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NESTOR TAKES BARCELONA

Top seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic became the first repeat winners at the Barcelona Open BancSabadell in 27 years Sunday as they defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Knowles 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the final of the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament.

The Canadian-Serbian duo, currently No. 1 in the 2010 ATP Doubles Team Rankings, adds a further 500 ATP World Tour Ranking points to its tally and shares €89,660 in prize money. The top eight teams at the end of the season will qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 21-28 November.

Nestor and Zimonjic clinched their 20th tour-level title together, following on from their title defence at last week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Bhupathi-Mirnyi). They also lifted trophies in Sydney (d. Hutchins-Kerr) and Rotterdam (d. Aspelin-Hanley) and finished runners-up at the Australian Open (l. to Bryan-Bryan) and the BNP Paribas Open (l. to Lopez-Nadal) earlier in the season.

Last year, Nestor and Zimonjic went on from Barcelona to triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where they will play next week. They completed the sweep of 2009 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournaments in Madrid.

ATP

MARK KNOWLES MILESTONE

Bahamian Mark Knowles has become just the fifth player in ATP World Tour history to record 700 doubles match wins.

The 38-year-old Knowles partnered former World No. 1 singles player Lleyton Hewitt to a 6-4, 7-6(0) victory over sixth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Oliver Marach on Thursday for a place in the Barcelona Open BancSabadell quarter-finals. Knowles and Hewitt won 71 per cent of service points and saved four of six break points for victory in 89 minutes.

“It’s a great milestone,” said Knowles, who has a 700-338 overall doubles record. “It reflects a pretty good career and I’ve had some great partners along the way to get me to that milestone. It’s exciting [and] it’s been a very challenging year. Every win is special these days based on the year I've had with injuries.”

Knowles joins Todd Woodbridge (782 wins), his long-time former partner Daniel Nestor (745), Sherwood Stewart (723) and Jonas Bjorkman (709) in the exclusive 700 Match Wins Club.

"I've got to know Lleyton pretty well recently,” said Knowles. “I asked him to play here and he was excited to play. Obviously it’s an honour. It’s extra special that he got me to 700 today.”

Over the course of a 19-season pro career, Knowles has won 52 career doubles titles. He has won at least one title for 16 of 17 years (except 1999) from 1993-2009. He won his three Grand Slam doubles titles with Nestor at the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 US Open and at 2007 Roland Garros.

When asked how much longer he intends to play, No. 8-ranked Knowles said, “You never know. I've got a great partner lined up in Mardy Fish this year. So far our biggest obstacle has been to try and stay healthy between the two of us.

“I still enjoy being out there and competing. A lot depends on health, family and other issues, but I feel like I'm still playing at a good enough level to stay out here and compete.”

ATP

WIMBLEDON PRIZE HISTORY

Following is an evolution of the prize money awarded to singles champions at Wimbledon since tennis turned professional in 1968 (all figures in pounds sterling).

            Men              Women

1968 2,000          750

1970 3,000         1,500

1975 10,000      7,000

1980 20,000     18,000

1985 130,000   117,000

1990 230,000  207,000

1995 365,000  328,000

2000 477,500 430,000

2005 630,000 600,000

2007 700,000 700,000

REUTERS

WIMBLEDON PRIZE MONEY

Wimbledon organizers have increased prize money for the men's and women's champions to £1 million ($1.53 million).

The All England Club has sanctioned the £150,000 rise to offset the effects of the falling value of the British pound against the US dollar and euro.

The total prize money for the event will be £13.725 million, an increase of £1.175 million on 2009.

The All England Club agreed to pay women the same prize money as men for the first time in 2007. The £1 million prize for the 2010 ladies singles' champion is more than double that of eight years ago.

CNN

NADAL KNEES REST

Spanish tennis star
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Conde de Godo tournament in
Barcelona because of further problems in his knees.

The
former world number one had just returned to winning ways after
triumphing in Monte Carlo, but tendonitis in his knees forced him out
of the Barcelona competition.

"My body has asked me to rest," he explained in Barcelona based spots paper El Mundo Deportivo.

Nadal
was plagued with knee problems last year and was unable to play at
Queens, Wimbledon or take part in the final of the Davis Cup, which
Spain won in Barcelona.

"I
have said on several occasions that the calendar is badly structured at
this time of the season," commented Nadal, in reference to the fact
that the competitions in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and the Rome Masters
(which begins next week) represent three consecutive weeks of
competition with no rest in between.

"I
am really sorry I can't play in Barcelona, more than in any other
competition. I feel it is the competition that is played in my club and
at my home," he explained.

Nadal
will now focus on recovering in time to play the Rome Masters, before
competing in the Madrid Masters in early 9-16 May and then the French
Open (May 23-June 6).

MONTE CARLO ON TSN