Tennis: Nadal returns with doubles victory

Rafael Nadal made his return to competitive tennis after a two-and-a-half month layoff with a doubles victory at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Nadal teamed up with fellow Spaniard Francisco Roig to beat the Serbian pairing of Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic 7-5 6-4 in a first round match. World number two Nadal has not played since losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Robin Soderling, troubled by tendinitis in both knees which caused him to skip his defense of the Wimbledon title.

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Sampras: Federer is the ‘best ever’

Former world number one, Pete Sampras, has described recently crowned French Open champion Roger Federer as the best player in history. The 37-year-old American, nicknamed ‘Pistol Pete’ for his bullet-like serves, won a record 14 grand slam men’s singles titles over a 15-year career, though never captured the trophy at Roland Garros.

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Superb Soderling sweeps into Paris semis

Swede Robin Soderling swept into his first career Grand Slam semifinal with a spectacular 6-1 6-3 6-1 demolition of Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko at the French Open on Tuesday. The 23rd-seeded Soderling had inflicted a first Roland Garros defeat on four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the previous round and was in equally impressive form as he saw off his Russian rival

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Federer survives five-set ordeal in Paris

Roger Federer had to come from two sets down to avoid joining top seed Rafael Nadal on the French Open sidelines as he saw off Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-7 5-7 6-4 6-0 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals on Monday. With Nadal sensationally losing to Robin Soderling and with Novak Djokovic going out in the third round, the draw has opened up for second seed Federer as he bids to complete a set of grand slam titles. The French Open is the only slam to evade the Swiss star, with Nadal usually barring his path, but Haas came close to spoiling the party before Federer took command.

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