Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka both reached the Rotterdam final today in straight set fashion. The defending champ Berdych overmatched Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-1. A day earlier it was Simon who stunned top seed Andy Murray, but the Frenchman had no answer for the burly Czech.

Berdych seeks his first title since Rotterdam last year, and 11th of his career. Wawrinka eyes his second of the season and the 9th of …

Andy Murray’s Rotterdam hopes came to a crashing end today as the top seed fell to Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Murray, who had shown such promise reaching the Australian Open final, had won 12 straight matches over the Frenchman.

“I struggled with most of the shots, to be honest,” said Murray. “At the beginning of the match my backhand, at the end of the match my forehand. It …

Earlier today Roger Federer updated his fans via facebook with his tentative schedule through Wimbledon. One glaring omission in the absence once again of Miami. A 2-time champion at the event, Federer also skipped the South Florida event in 2013. Last year he lost in the quarterfinals to Kei Nishikori.

Here’s what Federer wrote:
“I’ve been back on the practice courts for the last couple of days. Very excited to be back …

WTA starlet Genie Bouchard’s first tour-level appearance as a top seed fell flat as the Canadian was bounced out of Antwerp in her opening round by Mona Barthel 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

“It’s always tough to play against Genie. She plays so well, you really have to play your best,” Barthel said afterwards. “But today I was able to play my game, play aggressive and come into the net. At the end …

Andy Murray began his brief winter indoor swing with a strong 6-3, 6-2 win over the dangerous Nicolas Mahut in the first round at Rotterdam.

The top-seeded Murray, who won the title in 2009, was playing his first match since the Australian Open final 10 days ago.

“Today I served well when I was behind up until the second to last service game,” Murray said. “I was down break points in …

Following a tough loss to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final last weekend, Andy Murray is upbeat about what’s to come. The Scot shed some light on the post-Australian Open while in Rotterdam this week indicating again that he’s in better shape, both physically and mentally, this year.

And he says now he’s ready again to compete for major titles. But his focus will be on maintaining a consistent level …

It is now confirmed that Canadian tennis No. 1 Milos Raonic is dating bikini model Danielle Knudson. Knudson, who once dated Justin Bieber, was with Raonic in Australia.

…

While leading Russia into the Fed Cup semifinals, Australian Open finalist Maria Sharapova showed off some of her soccer skills during a practice.

The 27-year-old Sharapova beat both Radwanska sisters to pace a 4-0 win for Russia. They are now scheduled to Germany at home in Apri for a berth in the final.

Celebrating… #FedCup pic.twitter.com/3xYT2eNbak

— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) February 8, 2015…

Caroline Wozniacki might not be No. 1 in the world anymore, but the blonde beauty is still top of charts in the eyes of the photographers.

This week the Dane is featured in a pictorial in the famed Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

Thank you @SI_Swimsuit !! Loving the pictures!! pic.twitter.com/hNB0IqUZ6Q

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) February 9, 2015

This morning Wozniacki …

Fed Cup World Group I Results

Czech Republic d. Canada 4-0
With Genie Bouchard abandoning the Canadians, the Czech “B” team of Karolina Pliskova and Tereza Smitkova fail to drop a set, advancing to the semifinals against France.

“I’m really happy I did the two points because I was a little bit nervous before the weekend,” Pliskova said. “I didn’t know that much what to expect from myself because I never …

2015 BNP PARIBAS FORTIS DIAMOND GAMES
Antwerp, Belgium; Surface: indoor hard

Seeds: Eugenie Bouchard, Angelique Kerber, Andrea Petkovic, Lucie Safarova, Carla Suarez Navarro, Dominika Cibulkova, Alize Cornet, Karolina Pliskova

Floaters: Belinda Bencic, Camila Giorgi

Notes: Two Top 10ers in the field…Challenging starts for (7) Cornet vs. the young riser Bencic and (5) Suarez Navarro vs. Giorgi…Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Wildcards were granted to Belgians Alison Van Uytvanck and Yanina Wickmayer…Bouchard skipped Canada’s all-time …

ABN AMRO WORLD TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Surface: indoor hard

Seeds: Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis, Roberto Bautista Agut, Gilles Simon

Floaters: Vasek Pospisil, Jerzy Janowicz, Dominic Thiem

Notes: Tough starts for (1) Murray after a bye likely vs. the Canadian riser Popsicle, (3) Berdych vs Janowicz, and (6) Gulbis vs. Thiem…Four Top 10ers in the field…Raonic and Bautista Agut make their debuts in Rotterdam…Wildcards went …

Canada is making its historic debut in the Fed Cup World Group I this weekend, but without No. 1 player Genie Bouchard.

Bouchard came up in the ranks with the help of Tennis Canada funding. Bouchard is not doing anything this week — in fact she went to a hockey game a couple days ago.

But as Canada host the Czech Republic, who is itself without its top stars — an incredible …

With Olympic entry at stake, five of the Top 10 women on the WTA are in Fed Cup action this weekend led by Australian Open finalists Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. Also joining in for round one play are Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber.

Former Grand Slam champions Venus Williams, Sam Stosur and Svetlana Kuznetsova are also scheduled for play.

Serena, who just won her 19th career Slam last weekend …

According to Sportsmediawatch.com, based on overnights the 2015 Australian Open women’s final between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova drew more viewers in its Saturday morning 3:30am block than the men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray did 24 hours later on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Serena-Sharapova match earned 0.7 overnight for ESPN, up 40% from the two prior finals, while the men’s final was a 0.5, down 0.1 from …