Russia - players.bio

Praggnanandhaa Finishes 11th In Airthings Masters, Misses Out On Quarters

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Russia's Vladislav Artemiev in the 15th and final round of the preliminary phase of the Airthings Masters, an online rapid chess tournament, but missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals. The 16-year-old started the final day of the preliminary rounds with a draw against German Vincent Keymer in round 13 before going down to Hans Mokko Niemann (USA) in the next. His stirring win over world champion Magnus Carlsen in the eighth round caused a flutter but up-and-down performances pegged Praggnanandhaa back.

Emotional discipline helps Andrey Rublev start strong in Dubai

Andrey Rublev was afraid he would suffer an early exit at the Dubai Championships after arriving late at the tournament but the Russian said keeping his emotions in control helped him seal an unexpected victory over Britain's Daniel Evans on Tuesday. Rublev converted his seventh match point to defeat Evans 6-4, 7-5 in the first round in Dubai, two days after he won the singles and doubles titles in Marseille. The 24-year-old said he arrived in Dubai at 2 a.m. on the day of his match against Evans, leaving him with very little confidence. "I was thinking I have no chance," Rublev told reporters. "I'm super happy (with the win) because I didn't expect this." The world number seven said he had a longer-than-usual warmup and vowed to stay focussed throughout the match to give himself a shot at a strong start at the ATP 500 hard-court event.

Rafael Nadal wins Acapulco opener in first match since Australian Open title

Rafael Nadal made a triumphant return to the ATP Tour on Tuesday, winning his first tournament match since capturing the Australian Open title to reach the second round of the Mexican Open. The 35-year-old Spanish left-hander defeated US lucky loser Dennis Kudla 6-3, 6-2 to book a date with another American who advanced in similar fashion, Nadal practice partner Stefan Kozlov, in the last 16.