Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The Swiss great is looking to win a 102nd tour-level trophy and move closer to Jimmy Connors' record of 109.
The 32-year-old, five-times a winner of the singles at the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up event, delighted a large evening centre court crowd with some fluent shot-making as he and Spanish veteran Lopez beat top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 6-3.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
World No 1 Victoria Azarenka enjoyed another walk in the park against Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday, beating the Pole for the fifth time this year to reach the Stuttgart Grand Prix final.
Unseeded Novak Djokovic was given some trouble by Jeremy Chardy in the opening set but prevailed 7-6(5), 6-4 to take his record over the Frenchman to 11-0 and 26-0 in sets.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka had to dig deep to overcome the hugely talented Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 to reach the Stuttgart indoor tournament semi-finals on Friday.
World number one Victoria Azarenka moved into the Stuttgart indoor tournament quarter-finals on Thursday as sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki was upset by Angelique Kerber.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Bayern Munich left more than 50 million eurosworth of new signings on the bench, yet still managed to destroy shoddy VfB Stuttgart 6-1 in an embarrassingly one-sided Bundesliga contest on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid fell to their heaviest league defeat of the season
A toothless and haggard Real Madrid slumped to a humiliating 10th Liga defeat of the season on Sunday as they lost 1-0 at struggling neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
Sharapova was granted a wildcard entry to the last Grand Slam of the season but received a tough first-round draw in the shape of Romanian Halep.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic sobbed during a changeover but set up a second round clash against Jelena Jankovic after battling past Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in Stuttgart on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Justine Henin won her first title since her comeback when she beat Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final at the Stuttgart indoor tournament on Sunday.
Centre forward Eder, who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2016 final against France, was among 10 players from that squad omitted from Santos's list. Other unlucky players included midfielders Andre Gomes and Renato Sanches, forward Nani and defender Eliseu.
Barcelona midfielder Xavi has damaged a calf muscle in his right leg and will miss the Champions League last-16 second leg at home to VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday, the club said. The Spain international picked up the injury during traing on Tuesday and after tests was ruled out of action for around 15 days.
Maria Sharapova's love for tennis has only grown stronger during her 15-month doping ban, the five-times Grand Slam winner has said as she continues her comeback from the suspension.
Playing her first match as world number one, India's Sania Mirza crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix event with partner Martina Hingis, who was not at her best due to a back injury.
VfB Stuttgart have fined Romanian Ciprian Marica a reported 50,000 euros after he was sent off following a verbal attack on the referee in his team's 4-2 defeat by Hamburg SV on Saturday.
'I'm very excited to be here. I'm very happy'
The 35-year-old's first match back in action last week at the Stuttgart Open was a flop when he suffered a shock loss to German veteran Tommy Haas, ranked 302 at the time, despite leading for a set and a half.
Federer had no regrets about missing the French Open to focus on Wimbledon but said it was a move he was unlikely to repeat.
An insatiable Lionel Messi scored for the eighth game in a row in all competitions as La Liga champions Barcelona saw off a gutsy Girona side 2-0 to go five points clear at the top of the standings.
World number one Rafael Nadal set a new record of winning 50 consecutive sets on a single surface by beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
With Federer certain, young Austrian Dominic Thiem is third in the ATP race to London, followed by Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, Djokovic, world number one Andy Murray, and Belgium's David Goffin.
'Obviously Rafa is in great position to finish World No. 1'
Sticking to a limited schedule has helped Roger Federer enjoy a renaissance late in his career but the Swiss says rest time is now over and he is looking forward to returning to action at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova will miss the grasscourt season, including this month's Wimbledon qualifying tournament, after failing to recover from a left-thigh injury she suffered during last month's Italian Open.
For a relaxed life, one should head to Germany as four of its cities rank in the top ten.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
VfB Stuttgart had to come from two goals down against Norwegian outsiders Molde on Thursday to scrape into the final qualifying round of the Europa League.
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain was knocked out of the French Open when she lost 6-1 3-6 6-3 in the fourth round against France's Kristina Mladenovic on Sunday.
Germany midfielder Sami Khedira, who played a major part in Germany's progress to the World Cup semi-finals, is to join Real Madrid from VfB Stuttgart, the Bundesliga club said Friday. 'VfB and Real Madrid have agreed on the midfielder's move to the Spanish capital,' the German club said on their website (www.vfb.de).
Barcelona moved six points clear at the top of La Liga by easing to a 4-0 win at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday with doubles from Luis Suarez and Paulinho ahead of next week's 'Clasico' against champions Real Madrid.
Kristina Mladenovic took her love affair with Roland Garros to a new level on Friday.
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