Rafael Nadal News

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) _ Rafael Nadal dropped serve three times and had to sweep five straight games to win the Mercedes Cup with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland on Sunday. The top-seeded Spaniard hadn't previously dropped serve in the tournament, but had to rally from 5-2 down in the second set to claim his sixth title this year and his 93rd win in 94 matches on clay. ``I had a little luck, but ...

PARIS (AP) _ Maybe Roger Federer needs to allow the pain of coming up short at the French Open to last a little longer. Maybe he needs to be a tad more concerned about whether he ever will pull off what he's come so close to _ and yet, in a way, remains so far from accomplishing: a ``Roger Slam'' of four consecutive major titles, a career Grand Slam, a true Grand Slam. Maybe Federer needs ...

ROME (AP) _ Tennis star Rafael Nadal went to a hospital for a checkup following a dizzy spell Thursday, although he was not planning to pull out of the Rome Masters. ``Everything is OK. It was just a routine checkup. He's playing tonight,'' Nadal's spokesman Benito Barbadillo said. ``It was the same as yesterday. He was just feeling a little dizzy, that's it.'' The Spaniard looked to extend his 73-match ...

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) _ Rafael Nadal said he's skipping Spain's Davis Cup quarter-final match against the United States next month because he needs to rest his injured foot. Nadal said his foot has been bothering him for the past month. Despite the injury, Nadal planned to play in the quarter-finals Wednesday night at Key Biscayne against Novak Djokovic of Serbia. ``Although I've been playing very well, I'm playing with ...

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal opened the year with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Rainer Schuettler of Germany, and second-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Kristian Pless 2-6, 6-3-, 7-5 in the opening round of the ATP Tour's Chennai Open. The 20-year-old Nadal started out rusty and Schuettler took a 4-2 lead by breaking Nadal in the sixth game. But Nadal, ranked second in the world, won four straight games to take ...

Rafael Nadal of Spain rallied to beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 Friday and set up a Masters Cup semifinal against top-ranked Roger Federer while Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas advanced to the doubles final four. Nestor and Knowles defeated Poland pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-3, 6-3 to finish second in the Gold Group and will face Red Group winner Paul Hanley ...

James Blake upset second-ranked Rafael Nadal Monday at the year-ending Masters Cup while Toronto's Daniel Nestor and partner Mark Knowles moved on in doubles action. Blake, ranked No. 8, extended his unbeaten run in ATP events against Nadal to three matches. He remains the only player in the elite eight-man field to have a winning record over the 20-year-old Spaniard. ``I'm the guy that's supposed to be the easy match ...

Defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated American qualifier Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday in his opening match at the Madrid Masters, with Real Madrid soccer stars David Beckham and Raul part of the capacity crowd. Nadal, seeded No. 2, didn't drop serve and saved his best for last by breaking Fish in the last game with a no-look, crosscourt forehand. Four seeded players were eliminated in the second round: ...

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal was upset by Joachim Johansson 6-4, 7-6 (4) Wednesday at the Stockholm Open while Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., lost his second-round match. Johansson, ranked 690th, played in his first ATP event since February after being sidelined for months because of right shoulder and elbow injuries. Johansson aced Nadal four times in the opening game and broke to lead 2-1. The Swede saved a break point ...

Rafael Nadal could miss Spain's Davis Cup matchup against Switzerland _ and a potential showdown with Roger Federer. ``I don't know if I'll play,'' Nadal said Monday. ``Normally, I don't play the first round and at this moment I don't know if I will.'' Nadal and Federer both play only one Davis Cup series per season, and neither will commit to the first round matchup on Feb. 9-11 in Switzerland. ...