TENNIS in DEPTH.

Andy Murray has pulled out of the Barcelona Open after failing to recover from the elbow injury he suffered in Monte Carlo. Murray damaged the joint last Friday but managed to contest his semi-final against Rafael Nadal in the principality the following day, losing in three sets to the world number one. He flew out to Barcelona in the hope the injury would clear up but he has now been advised to take four to five days’ rest.

“I’m going to take four to five days’ rest and begin practising at the start of next week.” The injury is the latest blow for the world number four, who has endured a horrible sequence of results since reaching his second successive Australian Open final at the start of the year. His convincing defeat to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne seems to have had a crushing effect on Murray’s morale – just as his final defeat to Roger Federer did 12 months earlier.

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Jelena Jankovic and Aleksandra Krunic saved two match points before rallying to win the decisive doubles match to give Serbia a 3-2 victory over Slovakia in the Fed Cup playoff series on Sunday. Jankovic and Krunic, who teamed up for the first time in the Fed Cup, overcame Daniela Hantuchova and Magdalena Rybarikova 2-6, 7-5, 9-7 on the indoor clay court at Sibamac Arena in a match that lasted 3 hours, 17 minutes. “All members of the team contributed to the victory,” Serbian captain Dejan Vranes said.

The Serbian pair was trailing 5-1 in the second set but the Slovaks wasted two match points at the 10th game before losing the set. “We kept fighting and never gave up and somehow we managed to end up as winners,” Jankovic said. “It’s hard to say what just happened,” Slovak captain Matej Liptak said. “I can’t say what the turning point was.”

The Slovaks broke Krunic in the third set for a 6-5 lead but Rybarikova failed to serve out the match before the Serbs converted their first match point. “We were close to triumphing over one of the best teams in the world,” said Hantuchova. “It’s hard to forget a loss like that. We have a team that could win the entire competition.”

Serbia returns to the elite eight-nation World Group after one year while Slovakia is relegated. It was the first win for Serbia over Slovakia in the Fed Cup after two losses, including a 3-2 defeat last year at the World Group playoff. The teams split the reverse singles earlier Sunday.

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Rafael Nadal reigned supreme at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for the seventh year in a row on Sunday as he defeated fourth seed David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 in an all-Spanish final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. Nadal was presented with the trophy by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, his fiancé Charlene Wittstock, and President of the tournament committee Elizabeth-Ann de Massy.

“It’s really emotional and unbelievable for me,” said Nadal. “[To] start the clay season like this is fantastic, but [it] is fantastic winning Monte Carlo another time. Probably is a tournament that in the category of [ATP World Tour Masters] 1000 tournaments is the one that I feel more emotional when I am playing for the history of the tournament because here in 2003 everything started. ”[To] win seven times in a row any where is almost impossible I think. But to win Monte Carlo, all the best players in the world are here, you always have tough matches, is impossible to imagine for me. So I am very lucky, I think.”

Since making his debut with a third-round exit to Guillermo Coria in 2003, Nadal has gone on to win a staggering 37 consecutive matches in Monte-Carlo and owns a 39-1 record at the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament of the season.

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Andrea Petkovic’s defeat of America’s Melanie Oudin has ensured Germany will regain its place in the World Group for 2012. This result means USA has dropped out of the World Group for the first time since its formation in 1995.

This was Petkovic’s second singles victory of the weekend after she saw off the youthful challenge of Christina McHale 63 64 on Saturday. She has now extended her current Fed Cup singles winning streak to six matches, having won both singles in Germany’s 4-1 World Group II victory over Slovenia in February.

Petkovic plays in Stuttgart on a career-high ranking of No. 19 having reached the semifinals in Miami last month.

Oudin, whose stellar Fed Cup performances for the USA have seen them reach the final for the last two years, has struggled for form of late and also went down 62 76(5) to Julia Goerges yesterday. The American was unable to capitalise on a 4-2 lead in the second set.

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The first two sets were enthralling with both players producing some outrageous shots before Nadal picked up his game and ran away with the decider in a match lasting just under three hours. However, at one point it was questionable whether Murray would even be able to start the game when he required injections for an arm injury which was causing him pain when he served, and there was a lengthy delay. Nadal got the match under way but Murray brought up double break point with a cross-court shot which Nadal put into the net, the Spaniard again netting for the Scot to claim a break in the first game. However, a Murray volley at the net which went wide gave Nadal a chance to break straight back, the response immediate as Murray netted a return and after holding he then broke for 3-1. After holding serve, Murray then moved to triple break point in the seventh game.

Nadal held for Murray to serve to stay in the set but the Scot put a backhand into the net to seal the set 6-4 in Nadal’s favour.

The third set saw Nadal break back for a 3-0 lead after which Murray had to have treatment on his right arm. Nadal had been clearly second best in the previous set but he picked his game up with some brutal shots as Murray faltered. Murray broke for 4-1 but Nadal hit straight back and he eased to triple match point, Murray going long as the defending champion set up a final against Ferrer. The first semi-final was far more straightforward, Ferrer enjoying a commanding 6-3 6-2 victory over Jurgen Melzer. Melzer had reached the last four by knocking out former world number one Roger Federer in straight sets but there was to be no repeat on Saturday.

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Zvonareva set the tone with a 60 62 demolition of Errani in the opening match of the tie. Kuznetsova was then made to battle by a determined Roberta Vinci before prevailing 62 67(4) 61 in the second singles rubber. Saturday’s wins for Russia mean that Zvonareva could seal victory for the team against Vinci in Sunday’s first reverse singles match, though there was no hint of complacency in the Russian camp. For his part, Italian captain Corrado Barazzutti sounded an optimistic, if philosophical, note as he looked ahead to what is likely to be another challenging day for his team. “We have to acknowledge that the Russians played very well today. They have great players,” he said. “Tomorrow is another day and if the Russians win, then we have to congratulate them but we will have to see what’s up tomorrow because anything can happen.” After Zvonareva’s one-sided win, Kuznetsova and Vinci produced a battle that owed plenty to the Italian’s swashbuckling tennis style, which was most evident in the second set. At one stage, Vinci led 4-1 and had a ball for 5-1 before being pushed to a tiebreak. It was a sequence of events which was to rob her of much-needed energy for the third set.

Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges both scored straight sets victories to put Germany in charge against USA in their Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-off tie in Stuttgart. Petkovic gave Germany a great start to their promotion campaign with a 63 64 win over 18-year-old Christina McHale. The German No. 1 broke serve on four occasions, and only conceded her own delivery twice, to seal victory in 1 hour 35 minutes. Goerges then avenged a recent defeat by Melanie Oudin in Miami by coming back from a break down in the second set to win 62 76(5).

The Americans are missing their top three players through injury – Serena and Venus Williams, and Bethanie Mattek-Sands – leaving added pressure on the young shoulders of McHale and Oudin.

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Andy Murray completed a routine 6-2 6-1 win over Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil to set up a Monte Carlo Masters semi-final with six-time reigning champion Rafael Nadal. A first-serve percentage down at 50% was the only blemish in a wonderful display from the Scot, who hit 26 winners and went through his full repertoire of strokes.

The British No 1 has looked back to his best this week, ending a winless run stretching back over two months to the Australian Open final and dropping only one set en route to the last four. Murray broke in the third game and held comfortably to lead 3-1, aided by his trusty drop-shot – the use of which on Thursday against injured home favourite Gilles Simon saw him uncharitably booed by the home crowd as he entered the court today. He powered into a 5-1 lead, breaking with the help of some powerful forehands before pushing on from 30-all to hold. Gil stopped the rot with a hard-fought hold and set up two break points as Murray served for the set, but was thwarted as his forehand on the second rebounded off the net-tape and Murray came through to take the set 6-2 in 37 minutes. Gil held to 30 and put pressure on Murray’s serve, the Scot shading a long rally at deuce before finishing the job with an ace. A wild Murray miscue into the stand was of no consequence as he won four straight points to break to 30 and lead 2-1 in the second set. He easily defended the break and some more fine stroke-making took him 4-1 up and finally won over the crowd. A bullying love hold took him within one game of victory, a mixture of drop shots, lobs and powerful groundstrokes sending the valiant but outclassed Gil scurrying to all corners.

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Jurgen Melzer overcame an early back injury and blustery conditions to secure a first victory over Roger Federer and a place in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. The Austrian looked like he was heading for an early exit when he had to leave the court for treatment after the opening game with a back problem. But when he returned there was little sign of it hampering his game as he put together a composed display which proved too much for second seed Federer and culminated in a 6-4 6-4 success.

Left-handed Melzer went into the contest without a win against the Swiss 16-time grand slam champion in three attempts but a break in each set saw him through to a last-four meeting with Spain’s David Ferrer. ”I played my game and tried to attack his forehand when the points were important,” Melzer told Sky Sports 1 afterwards. ”He was defending more on his backhand side so there was more space on the forehand.” On his back injury, he added: “My back blocked but the trainer did a great job.

Melzer beat Ferrer on his way to reaching the semi-finals at the French Open last year, a result he hopes will prey on the Spaniard’s mind before their meeting tomorrow. ”I will try my best. The last two matches I have won against him,” he said. ”In Paris last year I killed him on clay and hopefully that result is still in the back of his mind.

In the first match of the day, Ferrer beat Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-3.

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