Novak Djokovic maintained his unbeaten record in 2011 and landed his seventh title in an already astonishing year by defeating Rafael Nadal in the final of the Rome Masters this evening.

A potentially memorable final showdown between clay court king Rafael Nadal and in-form world number two Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Open moved a step closer last night as both players progressed through to the quarter-finals without any problems.

Andy Murray crashed out of the Madrid Open tonight after losing a gruelling quarter-final clash in straight sets to David Ferrer.

Rafael Nadal shrugged off two lengthy rain delays to beat fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and claim a fifth Rome Masters title in six years today.

THIRD seed Rafael Nadal made short work of his Rome Masters quarter-final, progressing to the last four with a 6-4 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka – but the tournament lost another star as Novak Djokovic fell to Fernando Verdasco.

World number one Rafael Nadal believes Andy Murray will be “very difficult to stop” if he succeeds in getting his claycourt game up to the level he desires.

Reigning champion Andy Murray is realistic about his chances of defending his crown at this week’s Madrid Masters following the tournament’s change to clay courts, admitting he is not looking any further than his opening match.

Rain has prevented early play from starting at the Rome Masters today.

American number one Andy Roddick has pulled out of the French Open after failing to shake off a shoulder injury.

Novak Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka will meet in the final of the Rome Masters after both saw their opponents retire during Saturday’s semi-finals.

Sixth-seeded Andy Roddick retired from his semi-final match with Stanislas Wawrinka at the Rome Masters today.

Andy Murray progressed to the second round of the Rome Masters after opponent Juan Martin Del Potro retired with a back injury in the deciding third set.

Andy Murray suffered a birthday to forget as a wrist injury forced him to retire from his Hamburg Masters first-round match with Filippo Volandri.

World number one Roger Federer was sent crashing out of the Rome Masters today after suffering a shock straight-sets defeat to unseeded Filippo Volandri.

ANDY MURRAY went out of the Rome Masters after two rain breaks saw the match swing to and fro against Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Tim Henman reached the second round of the Rome Masters after defeating Alessio Di Mauro in straight sets.

Andy Roddick fired the fastest serve ever seen at Wimbledon as he battled past Holland’s Sjeng Schalken into the semi-finals.

Martina Navratilova has not ruled out the possibility of returning to play in the singles at Wimbledon this year.

Top-seed Andy Roddick rolled to another straight-sets victory yesterday to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the International Raiffeisen Grand Prix.

Pete Sampras has crashed out in the first round of the Rome Tennis Masters Series, losing in three sets to Spain's Felix Mantilla.