ANDY MURRAY is confident he can claim his first win over Gilles Simon when the pair meet in the second round of the Hamburg Masters tomorrow.

EDINBURGH'S Alexandra Hunter, eight, and Robbie Croall, seven, won the Mini Tennis Red event at Craiglockhart.

RAFAEL Nadal warned the decision of the Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) to host their Davis Cup semi-final against the United States in Madrid could backfire.

ANDY Roddick has withdrawn from the ATP Tour Masters Series Hamburg tournament with the back pains that saw him withdraw from the semi-finals in Rome.

AUSTRALIA'S Samantha Stosur earned a match up with the returning Venus Williams when she beat Michaella Krajicek 6-3 6-2 on the opening day of the Italian Open.

AUSTRALIAN Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recovered from a first set white-wash to beat French compatriot Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the Hamburg Masters Series.

DINARA Safina has battled back from a set down to beat Elena Dementieva in an all-Russian final at the WTA Tour German Open in Berlin.

WORLD No.2 Maria Sharapova said that she had struck a deal with the WTA over a publicity photo shoot she had claimed she was being forced into on the eve of the Italian Open.

ANDY Murray had a dig at his critics after cruising into the second round of the Hamburg Masters with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Dmitry Tursunov yesterday.