Three Frenchmen advanced out of the first round Monday at the Madrid Masters, led by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who needed three tough sets to put away Andrei Kuznetsov 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5.

In a countryman showdown, Gilles Simon saved two match points to beat Gael Monfils in, what else, but an unusual 0-6, 6-0, 7-6(0) encounter. Monfils held matchpoints in the third with Simon serving 2-5. But after winning 11 of 13 games, …

The battle lived up to the billing as Eugenie Bouchard collected her first career win over Maria Sharapova beating the Russian 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the second round at Madrid.

Bouchard, who entered the event having not won a match since January, was down early but recovered to take the opener. Sharapova fought back to push to a decider, which the Canadian took breaking the former No. 1 in the 10th …

In a much-anticipated showdown, blonde starlets Maria Sharapova clashes with Eugenie Bouchard. Sharapova advanced to the showdown coming from a set down to defeat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

“I’m not quite sure how to describe the match because it feels like it happened so fast,” said Sharapova. “I thought she played really well. I was playing against, like, a human slingshot for a while there. Balls were coming so fast …

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova kept a winning streak alive, and German qualifier Mona Barthel re-claimed some of her WTA tour mojo over the weekend at events in Rabat, Morocco, and Prague, Czech Republic.

Pavlyuchenkova won her second consecutive WTA event of the year after Monterrey, beating former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 7-5 for the title at the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat.

It was her 10th …

Marin Cilic won the battle of big men in the Istanbul final, while Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta couldn’t be touched in running to the Estoril championship on Sunday.

Cilic and Milos Raonic engaged in a battle of towering ball-hitters in the final of the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, where the Croat Cilic walking away 7-6(3), 6-3 with his first title of the year, and first on clay in five years.

“I’m …

German Alexander Zverev won his first title on home turf Sunday, beating Argentine qualifier Guido Pella 6-4, 6-3 for the BMW Open championship in Munich.

“I lost the final in Halle last year, which was very painful,” said Zverev, who went down a break early in the first but rolled on to win 10 of the last 13 games. “I really wanted to win a tournament in Germany, which I’ve done …

MUTUA MADRID OPEN
Madrid, Spain; surface: clay

Seeds: Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Dominika Cibulkova, Garbine Muguruza, Johanna Konta, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Madison Keys, Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Elena Vesnina, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kristina Mladenovic, Barbora Strycova, Samantha Stosur, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

1ST QUARTER
Floaters: (WC) Maria Sharapova

Breakdown: All eyes are on Maria as she starts against the No. 17 seed Lucic-Baroni; Sharapova won their only career meeting easily at the 2011 French Open…Kerber and Kuznetsova …

Give credit to Novak Djokovic. At least he’s trying. Trying to get out of this slump he’s been in since completing the Career Slam almost a year ago.

Since that crowning achievement in Paris, it’s been all downhill. And in his last four events he’s made zero semifinals. So what’s a former No. 1 to do? Fire the team. Well, almost all of the team. The guy who should have …

MUTUA MADRID OPEN
Madrid, Spain; surface: clay

Seeds: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Lucas Pouille, Jack Sock, Gael Monfils, Nick Kyrgios

1ST QUARTER
Floaters: Richard Gasquet, Philipp Kohlschreiber, “Dr.” Ivo Karlovic, Roberto Bautista Agut

Breakdown: Murray and Thiem head this tough section with quality floaters…Seeds Pouille and Dimitrov also in the mix…(12) Dimitrov will start against …

Struggling Novak Djokovic has announced that he has fired his coaching team, including Marian Vajda. Djokovic, who hasn’t won a title since the first week of the season in Doha, made the move in effort to find a winning spark.

In a statement, Djokovic said:
“I am forever grateful to Marian, GG and Miljan for decade of friendship, professionalism and commitment to my career goals. Without their support I couldn’t have …

Set to try and continue his clay dominance, Rafael Nadal is back in Madrid. Nadal, who has won Monte Carlo and Barcelona, will be the favorite to win a 4th title in Madrid.

Last year, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4.

While Roger Federer sits out, Nadal will be joined by Murray, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka among others at the event.

Since becoming a spring Masters event …

Talk non-tennis here!

Juan Martin del Potro clay season got off to a promising start on Tuesday when he beat Yuichi Sugita 6-1, 6-2 in Estoril. But from the high to another low for the hard luck Argentine who had to withdraw from the tournament due to the death of his grandfather.

Del Potro was to play American Ryan Harrison but flew back to Argentina yesterday.

Del Potro is scheduled to play Madrid next week, …

Serena Williams wasn’t the only tennis star at the Met Gala last night. Roger Federer, who is in U.S. following his Saturday charity exo in Seattle, made an appearance wearing a Gucci tuxedo with a bizarre cobra embroidered on the back!

The charity event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City benefits the Costume Institue, so off-the-wall attire is the norm. But a cobra from the …

In more baby news, rumors of a second baby on the way for Novak Djokovic and wife Jelena have been confirmed.

And the new child could be coming right around the time of the US Open. If true, how will Djokovic schedule the summer hardcourts and defend his final points in New York?

Djokovic had his first child, Stefan, in the fall of 2014. A week later, he still …