Results on Tuesday on the first day of the British Open:

Nick Matthew, the only Englishman to have won the British Open three times in a row, made an impressive start to his title defence on Monday.

Gregory Gaultier, the only Frenchman to have won the British Open title, wants to win it again as a tribute to the coach who died during last year's tournament at the O2 Arena in London.

Nicol David may have to cope with uniquely tricky conditions caused by a large temperature drop if she is to avoid trouble early on during her British Open title defence.

By Eric Salliot ROME (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal made short work of his great rival Roger Federer to win the Italian Open, his sixth trophy of the year, 6-1 6-3 on Sunday. The crowd sitting in the sunshine at Rome's Foro Italico watched Nadal race to victory in 69 minutes on the red clay. The Spaniard, back in his best form …

World number one Ramy Ashour will try to become the first Egyptian to win the British Open in nearly 50 years when the world's oldest tournament starts in Hull on Monday.

Nicol David has prefaced her bid for a fifth British Open title next week by reassuring her compatriots that the most successful career of the women's professional era is not on the wane.

By Eric Salliot ROME (Reuters) - Roger Federer will meet great rival Rafa Nadal in the Italian Open final after the Swiss held off a spirited challenge by unseeded Frenchman Benoit Paire on Saturday. The 7-6 6-4 scoreline suggested a routine victory for the world number three, but the 24-year-old Paire was a break up in …

By Eric Salliot ROME (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal beat Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych 6-2 6-4 to reach the Italian Open final on Saturday with a dominant performance that he described as emotional after his long injury absence. Nadal, who returned to action in February after seven months out with a knee problem, will have the …

By Eric Salliot Rome (Reuters) - Serena Williams crushed Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3 6-0 to book her place in the Italian Open final and extend her winning streak to 23 matches on Saturday. World number one Williams, who is chasing a fourth consecutive tour title, will face Victoria Azarenka in Sunday's final after …

REUTERS - Czech Tomas Berdych snapped a run of 11 consecutive defeats by world number one Novak Djokovic to reach the semi-finals of the Rome Masters before Rafa Nadal was stretched to the limit against David Ferrer on Friday. Berdych clawed his way back from a 6-2 5-2 deficit to stun the Serbian top seed 2-6 7-5 6-4 and …

ROME (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Italian Open before her quarter-final with Italy's Sara Errani on Friday because of "physical problems", organisers said. The Russian is set to defend her French Open title later this month. Italian Open officials did not elaborate further on the reasons for Sharapova's …

(Reuters) - Defending champion Rafa Nadal recovered from losing the opening five games against Ernests Gulbis to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters on Thursday. The Spaniard, looking for his seventh Rome title, was shaken by a ferocious onslaught from Gulbis, losing the first set in 34 minutes, but …

(Reuters) - World number one Novak Djokovic made short work of Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters on Thursday with a 6-1 6-4 win. Djokovic, back in his stride after his shock second-round defeat to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid last week, had too much power and control for …

ROME (Reuters) - Jerzy Janowicz ripped off his shirt after stunning Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro visited the Pope and Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka pulled out through injury at the Italian Open on Wednesday. Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova sailed through their second round matches with embarrassingly …

ROME (Reuters) - Andy Murray is a doubt for the French Open after suffering a lower back problem that forced the world number two to retire from the Italian Open on his 26th birthday on Wednesday. Murray retired from the contest against Spain's Marcel Granollers moments after levelling the second-round match by winning …

By Alasdair Fotheringham VAJONT, Italy (Reuters) - Lithuania's Ramunas Navardauskas gave Garmin-Sharp a boost with a solo summit finish win on stage 11 the day after team leader Ryder Hesjedal lost all hope of repeating last year's overall Giro d'Italia success. Navardauskas, who was part of a long-distance break of 20 …

REUTERS - A rusty Venus Williams was blown away 6-3 6-2 by rising British left-hander Laura Robson at the Rome Masters tennis on Monday. With clay dust swirling around the tree-lined Foro Italico courts, the American former world number one suffered a scrappy, undignified exit as her fabled power game misfired. Robson will …