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'Game Changers'

World's Best Player Pound-for-Pound

Definition of Sport

US Tennis and the Economy

Michael Duranceau

APS Tennis California

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Misa Tennis Academy

ITS Kids 10s - Quick Start

Nat.Jr Tennis & Learning

ITS Teaching Philosophy

ITS Swiss History

atpworldtour.com: May 7 2014 Madrid – Top seed Rafael Nadal began his quest for a fourth Mutua Madrid Open title on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-0 performance against Argentina’s Juan Monaco in the second round.

Nadal converted six of 10 break points in the 69-minute victory, during which he served at 79 per cent. With the win, the Spaniard improves his FedEx ATP Win/Loss record to 684-134, surpassing Arthur Ashe’s 683-225 mark. Now at 11th place, Nadal must surpass Boris Becker’s 713 wins to enter the Top 10 in the all-time list. The 26-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion next faces Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Igor Sijsling.

Also on Wednesday, ninth seed John Isner needed two hours and 38 minutes to overcome Marinko Matosevic 7-6(9), 6-7(5), 7-5 in their second-round battle. Isner served 23 aces and won 79 per cent of first-serve points against the Australian in their first meeting. The reigning Auckland champion next faces fifth seed David Ferrer for a berth in the quarter-finals. Spaniard Feliciano Lopez set a third-round meeting with 20-year-old Austrian qualifier Dominic Thiem, who upset Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday. Lopez rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 15 seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Andy Murray made a confident start in his first match in more than a month, but needed to fight to close out a win over Nicolas Almagro in second-round action. Murray rolled out to a 5-0 lead, but managed to win just two of the next eight games as Almagro drew level. The seventh seed saved three break points in the third set, and clinched the 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory with a break in the final game.

Almagro had upset World No. 1 Rafael Nadal two weeks ago in the Barcelona quarter-finals, but required 11 match points to win his first-round match against Andrey Golubev in Madrid.

Tomas Berdych moved to an 11-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head mark over Kevin Anderson as he defeated the South African 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open. All of the pair’s meetings have come in the past 28 months. Berdych goes on to face 12th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who overcame Romanian wild card Marius Copil 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7). The Bulgarian, who claimed his first clay-court title two weeks ago in Bucharest (d. Rosol), won 80 per cent of first serve points during the contest lasting two hours and 10 minutes.

wtatennis.com: May 7 2014 Madrid –Serena Williams beat Peng Shuai in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday for the 649th professional match win of her illustrious career - one away from the big 650.

In a match between the WTA's two World No.1s - Williams in singles, Peng in doubles - it was Williams who looked far more comfortable on Manolo Santana court, holding all nine of her service games - and throwing down 11 aces along the way - en route to a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 victory in 61 minutes.

Awaiting Williams in the third round is No.14 seed Carla Suárez Navarro, who scored her WTA-leading 28th match win of the year with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alison Riske in an hour and six minutes.

A little later, in a battle of former World No.2s, No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska pulled off a miracle win over one of her biggest nemeses, Svetlana Kuznetsova, snapping a six-match losing streak against the Russian with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) victory. Kuznetsova had all kinds of chances - she led 4-1 in the third set and even brought up triple match point up 6-3 in the breaker - but Radwanska hung tough.

Next up for Radwanska is Roberta Vinci, who continued to revive her season with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No.13 seed Caroline Wozniacki. It was straight sets but it all came down to the big points - while Wozniacki converted on just two of 12 break points, Vinci was an absolutely perfect five-for-five.

Other winners during the day were No.4 seed Simona Halep, who beat Spanish wildcard Lara Arruabarrena, 6-4, 6-4, and French qualifier Caroline Garcia, who won by walkover against Maria Kirilenko when the former Top 10 player had to withdraw beforehand because of a left wrist injury.