Top seed Rafael Nadal endured to post a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) triumph into the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters by resisting a barrage of 23 aces off the racket of Croatian strongman Ivo Karlovic.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo had to pull out the match against Argentine Juan Del Potro. He experienced an adductor muscle strain in two places, which will also compel him to miss the forthcoming Miami Masters.

On Friday, the two other quarterfinals will be staged. 12th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka will face second-seeded former No. 1 Roger Federer and high-flying Novak Djokovic will take up the challenge against 18th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet. On Wednesday, the Frenchman overwhelmed American favorite Andy Roddick.

This year has been an ideal one for Djokovic. He has won titles at the Australian Open and Dubai. In December, he led Serbia to it’s first-ever Davis Cup championship and in 2008, he was the Indian Wells champion and runner-up in 2007.

Marion Bartoli reached the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic. Maria Sharapova managed to grasp out a painful 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 win over China’s Peng Shuai for a semi-final place, even though she fell short to convert on eight of 10 break points and committed 13 double-faults.

Tennis betting lines have received a lot of action these last few weeks for the on-going Indian Wells championship. The odds for Stanislas Wawrinka 33, Novak Djokovic 19/10, Roger Federer 21/5, Rafael Nadal are 44/25 and Juan Martin Del Potro 7.

In the women’s singles, the odds are Marion Bartoli 7, Yanina Wickmayer 11/2, Maria Sharapova 4 and Caroline Wozniacki 73/100.

2011 Australian Open has been full of excitement and surprising results which have captured the attention of the tennis world in the first week.

The story of the week is all about Alexandr Dolgopoov, the 22 year old Ukranian who is ranked 46th and pulled off two major upsets, on the men’s side. Dolgopolov took out 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo Wilfried Tsonga in five sets, in the third round. Dolgopolov had an even more impressive five set victory over fourth seed Robin Soderling, who was a major contender for the Aussie Grand Slam, in the next round. Dolgopoov is one of the favorite to win this tournament in online sportsbook odds.

When 8th seeded Andy Roddick lost his fourth round match in straight sets to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka that was another upset on the men’s draw. To fellow compatriot and good friend Roger Federer, Stan fell in the quarterfinals.

In order to defend the Australian Open title, Federer has shown vulnerabilities on his quest. In opposition to Gilles Simon, he struggled in five sets in his second round match. Fed dropped the second set against Tommy Robredo, in the fourth round. Against Novak Djokovic, who lost only one set so far, the Swiss maestro will have to play his best game in the semifinal.

History was made as Francesva Schiavone defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in a fourth round match that lasted four hours and forty four minutes, in the women’s competition as well as the epic duel on Rod Laver Arena became the longest women’s Grand Slam match.

Even though it wasn’t enough to beat first seed Caroline Wozniacki, Schiavone put up a tough fight in the quarterfinal. As Wozniacki and Clijsters might meet on championship day in Melbourne, there is a good chance of a 2009 US Open repeat final.

With all guns blazing in a 4hr 48min epic five-setter, the never-say-die Australian, Lleyton Hewitt went down typically against fierce rival David Nalbandian in a disappointing first-round exit from his record 15th straight Australian Open.

On day two of the Australian Open, David Nalbandian and the conquered Lleyton Hewitt drew upon in their match in Melbourne that straddled midnight echoed fistfights of 200 years ago. From the combatants, the game demanded every drop of sweat and they kept giving for sets that lasted 40 minutes, 47, 40, 68 and an unbelievable 93, lasting for 4 hours and 48 minutes.

To the Open, it was Hewitt’s fifth winless visit and he has been on the end of some difficult draws. In the fourth round, bowing out to Roger Federer twice and Fernando Gonzalez in the early rounds. Hewitt failed to protect his ranking points for a fourth-round loss to Federer here last year. He is expected to slip from a pre-tournament 54 to around 70.

Last year Hewitt made the 4th round of the Australian Open. When rankings are updated in late January, Hewitt is set to descend. For his first round loss at Melbourne this season, he has only earned 10 ranking points. To get back into the seedings for Grand Slams, he will need some very strong results soon. Failing that, like Nalbandian, he runs the risk of drawing tough first round opponents, in big tournaments and that will hurt his chances of going deep into draws.

Before stumbling to a 3-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1) 9-7 loss, unseeded Hewitt had the first-round match at his mercy midway through the fourth set. In the 12th game of the fifth set, he held two match points after launching an extraordinary recovery from 3-5 in the decider.

The ATP summer hard court season of 2010, named as the Olympus US Open Series, officially kicked off by the Atlanta Tennis Championships. After nine years, once again Atlanta has the privilege to host some of the world’s best male tennis players.

There has already been plenty of action during the qualifying stages on the weekend, although Monday July 19 was the opening day of the Atlanta Tennis Championships. There were some doubles matches and only a few singles matches, on day one.

The Americans had a great start and won their first round matches in Atlanta, as Michael Russell, Rajeev Ram and Mardy Fish. Over Karol Beck, Ram won 6-4 7-6(4), Russell upset eight seed Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-3 and Fish took out James Ward 6-1 6-2. Ukranian Illya Marchenko and the German veteran Rainer Schuettler were the other first round winners.

On the doubles side, fellow Americans Ryan Sweeting and Robby Ginepri were taken out by James Blake and John Isner 3-6 6-4 10-3. The duo of Jonathan Erlich and Janko Tipsarevic knocked out top seeds Fleming and Skupski. Additionally, Kevin Anderson and Michael Russell defeated fourth seeded doubles team of Hutchins and Kerr. Overall, for the Americans on the singles and doubles sides, it was an excellent day.

First seed Andy Roddick is the focus of the tournament. There are expectations for Roddick to make a real impact in the hard court season leading to the US Open, after a disappointing early loss at the grass courts of Wimbledon. Roddick will face Rajeev Ram in the second round and he got a bye in the first round.

Tuesday, June 29, featured all of the ladies quarterfinal matches of the 2010 Wimbledon. Besides that, all other matches were doubles, mixed doubles, and juniors.

The headline of the day was when Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria defeated second seed Venus Williams 6-2 6-3 on Court 1. This was the biggest upset of the tournament on the ladies draw. Venus’ shots landed everywhere but inside the court, as she had a total of 29 unforced errors, compared to Pirnokova’s 6. Pirnokova definitely had the confidence to win today’s match because she upset Venus Williams before at the first round of the 2006 Australian Open. Additionally, Pironkova became the first Bulgarian to reach the semifinals of a grand slam. Meanwhile, Serena Williams comfortably won her quarterfinal match on Centre Court against Li Na 7-5 6-3. The hope of seeing a Williams sister holding the championship trophy is still alive.

Another slight upset of the day was by #21 seed Vera Zvonareva, who defeated #8 seed Kim Clijsters 3-6 6-4 6-2. Clijsters played aggressively, as reflected by her 33 winners and 36 unforced errors. In the middle of the second set, the errors really hurt Clijsters as she let Zvonareva get back into the match. After the match, Clijsters said she was very disappointed and not too thrilled with her own level of play towards the end.

The most competitive quarterfinal match of the day was between Petra Kvitova and Kaia Kanepi. Most tennis fans are unfamiliar with these two unseeded players, who have never advanced past the second round of Wimbledon. The young Czech Kvitova won the nearly three hour battle 4-6 7-6(8) 8-6.

Day 3 and Day 4 of 2010 Wimbledon featured one of the most extraordinary matches in tennis history. The first round match between number 23 seed American John Isner and qualifier Frenchman Nicolas Mahut was one for the record books. It actually started on day 2 and was suspended after the completion of four sets. Day 3 was still not enough for the two warriors to complete their match and it was postponed again, tied at 59-59 in the fifth set. Finally, on Day 4 (Thursday), John Isner won the match 70-68 in the final set. This was a perfect example of what physical fitness and mental toughness in sports is all about.

The battle lasted fore just over 11 hours over the course of three days, and this became the longest match in tennis history. Isner and Mahut each served over 100 aces, which is another new record. The amount of games and points played were also record breaking. After the epic marathon match, there was a small ceremony to honor John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. No one could have imagined that the major headlines of 2010 Wimbledon and of the year would happen on court 18.

Day 4 featured another historic moment as the Queen of England visited Wimbledon for the first time since 1977. Wimbledon Champions Roger Federer and Serena Williams both greeted the Queen. She also enjoyed a great display on Centre Court from fellow Brit Andy Murray, who won his second round match in straight sets. Another interesting match on the men’s side was between Rafael Nadal and Robin Haase. Nadal was really challenged, but he eventually prevailed in the fifth set, wining it 6-3.