TENNIS in DEPTH.

Rafael Nadal is concerned about his constant injury problems according to Spanish Davis Cup Captain Albert Costa.

“He is worried about his physical state, but he’s working every day to get better.” – Costa.

Shakira has opened up about her decision to cast Rafa in a new music video, insisting she picked the tennis ace to be her leading man because she “identifies” with him.

The Colombian singer sparked reports of a new romance with Nadal when they were photographed meeting together, shortly before filming a steamy promo for Shakira’s new single Gypsy.

She explains, “I thought that maybe I needed someone (in the video) I could in some way identify with. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young, since he was 17, I believe.

Nadal suffered a small knee tear while two sets and 3-0 down against Britain’s Andy Murray in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, ruling him out of action until the first Masters 1000 event of the season in Indian Wells.

As well as missing the chance to defend the points he earned for making the Rotterdam final last year, the new world No.3 has also been forced to skip Spain’s Davis Cup tie with Switzerland next week.

Plagued by injuries since November 2008 when tendinitis in his knees forced him out of Spain’s Davis Cup final win over Argentina, the 23-year-old suffered yet more trouble with his knees after failing to lift the French Open for the first time in five years last May.

“Until last year at Roland Garros and the problems, he had achieved everything,” Costa said. “It’s normal, after 22 years and winning everything, to have some down time.”

Nadal hopes to return fighting fit in order to defend the title he picked up in California last year, beating three top ten players – del Potro, Roddick and Murray – on the way to victory.

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Andy Murray crashed out of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships in the second round.

Murray, playing his first tournament since losing in the Australian Open final to Roger Federer, lost in three sets to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic.

Tsonga, the fifth seed, had no answer to Ljubicic who produced 15 aces in a 7-5 6-3 win which set up a meeting with Djokovic

The 22-year-old Scot looked to have overcome losing the first set when he took the second to force a decider, but Tipsarevic raised his game to seal a 7-6 (7/3) 4-6 6-4 victory in two and a half hours on Wednesday.

Tipsarevic claimed an early break of serve in the first set but squandered the chance to serve it out, missing an easy smash to allow Murray to break back and level at 5-5.

Murray then hammered down three aces in the next game to seemingly signal a change in momentum, but world number 39 Tipsarevic commendably held serve to love to force a tie-break.

A superb forehand winner down the line then gave Tipsarevic four set points at 6-2 and an ace two points later – albeit one only confirmed by HawkEye – gave the 25-year-old the upper hand.

That at least served to spark Murray into life and a break of serve in the opening game of the second set was enough for the third seed to take it 6-4 and level the match.

But those expecting Murray to carry that momentum into the decider were in for a rude awakening as Tipsarevic claimed an early break and then saved five break points in an epic fifth game to lead 4-1.

After the first set it was perhaps no surprise that Tipsarevic was unable to serve out for the match, two woeful backhand errors helping Murray to reduce his arrears to 5-4.

However, Murray himself was broken in the next game and Tipsarevic sank to his knees in the middle of the court in celebration of one of the best wins of his career.

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Nikolay Davydenko could miss Russia’s Davis Cup tie with India after being forced to pull out of the Dubai Championships with a wrist injury.

The Russian struggled through Tuesday’s first-round match before pulling out of his second-round match with Michael Berrer after losing the first set 6-3.

“I thought about quitting before the match, but in practice I was OK. A match is different though,” he said.

“It was too much for me, it gets too risky now, and it’s better to retire.”

Second seed Novak Djokovic survived a minor scare before seeing off fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-4 6-2, but it was the exit of ATP World Tour champion Davydenko that really grabbed the headlines.

Davydenko had complained of discomfort after his three-set win over Florent Serra on Tuesday, but was clearly in more pain against Berrer.

He frequently over-hit the ball, suffered an early break of serve to go 3-1 down and was unable to break back against the powerful left-hander.

When Davydenko netted a high backhand volley, it was clear he was struggling and was not fit to carry on.

“I thought I could win anyway,” said world number 56 Berrer.

“At the moment I am self-confident. My way of playing hurts a lot of guys.”

In the last eight, the German will play former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, after he beat Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-3 3-6 6-1.

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Top seed Elena Dementieva moved into the third round of the Malaysia Classic with a straightforward win over Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski.

The Russian had little trouble getting past Jovanovski in Kuala Lumpur, wrapping up an easy 6-2 6-3 win with the minimum of fuss.

Also on Wednesday fourth-seed Alisa Kleybanova defeated fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-7(4) 6-3 6-4 after recovering from a rocky first set.

Japan’s Ayumi Morita beat Chinese wild card Yan Zi while Anastasia Rodionova beat Ekaterina Ivanova 6-2 6-2.

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Defending champion Venus Williams continued her good form with a 6-2 6-3 win over Mathilde Johansson in the opening round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco.

The top seed is fresh from her hard-court title at Dubai last weekend and had few problems with her Swedish opponent on the clay in Mexico.

“It was a really good first match,” Williams said.

“I was just trying to get my rhythm on the clay and make the transition.”

Third seed Gisela Dulko overcame a mid-match slump to defeat Lucie Hradecka 6-1 2-6 6-2 while fifth seed Carla Suarez Navarro did not drop a game in coasting past Hungary’s Greta Arn 6-0 6-0.

Roberta Vinci, the seventh seed, made it a good day for the seeded players as she rallied from a set down to beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 2-6 6-3 6-4.

Qualifiers Laura Pous Tio and Catalina Castano both progressed after they recorded surprise wins of Patricia Mayr and Klara Zakopalova respectively.

Elsewhere, there were first-round victories for Kaia Kanepi, Mariya Koryttseva and Edina Gallovits.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero will be Spain’s top player next week when the two-time defending Davis Cup champs host Switzerland in an opening-round tussle.

Spanish team captain Albert Costa will have the red-hot Ferrero, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Marcel Granollers at his disposal for the best-of-five-tie against the underdog Swiss, who will play without their top gun, the great Roger Federer, on the red clay at Plaza de Toros de la Ribera in Logrono.

The former world No. 1 Ferrero has won his last two tournaments, both on clay.

In addition to the world No. 3 Nadal, who is nursing a knee injury, Spain will also have to do without 10th-ranked Fernando Verdasco, who is out with a nerve problem in his leg.

Switzerland will be captained by Severin Luthi, who will head to Logrono with a squad of Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Michael Lammer and Yves Allegro.

The Spaniards are 4-1 all-time against the Swiss in a series that dates back to 1946.

Spain, which beat the Czech Republic in last year’s final, won four Davis Cup titles in the 2000s, including two straight to close out the decade. The Spaniards are unbeaten in 18 home ties stretching back to 1999 when Brazil was the visitor.

The Spain-Switzerland winner will face the France-Germany victor in the quarterfinals.

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Serena Williams will visit Kenya for three days next week to inaugurate a school built with her funds and several other partners, local media reported on Thursday.

The school, which is located in Makueni district of eastern Kenya, was built through partnership between Hewlett Packard (HP), one of the world’s largest technology firms, and Build African Schools (BAS) initiative — an American non-profit making organization.

The school will give chance to hundreds of primary school pupils in the area to continue with their education and an opportunity to pursue secondary school education.

Williams has inaugurated a school in Kenya 14 months ago and she will this time check the progress of the previous school and hold a one hour tennis teaching camp for the students of both schools.

As part of its commitment, HP will set up a digital computer laboratory by equipping with computers, printers, internet and facilitate the training of the local teachers and students.

Ken Mbwaya, the HP managing director for East Africa, said on Thursday that the visit is an indication of the commitment by the global tennis superstar on education especially in underprivileged areas.

“Serena is HP’s global ambassador and during her last visit she was touched by the plight of children from these areas as these they are very keen to learn even with the daily challenges and limitations that they encounter, she thus made a further commitment to assist in the building of Schools in that region,” Mbwaya said.

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