TENNIS in DEPTH.

USA and Spain meet for the tenth time with the Americans holding a slim 5-4 lead. This will be the first time these two powerhouse nations have met since the semifinals in Madrid in 2008, which the Spaniards won 4-1. Interestingly, Spain has never defeated USA on away soil. Andy Roddick had been lobbying hard for this tie to be held in his hometown, Austin, and he is certainly playing the host to the rest of his teammates – captain Jim Courier, Wimbledon quarterfinalist Mardy Fish and world No. 1 doubles pair Bob and Mike Bryan.

Roddick held a BBQ at his new home for the team to celebrate the 4th of July and he is incredibly proud that he is able to show his fellow Austinites what this great competition is all about. “Once Austin kind of fit the bill for this tie, to see the fans come out, tickets sell out in an hour, it almost validated the effort,” Roddick said. “I was real happy to see the support Austin and central Texas has been giving this event as far as selling out, as far as the excitement. It’s just nice to see excitement for tennis in this area of the world.” The 16,269 fans at Frank Erwin Center will need to be in full voice because even though Rafael Nadal is on the sidelines for this tie, the team that Spain brings to this very Spanish speaking state is still incredibly powerful.

Spain’s captain Albert Costa leads with world No.6 David Ferrer alongside the experienced Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, who beat Roddick at Wimbledon a fortnight ago, and Marcel Granollers. Courier said the team has no mixed feelings about Nadal not being in Austin. They must concentrate on who is across the net and that’s all that matters. “We have a job to do, we need to win three matches,” said Courier, who is in his second tie as captain after USA’s win over Chile in March. “We don’t control who they bring, we just have to control our efforts. We have a task on hand, and that doesn’t change.” Costa acknowledges that this will be a difficult weekend saying playing in Roddick’s home and “his public and his country” is something they will work to rise above. “I have complete trust in these four men in my team and I know they will give 100 per cent on the court and for sure we will try to give our maximum level and we will see what happens,” Costa said.

“The guys have been practicing pretty, the court is a bit fast, the ball is a little light and the conditions are quick, but this is normal because they can choose what they want and they feel good with these conditions. We are trying to practice every day and we are trying to get used and the guys are doing a very good job. We will be ready for Friday.”

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Gael Monfils will play Roger Federer in the last eight of the French Open for the second time in three years after he overcame seventh seed David Ferrer in a five-set epic. Monfils took his fourth match point to claim a 6-4 2-6 7-5 1-6 8-6 victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen. It looked like the home favourite had blown his chance when he tightened up serving for the match at 5-3 in the decider and squandered two match points. Ferrer duly broke back and then saved another match point on his own serve, but when Monfils moved 0-40 ahead in the Spaniard’s next service game, there was no way back and the 24-year-old brought the crowd to their feet with a forehand winner.

The result was something of a surprise given seventh seed Ferrer’s form this year and it initially looked like he had taken control of the match. Play was called off on Sunday night for darkness with the Spaniard 2-0 up in the fourth set and he raced through that to level the match but could not complete the job.

Monfils, who is set to rise to No 8 in the 2011 ATP rankings on Monday, hit 57 winners and 11 aces overall in the four-hour and seven-minute encounter which was his third straight win against Ferrer.

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Rafael Nadal picked up his sixth Barcelona Open title with a 6-2 6-4 victory over his fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. In a repeat of last week’s Monte Carlos Masters final, Nadal looked a class apart as he raced through the opener. Ferrer established a 4-2 lead in the second set but Nadal hit back with four straight games to take the match. Nadal, 24, is now unbeaten on clay in 34 matches and looks primed for a sixth French Open title next month.

Nadal won the Barcelona Open five years in a row – beating Ferrer in the 2008 and 2009 finals – before skipping the tournament in 2010 because of a knee injury.

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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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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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Roger Federer beat Marin Cilic 6-4 6-3 while fourth seed David Ferrer reached the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-3 win over Milos Raonic. Nadal’s Spanish compatriot, Tommy Robredo, was leading Viktor Troicki 6-3 1-2 when he was forced to withdraw through injury.

Rafael Nadal extended his unbeaten run at the Monte Carlo Masters to 34 matches as he reached the last eight with a solid win over Richard Gasquet. Nadal was rarely threatened and two breaks in the first set and two in the second gave him a 6-2 6-4 win. He will now play Ivan Ljubicic, who beat fifth seed Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-2.

After breaking in the first game of the match, world number one Nadal found his first service game a tricky affair but after fighting off several deuces he duly held and, even at that early stage, there was only going to be one winner. Gasquet tried to be aggressive and produced some good shots but his opponent was a class apart and a second break at 4-2 helped Nadal take the first set in 44 minutes. The Spaniard dropped only six points on his serve in the opening set and he was equally in control for much of the second.

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Mardy Fish became the top-ranked men’s American player by beating No. 6-seeded David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. The 29-year-old Fish will climb to at least 11th, a career best, in the next rankings. Good friend Andy Roddick will fall from eighth to 14th after losing his opening match last week. “I don’t think I would ever feel like I was the No. 1 American,” Fish said. “Andy has had a pretty good career. You can put his career on top of mine about six times. He’s always going to be the top dog in my generation.”

Fish, seeded 14th, dominated with his serve and took the lead for good when Ferrer hit back-to-back double-faults to lose the 11th game. At 29, Fish is into the Key Biscayne semifinals for the first time. His opponent Friday will be the winner of Wednesday night’s match between No. 2-seeded Novak Djokovic and unseeded Kevin Anderson.

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Ferrer earned his 11th career title and improved to 6-0 against Almagro. He converted his first six break opportunities in the final and was only denied his seventh when Almagro made a clutch forehand that landed on the line to save a match point in the seventh game of the final set. Almagro could only convert four of 13 break chances.

Ferrer improved to 14-2 this season, a record that also includes the Auckland title and a semifinal run at the Australian Open. Almagro, the third seed, came into the final with a 13-match winning streak that included titles in Argentina and Brazil the past two weeks. He was bidding to become the first player to win three of the four events on the ATP Tour’s Latin American clay-court season.

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