Nadal and Djokovic is out

Rafael Nadal is out for U.S Open today after beaten by Argentine Juan Monaco to recordhis second loss with a 7-6 (7-5), 4-1 lift into the third round in just over 90 minutes. He had lost to Djokovic before

Nadal had said he was feeling the pace of his switch over to hardcourt after losing a Montreal semi-final last weekend against Djokovic.

Suprisingly,Roger Federer steadied the seeded ship with his 6-3, 6-3 demolition of France's Julien Benneteau, first match for the Swiss since losing the Montreal final on Sunday to Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic also lost to Carlos Moya, 6-4, 6-1. Fourth-seeded Djokovic, who beat Andy Roddick, Nadal and Roger Federer on the way to winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal did not played so well while he was easy beaten by Carlos with straight set.

Amelie Maurismo withdraw from challenge

Two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo pulled out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday, citing a groin injury and the need to recover fully from the appendectomy she had in March.

Mauresmo hasn't played in a tournament since losing in the fourth round at Wimbledon did participate in France's Fed Cup semifinal July 14-15.She blamed for her third-round loss at the French Open in June on the groin problem. She also claimed that her doctor needs her to rest and recover from this injury so that it is completely healed

Mauresmo, formerly ranked No. 1 and now No. 7, won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. She reached the quarterfinals or semifinals at the U.S. Open each of the past six years.

Justine Henin played as no.1

Justine Henin won the Rofers Cup to record her straight three wins away from her sixth WTA Tour title of the season. The world's no. 1 player who beat China's Peng Shuai 7-5, 6-2 is trying to finish in what has considered as difficult year.

She won the French Open in June, was upset in the semifinals at Wimbledon and had to pull out of a recent tournament in San Diego with injuries to both her wrists. However, she's playing well as she prepares for the U.S. Open.

Other seeded players to advance included No. 2 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, No. 6 Nadia Petrova of Russia and No. 12 Tatiana Golovin of France. Seventh-seeded Marian Bartoli beat No. 9 Dinara Safina of Russia 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-0 in the late match

Top 10 for world ranking

After last night match, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal still conquering the 1st and 2nd position of the ATP ranking. For the WTA ranking Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova show their unbeatable for ranking currently.

The top 10 current ranking as followed:

ATP Ranking

1. Roger Federer 7140 points
2. Rafael Nadal 5605 points
3. Novac Djokovic 3700 points ( up to 1 level)
4. Andy Roddick 3415 points ( down 1 level)
5. Nicolay Davydenko 3195 points
6. Fernando Gonzales 2475 points
7. Tommy Robrando 2170 points
8. James Blake 1995 points ( up to 1 level)
9. Tommy Haas 1950 points ( up to 1 level)
10. Mikael Youzhney 1880 points ( up to 3 level)

WTA Ranking

1. Justine Henin 4457 points
2. Maria Sharapova 3845 points
3. Jelena Jankovic 3229 points
4. Ana Ivanovic 3117 points ( up 1 level)
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova 2978 points ( down 1 level )
6. Anna Chakvetadze 2661 points
7. Amelie Mauresmo 2424 points
8. Serena Williams 2237 points
9. Nadia Petrova 2173 points
10. Daniela Hantuchova 1975 points

Ana Ivanovic won again

Ana Ivanovic hit 31 winners, including 23 off her powerful forehand, and beat Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4 to win the East West Bank Classic.A year ago, Ivanovic was ranked 19th. On Monday, she is projected to rise one spot to a career-high fourth in the WTA Tour rankings. In between, the 19-year-old was runner-up at the French Open and a semifinalist at Wimbledon this year.

Ivanovic closed out the 1½-hour match by serving a love game, punctuated by an ace into the outside corner of the service box, one of four she had. The third seed connected on 70 percent of her first serves and was broken just once after saving four break points in her first service game of the match.Ivanovic led 4-2 in the second set before Petrova's forehand volley winner left the Russian trailing 5-4. Petrova hit 19 winners in the match, which were offset by 22 unforced errors.

Ivanovic dropped one set in five matches in Carson, against Serb rival Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals and she earned $88,260 for the victory.

Djokovic beat No.1

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer to win the U.S open and that is one of the biggest victories of his career.Djokovic upset world No. 1 Roger Federer 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (2) Sunday to win the $2.45 million Masters Series event, solidifying himself as a serious contender to win the U.S. Open beginning later this month in New York.

It was third-seeded Djokovic's fourth tournament win this year and his first win in five career matches against Federer, whose 16-match Rogers Cup winning streak ended. The Swiss star won the tournament in 2004 and 2006, and sat out in 2005 with a foot injury.

With wins over Andy Roddick and No. 2 Nadal in his previous rounds, Djokovic also became the first player to beat the world's top three players in the same tournament since Boris Becker defeated No. 3 Michael Stich, No. 1 Pete Sampras and No. 2 Goran Ivanisevic in succession in 1994 in Stockholm.

Djokovic rose from No. 83 into the top 20 last year and has continued to move up this season. He will return this week to the No. 3 ranking, which he first took on July 9 but then surrendered to Roddick.

Tennis tournament

Tournaments are often organized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men's singles, women's singles, doubles (where two players of the same gender play on each side), and mixed doubles (with a member of each gender per side). Tournaments may be arranged for specific age groups, with upper age limits for youth and lower age limits for senior players. There are also tournaments for players with disabilities. In the four Grand Slam tournaments, the singles draws are limited to 128 people for each gender.

A singles player or doubles team that wins all four Grand Slam titles in the same year is said to have achieved the Grand Slam or a Calendar Year Grand Slam. If the player or team wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam. If a player wins all four at some point in his or her career, even if not consecutively, it is called a Career Grand Slam.

The four Grand Slam tournaments are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are:

1. Australian Open
2. French Open
3. Wimbledon
4. U.S. Open

History of tennis

What do you know about tennis? Actually tennis appeard earlier in Egyptian temples dating from 1500BC where the Ancient Egyptians and the people that followed actually played ball games as part of their religious ceremonies.These traditions and the whole concept of the ball game spread into Europe in the 8th century, the influence spread by the Moors whose Empire reached into Southern France. As strange as it may seem, it was the meeting of this eastern culture with Christianity which eventually gave rise to tennis!

Christian Monks became interested in the religious rites of the Moors and were the first Europeans to play the ball game that was to become tennis. The earliest version of the game was called 'La Soule' where players would hit a ball to each other using either their hands or a stick. The game became very popular in Monasteries all over Europe, so much so that the Church of the day even considered prohibiting the game.

It was in France that the game as we know it today really came into being. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it became the highly fashionable sport of kings and noblemen and was called ' Jeu de paumme' - the game of the palm. Early French players would begin a game by shouting 'tenez' i.e. 'Play!' and the game soon became known as Royal, or Real Tennis.

Today, tennis is a world-class competitive sport captivating millions of players and fans all round the world. A constant programme of tournaments and events takes place throughout the year and top players have become sporting icons for a new generation. Something that was once the pastime of Kings has become a sport for all.

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