Chinese number eight seed Li Na had to work hard before beating German Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-4 in the last 16 of the Madrid Open here on Wednesday. Li needed one hour and 28 minutes to see off a tough rival in a game where her willingness to attack her rival's serve was a key factor.

Li had recently lost to Kerber on the hard court at Indian Wells and was clearly prepared for a long battle on the blue clay. Read more »

As the Mutua Madrid Open continued into Tuesday, the only real surprises expressed about the women's draw was from fans around the world who continued to complain about the lack of television coverage for the women's matches held in the evening.

In the morning, the top two seeds were on display and managed to get through without too much difficulty although not as cleanly as perhaps they would have liked. No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova saw off Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-3 while No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka appeared en route to an easy straight sets win over qualifier Andrea Hlavackova. Read more »

Williams, who cruised to a commanding title run in her previous WTA event last month in Charleston, looked at home on the blue courts of the Mutua Madrid Open when she faced off against Russia's Elena Vesnina in her opening round match. In fact, it might have felt like deja vu for both women as the last time they met was in the second round in Charleston.

It was a near-repeat performance of that night down in South Carolina as Williams blasted down 14 aces and never faced a break point as she went on to cruise to a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Afterwards, Williams talk about her performance that included her singing to Bryan Adams's song "Everything I Do" that played as she collected her things after the match. Read more »

Rafael Nadal of Spain poses with Novak Djokovic of Serbia after their final of the Monte Carlo tennis Masters in Monaco April 22,2012. Nadal defeated Djokovic and won for the eighth consecutive time.