Andy Murray sent home in opener

Andy Murray lost for only the fourth time this year at the Campionati Internazionali d’Italia Masters in Rome, Italy. He lost in his opening match to qualifier (and quite the hottie), Juan Monaco, 6-1, 3-6, 5-7. This is Andy’s second clay court tournament this year, falling two weeks ago in the semi-finals to Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters.

This may not be the ideal result for Andy but neither is the surface so I’m not very surprised about this upset. I can’t wait to move to grass and see how Andy handles the pressue of playing at home.

Victoria Azarenka upset in Stuttgart

The tournament’s fourth seed and hot off a huge Miami victory, Victoria Azarenka was upset in her second round match against Gisela Dulko 4-6, 3-6 at the Porsche Grand Prix tournament in Stuttgart, Germany. Vika, not known for her clay court abilities-I have not seen her play on the surface-came up against a great dirt baller in Gisela.

“She won a lot of matches this year but I feel confident on clay. Everything worked for me. I was solid but I was also aggressive, especially on my serve. I just believed in myself, that I can beat top players,” Gisela said.

Word.

Image via Porsche Grand Prix

Guillermo Coria retires from tennis

Former world number 3, Guillermo Coria, announced yesterday, April 28, that he will no longer be competing on tour. A year after reaching the finals of the French Open (which he could have won had he not choked!) in 2004, a string of bad results and injuries set him way behind his peers. According to Guille, ever since 2005 he has not been feeling passionate about competing.

“In 2005 I began to feel less and less like competing,” he said. “My passion just wasn’t the same and it’s impossible to do things well when it’s like that. In this sport, you have to be at 100 percent,”

I think that French Open loss really knocked him down mentally and was never able to get back on his feet. He exits the game ranked 672 in the world.

Source

Italy stuns Russia in Fed Cup

The Italian Federation Cup team sent the defending champions, Russia, packing in their semi-final tie. With Russia’s not so stellar line-up, an upset was in the books this weekend. Francesca Schiavone defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (not a mouthful at all) in their reverse singles rubber 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2 to clinch the tie 3-1. The only win for Russia was when Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Flavia Pennetta 6-0, 6-3.

The Italians will meet the United States in the finals in November.

Image via Getty

Rafael Nadal takes home fifth straight Barcelona title

Rafael Nadal took home another fifth straight title at the Open Sabadell Atlantico tournament in Barcelona, Spain. Last week he also won the Monte Carlo Masters for the fifth straight time. The Barcelona final was a rematch of last year’s with Rafa and David Ferrer battling it out on the red dirt. The king of clay eased past his Spanish compatriot 6-2, 7-5 to win the title.

This is a year of fifth’s for Rafa as he bids to win his fifth consecutive French Open title in May.

Image via Getty