Monday, November 30, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
FINAL FOUR
Nikolay Davydenko grabbed the last semifinal spot at the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Robin Soderling 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 Friday, knocking defending champion Novak Djokovic out of the tournament.
Davydenko, Djokovic and Soderling all finished with two wins in the round-robin phase, but the third-ranked Serb was eliminated on sets. Soderling had already secured advancement and finished at the top of Group B.
Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (5), 6-3 earlier Friday, handing the Spaniard his third straight loss at the tournament.
Davydenko will face top-ranked Roger Federer in Saturday's first semifinal match. Soderling will take on US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro later in the day.
SEEING IS BELIEVING - 1M FINE - SERENA
SERENA Williams may cop the largest fine in tennis history when the world champion is penalised for her US Open meltdown.
Industry sources last night indicated the International Tennis Federation's grand slam committee was close to consensus on the Williams case, almost 12 weeks after the US Open incident.
Williams was cited for committing a major offence, an infraction which carries possible suspension from January's Australian Open.
Williams allegedly threatened to kill a lineswoman in New York, saying: "If I could, I would take this f ... ing ball and shove it down your f ... ing throat".
The winner of 11 majors, Williams almost certainly will contest the 2010 Australian Open, where she is the defending champion.
But she is likely to receive a fine which far outstrips the $US100,000 Lleyton Hewitt was docked in 2002 for missing a Cincinnati interview.
ITF grand slam administrator Bill Babcock has finished his inquiries, taking evidence and submissions from Williams and the officials involved on the day.
His findings will be discussed at the ATP World Tour finals at O2 Arena tomorrow by the four members of the grand slam committee.
Geoff Pollard (Australian Open), Jean Gachassin (French), Tim Phillips (Wimbledon) and Lucy Garvin (US), who will consider Babcock's recommendations, can overturn, or vary, his verdict.
One option for officials in the Williams case is to ban her from next season's US Open or strip her of the $US342,825 prizemoney and the 900 rankings points.
There is talk of a $1 million fine, and a good behaviour bond.
Williams was fined the maximum on-site penalty of $US10,000 in New York for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Her outburst was triggered by a suspect foot fault call in a tense semi-final against Belgian Kim Clijsters.
Williams tardy apologies were not burdened with sincerity.
ROGER'S GRIP
What can we learn from this pic:
1. His grip size is probably 4 2/8.
2. His pinky is almost off the butt.
3. He's switched to an Continental because he
will be hitting the ball late.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
SODERLING RIPS DJOKOVIC
Sweden’s Robin Soderling backed up his impressive opening win over World No. 2 Rafael Nadal by defeating defending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 6-1 in Group B action Wednesday at The O2 in south-east London.
Soderling, making his debut at the season finale as a late replacement for the injured Andy Roddick, is the first singles player through to the semi-finals at the season climax. The Tibro native is the first Swede to reach the semi-finals since Jonas Bjorkman at Hannover in 1997. It is the second year in a row, and the fourth time in the past five years, that the No. 8 seed has reached the semi-finals or better.
In a 29-minute second set, Soderling won the final six games of the match with controlled aggression and few errors. Djokovic was unable to move around the court to the best of his ability and, in attempting to end the points quickly, more often than not made the error.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ROGER HOLDS ONTO #1
Roger Federer ensured he would end the year as world number one after he beat Andy Murray 3-6 6-3 6-1 in a round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday.
The Swiss could have been usurped by Rafael Nadal but the Spaniard's defeat on Monday coupled with Federer's two victories in London meant he could no longer be overtaken this year.
ACTIVE BODY - CALM MIND
Researchers at Princeton University recently made a remarkable discovery about the brains of rats that exercise. Some of their neurons respond differently to stress than the neurons of slothful rats. Scientists have known for some time that exercise stimulates the creation of new brain cells (neurons) but not how, precisely, these neurons might be functionally different from other brain cells.
The youngest brain cells in the running rats, the cells that the scientists assumed were created by running generally remained quiet. The “cells born from running,” the researchers concluded, appeared to have been “specifically buffered from exposure to a stressful experience.” The rats had created, through running, a brain that seemed biochemically, molecularly, calm.
SWEDE KILLER?
Rafael Nadal lost to Robin Soderling for the second straight time, falling 6-4, 6-4 Monday in their opening round-robin match at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Soderling, who handed the Spaniard his first loss on clay at the French Open this year, powered his way through the Group B match by keeping Nadal on the move on the hard court at O2 Arena.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/11/23/atp.finals.ap/index.html?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
THE ARTFUL DODGER
Four-time Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion Roger Federer survived a scare on Sunday evening against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco before prevailing 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the second Group A match at The O2 arena in London.
MURRY BEATS DELPO
Andy Murray marked the start of London's five-year hosting of the ATP Tour Finals with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 win over U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in front of 17,500 fans inside the spectacular O2 Arena on Sunday.
The Briton withstood a ferocious comeback by the Argentine, who lost the opening five games, to open his account in Group A which also contains world number one Roger Federer and Fernando Verdasco who play later.
London
Eight top tennis stars including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will participate in the ATP World Tour Finals beginning today.
Success in this event may get Nadal number one rank back while Federer after his recent failures may remain on topfor further some time if he wins the tournament.
There is a difference of 945 points between Nadal and Federer and if Nadal does not lose any match in this tournament then he will become world number one gaining 1500 points.
All players have been divided into two groups in the tournament.
Federer will contest Andy Murray of Britain in Group A while US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and Fernando Verdasco of Spain are also included in this group.
In Group B, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko and Robin Soderling will face each other.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
ATP FINALS' DRAW
Draw for the round-robin stage of the ATP Tour finals which begin on Sunday at the O2 Arena in London (prefix denotes seeding).
Group A (1) Roger Federer (Switzerland) (4) Andy Murray (Britain) (5) Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) (7) Fernando Verdasco (Spain)
Group B (2) Rafael Nadal (Spain) (3) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) (6) Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) (8) Robin Soderling (Sweden).
REUTERS
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
RODDICK OUT OF BARCLAY'S
Andy Roddick is withdrawing from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals because of a left knee injury.
The No. 6-ranked Roddick hurt his knee at last month's Shanghai Masters.
The ATP said Tuesday that French Open runner-up Robin Soderling, No. 9 in the rankings, will take Roddick's spot in the eight-man field.
The draw for the tournament is Wednesday, and play starts Sunday. The other participants: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco.
BARCLAY'S
Next week's ATP World Tour finals at London's O2 Centre will be the biggest indoor tennis event ever staged.
World number one Roger Federer heads the cast of the top eight singles players and eight doubles pairs who have qualified for the lucrative year-ending tournament that begins a five-year stay on the banks of the River Thames in Greenwich.
On the eve of Wednesday's draw which will be performed inside a pod of the London Eye -- the largest Ferris wheel in Europe -- more than 250,000 seats had been sold for the round-robin tournament which begins on Sunday.
A practice court has been constructed in the foyer of the venue so that the public, even those just visiting the cinema or restaurants, will have a chance to see top players in action.
After the traffic problems in Shanghai, London's organisers have also come up with a novel way to get the players from their central London hotel out to the venue -- they will go by boat.
"We have two 62-seater boats, they are smoother than a car and they will have the players door to door in 30 minutes. It's a really nice way for the players to see London.
With Federer joined by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco the quality of the tennis on offer is matched by the prize money at stake.
Should a player win all his round-robin matches on the way to the title he would pocket $1.63 million, more than the 850,000 pounds ($1.43 million) Federer took from winning Wimbledon this year.
REUTERS
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
MAKE NO BONES
Some exercises do not promote bone density - swimming, weight training, cycling, walking.
Weight lifting isn’t explosive enough to stimulate such bone bending. Neither is swimming. Running can be, although for unknown reasons, it doesn’t seem to stimulate bone building in some people. Surprisingly, brisk walking has been found to be effective at increasing bone density in older women, Dr. Barry says. But it must be truly brisk. “The faster the pace,” he says — and presumably the greater the bending within the bones — the lower the risk that a person will fracture a bone.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
SWINE FLU
Tommy Haas, Germany's top-ranked tennis player, is recovering from swine flu.
"I did a test because I suspected that I had swine flu. The test was positive," Haas said in Tuesday's Bild newspaper. "Of course, it was a shock for me."
Haas told the paper he was already feeling better.
"I've calmed down now because although swine flu is a very strong form of flu, you can quickly overcome it when you're in good physical condition like I am," Haas said.
The 31-year-old Haas, ranked 17th in the world, pulled out of a tournament in Stockholm last week after becoming ill. He first thought it was normal flu but then had himself tested.
He also has pulled out of this week's Swiss Indoors and is unlikely to play next week at the Paris Masters.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
TACTFUL SAMPRAS
Q: Do you watch women's tennis?
A: You can ask someone like Kobe [Bryant] if he watches the [WNBA Los Angeles] Sparks. If I have time -- I've got two kids -- to watch something, it's not going to be ladies' tennis. It's going to be basketball or football. Ladies' tennis, there's some great players, but it's not anything I'm interested in.
LETTING HIS HAIR DOWN
The tennis star's brother was sent running around Paris to find bobby pins to keep Agassi's disintegrating spiked-mullet weave from coming off his head before a match in the 1990 French Open.
"Of course I could play without my hairpiece. But after months of derision, criticism, mockery, I'm too self-conscious," he wrote. "Image Is Everything? What would they say if they knew? Win or lose, they wouldn't talk about my game. They'd only talk about my hair. I can close my eyes and almost hear it. And I know I can't take it."
Read more: http://newsok.com/agassi-tells-mag-he-did-meth-for-a-year-or-so/article/3413261?custom_click=rss#ixzz0VeBMPnTL
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
