Federer Out of Wimbledon

In a weird third day of Wimbledon, defending champion Roger Federer lost in his second-round match against a guy who did not even qualify in Eastbourne last week, Sergiy Stakhovsky, losing 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.

Federer followed Rafael Nadal's first round exit on Monday, which opened the draw for Andy Murray.

Two in a Row

Rafael Nadal again defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 6-3, for the second time in a row to win the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The victory is Nadal's sixth title in Rome. He also avenged his loss to Djokovic in the final last year. The title in Foro Italico is also Nadal's 49th overall ATP titles, and his 35th on clay. He will also ascend to number 2 ranking, which he lost to Roger Federer last week.

Djokovic defeated Federer in the semifinals, while Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in straight sets to reach his 70th final. Nadal now holds a record 21 Masters titles.


The total prize money is € 2,427,975. 

Men's Tennis Update

Here's a recap of what's in men's professional tennis last week:

• Roger Federer (SUI) defeated Juan Martin del Potro (ARG, pictured) 6-1, 6-4 at the ABN Amro World Tennis in Rotterdam. It is Federer's first title in 2012.
• Nicolas Almagro (ESP) defeated Filippo Volandri (ITA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4  at the Brazil Open. The title is 11th overall for Almagro, all which are on clay.
• Milos Raonic (CAN) defeated Denis Estomin (UZB) 7-6, 6-2 at the SAP Open, in San Jose 

Rankings as of 2/20/2012:

1. Djokovic, Novak 
2. Nadal, Rafael 
3. Federer, Roger 
4. Murray, Andy 
5. Ferrer, David 
6. Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried 
7. Berdych, Tomas 
8. Fish, Mardy 
9. Tipsarevic, Janko 
10. Del Potro, Martin 
...
11. Almagro, Nicolas 
35. Raonic, Milos 
49. Estomin, Denis  
56. Voladri, Filippo  

Nadal vs. Djokovic

World no.1 Novak Djokovic and world no. 2 Rafael Nadal will meet in the men's finals of the 2012 Australian Open on Sunday. This is the third consecutive time that the top 2 players in the world will meet in a Grand Slam final, which is unprecedented.

Djokovic defeated no. 4 Andy Murray, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5, while Nadal defeated world no. 3 Roger Federer  6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 at the semi-finals of the first Grand Slam event of the year.