The 38-year-old Spaniard, winner of 22 Grand Slam trophies, including 14 at Roland Garros, retired from the sport after his final match at the Davis Cup in Malaga in November.

Holger Rune beat world number two Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 on Sunday to win the Barcelona Open for the first time.

The top-seeded Zverev, appearing in his first final since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open title decider in January, had little trouble dealing with Shelton, ranked 15 in the world.

Carlos Alcaraz battled into the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open on Friday with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alex de Minaur after Casper Ruud's title defence was ended by Holger Rune.

Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February following an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which challenged an independent tribunal's decision to clear him of wrongdoing after two positive tests for the anabolic agent clostebol.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz came back from a break down in the second set to defeat Ethan Quinn 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) and reach the Barcelona Open last 16 on Tuesday.

World number two Carlos Alcaraz took aim at his critics on Monday after winning the Monte Carlo Masters at the weekend.

Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over the Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time with a dominant 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Saturday.

The fifth-ranked Djokovic struggled to find his rhythm in a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Chilean Alejandro Tabilo in the second round, making an inauspicious start to his clay season.

Jannik Sinner will return to the ATP Tour from his doping ban at next month's Rome Masters as world number one after the Italian's closest challenger Alexander Zverev crashed to an early defeat in Monte Carlo on Tuesday.

Carlos Alcaraz said Sunday that the pressure to reclaim the world number one ranking from the suspended Jannik Sinner has had a negative impact on his form this season.

Sinner received a three-month ban agreed with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February after "admitting "partial responsibility" for team mistakes.

In 2024, a record $254 million in player compensation was awarded at the Grand Slams, up $23 million from 2023, and the trend is set to continue with the Australian Open in January boosting its prize money by 11.56% from last year.

The 19-year-old said that he had filled out his withdrawal form ahead of his match with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and went to the referee's room -- but the official was out for lunch.

Djokovic said that Mensik would only get better after becoming the second youngest Miami champion since Carlos Alcaraz, who won the trophy in 2022 as an 18-year-old.

Novak Djokovic refused to discuss the evident eye problem he suffered before Sunday's Miami Open final defeat to unseeded Czech teenager Jakub Mensik saying he did not want to take away from his opponent’s triumph.

Czech teenager Jakub Mensik upset Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4) to win the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, denying the Serb his 100th career title.

Few would have guessed that it would be Sir Andy Murray who would be the one who finally asked Lionel Messi the old question about whether he could do it on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke City, nor the cheeky response.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka, fresh from her Miami Open triumph on Saturday, credited her consistent form this season on mastering the temper which once plagued her performances.