Snapshot: 6-12 May in tennis

Here is a comprehensive look at this week’s tennis stories:

ATP Tour: Rafa wins record 23rd Masters title

At the Madrid clay court masters, 5th seeded Rafael Nadal crushed Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss world no.15 6-2 6-4 to win his 23rd Masters title and third in Madrid. The Spaniard appears to be back to form as he has won five titles this year out of seven tournaments entered. The only player who posed any challenge to Rafa in the entire tournament was David Ferrer, apart from whom, no one grabbed a set off him.

In the doubles event, the world no.1 pairing of Bryan brothers won their 5th title at Madrid with a 6-2 6-3 win over seventh seeds Alexander Peya(AUT) and Bruno Soares(BRA).

Indian pair Mahesh Bhupathi-Rohan Bopanna lost in the quarterfinals of the doubles event to Lukasz Kubot(POL) and Jeremy Chardy(FRA). The scoreline read 2-6 4-6. Leander Paes and Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer failed to win a single match as they lost to Paes’s former partner Radek Stepanek(CZE) and Tommy Haas(GER) in the second round after a bye in the first round.

WTA Tour: Serena retains no.1 ranking

Serena Williams overcame a spirited challenge Russian Maria Sharapova, the second seed, in the second set to win 6-1 6-4. The world no.1 had to defend her title at Madrid in order to retain the top position. A win here could have seen Maria rise to no.1.

Unseeded pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) and Lucie Safarova(CZE) defeated Cara Black(ZIM) and Marina Erakovic(NZL) 6-2 6-4 to clinch the women’s doubles title. Black, a multiple grand slam champion and former world no.1 is on a comeback trail.

India’s Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands of USA, seeded fifth, lost in the second round to eventual champions Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) and Lucie Safarova(CZE) 5-7 1-6. They were expected to continue their good form after a runner-up finish at Stuttgart.

ATP Challenger Tour: Prakash records his best performance this season

In the Karshi $50,000 challenger event, India’s Prakash Amritraj reached the singles semifinals before retiring hurt. In the same event, Vishnu Vardhan, appearing in a challenger event after a long gap, crashed out in the first round 2-6 1-6 to third seed Konstantin Kravchuk.

In the doubles event, Prakash and Vishnu paired up to reach the quarterfinals.

In the Kun-Ming $125,000 event in China, India’s Divij Sharan and Purav Raja, seeded third, lost in the semi finals to the Australian second seeds and eventual champions Samuel Groth and John-Patrick Smith 2-6 6-7(5).

ITF Futures: Myneni Wins second consecutive title

In the Rohtak $15k Futures, India’s Saketh Myneni bagged both the singles and doubles titles. The Vizag lad won the doubles title alongside Arun-Prakash Rajagopalan with a 6-4 6-3 win over Sriram Balaji and Ranjeet VM on Friday. The following day, he won the singles title against Ranjeet VM 6-1 6-2. He exhibited splendid form throughout the tournament in not losing more than three games in any set he played.