing the only grand slam that has eluded her at the French Open starting later this month.

Belarussian Azarenka had newly-appointed adviser Amelie Mauresmo watching from her box alongside coach Sam Sumyk and made short work of Hlavackova, who needed treatment on her left thigh midway through the second set.

Like Sharapova, top seed Azarenka missed a chance to serve out the match in the second set but went on to take the tiebreak 7-2 and will next play Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, a former world number one, who is seeded 13.

"It is a little bit slippery but it's the same for everybody," Azarenka, who lost to Petra Kvitova in last year's final, told a news conference when asked about the blue court.

"I don't like to complain about the surface, it is what it is," the Australian Open champion added.

"You have to deal with it and nobody's going to change it now so everybody is playing in the same conditions."

Kvitova plays her second round match against Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka on Wednesday.

Little known Australian player Sam Groth has fired down the fastest recorded serve in professional tennis, a 263kph rocket in a Challenger event in South Korea.
The ATP Tour said on Saturday that Groth, ranked 340 in the world, produced the serve in a second-round match against Belarusian Uladzimir Ignatik in Busan.
Groth's effort beat the previous fastest-recorded serve of 251kph sent down by Croatian Ivo Karlovic in a Davis Cup tie against Germany in Zagreb in March, 2011.


While the ATP does not officially recognise serving speed records because of the variance in radar guns it confirmed "the event was using approved equipment, and that other data gathered appeared within a normal range."

Melbourne-based Groth, 24, lost the match 6-4 6-3.

Novak Djokovic's frustration with the controversial blue clay at the Madrid Masters reached new heights after the world number one was beaten 7-6 6-3 by fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals on Friday.Djokovic and world number two Rafa Nadal, who was dumped out by Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco on Thursday, have complained bitterly all week about the slippery nature of the showcourt surface.


The top-ranked Serb again looked ill at ease as his bid to retain the title he beat Nadal to win in 2011 ended in a whimper while Tipsarevic secured a semi-final meeting with third seed Roger Federer.

Djokovic and Nadal have threatened not to return next year unless the traditional red courts are reinstated. Tournament organisers have blamed the slick surface on excessive pressing that prevents the clay from penetrating the hard base.

"I want to forget this week as soon as possible and move on to the real clay courts," said Djokovic who will chase a first French Open crown on the red dirt of Paris later this month.

"It took me at least a week to try to get used to this surface and somehow find a way to win matches and play a decent level of tennis," he told reporters.

"There is no discussion in my eyes, it's very simple. No blue clay for me."

Federer, the 2009 champion, has also expressed his opposition to the blue clay but the Swiss maestro has adapted to the conditions more effectively than the top two players and cruised to a 13th win against Spain's David Ferrer in 13 meetings.

Watched by Real Madrid soccer players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso, the 16-times Grand Slam singles champion sealed a 6-4 6-4 victory with his seventh ace as he continued the pursuit of his fourth title this year.

Asked if he was the new title favourite following the exits of Djokovic and Nadal, Federer said: "Maybe. I have won it in the past so you figure as a player you can do it again.

"But all the other guys are highly ranked as well and can definitely run through the next couple of rounds so I am aware of that too," the 30-year-old added.

"I haven't played Janko that often so I don't quite know his game that well, like I know David's game for instance or Novak's or Rafa's.

"We'll see how that goes first and I hope I have a shot at the title on Sunday but obviously my focus is on Tipsarevic right now," said Federer.

Seventh seed Tipsarevic, who beat Djokovic at the World Tour Finals in London last year, saved four break points in the first set before taking the tiebreak 7-2.
He squandered three match points on his rival's serve when leading 5-2 in the second set but made no mistake on his next service game to reach his first Masters Series semi-final on clay.

"I want to congratulate Janko for playing a great match today," Djokovic said. "I talked with him and he feels really good on the court.

"I am glad and I want to wish him to go all the way, I think he can. He's been playing great, no question about it."

Tomas Berdych brought local favourite Verdasco, whose win against Nadal was his first in 14 attempts, crashing back to earth when he thrashed the 15th seed 6-1 6-2.
The sixth-seeded Czech, who also thumped 12th seed Gael Monfils 6-1 6-1 to reach the last eight, set up a semi-final against Juan Martin Del Potro.

The 2009 U.S. Open champion, undefeated in 10 clay matches this season and winner in Estoril last week, eased to a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.
"I am really happy with my tennis, with my body and I am feeling really confident on clay," said Argentine Del Potro who had an eight-month layoff in 2010 due to a wrist injury.

"I don't feel any pain so it's a good sign for the next tournament and I think I'm getting better tournament by tournament," the 23-year-old added.

Serena Williams crushed world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Madrid Masters and make a return to the number six ranking.
The American has now won back-to-back WTA clay titles after claiming Charleston in the US a month ago. She now owns five trophies on clay.The bruising victory lifted the American to a 7-1 record over Azaranka, who won her only match in the series in Miami, 2009.

Williams swept to a double-break in 12 minutes at the start, secured the set in 26 minutes on a double-fault and continued the demolition in the second set to complete the win in 64 minutes.


Williams has now won 13 consecutive clay matches including the Fed Cup in April.

Canada will host its Davis Cup World Group playoff tie in September because opponent South Africa can't afford to.Tournament organisers approved Tennis South Africa's request for the switch and says Canada will stage the matchup from Sept. 14-16. The venue hasn't been decided.TSA says ``current economic conditions'' mean it won't be able to organize the tie.


The shift could yet favor South Africa with leading player and No. 35-ranked Kevin Anderson likely to be in North America for the U.S. Open, which ends on Sept. 9. Anderson has recently skipped Davis Cup duties at home.

Canada captain Martin Laurendeau says his players are ``thrilled'' to be able to play in front of a home crowd.

The winner earns a place in the top World Group in 2013.