Sport 107

US Open Champion del Potro Qualifies For Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

2009-09-15T19:10:00.002+07:00

Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, who captured his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open on Monday, has become the fifth singles player to qualify for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, scheduled to take place at The O2 in London from 22-29 November.

The 20 year old will compete at the season climax for the second successive year, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and defending champion Novak Djokovic at the elite eight-man event, the world’s biggest-ever indoor tournament.

Del Potro regained a place in the Top 5 of the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings on 14 September 2009, after beating Federer 3-6, 7-6(5) 4-6, 7-6(4) 6-2 in the US Open final on his fourth appearance in New York. He is the second Argentine, after 1977 winner Guillermo Vilas, to lift the US Open title and the fifth youngest man to lift the trophy in the Open Era.

"It's been a dream winning the US Open and beating Roger in the final and to qualify for London so early is amazing,” said del Potro, at 6’6” the tallest Grand Slam winner in history. “I played in Shanghai last year and it is such a special tournament. I look forward to playing at The O2 arena."

The Tandil native, who is the youngest player in the Top 20, has captured three tour-level titles this year including the Heineken Open in Auckland (d. Querrey) and the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington (d. Roddick). The Argentine also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals and Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Federer both times).

Del Potro’s qualification leaves just three spots up for grabs between now and November, with the likes of Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco and Nikolay Davydenko all in contention to complete the eight-man line-up.

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals - The Contenders

Rank	Player	Points	Rank	Team	Points
1.	R. Federer (SUI)	11,240	1.	Bryan/Bryan	9,010
2.	R. Nadal (ESP)	8,845	2.	Nestor/Zimonjic	8,745
3.	A. Murray (GBR)	8,390	3.	Dlouhy/Paes	5,740
4.	N. Djokovic (SRB)	7,480	4.	Bhupathi/Knowles	5,590
5.	J.M. del Potro (ARG)	6,825	5.	Mirnyi/Ram	3,550
6.	A. Roddick (USA)	5,310	6.	Moodie/Norman	3,115
7.	J-W. Tsonga (FRA)	3,950	7.	Kubot/Marach	3,050
8.	N. Davydenko (RUS)	3,535	8.	Cermak/Mertinak	2,320
	................................			..............................
9.	F. Verdasco (ESP)	3,430	9.	Soares/Ullyett	2,220
10.	G. Simon (FRA)	3,090	10.	Damm/Lindstedt	2,125

Players in bold have qualified.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals will feature the world’s top eight singles players and eight doubles teams competing to be officially crowned 2009 ATP World Tour Champions. Each of the top eight players and doubles teams will be drawn to play three round-robin matches to determine which four players and teams advance to the knockout semi-finals.

With a capacity of 250,000, less than 20,000 tickets remain on sale to tennis fans across the group sessions at The O2, which will host the eight-day singles and doubles tournament. Tickets are available online through www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com or by calling 0844 847 2495 within the UK. Overseas customers should call +44 161 372 0025.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/09/London-Finals-del-Potro-Qualifies.aspx)

Murray Overcomes Del Potro To Win Masters 1000 Title

2009-08-18T10:27:00.002+07:00

Andy Murray had ended Juan Martin del Potro’s exceptional summer run last year at the US Open, and stemmed the start of a similar streak this season. The No. 3 seed battled past last week’s Washington champion 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-1 on Sunday at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to capture his fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, also becoming the first British winner in tournament history.

Murray, who will replace Rafael Nadal as the World No. 2 following his effort in Montreal, earned $443,500 and 1000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points – further boosting his chances of qualifying for the elite Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held in November at the O2 in London. He also moved up to No. 3 in the US Open Series Bonus Challenge standings, trailing del Potro at No. 1 by 40 points.

Del Potro, playing his ninth match in 13 days, looked visibly spent compared to Murray in Sunday’s final. While Murray was making his first appearance since Wimbledon and had used the last two weeks getting acclimated to North American hard courts in Miami, del Potro had come to Montreal straight from last Sunday’s successful title defence in Washington, D.C. Additionally, whereas Murray had eased through the week without the loss of a set, del Potro had needed to save one match point Saturday in his win over Andy Roddick.

In spite of a fresher set of legs, Murray came within three points of a straight-sets loss as he struggled to control del Potro’s forehand returns during the opening two sets. The sixth-seeded del Potro – playing in his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final – took the mini-break in the first set tie-break to go up 5-4 when Murray placed a return wide, and served it out with an ace and blistering forehand winner past the Brit.

After trading early breaks of serve in the second set, del Potro made crucial saves to stay in the set but could not close out the match as Murray got back on level ground by clinching the tie-break. Del Potro said: “I felt my chance in the second set, tie-break second set, and I didn't take them. I was trying until the final, but it was so complicated for me. Andy is a good player. I think he's a very good winner of this tournament.”

After two hours and 17 minutes of evenly played tennis, Murray finally wore down the Argentine in the 27-minute third set as his opponent managed to win just nine points total – including four on serve.

"He was just making it really tough because of the way that he was playing and serving, and he was always giving himself a chance," said Murray. "I had to keep fighting and believing in myself, and that was enough in the end."

Murray, who is now 4-1 lifetime against del Potro, fired 16 aces in the match and won 67 per cent of second serve points compared to del Potro's 11 aces and 48 per cent.

The 22-year-old Scot became the first player to post 50 match wins this season (50-7), and also joined Nadal as title leaders after lifting his fifth ATP World Tour trophy in 2009. He also titled at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (d. Roddick), the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (d. Nadal), the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (d. Djokovic) and the AEGON Championships in London (d. Blake). He improved to 13-6 lifetime in finals (4-1 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000) by winning five ATP World Tour titles for the second year in a row.

He said about his prospects for the remainder of the summer swing: "I feel like I've got a good chance of doing well at the US Open, but each week is a different week, and I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself. I'll just focus on Cincinnati."

Murray will be the first player other than Federer and Nadal, who both lost in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals on Friday, to rank No. 2 since Lleyton Hewitt on 18 July 2005. Already the highest-ranked Briton in ATP history, Murray will be the 12th player in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) to reach No. 2 with a 585-point advantage over No. 3 Rafael Nadal’s total haul of 8,665 points.

He compared his two accomplishments in Montreal: "I've won a couple of Masters [1000 tournaments] now, so it still feels great, but the No. 2 - maybe because it's something different - that means maybe a little bit more, but winning a tournament here is still great."

World No. 6 Del Potro, who had won 10 straight matches coming into the final, was attempting to earn his third ATP World Tour title of the season and second in as many weeks after defeating Roddick last Sunday in Washington. The 20 year old fell to a 6-2 mark in ATP World Tour finals and a 42-11 season match record.

Despite the loss, del Potro was pleased with his effort in Montreal: “I never play a final in Masters, and the crowd and this tournament and everything, it's so good for me and for my future. I'm very happy to be in the final. I lost, but I'm happy. I don't have to think in the past and now see the future.”

Del Potro had emerged as a serious contender last summer, when he won his first four ATP World Tour titles in successive tournament appearances at Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Los Angeles and Washington. He missed the summer’s two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournaments, not ranked high enough at the time of entry, and extended his winning streak to 23 straight matches going into the US Open quarter-finals before losing to Murray.

The two players now head to next week’s Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 hard-court tournament in Cincinnati, where they are in the same quarter of the draw. Murray won the title last year in Cincinnati with victory over Novak Djokovic in the final.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/08/Montreal-Sunday-Murray-Overcomes-Del-Potro-In-Montreal.aspx)

Gonzalez Gathering Pace; Roddick Cuts Down Karlovic

2009-08-08T20:14:00.001+07:00

Fernando Gonzalez maintained his perfect record in tour-level quarter-finals this season as he edged out the in-form Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-4 Friday to book his spot in the semi-finals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, an ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournament in Washington, D.C.

The fourth seed, who is now undefeated in five tour-level quarter-finals this year, was made to work hard for his 27th victory of the season against a resilient Haas, who was bidding to reach his fourth tour-level semi-final in a row.

Dominant serving from both Gonzalez and Haas in the first set – they surrendered just two and three points respectively behind their first serves – led to a lack of break point chances. But Gonzalez was quick to pounce with the one chance he created in the 11th game, breaking to lead 6-5 before closing out the one-set lead after 45 minutes.

Watch live web streaming of Saturday's semi-finals (not available U.S.A or Brazil)

Gonzalez looked to be on his way to a more comfortable second-set score line as he broke twice to race out to a 5-2 lead. The No. 23-ranked Haas gave the Chilean food for thought as he recouped one of the breaks, but Gonzalez held strong to close out victory at the second time of asking, after 83 minutes.

The 29-year-old Gonzalez is one win away from reaching his second final in Washington, D.C., having defeated then World No. 1 Andre Agassi in the 2003 semi-finals before falling to Great Britain’s Tim Henman in the title match. He captured his 11th ATP World Tour title earlier in the season as he successfully defended his trophy in Vina del Mar (d. Acasuso).

Haas, 31, suffered his third quarter-final exit in Washington, D.C. as he dropped to a 26-12 mark on the season. The former World No. 2 has been rejuvenated of late, clinching his 12th ATP World Tour title in Halle (d. Djokovic) and reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals (l. to Federer) before opening his Olympus US Open Series campaign with a semi-final showing in LA (l. to Querrey) last week.

In the semi-finals Gonzalez will face defending champion Juan Martin del Potro, who advanced with a walkover over Robin Soderling when the Swede was forced to withdraw with a right elbow injury. The Roland Garros finalist will have an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury and whether he will play in the Rogers Masters, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Montreal, beginning Monday.

Looking ahead to his clash with del Potro, Gonzalez said, “We are really good friends. We have a few years in age difference, but we are really good friends.”

Gonzalez revealed that he took an extended break from the practice court immediately after Wimbledon to rest his right knee, which is affected by tendinitis.

Del Potro said of his walkover from Soderling: “It is very unfortunate Robin couldn’t play today. I was looking forward to this match against Robin as he has been playing incredibly well in the past months. I am sure it would have been a close match.”

Gonzalez takes a 3-0 career lead into the clash with the second-seeded Argentine, although the pair has not met since the 2007 Australian Open. The 20-year-old del Potro has since risen to No. 6 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings after a major breakthrough last summer, when he went on a 23-match winning streak that included four successive ATP World Tour titles and finished in a quarter-final loss to Andy Murray at the US Open.

“I played a very long match against Hewitt yesterday so this day off will help me to recover better for my semi-final match tomorrow against Gonzalez. I’ve lost to him three times in my career and I hope I can get my first win tomorrow,” said del Potro.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/08/Washington-Friday-Gonzalez-Edges-Haas.aspx)

Tursunov Launches Indianapolis Title Campaign

2009-07-22T17:48:00.001+07:00

Top seed Dmitry Tursunov of Russia began his quest to reach the final for a third straight year at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly, defeating German Michael Berrer 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 on Tuesday to reach the second round at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

Tursunov was up a set and a break, but conceded the lead as he lost all three break points faced on serve in the second set. He decisively recovered in the third set, however, limiting the German to just 10 points total as he clinched the win in one hour and 36 minutes.

Tursunov won the Indianapolis title in 2007 with victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic in the final, and finished runner-up to Frenchman Gilles Simon last year. The 27 year old recently won his sixth ATP World Tour title at the grass-court tournament in Eastbourne, once again defeating Dancevic in the title match. His other five titles have all come on hard courts.

Fifth-seeded German Benjamin Becker posted his 10th tour-level win of the season, easing past Japanese qualifier Go Soeda 6-2, 6-3 in 56 minutes. The 28-year-old Becker won his first ATP World Tour title last month as a qualifier in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (d. Sluiter), capping off an impressive six-tournament stretch that began in April with four straight Challenger finals (3-1 record) and a quarter-final appearance at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Halle (l. to O. Rochus). He has risen from a No. 131 ranking on 6 April, 2009, to his current position of No. 45.

Israeli Davis Cup hero Dudi Sela, the No. 2 seed, had no problems getting though his opening match as he beat American Vince Spadea 7-5, 6-1. Sela had led his country into the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time with a home victory over Russia two weeks ago, and entered the week ranked a career-high No. 29. Spadea, the oldest player in the draw at 35 years of age, had reached the Indianapolis final in 1999 (d. Sampras in QF, l. to Lapentti).

American qualifiers Jesse Levine and Alex Bogomolov Jr. had better luck than their countryman, advancing to the second round with respective straight-sets wins over Thailand’s Danai Udomchoke and Italian Flavio Cipolla. The 21-year-old Levine is coming off a third round showing at Wimbledon (d. Safin) and quarter-final effort in Newport (l. to Ram), while Bogomolov Jr. defeated Arnaud Clement two weeks ago in Newport to win his first tour-level match since March 2006.

Argentine Eduardo Schwank snapped an 11-match losing streak beginning with a quarter-final exit in February at Costa do Sauipe as he ousted No. 6 seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and six minutes. Schwank will next confront 2005 Indianapolis champion Robby Ginepri, who advanced with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win over French qualifier Sebastien de Chaunac.

Meanwhile, Russian No. 4 seed Igor Kunitsyn converted four of his six break point chances to defeat Argentine Brian Dablu 6-4, 6-1 in 71 minutes. He will face American Wayne Odesnik for a place in the quarter-finals.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Indianapolis-Tuesday-Tursunov-Opens-Title-Campaign.aspx)

Tour de France 2009 : Armstrong attack highlight of Stage 16

2009-07-22T14:23:00.003+07:00

Lance Armstrong looked exhausted at the end of Sunday's Stage 15. After his teammate Alberto Contador launched what would be a winning attack, Armstrong couldn't follow attacks through the gap by Wiggins, Nibali, Sastre, or Evans, and finished 9th at 1:35, hanging onto 2nd place, but by a bare 9 seconds.

What a difference a (rest) day makes! On today's Stage 16, when Andy Schleck went off the front, Armstrong was again dropped, this time by teammates Contador and Andreas Klöden, the Schleck brothers, Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream, and Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas.

Armstrong rode within himself, and found shelter briefly in a group of GC hopes, including Vande Velde, Sastre, Evans, and Kreuziger. With a little less than 5k to ride, Armstrong launched a very 2003-era Armstrong attack. Kim Kirchen and Christian Vande Velde briefly tried to follow, but couldn't. When he flew by Frank Schleck, Schleck gave it just about one second's thought before he thought better of it.

With Armstrong back alongside Contador, Astana had 3 riders in a 6-man group, and once again, they were content to conserve energy and wait for Schleck or Nibali (or Wiggins, but he doesn't really need the time) to attack, but neither wanted to take on Contador, Armstrong, and Klöden. At the lower pace, all the GC candidates but Cadel Evans rejoined, and then coordinated to put serious time into Evans.

Astana continues to ride a very smart race, running out the clock for the climbing specialists, with just two big Alpine climbing stages left.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tom Watson, 59 years young, captivated the golf world for four days at British Open

2009-07-22T14:10:00.001+07:00

This is what it's all about: losing. Really. You're going to win some and lose more. That was the point of last week's British Open at Turnberry. Everyone paid more attention to the loser than the winner, right? The loser, an old man — nearly 60! — lost with class and heart and serenity and tired legs. He tried to turn back time. It was a gallant effort, and he almost pulled it off.

True, somebody won on Sunday. Somebody always wins, and the newest name on the claret jug belongs to 36-year-old Stewart Cink, a native son of Huntsville, Ala., with a half-million tweeps following his Twitter page and a long, elegant, Georgia Tech-honed swing.

His shaved head covered by a Kermit-green hat, and wearing bright white pants out of a Marine Corps recruiting ad, he played a wild final nine holes, with only two pars but a closing birdie that got him a spot in a playoff with Tom Watson, a 59-year-old Hall of Famer with an artificial left hip, five British Open titles and an honorary guest bed in a million Scottish homes. In the four-hole playoff Cink overwhelmed the wee mon, two under to four over. Congratulations, Mr. Cink. You won your first major. Maybe you'll win others. You're a bright, considerate man with serious talent. You earned it.

In victory Cink thanked his caddie, his swing coach, his junior-golf teacher, his wife, his two boys, his Savior. He gave a heartfelt shout-out to Watson too. Cink most likely couldn't remember Watson in his early prime. Little Stewie was four when Watson won his epic Duel in the Sun at Turnberry in 1977 over Jack Nicklaus. But the new winner is well familiar with the Watson legend: the handful of Opens, the two green jackets from Augusta, the U.S. Open he stole from Nicklaus in '82 at Pebble Beach, the winning Ryder Cup captaincy in '93.

On Sunday at Turnberry, the Duel in the Wind was at first about the promise of sporting history, and later about defeat. There was something gorgeous and sad and exhilarating about Watson's play and finish, with his wife, Hilary, his grown kids, Meg and Michael, and close friends watching in person or on TV. Watson had one cast left, and he had the fish hooked but could not reel it in. The old man and the seaside links.

Oh, he'll win Senior events, and maybe he'll even contend next year when the Open returns to St. Andrews, although he's already saying he won't, not if the wind blows out of the west. He says he can't play the course in that wind. He's a hyperrealist.

When it was over, a hundred or more reporters gathered solemnly in a white tent and listened to Watson open the session by saying, "This ain't a funeral, you know?" He laughed, and everybody else did with him.

Still. All Watson needed was a par on the last to become, by 11 years, the oldest winner of one of golf's four major championships. If he had shot 277 instead of 278, he would have won his ninth major and tied Harry Vardon, a mustachioed Englishman born in 1870, with a record six British Open titles. In the Age of Tiger, how can a largely retired golfer, seven weeks short of 60, grow his legend? Watson did. He said, "One of the things I want out of life is for my peers to say, 'That Watson, he was a hell of a golfer.'" His peers have been saying that for decades. From here on out, they'll be saying it even more.

Tiger Woods likes to say "second sucks," and he acts as if he means it. When Steve Williams, Tiger's caddie, implored Woods to hit a provisional ball after a horrid way-right shot off the 10th tee last Friday, Tiger kept walking and muttered, "F--- it," before finally making a U-turn.

Thirty-two years earlier, when Watson nipped Nicklaus at Turnberry, the two walked off the final green arm-in-arm, the winner and the loser. Golf never looked better. When Sunday's playoff was over, Watson kept grace alive. There was his long handshake with Cink, which came only after Watson allowed the champ time to acknowledge the applause and savor the moment. There was his fifth straight session in the press tent, where, his voice hoarse after a long day in the wind and the sun, he offered no excuses. Not his age, not his man-made hip, not his infrequent play. Of his poor putt out of fluffy rough from behind the 72nd green, he said, "I gunned it." Of his ensuing 10-footer for par that would have won him the title, he said, "Made a lousy putt." Asked if he ran out of gas in the playoff, he replied, "It looked like it, didn't it?" Congratulations, Tom. You're what it's all about.

He's the same as he ever was, or better.

This will sound crazy, but it's true: His metronomic swing, always a joy to behold, has never looked this good. It goes up, it goes down, it goes through. Boom-boom-boom. A study in efficiency. (You cannot say the same of his close-range putting stroke. It is short and stubby and nothing like his circa-1977 action, which makes his runner-up finish last week even more extraordinary.)

As a man, Watson has never been more appealing, which is not to suggest there's something easy and endearing about him, because there's not and never has been. He's wound tight and he can be painfully brusque. He once asked Davis Love III for a putting lesson, and Love gave him his best stuff, to which Watson responded, "That's wrong." Watson will, at times, show no patience for reporters with questions or kids with programs to sign or tournament officials who can't give him rain-delay information quickly enough. After his first marriage ended in divorce in 1998, there was a long period when his relationships with his daughter and son were strained. Over the years, there have been dinners where he drank too much, angering his friends and family and worrying them too.

If real life were a VH1 special, we could cite a date when Watson's life changed and the road to last week began. But life of course is messy, and all we can offer are some recent milestones. He married Hilary Watson, former wife of golfer Denis Watson, in September 1999. He won the Senior British Open at Turnberry on July 27, 2003, spending a happy and wistful week with his wife and their great friends Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, while keeping tabs on his longtime caddie, Bruce Edwards, who was battling ALS at home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Edwards, 49, died on April 8, 2004. (Watson has been raising money for ALS research ever since.) He stopped drinking several years ago on a date known to him and not many others. His relationship with both kids, Meg especially, has improved steadily over the past half-dozen years. He got a new hip last Oct. 2. He missed the cut at the Masters on April 10 by a dozen shots. (He says, not happily, that he's a "ceremonial" golfer on the lengthened Augusta National course.)

Then came last week, when he led the 138th British Open after the second and third rounds and seized the outright lead one last time at the 17th on Sunday. He smoked his tee shot on the par-4 18th and clipped a downwind eight-iron from 187 yards that landed short of the hole, took a big bounce and went over the green. Three shots from there and the playoff was on. Watson was spent. His opponent was not.

Watson traipsed up and down Turnberry's dunes without a limp. As he managed his way around the course, a stunning links designed by God and some lesser-known architects, he was the picture of contentment, even as the wind whipped about. Watson, as well as anybody, could move his ball through it. In interviews, he kept talking in different ways about his serenity, and you could see his comfort all week long. He played a practice round with Charles Howell and Brandt Snedeker and told them old Tour stories, the likes of which they had never heard. Last Saturday night, Watson passed his close friend Andy North, the longtime ESPN golf commentator and, at 6' 4", the tallest winner of the U.S. Open, punched him on the hip, looked up and gave him a grin that seemed to say, Can you believe this?

After the playoff was over, and while waiting for the prize ceremony to begin, Watson stood beside his golf bag and stared at his clubs, lost in thought, his wife's arm firmly around his waist, both of them so still and focused and centered you knew they knew: You lose more than you win. The fight was over, and Watson was accepting the outcome, even as he thought about what could have been.

In real life Watson is more fun than he sounds here. He has a nice sense of humor. Asked how his old friend Sandy Tatum, the 89-year-old former USGA president, was handling his run at the title, Watson said, "It's giving him a heart attack!" He has lived in the Kansas City area all his life, and spurred on by his friend George Brett, he used to own a small piece of the Royals. He goes with friends to baseball games often. He hunts regularly, sometimes with Michael. He designs courses. He devours the news and argues politics, often taking Rush Limbaugh's side of things when debating his caddie, Neil Oxman, a well-known Democratic political strategist.

But, like Arnold Palmer and Nicklaus before him, Watson has become a sentimentalist. Oxman is on the bag because he was a friend of Edwards's; it was Oxman who first encouraged Edwards to ask Watson for work, way back in 1973. As Watson stood on the 18th fairway on Saturday, he said to Oxman, "Bruce is with us today." After his opening round on Thursday, in which he shot 65 — the same score he put up in his last two rounds in the '77 Open — he said he was inspired by a text message he had received from Barbara Nicklaus. She wished him good luck, and it opened a floodgate of Turnberry memories: his triumph over Jack in the Duel in the Sun; his 11th-place finish in the '94 Open, won by Nick Price, after which Tom and his first wife, Linda, and Jack and Barbara commiserated over dinner and a couple of bottles of wine; his Senior British win in 2003, with Oxman caddying and nightly dinners with Hilary and the Nicklauses.

That victory, he said at the time, meant as much as any of his others, because he was winning for "somebody other than myself" — Edwards, his wife, his kids. On those VH1 specials, everybody seems to talk like that. For Watson, it's about as easy as pulling his own tooth, but at least you know he means it.

On Sunday night he spoke affectionately of the Scottish galleries, who have been cheering him on for 34 years now, since he won his first Open at Carnoustie, on the country's east coast, in 1975. They stood for him as he came up the 18th the first time on Sunday, when victory was in reach, and they stood for him the second time, when the promise of victory was extinguished. "That warmth makes you feel human," Watson said. Outside, it was cool and windy, but the green hillsides and white chimneys of the Turnberry Hotel were bathed in yellow by the late evening sun. "It makes you feel so good."

The Watsons were staying in the Tom Watson Suite at the hotel, but this time the Nicklauses were not around. They were at home in Florida, just as Woods was by Sunday, after missing the cut (by a shot) for the second time in a major since he turned pro in late 1996. Some of Watson's contemporaries were at Turnberry, but only as commentators: North, Isao Aoki, Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance. Tom Lehman, the 1996 British Open winner, 91/2 years younger than Watson, finished his Sunday round and followed Watson all the way around on foot, hoping to see history. The two of them, along with CBS announcer David Feherty and swing coach Butch Harmon, made a goodwill visit to U.S. troops in Iraq in 2007. Watson listened as Lehman, a fellow Ryder Cup captain, chatted with a veteran suffering from severe depression. Afterward, Watson said to Lehman, "That was impressive, the way you talked to that man." Lehman was stunned. It was the most personal thing Watson had ever said to him. People change.

Golf games do too. Watson's game, he acknowledges, is aided by a titanium driver and hybrid iron-woods and graphite shafts and today's ball that goes straighter in the wind. Seven weeks shy of 60, he played Turnberry in rounds of 65, 70, 71 and 72. Two-seventy-eight, two under par. Nobody shot a lower score.

A day before the claret jug was hoisted by the new champion, Barbara Nicklaus sent a text to Hilary Watson. The first part of the message was golfer's wife to golfer's wife. The second part was golfing icon to golfing icon: "Jack says to tell Tom he still knows how to win."

Maybe that's why Watson looked serene as he stared at his clubs on Sunday night. Jack had it right. The man does still know how to win. Sure, he lost a four-hole playoff. But he won everything else.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1911886,00.html#)

The story so far - Red Bull's mid-season report

2009-07-21T17:47:00.001+07:00

With the brains of Adrian Newey, a small army working back at their UK base in Milton Keynes and the generous patronage of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull Racing have been threatening to step up to the front of the field ever since they bought out Jaguar in 2004.

This season they have finally made it into the big time, thanks in no small part to the combination of new signing Sebastian Vettel, who has chalked up three poles and two wins, and experienced runner Mark Webber, who finally clinched a maiden victory in Germany. Here’s the story of their season so far…

Red Bull
World championship points: 92.5
Best qualifying result: 1st (4x)
Best race result: 1st (3x)
After being upstaged by junior team Toro Rosso in 2008, Red Bull started the year vowing it was their turn to shine. The RB5 certainly turned heads during pre-season testing, with its clever interpretation of the stringent 2009 rules. But while it looked the most complete car, its pace (and reliability) was less convincing.

There were even murmurs that Red Bull had built themselves a pretty, but ineffectual, machine. In qualifying for Melbourne’s season opener, however, Vettel showed the true promise of the RB5, taking third on the grid behind the controversial double-diffuser Brawns. Both the German and Webber were equally strong in the race and, were it not for two collisions, may have scored a podium.

In Malaysia too, luck was not on their side and the car’s obvious pace received scant reward as Webber and Vettel struggled with their tyres. But at a soaked Shanghai, the RB5 was dominant, with Vettel and Webber clinching a richly deserved maiden one-two. In dusty Bahrain and sweltering Spain, however, the tyre degradation issues were back with a vengeance and solo podiums at each were a letdown.

Hoping for a boost, the team brought a Brawn-inspired double diffuser to Monaco (no mean feat given the packaging restrictions of the car’s pull-rod rear suspension), but ultimately dropped to third in the pecking order behind a resurgent Ferrari. In Turkey, they were reasonably satisfied with a two-three result, but for another win they would have to wait for June and the British Grand Prix. Again it fell to Vettel, but the real hero was the heavily upgraded RB5.

After what team principal Christian Horner called ‘superhuman efforts’ at the factory, the car was unassailable at Silverstone. In a reversal of fortunes it was Brawn who were struggling with tyres and Red Bull ran riot to score a majestic one-two. Matching it with more of the same in Germany, the team has proved their pace has staying power. And after unlocking the car’s potential so comprehensively, Horner believes the team can retain their grip at the top.

“Putting aside our performance and two dominant one-two finishes in the last two races, the team’s determination to continue to improve and not to take anything for granted is very important. There are no obvious weaknesses in our armoury, but as a group we must continue to push ourselves in all areas all the time."

Battle of the team mates - Sebastian Vettel v Mark Webber
Qualifying: Vettel (7-2)
Race: Webber (6-3) Vettel retired in Monaco
Points: Vettel 47, Webber 45.5
Up until the last round in Germany, Vettel had largely ruled the roost at Red Bull. Taking the team’s first-ever pole and victory and qualifying higher than Webber in all but two of the season’s nine outings, Vettel’s youth seems to be outclassing the Australian’s experience. But if you throw Webber’s pre-season cycling accident and consistency into the mix, the duo have been closer in performance than the stats suggest, with team principal Horner even stating that at the opening rounds Webber was somewhat below par, and it’s “only now we are seeing Mark at the level of fitness he was at prior to his injury”. Certainly with just 1.5 points separating the duo, they are the closest pairing on the 2009 grid. And with the team ruling out favouring one driver, for the moment at least, prepare to see them battle it out for supremacy over the coming races.

In summary - With the RB5 a three-time race winner, the stakes at Red Bull couldn’t be higher. Both drivers have the talent to do the car justice, but will Webber’s experience or Vettel’s ambition win the day? Watch this space...

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/7/9640.html)

Past Indianapolis Finalist Dancevic Avenges Loss; Isner Returns

2009-07-21T17:42:00.001+07:00

Canadian Frank Dancevic returned to the site of his first tour-level breakthrough, the Indianapolis Tennis Championships presented by Lilly, and successfully avenged last year’s loss to Bobby Reynolds at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament. Reynolds had knocked out the returning finalist in three sets in the 2008 first round, but Dancevic prevailed 6-2, 7-6(5) on Monday to post his first win in three matches against the American.

Dancevic made a surprise run to the Indianapolis final in 2007, upsetting top-seeded Andy Roddick in the semi-finals to become the first Canadian to reach an ATP final in 12 years (l. to Tursunov). The 24 year old recently faced a re-match with Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the grass-court final at Eastbourne, but once again fell short of his first ATP World Tour title.

Third-seeded American Sam Querrey, making his first appearance since a runner-up finish in Newport two weeks ago (l. to R. Ram), opened his title campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Frenchman Arnaud Clement in one hour and 13 minutes. The 21-year-old Querrey is a two-time Indianapolis semi-finalist, falling to eventual champion Tursunov in 2007 and Gilles Simon in '08.

French No. 7 seed Marc Gicquel made a strong debut at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, dismissing Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 6-3. The 32 year old won 85 per cent of his first serve points, and broke his opponent twice in each set to comfortably close out the match in one hour. Gicquel, who entered the tournament ranked No. 82, achieved his best hard-court showing this season as a qualifier in Rotterdam, where he split sets with then-World No. 4 Andy Murray before retiring in the third set with a groin injury.

Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin also posted a win in his first Indianapolis appearance, edging past American Kevin Kim 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 47 minutes. Istomin had also defeated Kim in their opening match at Eastbourne last month, going on to reach the quarter-finals before falling to Tursunov. Istomin next faces 6'9" American John Isner, who fired 15 aces in a 6-1, 7-6(6) win over Frenchman Josselin Ouanna.

Isner is making his first tour-level appearance since a quarter-final run in April at Houston (l. to Odesnik), having been sidelined with mononucleosis the past two months. He has a 10-6 season record, also reaching the quarter-finals in Auckland (l. to Soderling) and the fourth round at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (l. to del Potro).

American Wayne Odesnik earned his first tour-level match win since April in Houston by ousting 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes. The 100th-ranked Odesnik reached his first ATP World Tour final in Houston (l. to Hewitt), but then lost in the first round on his next three main draw appearances.

Qualifying rounds also concluded Monday with the top four seeds - Jesse Levine, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Go Soeda and Sebastien De Chaunac – all securing their places in the Indianapolis main draw.

In doubles action, Gulbis and Tursunov upset No. 3 seeds Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky 6-3, 3-6, 11-9, while James Cerretani and Travis Rettenmaier accounted for Jeff Coetzee and Jonathan Erlich 6-1, 6-3.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Indianapolis-Monday-Dancevic-Avenges-Loss.aspx)

Tour de France 2009 Stage 15: Contador flies into yellow

2009-07-20T17:12:00.002+07:00

Spanish rider Alberto Contador attacked on the final climb into Verbier today, securing the overall lead in the Tour de France and asserting himself as Team Astana's leader.

Arriving in 9th place today and 1:35 behind Contador, Lance Armstrong now sits in 2nd place for the overall race at 1:37 behind his team leader.

The attacks began in full after Garmin's David Millar led the group with the GC contenders into the left-hand turn onto the climb to Verbier.

Highlights of the climb included:

Contador's attack (and punching two aggressive fans who invaded his space)
Andy Schleck's valiant chase
2008 winner Carlos Sastre's acceleration, suggesting he remains a contender
Saxo Bank's Cancellara and Voigt killing themselves setting tempo for the Schleck brothers
The fans--what an unbelievable mass of energy

When asked about today's outcome, Lance noted that Contador was the strongest rider today and pleased that Astana had the yellow jersey.

As for being out of the yellow and possibly out of contention for an overall win now that Contador has established himself Astana's leader, Armstrong remarked "I've got seven (jerseys) at home."

Top 10 Stage 15 Results:

1. Alberto Contador Astana in 5:03:58
2. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank at 00:43
3. Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas in 5:05:01 at 01:03
4. Frank Schleck Team Saxo Bank in 5:05:04 at 01:06
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream in 5:05:04 at 01:06
6. Carlos Sastre Cervelo Test Team in 5:05:04 at 01:06
7. Cadel Evans Silence - Lotto in 5:05:24 at 01:26
8. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 5:05:27 at 01:29
9. Lance Armstrong Astana in 5:05:33 at 01:35
10. Kim Kirchen Team Columbia - Htc in 5:05:53 at 01:55

Top 5 Overall GC Standings:

1. Alberto Contador Astana in 63:17:56
2. Lance Armstrong Astana at 01:37
3. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream in 63:19:42 at 01:46
4. Andréas Kloden Astana in 63:20:13 at 02:17
5. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank in 63:20:22 at 02:26

(From Website : http://www.examiner.com/x-6070-Philadelphia-Cycling-Examiner~y2009m7d19-Tour-de-France-2009-tips-for-following-live)

Tour de France 2009 : Sorensen adds some sizzle in Stage 12 win

2009-07-20T17:09:00.001+07:00

Saxo Bank's Nicki Sørensen used his head and his legs to outfox 7 breakaway compatriots and take Stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France.

The breakaway that mattered featured Sørensen, Sylvain Calzati of Agritubel, Milram's Marcus Fothen, Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas, Laurent Lefevre of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi, and Remi Pauriol of Cofidis. Each rider took out one team for chase purposes, and it soon became apparent that Columbia-HTC, which has been chasing breaks to set up Mark Cavendish, had no interest today, so the pool of riders to drive the capture was pretty small, and never brought the gap inside of about 3:30.

With 22.5k to ride, Sørensen decided he didn't like his chances against his breakmates, attacked, and was joined by Calzati. The pair rotated smoothly and built a gap of almost 20 seconds, but the 5 behind slowly closed the split.

Nearly caught with around 5.5k to ride, Sørensen turned his guts absolutely inside out, dropping Calzati, and briefly throwing the chase into disarray. Within a kilometer by himself, he had built a 22-second lead, which he stretched to 34 seconds with 1k to ride. At that point, it was a done deal, and Sørensen saluted the crowd as he crossed the line with a victory for the often-unheralded “pack fodder” of the Tour.

Sørensen's primary role for Saxo Bank at the Tour was expected to be taking long pulls on the front of the peloton, hunting down breaks to protect Andy Schleck's race lead. Today, he took a turn as the hunted, and took home the stage win.

With no General Classification risks being taken, the green and polka-dot jerseys each took a turn in the limelight today, with Cavendish and Hushovd going head to head at the day's 1st intermediate sprint, won by Cavendish, and in the field sprint, led out by Cervelo, but still won by Cavendish. Cavendish had been reluctant to name the green jersey as a goal here, but if he's chasing intermediate points, there's no doubt.

Pellizotti and Martinez engaged in a few rounds of sprint the mini-mountains, with Pellizotti getting the upper hand, and moving within 18 points of Martinez in the competition. It's still very possible that someone else entirely takes the climber's jersey with a long Alpine escape, but it looks like Pellizotti and Martinez plan to cover those moves.

Levi Leipheimer was involved in a late crash that also claimed Michael Rogers and Cadel Evans, but all three continued. Leipheimer was banged and scraped up, and should be able to continue, but there could be lingering effects as the Tour heads to the Vosges tomorrow.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 11 on the road

2009-07-20T17:08:00.000+07:00

The course profile for today's stage looks a lot like yesterday's. It's 2.5 kms shorter, with 2 instead of 3 4th Category climbs, but it definitely looks like a stage for the sprinters. A slight uphill finish might take some of the snap out of Mark Cavendish's finishing kick, favoring Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler, or Oscar Freire, but it may take more than simple physics to stop the Cav-alanche.

Only Kurt-Asle Arvesen didn't make the start this morning, so 170 riders rolled out of Vatan. Race officials voided a 15-second gap that was charged in the finish yesterday, when a small break appeared in the field. The gap had dropped Levi Leipheimer and Brad Wiggins down the standings a bit, but they've been awarded the same time as Cavendish for yesterday now.

Only two riders in today's break -- Johan Van Summeren of Silence-Lotto and Marcin Sapa of Lampre. They've taken the day's first two intermediate sprints and the first categorized climb of the day.

Quincy Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Lloyd Mondory, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

4th Category Côte d'Allogny
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +3 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +2 pts
3) Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +1 pt

Martinez led the field through to pad his King of the Mountains lead by a point.

Saint-Ceols Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

Christian Vande Velde was involved in a crash early this morning, but there have been no signs of lasting effects.

Suilly-La-Tour Intermediate Sprint:
1) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
2) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +4 pts
3) Cyril Dessel, AG2R-La Mondiale, +2 pts

Ryder Hesjedal was the 2nd Garmin-Slipstream rider to find the pavement today. He appeared to rejoin the field with no problems. AG2R's Vladimir Efimkin has been with the race doctor with scrapes to his cheek and chin from another crash today.

On the day's last climb, Egoi Martinez again came to the front, but Franco Pellizotti sprinted to the KoM point to deny him the cheap point.

4th Category Côte de Perreuse
1) Marcin Sapa, Lampre, +3 pts
2) Johan Van Summeren, Silence-Lotto, +2 pts
3) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas, +1 pt

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 10 Preview: Limoges to Issoudun

2009-07-20T17:07:00.000+07:00

Back to relatively flat roads over 194.5 k or 120.9 miles today. The radio ban protest came to nothing, and riders started as expected.

It's almost a tradition that a French-flavored breakaway forms on Bastille Day, but Team Columbia may very well spoil the party. They've got their sights set on the green jersey, and today looks like a stage that sets up well for Mark Cavendish, so today's drama is likely to center on whether Columbia can make the capture without radio assistance, and whether Cavendish can make it three stage wins in this Tour.

Jerseys:

Rinaldo Nocentini, AG2R

Thor Hushovd, Cervelo Test Team

Egoi Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi

Tony Martin, Team Columbia-HTC

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 9: Fedrigo makes it three for France

2009-07-20T17:05:00.001+07:00

Pierrick Fedrigo outkicked Franco Pellizotti in the last 200 meters in Tarbes to take Stage 9 of the Tour de France.

Fedrigo and Pellizotti were all that remained from a big breakaway that had swelled to 9 riders, including Jens Voigt, Egoi Martinez, David Moncoutie, and others. The pair were well clear at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, but a chase by Columbia-HTC, then by Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank, pulled back all but 34 seconds of their lead by the line.

Yellow jersey Rinaldo Nocentini had no problems with the pace, and will hold the yellow jersey through tomorrow's rest day and Tuesday's Stage 10.

New King of the Mountains Brice Feillu, on the other hand, lost his polka-dots to Egoi Martinez, who was 5th on the Col d'Aspin and 7th over the Tourmalet.

Stage 9 Top 10:
1) Pierrick Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, 4:05:31
2) Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas, same time
3) Oscar Freire, Rabobank, at :34
4) Serguei Ivanov, Team Katusha, same time
5) Peter Velits, Team Milram, s.t.
6) Jose Rojas, Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
7) Greg Van Avermaet, Silence-Lotto, s.t.
8) Geoffroy Lequatre, Agritubel, s.t.
9) Alessandro Ballan, Lampre, s.t.
10) Nicolas Roche, AG2R-La Mondiale

General Classification after Stage 9:
1) Rinaldo Nocentini, AG2R-La Mondiale, 34:24:21
2) Alberto Contador, Astana, at :06
3) Lance Armstrong, Astana, at :08
4) Levi Leipheimer, Astana, at :39
5) Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream, at :46
6) Andreas Klöden, Astana, at :54
7) Tony Martin, Columbia-HTC, at 1:00
8) Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Slipstream, at 1:24
9) Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank, at 1:49
10) Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas, at 1:54

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Tour de France 2009 : Stage 9 on the road

2009-07-20T17:03:00.000+07:00

It was a very active start today, as a big group formed that Astana thought was dangerous, and Lance Armstrong and Rinaldo Nocentini bridged up, encouraging an escape by Jens Voigt, Franco Pellizotti, Pierrick Fedrigo, and Leonardo "L." Duque.

This break collected the sprint points in Sarrancolin, with Col d'Aspin looming ahead.

Sarrancolin Intermediate sprint:
1) Duque, Cofidis, +6 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +4 pts
3) Voigt, Saxo Bank, +2 pts

On the Col d'Aspin, Duque was shed by the leaders, and a 2nd group tried to escape the field. In it were Jurgen Van Broeck, Laurens Ten Dam, Sergio Paulinho, Egoi Martinez, Amets Txurruka, Juan Manual Garate, and David Moncoutie.

1st Category Col d'Aspin
1) Pellizotti, Liquigas, +15 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +13 pts
3) Voigt, Saxo Bank, +11 pts
4) Duque, Cofidis, +9 pts
5) Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +8 pts
6) Ten Dam, Rabobank, +7 pts
7) Van den Broeck, Silence-Lotto, +6 pts
8) Garate, Rabobank, +5 pts

The gap from Pellizotti's group to the field was 3:17 at the summit, with Nocentini riding comfortably at the head of the pack.

Pellizotti attacked his breakmates early on the Tourmalet, and Jen Voigt couldn't match the pace, and began slowly falling back through the chase groups. Maxime Bouet of Agritubel tried to go the other way, briefly bridging to Martinez and Moncoutie's group, but quickly fell away, riding for many miles alone.

HC Tourmalet
1) Pellizotti, Liquigas, +40 pts
2) Fedrigo, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +36 pts
3) Garate, Rabobank, +32 pts
4) Voeckler, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, +30 pts
5) Moncoutie, Cofidis, +24 pts
6) Van den Broeck, Silence-Lotto, +20 pts
7) Martinez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +16 pts
8) Paulinho, Astana, +14 pts
9) Ten Dam, Rabobank, +12 pts
10) Txurruka, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +10 pts

Atop the Tourmalet, the field came through about 4:49 behind Fedrigo and Pellizotti.

On the run-in to Tarbes, Pellizotti and Fedrigo rotated smoothly, and it looked like the win had to go to one of them, with the break much closer to the field than the breakaway. Then, Columbia picked up the pace, and the breakaway was quickly recaptured. Caisse d'Epargne and Rabobank joined in, and the gap started to fall.

At 10k, it was down to 1:22; at 5k, just :44. Fedrigo and Pellizottie refused to play cat-and-mouse games, continuing to share the work and looking more and more like they would hold off the field.

Entering the final k, the gap was 36 seconds, and Pellizotti refused to come through and take a pull, sitting on Fedrigo's wheel. Fedrigo continued to work, and they rode on until Pellizotti launched toward the last turn in the stage, a 90-degree righthander just 200 meters from the line. Pellizotti was first to the corner, but when they came around, it was into a stiff headwind, and Fedrigo found himself sheltered, and came hard to the line, to take the 3rd French stage win of the 2009 Tour.

Rabobank's Oscar Freire won the field sprint 34 seconds back, at the front of a group that included all the overall contenders for Tour victory.

(From Website : http://www.tdfblog.com/)

Stewart Cink ends Tom Watson's bid for history

2009-07-20T16:56:00.001+07:00

TURNBERRY, Scotland — At 6:19 p.m. Sunday, on a spit of land hard by the Firth of Clyde, an old man with a new hip strode down the center of a dusty fairway. The summer sun was bathing Turnberry in gold, exactly as it had 32 years ago, the very first time Tom Watson conquered these storied, ancient links.

Watson's moment had come again, it seemed, and all of Turnberry felt it. The grandstands at the 18th hole creaked with the weight of the young and old. A silver trophy that Watson had won five times before was waiting in a trailer off the green.

A par would make the 59-year-old Watson the 138th and most improbable Open Champion. But destiny and the languid swing of Stewart Cink would deny him.

On the 72nd hole Watson finally, heartbreakingly, started to look his age, hitting his birdie putt from behind the green 10 feet past the hole, and then leaving his par putt for the championship inches short. The next hour, and a four-hole playoff, belonged to the 36-year-old Cink, who topped Watson by six shots and won the British Open for the first major of his career.

"It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn't it?" said Watson, who nearly claimed a record-tying sixth British Open. "It wasn't to be. It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my gut. It's not easy to take."

Instead, it was Cink — who three-putted the 72nd hole at the 2001 United States Open to miss a playoff by a shot — claiming the oldest major championship in golf.

"This week, for some reason, I just believed that I had something good," Cink said. "I felt like I was just totally at peace."

Before Watson's bogey at the 72nd hole, Cink had made a furious run to catch him, offsetting three back-nine bogeys with four birdies, including one at 18, to reach two-under 278.

Cink looked spry and focused in the four-hole playoff over the fifth, sixth, 17th and 18th holes. Watson appeared tired.

After both players hit into different greenside bunkers on No. 5, Cink got up and down for par while Watson bogeyed. After matching pars at No. 6, highlighted by Watson's brilliant up and down from a patch of rough 60 yards right of the hole, Cink pulled away. He birdied No. 17 while Watson drove into the left rough and made double bogey.

"I hit a chubby 5-iron for my second shot on the first playoff hole," Watson said. "The hybrid I hit on the second [playoff] hole, I got stuck. My legs didn't work at the drive at 17. By that time Stewart had it pretty well in hand."

In 2009, the major championship golf season has been about sentimental stories that almost were. Kenny Perry at the Masters, nearly winning a green jacket for himself and his cancer-stricken mother before two late bogeys derailed him.

Phil Mickelson at the United States Open, trying to win a trophy for his wife, Amy, who is battling breast cancer.

Watson's week was about pure nostalgia, about a former champion who had undergone a hip replacement in October, channeling his younger self on a golf course where he had defeated Jack Nicklaus in the famous Duel in the Sun in 1977.

Cink realized quickly that he would not be the crowd favorite in the playoff. Afterward, he said he was familiar with the role.

"I've played plenty of times with Tiger and hear the Tiger roars and Mickelson," said Cink, who closed with a final-round 69. "I'm usually the guy that the crowd [appreciates], but they're not behind me 100 percent of the way.

"I feel like whether Tom was 59 or 29, he was one of the field, and I had to play against everybody in the field, and the course, to come out on top."

Cink's victory was the culmination of a wild day atop the leader board. Both England's Lee Westwood and Chris Wood bogeyed their final holes to finish a shot out of the playoff. England's Ross Fisher, whose wife, Joanne, is expecting the couple's first child, held a two-shot lead through four holes but melted down on the par-4 fifth.

After hitting his drive into tall fescue on the right, Fisher swiped at his second shot but barely moved it. His third swing dislodged the ball, but it shot across the fairway into an even worse lie to the left. Fisher took an unplayable lie, which cost him a stroke, hit his fifth into the wispy rough to the right, knocked his sixth onto the green and took two putts for an 8.

On the back nine, the leader board continued to tighten, with Watson and Westwood jostling for the lead, with Cink staying within shouting distance. Even the golfers who had finished their rounds walked back onto the course to watch the conclusion, including the 1996 Open champion, Tom Lehman, and 1997 Open Champion, Justin Leonard.

Clinging to his one-shot lead on the final hole of regulation, Watson found the fairway with his drive and then hit an 8-iron toward the flagstick, where a par appeared likely. The ball bounded off the back of the green. It was one club too many.

"In retrospect, I probably would have hit a 9-iron rather than an 8-iron," said Watson, who nearly became the oldest major champion by 11 years. "I caught it just the way that I wanted to and, sure enough, it went too far."

Once in the playoff, Watson didn't have much left. As his game deserted him, the crowd began to murmur and, finally, grow silent. Cink kept peppering fairways and greens.

On the final hole of the playoff, Cink hit an iron to a few feet and made birdie to finish at two under for the playoff to Watson's four over.

Afterward, the two men embraced on the green, just as Watson and Nicklaus had 32 years before. Watson was on top of the world then, young and powerful and a master of links golf.

Once more, Watson was walking in his old footsteps, one stroke short of completing a remarkable circle.

"It was 'almost,'" he said as gray clouds obscured the summer sun. "The dream almost came true."

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1911611,00.html)

Robredo Advances; Soderling, Vinciguerra To Meet In All-Swedish SF

2009-07-18T16:39:00.001+07:00

Third seed Tommy Robredo closed on a third final appearance at the Catella Swedish Open by dismissing Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-0 in the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Bastad on Friday.

The No. 16-ranked Robredo won 31 of 40 points on serve and converted five of 12 break point chances to wrap up victory in the pair’s first meeting after 77 minutes. The Spaniard improved to a 23-6 tournament record after reaching the semi-finals for the sixth time. He went on to capture the title in 2006 (d. Davydenko) and reclaimed the trophy last year with victory over Tomas Berdych.

The 27-year-old Robredo has enjoyed strong results on clay this season and lit up the South American clay-court season in February with back-to-back titles at Costa do Sauipe (d. Bellucci) and Buenos Aires (d. Monaco) to mark the second time he has won two titles in a year (also 2006). The right-hander was also a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros (l. to del Potro) and has compiled a 36-14 match record in 2009.

For a place in his 17th ATP World Tour final, Robredo will meet Juan Monaco after the Argentine advanced when top-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco retired with a right calf injury trailing 1-6, 1-3.

"In the first game of the match I pulled a muscle in my calf. It was really hard to play after that. I had real pain when serving, especially since the injury was in my my right leg," explained World No. 9 Verdasco. "Monaco played well and didn't make any mistakes. It was not easy for me, I tried to continue playing but when I saw that I had no chance to win I retired before injuring myself further. Bastad is one of my special tournaments of the year. It's hard for me to retire here."

Robredo and Monaco have split their previous four meetings, with Monaco winning their most recent clash in straight sets at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo.

World No. 61 Monaco is bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour clay-court final of the season after finishing runner-up to Robredo in Buenos Aires in February. The 25 year old, who has also reached the quarter-finals at two further clay-court tournaments in 2009, improved to a 24-16 match record on the season after reaching the Bastad semi-finals for the first time in four appearances.

Swedish No. 2 seed Robin Soderling advanced to the Bastad semi-finals for the first time since 2004 after defeating fifth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3. Despite losing an early lead in the first set, Soderling hit back to take the one-set lead as he broke the Spaniard to love in the 12th. The top Swede broke through once more in the eighth game of the second set before closing out victory after 74 minutes. Soderling also defeated Almagro recently in the third round at Wimbledon.

The 24-year-old Soderling, currently a career-high No. 12 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings after reaching his first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros (l. to Federer), improved to 23-12 mark on the season.

The Tibro native, who is coached by two-time former Bastad champion Magnus Norman, captured the doubles title last year with Jonas Bjorkman, but is yet to reach the singles final in seven previous appearances. He has twice before reached an ATP World Tour final on home soil, finishing runner-up in Stockholm in 2003 (l. to Fish) and 2008 (l. to Nalbandian).

In an all-Swedish semi-final, Soderling will take on wild card Andreas Vinciguerra, who recovered from a set down to defeat Austrian doubles partner Jurgen Melzer 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. After being broken twice to surrender the first set, the No. 460-ranked Vinciguerra hit back to break once in the third game of the second set to level the match at one-set-all. The left-hander then won the final three games of the match from 3-3 in the third set to seal victory after one hour and 45 minutes.

Vinciguerra Makes Fairytale Comeback

The 28-year-old Vinciguerra, who has been plagued by a succession of injuries since 2001 – when he reached a career-high of No. 33 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since October ’01 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Paris (l. to Kafelnikov).

Vinciguerra will look to reach the Bastad final for a third time when he takes on Soderling in the pair’s first meeting on Saturday. He finished runner-up in the 1999 and 2000 title matches.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Bastad-Friday-Robredo-Closes-On-Third-Final.aspx)

Ask the Expert - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton

2009-07-14T17:53:00.001+07:00

What was the McLaren team’s first Grand Prix car called? Who was the oldest driver to have won the world championship? What was the Pussy Cat Dolls’ first Number One record? And at which race did Ayrton Senna score his first Formula One victory? These are just some of the questions we thought Lewis Hamilton would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our personal trivia test, ‘Ask the Expert’...

Q: Your team mate Heikki Kovalainen is Finnish. What is the capital city of Finland?
Lewis Hamilton: Helsinki
Correct

Q: What was the Pussy Cat Dolls’ first Number One record?
LH: Don’t Cha. I should know that one, shouldn’t I!
Correct - Hamilton’s girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger is lead singer of the US group.

Q: How much does it cost to join your official fan club?
LH: With this question you really caught me on the wrong foot. Sorry, no idea.
Incorrect - adults £65 / €90 / $140; children: £20 / €40 / $60

Q: You were born in Stevenage. Can you name three other famous people to have come from the Hertfordshire town?
LH: Let me think: Ashley Young and Jack Wilshere, both footballers. Sorry, but then my memory passes out.
Two out of three ain’t bad - an easy third would have been actor Rupert Grint, otherwise known as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films.

Q: When, where and in what series did you enjoy your first single-seater victory?
LH: I should know that - it’s my life! It was Formula Renault at Thruxton in 2002.
Full marks - 16 June 2002, to be precise.

Q: Can you explain oversteer in fewer than 15 words?
LH: When the front turns in so sharp that the rear steps out.
Correct

Q: What was long-time McLaren team principal Ron Dennis’ first job in Formula One racing?
LH: He started as a mechanic.
Correct - with the Cooper team in the mid 1960s.

Q: Whereabouts on your car’s livery is team partner SAP advertised?
LH: This is my workplace! On the nose.
Correct

Q: What was the McLaren team’s first Grand Prix car called?
LH: Must be something beginning with an M, but sorry, I don’t know.
Incorrect - McLaren Ford M2B.

Q: How many constructors’ championships and drivers’ titles have McLaren won in total?
LH: That part of the team history I know: 12 drivers’ and eight constructors’ titles.
Correct

Q: Bruce McLaren scored his team’s first victory at which race?
LH: Spa? Don’t know exactly the year, 1967 or ‘68…
Good enough - the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

Q: Last year you became the youngest-ever world champion. Who remains the oldest?
LH: Was it Fangio? Ascari? No? No idea.
Incorrect - Nino Farina was 43 when he won the 1950 championship.

Q: You clinched your first pole position and your first win at the same event - the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. Which other current F1 drivers managed the same feat, albeit at different venues?
LH: Webber, of course. The other one, let me think. Was it Felipe?
Correct - Felipe Massa at the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix and Webber at the 2009 German Grand Prix.

Q: Can you guess how many test kilometres you covered last year?
LH: Must have been a lot. Over 8000?
Half marks - pretty close. The actual answer is 9090.

Q: How many points, wins and pole positions have you scored so far during your Formula One career?
LH: 216, 9 wins and 13 poles.
Full marks

Q: Fresh from winning the drivers’ title in 1996, your fellow British driver Damon Hill moved teams and endured a tough follow-up season. What team did he move to and where in the standings did he finish that year?
LH: He moved to Arrows and I believe he finished quite far back - was it ninth?
Half marks - he finished 12th.

Q: One of your driver heroes is Ayrton Senna. At which race did Senna score his first Formula One victory?
LH: I should know that one. Must have been 1985 in a John Player Lotus, in Portugal.
Spot on

Q: In what year was the McLaren team founded?
LH: 1963.
Correct

Q: Your team mate Kovalainen has so far won one championship during his motorsport career. In which series did he claim the title?
LH: World Series (by Nissan)
Correct - in 2004.

Q: Can you guess how many laps you led races for during the 2008 season?
LH: Must have been around 300.
Close enough - 294 to be precise.

Final score: 22.5 points from a possible 28
Ask the Expert rating: 80%

Current leader board:
1. Heikki Kovalainen - 86%
2. Mark Webber - 84%
3. Lewis Hamilton - 80%
4. Kazuki Nakajima - 73%
5. Sebastien Buemi - 72%
6. Robert Kubica - 70%
7. Jenson Button - 69%
8. Giancarlo Fisichella - 68%
9. Nico Rosberg - 66%
10= Sebastian Vettel - 64%
10= Rubens Barrichello - 64%
12. Jarno Trulli - 58%
13. Nick Heidfeld - 57%
14. Adrian Sutil - 54%

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/7/9617.html)

Tiger Woods gets to know Turnberry as British Open week begins

2009-07-14T17:49:00.001+07:00

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) — Walking up to the 15th green at Turnberry, his ball safely in the middle, Tiger Woods turned to his left and pointed to a spot a few yards off the putting surface.

``Is this where Watson made the putt?'' he asked Monday morning.

Indeed, it was. Tom Watson holed a putt from some 60 feet for birdie in the final round of the 1977 British Open, pulling into a tie with Jack Nicklaus and sending him to a one-shot victory in one of the great duels in major championship history.

Two holes later, as gray clouds gathered at sea over the Ailsa Craig, a gust came up over the dunes. Woods then asked about the time Greg Norman shot 63 at Turnberry in similar conditions in 1986, which some believe was the best of the 23 scores at 63 in any major.

Woods is hardly a history buff, certainly not in the same league as Ben Crenshaw, from another generation, or Geoff Ogilvy, from this one. He does have a working knowledge of where he is playing, however, which is why his thoughts on Turnberry sounded ominous.

``It's a lot more difficult than people are letting on,'' he said after his second practice round.

Turnberry has the least amount of history of any British Open venue, a links course gutted by the Royal Air Force Coastal Command, which used it as an air base during World War II.

Not until 1977 did it host its first British Open, and the 138th edition of golf's oldest championship will be only the fourth visit to Turnberry. Even so, the scores stand out. Watson set a record when he won at 268 in 1977. Nick Price matched that score in 1994. In blustery conditions, Norman won at 280.

``Sorry, I just don't see 12 under winning,'' Paul Goydos said. ``Maybe that's just me.''

Turnberry has been lengthened significantly, and a wet spring has created lush conditions, which can be fearsome for those who can't seem to keep it straight off the tee. Colin Montgomerie told of a tournament for club members within the last few weeks in which 480 golf balls were lost in the rough.

``Except for Carnoustie in 1999, it's as good as any of them,'' Rod Pampling said with a chuckle, referring to the history he made 10 years ago when he went from the first-round lead to missing the cut.

Pampling only got into the British Open on Sunday when no one from Loch Lomond qualified for the one spot available, and it went to him as the next alternate. He drove down to this tiny golf town about an hour south of Glasgow and played his first practice round.

The rough got his attention, but he found it to be fair.

``This is right there with the best of them,'' he said. ``If you get yourself out of shape, you're in big trouble. But you've got to hit a pretty bad shot. You can lose a golf ball.''

Pampling did just that on the 16th hole, waiting for a gust off the Firth of Clyde to push his ball toward the fairway. It never happened, and while the ball landed only a few yards from the marshals, it was never found.

``I know where not to go,'' Pampling said.

But he realized this was the place to be, especially on a pleasant day of stunning sights.

The lighthouse is the signature landmark at Turnberry, perched along the rocks at a bend in the shore, reminiscent of the stretch at Pebble Beach from the fifth hole until the coast straightens at the ninth hole.

Josh Geary and Mark Brown walked up the 10th fairway and turned back toward the water. Monday was a time to gaze, with patches of sunshine and clouds, enough light in the morning to shine on the far corner of the Ailsa Craig, the 1,100-foot mass of island that rises out of the sea. The rain came in the afternoon, and more is expected throughout the week.

``They can say what they want about the weather,'' Pampling said. ``They won't know until Thursday.''

That's when the British Open begins amid much fanfare. Padraig Harrington will be going for his third straight claret jug, a feat no one has matched since Peter Thomson in 1954-56.

Woods returns after missing the British Open last year with knee surgery. This is the first time since 2004 that the world's No. 1 player has been without a major title in his possession.

The last year Woods was not eligible for the British Open was in 1994, which was also the last time it was held at Turnberry. Woods did not arrive at the course until Sunday morning, and already he has played two practice rounds.

It is nothing new for him to see a major championship course for the first time, even in the United States. Remember, no one had seen Royal Liverpool from this current generation when the Open returned there in 2006.

``I've done that before,'' Woods said, referencing his victory at Royal Liverpool. ``You've just got to do your homework.''

The study session began in earnest Monday, with several U.S. tour players arriving on a charter flight from the John Deere Classic, many of them heading to the range to begin adjusting to the time difference.

Goydos arrived Sunday to play a practice round, with his 18-year-old daughter Chelsea in tow. He arranged for her to have an instructor's badge, reasoning that she was taking photos of his golf swing.

That was the idea, anyway.

``We got down by the lighthouse and she probably took 100 pictures,'' Goydos said, nodding to the spectacular scenery. ``It's got a Pebble Beach feel, especially down by the 11th tee, which is right out there on the rocks. The only thing missing are the otters.''

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1910172,00.html)

Swedish Wild Card Surprises No. 6 Seed Serra

2009-07-14T17:47:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 460 Andreas Vinciguerra surprised sixth seed Florent Serra by rallying from a set down to defeat the Frenchman 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Catella Swedish Open – an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Bastad.

The Swede saved 15 of 16 break points and fired nine aces to wrap up the win in two hours and 25 minutes. The 28 year old is playing in an ATP World Tour main draw for the first time since reaching the Stockholm second round in October 2006, although he represented Sweden in Davis Cup action and at the ARAG ATP World Team Championship earlier this season.

The wild card is a two-time former finalist in Bastad, finishing runner-up to Juan Antonio Marin in 1999 and Magnus Norman in 2000. On his last appearance in 2006, the former World No. 33 lost in the first round to Lukas Dlouhy.

The No. 50-ranked Serra suffered his third successive first-round tour-level loss, after making early exits at ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Becker) and Wimbledon (l. to Kohlschreiber). The 28 year old dropped to a 15-19 match record on the season.

Belgian Christophe Rochus became the second seeded player to fall in first-round action, bowing out to Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. After breaking his opponent three times in the opening set, the seventh-seeded Rochus failed to convert on his eight break points in the following sets as he lost his fifth straight tour-level match.

Gabashvili, who had also entered the match looking to snap a four-match losing streak on the ATP World Tour, improved to a 9-16 season record. Two weeks ago, he finished runner-up at the clay-court Challenger tournament in Braunschweig (l. to Hernandez).

Victor Crivoi, currently a career-high No. 85 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, booked his place in the second round with a resounding 6-0, 6-4 victory over Denis Istomin in 76 minutes.

In the only doubles match Monday, top seeds Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley fought for a 3-6, 7-6(6), 15-13 win over the Russian-German team of Michail Elgin and Frank Moser. Elgin and Moser had saved all nine break points faced on serve.

Aspelin and Hanley made their team's debut in April at the clay-court tournament in Casablanca, and reached the final (l. to Kubot-Marach). Aspelin is a two-time champion at his home country tournament, winning in 2003 (w/Bertolini) and in '07 (w/Knowle). Hanley reached the final in his only previous event appearance seven years ago with fellow Aussie Michael Hill.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Bastad-Monday-Serra-Rochus-Upset.aspx)

PGA Tour Confidential: John Deere Classic

2009-07-13T12:17:00.003+07:00

Our insiders give their picks for the British Open and the new LPGA commissioner, plus reaction to the U.S. Women's Open and Cristie Kerr's collapse

Every week of the 2009 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors.

Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: We have a new U.S. Women's Open champ. We had a shootout at the Deere. We have a father caddying for his son. And we have a golfing association in search of new leadership. But before we get to all that, it is British Open week. Let's hear everyone's picks.

Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: I like Martin Kaymer, who won this week at the Scottish Open on the European Tour. He's the best player across the pond right now.

Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Kaymer is hot but links golf is a different kettle of birds. That's why it is so hard to predict Open winners. But it won't be Garrity's buddy, Robert Karlsson, because he withdrew. So did Trevor Immelman.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I'll take Stricker. He's the American Kaymer.

Dick Friedman, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Just when you least expect it ... senors and senoritas, riding out of Spain to redeem his wayward season ... (trumpet flourish) ... Sergio!! Especially if conditions are such that driving is paramount.

Van Sickle: Links golf requires more imagination and shotmaking. Tiger is the best shotmaker in golf, by a mile. You have to like his chances every time he tees it up, even more so in a major. I would not bet against him at Turnberry, or at Hazeltine for the PGA.

Jim Herre, editor, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus: So, Gary, you're picking Tiger, as always.

Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Definitely NOT Greg Norman. How about Ben Curtis? He does nothing to catch your eye, what with that funky Furyk-esque swing, except make lots of money, win once in a while and contend under insufferable pressure. Ben would become the Andy North of the British Open.

John Garrity, contributing writer, Sports Illustrated: How about this for a sucker pick: Padraig Harrington for the hat trick. I know it's crazy, because Paddy's sucked all season while working on his swing. But he's just won the Irish PGA for the third straight time, and the European Club is a classic links course with really thick rough, exactly like Turnberry will be this week. Harrington himself doesn't sound like a believer — he was very skeptical of his prospects despite winning by seven shots — but Jack Nicklaus wasn't exactly puffing up his chest when he showed up for the '86 Masters. So give me Paddy.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I'm with John: I like Paddy. My real pick — everyone's real pick, I would think — is Tiger. If you were betting your own money, you'd take Tiger, right? But if Tiger doesn't win, I like Paddy. Links golf — Open golf — is not for everyone and repeat winners are common: Harry Vardon, Peter Thomson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington.

Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: I'll take Lucas Glover, for no real reason other than the fact that he drives it well and he may as well win that Open, too.

Herre: I like the Stricker pick, but I'm going with Geoff Ogilvy. Seems like the dude would really want to earn this merit badge.

Ryan Reiterman, producer, Golf.com: Look out for Lee Westwood. He's finished in the top 10 in the last two events, and he's been playing pretty solid for more than a year.

Garrity: Our Irish friend Dermot Gilleece, writing in the Sunday Independent, points out that Tiger's three Open wins all came on dry, burned-out links courses. Turnberry's rough is lush and long, more like Carnoustie and Muirfield, where Tiger hasn't had as much success.

Friedman: Brandt Snedeker (T2 this week, T5 last week) is on a nice run.

Hack: Carolyn Bivens, who only weeks ago was in the offices of Sports Illustrated trumpeting her vision for the LPGA, was taken down in a dinnertime coup by the biggest names in women's golf. Her tenure was short, eventful and rife with tension. What's everybody's take on what went wrong with Carolyn?

Friedman: Losing the Kapalua was the obvious tipping point. In more general terms, Bivens had very grand ambitions for her game, but by not sticking to her knitting — that is, failing to maintain traditional stops like Corning, even at a reduced prize structure — she alienated her base.

Morfit: Her lack of golf background hurt, and her brash style. And the economy prevented her from leveraging what everyone agrees is a very promising bunch of personalities.

Evans: The LPGA Tour players who went after Bivens don't understand the golf business or the history of women in sports. I don't care if you had Pete Rozelle or P.T. Barnum or Jack Welch to cut the fat and streamline the business, selling female athletes in one of the worst economies in recent memory is a very difficult proposition. Carolyn Bivens is not a great commissioner, but how can anyone be a great leader of a sports league without great stars to attract marketing and sponsorship dollars?

Those disgruntled LPGA players need to get a grip on the realities of sports marketing or let the business people take care of the business of the Tour. They should just play golf and try to learn lessons from the women who came before them.

Van Sickle: Bivens had the right idea at the wrong time. She wanted to upgrade and enrich the tour at a time when a recession/depression hit. It just wasn't going to happen, and she didn't adjust her hardball tactics. Having not gone out of her way to build support among players, media or sponsors during her tenure didn't help. She clearly didn't know anything about public relations. Every time an issue came up, she ran and hid.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1910077,00.html)

Federer & Top Doubles Teams Qualifies For Barclays ATP World Tour Finals

2009-07-11T14:19:00.001+07:00

Qualifiers set to renew rivalries, battle for No. 1 Ranking at season finale

Arch rivals Nestor-Zimonjic & Bryan Brothers clinch berths

London, United Kingdom – Roger Federer has qualified for the prestigious Barclays ATP World Tour Finals after winning a record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title on Sunday at Wimbledon. Starting 22 November at The O2 in London, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the climax of the men’s professional tennis season and will feature the world’s top eight singles players and eight doubles teams competing to be officially crowned as the 2009 ATP World Tour Champions.

Federer joins reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal as the singles players to have clinched their Barclays ATP World Tour Finals berths, and the two are expected to renew their rivalry and the battle for the year-end No. 1 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking. With his triumph at Wimbledon, the 27-year-old Federer reclaimed the No. 1 Ranking – a position he had surrendered to Nadal for 46 weeks on 18 August, 2008.

“I think it's great to have the event in London in a massive city like this,” Federer said. “I think it's very fitting; this is one of the great tennis cities around the world. People in this country love sports and they love tennis. It's great to be already qualified so I'm happy to be part of that elite group again, and challenging the other players in the round robin. It's going to be fabulous I'm sure, and I've only heard good things about the arena.”

Starting with his first title of the 2009 season in mid-May at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, Federer has been invincible – winning 19 straight matches and three successive tour-level titles. He became the sixth man in history to achieve a career Grand Slam with victory over Robin Soderling in the Roland Garros final, and then prevailed against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in the longest men’s Grand Slam singles final (16-14 fifth set) to break his and Pete Sampras’ record of 14 majors won.

The 27-year-old Swiss will be making his eighth straight appearance in the season finale, where he is a four-time champion. He won successive titles in 2003-04 when the tournament was held in Houston and reclaimed the title in 2006-07 in Shanghai.

Defending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals doubles champions Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic, who on Sunday won their second consecutive Wimbledon title, have become the first doubles team to qualify. They will be joined in London by the team they beat in Sunday’s final, two-time finale champions Bob and Mike Bryan. In Shanghai last year Nestor and Zimonjic defeated the Bryans in the final in a match that also determined which team finished ATP World Tour Doubles Champions.

The Bryans, who won the finale in Houston in 2003 and 2004, have won four titles this year, including their seventh Grand Slam title, in January at the Australian Open. “Qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is always one of our key goals each year as it’s a reflection of consistent success throughout the season,” said Mike Bryan. “It was an amazing finish last year when the No. 1 Ranking came down to the final match of the year when we played Nestor and Zimonjic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the No. 1 Ranking was again decided in London.”

The tournament will be the world’s biggest-ever indoor tennis event, where each of the top eight players will be drawn to play a minimum of three round-robin matches to determine which four players advance to the knockout semi-finals. Tickets are available online through www.BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com or by calling 0844 847 2495 within the UK. Overseas customers should call +44 161 372 0025.

(From Website : http://www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en/news/federerqualifies.asp)

Murray Bursts Into Semi-finals

2009-07-02T20:52:00.001+07:00

Roger Taylor and Tim Henman will know how Andy Murray feels right now. They will hope Murray can become the first British man since Henry “Bunny” Austin in 1938 to reach The Championships final.

Both Taylor and Henman reached the semi-finals but could not reach the 'Holy Land', which for British tennis fans is a shot at snapping a 73-year men’s singles title drought. Taylor fell in the 1967, 1970 and 1973 semi-finals, while Henman’s four duels with Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt and Goran Ivanisevic in recent years have been well-chronicled. Mike Sangster, who died in 1985, reached the 1961 semi-finals.

Now two wins away from emulating Fred Perry, who won the last of his three titles at the All England Club in 1936, Murray is riding a 10-match winning streak after defeating Spanish wild card Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 43 minutes on Centre Court Wednesday. It was his 200th match win.

Murray, who has a long-standing clothing agreement to wear Perry’s laurel wreath logo in his 1950s retro kit, lifted the AEGON Championships trophy three weeks ago to become the first Briton since Austin in 1938 to win at The Queen’s Club. On Friday, against sixth seed and two-time runner-up Andy Roddick, he will attempt to match Austin again.

‘Henman Hill’, officially known as Aorangi Terrace, was a sea of fans with Union Jacks and Scottish flags. Many have begun queuing, camping out, 36 hours before the start of his matches at The Championships. With each win the expectations of the British public increase, just as tickets sold by touts along Somerset Road are priced in the thousands.

After Murray’s tense five-set epic victory over Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday, his quarter-final victory over 29-year-old Ferrero – appearing in his second Wimbledon quarter-final – was comprehensive. "I felt fine," said Murray. "I slipped once on the court, but apart from that I was not stiff at all from the match before. The court today was playing very quick, so not that many long rallies, which was nice."

Ferrero recovered from 0/30 in his first service game and faced his first break point in the second game, but was given a reprieve as Murray sliced a forehand long of the baseline. Forceful throughout, Murray was able to break serve with his third break point opportunity in the 11th game, when Ferrero hit his first double fault.

Ferrero capitalised on a lapse in concentration from Murray to break the Scot’s serve in the first game of the second set. Murray went on to win 20 of 21 points, which included two service breaks to love. “In 10 minutes, he beat me,” admitted Ferrero. “He won the second set very fast. [At] two sets to love, [it] was a little difficult to come back. Physically I felt a little bit tired at the end.”

Ferrero saved a break point in the third game of the third set, but Murray earned another three break point opportunities in the fifth game – winning the last of the points with a forehand winner. He secured another service break before wrapping up victory to stand one win away from reaching the final.

“He has two matches to play, so we cannot say he’s the winner yet,” Ferrero warned. “Of course, he’s playing very well. He’s moving well in this court. He’s serving very well. But he has two matches left. He will suffer, for sure.”

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Wednesday2-Murray-Beats-Ferrero.aspx)

Federer Negates Dangerman, Closes On History

2009-07-02T20:50:00.001+07:00

Roger Federer was at his championship best Wednesday. Tactically astute and mentally ready, the Swiss superstar negated dangerman Ivo Karlovic in a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(3) win to reach his seventh straight semi-final at The Championships.

The second seed, riding a 17-match winning streak on the back of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid and Roland Garros titles, withstood 23 aces from Karlovic’s racquet in a one-hour and 42-minute victory.

"I don't play him every week, so it's okay," smiled Federer, after facing a player who has hit 170 aces in five matches. "Otherwise, if all the guys would be serving like that, that would be tough."

Federer, a five-time former champion and runner-up to Rafael Nadal in a memorable final last year, hit 38 winners and converted the two break point opportunities he created against No. 22 seed Karlovic.

After 80 games unbeaten on serve at The Championships, Karlovic had his serve broken by Federer in the fifth game with two fabulous winning returns. In a move reminiscent of Andre Agassi, the 1992 champion, Karlovic began to wear sunglasses at 2-5 down in the opening set. Federer committed just three unforced errors in the 23-minute first set.

Federer sensed a chance to break again at 5-5 in the second set, hitting a smash, backhand return and forehand winner from 15/15.

The third set was totally dominated by serve, which was inevitably decided on a tie-break. Federer created a mini-break when Karlovic floated a backhand long and a backhand pass helped him reach his 21st consecutive Grand Slam championship semi-final. The 27 year old improved to 9-1 lifetime against 6’10” Karlovic.

Federer will meet 24th seed Tommy Haas of Germany in the semi-finals on Friday. "Against Tommy I have to play a good match from the start," said Federer. "As we saw [at Roland Garros] in Paris, it was brutal. Yes, it's gonna be tough. But I'm happy to be back into another semi-finals. [The] 21st in a row - it's amazing. Let's see what happens now."

At Grand Slam level, Federer is now 117-0 against players ranked outside the Top 5. His last loss to a player outside the Top 5 at a Grand Slam championship was to No. 30 Gustavo Kuerten at 2004 Roland Garros.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Wednesday2-Federer-Beats-Karlovic.aspx)

Haas Ready To Seize His Opportunity

2009-07-01T18:01:00.001+07:00

Once upon a time Steffi Graf and Boris Becker, a German wunderkind who captured The Championships title aged 17, ruled the tennis world. Graf won the last of her seven women’s singles title in 1996, while Becker was a charismatic superhero who hurled himself across the lawns of the All England Club. Michael Stich, who lifted the 1991 Wimbledon title, joined the fans’ favourites to keep tennis at the forefront in the minds of the German public.

Tommy Haas, like Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler, had the misfortune to begin their careers just as the powers of the triumvirate were beginning to wane. The press has often made unfavourable comparisons.

Haas was a boyhood prodigy at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida, who rose to a career-high No. 2 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

Three semi-final exits at the Australian Open and an Olympic silver medal at Sydney in 2000 have thus far been the pinnacles of a career blighted by injuries. He has been written off as a spent force after a series of ankle, wrist, hip, shoulder and back injuries over the course of his 14-season pro career. But has fought back to become an inspiration.

Now, at 31 years old, a tour veteran, he finds himself in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time in 11 visits. It is his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final since the 2007 US Open.

After saving two match points against Marin Cilic in the third round at The Championships this year, followed by a straight-forward victory over Igor Andreev, Haas and the German nation are starting to dream again.

Haas has never felt fitter or happier. “Age is really just a number in many ways”, he said. “I know that I am 31. I have a little bit more miles in my legs than maybe some other players that are younger than me. Once you’re out there, I think you leave that all behind and just go out there and compete and try to win.”

Under the guidance of coach Thomas Hogstedt and physio Alex Stober, Haas is a man in form. He is on a nine-match winning streak, which includes a 12th ATP World Tour title at Halle, since losing a closely-fought encounter against Roger Federer at Roland Garros earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Haas, the oldest player left in the singles draw, meets fourth seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the youngest player, in a repeat of this month’s Gerry Weber Open final.

“This is so far a fantastic run no matter what happens from here on out,” admitted Haas. “[I’m] really happy and pleased to make it to the Last Eight club. So that's really nice.

“In Halle, everything just kind of came together really well. I couldn’t have asked for anything more during that week on home turf, which was great. I obviously took that high with me here. Every match [I’m] trying to keep doing the things that have been working for me.”

For the first time since the 2000 US Open, Germany has two representatives in the singles quarter-finals. On Wednesday Haas will hope not to repeat the fate of compatriot Sabine Lisicki, who lost to top seed Dinara Safina in the women’s quarter-finals on Tuesday.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Wednesday2-Haas-Preview.aspx)

Hot? David Toms. Not? Anthony Kim.

2009-07-01T17:55:00.002+07:00

Hot

1. Old guys. Kenny Perry went crazy low in Hartford and Bernhard Langer had a top 10 at the BMW. I've endured a million Cialis commercials during golf telecasts but never heard it mentioned that the pills can help firm up your putting stroke, too.

2. Aaron Stewart Looking for someone to root for at this week's North and South Amateur? Payne's boy, a redshirt sophomore at SMU, is teeing it up at Pinehurst No. 2 practically 10 years to the week since Stewart's defining U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst.

3. Ryo Ishikawa. The so-called Bashful Prince sure doesn't play that way, making a nine during the final round at the Mizuno Open but still pulling out a victory with a chip-in for eagle on the 70th hole. Now he's heading to the British Open. And how did you spend your summer when you were 17?

4. Rafa Echenique. He finished second at the BMW International Open but still managed the wildest round of the year — a closing 62 that included a 27 on the back nine featuring an eagle and an albatross. Andres Romero, you now have even more competition for the title of most charismatic Argentine.

5. David Toms. He's turned into the straightest driver on tour — on Sunday at Hartford he hit 14 of 14 fairways — and he still has that buttery putting stroke. The fact that this wily vet hasn't won in three years just tells you how cutthroat the PGA Tour is.

Not

1. Lorena Ochoa. Not only is Jiyai Shin continuing to push for the number one spot but now Ochoa has fired her longtime caddie, Dave Booker. I wouldn't call it panic, exactly, but clearly all is not right in Lorena's world. And don't look now, but the U.S. and British Opens are coming up fast.

2. Grooves. The rules changes proposed for 2010 were confusing enough and now comes word that the PGA Tour may rebel against the USGA's decree. I know I'm the first one to think of this, but wouldn't it have been easier just to throttle back the ball a little bit?

3. Anthony Kim. He's the defending champ at this week's AT&T National, which gives us a chance to reflect on how much his game has matured in the last year. Uh, on second thought...

4. The Ryder Cup. Bidding has begun to host the 2018 extravaganza, and the countries vying to offer up the most mediocre golf course are France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Sounds like a nice bicycle trip, or maybe a special edition of Playboy, but couldn't they have scared up at least one or two countries with some actual golf tradition?

5. Morgan Pressel. Hey, I love her tweets, too, but playing in the final group on Sunday at the Wegman's she went seven over on the back nine, free falling to 15th place. Then she blew off the reporters who had assembled in the rain to ask a few questions. You can probably guess which of the two blunders I find more unforgivable.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1907885,00.html)

Roddick Passes Melzer Test; Hewitt Maintains Smooth Progress

2009-06-28T22:08:00.003+07:00

Two-time former finalist Andy Roddick passed a tricky test from Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6(2), 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 Saturday to progress to the Wimbledon fourth round for the fifth time.

The American, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer in back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2004-05, has looked fallible on occasions this week and was extended to four sets for the third time this tournament – having also dropped the third set in his opening two wins against Jeremy Chardy and Igor Kunitsyn.

Roddick had only dropped two sets in eight previous wins over Melzer, but Centre Court fans who expected the appetiser to the feast of the day to be a straightforward encounter were left gripped as the Austrian pushed Roddick to the last ball prior to home hope Andy Murray taking centre stage.

After Roddick had clinched the first two sets on consecutive tie-breaks, Melzer broke serve for the first time in the match midway through the third set and gave Roddick more food for thought as he cut the deficit to two-sets-to-one. The American looked to have regained control of the match when he earned a break advantage in the fourth set, but Melzer refused to concede and frustrated Roddick as he broke back in the seventh game. Roddick was quickly reprieved though, immediately regaining his break of serve before serving out victory after two hours and 53 minutes.

Assessing his performance, Roddick said: "Considering the way he served the first two sets, I was glad to get through with a two-set lead. I was having trouble getting a read on it. I played him a lot of times. That's the best he's served against me. Like the other two matches, I wish I could have converted on a chance in the third set. But probably hit the ball my best in the fourth again."

The 26-year-old Roddick is looking to win his second major singles title after claiming the 2003 US Open with victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero. The former World No. 1 added to his illustrious trophy cabinet with a title at Memphis (d. Stepanek) earlier in the season and has a 36-8 match record on the season.

In the fourth round Roddick will meet Czech Tomas Berdych, against whom he has a 2-2 head-to-head record - with Berdych winning their most recent encounter on hard court in Tokyo last year. "Berdych is streaky. It's rarely middle of the road. He's either really good or not so good," said Roddick. "Right now you expect to get the best of him with the way he's been rolling through the tournament so far."

Another former World No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt, continued his impressive run through the draw with a 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory over German Philipp Petzschner to set up a fourth-round clash with Czech Radek Stepanek. The Australian, who ousted No. 5-ranked Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round, was cheered on by raucous Fanatics on Court 2 as he saved all three break points he faced – while converting three of 12 opportunities on Petzschner’s serve – to wrap up victory in two hours and 27 minutes.

It was Hewitt’s second win over Petzschner, whom he beat on clay in Munich in April to clinch his 500th tour-level singles victory.

The 28-year-old Hewitt, who underwent surgery on his left hip last August, won the second of his two Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon in 2002 – with victory over David Nalbandian in the final. The right-hander, who also has five further grass-court titles to his name, is through to the Wimbledon fourth round for the sixth straight year; he lost to Roger Federer at that stage last year.

“I guess when you're at the top of your game and you're No. 1 in the world, you kind of take it for granted, round of 16s of slams,” said Hewitt. “When you're unseeded, it's not always that easy to get the easy draw to come through the round of 16 and make the second week of these kind of majors. That's what's pleasing this week, is to come through and do it against worthy opponents. To not drop a set so far is nice, as well.”

Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero will take on eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon for a place in the quarter-finals after both advanced in contrasting circumstances on Saturday.

Ferrero, one of five Grand Slam champions remaining in the singles draw, battled past 10th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon for the fourth time. The former World No. 1, who was a semi-finalist at the Queen’s Club (l. to Murray) two weeks ago, posted his best result at SW19 in 2007 - when he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Federer).

The 29-year-old Ferrero will take on Simon for the first time after the Frenchman cruised past Romanian No. 31 seed Victor Hanescu 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. The 24-year-old Simon, who fell in his first third-round effort at Wimbledon last year, struck 45 winners to just 15 unforced errors and saved all five break points he faced to seal victory in only 87 minutes.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Saturday-Roddick-Passes-Melzer-Test.aspx)

Vintage Hewitt Rips Past del Potro

2009-06-26T20:31:00.001+07:00

Lleyton Hewitt might not be the quickest of servers, but the Australian showcased tremendous variation in speed and placement to out-wit fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina at The Championships on Thursday.

The 2002 champion kept the Australian flag flying in the singles draw, where he is the nation’s sole representative, with a vintage performance for 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 second-round win in two hours and 32 minutes.

“I executed perfectly,” said Hewitt. “[I] hit the ball great. Served unbelievable for most of the match [and I] took it to him right from the start. It was a big win. I wanted to beat a top five guy. These are the places you want to do it, too.”

It was Hewitt’s first win over a Top 15 opponent since May 2007 and also his first Top 10 win at a Grand Slam championship since beating No. 2-ranked Andy Roddick in the 2005 Australian Open semi-finals, breaking a streak of 12 consecutive losses.

Hewitt fought off four break points in a lengthy fifth game, before moving into a 4-2 lead when del Potro hit a backhand and forehand into the net. The former World No. 1 was forced to save another two break points en route to winning the first set, in which he hit six aces and committed just three unforced errors.

The 20-year-old del Potro, who had his right knee taped up before the start of the second set, hit a double fault and a forehand into the net in the 10th game to gift Hewitt a service break that he duly converted for a two sets to love lead.

Cheered on by a large Australian contingent on Centre Court, World No. 56 Hewitt immediately broke del Potro’s serve at the start of the third set. The Tandil resident fired a second-serve return over the baseline on break point in the eighth game, before enjoying the briefest of resurgences to level the scoreline at 5-5. But Hewitt responded with a service break of his own and closed out a famous win minutes later.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for del Potro," Hewitt said. "He’s a great player, and he's only going to get better. He’s a future Grand Slam champion on possibly any surface. I knew it was going to be a tough match today, but I was up for it from the start.”

Del Potro, who has followed Hewitt's career since the age of 11, said, "I played good [from] the baseline, but I did miss with my serve, especially [on] the break points. Two breaks, three breaks, and that's it. The match, it's over."

Hewitt, who has reached the fourth round (or better) for the past five years, will next face Philipp Petzschner - the winner of an all-German clash over Mischa Zverev 4-6, 7-6(13), 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0.

For the first time in 70 years at The Championships, Australia has one man in the singles draw. It is also the first time in the Open Era, at any of the four Grand Slam championships that only one Australian man is competing in the main draw.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Wimbledon-Thursday-Vintage-Hewitt-Rips-Past-del-Potro.aspx)

Qualifying - Vettel storms to Silverstone pole

2009-06-21T14:12:00.001+07:00

Sebastian Vettel continued his domination of Silverstone by taking pole position for the British Grand Prix with a lap of 1m 19.509s in his Red Bull. As pre-race favourite Jenson Button failed in his quest and took only sixth place, Rubens Barrichello was Brawn’s lead runner in second with 1m 19.856s. A spoiled first run and traffic at Stowe prevented Mark Webber from joining his Red Bull team mate on the front row, and his 1m 19.868s left him third.

Jarno Trulli continued his unobtrusive form for Toyota with 1m 20.091s for fourth, while Kazuki Nakajima’s last-moment lap of 1m 20.216s in the Williams shoved Button back a place. The championship leader could not better 1m 20.289s.

Nico Rosberg failed to improve on his final try and was seventh in 1m 20.361s in the second Williams, ahead of Timo Glock’s Toyota on 1m 20.490s, Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari on 1m 20.715s and Fernando Alonso’s Renault on 1m 20.741s.

Q2 saw the demise of Felipe Massa, who just didn’t have his Ferrari as well set up as team mate Raikkonen. The Brazilian’s best lap was 1m 18.927s, good enough only for 11th. Neither BMW Sauber made it through, Robert Kubica’s lap of 1m 19.308s leaving him 12th, Nick Heidfeld’s 1m 19.448s seeing him line up 15th. Between them was McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 19.353s, and Renault’s Nelson Piquet (who went off at Stowe at one stage) on 1m 19.392s.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, the darling of Silverstone 2008, had a torrid time and was a victim of a big accident which befell Adrian Sutil in the closing moments of Q1, in which Kazuki Nakajima set the pace. The Force India driver lost control on the left-hander at Abbey and crashed heavily into the tyre wall on the outside, necessitating the red flag. He was unharmed. Hamilton was on his flying lap, but with less than a minute of the session left his lap was ruined.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 16th on 1m 19.802s in the sister Force India, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais’s Toro Rosso on 1m 19.898s. Sutil had recorded 1m 19.909s earlier, and Hamilton 1m 19.917s, leaving them 18th and 19th ahead of Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso in 1m 20.236s.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/6/9529.html)

Nadal Pulls Out With Knee Injury

2009-06-20T11:33:00.001+07:00

Defending champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from The Championships at Wimbledon after failing to sufficiently recover from knee tendinitis, which has plagued the Spaniard since his shock fourth-round exit to Robin Soderling at Roland Garros earlier this month.

Nadal made the announcement after he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-3 in a grass-court exhibition tournament at the Hurlingham Club, in west London, on Friday afternoon.

"Unfortunately this year I won't be able to play at Wimbledon," admitted Nadal. “To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career. I've played with some problems with my knees for some months.

"I don't feel like I'm ready to play in a tournament that is as important as Wimbledon. I tried everything. I tried hard in the last week to get in the best condition and today was my last test.

"I have some time now to recover and will work very hard to return as soon as possible."

The 23 year old joins John Newcombe (1972), Stan Smith (1973) and Goran Ivanisevic (2002) as the only players who were unable to defend their Wimbledon titles in the Open Era.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/06/Nadal-Pulls-Out-Of-Wimbledon-With-Knee-Injury.aspx)

Fan favorites put on a show during marathon day at Bethpage

2009-06-20T11:27:00.001+07:00

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Just when you thought Phil Mickelson had the fairy-tale angle all to himself, the fractured first two days of the U.S. Open served up a couple of other protagonists whose surprise appearances on the leader board added even more emotional resonance to a tournament that has suddenly gone soft.

Mickelson began his Open a day late and opened with a solid 69 in front of adoring fans, then finished up by going even par over 11 holes in a second round that began at 4:30 p.m. and was halted by darkness three and a half hours later. But during an endless Friday at rain-softened Bethpage he had to share top billing with Rocco Mediate and David Duval, a couple of warriors who, respectively, are trying to steal the show for a second straight year and continue a climb out of the abyss.

Mediate was a lovable loser last year in his epic 91-hole tussle with Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines but he suddenly seems determined to be more than a mere sideshow as he produced a series of stellar iron shots en route to a first-round 68 that left him tied for fifth behind Mike Weir's sizzling 64 (a score that somehow included a double bogey). Before the second round was suspended by darkness Mediate played 10 holes in four over, leaving him eight behind Glover, the Southern gentleman who scorched Bethpage for five birdies in 13 holes during the afternoon. Having completed 13 holes in the second round, Glover stood at 6-under, one stroke ahead of 2002 U.S. Amateur champ Ricky Barnes, who was through nine.

Duval has had a perceptible swagger ever since he played his way through Open qualifying, and in his first round at the Black he went 5 under over the final 14 holes to post a 67, tying for third. Duval, whose last few seasons have been a struggle to recapture even a semblance of his old form, hung in there during a scrappy afternoon and was clearly energized by the dawn-to-dusk tour of Bethpage. "I hope I would appreciate it more," the 2001 British Open champ said of being in the mix at another major. "I have a very good idea what great golf is about and what bad golf is about."

The U.S. Open is supposed to be the most heartless of tournaments but all the warm and fuzzy storylines on the leader board only add to the unreality of the first two days at Bethpage. The greens were so soft that players were routinely sucking back approach shots out of the rough. What is supposed to be golf's ultimate examination was turned into a potluck banquet as muddy golf balls were the norm in the fairway, especially when the first round was restarted at 7:30 a.m. Tiger Woods let a good round get away with a sloppy finish that included an errant mudball on the 16th hole. Woods's 74 was over by the brunch hour and he isn't scheduled to appear again until 11:06 a.m. on Saturday when he, like the others in the early Thursday groupings, will embark on their round two.

The foreboding Saturday forecast includes a high probability of thunderstorms. Best case is that the second round is completed by Saturday evening and the Open concludes on Sunday in the dark after a rousing 36-hole finale. Worst case is the cut isn't made until sometime on Sunday evening and the Open finishes on Monday. Or Tuesday. Or, if the long-range forecast is correct, in July.

How sunny a player's attitude is through these upside-down opening rounds largely depends on the numbers on his scorecard. Despite his balky back Mediate was raring to go between rounds. "Even though I'm old I can still get around a little bit," he woofed.

With his iron game dialed in, Weir was among the many afternoon and evening players anxious to squeeze in as many holes as possible on a defanged golf course during a warm, windless Friday. "Our side [of the draw] definitely had a big advantage," said Weir, who has finished in the top-6 at three of the last six Opens. "For us to be able to play in nice conditions all day like this is huge."

Glad Weir enjoyed it. Everyone around beleaguered Bethpage is hoping the rest of this Open is equally pleasant. It's a nice thought, but it might just be another fairy tale.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1905966,00.html)

Tursunov Survives Early Scare; Santoro Advances

2009-06-16T17:09:00.001+07:00

Russian Dmitry Tursunov, the No. 2 seed, overcame a challenging first-round test against Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Monday at the AEGON International, a combined ATP World Tour 250 and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event contested on grass in Eastbourne.

Fognini, looking for his first match win on grass, levelled the score as he capitalised on all three of his break points in the second set, but Tursunov broke to go up 5-4 in the third set and served out the win in just under two hours.

Tursunov is making his fifth event appearance, and reached the semi-finals in 2007 when the tournament was held in Nottingham (l. to eventual champion Karlovic). The 26-year-old is looking to win conseuctive tour-level matches for the first time since winning the Metz title last October (d. Mathieu).

Fourth-seeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who turned pro in 1989, improved to 37-30 lifetime on grass courts after defeating American Robert Kendrick 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round meeting against Robby Ginepri at the AEGON International. Santoro recorded his first ATP World Tour win since March at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami with victory in 53 minutes. The 36 year old has a 6-8 mark on the year.

Sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey, buoyed by confidence from a third round exit at The Queen’s Club last week to compatriot James Blake, hit 19 aces and beat Paul Capdeville of Chile 6-2, 7-5 in just 52 minutes. Querrey, who improved to 18-14 on the 2009 ATP World Tour season – highlighted by one runner-up finish at Auckland (l. to del Potro), will next face Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, the eighth seed from Spain, was equally as dominant on serve in his first match. The World No. 50 hit 13 aces and broke Evgeny Korolev of Russia six times in a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-2 victory in just over two hours. Garcia-Lopez, who won 43 of 54 points on first serve, captured his first ATP World Tour title at Kitzbuhel (d. Benneteau) last month.

Three British players, who have received wild cards for The Championships at Wimbledon next week, Alex Bogdanovic (pictured), James Ward and Josh Goodall all won their opening matches at Devonshire Park, the venue of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

The 25-year-old Bogdanovic, who won three matches in the qualifying competition, recorded the ninth grass-court victory of his career over Ivo Minar 6-4, 7-6(3) in 75 minutes. It was his first ATP World Tour level win since June 2008 at Nottingham. Minar, currently No. 77 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings – 112 places above Bogdanovic – hit nine aces and saved five of seven break breaks.

Ward, a wild card entry, who lost to Marcos Baghdatis in The Queen’s Club first round last week, recorded his first ATP World Tour win. The World No. 224 struck nine aces and won 72 per cent of service points to beat Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-3 in 53 minutes. Ward, 22, trained at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy in Villena, Alicante until recently.

Wild card Goodall, snapped a 10-match losing streak at tour-level to record his first ATP World Tour win with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Japanese qualifier Tatsuma Ito in 62 minutes.

Also on Monday, four of Sussex’s best young tennis players were treated to a rare master class when Ivan Ljubicic and Jelena Jankovic took time out of their schedule to pass on world-class advice. Abbi Melrose, Sam Cissell, Sam Rice and Kyria Dunsford, four of the best 420 players for their age in the UK, are a part of the AEGON FutureStars program.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3995.ASP)

Murray Sets Up Ferrero Clash; Roddick Edges 50-Ace Match, Meets Blake Next

2009-06-13T12:27:00.001+07:00

British hope Andy Murray (pictured) was dominant on serve as he booked his spot in the AEGON Championships semi-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Mardy Fish on Friday at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament, staged at the Queen’s Club in London.

The World No. 3 fired 11 aces as he surrendered just five points on serve – including winning 30 of 31 first-service points – in the 70-minute match. At the close of a tight first set, Murray gained a crucial break of serve in the 11th game and sealed the one-set lead as Fish miscued a smash. Murray then broke through twice in the seventh and ninth games of the second set to wrap up his 38th victory of the season and improve to a 3-1 career lead over Fish.

"I did serve very well today," commented Murray. "I changed direction of my serve on the second serve very well. Even when I did miss my first serve, I didn't feel like I was letting him into a rhythm on the return, and the rest of my game was solid. He's got a big serve. He comes to the net a lot and makes it tough for you and I managed to get the break through right at the end of the first set."

The top-seeded Scot is bidding to become the first British champion at the Queen’s Club since Bunny Austin triumphed in 1938. Tim Henman was the last Briton to reach the final, finishing runner-up in 1999 (l. to Sampras), 2000 (l. to Hewitt) and 2002 (l. to Hewitt).

The 22-year-old Murray, who is through to the Queen’s Club semi-finals for the first time, is bidding to clinch his first grass-court ATP World Tour title. The Dunblane native has won three ATP World Tour titles from four finals this season and is well on course to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be held at the O2 arena in London in November.

It is a month filled with expectation for Murray as this week he fine tunes his grass-court game ahead of The Championships at Wimbledon – where he will carry the hopes of a nation as he bids to end Britain’s 73-year wait for a men’s singles champion. Last year, the Scot made a Grand Slam breakthrough as he reached his first major quarter-final after thrilling the Centre Court crown by recovering from a two-set deficit against Richard Gasquet in the fourth round.

In the semi-finals, Murray will face a first-time meeting with Former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero - who reached his first grass-court semi-final with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Belgian Steve Darcis.

Looking ahead to the clash, Murray said: "If I serve well, I've got a chance like anybody does on grass. I need to make sure that the rest of my game is solid tomorrow. There will be a lot more rallies. Ferrero has a very good return. The rest of my game will have to be on, not just the serve and the return."

The 29-year-old Spaniard had previously reached the quarter-finals at three grass-court tournaments at 2007 Wimbledon (l. to Federer), 2006 ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Serra) and 2005 Halle (l. to Haas). He improved his record on grass to 26-14.

"After the first two matches I felt very well on the court, and I believed that I could make good results with the first semi-final (on grass) for me," said Ferrero. "Of course, I don't want to stop right now with good feeling to try to win the tournament."

World No. 73 Darcis, appearing in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, broke Ferrero's serve in the seventh game of the match before closing out a one-set lead with a love service game – featuring two aces. Ferrero was quick to hit back in the pair’s first meeting, breaking to lead 3-1 in the second set and going on to level the match. The 2003 Roland Garros champion then earned a crucial break in the seventh game of the final set to seal victory after one hour and 47 minutes.

Ferrero, currently No. 90 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, won his 400th tour-level singles match in his first-round win over Sebastien Grosjean. The right-hander is chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season, after snapping a title drought of nearly six years in April with victory in Casablanca (d. Serra).

World No. 6 Andy Roddick came through a testing encounter with Ivo Karlovic in a repeat of the Queen's Club 2005 final. The American edged the Croatian 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in a match featuring 50 aces and no service breaks.

In the 82-minute match, Karlovic fired 26 aces to take his total for the week to 106 - breaking the tournament record of 96 aces that he himself had set on his route through to the final in 2005. The 6’10’’ Zagreb native was not broken in 49 service games during the tournament.

"You kind of have to hold your nerve a little bit on your own service games," commented Roddick. "It gets to 30/30 if you miss one ball that could be a set. You're not going to get any looks to get back into it.

"You kind of have to go from not doing a whole lot in the points, kind of just walking back and forth, and then you have to be ready to be sharp when you do get the opportunity or when you do have to play a point. So mentally it's a little tricky."

The 26-year-old Roddick is two wins away from becoming the first player in the Open Era to win five titles at the Queen’s Club. The Austin, Texas resident has a 29-3 match record at the event, clinching three successive titles from 2003-05 before reclaiming the trophy in 2007 (d. Mahut). The two-time Wimbledon finalist is chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season to join the trophy he won on hard court in Memphis (d. Stepanek) in February.

Roddick next will face countryman James Blake after his Davis Cup teammate ousted Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5), 6-3 in 76 minutes. The sixth-seeded Blake converted all three of the break points he created and won 73 per cent of points on serve to improve to a 2-1 career lead over Youzhny.

Despite trailing their head-to-head 2-6, Blake has won his past two meetings with Roddick – including in the Queen’s Club semi-finals three years ago.

World No. 16 Blake reached the Queen’s Club final in 2006, when he finished runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt in his second appearance in a grass-court final (also 2002 Newport – l. to Dent). The 29 year old is looking to reach his second final on the ATP World Tour this season after finishing runner-up to Albert Montanes on clay in Estoril – a match in which he held two match points.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3949.ASP)

Djokovic Cruises Through; Kohlschreiber Closes On Second Halle Final

2009-06-13T12:25:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 4 Novak Djokovic booked his place in the semi-finals of the Gerry Weber Open after a much more straightforward victory than his second-round win. The Serbian No. 2 seed, who saved five match points to defeat Florent Serra on Thursday, made light work of No. 7 seed Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 6-4 on Friday at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Halle.

Two breaks of serve in the fourth and sixth games sufficed to secure the opening set for Djokovic and he immediately capitalised on his momentum by breaking to lead 3-1 in the second set. The No. 28-ranked Melzer took advantage of a loose service game from Djokovic to break back and lead 4-3, but Djokovic quickly regrouped and hit back to win the final three games of the match and seal victory after 66 minutes.

The 22-year-old Djokovic has bounced back strongly from the surprise third-round defeat he suffered at Roland Garros at the hands of Philipp Kohlschreiber and is through to his ninth ATP World Tour semi-final or better of the season. The right-hander has clinched titles at Dubai (d. Ferrer) and at his inaugural home-town tournament in Belgrade (d. Kubot) and finished runner-up at three successive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments.

Next up for Djokovic is Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus, who continued his good run with a battling 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 victory over German wild card Benjamin Becker. The diminutive Rochus withstood 17 aces from Becker to convert three of eight break point chances, while facing no break points himself, in the two-hour and four-minute match.

Playing in just his second ATP World Tour event of the season, the No. 136-ranked Rochus is through to his first semi-final at this level since September 2007 – when he reached his sixth ATP World Tour final at Mumbai (l. to Gasquet). The 28 year old passed the Halle quarter-finals for the first time in three attempts, having previously fallen at that stage in 2005 (l. to Safin) and 2006 (l. to Federer in 3rd set tie-break).

German No. 1 Philipp Kohlschreiber (pictured) took one step closer to reaching the final at the Gerry Weber Open for the second straight year after defeating compatriot Andreas Beck 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 Friday to reach the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Halle.

The 25 year old fired 17 aces and converted three of five break point chances, while saving eight of the nine threats on his own serve, to rally from a set down and clinch victory in the pair’s first meeting after one hour and 57 minutes.

"I am very relieved," confessed Kohlschreiber. "It didn’t look as if I was going to win during the first hour. I didn’t really find my rhythm. He just started hitting the balls, served very strongly, played fast balls from the baseline and gave me a hard time. If you are trying to find your way into the match and then start playing better and better, then, of course, the relief is even bigger."

Kohlschreiber, currently a career-high No. 24 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, reached his third ATP World Tour final – and his second on German soil – in Halle last year, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer.

The right-hander is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since Vienna (d. Verdasco, l. to Monfils) in October 2008 and is bidding to win his first grass-court title. He is coming off a personal-best fourth-round showing at Roland Garros, where he beat World No. 4 Novak Djokovic before losing to No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo. He improved to a 24-11 mark on the season.

For a place in the final, Kohlschreiber will take on Tommy Haas – who knocked out fellow German wild card Mischa Zverev 7-6(5), 6-2. The 31-year-old Haas hit nine aces and capitalised on three of six break point chances he created to prevail after 75 minutes. Kohlschreiber won their one previous encounter in a third set tie-break in the second round at Halle last year.

Former World No. 2 Haas will contest the Halle semi-finals for the third time (also 2005-06) and will look to reach a final on home soil for the fourth time. His lone title in Germany came at Stuttgart in 2001 (d. Mirnyi).

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3948.ASP)

Ask the Expert - Toyota’s Jarno Trulli

2009-06-11T15:05:00.000+07:00

What is a paradiddle? Who won the 1997 German Formula Three championship? How many Grands Prix did motorcycle champion Jarno Saarinen win during his career? Why is Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina nicknamed George? And which river runs through the German city of Cologne? These are just some of the questions we thought Toyota’s Jarno Trulli would take in his stride after he agreed to be the latest participant in our personal trivia test, ‘Ask the Expert’...

Q: You own a vineyard, but can you name the grape variety that your land is predominantly planted with?
Jarno Trulli: Well, our region is very well known for the red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, the white Trebbiano d'Abruzzo and the Cerasuolo Rose, these are the most important wines that we produce. But believe me, we have many other different grapes in our region like Malvasia or Pecorino - they are small grapes and not very well known but fantastic as well!
Correct

Q: If your team mate Timo Glock hadn't made it in motorsport, what would his likely profession be?
JT: I have no idea. I don't know him so well but he is a good, clever and smart guy who could do anything.
Incorrect - Glock has said he would probably work for his father's scaffolding company.

Q: You play drums in a Toyota team members' band, but can you explain to us what a paradiddle is?
JT: Basically we set up this band between Toyota members in order to play some music, stay together and enjoy a bit of free time together. It is a very good way to spend and enjoy time away from racing. But coming back to your question - I have no idea. I have never studied music. I play by instinct.
Incorrect - it’s a four-note pattern in the form of right, left, right, right or left, right, left, left.

Q: You once wore a special pink helmet to commemorate the achievements of cycling friend Danilo di Luca. What year and at which Grand Prix was it? And what race had Di Lilo just won?
JT: He won the Giro in 2007 and the pink helmet was the Canadian Grand Prix.
Correct - De Lilo had won the 2007 Giro d'Italia cycling race.

Q: You won the German Formula Three championship in 1996. Which of your current Formula One rivals inherited your title in 1997?
JT: Nick Heidfeld.
Correct

Q: You are a fan of Audemars Piguet watches. When was the company founded?
JT: Oh! It is difficult to say when the company was founded because Audemars Piguet is a company that is made by two families - by the Audemars family and the Piguet family. They started out not as producers of watches but of mechanisms. At one stage they joined forces to produce a watch. I really cannot remember the year - but it's quite some time ago - something like late 19th century and it's one of the only watch brands that is still owned by the family!
Incorrect - it was actually in 1875, but we think Trulli deserves half a point for his history lesson.

Q: Your parents named you after Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Jarno Saarinen. How many motorcycle Grand Prix did Saarinen win during his career?
JT: Ah, sorry I don't know.
Incorrect - it was 15.

Q: Your team mate Timo Glock is an avid fan of which unusual sport? And for a bonus point can you name his favourite team?
JT: No idea!
Incorrect - Glock’s a big fan of handball and supports HSV Hamburg.

Q: At the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix you scored your first (and to date only) F1 victory. Which of your current F1 rivals are also still awaiting that elusive second win?
JT: Let me go through the grid. I think Kovalainen is one! Webber never, Piquet never, Williams drivers never, Red Bull - none of them. Give me a clue!
One point from a possible two - McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen (won Hungary, 2008) and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica (Canada, 2008).

Q: In 2000 you completed the New York Marathon. Can you name any one of the three Italians who have won the race?
JT: No, sorry.
Incorrect - Orlando Pizzolato in 1984 and 1985; Gianni Poli in 1986; Giacomo Leone in 1996.

Q: Your first child, Enzo, was born in April 2005, but which of your fellow F1 drivers also became a father that same week?
JT: I should be right: it's Juan Pablo Montoya.
Correct - Montoya's wife Connie gave birth to Sebastian.

Q: Toyota team principal Tadashi Yamashina has the nickname George. Which George is he named after and how did the nickname come about?
JT: He got his nickname when he was in the USA but I don't remember the story behind it.
Half a point - apparently he is named after President George Bush. Back in 2001 when Yamashina arrived in the United States to take up a new post as president of Toyota's Technical Centre USA, his new colleagues struggled to pronounce his name, so he ended up instead being known as George, after the then US President.

Q: Although Toyota's Formula One programme only began in 2002, the Japanese company has enjoyed a long racing presence. In what year did the brand enjoy its first motorsport win?
JT: I don't know.
Incorrect - It came in 1975 at the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, when Hannu Mikkola and his co-driver Atso Aho won in a Toyota Corolla.

Q: In 2008 team manager Richard Cregan left Toyota for a new position. What is Cregan's new job?
JT: He became manager of the Abu Dhabi race track.
Correct - he is indeed team manager of Abu Dhabi Motorsport Management, spearheading preparations for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Q: Toyota's factory is based in Cologne. Which river runs through the German city?
JT: I don't know. I'm not really good at geography!
Incorrect - the Rhine.

Q: You won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. How many safety car periods did the race feature, and which of your former team mates ended his race upside down on Lap Three?
JT: Fisichella and I think we had two safety cars.
Correct - Fisichella’s Sauber rolled after he ran into the rear of David Coulthard's McLaren.

Q: In 1996 you participated in the prestigious F3 Marlboro Masters race at Zandvoort. Two other drivers on the grid that day also went on to become major Formula One stars. Can you name them?
JT: Montoya and Nick Heidfeld
Correct - Heidfeld finished third and Montoya was fourth. Trulli was 19th.

Q: You spent two seasons with the Prost team, scoring eight points in total. How many points did the team score on their F1 debut at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix?
JT: In ‘97 I was not with Prost so I have no idea.
Incorrect - two, after Olivier Panis finished fifth.

Q: Your first front-row grid slot came at the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix. Who was on pole and who won the race?
JT: Michael Schumacher was on pole and I was second by one tenth - but neither of us finished, and if I remember rightly, Coulthard won.
Correct - Schumacher retired on lap 56, leaving Coulthard to win for McLaren.

Q: You were born in Pescara, which in 1957 hosted a round of the Formula One world championship. The circuit was the longest ever used in F1. To the nearest minute, what was Stirling Moss's fastest lap time?
JT: I don't know. But let's see if I can calculate something. Alora, given the length of the track my guess is 15 minutes? What, only 9 minutes 44? Ah, I remember there was an 8-kilometre long straight.
Incorrect - 9 minutes 44.6 seconds. The circuit was 25.579km long.

Final score: 15 points from a possible 26
Ask the Expert rating: 58%

Current leader board:
1. Mark Webber - 84%
2. Sebastien Buemi - 72%
3. Robert Kubica - 70%
4. Jenson Button - 69%
5. Giancarlo Fisichella - 68%
6. Nico Rosberg - 66%
7= Sebastian Vettel - 64%
7= Rubens Barrichello - 64%
9. Jarno Trulli - 58%
10. Nick Heidfeld - 57%

More drivers coming soon.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/6/9482.html)

An emotional return to golf for Mickelson

2009-06-11T15:01:00.001+07:00

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The idea was for Phil Mickelson to return to a routine as best as possible in his world now shaken with fear.

It has been three turbulent weeks since he announced his wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Mickelson has always felt like he was in control, even if his golf at times suggested otherwise. Now he feels helpless.

"I've never been this emotional, where if I'm driving alone or what have you, I'll just start crying," he said Wednesday at the St. Jude Classic, his eyes tinged with streaks of pink, his voice no longer steady and sure.

"We're scared, yeah," he said. "I think a lot of it is the unknown."

Tests on his 38-year-old wife have provided enough optimism that surgery has been pushed back to the first week of July, allowing Mickelson to return to competition this week, then go to the U.S. Open in New York, where he is beloved under normal circumstances.

His wife faces treatment for at least a year, so they decided to do what they normally would - play golf tournaments, take their three children to camps and activities. They plan a tropical vacation after the U.S. Open and before Amy's surgery.

Even so, this was not a normal routine for Mickelson in Memphis.

Some 300 fans lined the walkway at the bottom of the stairs leading to the clubhouse where Mickelson had lunch, waiting for autographs or pictures, some wearing pink shirts in support.

Mickelson, however, went around the front of the clubhouse to avoid the crowd, setting up shop at the far end of the range that had been reserved for the amateurs before his pro-am round, far away from his peers. Woody Austin, his partner at the Presidents Cup last time, and defending champion Justin Leonard walked over to welcome him back with a handshake that turned into a hug.

He does not know what to expect from his game. Mickelson said he would hit balls for an hour while his wife was resting, and he feels he is not far off from earlier this year, when he won at Riviera and Doral.

"But certainly, I haven't played in a while," he said. "I had an emotional month, and I don't know where I will be on the golf course as far as being able to focus. I don't know that yet."

If nothing else, Mickelson said he looked forward to being inside the ropes, allowing him to get his mind off cancer.

But there was no escaping it Wednesday.

He started on No. 10, hitting driver down the hill into the water, hitting the next one in a bunker. Then came the par-3 11th over water, and a tournament tradition that hit home like never before.

Patients at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital caddie for the professional on this hole. Mickelson met Michael Anderson, 27, who is coming off his fourth surgery for a brain tumor. A half-dozen children suddenly surrounded him, most of them losing their hair.

Lefty knelt to speak to them, giving each a golf ball and a glove until he had to send his caddie, Jim Mackay, back to the bag for more.

"I can't shake hands," one girl said to Mickelson, steadying herself with a crutch.

"Well, you have a very strong hug," Mickelson said after leaning in to embrace her.

Anderson had enough strength to lug Mickelson's bag to the green - "It's heavier than mine," he said with a smile - but Mickelson wouldn't discharge him of his duties until he read the birdie putt. He just missed.

They talked briefly about his outlook, and Anderson inquired about Amy.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1903823,00.html)

Murray Eases Through; Hewitt Sets Up Roddick Clash

2009-06-11T14:58:00.001+07:00

World No. 3 Andy Murray made a confident start to his AEGON Championships campaign with a 6-1, 6-4 dismissal of Italian Andreas Seppi in the second round of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament at the Queen’s Club on Wednesday.

After the No. 48-ranked Seppi had held serve in the first game, Murray reeled off eight straight games to lead 6-1, 2-0. A dip in concentration from the Scot allowed Seppi back into the match as the Italian levelled at 2-2, but Murray was able to get a fifth break of serve in the 10th game to close out victory after 59 minutes.

“I started the match very well. I played maybe one not so great game on my serve, and apart from that, it was very good,” said Murray. “I returned well. My serve could have been a little bit better, but I was happy with the way I moved and didn't make too many errors.”

British No. 1 Murray enters the AEGON Championships after a career-best quarter-final showing at Roland Garros and is bidding to become the first home-grown champion at the Queen’s Club since Bunny Austin triumphed in 1938. The Dunblane native has won three ATP World Tour titles this year at Doha (d. Roddick), Rotterdam (d. Nadal) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d. Djokovic) and improves to a 36-6 season match record.

The 22-year-old Murray next will face No. 16 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez after the Spaniard knocked out Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6(3), 6-3 in 87 minutes.

Australian Lleyton Hewitt set up a blockbuster third-round confrontation with No. 2 seed Andy Roddick after rallying to defeat Portugal’s Frederico Gil 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Hewitt and Roddick, both former ATP World Tour champions, accounted for eight straight Queen’s Club titles before Rafael Nadal broke through to win the title last year. The 49th-ranked Hewitt has a 36-7 record at the Queen’s Club, winning successive titles from 2000-02 and reclaiming the top prize in ‘06.

Hewitt leads the head-to-head series against Roddick 6-4, but has lost his past three matches against the American. He last defeated Roddick four years ago in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells semi-finals.

“[It’s] a good challenge against one of the best grass court players in the world,” said Hewitt. “He's obviously got a big weapon with his serve. He's got a big forehand. He moves well for his size. Just playing grass court tennis, to come up against a guy like that is going to be a big step up from my first two matches here.”

Another former World No. 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero, also booked his place in the third round by ousting French No. 11 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4. He will next play Belgian qualifier Xavier Malisse, a 7-6(6), 7-6(8) winner over South African lucky loser Rik de Voest – a late replacement for No. 7 seed Marat Safin, who withdrew with a back injury.

World No. 146 Nicolas Mahut rediscovered the grass-court form that took him to the final of the AEGON Championships in 2007 to edge out No. 5 seed Marin Cilic 7-6(1), 7-6(4). In a match without any service breaks, the French qualifier withstood 11 aces from Cilic’s racquet – while firing nine of his own – and saved all four break points he faced to defeat the No. 13-ranked Cilic of Croatia in one hour and 48 minutes.

The 27-year-old Mahut enjoyed the best week of his career two years ago at the Queen’s Club when he stunned World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals en route to reaching his maiden ATP World Tour final, which he lost to Roddick in a third set tie-break after holding one match point. He is playing in his first tour-level event since losing in the first round at Lyon in October 2008 and missed the first two months of 2009 with a right shoulder injury.

“Here is my favourite tournament. Even if I lost in final with match points two years ago, it's so many good memories. The crowd was just fantastic with me, and I have fun. I really love play here,” said Mahut. “I played two good matches, and the road is really long, but I know the way to go farther.”

The 20-year-old Cilic, who is at a career-high in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, dropped to a 27-10 mark on the season. The right-hander, who reached the AEGON Championships quarter-finals two years ago, has won two ATP World Tour titles this season at Chennai (d. Devvarman) and Zagreb (d. Ancic).

Mahut goes on to face 2005 Queen’s Club finalist, Ivo Karlovic, for a place in the quarter-finals. The 6’10” Croat fired 33 aces and did not face a single break point on serve as he defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 6-2 in just over two hours. Like Mahut, Karlovic made his first appearance in an ATP World Tour final at the Queen’s Club – only to be denied by Roddick.

Russian No. 14 seed Mikhail Youzhny booked his place in the third round after rallying from a 2-4 deficit in the second set to beat Cypriot wild card Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 7-6(3). World No. 44 Youzhny posted solid results on clay in the past month, reaching his ninth ATP World Tour final at Munich (l. to Berdych) and making the semi-finals at Kitzbuhel (l. to Garcia-Lopez).

Youzhny takes a 2-0 head-to-head record into his next match against World No. 7 Gilles Simon, including a five-sets win two years ago at Wimbledon. Simon advanced with a 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory over Bulgarian wild card Grigor Dimitrov.

Belgian Steve Darcis defeated Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-2, 6-4 in his second-round match, and then received a walkover into the quarter-finals when fourth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils withdrew with a left wrist injury. Coming into London, Darcis had won just one match (1-9) on the ATP World Tour this season although he was a runner-up at the clay-court Challenger tournament in Prostejov last week.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3936.ASP)

Zverev Saves 2 M.P. To Oust Berdych

2009-06-11T14:46:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 45 Mischa Zverev was one of four Germans to reach the quarter-finals Wednesday at the Gerry Weber Open, holding his nerve to save two match points and oust 2007 champion Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(8) at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament in Halle.

The German wild card delighted home fans as he saved two match points at 6-7 and 7-8 in the tie-break – having initially held a 6-3 advantage himself – before winning the final three points of the match to prevail after two hours and 32 minutes. Zverev had led 4-2 in the final set, after rallying from a one-set deficit. He converted five of eight break point chances, and saved 10 of the 14 that he faced on serve.

“I felt that he would start to get anxious at some point,” said Zverev, who defeated Berdych last month in Rome. “For instance at 3-3 he missed a forehand and I thought that in Rome he had match points against me and missed with his backhand. Then, he only played cross court like now, five, six, seven times cross then he tried to play longline and missed. I knew my chance would come.”

The 21-year-old Zverev, who won the Halle doubles title in 2008 with Mikhail Youzhny, is through to his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season and improved to an 11-10 match record. The Hamburg resident is currently a career-high No. 45 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings – one of five Germans ranked inside the Top 50.

The No. 21-ranked Berdych was chasing a third final appearance at Halle. He finished runner-up to Roger Federer on his debut in 2006 and captured the title the following year with victory over Marcos Baghdatis. The 23 year old was also looking for his second title on German soil this season, having won his fifth ATP World Tour title at Munich last month (d. Youzhny).

Zverev next will meet German compatriot and wild card Tommy Haas, who knocked out fourth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6(3). By defeating the World No. 9, Haas snapped a seven-match losing streak against Top 10 players that began in July 2008 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Toronto (l. to No. 4 Davydenko).

"We both played extremely well, served well," said Haas. "I didn’t look at the statistics but I’m sure there were more winners than unforced errors from both sides. It was a great match. Obviously, I think I played at the level as good as I can play at times, especially when it came to the big points. I think that is the only reason why I won today. So, that was nice."

The 31-year-old German has a 16-9 lifetime record in Halle, reaching the semi-finals in 2005-06 and the quarter-finals in 2004. He advances to his third quarter-final of the 2009 tennis season, having reached this stage previously on hard court at San Jose (l. to Roddick) and on clay at Houston (l. to Phau).

A third German wild card, Benjamin Becker, also upset a seeded opponent – knocking out eighth-seeded compatriot Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. The No. 83-ranked Becker fired 12 aces as both players broke serve six times from 14 opportunities in the two-hour and one-minute match.

Becker, who will celebrate his 28th birthday on Tuesday, is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. The right-hander has posted strong results on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, capturing four titles and reaching a fifth final. He had never advanced past the second round in Halle in three previous appearances.

Philipp Kohlschreiber joined his countrymen in the quarter-finals after defeating No. 6 seed Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 7-6(6) as he fired 10 aces and converted two of his nine break points.

Kohlschreiber, the top German at a career-high No. 24 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, has now reached the quarter-finals in four of his five Halle appearances. Last year, he finished runner-up to Roger Federer.

Lucky loser Lukas Lacko, a replacement for scheduled top seed Roger Federer, took full advantage of his opportunity by winning his first ATP World Tour match of the season with a 7-6(6), 6-2 victory over Israeli qualifier Harel Levy.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3935.ASP)

All it took was a few words from Jack Nicklaus to get Tiger Woods to rediscover his awesome swing

2009-06-09T13:25:00.001+07:00

Everything's faster in New York. On Monday morning, on the sports page of the New York tabs, Tiger's win at the Memorial was right there, alongside the Yankees and the Mets. (Woods Hi-Jacks Nicklaus' Tourney, exclaimed the Post.) New Yorkers, though, were on to the next thing: "Yeah, but can he win the Open?" That is, the U.S. Open, to be held next week at Bethpage Black, a vast oasis of fescue rough and magic-carpet fairway surrounded by dense Long Island suburbia. Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open there, in the days when his fist pumps could rattle trees. But this new Tiger, the one who won at Memorial — the one who drives it in play with three-woods and five-woods, who barely celebrates his hole-outs, who wins from the clubhouse, long before 60 Minutes starts ticking — who is this guy, and how did he suddenly get here?

Johnny Miller, the winner of the 1973 U.S. Open and lead analyst at Bethpage for NBC, has long been Tiger's most incisive critic (and, at times among the microphone crowd, his only objective fan). Last week, before the Memorial, Miller said in an interview, "I've had a dream about 20 times where he comes to me and asks me for a lesson." In Miller's dream he instructs Woods to hit shots with a slight pause at the top of his swing, as he did from 1997 through 2000. Miller also asks Woods to soften the squat move he has been making in recent years, where his head and body come too close to the ball on the downswing and he gets in his own way.

Miller, and others steeped in swing mechanics, watched in amazement as Tiger played some of the worst shots of his career this year at the Masters, at the Quail Hollow tournament in Charlotte and at the Players. In those tournaments Woods let loose a year's worth of f bombs. His postround practice sessions, where an elite player can quickly pinpoint problems and turn things around, were often brief, in deference to a left knee still in recovery from ACL surgery following the 2008 U.S. Open. Tiger didn't say much about the state of the swing in his interviews. (He seldom does.) But his coach, Hank Haney, may have revealed more than he intended in an interview last month with SI.

Haney said, "I don't understand why everybody thinks I'm going to get fired. Am I going to get fired when he asks me to come to Isleworth? Is he going to fire me when we go to Bethpage? During the Yankees game we're going to afterward? In August when he releases his new video where I'm his teacher?

"He has a new leg. He has a new swing because his knee isn't flopping around like it once was. The media give him no slack. It wears me out, and it wears him out as well. I told Tiger about all this crap about me being fired, and he smiled and said, 'Welcome to my world.'"

It's easy, and maybe correct, to see Haney's mini-rant as a by-product of Tiger's erratic play. Haney knows that Miller, and prominent teaching pros, have been second-guessing what Tiger was doing, and what Haney was teaching.

But then Tiger went to Ohio, and there everything changed. Jack set him free. Nicklaus, generally straightforward when talking to reporters, said he felt that Tiger, in his return from surgery, was making a swing that protected his left knee. Presented with Nicklaus's observation, Tiger acknowledged for the first time that he was, in fact, doing just that. He went from the press tent to the practice tee at Muirfield Village and started hitting balls, in the rain, and took some of the most beautiful, rhythmic swings he has made in years, with much less dip. It was as if he had absorbed Johnny's dream lesson by osmosis. It was this new-and-improved swing that allowed Tiger to win at Memorial.

But ball striking alone will not win you a U.S. Open. You must putt, too. At the Memorial, Tiger's putting was spotty, but the putting guru Stan Utley, who uses Tiger's stroke as his model, thinks Woods will putt well at Bethpage. He has seen glimpses of Woods's putting this year on TV and in person and has concluded that his stroke is as sound as ever. Mechanics, Utley noted, come back quickly from a layoff. Feel is slower to return.

At Bethpage, Utley said, Woods will have one additional and important thing going for him: The greens there are poa annua, the grass on which Tiger grew up putting, and the type of grass on which he putted so well last year at Torrey Pines. The ball tends to bounce on poa annua, Utley said, and Tiger hits his putts with a slight (and ideal) hooking action that encourages the ball to hug the grass, hold its line and finish at the bottom of the hole.

Reclaiming his feel is a work in progress for Tiger, and that applies not only to the putter, but also to his entire body. Last year Woods won the U.S. Open on a left leg that was falling apart, but at least he knew what it could and couldn't do. One of the difficult things for Woods at this year's Open will be to know exactly what he can and cannot count on his left knee to do, particularly when playing out of deep rough.

The former Ryder Cupper Brad Faxon had ACL surgery on his right knee in 2005 and again in '07. Faxon says that since his surgeries he has not felt like his old self. Tiger, likely, doesn't either.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1903488,00.html)

Federer Clinches Roland Garros Title To Seal Career Slam

2009-06-07T23:37:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 2 Roger Federer became the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam singles titles when he produced an exceptional performance to defeat Swede Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4 in the Roland Garros final on Sunday.

"This is the most satisfying win of my life, along with my first Wimbledon," Federer said. “I have tried for so many years, so there was much pressure involved... I always believed in it but it becomes harder with time.”

Federer said that he felt extra pressure after Soderling’s surprise fourth-round win over Rafael Nadal. “You never want anyone to lose, but I was relieved [when Nadal was knocked out] as I knew he would be the hardest win to beat. Bu then the press said if you don’t come through this year you are a bad player. It feels like I have played three or four finals.”

Federer was presented with the Coupe des Mousquetaires by Andre Agassi, who was the last man to complete the career Grand Slam - when he rallied from a two-set deficit against Andrei Medvedev in the 1999 Roland Garros final. The American was, like Federer, playing at Roland Garros for the 11th time and came into the clay-court major with an almost identical record to Federer – having compiled a 31-10 record at Roland Garros, while Federer entered with a 32-10 mark.

Victory for Federer also saw him tie Pete Sampras’ all-time record of 14 major singles titles. The 27 year old was playing in just his 40th Grand Slam tournament, while Sampras achieved the feat at his 52nd major. Sampras has held the record since the 2002 US Open, when he defeated Agassi in an all-American final before immediately retiring from professional tennis, aged 31.

Upon receiving 2000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points Federer is now virtually assured of his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, where he is a four-time former champion. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has already booked his place at the elite eight-man event, to be held for the first time at London’s O2 Arena.

It was Federer’s fourth successive appearance in the Roland Garros final, having finished runner-up to rival Rafael Nadal in the past three championship matches. Coming into the match, only Jimmy Connors, in the Open Era, had won more matches at Roland Garros (40-13 record) without going on to win the title. Federer had compiled a 38-10 record prior to Sunday’s final.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3894.ASP)

Federer Rallies Again To Move One Match Away From Rewriting History Books

2009-06-06T17:07:00.002+07:00

Roger Federer finds himself one match away from securing a place in tennis' history books and perhaps being considered the greatest player all-time. The 27-year-old Swiss superstar advanced to his fourth consecutive Roland Garros championship after rallying to defeat World No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro 3-6, 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, on Friday.

Federer, who has come up short in the past three Roland Garros finals against arguably the greatest clay-courter of all-time, Rafael Nadal, will take on the Spaniard's conqueror, No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling, who will appear Sunday in his first tour-level clay court final. Federer is 9-0 lifetime against the Swede (19-1 in sets), including 2-0 on clay.

Despite his dominance of Soderling and unrivaled experience in Grand Slam finals, Federer rejected suggestions that he is a lock to win the final. "Look, there's no easy Grand Slam finals,” he said. “It's very simple, because the one who is on the other side of the net has also won six matches and is definitely in the shape of his life.

"I cannot obviously underestimate Robin, even though I've beaten him I think in the [nine] matches we've played against each other. But obviously it's nice to see someone else for a change in the French Open finals. I've been there before. I don't know if it's an advantage or not, because I've never been able to win. I'm sure the pressure is big for both players, not only for me, but also for him. It's his first big step in a Grand Slam. I'm sure we're going to play some good tennis, because I thought he played we will really well today against Gonzalez."

Federer is one match away from becoming the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships in his career and from tying Pete Sampras' mark of 14 Grand Slam titles. Andre Agassi was the last man to complete a career Grand Slam 10 years ago at Roland Garros. Other players who have accomplished the feat are: Fred Perry in 1935, Don Budge in 1938, Rod Laver (1962 and '69) and Roy Emerson (1964).

Federer is making his 19th trip to a Grand Slam singles final (13-5), including 15 of the past 16 title matches. His 19 finals equal Ivan Lendl's mark (8-11).

This has been Federer's toughest road to a Grand Slam final, losing six sets along the way, including a five-setter against Tommy Haas (from two sets down) in the fourth round and four-set battles in the second and third rounds.

"It feels great coming through tough matches like this," said Federer. "It's more emotional. It's more satisfaction, even though I love matches when I can really dominate an opponent. But this is also a great feeling of coming through this way, not the easy way, showing different qualities. It's not always something I've actually had a chance to show, because matches were over too quickly sometimes. It's good for me, so my career hopefully is going to be longer because of those matches, in the long run."

In the opening set, del Potro broke in the fifth and ninth games to secure his first set won (of 13) in their six meetings. Both players held throughout the second set before Federer took control of the tie-break. He led 5-1 before closing it out 7-2. In the third set, the Argentine broke in the opening game and again in the seventh game to take a 2-1 sets lead.

Federer failed to break del Potro in the first three sets before finally converting in the fourth game. The 20-year-old Argentine double-faulted to lose serve in the sixth game and Federer closed out the set with his fifth ace to even the match.

In the opening game of the fifth set, Federer broke when del Potro hit a forehand long. Federer was broken in the sixth game but broke back in the next game as del Potro double-faulted. Federer failed to convert on his first match point on del Potro's serve in the ninth game but sealed the three hour and 28-minute victory with a forehand winner on match point.

Although del Potro converted five of 13 break points to Federer's four of 12 and led in aces (16 to 5) and winners (55 to 50), the Tandil native struggled on second serve. Federer won 52 per cent of second serve points to del Potro's 43 percent.

Del Potro, who was appearing in his first Grand Slam semi-final, was the first Argentine since David Nalbandian in 2006 to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros.

"Well, now I feel so sad. It was a long match, very close," said del Potro. "It was my first semi-final and I had the chance. I think I'm playing better than Australia where we played on another surface. I served very good every moment in the match and that was the reason it went to five sets."

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3879.ASP)

Soderling Continues Dream Run Into Final

2009-06-06T17:04:00.002+07:00

Robin Soderling became the seventh Swede in Roland Garros history to advance to the final of the clay-court Grand Slam championship on Friday. The No. 23 seed dramatically fought back from a 1-4 deficit in the deciding set to beat No. 12 seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, in three hours and 28 minutes, for a place in his first clay-court final.

Watched by Bjorn Borg, a winner of six Roland Garros titles, and urged on by his coach Magnus Norman – runner-up in 2000 – Soderling bewitched Gonzalez with a stunning array of groundstroke and service winners to seal a famous victory that keeps alive his bid for a first Grand Slam championship.

“If you'd ask me a couple years ago which Grand Slam I'd play [a] final in 2009, I wouldn't have said Roland Garros,” said Soderling, who in Sunday's championship match will meet three-time runner-up Roger Federer of Switzerland.

Soderling will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Sven Davidson (1957), Borg (1974-75, 1978-81) and Mats Wilander (1982, 1985, 1988), who went on to lift the trophy. Only five men in the Open Era have gone on to win their first clay-court title at Roland Garros. The last to do so was former ATP World Tour Champion Gustavo Kuerten in 1997.

Soderling, who defeated four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, competently traded blows with the hard-hitting Gonzalez in the pair’s early exchanges. But it was 27-year-old Gonzalez who sealed the first break of serve with a blistering backhand winner down the line in the third game. Soderling, undeterred, found his rhythm and moved into a 4-2 lead before comfortably wrapping up the opening set in 34 minutes.

Gonzalez, who was appearing in his first Grand Slam championship semi-final since reaching the 2007 Australian Open final, saved three break point opportunities in the ninth game of the second set. In the next game he set up one set point opportunity, but Soderling coolly struck an ace out wide and regained his early impetus much to the frustration of his Chilean opponent. Gonzalez fell to 0-40 at 5-5 and an imperious service game from Soderling helped wrap up the 52-minute second set.

In the third set, Gonzalez wore down Soderling with an array of winning strokes that he had exhibited in beating third seed Andy Murray in the quarter-finals. Nerves began to creep into Soderling’s game midway through the set and in the 12th game Gonzalez was gifted two set point opportunities. Soderling committed two forehand errors and the Philippe Chatrier Court came to life again as Gonzalez won the 40-minute third-set.

Gonzalez, the 1998 Roland Garros junior champion, avoided the worst possible start to the fourth set when he saved three point points in a breathtaking opening game and clinched the game with a forehand winner down the line. At 4-4, the tension increased as Gonzalez questioned a line call he felt the umpire had incorrectly adjudged as out. Gonzalez hit three straight aces to win the game and minutes later, as Soderling’s serve and forehand crumbled, the Chilean levelled the score line at two sets apiece.

Gonzalez fired into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and a sixth comeback from two sets down appeared on the cards. Incredibly Soderling relaxed to produce a series of superb service and forehand winners that helped him regain control of the baseline.

“I was tired,” said Soderling. “I have to admit I was tired. But I felt like, ‘okay’, this is not how it's going to end. I have to try everything I can. I felt like I can only do my best, but I didn't want to go off this court and feel like I didn't do my best in the fifth set. So I just tried harder, and all of a sudden it all worked again.”

The 24 year old began attacking the net and 1-4 became 4-4. In the ninth game Gonzalez saved two break points with an ace and a Soderling backhand into the net, but on Soderling’s third break point opportunity the Chilean hit a miss-timed forehand out.

Soderling held his nerve to secure a remarkable victory that extended his winning streak to nine matches. It was his first win over Gonzalez since March 2006 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells.

“My first feeling [immediately after the match] was actually relief that the match was over, because it was a really long match, and I was tired at the end,” said Soderling. “And then after a few seconds, I got really, really happy.”

Soderling hit 16 aces and 74 winners, converting five of 18 break point opportunities. Gonzalez, by comparison, hit 22 aces and 59 winners.

“You think you're going to win,” explained Gonzalez, “and nothing is done till the last ball. At 15-30 I really thought I was going to win, but I also feared that what happened would happen when a player starts relaxing and playing his best tennis and goes for his shots. I had doubts with regard to my serve, so I wasn't as strong on my first serve. He had two extraordinary returns, and then it turned out wrong, because I lost.

“I did not succeed in doing what I wanted to do today. I didn't want to use my second serve because of the way he would return the ball, but each time I played as if it was a second serve. I do think I didn't play my best tennis, but that's not an excuse. I always try and do my best, and what you saw on the court is all I have.”

Gonzalez had been attempting to emulate his Chilean compatriot Luis Ayala, who was runner-up at Roland Garros in 1958 and 1960. At 28 years and 313 days, Gonzalez was the oldest semi-finalist at Roland Garros since Tim Henman (29 years, 274 days) in 2004.

Gonzalez, a winner of 11 ATP World Tour titles, dropped to 16-3 on clay courts this year and 22-6 overall. He won his fourth Vina del Mar title in February.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3877.ASP)

The Turkish Grand Prix Preview - a three-way fight in Istanbul?

2009-06-04T17:29:00.001+07:00

This weekend’s race round Turkey’s Istanbul Park Circuit could show the direction in which the world championship battle will go over the next few Grands Prix. The unusual track, which runs anti-clockwise, places a premium on aerodynamic performance and that is bound to favour the Brawns.

However, it could also finally show us the true potential of Red Bull’s RB5, now boasting its own trick diffuser. And don’t discount Ferrari, the team on the rise and winners here the last three years…

This weekend’s race round Turkey’s Istanbul Park Circuit could show the direction in which the world championship battle will go over the next few Grands Prix. The unusual track, which runs anti-clockwise, places a premium on aerodynamic performance and that is bound to favour the Brawns, which demonstrated convincingly in Barcelona, another aero venue, that they are still highly effective even though everybody else now has similar multi-tier diffusers.

Istanbul Park Circuit undulates over its 5.338 kilometre (3.316 mile) lap length. For 2009 the back of the apex kerbs in Turns Nine and 12 have been graded to prevent a car from launching. Speed bumps, similar to Turn Two in Barcelona, have been installed behind the apex of Turn 10. And additional conveyor belts have been added mid-way through the tyre barriers at Turns One, Seven, Nine and 12.

The track is best known for the challenge presented by Turn Eight, a triple-apex left-hander that seems to go on and on. It is taken around 250 km/h generates arguably the highest G-forces drivers see over the season. Elsewhere, speeds reach 320 km/h and track temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius have been seen. It is thus as much a challenge for the drivers and cars as it is the engineers, who have to set them up, and the tyre manufacturer.

Bridgestone have brought their hard and soft compounds here, which are very different, and the harder tyre in particular could have engineers scratching their heads on set-ups.

This could be the first race at which we really see the potential of Red Bull’s RB5. Adrian Newey’s latest weapon has been very close to the Brawns all season even without a trick diffuser, but team boss Christian Horner believes its race performances in both Bahrain and Barcelona were disguised because Sebastian Vettel got trapped behind cars with KERS (Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren and Felipe Massa’s Ferrari respectively). Since Monaco the car has a two-tier diffuser, and this weekend will be the first time that the car will get to stretch its legs in this guise. With some more minor aero tweaks, expect it to fly.

Likewise, the Ferraris will be strong here, and the team are feeling buoyed after their competitive performances in Spain and Monaco. Felipe Massa has been unbeatable here for the last three years, and is raring to make it four in a row.

“We will have another small step in terms of aerodynamic development, which should improve the car still further, and that is down to a big push from the guys in the factory," he reports. "We want to continue to improve as quickly as possible, to try and win some races. If will be fantastic if we find we are in a position to fight for the win in Turkey.

"I just like the track and feel comfortable there, but it's hard to pinpoint why it suits me better than some other circuits. I do prefer fast flowing tracks and have a feel for all the corners here, as it's not good enough to only be fast over one particular section of the track. I think I've also found a good way to set up the car perfectly for this circuit."

BMW Sauber will be running a two-tier diffuser for the first time as part of an aero package that includes modified front wings, side bargeboards, rim shields and engine cover. Both they and Toyota have high hopes for this weekend and are desperate to wipe out memories of their troubled Monaco outings. Hamilton is also hopeful of a better time in the McLaren.

“I love racing in Turkey,” he says. “It’s a real challenge because you need to attack the lap to get a good time, but you also need to be careful with your tyres - if you push too much, particularly through Turn Eight, then your tyres are going to suffer. It’s all about finding the perfect balance in practice and being disciplined in the race so you don’t overdo it.

“I also love the fact that it’s a new circuit that has really captured the flavour of some of the older, classic tracks - it’s got a bit of everything and is fantastic to drive. Also, as it’s anti-clockwise, it gives your neck a bit of a workout, but you just need to make sure you’ve exercised the left side of your neck a little more than usual before getting in the car.”

However, though McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says that the MP4-24 will have some further upgrades, he does not expect Turkey to suit it as well as Monaco did. Championship leader Jenson Button starts favourite, though. He and Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello will have a new front wing, other minor aero revisions, and modified rear suspension to play with this weekend on their BGP 001s.

"The Turkish Grand Prix is always a race that I look forward to as I really enjoy driving the Istanbul Park circuit and have been quite competitive there in the past,” Button says. “Hermann Tilke did a great job with the layout of the track here and the changes in gradient are great fun and quite challenging. We've seen some excellent racing here, with good overtaking opportunities at Turns One and Three.

“You can also pass down the hill into Turn Nine and at Turns 12 and 13 if you brake late enough and get it just right. Turn Eight is obviously the corner that everyone talks about and it's probably the longest that I've ever driven. It's quite high G-force, up to 5G for seven seconds, which puts a lot of stress on your neck. You have to be as smooth as possible through the triple apex and if you get it right and take it flat, then it is one of those corners where you exit with a huge smile having made up a lot of time."

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/6/9427.html)

No Hang-ing Around

2009-06-04T17:16:00.002+07:00

Ding Junhui's hopes of retaining his Wuzou International Group Jiangsu Classic title suffered an early blow as he lost 2-1 to Li Hang in his opening match in Wuxi, though he recovered by beating Stephen Hendry.

Wild card Li (pictured), who has shown his promise with some fine results in his debut professional season, took a scrappy opening frame on the pink before Ding levelled with a break of 117. Former UK champion Ding had the first clear scoring chance in the decider but could only make 33, leaving Li to take it with an excellent 65.

Home favourite Ding, who beat Mark Selby in last year's final, hit back with a 2-1 defeat of Hendry. He won the first and third frames on the colours, Hendry taking the second with a run of 60.

Scotland's Hendry also lost 2-0 to Mark Allen and now looks unlikely to finish in the top two in the group and qualify for Saturday's semi-finals.

Ryan Day made an impressive start against Peter Ebdon with a 132, then came from 51-0 down in the second frame, making a break of 60 before winning it on the pink.

Crucible runner-up Shaun Murphy has made a fine start in group two. He enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Jin Long, cleraring the colours to win the first frame on the black then adding the second with a 114. Murphy went on to beat Marco Fu 2-0 without conceding a single point.

Fu had previously beaten Joe Perry 2-0, while Mark Selby beat Ali Carter 2-0 with a best effort of 92.

(From Website : http://www.worldsnooker.com/2009_World_Snooker_Jiangsu_Classic_news-49200.htm?tid=139)

Bryant leads Lakers past Nuggets, back to finals

2009-06-04T17:14:00.001+07:00

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 35 points and 10 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers back to the NBA finals with a 119-92 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on Friday night. Bryant got plenty of scoring help from Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom as the Lakers shot 57.3 percent from the field to avoid having to play a Game 7 back at the Staples Center.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Lakers outscored the Nuggets by 5 in the first quarter, 8 in the second, 3 in the third and 11 in the fourth. Los Angeles shot 57.3% for the game, Denver 43.8%. Both teams were hot from three-point range, but the Lakers were awesome, nailing 9-of-16 from outside the arc. Trevor Ariza had three of those 3-pointers.

For the Lakers, Bryant had 35 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists (just 1 turnover). Pau Gasol (8-of-12) had 20 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Lamar Odom had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Trevor Ariza (awesome 7-of-9) scored 17. And Luke Walton (5-of-7) scored 10.

The Lakers hit a perfect 24-of-24 free throws, and outrebounded the Nuggets 38-27.

For the Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony (6-of-17, 12-of-15 free throws) had 25 points but little else. J.R. Smith (10-of-17, 4-of-9 threes) had 24 and little else. Kenyon Martin had a quiet 13 points and 5 rebounds. Chauncey Billups got shut down, shooting just 2-of-9 for 10 points and 9 assists (but 5 turnovers). Dahntay Jones, Nene and Chris Andersen did little, though the Birdman blocked 3 shots.

(From Website : http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4383)

Loyalties Tested As Federer Reaches Semi-finals

2009-06-04T17:11:00.002+07:00

Parisian loyalties were tested on Wednesday when the sentimental favourite Roger Federer, a three-time runner-up to Rafael Nadal, beat the local favourite Gaël Monfils - France's only hope of snapping a 26-year singles title drought at Roland Garros - in straight sets.

Second-seeded Swiss Federer moved one step closer to a first Roland Garros title that would complete his long-time ambition of securing a career Grand Slam, of the four major championships, after beating 11th seed Monfils 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes.

Federer, who stands two wins away from drawing level with all-time Grand Slam title-leader Pete Sampras on 14 major trophies, booked his place in a 20th consecutive Grand Slam championship semi-final with his fifth straight victory over Monfils – whom Federer also beat in the 2008 semi-finals.

"I was very nervous before this match, yesterday and today," said Federer. "But I have a lot of experience. I know that when I step on the court, I will play well. Or very well."

Having tested the nerve of his heavily-pregnant wife, Mirka, and a legion of fans worldwide with hard-fought victories over Jose Acasuso, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Tommy Haas in previous rounds, Federer produced a service masterclass – winning 69 of 94 points, including eight aces – against Monfils to leave spectators on Philippe Chatrier Court unable to begrudge him an opportunity to create history.

Only Juan Martin del Potro, his opponent in the semi-finals, and potentially Robin Soderling or Fernando Gonzalez in Sunday’s final, stand in his way from lifting the Coupes des Mousquetaires and becoming the sixth man in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam. None of the players left in the draw have beaten Federer on a clay court before.

France will have to wait another year for a player to emulate 1983 champion Yannick Noah.

The 22-year-old Monfils came closest to breaking the Federer serve, with two break point opportunities in the first and 10th games of the first set that was decided by a tie-break. Federer opened up a 5-3 lead in the tie-break, but lost three straight points and was forced to save a set point at 5-6 with a smash. His composure restored, the Swiss superstar clinched the 250th tie-break of his career (250-132) with a forehand winner.

"Maybe I took too many risks at the beginning," Federer explained, "but I was worried about his forehand."

Federer then moved into top gear in the second set, courtesy of service breaks in the first and third games, which he won in under 30 minutes.

Monfils required a doctor’s assistance for a stomach ailment in the early stages of the third set, but was able to save one break point in the second game. But the stay of execution for Monfils was short lived. He saved one break point in the ninth game with a backhand volley, but moments later Federer secured the decisive service break when Monfils hit a forehand into the net. Federer went on to close out his 31st win of the year (31-6 record) with a backhand winner.

In the absence of four-time champion Nadal, who lost to Soderling in the fourth round, Federer is the red-hot favourite to lift the Roland Garros title and the 59th title of his career.

Federer is just the fourth man to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals on five or more occasions. René Lacoste reached five semi-finals between 1925-1929, Henri Cochet matched the feat between 1926-1930 and Eric Sturgess advanced to a record six semi-finals between 1947-1952.

Monfils, the 2004 Roland Garros junior champion, dropped to 19-9 on the season. He has also reached the Acapulco final (l. to Almagro) and two semi-finals at Doha (l. to Roddick) and Rotterdam (l. to Nadal) on the ATP World Tour circuit.

"Today," Monfils said, "he didn’t miss a lot. He still has two tough matches if he wants to win, but I think he can do it. He should be very motivated to win, so, yeah, why not?"

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3864.ASP)

Confident del Potro To Meet Federer In SFs

2009-06-04T17:09:00.001+07:00

Juan Martín del Potro breezed into his first Grand Slam championship semi-final Wednesday with a performance that was full of confidence and maturity against No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo of Spain at Roland Garros.

The fifth-seeded Argentine avoided a repeat of his 2008 US Open (l. to Murray) and 2009 Australian Open (l. to Federer) quarter-final exits with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win in two hours and seven minutes.

At 20 years of age, the youngest player left in the singles draw must now reverse a five-match losing streak against Roger Federer if he is to continue his dream of emulating Guillermo Vilas and Gaston Gaudio as a Roland Garros champion.

Del Potro hit 36 winners as his extra weight of shot – particularly on his serve and forehand – pinned Robredo behind the baseline for much of the pair’s second meeting. The Argentine faced his first test on serve in an epic fourth game of the second set, when he fought back from 0-40 in a game of seven deuces.

In a nervous final game, del Potro converted his fifth match point with a forehand winner for his 31st win of the year (31-8 record). He fired 14 aces past Robredo and won 46 of 51 points on his first serve, while Robredo failed to convert any of his seven break point opportunities and committed 26 unforced errors.

Del Potro is the first Argentine to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since David Nalbandian at Roland Garros in 2006. He is the eighth Argentine to reach the last four in the Open Era.

Robredo, had previously lost in the Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2003 (l. to Costa), 2005 (l. to Davydenko), and 2007 (l. to Federer). He dropped to a 9-34 lifetime record against Top 5 players.

The 27 year old dropped to 25-7 on clay courts and 32-11 overall this year. He won two ATP World Tour titles at Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires in February.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3865.ASP)

A focused John Daly returns to the PGA Tour in Memphis

2009-06-03T15:25:00.000+07:00

I'm going to be playin' Memphis, been reinstated from the PGA — John Daly, via Twitter, May 26, 5:50 a.m. EDT

As those 11 words, sent from John Daly's computer in the late-morning hours in Kent, England, hurtled through cyberspace last week, Phil Cannon, tournament director of next week's St. Jude Championship in Memphis, was already preparing for the coming storm.

It was Cannon's sponsor's exemption that officially ended Daly's exile from the PGA Tour, a six-month suspension following a spate of incidents in 2008, including a night spent in a North Carolina jail after an evening of drinking. Daly, the prodigal son of professional golf, would soon be walking in Memphis.

Cannon's phones at St. Jude Championship headquarters were beginning to ring off the hook, with folks calling to confirm the reports about Daly's imminent return and, of course, to scoop up tickets for the tournament. "I call them Daly's dailies," Cannon says. "They're the people who buy a daily ticket just to watch him play."

Cannon says he felt no queasiness about giving Daly a precious sponsor's exemption, his off-the-course combustibility notwithstanding. One year during the Memphis tournament, Daly arrived at TPC Southwind with what appeared to be fingernail scratches on both sides of his face. He said Sherrie, his fourth wife, had tried to stab him with a steak knife the night before. Despite that incident and other odd behavior over the years, Cannon prefers to highlight the positive when it comes to Daly and his support of the Memphis Tour stop.

In a year in which the St. Jude Championship lost its title sponsor, Stanford Financial, due to an alleged fraud scandal, Daly provides a crackling story line, whether he wreaks havoc or not. "I don't want to get too hyperbolic," Cannon says, "but there was another Memphian named Elvis Presley whose popularity was also hard to quantify."

Just weighed in at 225, LOST 55 POUNDS!! That's AMAZING! — Daly, via Twitter, May 17, 5:06 a.m. EDT

Like Elvis, Daly has also gone through huge weight swings, starting as the fit and mustachioed ninth alternate who won the 1991 PGA Championship, becoming the pleasantly plump bomber who won the '95 British Open, and ballooning into the obese, sweat-stained golfer who let himself go in the new millennium.

This spring, the pictures beamed across the Atlantic to the U.S. have shown a trimmed-down Daly, thanks to lap-band surgery on his stomach in February. The weight loss (he wants to get to 190 pounds), a new girlfriend (former Hooters promotional director Anna Cladakis), a new swing guru (Phil Mickelson's old coach Rick Smith) and a new habit (Twitter) have given Daly a new sheen.

But what will the Tour be getting when Daly plays in Memphis, attempts to qualify for the U.S. Open and then tees it up on another sponsor's exemption at the Buick Open in late July? Is this a new John Daly?

"I saw him on TV. He has a few more pounds to lose, but don't we all," says Jeff Maggert, who has known Daly since they competed against each other in college (Daly at Arkansas, Maggert at Texas A&M). "From my perspective it's not about him coming back and playing golf. It's about getting his life in order. You don't want to pick up the newspaper and read that something bad has happened. That's the road he's been on."

At the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, won by Steve Stricker, the emotion and focus of the week centered on Amy Mickelson's breast cancer, but Daly's return was also a topic of conversation. If Daly's Tour brethren have grown tired of his stops and starts and endless incarnations, they aren't saying so. Instead, they're softly cheering for a 43-year-old golfer entering perhaps his final act as a professional.

"He's the sweetest guy. He's always so kind to everyone he's around," says Ben Crane. "Well documented are his struggles. We simply want him to go forward."

Says Gary McCord, the Champions tour pro and CBS announcer, "Hopefully he gets a little wiser. He needs to focus and have something to do. If he's tending to his business and doing his job, it helps himself and the Tour. If he's cast adrift, who knows what's going to happen?"

MISS YOU BUB got your message!! Bad luck of the draw in Ireland w/weather but stayin focussed & workin hard practicin' — Daly, via Twitter, replies to Rick Smith, May 16, 10:15 a.m. EDT

Daly has played in seven European tour events since his suspension, interspersing competitive rounds and practice days with a strong embrace of the European life. If he is not the rock star overseas that he is in the U.S., Daly's baseline for popularity is his Open triumph at St. Andrews, the kind of cachet that never expires.

Last month Daly tied for second in the Italian Open while wearing yellow pants, one of many sartorial choices that squares nicely with the splashier golf outfits in Europe. (Daly recently signed an apparel deal with Loudmouth Golf, a California company whose celebrity roster includes former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon and rocker Alice Cooper.) And though he missed the cut at the Irish Open at Baltray, Daly used the occasion to buy an Irish wolfhound at Nutstown Kennels near Dublin. (He named the dog Greg.)

Without status on the PGA Tour and unsure of how many sponsor's exemptions he will receive (the maximum allowed is seven), Daly is instead chasing a spot in the European tour's Race for Dubai, in which the top 60 on the money list compete in the $20 million Dubai World Championship in November. Daly is 100th in earnings. But with Tiger Woods still a question mark and with Mickelson out indefinitely, Daly's wattage would provide an instant boost to the Tour. Says McCord, "[Daly] is still one of the biggest draws out here — him or Freddy [Couples]."

Says Tour veteran Bart Bryant, "It does nothing but help our Tour when John shows up and plays well. The fans know it." Problem is, Daly hasn't shown up or played well for most of the last decade, save for an out-of-nowhere win at Torrey Pines in 2004 and a stirring playoff loss to Woods at the '05 American Express Championship at San Francisco's Harding Park.

If Daly can refrain from becoming an Internet sensation — hitting tee shots off beer cans, playing shirtless and shoeless (as he did in Missouri) while doing a television interview, drinking heavily and ending up with a mug shot in an orange jumpsuit — he might last a little longer in his return from his European adventure.

After missing the cut at last week's European Open, Daly made plans to fly back to the U.S., where the PGA Tour was awaiting him. He was a new man, or at least he looked like one.

We'll have the rest of the year to see if looks can be deceiving.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1902175,00.html)

Inspired Gonzalez Blasts Past Murray Into Semi-finals

2009-06-03T15:15:00.001+07:00

Twelfth seed Fernando Gonzalez became the first Chilean to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals Tuesday after beating third seed Andy Murray of Scotland 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes. He snapped a five-match losing streak against Top 3-ranked opponents (6-23 lifetime).

Gonzalez takes a 4-3 career record against No. 23 seed Robin Soderling of Sweden into the semi-finals. Gonzalez had previously lost in the 2003 (l. to Ferrero) and 2008 (l. to Federer) quarter-finals at the second Grand Slam championship of the year.

Murray saved two break points in the second game of the match, but Gonzalez drew first blood in the seventh game when he hit a forehand winner off a short ball. The 28-year-old Gonzalez, the oldest player left in the singles draw, closed out the 40-minute first set on his fourth set point.

Murray, currently No. 3 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, responded with a service break in the sixth game of the second set. Gonzalez fell to 15-40 but saved the two break points with successive forehand winners, before missing a smash on game point. Murray eventually opened up a 4-2 lead when Gonzalez hit a forehand approach into the net. The Dunblane native did not commit an unforced error in the 31-minute second set.

Gonzalez cruised through the third set, dropping just seven points in 24 minutes. Murray grew increasingly frustrated as he dropped his serve in the second, fourth and sixth games.

Murray saved two break points with successive forehand winners in the eighth game of the fourth set, but Gonzalez clinched a 5-3 lead on his third break point with a forehand winner down the line. Serving for the set, Gonzalez failed to win a point as Murray broke back for 4-5.

Gonzalez was not to be denied his 22nd win of the year (22-5 record). Murray hit four unforced errors, including one forehand drop shot in the net, bringing to a close the pair’s third meeting. Gonzalez hit 45 winners and won 17 of 24 points on approach to the net.

World No. 12 Gonzalez won his fourth title at Vina del Mar, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament, in February. Eight of his 11 titles have been won on clay courts.

The Chilean won the 1998 Roland Garros junior title over Juan Carlos Ferrero. Only five Roland Garros junior champions have gone on to win the men’s singles title. Mats Wilander is the last to have completed the double in 1988.

Murray, 22, was working with two-time former Roland Garros finalist Alex Corretja as well as his regular coach Miles Maclagan during the European clay-court swing. He dropped to 35-6 this year, highlighted by three ATP World Tour titles.

“I played a poor third set,” said Murray. “I have to give a lot of credit to him. I’ve played him before and he hits the ball hard, but today he was hitting it huge. It’s easy to say from the side, ‘you could have done this, you could have done that’ but the guy was hitting it so hard. If that happens sometimes you have to say ‘too good’.

“Nothing surprised me about his game, but he hit his forehand great and didn’t make many errors off it. Maybe I put too many balls to this stroke. His one-two punch off the serve was pretty impressive. He was hitting forehand winners a metre or two outside the tramlines. You cannot do a whole lot about that.”

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3861.ASP)

No Let Up From Soderling; Surges Into SFs

2009-06-03T15:10:00.001+07:00

Swede Robin Soderling looked every bit a Grand Slam title contender on Tuesday, as he booked a place in the Roland Garros semi-finals – the first time he has done so in 21 Grand Slam championship appearances.

The No. 23 seed, full of confidence after beating David Ferrer and four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in previous rounds, knocked out 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 42 minutes. It was Soderling’s third straight win over Davydenko in six meetings.

Soderling, who will next meet 12th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, becomes the first Swede to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals since his coach Magnus Norman advanced to the final in 2000.

“I always knew that I could play really, really good tennis when I'm on top of my game,” said Soderling. “The thing that I'm most happy with is that I played very well now not only for this tournament, I played well last week [at the ARAG ATP World Team Championships in Dusseldorf], as well.”

Soderling will appear in his ninth ATP World Tour outdoor semi-final and only his second clay court semi-final ('04 Bastad). He has never reached an ATP World Tour-level outdoor final. All nine of his finals (3-6) have come indoors.

The 24 year old saved two break point in his opening service game – the only two opportunities Davydenko created in the match – before he broke his Russian opponent twice in succession to take a 5-0 lead. Soderling clinched the first set in just 23 minutes.

Davydenko, a semi-finalist in 2005 and 2007 celebrating his 28th birthday, was forced to save four break points early in the second set but Soderling finally made the breakthrough in the seventh game when Davydenko hit a forehand into the net.

Soderling ran through the third set to improve to eight matches unbeaten. The World No. 25 won 41 of 80 points on return of serve, nine of 13 net approaches and hit 34 winners. Davydenko, who was contesting his ninth Grand Slam championship quarter-final, hit five double faults and committed 25 unforced errors.

"I really don't know what I can say about the match," confessed Davydenko. "If I tried to play well, he played much better. He surprised me; he played faster than before. The three times I lost to him [in previous matches], I was never allowed to play well."

Soderling, who ranked a career-high No. 15 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on 2 February 2009, is guaranteed to return to the Top 20 on Monday. He has a 16-10 record on the 2009 season.

“I didn't have a very easy draw,” explained Soderling. “I played three very good clay‑court players and I played three very good matches, so of course my confidence is getting better and better.”

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3858.ASP)

Superb Soderling Sends Nadal Crashing Out

2009-06-01T19:20:00.002+07:00

World No. 25 Robin Soderling (pictured) sent shockwaves through the tennis world on Sunday afternoon at Roland Garros as he put on a superb display to record the biggest victory of his career by sending four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal crashing out 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) in the fourth round.

A packed Philippe Chatrier court watched on in disbelief as the Swede handed World No. 1 and reigning ATP World Tour champion Nadal his first defeat in 32 matches (31-1 record) at Roland Garros and his first-ever loss in a best-of-five-set clay-court match (48-1).

"This is the biggest day of my career and a day I will remember forever," said Soderling, who four weeks ago clawed just one game from Nadal in Rome. "For the first few seconds [after match point] I couldn't understand that I had won. I did everything well today and executed my game plan very well. I knew I had to go for it and be aggressive - you just can't run around pushing the ball against Rafa. But I don't want to be too happy. I have more work to do. And I need to play the same way as I did today.

"I try to keep telling myself before the match that I have to believe. Of course, I told everybody this is the biggest challenge you can have, playing Nadal, the best clay‑court player of all times on clay, best‑of‑five sets in Roland Garros. But still, I have to believe that I have a chance, otherwise there's no meaning going on the court."

Since making his debut at Roland Garros in 2005, Nadal had lost just seven sets en route to winning four successive titles and was bidding to win an unprecedented fifth straight Coupe des Mousquetaires.

"This is not a tragedy, losing here in Paris. It had to happen one day, and this is an excellent season for me," said Nadal. "Of course it's a bit sad, but I have to overcome this as quickly as possible.

"Well, all of us athletes, we know that when we walk on the court we can either win or lose. I know it for a fact anything can happen, and I have to accept them both in the same way."

The 24-year-old Soderling was appearing in his first Grand Slam fourth round and is the first Swedish man to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals since his coach, Magnus Norman went on to reach the final in 2000 (l. to Kuerten). In the Open Era, 10 different Swedish men have advanced to the Roland Garros quarter-finals.

After a low key start to the tournament, Nadal looked to have found his stride in the tournament when he dismissed Lleyton Hewitt for the loss of just five games in the third round. However, in Sunday’s encounter the Spaniard failed to reproduce the blistering form that saw off former World No. 1 Hewitt and largely struggled to impose his game at all on Soderling – who in turn played a brave match and maintained a calm demeanour until the last ball.

Aggressive play from Soderling right from the beginning kept Nadal off balance and stationed well behind the baseline as he raced to retrieve the barrage of shots struck mostly off Soderling’s firing forehand. The Swede executed to perfection and was rewarded with two breaks of serve in the first set to take it 6-2. It was the first time since the 2007 final against Federer that Nadal had lost a set at Roland Garros, and it was the second-harshest score line he had endured after the 6-1 set he lost to Federer in the 2006 final.

Nadal recovered quickly from the loss of the set and restored order early in the second set by breaking to lead 2-1 as Soderling faltered at the net. However, when the Spaniard came to serve for the set at 5-4, a forehand error granted Soderling the chance to level and he duly converted with an exquisite backhand volley. Nadal was reprieved though as Soderling could not maintain his high level in the tie-break and Nadal’s consistency prevailed to level the match at one-set all.

Where fans may have expected Soderling to be disheartened by the loss of the second set, the Swede was quick to dispel his doubters by remaining unfazed and rediscovered his top form from the first two sets. With Nadal struggling to impose his game on Soderling, the Swede stepped up to dictate play and expose the chinks in Nadal’s armour.

A rifling backhand into the corner earned Soderling two break points in the seventh game and he clinched a crucial break of serve with a strong backhand throwing Nadal off balance and forcing the error. Soderling, who had won just 11 matches in 2009 coming into Roland Garros, kept his composure when serving for the set at 5-4 and Nadal was powerless to defend against the big-hitting that clinched a two-sets-to-one lead for Soderling.

The 22-year-old Nadal looked set to mount the inevitable fight back at the start of the fourth set as he capitalised on a loose game from Soderling to break and lead 2-0. The Swede did not panic though and quickly regained the momentum by breaking back to love, sealing the game as an under-pressure Nadal hit a forehand long. With neither player able to make further impact on the other’s serve, the set went to a must-win tie-break for Nadal.

The Mallorcan, who was 6-1 lifetime in tie-break sets at Roland Garros prior to this match, still could not find his best tennis though and a stinging backhand pass – one of 61 winners he hit in the match - earned Soderling a mini-break lead at 3-1. An uncharacteristic error from Nadal handed Soderling the 4-1 advantage and he held both his service points to earn five match points at 6-1 – stunning the Philippe Chatrier court. Nadal’s fighting spirit saw him save the first with a forehand winner, but a forehand volley wide from the left-hander brought the crowd to their feet as he finally succumbed after three hours and 30 minutes.

"He didn't surprise me because I know how he plays, how dangerous he can be," said Nadal. "I didn't play my best tennis. No, I didn't attack in no one moment. I played very short, and I made it very easy for him to play at this level.

"I never was calm; that's the truth. The match started off very badly for me. Sometimes it's not enough fighting. You have to play a good level of tennis.

"Sometimes people think I win because I'm physically fit, but, no. When I win, it's because I play well, and that wasn't the case today. I must say that at key moments I couldn't take the opportunity because I was losing my calm, and I didn't play well."

In his second-round win over Teimuraz Gabashvili, Nadal set an all-time record for consecutive match wins at Roland Garros. Had he defeated Soderling in straight sets on Sunday, he would have achieved the longest streak of consecutive sets won at any major since Borg won 41 in-a-row at Roland Garros between 1979 and 1981. His record, though, was ended at 32 – the second-longest streak in Roland Garros history behind Borg’s.

The Manacor resident had looked virtually infallible in the lead up to Roland Garros, suffering just one loss on clay to Roger Federer in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open the day after he had saved three match points and spent four hours and three minutes on court in a dramatic semi-final win over Novak Djokovic. He had successfully defended his titles at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (d. Djokovic) and Barcelona (d. Ferrer) and regained the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome title that he had won from 2005-7 with victory over Djokovic.

The left-hander had given himself the chance of winning the Grand Slam after winning his sixth Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open with back-to-back five-set victories over Fernando Verdasco and Roger Federer. He also added to his collection of 36 tour-level titles with victory at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells (d. Murray).

In contrast, Soderling came into Roland Garros with an 11-10 match record on the season, highlighted by a semi-final showing at Auckland (l. to del Potro) and a quarter-final exit at Brisbane (l. to Stepanek).

The Tibro native’s best previous Grand Slam performances were third-round showings at 2008 Roland Garros, 2007 Wimbledon, the 2005 US Open and 2003 Wimbledon. The last Swedish player to reach a Grand Slam final was Thomas Johansson at the 2002 Australian Open, when he defeated Marat Safin

Soderling, who reached a career-high No. 15 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings in February this year, improved to a 13-32 win-loss record against Top 10 players having now won four of his past eight such meetings.

Soderling goes on to face Russian No. 10 seed Nikolay Davydenko, who caused a slight upset as he ousted eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Davydenko, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2005 (l. to Puerta) and 2007 (l. to Federer), committed just six unforced errors and hit 24 winners as he converted five of nine break points in the two-hour, 22-minute match.

The 27-year-old Davydenko, the only remaining Russian in the draw from the eight that started, has bounced back strongly from a left-heel injury that kept him sidelined for three months at the start of the season. Since returning, he has made semi-final showings at Barcelona (l. to Nadal) and Estoril (l. to Blake) and reached the quarter-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Murray).

World No. 8 Verdasco, who had not dropped a set en route to the fourth round, enjoyed a Grand Slam break through at the start of the season when he defeated World No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route to the Australian Open semi-finals – where he lost to eventual champion Nadal in an epic five-set match. It is the first time this season that the 25 year old has not reached at least the quarter-finals in a tournament.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3841.ASP)

Federer, Monfils, Haas Advance In Four Sets; Roddick Breaks New Ground In Paris

2009-05-31T14:56:00.001+07:00

Three-time Roland Garros finalist and World No. 2 Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round for the 20th consecutive time in a Grand Slam tournament as he came back to beat No. 32 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The Swiss superstar, who came into Paris after winning the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Madrid, won his eighth consecutive match. He also improved to 35-10 lifetime at Roland Garros.

After losing the first set, Federer took control of the second set by breaking twice. In the third set, Federer broke in the ninth game and then served it out. Federer broke again early in the third set and then lost his serve in the fourth game on a backhand error. But Federer broke to take a 4-3 on a backhand winner and held on for his fourth victory in as many meetings against the Frenchman.

Federer fired 14 aces and overall hit 59 winners while committing only 29 unforced errors in the two-hour and 46-minute match. He converted five of 16 break points while saving five of seven on his serve.

"I'm disappointed with nothing and I'm happy I won," said Federer, who is 29-6 on the season. "I missed some opportunities in the first set and he played well. But as I said, we didn't have much rhythm. I was trying to put the ball in, but in that case it's difficult to win all the points. That's why he stayed into the match. He had more rhythm in the beginning. It was more difficult for me. I was not feeling my serve very well. But as the match progressed, I felt better with my serve. It's always dangerous to lose the first set."

He will take on German Tommy Haas, who is the only unseeded player and oldest player remaining at 31. Haas pulled out a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over young Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who reached the fourth round last year. Former World No. 2 Haas hit 53 winners, including 16 aces, and converted six of 12 break point chances in the two-hour and 37-minute match.

Haas, currently No. 63 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, is through to the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in seven years. The last time he advanced to the fourth round or better in a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2007 US Open, where he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Davydenko). His best results at a major have come at the Australian Open, where he is a three-time semi-finalist. Haas came into Roland Garros with two quarter-final showings in 2009 – at San Jose (l. to Roddick) and Houston (l. to Phau).

World No. 6 and 2003 ATP World Tour Champion Andy Roddick reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in eight appearances with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Frenchman Marc Gicquel.

The newly-married American, who played just one clay-court tournament in the lead up to Roland Garros, is yet to drop a set in his most successful Roland Garros campaign and demonstrated his new-found confidence on the clay in an impressive performance against World No. 46 Gicquel. Roddick raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first set with two breaks of serve and a strong serving display before closing out the one-set lead in 28 minutes. In the seventh game of the second set, a double fault from Gicquel presented Roddick with two break points and the Texas resident duly claimed the decisive break at the second opportunity as Gicquel’s drop shot landed in the net.

A comprehensive third set saw Roddick break in the third game with an accurate forehand passing shot and he claimed victory after one hour and 44 minutes as Gicquel returned a serve long.

The 26-year-old Roddick hit 27 winners to just 11 unforced errors, compared to an unforced error count of 25 for Gicquel. The Austin, Texas resident was dominant on serve, saving all three break points he faced and winning 84 per cent of points behind his first serve.

Roddick will next meet No. 11-seeded and last year's semi-finalist Gael Monfils, who defeated No. 24 seed Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The pair have split the previous six meetings with Roddick winning the past two earlier this year in Doha and Miami but the Frenchman is 2-0 on clay.

Monfils, who has been bothered with a knee injury for most of the European clay court circuit, is playing in his first tournament since Monte-Carlo in mid-April. Thus far he has only dropped one set en route to the fourth round.

"It was not hurting that much and it was hurting less," said Monfils. "I knew how to move on the court, and I'm really satisfied with my knee. I've taken care of it. I spend a lot of time on it, and it seems it works well. So I'll continue like this, and I'll be very careful."

Monfils is looking forward to the second week in Paris for the third time in the past four years. "Now it's going to be week No. 2, which is quite pleasant, week No. 2 in a Grand Slam," said the No. 10th-ranked Frenchman. "This is quite enjoyable, and unfortunately I've not had enough opportunities to play on clay this season, so I have many regrets. Many regrets because I know I can win a number of matches. I could have won more matches."

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3823.ASP)

Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Everton

2009-05-31T14:49:00.002+07:00

90+4 mins - Webb blows the full-time whistle and Chelsea have won The FA Cup for the fifth time to give their Temporary Manager the perfect send off. Goals from Drogba and Lampard are enough to give Chelsea their first trophy since 2007.

90+3 mins - Baines is booked for bringing down Jose Bosingwa on the edge of the area.

90+2 mins - Anelka outpaces Lescott to reach Lampard's ball forward, but he is unable to convert.

90 mins - With time running out, Cahill shoots from distance but it bends just wide. There are to be four added minutes.

88 mins - Chelsea left-back, Ashley Cole, is named the 'E.ON Man of the Match' as the clock ticks towards the 90-minute mark.

84 mins - Lampard receives a booking from Webb after he was adjudged to have dived under a challenge from Pienaar. The attendance at Wembley is 89, 391.

83 mins - Danny Gosling, Everton's hero against Liverpool in the Fourth Round, replaces Leon Osman.

81 mins - Howard collects a backward header from Drogba, before setting Everton up on the counter attack. Vaughan's first meaningful contribution since coming off the bench sees him send in a delicious cross from the left, but Cech gets his hand to the ball with Cahill lurking menacingly.

78 mins - Chelsea's French winger tries to atone for his earlier miss with an audacious attempt - another from distance - which cannons off the bar.

77 mins - Everton's goalscorer, Saha, is replaced by James Vaughan as Everton look for the equalising goal.

75 mins - After Cole expertly controls Drogba's cross field ball, Malouda should have extended Chelsea's lead, but shoots over after escaping the offside trap.

74 mins - Pienaar attempts to restore parity immediately, but his shot lacks direction.

72 mins - GOAL! After his sighter in the first half, Lampard drives Chelsea into the lead with just under 20 minutes left to play. He is found by Anelka almost 25 yards from goal, he turns Neville but is forced to hit the ball with his left foot following a slip. It matters not as his powerful shot bends away from Howard and into the corner of the net. It is one of the best goals we have seen in an FA Cup Final in recent years.

70 mins - Malouda bursts down the left and flashes the ball across the box at pace, but it is too fierce for Drogba to do anything with and it just cannons off the Ivorian and hits the stanchion.

67 mins - An Everton free-kick almost gives David Moyes' side the lead. Leighton Baines is played in down the left and his pinpoint cross is met by Saha who heads over from close range, when he should have at least hit the target.

63 mins - John Obi Mikel is the first Chelsea player to receive a caution this afternoon.

62 mins - Cahill and Terry climb for a high ball and the break favours the Australian. He drives the ball goalwards from distance, but Cech is right behind it.

61 mins - Guus Hiddink makes his first change of the afternoon as Essien is replaced by Michael Ballack.

60 mins - Lampard threads the ball through for Anelka to run on to, but the Frenchman can only lift the ball over the bar from an angle.

57 mins - Both sets of fans really turn up the volume at Wembley as they try to urge their team to victory with just over half an hour remaining.

51 mins - Alex cuts out a through ball from Pienaar which seemed destined to send Saha on his way.

50 mins - Malouda sends a ball high into the crowd from a corner.

48 mins - Everton skipper, Phil Neville, is the second player in Webb's notebook.

46 mins - Everton make one change at the break with Lars Jacobsen replacing Tony Hibbert at right-back. Drogba and Lampard get the second half up and running.

45+2 mins - Webb sounds his whistle and this FA Cup Final reaches its halfway point with the score locked at 1-1.

45 mins - There are to be two added minutes at the end of the first half.

44 mins - Cole benefits from a Fellaini deflection and embarks on a foray into the Everton area, but he slices his shot harmlessly wide.

36 mins - Pienaar then tries to thread the ball through to the Toffess' goalscorer, but John Terry is on hand to clear.

34 mins - Everton clear a Lampard corner, allowing Steven Pienaar to gallop into the Chelsea half. He finds Saha who chips the ball forward for Tim Cahill, but the ball has slightly too much weight on it and Cech collects.

23 mins - Having recovered from Saha's hammer blow, Guus Hiddink's side now attempt to take the lead. Lampard attempts a trademark long-range effort but it's narrowly too high to trouble Howard.

21 mins - GOAL! The Toffee faithful are soon silenced by Drogba's equaliser for Chelsea. Drogba gets ahead of Lescott on the edge of the six yard box to head home a Malouda centre. It is Drogba's second Cup Final goal in three years after his winner against Manchester United in 2007.

19 mins - Buoyed by Saha's opening goal, the Everton fans are in good voice as they long for their first FA Cup Final victory since 1995.

15 mins - Fellaini chases a bouncing ball into the Chelsea area, but he can't quite jump high enough and Cech gathers.

14 mins - Chelsea are beginning to see more of the ball and create another opportunity to equalise. Michael Essien fires a shot high and wide after being set-up by Drogba.

12 mins - Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda threaten down the left flank only to be foiled by Howard, but the Assistant Referees flag is raised for an offside against Cole.

8 mins - Frank Lampard sends a free-kick into the Everton box, but it dips harmlessly over Howard's bar. Tony Hibbert receives a yellow card from referee Howard Webb.

5 mins - After recovering from the very early setback, Chelsea begin to assert themselves. Nicolas Anelka crosses for Didier Drogba, but a combination of Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott prevents the Ivorian from doing any damage.

1 min - GOAL! Amazing scenes here at Wembley! Louis Saha writes himself into the history books by scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history, slamming the ball home after just 25 seconds. A Steven Pienaar cross is nodded down by Marouane Fellaini and Saha fires the ball beyond Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal. The Everton fans go wild.

You can follow the action between the Blues of Chelsea and Everton here on TheFA.com and via our Twitter. To register for our updates go to www.twitter.com/thefadotcom.

The Teams

Chelsea
1 Petr Cech, 3 Ashley Cole, 5 Michael Essien (13 Michael Ballack, 61), 8 Frank Lampard, 11 Didier Drogba, 12 Mikel John Obi, 15 Florent Malouda, 17 Jose Bosingwa, 26 John Terry (c), 33 Alex, 39 Nicolas Anelka
Subs 40 Henrique Hilario, 2 Branislav Ivanovic, 9 Franco Di Santo, 21 Salomon Kalou, 35 Juliano Belletti, 42 Michael Mancienne

Everton
24 Tim Howard, 2 Tony Hibbert (15 Lars Jacobsen, 46), 3 Leighton Baines, 4 Joseph Yobo, 5 Joleon Lescott, 9 Louis Saha (14 James Vaughan, 77), 17 Tim Cahill, 18 Phil Neville (c), 20 Steven Pienaar, 21 Leon Osman (32 Dan Gosling, 83), 25 Marouane Fellaini
Subs 1 Carlo Nash, 8 Segundo Castillo, 26 Jack Rodwell, 37 Jose Baxter

Kit Colours
Chelsea Yellow shirts, yellow shorts and yellow socks
Everton Blue shirts, white shorts and white socks

Fans
Chelsea West End
Everton East End

Match Officials
Referee Howard Webb
Assistants Michael Mullarkey and David Richardson
Fourth Official Martin Atkinson

Did you know?

Everton last appeared in an FA Cup Final in 1995, beating Manchester United 1-0.
Chelsea's last appearance in The FA Cup Final was just two years ago. They also beat United 1-0.
This is the 128th season of The FA Cup, and it will be the 75th FA Cup Final at Wembley.
The First Final was played at Kennington Oval in 1872, a 2,000 crowd paid a shilling (5p) each to watch.
This season’s Cup has had 925 matches and 3,035 goals. The biggest win was Mildenhall Town 8 Felixstowe & Walton United 0 in the Extra Preliminary Round (Attendance 166).
The Final will be seen by 90,000 fans inside Wembley and nearly 500 million around the globe on television.
The 88,141 crowd for Manchester United v Everton at Wembley last month was the highest ever for a Semi-Final.
Chelsea and Everton have already played in 20 Finals between them. Chelsea have lifted The Cup four times and Everton five times.
Twins Amar and Arjun Purewal scored for Bishop Auckland against Darlington RA in this season’s Extra Preliminary Round in August.

(From Website : http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2009/TheFACupFinal2009.aspx)

Awesome Nadal Crushes Hewitt; Murray, Cilic To Meet

2009-05-30T09:00:00.002+07:00

Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal made clear his intentions to triumph once more at Roland Garros by lifting his game to clip former ATP World Tour No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the fourth round in Paris on Friday.

After a relatively low-key start to the tournament for Nadal by his exceedingly high standards, tennis fans looked with anticipation to see what challenge two-time Grand Slam champion Hewitt would present to the Spaniard. Nadal duly responded by significantly raising his level and, despite great tenacity and fine tactics from Hewitt, sent out a clear message to all his rivals with a resounding victory over the Australian.

Nadal was fast out of the blocks in the third match of the day on Philippe Chatrier, rallying from 0-40 in Hewitt’s opening service game to break the Australian and open up a 3-0 lead. The left-hander wore Hewitt down from the baseline, consistently coaxing him into unforced errors as the Adelaide native tried to go for too much in an attempt to get the ball past Nadal. A second break of serve in the sixth game aided Nadal as he closed out the one-set lead after 30 minutes.

Fans were treated to a taster of what might have been early in the second set as Hewitt reeled off three straight games to recover from an early break of serve and lead 3-2, courtesy of some varied and attacking play from the right-hander. However, it only served to further intensify Nadal - who accordingly raised his level to win the next four games and quash Hewitt’s resistance. The third set was a more straightforward affair for Nadal, with breaks in the first and sixth games spurring him on to victory after one hour and 51 minutes.

The loss for Hewitt, who is making his way back up the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings after undergoing hip surgery last August, extended his losing streak against Top 10 opponents to 14 matches. The two-time Roland Garros quarter-finalist won his 27th tour-level title at his first clay-court event of the season in Houston (d. Odesnik) and marked his 500th singles win in the first round in Munich (d. Petzschner).

The 22-year-old Nadal has won a record 31 successive matches at Roland Garros since making his debut in 2005. The Mallorcan has also won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros, the second-longest winning streak in the tournament’s history behind Bjorn Borg (41). He has enjoyed near-perfect preparation for his assault on a fifth straight title, winning three clay-court titles at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo and Rome and on home soil in Barcelona. The only blemish on his 2009 clay-court record is the loss he suffered to Roger Federer in the final of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid.

Next in line for Nadal will be No. 23 seed Robin Soderling, who battled past 14th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(5). The Swede hit 64 winners and converted six of 17 break points, including winning 73 per cent of points at the net, to edge through in three hours and 36 minutes. Nadal has a 3-0 career record against Soderling, including two wins on clay.

World No. 25 Soderling is through to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time after winning his 15th match of the season. He is the 20th Swedish man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros, and the first to do so since Jonas Bjorkman in 2007.

World No. 3 Andy Murray was granted a place in the Roland Garros fourth round for the first time when Janko Tipsarevic retired due to a hip injury with Murray leading 7-6(3), 6-3. Murray had fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set, with Tipsarevic also serving for the set at 6-5, to claim the one-set lead on a tie-break before clinching a more routine second set.

The 22-year-old Murray made his Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon (l. to Nadal) in 2008, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time before advancing to his first major final at the US Open in September (l. to Federer). He is the first Briton to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Tim Henman made the semi-finals in 2004 (l. to Coria).

The Dunblane native has won three hard-court titles in 2009, at Doha (d. Roddick), Rotterdam (d. Nadal) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (d. Djokovic) and entered Roland Garros with the third-best (31-5) match record on the season. Under the guidance of Alex Corretja, he reached his first clay-court semi-final at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) and reached the quarter-finals in Madrid (l. to del Potro).

Murray will take a 2-0 career lead into his fourth-round clash with Marin Cilic. The No. 13 seed from Croatia was ruthless in his 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Czech No. 18 seed Radek Stepanek, hitting 40 winners and converting five of 14 break points.

The 20-year-old Cilic has matched his best showing at a Grand Slam, having reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2008 and 2009 and at 2008 Wimbledon. It is the first time that the right-hander has won three successive clay-court matches since reaching the Gstaad semi-finals in 2006. The Zagreb resident has compiled a 27-8 match record on the season, highlighted by winning two ATP World Tour titles at Chennai (d. Devvarman) and Zagreb (d. Ancic). He is currently a career-high No. 13 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3819.ASP)

PediaFire.Com

Stylish Barcelona take United's crown

2009-05-28T09:55:00.001+07:00

FC Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United FC

FC Barcelona were crowned European champions for a third time – and the second in four seasons – as a vibrant display of pass and move, capped by goals in either half from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi, defeated Manchester United FC in Rome.

Holders toppled
United, bidding to become the first team to successfully defend the trophy in the UEFA Champions League era, began an open contest at breakneck speed as Cristiano Ronaldo threatened three times. After ten minutes, however, Eto'o put the Spanish champions ahead and they never looked back. Xavi Hernández struck a post early in the second period and, though the clinching second goal did not arrive until the 70th minute – via, unusually, the head of Messi – Josep Guardiola's side were worthy winners. The 38-year-old becomes the sixth man to lift the European Champion Clubs' Cup as player and coach; United are the sixth club to lose the final as holders.

Relentless Ronaldo
Fourteen of the players who started the game had featured in a UEFA Champions League final before, yet initially it seemed United's experience would prove more telling. Ronaldo made his presence felt by unleashing a dipping free-kick that Víctor Valdés could only parry; former United defender Gerard Piqué's last-ditch tackle prevented Ji-Sung Park from converting the rebound. Ronaldo then had Valdés scrambling across goal twice in as many minutes with shots from distance. If an early breakthrough looked imminent, disastrously for United it arrived when Barcelona struck with their first real attack.

Eto'o brilliance
Fit-again Andrés Iniesta was the orchestrator, finding Eto'o inside the area, but there was still plenty for the striker to do with Nemanja Vidić in close attendance. One swift turn inside the centre-back later, Eto'o was free to prod a shot inside Edwin van der Sar's near post. United's vocal supporters were stunned into silence and their team mirrored that reaction, with Barcelona enjoying the better of the half thereafter. Perhaps not surprisingly against the competition's best defence, however, clear chances were at a premium. Long-range efforts from Messi and Xavi, and a low Messi cross fumbled by Van der Sar, were the best Barça could muster.

United reprieves
Sir Alex Ferguson had said beforehand that his best team-talks "usually come to me about three in the morning" and the Scot sorely needed inspiration in his half-time instructions, opting to introduce Carlos Tévez for Anderson. This did little to stem the tide. Thierry Henry tricked his way past Rio Ferdinand only to shoot weakly against Van der Sar before Xavi curled a free-kick beyond the keeper, the post coming to United's rescue. Then Wayne Rooney's right-wing centre bounced over Park's lunge as the holders began to edge their way back into proceedings, disrupting Barcelona's rhythm though creating little of their own.

Messi decisive
Twenty minutes from time, that hard work was undone. Xavi was allowed to advance down the right; with time and space, the midfielder measured a pinpoint cross for Messi, enjoying similar freedom, and the UEFA Champions League's top scorer produced a fabulous header for his ninth goal of this campaign. Valdés promptly denied Ronaldo to preserve the two-goal cushion, yet the better openings continued to come at the other end – Van der Sar frustrating Carles Puyol twice and Iniesta. Sir Alex therefore missed out on joining Bob Paisley as the only manager to lift three European Cups. Instead, Guardiola's superbly inventive Barça became the first Spanish side to win league, cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season.

(From Website : )

Djokovic Advances; Tsonga Wins All-French Tussle

2009-05-27T17:11:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 4 Novak Djokovic (pictured) advanced to the Roland Garros second round after a strong opening performance against Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti in Paris on Tuesday. The Serbian’s commanding performance saw him open up a 6-3, 3-1 lead over Lapentti before the former Top 10 player was forced to retire with an ankle injury.

Djokovic broke early to lead 3-1 in cool and blustery conditions on a Tuesday that had earlier been interrupted by heavy showers in the French capital. With the Serbian well on top, he was put at an even greater advantage when former No. 6 Lapentti injured his ankle mid-point when trailing 2-5. The Guayaquil native immediately sought attention from the trainer and after strapping had been applied to his ankle he carried on to allow Djokovic to close out the first set 6-3. Djokovic then further added to the Ecuadorian’s woes by breaking at the start of the second set and Lapentti was forced to retire after Djokovic held for a 3-1 lead.

Djokovic, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last Friday, is bidding to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals or better for the fourth straight year, after losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the 2006 quarter-final and in the semi-finals in 2007 and ‘08. The Belgrade native won his lone Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open, with victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The right-handed Djokovic comes into his fifth Roland Garros appearance in strong form after enjoying much success in the European clay-court swing. Djokovic, who has a 38-11 match record on the season, reached back-to-back finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Monte-Carlo and Rome – where he was thwarted by Rafael Nadal on both occasions – before capturing his inaugural home-town title with victory over Lukasz Kubot.

He completed his Roland Garros preparations by reaching the semi-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid, where he held three match points before being foiled once more by Nadal.

Djokovic next will face Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, who rallied from a one-set deficit to knock out Argentina’s Brian Dabul 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3. It was the first Grand Slam main draw win for World No. 110 Stakhovsky.

No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came through an all-French tussle with Julien Benneteau, prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win his first match at Roland Garros. The 24 year old lost to Andy Roddick on his only previous appearance in 2005.

The Le Mans native has enjoyed his strongest results on hard court in 2009, winning two ATP World Tour titles at Johannesburg (d. Chardy) and Marseille (d. Llodra) and reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (l. to Verdasco) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Djokovic). The right-hander's greatest Grand Slam performance came at the 2008 Australian Open where, ranked No. 38, he defeated No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals to reach his first major final (l. to Djokovic).

Tsonga next will face Argentine Juan Monaco, who handed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus his second successive first-round loss at Roland Garros with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win. Monaco capitalised on 41 unforced errors from Baghdatis to seal victory in one hour as 56 minutes. Tsonga won his only previous meeting with Monaco in the first round of the 2009 Australian Open.

Spanish No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo made a confident start to his Roland Garros campaign with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 victory over French wild card Adrian Mannarino. The 27 year old combated losing his own serve three times by converting 10 of 23 break point chances and hitting 21 winners to wrap up victory in just 98 minutes.

Robredo is a three-time former quarter-finalist at Roland Garros (2003, 2005, 2007), making it his most successful Grand Slam. The right-hander improved to a 29-10 match record on the season and has enjoyed his strongest results on clay – winning his eighth and ninth ATP World Tour titles at Costa do Sauipe (d. Bellucci) and Buenos Aires (d. Monaco).

The Hostalric native next will face Spanish compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who advanced when Russian Evgeny Korolev was forced to retire injured with Gimeno-Traver leading 6-4.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, the No. 29 seed from Germany, made light work of his first-round encounter against Australian Bernard Tomic, hitting 23 winners and breaking serve eight times as he defeated the wild card entrant 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

He goes on to face 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, who prevailed over past Roland Garros semi-finalist Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 17 minutes. The 29-year-old Ferrero has a 31-8 record at Roland Garros, where he was also a finalist in 2002 (l. to Costa). This past April, he ended a five-year title drought by clinching the clay title at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Estoril (d. Serra).

Argentine Maximo Gonzalez booked his place in the second round as he upset No. 22-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4). World No. 71 Gonzalez hit 39 winners and converted five of 13 break points to secure victory after two hours and 47 minutes. The 25 year old also reached the Roland Garros second round last year, defeating Roko Karanusic in five sets before losing to Mikhail Youzhny.

Gonzalez next will meet Italian Andreas Seppi, who accounted for last week’s Kitzbuehel champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to avoid a fourth successive first-round exit at Roland Garros.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3791.ASP)

Premier League Football News

2009-05-25T10:43:00.002+07:00

West Ham United 2-1 Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough's relegation from the Barclays Premier League was confirmed with this away defeat.

Gareth Southgate's men needed a big victory and for results to go their way but they failed to do their part, with Junior Stanislas' weak shot sneaking past Boro keeper Brad Jones for the winner at Upton Park.

Carlton Cole had given the Hammers a first-half lead but Boro were given hope when Gary O'Neil levelled and their relegation rivals were losing.

Arsenal 4-1 Stoke City

Arsenal finished the season on a high with victory over Stoke City at the Emirates Stadium.

An own goal from James Beattie was swiftly followed up by a penalty from Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby's bullet header.

Stoke, safe from any last-day relegation drama, pulled a goal back from the spot through Ricardo Fuller, only for Rory Delap to then gift van Persie his second four minutes before half-time.

Sunderland 2-3 Chelsea

Guus Hiddink's Barclays Premier League reign ended with a win as hosts Sunderland stayed up.

Ashley Cole struck four minutes from time to effectively clinch victory, although Kenwyne Jones' 90th-minute header set up a grandstand finish.

Nicolas Anelka had put Chelsea ahead with a 47th-minute piledriver and substitute Salomon Kalou restored the lead with 16 minutes remaining after Kieran Richardson had levelled.

Fulham 0-2 Everton

Despite going down to two goals from Everton's Leon Osman, Fulham clinched a place in the Europa League.

Everton made sure of fifth place in the Barclays Premier League with a comfortable victory over Fulham.

A brace from Osman, one in each half, helped the Toffees warm-up for next week's FA Cup final against Chelsea.

Fulham's season still ended on a high, though, as Tottenham Hotspur's defeat at Liverpool assured them of seventh place and qualification for next season's Europa League.

Hull City 0-1 Manchester United

Hull City have stayed in the Barclays Premier League despite losing their final fixture.

As expected, Manchester United rotated their squad ahead of the Champions League final and fielded several youngsters.

The champions took the lead on 24 minutes with a stunning 25-yard drive from Darron Gibson from just outside the left corner of the area. The ball arrowed across goal and into the far top right corner.

City were unable to find an equaliser but Newcastle United's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa ensured the Tigers remain in the top flight.

Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool claimed runners-up spot and denied Tottenham Hotspur European football with this victory.

The Reds stretched their unbeaten home record to 30 matches with this comfortable win at Anfield.

Fernando Torres' opener, an own goal from Alan Hutton and the third from Yossi Benayoun secured the points.

Spurs hit back with a second-half effort from Robbie Keane on his return to Anfield, but defeat ensured Spurs will not be playing in Europe next season.

(All From Website : http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines)

Sabbatini, Mallinger lead after 3 rounds at Nelson

2009-05-24T22:12:00.001+07:00

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Rory Sabbatini has already won at Hogan's Alley. Now he shares the lead going into the final round at Byron Nelson's tournament.

"Anything associated with his name would be an absolute honor," Sabbatini said after a 5-under 65 Saturday to keep a share of the lead at the Byron Nelson Championship.

Two years after his last victory, at the Colonial where Ben Hogan's larger-than-life statue is prominent, Sabbatini is in position to win again after five birdies in a seven-hole stretch midway through his third round.

Sabbatini and John Mallinger, who entered the third round tied as co-leaders, both shot 65 to get to 13-under 197. That is two strokes ahead of three other players.

"Obviously got off to a good start, just putting the ball in the right spots, putting it on the greens, hitting some good putts," Sabbatini said. "And then never really got anything going until No. 5."

Even for the day until he got to the 174-yard fifth hole, Sabbatini's pin-high tee shot rolled back and lipped the cup to set up a 3-foot birdie. He also had three consecutive birdies before making the turn, capped by a 41-footer on the 427-yard ninth hole.

Mallinger, without a win in his first 76 PGA Tour events, had his second consecutive 65. The bogey-free round was much different from Friday, when he had two eagles, four birdies and three bogeys.

"Today was the type of golf that I like to play. Normally, that's my game," Mallinger said. "I kind of had a game plan going in and I stuck with it. I executed, and that was the biggest thing. Being the leader, it was always a little different feeling."

Dustin Johnson struggled after going 6 under through eight holes. He shot 66 to get in at 11 under with D.A. Points (65) and Brian Davis (66). At 10 under were Kevin Streelman (64), Glen Day (65) and Briny Baird (67), who was 5 under through seven holes before three bogeys in a five-hole stretch.

Sabbatini, playing only a few miles from his home this week and next at the Colonial, had a season-low round of 64 Friday. Now he has the best two-round stretch of the season.

After his only bogey, when he missed fairway at No. 14 and had to punch out short of the water, Sabbatini got that stroke back with an 11-foot birdie at No. 15.

Sabbatini wore a pink ribbon atop his cap, the symbol for breast cancer awareness. Phil Mickelson this week indefinitely suspended his golfing schedule following wife Amy's diagnosis.

"Phil and Amy Mickelson are definitely forefront in everyone's thoughts out here," Sabbatini said. "We all know that she's a strong and determined person, and she'll pull through it."

Mallinger made a 9-foot birdie at the 528-yard third, and tapped in for par on the next hole after missing an 8-footer. Consecutive birdies followed, and his only other birdies after that came at Nos. 14 and 15.

Sabbatini had supporters wearing black T-shirts that read "Rory's Rowdy Roadies" on the front and "Team Sabo" on the back. One of the supporters in Mallinger's gallery was his tennis-playing buddy Mark Knowles, who delayed his trip to Paris for doubles competition at the French Open.

"He was supposed to take off (Saturday), and we had a bet if I got in the leader group he had to change his flight," said Mallinger, who has to go to Paris if Knowles makes the finals.

Because of the threat of thunderstorms, players teed off in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10 and everyone was done by mid-afternoon without any delays or rain. There will be normal tee times with twosomes off No. 1 in the final round.

Davis (66) was in the last-group threesome that included the leaders. He had two birdies the first three holes before the first of his four bogeys.

Johnson was 13 under when he capped a streak of four consecutive birdies with a 9-footer at the 461-yard No. 8 after hitting his approach from the rough.

But Johnson then went right and then left on consecutive wayward tee shots, taking penalty strokes on both. The tee shot at the 427-yard ninth hole went into the water and his 33-foot par putt slid just right of the cup.

After hitting his drive at the 435-yard 10th way left into an unplayable lie near more water, Johnson momentarily stood on the box staring ahead. Once he got to his ball, he took a drop in an adjacent fairway and knocked the approach to 3 feet to save par.

He had three bogeys the final six holes, including the par-5 16th.

"Turning on the back I struggled with my tee balls a lot," Johnson said. "I ended up with 66, so that's never bad. I'm right there in it."

Divots: PGA Tour rookie Marc Leishman had a career-low round of 63, the best of the day. Starting on the back nine, Leishman had three consecutive birdies, back-to-back bogeys and then three more birdies before his first par came on No. 18. ... There are four defending Nelson champions still playing. The closest to the leaders is 1987 winner Fred Couples at 8-under 202 after his three rounds in the 60s.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1900713,00.html)

Germany To Meet Serbia In Final

2009-05-23T19:17:00.002+07:00

Host nation Germany will meet Serbia in Saturday’s final at the ARAG ATP World Team Championship at the Rochusclub in Dusseldorf.

RED GROUP: Germany beats Sweden 2-1
Germany booked its place in the final on Friday, after recovering from a 0-1 overnight deficit against Sweden.

Nicolas Kiefer and Mischa Zverev dramatically clinched Germany a spot in the eight-nation team final for the first time since 2006, when the pair saved one match point against Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt and Robin Soderling in the Match tie-break. Kiefer and Zverev saved one match point at 9-10 in the Match tie-break en route to a 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-11 triumph in one hour and 33 minutes on Center Court I.

Earlier in the day, Philipp Kohlschreiber had got Germany back to 1-1 in the Red Group decider. Kohlschreiber saved all five break points he faced to beat World No. 657 Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden 6-1, 6-2 in 71 minutes. The 25 year old improved to 3-0 in singles play this week and 18-9 on the 2009 ATP World Tour season.

On Thursday, Soderling thrashed Rainer Schuettler 6-0, 6-0 in the opening singles rubber. Sweden, the defending champions, and Germany both came into the tie with 2-0 records this week.

BLUE GROUP: Serbia beats Italy 2-1
Serbia advanced to Saturday’s final when Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki combined to beat Italians Francesco Piccari and Andreas Seppi 6-0, 7-6(5) in 69 minutes. Serbia completed the Blue Group with a 3-0 record in round-robin ties.

Earlier in the day, World No. 72 Janko Tipsarevic helped Serbia to 1-1 after beating World No. 406 Piccari 6-2, 6-3 in 73 minutes. Tipsarevic hit five aces and converted five of nine break point opportunities to record his 12th win of the season (12-13 record). The 24 year old is 1-2 in singles play this week, which includes a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russian Stanislav Vovk on Tuesday.

BLUE GROUP: Argentina beats Russia 3-0
Argentina won its second tie of the week on Friday, after Maximo Gonzalez – a late replacement for Juan Monaco, who is still recovering from a left wrist injury – defeated Evgeny Korolev of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes. Gonzalez hit five aces and won 57 of 85 service points.

Gonzalez and Juan Martin del Potro were later tied at 2-2 against Russians Evgeny Korolev and Dmitry Tursunov in the doubles rubber, when Korolev retired after 19 minutes of play with a left ankle injury.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3746.ASP)

Final practice - Alonso has the edge on Button

2009-05-23T19:12:00.000+07:00

A fantastic qualifying session is in prospect this afternoon after Fernando Alonso narrowly set the fastest time for Renault in Saturday morning’s final practice hour.

The Spaniard lapped in 1m 15.164s, the fastest time thus far this weekend. It was just enough to dislodge Brawn’s Jenson Button, who had earlier popped up at the top for the first time with 1m 15.233s.

But right behind the Englishman, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (1m 15.278s), Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello (1m 15.286s on his 37th birthday) and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa (1m 15.293s) were also very quick. And Kimi Raikkonen (1m 15.382s for Ferrari) and Lewis Hamilton (1m 15.389s in his McLaren) were a stone’s throw away too in sixth and seventh. At this rate, it will be a real dogfight for the all-import first two rows this afternoon.

Sebastian Vettel was eighth for Red Bull, albeit a little bit adrift of the top seven with 1m 15.722s, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1m 15.758s) and Red Bull’s Mark Webber (1m 15.985s) completing the top 10 and the aces category.

Kazuki Nakajima was 11th for Williams with 1m 16.103s, then came Force India’s Adrian Sutil (1m 16.228s), Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais (1m 16.301s), Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella (who spun at the chicane in the only real incident of the session before recording 1m 16.317s), Renault’s Nelson Piquet (1m 16.382s) and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi (1m 16.432s).

At the back, neither Toyota nor BMW Sauber were having a happy time. Timo Glock was 17th on 1m 16.527s and Jarno Trulli 20th on 1m 16.810s, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld between them on 1m 16.599s and 1m 16.661s.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/5/9389.html)

Roland Garros Preview -- Big Four, Led By Nadal, Federer, March Into Paris

2009-05-22T23:01:00.001+07:00

* BIG 4 LEAD THE WAY – The Top 4 players in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings have dominated the first five and a-half months of the season, combining to win 11 titles going into Roland Garros. Top-ranked Rafael Nadal leads the way with an ATP World Tour-best five titles, including his sixth Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open and three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, along with two other finals. Nadal comes into Paris as the top seed and World No. 1 for the first time. No. 2 Roger Federer's lone title came last week at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid where he beat Nadal in the final. Federer also reached the final at the Australian Open, losing to Nadal in five sets. Federer is not the top seed in Paris for the first time since 2003. No. 3 Andy Murray enters Paris with three titles and off to a career-best 31-5 start. No. 4 Novak Djokovic, a winner of two ATP World Tour titles while reaching three straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals (Miami, Monte Carlo, Rome), has advanced to the semi-finals at Roland Garros the past two years. Here is a look at the Big 4 this season:

	Player	Age	2009 Titles	2009 W-L (on clay)
1	Rafael Nadal	22	5 – Australian Open, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome	41-4 (19-1)
2	Roger Federer	27	1 – Madrid	26-6 (9-2)
3	Andy Murray	22	3 – Doha, Rotterdam, Miami	31-5 (5-3)
4	Novak Djokovic	22*	2 – Dubai, Belgrade	37-11 (15-5)
* Start of tournament
Bold indicates Grand Slam or ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament

Click here to view the Roland Garros Singles Draw

* NEW LOOK TOP 10 -- There are six new faces in the Top 10 going into Roland Garros since last year's tournament and only one player, No. 6 Andy Roddick, has not changed his ranking. The group of new Top 10 players (with ranking going into last year's Roland Garros) are: No. 3 Andy Murray (No. 12 at '08 RG), No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (No. 68 at '08 RG), No. 7 Gilles Simon (No. 29 at '08 RG), No. 8 Fernando Verdasco (No. 23 at '08 RG), No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (No. 11 at '08 RG) and No. 10 Gael Monfils (No. 59 at '08 RG). Note: Nikolay Davydenko, who was No. 10 on May 18, will drop out of the Top 10 going into Paris next week since his '08 title points from Poertschach drop off.

* NADAL-FEDERER DOMINATION -- Since Nadal won his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in 2005, he and Federer have combined to win 15 of past 16 Grand Slam tournaments (except '08 Australian Open - Djokovic). During that stretch, Federer has won nine Grand Slam titles and Nadal six.

* THE REIGNING CHAMP/WORLD NO. 1 -- Nadal enters his third straight Grand Slam tournament as the No. 1 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He reached the semi-finals at the US Open last year (l. to Murray) and on Feb. 1 earned his sixth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open (d. Federer in five sets). The 22-year-old Spaniard (turns 23 on June 3) has compiled an outstanding 150-5 match record on clay since 2005 and in his career is 25-2 in clay court finals, losing twice to Federer. Nadal's streak of 33 consecutive match wins on clay ended with his loss to Federer in Madrid. It was his first loss on clay since falling to countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round in Rome on May 7, 2008. In addition, since the beginning of 2008 Monte Carlo (mid-April) when he won his first title of the season through his last tournament in Madrid, Nadal owns an overall match record of 101-9 with 13 titles. Here is a year-by-year breakdown of his clay court success:

W-L Titles Losses
2009 -- 19-1 3 Roger Federer, Madrid Final
2008 -- 24-1 4 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Rome 2nd Rd.
2007 -- 31-1 5 Roger Federer, Hamburg Final
2006 -- 26-0 4 ---
2005 -- 50-2 8 Gaston Gaudio, Buenos Aires QF; Igor Andreev, Valencia QF

* TOUGH TO BEAT IN FIVE – Nadal enters Roland Garros undefeated in his career (45-0) in best of five set matches on clay. In fact, he’s been extended to five sets only twice, defeating Guillermo Coria in the 2005 Rome final and Roger Federer in the 2006 Rome final (both 7-6 in the fifth).

* NADAL VS. BORG - Nadal is trying to become the first man to win the Roland Garros title five consecutive years. He and Bjorn Borg (1978-81) are the only players to capture the title four straight years. Nadal is 28-0 lifetime at Roland Garros and he has never been extended to a fifth set in Paris. Nadal did not drop a set en route to last year's title and over the past two years he's only lost one set. Nadal lost three sets in 2006 and 2007 title runs. Borg, who compiled a 49-2 career record in eight appearances in Paris, only lost five sets in his four-year title run.

* 11 LUCKY NUMBER? -- Federer is playing Roland Garros for the 11th time and he's trying to become the sixth player in men's tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles in his career, the first since Andre Agassi in 1999. The others to accomplish the feat are: Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Rod Laver. Interestingly, Agassi won the Roland Garros title in his 11th attempt in Paris. Both Agassi and Federer came into their 11th Roland Garros with almost identical records. Agassi compiled a 31-10 match record and Federer 32-10.

* THE MISSING SLAM TITLE – At the moment Federer is on a list along with former greats who won three of the four except for Roland Garros: Arthur Ashe, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Stefan Edberg, John Newcombe, and Pete Sampras.

* JOINING THE GRAND SLAM TITLE CLUB – History indicates a player is likely to capture his first career Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. In the Open Era, 21 players have notched their first Grand Slam crown in Paris, more than any other Grand Slam tournament. Of the past 20 winners since 1989 when Michael Chang captured his first and only Slam title, 12 claimed their first Slam crown in Paris, including Nadal in 2005. In addition, since ’89, only four players (Nadal, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Yevgeny Kafelnikov) have won another different Grand Slam title other than Roland Garros.

* GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS IN FIELD – Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal is one of eight Grand Slam champions (accounting for 27 Grand Slam singles titles) in this year's main draw. Carlos Moya, the 1998 Roland Garros champion, is sidelined with a hip injury. Here are the active Grand Slam champions in the draw:

Player	Age*	No.	Titles
Roger Federer	27	13	2003-07 Wimbledon; 2004, ’06-07 Aust. Open; 2004-08 US Open
Rafael Nadal	22	6	2005-08 Roland Garros; 2008 Wimbledon; 2009 Australian Open
Lleyton Hewitt	27	2	2001 US Open; 2002 Wimbledon
Marat Safin	29	2	2000 US Open; 2005 Australian Open
Novak Djokovic	22	1	2008 Australian Open
Juan Carlos Ferrero	29	1	2003 Roland Garros
Gaston Gaudio	30	1	2004 Roland Garros
Andy Roddick	26	1	2003 US Open
* Start of tournament

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3738.ASP)

Reserve League Play-off preview

2009-05-19T14:07:00.001+07:00

Aston Villa and Sunderland meet in the Barclays Premier Reserve League Play-off at Villa Park on Thursday.

Sunderland won the North League by seven points from Manchester United. They clinched the title with a 3-0 victory at Manchester City.

Jean-Yves M'voto, Jack Colback and Jamie Chandler were on the scoresheet as Sunderland ran out comfortable winners.

The Black Cats now travel to Villa who held off a late challenge from Tottenham Hotspur to win the southern section.

great season

The Midlands men sealed the Barclays Premier Reserve League South title with a 2-0 win at home to West Bromwich Albion thanks to goals from Marc Albrighton and James Collins.

Albrighton gave Kevin MacDonald's team the lead on 35 minutes with a curling left-foot effort after a motoring run from Nathan Delfouneso.

The league title was wrapped up in the first minute of stoppage time when Collins converted an Albrighton cross.

It was the second successive season that Villa had won the southern division and Albrighton stressed they are desperate to avenge last season's play-off defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.

He said: "Last season was a great season - we won the academy title and just lost out to Liverpool in the reserve final.

"At the start of this season our thoughts were on going one better and winning the play-off final at the end of the season."

Villa have high hopes for some of their youngsters with Barry Bannan and Albrighton already receiving senior experience after playing in the 2-0 defeat away to CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup this season.

Nathan Delfouneso has also progressed through to the first-team and Villa are delighted with the return to action of midfielder Jonathan Hogg.

He was sidelined for 11 months following major knee surgery but has bounced back strongly, scoring the Reserves' Goal of the Season with a stunning 30-yard volley against Portsmouth.

With Villa's second string featuring 15 different marksmen this season, Hogg's four goals have made him their leading striker.

Manager Martin O'Neill is delighted with the back-to-back titles from MacDonald's team saying: "Kevin has once again done a magnificent job - even though I often leave him having to change his team plans right up to the last minute."

fantastic achievement

Sunderland lost just three times and conceded only 13 goals in their 20 matches. One of those rare set-backs came with a 2-0 defeat at runners-up Manchester United after the Black Cats had already sealed the Premier Reserve League North title, a feat recognised by a guard of honour from the United players.

Sunderland coach Neil Bailey said: "It's a fantastic achievement by the lads, they have had the bit between their teeth since day one.

"They've been top for so long and it's not easy to do, no matter what level you are playing at. They deserve a lot of credit.

"They've had a really good season, performed to high standards in training and taken it into the games and they are getting their rewards.

"If you enter something it's nice to win it and this group of players have that desire in them. They can be pleased with themselves, it was a job well done."

Manager Ricky Sbragia said: "It's been a fantastic season for our reserve side, especially as the squad is made up of mainly youngsters, which of course gives us great hope for the future.

"Neil has done a fantastic job, not only in achieving success for the reserve side but in his work with the first team too."

Sunderland Reserve team skipper Jack Colback said: "We've gone from strength to strength this season and, as a group of players, we have done really well," he said.

"Whatever competition you enter, you want to win it. We'll go into the play-off with a lot of confidence."

The Reserve League Play-off at Villa Park kicks off at 7pm on Thursday 21st May and admission is free.

(From Website : http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~1661128,00.html)

Federer Ends Title Drought In Style

2009-05-18T09:58:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 2 Roger Federer ended his title drought in style on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over rival and reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament.

Four-time former Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Champion Federer earned 1000 South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings points towards his bid to qualify for the season finale for a seventh time, while Nadal – who is virtually assured of his participation at the O2 Arena in London - received 600 points and €270,000.

The 27-year-old Federer clinched his first ATP World Tour title since winning his hometown title in Basel (d. Nalbandian) in October 2008. The Swiss was contesting his 80th tour-level final and improved to a 58-22 lifetime mark after capturing his 15th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. Andre Agassi holds the all-time record with 17 of the coveted shields, while Nadal is tied with Federer on 15.

Federer will now turn his attention to winning a first Roland Garros title and believes the confidence from this win will give him an advantage going into the clay-court Grand Slam: “I am very happy that I remained positive and I got the win I needed badly because I have had some rather bad losses this year in terms of the way I played but I think that everything is falling into place and I felt it coming the last few weeks so it is the right time to get a victory like this.”

Federer was contesting his second tour-level final of the season after finishing runner-up to Nadal in an epic Australian Open final, a loss that denied Federer the chance to equal Pete Sampras’ all-time record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles. The newly-married Federer, who is expecting his first child with wife Mirka Vavrinec in the coming weeks, also reached the semi-finals at Doha (l. to Murray) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (l. to Murray), Miami (l. to Djokovic) and Rome (l. to Djokovic).

The victory over ATP World Tour No. 1 Nadal marked Federer’s first success against a Top 4 player since defeating No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the US Open semi-finals last August.

“In other years it didn´t matter whether I won or lost, I was always one of the top two or favourites," said Federer. "This year it looked like other guys might come moving up but I always knew that I was going to get stronger week by week on clay.

“It´s not the moment to get carried away but it is definitely good for my confidence, especially beating Rafa in the final so it definitely proves that I am doing the right things and I am working extremely hard and it is paying off so it´s a nice feeling. I am very excited about going to Paris, whereas a couple of weeks ago I was still a little bit unsure about my game and not sure if I could win the French Open.”

Early in the match, Nadal showed no ill-effects from his gripping semi-final with Novak Djokovic – which lasted four hours and three minutes and saw the Spaniard save three match points - as he created a break point in Federer’s first service game courtesy of a couple of wayward forehands from the Swiss.

Federer was able to alleviate the danger on that occasion, and later in the seventh game when Nadal had a second break point chance, before turning the tables on the left-hander as he broke him in the ninth game at his first opportunity. The Bottmingen resident then confidently closed out the set with a love service game, a backhand into the net from Nadal handing the Swiss three set points, and Federer secured the one-set lead with an unreturnable serve.

With the prospect of becoming the first man to defeat Nadal on clay in over a year and the chance to stem a five-match losing streak against his rival, Federer kept his focus in the second set and capitalised on Nadal’s ever-increasing fatigue with a drop shot that the Spaniard could not chase down in the fifth game to earn a break point, which he converted as Nadal fired a forehand long.

As Federer continued to raise his level, Nadal fought hard to stay within touching distance of the Swiss and forced Federer to serve for the victory at 5-4. A forehand winner from the Spaniard, yearning to win his second title in Madrid (also 2005), gave him a 15-30 lead and as cries of “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa” echoed round Manolo Santana court, Federer’s forehand found the net to present the Mallorcan with a lifeline in the form of two break-back points.

Undeterred, 2006 Madrid champion Federer played strongly on the break points, forcing Nadal to go for an extra shot and reaping the rewards as the Spaniard made two backhand errors. Federer was denied on his first match point, born from a second-serve ace, as he netted the volley from Nadal’s dipping return. A strong forehand in the ensuing point forced Nadal out wide and his return shot into the net granted Federer a second chance to clinch victory, which he converted with his sixth ace of the match after one hour and 26 minutes.

“I thought I played really well, I think you have to against Rafa on clay, there are no easy ways there,” said Federer. “He is not going to hand it to you and that is what has made him so tough the last few years on this surface. I thought I mixed it up well; I served well and was dangerous on particular return games. I thought I took all the right decisions today and in the end it looked pretty comfortable so it was a perfect win for me.”

Despite a marathon semi-final with Djokovic, Nadal refused to blame his exertions on Saturday evening for the loss: “I never tend to use an excuse and if I’m tired it’s because I played longer than I should have yesterday and today I played less, that’s the way that sport works. The court was very, very fast. When you are lacking that spark, if you’re able to get into the game you can slowly get back and recover but he used his tactic. He went forth from the very beginning and he was better. That’s all there is to it.

“On any court Federer is tough and the conditions here are more favourable for him and if you’re not at a 100%, it’s very difficult to beat him and I think he deserved to win much more than I did today.”

It was Federer’s second victory over Nadal on clay and closed the gap in their head-to-head standings to 13-7 in Nadal’s favour. Federer’s previous clay-court victory over Nadal came in the 2007 Hamburg final, ending the Spaniard’s record streak of 81 matches unbeaten on clay. He and Gaston Gaudio (three times) are the only players to have defeated Nadal on clay at least twice.

The 22-year-old Nadal saw his current clay-court winning streak end at 33 singles match wins, dating back to his second-round loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome on 7 May, 2008.

The Manacor native was bidding to become the first man to win all three clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in the same season and earn his fourth Masters 1000 title of the year (also won four in 2005) after triumphing at Indian Wells (d. Murray), Monte-Carlo (d. Djokovic) and Rome (d. Djokovic).

Nadal was contesting his seventh tour-level final of the season in his eighth tournament this year. Together with his three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victories, he captured his sixth Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open (d. Ferrer) and won his fifth successive title in Barcelona (d. Ferrer); he finished runner-up to Andy Murray in Rotterdam. The Spaniard dropped to an ATP World Tour-best 41-4 match record (19-1 on clay, 42-4 in sets).

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3698.ASP)

Nadal Closes In On Masters 1000 Clay-Court Title Sweep, After Saving 3 M.P. In SFs

2009-05-17T11:08:00.002+07:00

Spaniard Rafael Nadal proved just why he is so hard to beat on clay Saturday, when he saved three match points in a dramatic final-set tie-break to beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) in four hours and three minutes for a spot in the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open final. It is believed to be the longest best-of-three sets singles match on the ATP World Tour in the Open Era (since 1968).

Nadal will take a 25-1 career record in clay-court finals into Sunday's title-match against World No. 2 Roger Federer of Switzerland, who beat Juan Martin del Potro in the other semi-final. It will be the pair's first meeting since the Australian Open in January.

Nadal, the reigning ATP World Tour Champion is now just one victory away from completing the clean sweep of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court titles in one season.

It was the first time Nadal had played a third set tie-break on clay since 11 July 2003, when he lost to Nicolas Lapentti at Bastad, Sweden. It was Nadal’s fifth straight victory over Djokovic and the third time in the past five weeks he had beaten the Serbian (also ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and Rome finals).

Nadal improved to 37-3 lifetime against Top 10 opponents on clay, including 30-1 while in the Top 10 on clay. His only loss while in the Top 10 came to then No.1-ranked Roger Federer in the Hamburg final in May 2007.

The 22-year-old Nadal extended his winning streak on clay courts to 33 matches and to 150-4 on his favoured surface since 2005. He improved to 27-1 lifetime in ATP World Tour clay-court semi-finals and to 19-0 on clay this year. His last loss on red dirt was against compatriot and former World No. 1/Roland Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero on May 7, 2008 in the second round of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome.

Nadal leads the ATP World Tour circuit this year with a 41-3 match record that includes five titles. By beating Djokovic in the Madrid semi-finals he has denied his Serbian rival the change to return to No. 3 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings next week.

"In a game like that with so many match points I think you need luck to win a match like that," explained Nadal. "There’s no doubt about it but I played with great courage and I think everything went well for me.

"I played the first set poorly; it looked very bleak to me. Here with the altitude it was very hard for me to hit the ball with confidence, I was always coming up short, I wasn’t getting the distance right. But I think that little by little I was able to get my rhythm and I ended up playing well.

"That’s why I felt that emotional with the public, with what happened in the game. The public really helped me and supported me and I don’t have any words to thank them for this final they helped me reach."

Djokovic, who turns 22 on 22 May, had the better of the opening exchanges and led Nadal 3-0 – courtesy of a service break in the second game. The third seed managed to maintain his advantage, winning 20 of 26 service points to take the first set in 51 minutes.

Djokovic’s fluency continued in the second set, but he was left to rue missed opportunities for service breaks in the third and ninth games. Nadal managed to fight off another break point in an 11-minute game for a 6-5 lead and went on to create his first break point opportunity, a set point, in the next game. With Djokovic approaching the net, Nadal was rushed into a backhand error and the second set was decided on a tie-break.

Nadal maintained his record of never losing a tie-break against Djokovic to level the score line at one-set apiece after two hours and 30 minutes of play. Nadal had hit nine winners and 21 unforced errors, while Djokovic went 0/4 on break points opportunities in the one-hour and 37-minute second set.

Djokovic regained his composure to open up a 3-1 lead, after breaking Nadal in the fourth game. But Nadal responded with an immediate service break of his own. Djokovic received treatment for a right knee injury and muscle fatigue after the fifth game at the change of ends. The pair’s 18th career meeting went with serve to a tie-break, which many spectators on the Manolo Santana Court at the Caja Magica could not bear to watch.

Djokovic created his first match point when he hit a forehand winner for a 6-5 lead, but he could not capitalise on the chance as Nadal hit a forehand winner down the line from a long baseline rally. A second match point went begging on a Nadal second serve at 7-6, when Nadal wrong-footed Djokovic with a series of forehands before hitting the winning forehand stroke on approach to the net.

Nadal’s first match point came and went at 8-7. Djokovic hit a nerveless forehand winner, having hit a second serve to Nadal’s forehand, for his third match point at 9-8 after four hours of play. Nadal gritted his teeth once again, and urged on by his compatriots was able to recover to 10-9 courtesy of a Djokovic forehand in the net and a forehand winner down the line. Nadal seized control of his second match point by forcing Djokovic out wide to lunge for a forehand, which landed in the net. Nadal has now won 31 sets to 13 for Djokovic in their 18 career meetings.

"I’m very disappointed that I can play this well and still not win a match," said Djokovic. "I’ve think that I’ve played my best tennis on this surface. A couple of points decided the winner."

Nadal hit 31 winners and committed 50 unforced errors in total. The top seed hit three aces and four double faults. He converted one of two break point opportunities and won nine of 14 points at the net. Djokovic, by comparison, had struck 37 winners, committed 43 unforced errors, hit six aces and three double faults, and converted two of eight break point opportunities.

Djokovic was making his fourth straight appearance at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament (9-4 record). He also reached the semi-finals in 2007 (l. to Nalbandian).

This year the Monte-Carlo resident has captured two ATP World Tour titles at Dubai (d. Ferrer) and Belgrade (d. Kubot). He has also finished runner-up at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami (l Murray), Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) and Rome (l. to Nadal)

The World No. 4 was attempting to reach his fifth straight final and sixth overall. He dropped to a 37-11 record on the 2009 ATP World Tour season.

Djokovic said: "I'm taking positives [from] the last couple of matches we've played on this surface and the positives are that I'm one point away from the victory. I don't know, next time I’ll probably take two rackets on the match point. I don’t know what to do."

Spanish superstar Nadal captured his sixth Grand Slam championship trophy at the Australian Open (d. Federer) in January and has since clinched further trophies at Barcelona and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (d. Murray), Monte-Carlo and Rome, (d. Djokovic both times).

The Mallorca native is making his seventh appearance in Madrid (16-5 record) and will look win the 37th title of his career in Sunday’s final. He won the Madrid title in 2005 (d. Ljubicic).

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3681.ASP)

Goydos opens 3-stroke lead at Texas Open

2009-05-16T13:26:00.001+07:00

SAN ANTONIO(AP) Paul Goydos remembered hitting one mediocre shot Friday in the Texas Open, but not any bad ones.

Goydos followed his opening 7-under 63 with a 65 to reach 12 under on the La Cantera Golf Club course - three strokes ahead of three-time champion Justin Leonard and four others. It's the biggest lead Goydos has ever had on the PGA Tour.

``It's just kind of like being the pace car, for lack of a better word,'' the 44-year-old Goydos said. ``We're going to go out and play two more rounds of golf, but the tournament's going to be in front of me tomorrow, which is kind of cool.''

Goydos had six birdies after dropping a stroke on his first hole, the par-4 10th,

``This is why you play. If I wasn't comfortable where I am right now, I need to find another profession,'' said Goydos, the 1996 Bay Hill and 2007 Sony Open winner. ``This is why we play, practice and endure rough weeks, so we learn something, to improve and get better. And tomorrow is going to be another chapter in that learning process of becoming a better player.''

Leonard, tied with Goydos after the first round, shot a 68 to join Scott Sterling (63), John Mallinger (64), Mathias Gronberg (65) and Ted Purdy (67) at 9 under.

Gronberg opened the tournament with a 66, then went to work quickly chasing Goydos. Using a pitching wedge, he holed out for eagle from 123 yards on the par-4 12th and followed with birdies on the next two holes.

``It's a good place for me,'' said Gronberg, who finished third in 2007. ``Normally certain players play good in certain places, and this golf course has been very good to me over the years.''

Defending champion Zach Johnson was seven strokes back after a 67.

``Maybe a little polishing on the weekend, and hopefully we can make a push,'' Johnson said.

David Duval shot a 69 and was seven back, fading down the back nine after birdieing four of his first nine holes and getting within a stroke of the lead. Still, the world's former No. 1 made his first tournament cut in three months.

Trouble began for Duval, who hasn't won a tournament since 2001, when his tee shot on the par-4 11th hooked badly into the rough.

Duval and a rules official studied the ball, tucked around dry brush and rock, and Duval's options for about a minute. The 2001 British Open champion tried about every angle that might of given him a chance before resigning himself to take a penalty stroke and start over.

He sputtered to another bogey two holes later, when he missed a 12-footer on No. 13. The 37-year-old rebounded with a birdie on the next hole, but finished the round with by missing a 7-footer that would have saved par.

``I feel like I've been playing exponentially better than my scores have been,'' Duval said. ``I'm finally getting closer to scores I think are representative of how I'm playing. ... I'm trying to have a chance to win golf tournaments.''

Among those not making the cut was Jesper Parnevik - or his caddie, Lance Ten Broeck. In a rarity that PGA Tour officials in San Antonio believed hadn't happened on the tour in years, Ten Broeck caddied and played in the tournament when he filled in as an alternate.

The 53-year-old former tour regular shot an even-par 70 on Friday before toting Parnevik's bag the rest of the afternoon. He pulled the same double-duty Thursday, and was so unprepared that he was driven to a nearby mall to buy pants. Ten Broeck also had to borrow clubs both days.

He finished at 1-over 141 to miss the cut by two strokes.

But he finished ahead of Parnevik, who was 4 over.

``Physically, I'm fine,'' Ten Broeck said. ``I'm just disappointed that I didn't play any better. I know I was close.''

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1899053,00.html)

Federer Extends Winning Streak Over Roddick

2009-05-16T13:12:00.002+07:00

Roger Federer recorded his 18th win in 20 matches over American Andy Roddick on Friday. Roddick fell to 0-9 lifetime against Top 10 opponents on clay when Swiss superstar Federer triumphed 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-1 for a place in the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament. Federer will play World No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro.

Second seed Federer hit 15 aces and won 71 per cent of service points for victory in two hours and 12 minutes. Roddick battled back from a 0-3 deficit to a 5-3 lead in the second-set tie-break, eventually clinching the set, but could not stem Federer’s power in the decider. Federer opened up a 3-0 lead and saved one break point in the fifth game before suffering his fourth service break in the next game. It was the pair’s first meeting on clay.

"I thought it was a good match," said Federer. "I think Andy was mixing up his serve very well and I think I came up with some nice points. I should have or could have won in straight sets but that is what happens when you play Andy sometimes."

The 27-year-old Federer, who captured the 2006 title (d. Gonzalez) and finished runner-up in 2007 (l. to Nalbandian), improved to 24-6 on the 2009 ATP World Tour season. He has a 193-59 lifetime record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and his 193 match-wins is second only to Andre Agassi (209).

Federer reached his sixth semi-final of the 2009 ATP World Tour season. On Saturday he will be looking to reach his first final since the Australian Open in January.

Roddick received a walkover into the quarter-finals when his third-round opponent Nikolay Davydenko pulled out ahead of the match with a left leg injury. The Texas resident, 26, struck nine aces past Federer but could only convert one of three break point opportunities in his 43rd match of the year (27-6 record).

"I think I would have been foolish to come here and expect to play great right away, but I played pretty well," said Roddick. "I mean, let’s be honest, I was one point away and then all of the sudden a default and then I’m staring at a third set in the quarter-finals. I played one loose game in the third set and I was actually already down a break but there are some good things to take out of it. I have definitely felt worse going into the French Open before."

Juan Martin del Potro broke up the Big 4 party when he upset World No. 3 Andy Murray 7-6(4), 6-3 to reach the semi-finals. Murray was attempting to join World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, No. 2 Federer and No. 4 Novak Djokovic in the last four.

Del Potro, who reached the Miami semi-finals earlier this year, advanced to his first clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final. The tall Argentine is chasing his second title of the year to add to his Auckland title in January. Murray had served for the first set at 5-3 before del Potro broke back and eventually took the set to a tie-break.

Del Potro's clean hitting and ruthless dispatching of mid-court balls proved too much for Murray, who this week moved to a career-high No. 3 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.

Federer holds a perfect 4-0 record against del Potro and at their most recent meeting in January's Australian Open quarter-finals, the four-time ATP World Tour Champion destroyed del Potro 6-3, 6-0, 6-0.

The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament was contested on an indoor hard-court surface between 2002 and 2008, but has moved to a clay surface at the Caja Magica this year.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3666.ASP)

Nadal, Djokovic Square Off For 18th Time In Semi-final Showdown

2009-05-16T13:07:00.002+07:00

Reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal extended his clay court winning streak to 32 matches in a row as he defeated No. 7 seed and hometown native Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 7-5, in the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open on Friday night.

The 22-year-old Spaniard improved to 9-0 lifetime against Verdasco and to an ATP World Tour-best 40-3 match record on the season. He is 18-0 on clay this year, losing only one set, that coming in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final last month to Novak Djokovic, who he will meet in the semi-finals on Saturday. Nadal is 13-4 lifetime against Djokovic, including an 8-0 mark on clay.

Nadal comes into the semi-finals with a 149-4 record on clay since 2005 and he will be attempting to reach his seventh final of the season. He is trying to become the first player (since 1990) to win all three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay tournaments in the same year. He's won titles at the Australian Open and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Monte-Carlo and Rome along with Barcelona. He also reached the final in Rotterdam.

Nadal captured the opening set in 47 minutes by breaking in the 10th game at 0-40 as Verdasco hit a forehand long. In the previous game, Nadal escaped from a 0-30 deficit to hold.

In the second set, Verdasco took advantage of nine unforced errors by Nadal in the first three games to take a double break, 3-0 lead. Verdasco made it 4-0 before Nadal held for the first time. In the next game, Verdasco was broken at 15-40 as he netted a forehand on break point. Nadal held again and then broke Verdasco to level the set at 4-4. Verdasco saved two match points on his serve in the ninth game, rallying from 15-40 down. But in the 11th game, Verdasco was broken at 0-40 when he hit a forehand long.

Asked what his frame of mind was at 0-4 in the second set, Nadal said; "[I was] just trying to be more aggressive in order to prepare for the third and get a good feeling for the next set. I was playing rather poorly at that moment."

Looking ahead to the weekend, Nadal tried to play down his heavy favouritism to win the title and, more immediately, to win his semi-final against Djokovic. "In this tournament I don’t even think that I’m favorite. I’m one of the four players in semi-finals and we’ll see what happens, because I think that these conditions are quite different from a normal clay court tournament and playing against [Djokovic] is going to be a true challenge. Djokovic is going to try to make me be more inside and to make me use my forehand more."

Third seed Djokovic hit five aces and won 72 per cent of service points to beat Croatian wild card Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 45 minutes. Djokovic had also beaten Ljubicic in April 2008 at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo.

Djokovic, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on 22 May, also reached the Madrid semi-finals in 2007 (l. to Nalbandian). He has a 37-10 record on the 2009 ATP World Tour season (15-4 on clay), which includes two ATP World Tour titles at Dubai (d. Ferrer) and Belgrade (d. Kubot). He has also reached the past three finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami (l. to Murray), Monte-Carlo and Rome (l. to Nadal both times).

"The high altitude [was] more suitable to his style," said Djokovic. "I knew I had to get as many returns back as possible to get into the rally, where I knew I had more chances than he did and I think that was the key today. I was trying to open up the court more."

Ljubicic, 30, currently No. 54 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, dropped to a 14-11 season mark. He reached the Madrid final in 2005 (l. to Nadal).

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3669.ASP)

Tsonga Holds Off Safin Challenge; Wawrinka Cruises

2009-05-12T18:01:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withstood the challenge of former No. 1 Marat Safin to move into the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over the Russian on Tuesday at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament.

The Frenchman broke decisively in the 10th game of the first set to steal it 6-4, having faced a break point himself at 4-4. The second set also went down to the wire, with Tsonga again stepping up a gear in the late stages to break Safin to 15 in the 12th game and wrap up victory in their first meeting after 89 minutes.

Tsonga, who received his trophy as the 2008 ATP Most Improved Player of the Year following the match, said: "Today I am happy with my game, I played great tennis, offensive tennis. I played some good serves, some good volleys and I was really aggressive so I am happy today."

The 24 year old made his debut in Madrid last year with a third-round loss to Roger Federer. He next goes on to face Ivan Ljubicic. The No. 2 Frenchman has compiled a 26-6 match record on the season, a striking comparison to 2008 – when he did not win his 26th match until the third week in October in Lyon. The 2008 Australian Open runner-up won his third and fourth ATP World Tour titles at Johannesburg (d. Chardy) and Marseille (d. Llodra) in February, and has reached the quarter-finals at five further tour-level tournaments this year.

World No. 20 Safin captured the Madrid title in 2004 with back-to-back victories over World No. 7 Andre Agassi and No. 10 David Nalbandian). The 29-year-old Russian slipped to a 6-9 match record on the season, and to a 0-3 mark against Top 10 players.

"I didn’t feel comfortable at any moment in the match, so I was all the time playing behind and I tried to find my game," said Safin. "I couldn’t do anything special so it was annoying to be there on the court and not be able to find the game, so basically I had to wait for his mistakes. It was a little bit absurd, so, it’s a disappointment but what can you do?"

Stanislas Wawrinka, the No. 11 seed from Switzerland, made a confident start to his campaign with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Italian qualifier Marco Crugnola. Wawrinka saved four of five break points and converted six of 10 break point opportunities on No. 188 Crugnola’s serve to wrap up just his second victory in Madrid after 59 minutes.

World No. 18 Wawrinka is coming off third-round exits at Barcelona (l. to Stepanek) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l. to del Potro). He enjoyed his greatest success of the season in Monte-Carlo at the start of the European clay-court season, when he defeated compatriot Roger Federer en route to reaching the semi-finals (l. to Djokovic). The 24-year-old Wawrinka next will face either Frenchman Jeremy Chardy or Jose Acasuso of Argentina.

Italian Simone Bolelli set up a second-round clash with new World No. 3 and defending champion Andy Murray after edging out Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 7-6(3). The No. 61-ranked Bolelli, who is closing in on his 50th tour-level victory (46-60 record), also met Murray in the second round last year and was forced to retire injured in the second set.

Meanwhile, German qualifier and former World No. 2 Tommy Haas battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 win over 20-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis in two hours and 17 minutes. Though he conceded four of five break points faced on serve, Haas capitalised on six of his 16 opportunities against Gulbis to reach the second round.

Haas, who entered the week ranked No. 75, is playing in his first tournament since a quarter-final finish in Houston last month (l. to Phau). The 31 year old takes a 7-4 head-to-head record into his next match against World No. 6 Andy Roddick, including a 4-0 mark on clay. Roddick will be making his 2009 clay-court debut in his first appearance as a married man; he wed model Brooklyn Decker on 17th April in Austin, Texas.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3634.ASP)

Djokovic Rallies To Reach Final; Kubot Rides His Luck To Reach First Title Match

2009-05-10T15:20:00.001+07:00

Top seed and ATP World Tour No. 3 Novak Djokovic rallied to defeat No. 4 seed Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the final of the inaugural Serbia Open in Belgrade on Saturday.

Djokovic advanced to his fourth consecutive tournament final after consecutive runner-up showings at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami, Monte-Carlo and Rome. Overall, it is the Serb's fifth ATP World Tour final of the season. He won his 12th career title in Dubai on Feb. 28 (d. Ferrer).

After losing the opening set against Seppi, who was appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final of the season, Djokovic took control of the next two sets by breaking the top Italian five times. Djokovic converted five of 11 break points while saving six of eight on his serve in the two hour and 17-minute match. Djokovic won 50 per cent of second serve points to Seppi's 26 per cent. Seppi also double-faulted seven times.

Djokovic improved his match record to 33-10 on the season, including 11-4 on clay.

He will face Polish lucky loser Lukasz Kubot, who reached his first ATP World Tour singles final after cutting down towering No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6(0), 6-2 in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

Kubot initially gained entry into the main draw, having lost in the final round of qualifying, when Steve Darcis withdrew due to a shoulder injury. Since then, the top Polish player has defeated Serbian wild card Arsenije Zlatanovic, No. 3 seed Igor Andreev – who retired in the first set -, Kristof Vliegen and Karlovic all without the loss of a set.

The Lubin resident now has the chance to become the first Polish ATP World Tour singles-title winner since Wojtek Fibak won WCT/Chicago on 5 December, 1982 - defeating Bill Scanlon. Fibak was also the last Polish player to reach an ATP World Tour singles final in Basel on 16 October, 1983 (ret. vs. Gerulaitis).

Should Kubot succeed in the final against Djokovic, he would become the lowest-ranked player at No. 179 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings to win an ATP World Tour title this season and the first first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this year.

The last lucky loser to capture an ATP World Tour title was Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine when he won the Zagreb title in February, 2008. Prior to that, the last lucky loser to win a title was Christian Miniussi in 1991.

The 26-year-old Kubot, who is playing in just his second ATP World Tour main draw of the season (also Costa do Sauipe) after losing in qualifying at seven tour-level events this season, withstood 14 aces from the No. 21-ranked Karlovic in their first meeting in the Serbian capital on Saturday. Despite the 6’10’’ Karlovic winning 80 percent of points behind his first serve, Kubot was able to comfortably win the first set tie-break 7-0 and break the renowned Karlovic serve twice in the second set to secure victory after 97 minutes.

Kubot also has the chance to reach his third ATP World Tour doubles final of the season when he and partner Oliver Marach feature in the semi-finals later on Saturday. Radek Stepanek (San Jose) and Tommy Robredo (Costa do Sauipe) have both won the singles and doubles titles at an ATP World Tour tournament this season.

Karlovic, 30, dropped to a 10-10 match record on the season after appearing in his first ATP World Tour semi-final since last August when he reached that stage at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati (l. to Murray). The Croatian, who was a quarter-finalist in Chennai (l. to Devvarman) at the start of the year, has struggled in tie-breaks with a 2-5 mark this season.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3584.ASP)

Friday analysis - who’s better, and whose best is yet to come?

2009-05-09T16:31:00.000+07:00

Rather than merely go through the usual chassis set-up work and tyre evaluation, all of the teams had the added incentive to do some quick laps in Friday’s Spanish practice sessions to assess the benefits (or otherwise) of their various upgraded aerodynamic packages. Most struggled for grip on the hard Bridgestone prime tyre, but were pleasantly surprised by the durability on the soft option, which naturally provided greater roadholding...

Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 22.667s, P6/1m 21.588s P1
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 22.659s, P5/1m 21.740s, P2
Rosberg said he liked Williams’ latest aero configuration, which seemed to work well. Nakajima concurred but struggled, like many, to find grip on Bridgestone’s harder tyre.

Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 23.157s, P17/1m 21.781s, P3
Nelson Piquet, 1m 22.753s, P7/1, 22.349s, P8
Alonso admitted that he struggled for grip in the morning but then found something that took the team in a much better direction in the afternoon. Piquet had two off-track moments in the second session, but backed his team mate well as they tried lots of new aerodynamic components.

Brawn
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 22.859s, P10/1m 21.843s, P4
Jenson Button, 1m 21.799s, P1/1m 22.052s, P6
Button set the fastest time comfortably in the morning but said that his upgraded Brawn BGP001’s grip and balance still weren’t quite right. Barrichello, however, gathered a lot of data in his running and the team think they know what they need to do to improve the car for tomorrow.

Red Bull
Mark Webber, 1m 22.934s, P12/1m 22.027s, P5
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 22.959s, P13/1m 22.082s, P7
Webber was happier with his afternoon runs than the morning’s and said he got a better feel for the RB5. He alluded to a little problem in the second session that the team knew about, but did not expand upon it. Vettel said he had a normal Friday apart from a radio problem that sounded like Spanish taxi drivers talking to him.

Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 23.185s, P18/1m 22.571s, P9
Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 23.088s, P15/1m 22.615s, P11
Buemi lost time in the afternoon with a rear brake problem, but said the latest version of the STR4 felt better while it was running. Bourdais complained of problems with his car but chose not to elucidate.

Ferrari
Felipe Massa, 1m 22.855s, P9/1m 22.878s, P15
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 22.873s, P11/1m 22.599s, P10
Raikkonen said Ferrari have definitely made a step forward with their F60, which had greater downforce and stability. Massa agreed, but both want to wait for qualifying before they get too excited.

Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 23.089s, P16/1m 22.670s, P12
Adrian Sutil, 1m 23.536s, P20/No time
Fisichella liked his Force India’s new adjustable front wing, but still struggled with understeer in slow corners. Sutil lost all of the afternoon running because of a problem with his VJM02’s fuel cell.

McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 23.077s, P14/1m 22.809s, P13
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 23.522s, P19/1m 22.876s, P14
Hamilton said that he had wrung everything out of his MP4-24 that it had to give today, and that he is expecting a tough race. Kovalainen echoed his sentiments. Having upgraded their car in all of the races to date, McLaren had less to offer in the way of improvement here.

BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, 1m 22.221s, P3/1m 22.948s, P16
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 22.658s, P4/1m 23.173s, P17
Both BMW drivers were late improvers in the morning, jumping up to third and fourth places right at the end of the session. The main task of the day was to evaluate the new aero package, which did not include a two-tier diffuser. Neither ran KERS. Heidfeld lost time with a brake problem in the morning.

Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 22.154s, P2/1m 23.623s, P19
Timo Glock, 1m 22.828s, P8/1m 23.360s, P18
New engine covers differentiated the TF109s this weekend, as part of their aerodynamic revisions. Trulli was very quick in the morning and focused on race work in the afternoon, as did Glock who was eighth in the first session. Trulli wasn’t totally happy with his car’s balance, and Glock struggled even more than the Italian.

(From Website : http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2009/5/9323.html)

Alex Cejka has overcome Communism and injuries on his way to Players lead

2009-05-09T16:26:00.001+07:00

The midway leader of the Players Championship swam across the Rhine River at age 9 after fleeing Communism in the former Czechoslovakia. As an immigrant in Germany at age 15, he followed his golfing idol for 18 holes in a steady rain, dreaming that one day he might find the same kind of work.

Just last week, at age 38, he took an epidural injection in his right arm to relieve the pain from a pinched nerve and numbness in his fingers.

It has been an interesting life for Alex Cejka, who lacks the star power of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson but who is dusting both at the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Cejka, after a round of 67, leads the championship by two shots over England's Ian Poulter, seven shots over Woods, and 11 over Mickelson, who made the cut on the number at even-par 144.

Even better, Cejka's back story might be the most amazing at the TPC Sawgrass.

"For me, it was just a little trip," Cejka said Friday, reflecting on the circumstances of leaving Czechoslovakia with his father. "I was too young to understand what was going on. For me, it was a vacation, a smooth ride. Probably my dad was nervous as hell just leaving everything behind, taking the son and a little backpack through three or four countries into the West."

They traveled by any means necessary — "by foot, by train, by bike, everything," Cejka said — and eventually settled in Frankfurt. Cejka's father was an engineer and part-time piano player during the 1980s, at about the same time Bernhard Langer was becoming a golfing legend in Germany.

"It was the Langer boom," Cejka said. "He'd just won the Masters. He came to play the German Open in Frankfurt every year back then, and of course, I watched him. He was the only German guy who was on tour, the only German guy who won tournaments, the only German guy who won a major. That was the inspiration. I watched him whenever I could."

Cejka would eventually become a solid international player, taking 11 titles around the world but never finishing higher than second on the PGA Tour. This week he has looked comfortable playing against the deepest field in golf, shooting 32 on his front nine Friday and making two more birdies against a bogey on the back. He has built his lead despite dealing with numerous physical ailments.

He missed three months last season after neck surgery, which included inserting a titanium plate and a cadaver bone to stabilize the area.

"After the surgery, everything was fine until I woke up one day and it was just numb and it was just inflamed, irritated," he said. "That was kind of a shock for me."

In addition to last week's epidural injection, Cejka has had to ice his neck twice a day and skip the long practice sessions customary on the PGA Tour.

"It's tough to just hit one bucket and relax, but that's what I have to do the next couple of weeks," Cejka said.

If Cejka leaves extra practice balls on the range, he might want to send them over to Woods and Mickelson. The duo that jousted during the final round of the Masters continues to cede the spotlight to other competitors. Woods, at least, broke 70 thanks to three straight birdies in the middle of his round and a scrambling par on the difficult 18th after he drove behind a tree, hit a low punch to 10 feet, and took two putts.

He predicted that the pin placements on Saturday would be punched for scoring.

"You can probably shoot a good one if you play well," Woods said.

For the second straight day, Mickelson couldn't get any magic going on the course he conquered just two years ago. He had several birdie looks that slid past the hole. (He has needed 61 putts through two rounds). On the par-3 eighth hole — his 17th of the day — he missed a 4-footer for par, which forced him to make birdie on the par-5 ninth or miss the cut.

From the fairway, Mickelson reached the 575-yard hole in two shots, and two-putted for birdie. He was safe for the weekend, if well out of contention. "I knew I had to make 4 to have a chance," he said.

For now, the stage is Cejka's, even if there are some big names lurking behind. Masters champ Angel Cabrera is four shots back, and so are David Toms and Henrik Stenson. But Cejka has been through more harrowing events than four rounds on Pete Dye's taxing golf course. A childhood escape, an immigrant experience, and, ultimately, a career in golf. Maybe, at the end of Sunday, there will be a crystal trophy, too.

(From Website : http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1897102,00.html)

Montanes Stuns Simon; Davydenko Closes On Fourth Estoril Final

2009-05-09T16:23:00.001+07:00

Spaniard Albert Montanes recorded his first Top 10 win in 27 months at the Estoril Open on Friday, beating World No. 8 Gilles Simon of France 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 58 minutes for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament against Chilean Paul Capdeville. Montanes saved one match point at 5-6; advantage Simon, in the third set.

Montanes fought back from a one-set and 4-2 deficit to record his 12th win of the 2009 ATP World Tour season. Both players converted six break point opportunities, but Montanes was able to snap a two-match losing streak and take his place in a second ATP World Tour semi-final this year (also Casablanca).

The 28 year old Montanes last beat a Top 10 player (Fernando Gonzalez) at Vina del Mar in January 2007. He has a 3-16 lifetime record against elite players, with his first Top 10 win coming over Gustavo Kuerten at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome in May 2002.

Simon, who had previously beaten Montanes at 2005 Stuttgart and 2008 Bucharest, was hoping to reach his third semi-final of the year after reaching that stage in Marseille (l. to Llodra) and Dubai (l. to Djokovic). The 24 year old dropped to a 17-12 season mark.

Montanes will now look to reach his sixth ATP World Tour final (1-4 record) on Saturday when he meets No. 91-ranked Capdeville. The pair has never met before.

The Chilean reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final after beating Oscar Hernandez of Spain 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 12 minutes on Centralito. He had previously lost in quarter-final matches at 2009 Vina del Mar (l. to Cuevas), 2008 Washington (l. to Karlovic) and at 2006 Memphis (l. to Vliegen).

Capdeville, 26, dropped just five points on serve in the second set and converted five of 12 break point opportunities in the pair’s first meeting. He has a 6-5 record on the year, while 31-year-old Hernandez dropped to 7-13.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko (pictured) continued his love affair with the ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tennis tournament when he won his 16th match in seven visits at the Estadio Nacional, where he has won the title in 2003 (d. Calleri) and finished runner-up on two occasions in 2006 (l. to Nalbandian) and 2008 (l. to Federer).

Davydenko, playing at only his sixth tournament of the 2009 ATP World Tour season, stormed to a 6-4, 6-3 win over sixth-seeded American Mardy Fish in 85 minutes.

The World No. 11, who has missed two months of the year due to a left heel injury sustained at Chennai in January, withstood five aces from Fish’s racquet and four of five break points to record his 10th win in 15 matches this season. The 27 year old converted four of six break point opportunities in the pair’s third meeting.

World No. 24 Fish, who lifted his third ATP World Tour title at Delray Beach (d. Korolev) and finished runner-up at San Jose (l. to Stepanek) earlier this season, dropped to a 15-10 mark.

Davydenko will next hope to snap a six-match losing streak against American James Blake, the fourth seed, who needed just 48 minutes to beat Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-1. Blake, who has won all six meetings against Davydenko on hard courts, will attempt to reach his 23rd ATP World Tour final on Saturday.

Blake is playing at his third clay-court tournament of the season, after first round losses at Houston (l. to Canas) in February and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (l. to Crivoi) last week. The 29 year old has a 12-8 record this year, which includes losing to Fish in the San Jose semi-finals.

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3560.ASP)

Youzhny Edges Mathieu To Reach SF; Berdych Outlasts Hewitt

2009-05-09T16:21:00.001+07:00

ATP World Tour No. 64 Mikhail Youzhny (pictured) reached his first semi-final of the season after knocking out No. 7 seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday at the BMW Open by FWU AG, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Munich, Germany.

A strong serving display from Youzhny saw him fire 10 aces and win 79 per cent of points behind his first serve. The Russian converted two of four break point chances, while saving four of the five he faced, to close out his fourth successive victory over the Frenchman after two hours and 17 minutes.

The 26-year-old Youzhny is through to the Munich semi-finals for the second time. He reached the last four on his debut in 2002 (l. to El Aynaoui in third-set tie-break) and made the final in 2007 when he lost to doubles partner Philipp Kohlschreiber. He improved to a 12-10 match record on the season, highlighted up till now by quarter-final showings at Rotterdam (l. to Ancic) and Marseille (l. to Llodra).

The No. 39-ranked Mathieu slipped to a 13-12 match record after failing to reach his second semi-final of the season. The 27 year old was bidding to reach his second straight semi-final in Munich after losing to Simone Bolelli in a third-set tie-break last season.

Youzhny next will face German wild card Daniel Brands, who advanced when Potito Starace of Italy retired with a right hamstring injury trailing 4-6, 1-1. World No. 141 Brands is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final and is bidding to become the second German finalist in three years after Philipp Kohlschreiber won his maiden title in Munich in 2007.

Prior to his success this week in Munich, Brands had played entirely on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2009 and compiled a 9-11 match record – highlighted by a semi-final showing in Athens. His first-round victory over Stefan Koubek was his first win on the ATP World Tour since Kitzbuhel last summer.

No. 95-ranked Starace was contesting his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season and dropped to a 9-13 match record. The 27-year-old Italian had enjoyed victories over No. 8 seed Igor Kunitsyn and 2008 runner-up Simone Bolelli on his debut in Munich.

Fourth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych overcame stiff resistance in Lleyton Hewitt before prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) against the Australian wild card. Breaks of serve were exchanged three times before Berdych edged out his second victory over Hewitt (2-0) in the deciding tie-break after two hours and 18 minutes.

"It was a great match. Every match with him is so tough, he's a great fighter - fighting till the last point," commented Berdych. "A semi-final is always good, I'll have some confidence so I'm just going to go there and enjoy it and try my best and maybe go to the final."

Former World No. 1 Hewitt saved two match points in a dramatic first-round win over Philipp Petzschner that saw him record his 500th tour-level victory. The 28 year old made his debut in Munich this week and was contesting his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. He slipped to a 15-10 match record, highlighted by capturing his 27th tour-level title at Houston (d. Odesnik) last month.

"It was really close, I had a lot of chances and led an early break in the third (set) then went down a break and fought back<' assessed Hewitt. "In the end it could have gone either way. He played a really clean tie-break, he made a lot of first serves and it was hard to get a cheap point off him."

Berdych, currently No. 28 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, is through to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since capturing his fourth title in Tokyo (d. del Potro) in October last year and improved to a 12-10 match record on the season. The Czech No. 2 (behind No. No. 17 Stepanek) was also a semi-finalist in Munich two years ago when he lost to Youzhny.

For a place in his ninth ATP World Tour final, Berdych will face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who battled past second seed Marin Cilic 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Chardy withstood nine aces from Cilic’s racquet to break serve twice from six opportunities and defeat the Croatian in one hour and 58 minutes.

World No. 15 Cilic also suffered a quarter-final exit (l. to Mathieu) on his Munich debut last year. The 20 year old has made a strong start to the season and compiled a 23-7 match record. He titled in two of his first three tournaments at Chennai (d. Devvarman) and Zagreb (d. Ancic) and was a quarter-finalist in Dubai (l. to Djokovic).

The 22-year-old Chardy reached his maiden ATP World Tour final in Johannesburg in February, when he finished runner-up to French compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The right-hander is currently a career-high No. 40 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings after also reaching the semi-finals in Delray Beach (l. to Fish) and the quarter-finals in Sydney (l. to Gasquet).

(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3554.ASP)