Andy Murray is in Rome preparing for the next clay court event, hoping to prove that he has fully recovered from a back injury and is ready for a return to live tennis action.

The British number one was forced to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid due to his latest injury problem.
It was originally feared, following his no-show in Spain, that he may be a doubt for this month’s French Open, but Murray looks on course for a swift return to action.

The world number four revealed that his absence in Madrid was down to “doctor’s advice” and that the rest prescribed was a “big disappointment” to him.

But Murray is already in Italy looking forward to the next Masters 1000 tournament, when most of the world’s top players will gather in Rome.

The 24-year-old reached the semi finals of the event last year, before losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the last four, and there were several tantalising tennis betting offers available ahead of that match.

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The 20-year-old American, Melanie Oudin, has been handed a wildcard for the French Open, an event that starts later this month. Oudin is an incredible 10,000/1 gamble on Betfair Tennis.

The former world junior number two earned the invitation to Roland Garros by picking up the most ranking points during three recent USTA Pro Circuit clay court events in her homeland.

Oudin, currently ranked 270 in the world, won the title in Charlottesville, Virginia, to edge past her closest rival, Maria Sanchez, who was beaten in the final at Indian Harbour Beach.

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Kaia Kanepi put the last few months behind her and got back into the WTA winner’s circle on Saturday, and in dramatic fashion too, fighting hard to survive Carla Suárez Navarro in the Estoril Open final.

After an Australian season that saw her win her first Premier title in Brisbane, Kanepi sat out for a month and a half with a shoulder injury. It took her a little while to find her footing again – but then came the start of the clay court season.

As the No.6 seed in her first clay court event of the year in Estoril, Kanepi took out No.4 seed Petra Cetkovska and No.1 seed Roberta Vinci en route to the final, with Suárez Navarro waiting in the final, hungry for her first WTA title.

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Sara Errani continued to slide into the record books on Saturday, extending her clay court winning streak to 15 matches and three tournaments by beating Elena Vesnina in the Budapest Grand Prix final.

Errani was the top seed at the International-level event and apart from one three-setter, against Hungary’s own Melinda Czink in the second round, she absolutely cruised through to the final; meanwhile, the unseeded Vesnina was tearing up the bottom half, taking out three seeds to reach the final: No.2 seed Ksenia Pervak, No.6 seed Petra Martic and No.5 seed Marina Erakovic.

Vesnina came in with a dubious 0-5 record in WTA finals; it looked like things might change as she went ahead 5-3 in the first set with two set points, but it just wasn’t to be, as Errani won seven games in a row to build a 75 30 lead, and she barely looked back, eventually recording a 75 64 championship victory.

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Top-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro successfully defended his Estoril Open title on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over second seed and 2007 runner-up Richard Gasquet of France in 88 minutes. It was the first No. 1 seed versus No. 2 seed final in four years (Federer-Davydenko) at the Estadio Nacional. The final

Del Potro became the third player in the 23-year-old history of the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament to win back-to-back titles. He joined Spaniard Albert Montanes (2009-10), who he beat in this year’s quarter-finals, and former World No. 1 Thomas Muster (1995-96).

The 23-year-old Tandil native earned €71,900 in prize money and 250 South African Airways ATP Ranking points, while Gasquet went home with €37,860 and 150 points. It was del Potro’s 11th tour-level title (11-5 lifetime and 4-0 on clay) and second title of 2012 after the Open 13 in February.

“I felt I played well really well today,” said del Potro. “I felt it was my best match of the week, so I am very glad for that to get another title in Estoril.

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Fourth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber captured his second title at the BMW Open on Sunday, defeating No. 3 seed Marin Cilic 7-6(8), 6-3 in Munich.

Kohlschreiber saved seven of the eight break points he faced, including all four against his serve in the second set, to seal the final victory in one hour and 49 minutes. He secured his fifth win in eight meetings with Cilic to lift his first trophy of the season.

“I think we had a tight and great first set. I was a little more lucky in the important moments,” Kohlschreiber reflected to ATPWorldTour.com. “Maybe that was the key to the whole match. I had a good start in the second set, making a break and I held it until the end.”

The German improved to a 17-6 record at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament, adding to his triumph over Mikhail Youzhny in 2007. He is now 4-2 in title matches, and became the first two-time German winner at the event. In addition to winning € 71,900 in prize money, Kohlschreiber takes home a brand new white BMW Z4 sDrive28i and two business class tickets to South Africa courtesy of South African Airways.

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Second seed Andreas Seppi dismissed first-time ATP World Tour finalist Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2 at the Serbia Open 2012 Sunday to win his first title of the year in Belgrade.

“I think my play was really solid this week,” Seppi assessed. “Maybe yesterday, the first set was under my expectations, but the rest was very good, so I can be very happy about this victory.”

The Italian won 67 per cent of his second serve return points to break Paire five times, wrapping up the final victory in 71 minutes.

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Mardy Fish says that he is likely to miss the French Open, in May, after further tests proved inconclusive on the illness that has plagued him for the past month.

The American fell ill after waking up in the middle of the night, back in March. He says that, despite visiting a number of doctors, it is still unclear what is wrong with him.

“I’m doing OK. We’re doing lots of tests to try to figure out what’s going on, and what went wrong”, Fish said.

“It’s sort of unclear as to how or why it happened, but we’re trying to figure it out. It’s not something I’m super comfortable talking about. It certainly was a scare.”

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World No. 2 Rafael Nadal captured the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell trophy for the seventh time on Sunday as he defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6(1), 7-5 in the final. He was contesting his 69th tour-level final and won his 48th title.

It is the fourth time that Nadal has beaten Ferrer in the final of this ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament. He has won his past 34 matches at the event and lifted the trophies from 2005-2009 and 2011-2012.

“It’s almost unimaginable to win here seven times,” said Nadal. “It’s a special tournament for me, at home in my club. To win at home in front of the people you know is always more special. I played at a very high level to win in Monte-Carlo and now Barcelona without losing a set, but I’ve been playing at a high level from the beginning of the year starting in Australia.

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World No. 12 Gilles Simon triumphed at the BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy for the third time on Sunday as he defeated first-time finalist Fabio Fognini 6-4, 6-3.

The Frenchman had clinched the title on his previous two visits to Bucharest in 2007 (d. Hanescu) and 2008 (d. Moya) and improved to a 15-1 mark at the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament.

“It’s great,” said Simon. “I played a great match today. It was very difficult; Fabio played well and I had to run a lot today. You really have the feeling that you are never in control of the game. I’m always happy when I win a tournament like this because sometimes people think it will be easy when you’re the No. 1 seed, but on the court it’s very close every time. I’m very proud to win this tournament for the third time and to bring the trophy back home.”

The top-seeded Simon clinched the first set after five breaks of serve had been exchanged and broke Fognini’s serve twice more in the second set to claim victory in one hour and 50 minutes. He saved 10 of the 12 break points he faced. It was his fourth win in four meetings with Fognini.

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