Month of August , 2008

It's down to the final eight after Day 4 of the Nordea Nordic Light Open, which saw the loss of Indian sensation Sania Mirza and local wildcard Johanna Larsson.
 
Czech left-hander Iveta Benesova stormed into the quarterfinals on Thursday after beating No.6 seed Mirza. It was three times a charm for Benesova as she beat Mirza for the third consecutive time they've met. The 25-year-old Czech recently reached the quarterfinals at Bad Gastein; she now faces last year's Stockholm runner-up Vera Dushevina, who is 3-0 lifetime against the Czech.
 

MASON, Ohio — With Roger Federer’s third-round loss Thursday in the Cincinnati Masters, Rafael Nadal has an opportunity to displace Federer as the world’s No. 1 player.

If Nadal wins this tournament, Federer’s 235-week reign will end.

Federer fell for the third time in four matches — a 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (5) defeat to No. 22 Ivo Karlovic. Nadal — who was scheduled to play Tommy Haas Thursday night — has won 30 straight matches, including five consecutive titles.

So now we know. Roger Federer’s four-year - or 235-week - reign as world No 1 is almost over. The Swiss’s 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 defeat by Ivo Karlovic, of Croatia, in the third round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, last night means that if Rafael Nadal wins the title in Cincinnati this week, he will usurp the Swiss to become the 24th man to top the ATP world rankings.

Reigning French Open champ Ana Ivanovic was sent crashing out of the WTA Rogers Cup, losing her third-round match to unseeded Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
 
Top seed Ivanovic dropped her first two service games against Paszek to fall behind 4-0 in the final set. She also lost three service games in the opening set before winning the second.
 
"It was very frustrating because I didn't know how it was going to pull up; I was in pain through the whole match," Ivanovic said.
 

This time, the lead was too big to overcome. Canadian Stéphanie Dubois bowed out to second seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2 Thursday afternoon in third round action of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.
 
Dubois, ranked 122nd in the world, had an exceptional run this week, defeating Belarusian Olga Govortsova and upsetting 13th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko.
 

Seventeen-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek pulled off the biggest win of her career, upsetting top seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 in the third round of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.
 
Paszek, 94th on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, took advantage of an off night by the Serb, who was unable to gain control of her powerful forehand throughout the match. Ivanovic committed 40 unforced errors, including 31 on the forehand, suffering a heart-breaking loss that might see her lose the number one ranking she has held since she won the French Open.

 Rafael Nadal shifted into position to seize the No. 1 ranking with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) defeat of Tommy Haas only hours after Roger Federer opened the door with a Cincinnati Masters defeat.

In the wake of his Thursday third-round win over the German, Nadal stands three victories away from taking the ATP top spot from Federer. If he claims the title on Sunday, the deal is sealed.

Croatia's Ivo Karlovic defeated Federer 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (5/7) to open the door to the change at the top after four and a half years of Federer's reign.

Serbian Ana Ivanovic’s loss to Tamira Paszek of Austria in the third round of the Rogers Cup could cost her the No.1 ranking in the world.
 
If her compatriot Jelena Jankovic reaches the finals of the tournament, she’ll take over the top spot of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour rankings right before the Olympic Games begin and a few weeks before the US Open.
 

It’s down to the final eight - the survivors who will participate in Friday’s quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.
 

The challengers certainly weren't discouraged at the $1.34-million Rogers Cup presented by National Bank on Thursday, as the entire third round line-up took the court with their eyes on quarterfinal berths at the Tier I tournament.
 

Andy Murray believes he has reached new heights since Wimbledon as his fine start the American hardcourt season continues.

Following last week's run to the semi-finals of the Toronto Masters - where he was narrowly edged out by his SW19 nemesis and world number one elect Rafael Nadal - the Scot powered into the quarters in Cincinnati on Thursday night with a brilliant 6-3 6-3 demolition of big-hitting Dmitry Tursunov.

Ana Ivanovic was stunned 6-2 1-6 6-2 by 17-year-old Austrian Tamira Paszek in the third round of the Montreal Cup, opening the door for fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic to claim her number one world ranking.
 
Jankovic, reached the last eight with 6-3 6-2 demolition of Canadian Stephanie Dubois, sits just 88 points behind Ivanovic in the WTA rankings and can nudge her out of top spot by making it to Sunday's final.
 

Anne Worcester finds herself between a rock (the Beijing Olympics) and a hard place (the U.S. Open), but -- always a trouper -- she's trying to make the best of it.

"It's exciting," the Pilot Pen tournament director said last week via her off-the-hook cell phone. "It's almost like having two Grand Slams this summer. This is the most challenging, most unpredictable event we've ever had."

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal moved closer to No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings with a 6-4, 7-6(0) victory over Tommy Haas to move into the quarterfinals on Thursday night.

If Nadal wins the title on Sunday, he will break Federer's streak of 235 consecutive weeks at No. 1. The Spaniard would become the 24th player in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) to hold the No. 1 position and the third Spaniard to accomplish the feat, joining Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).

Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska advanced to the semifinals of the Nordic Light Open on Friday when Camille Pin retired in the second set.
 
The top-seeded Pole led 6-2, 1-0 when Pin gave up because of stomach problems. The French player called for a doctor in the opening set, but decided to try to keep playing after a short break.
 
"Camille returns almost everything, so it's difficult to play her," Radwanska said. "I tried to play aggressive tennis and finish off the points pretty fast."
 

Vera Zvonareva will replace the injured Maria Sharapova at the Beijing Olympics, Russian tennis federation official Vladimir Kamelzon said on Friday.
 
Kamelzon said that Fed Cup skipper Shamil Tarpishchev had been in charge of naming Sharapova's replacement after the world number three withdrew earlier Friday with a shoulder injury.
 
"He told me that Zvonareva, 23, who will play in the doubles tournament together with Yelena Vesnina, will replace Sharapova in the singles competition," he said.
 

Maria Sharapova will miss the U.S. Open because of a bad right shoulder .
 
The injury she cited in pulling out of the Beijing Olympics also will sideline her for the year's last Grand Slam tournament, a U.S. Open official told The Associated Press on Friday.
 
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Sharapova had yet to announce her withdrawal. The player's agent informed the U.S. Open she wouldn't play, the official said.
 

Rafael Nadal is as close to the No. 1 ranking as he ever been.

The second-seeded Spaniard will try to move even closer to that milestone on Friday when he faces tournament surprise Nicolas Lapentti in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.

The second-ranked Nadal has won his last five tournaments and if the 22-year manages to claim the championship at this hardcourt event he will overtake Roger Federer as the No. 1 player in the world.

World tennis number one Roger Federer will carry the Swiss flag at next Friday's Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing.

Federer, who will be celebrating his 27th birthday on the day of the ceremony, also led out his country at the opening of the Athens Olympics four years ago.

"It's wonderful that I can carry the flag for the Swiss delegation on my birthday," Federer said in a Swiss Olympic statement.

Andy Murray survived a major scare to clinch a place in the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters with a 2-6 6-3 6-1 win over Carlos Moya.

The British number one was totally outclassed by his veteran opponent in the first set but the Spaniard faded halfway through the second as Murray increased the tempo in searing temperatures.

With Roger Federer dispatched from his half of the draw last night, the Scot will now fancy his chances of making a first Masters final on Sunday.