Wimbledon 2012: Serena Williams wins fifth singles title

Serena Williams overcame a resurgent Agnieszka Radwanska to clinch a hard-fought 6-1 5-7 6-2 victory and earn her fifth Wimbledon singles title.

The American had eased through the opening set before Radwanska regrouped to win a rain-delayed second set.

But Williams broke twice in the decider to kill off Radwanska's challenge.
The 30-year-old then followed up her success to claim the doubles title with sister Venus, defeating Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-5 6-4.

Her singles victory is Williams's 14th Grand Slam title and follows Wimbledon singles victories in 2002, 2003, 2009 and 2010.

But it is also her first since spending almost a year out of action between summer 2010
and 2011 with a leg injury and subsequent pulmonary embolism.

Wimbledon 2012: Briton Jonathan Marray wins men's doubles final

Jonathan Marray became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title for 76 years after victory with wildcard partner Frederik Nielsen.

Sheffield-based Marray, 31, and Dane Nielsen only teamed up three events ago but beat fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 4-6 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-3.

Patrick Hughes and Raymond Tuckey were the last British winners in 1936.

Wimbledon 2012: Cilic beats Querrey in second longest match

Marin Cilic beat Sam Querrey in five hours 31 minutes, the second longest match in Wimbledon history. Cilic, 23, finally won the third-round match 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-7 (7-2) 6-7 (7-3) 17-15 at 21:02 BST.
It was still less than half the length of the longest match in Wimbledon history, when John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut in 11 hours five minutes in 2010.
"That was complete drama, especially that fifth set," said 16th seed Cilic, who faces Andy Murray on Monday.
The match surpassed the mark of five hours 28 minutes set in 1989 when Greg Holmes beat Todd Witsken 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 14-12.
Cilic and Querrey embraced at the net at the end of the match, and the Croatian said such a long affair was tough both mentally and physically.
"The difficult thing is that you are always thinking you are close, that you are going to break, but the game keeps going and the set is getting longer, and still you have to be really focused not to miss any easy balls," he said.
"You cannot let the other person see you are in physical or mental trouble, so it's not easy, but I would say it was a really big mental battle today."
Cilic, who became Queen's champion after David Nalbandian was disqualified in the final, is anticipating a different style of match against Murray.
"There is going to be more points from the rally, more running and I'd say Sam [Querry] was serving really well today, so it wasn't easy to find the rhythm from the back of the court," said Cilic.
"It was a little bit windy also, so I would say it will be a different match definitely, but I hope I'm going to be fresh and ready to go."
Source : BBC

Wimbledon 2012: Serena Williams & Petra Kvitova reach round four

Serena Williams fought back from a set down and set a new Wimbledon women's record of 23 aces to keep alive her bid for a fifth singles title. Williams, 30, had to dig deep to edge past China's Zheng Jie 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 9-7, while defending champion Petra Kvitova breezed into round four. "I definitely felt like it was a gut check for me," said Williams. "I never felt I would lose. I told myself to stay calm. I'm always strong mentally. That's not going anywhere." The American, who set the previous aces record of 20 in the 2009 semi-final against Elena Dementieva, stumbled in the first-set tie-break. But she romped through the second set before coming out on top in a nail-biting decider after two hours and 28 minutes on Centre Court. "I thought in the third set, if I'm going to go out I want to go out with a bang," said Williams, who served three times to stay in the match, winning each game to love. Williams, the sixth seed, will next play Kazakh wildcard Yaroslava Shvedova, who made history by achieving the first 'golden set' in Grand Slams against Sara Errani . French Open finalist Errani failed to win a single point during a 15-minute first set, in which Shvedova won 24 consecutive points, and eventually fell 6-0 6-4 to the world number 65.
Source: BBC

'Alpha male' Andy Roddick keeps fans guessing

Andy Roddick kissed Wimbledon Centre Court farewell on Saturday, but the ''alpha male'' of American tennis refused to reveal whether it meant goodbye for good.

Maria Sharapova wins Italian Open crown in Rome

Maria Sharapova recovered from a set and 4-0 down to beat Li Na and retain her Italian Open crown in Rome. At 6-6 in the third and final set, the match was interrupted for more than two hours by rain, but Sharapova returned to win the decisive tie-break. The 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win over the French Open champion gave the Russian her 26th career title. Sharapova now heads to Roland Garros looking for the title that would complete a career Grand Slam.

Mahesh Bhupathi-Bopanna out of Rome Masters

Rome: 7th seed Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi Rohan Bopanna crashed out of ATP Rome Masters after a straight-sets defeat to Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez .

Djokovic, Nadal in Rome Masters final rematch

Rome: World number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic swept past Roger Federer on Saturday to set up a Rome Masters final rematch with five-time winner Rafael Nadal.

Sourav Ganguly appointed vice-chairman of WB Sports Council

The West Bengal government on Wednesday reconstituted the Sports Council by inducting former India captain Sourav Ganguly as one of its its vice-chairmen.

Ganguly will work alongside former footballers Gouranga Banerjee, Compton Dutta, international paddler Poulami Ghatak and GM Dibyendu Barua.

"We are trying to bring everybody from all disciplines to revive the sports in Bengal," sports minister Madan Mitra told reporters while announcing the reconstitution of the Sports Council.

It was also decided to divide the council into two committees -- advisory board and working committee. Both would be headed by Mitra.

The advisory board will have eight vice-chairmen including hockey Olympians Gurbux Singh and Dr Vece Paes, football Olympian Chuni Goswami and Dronacharya awardee Syed Nayeemuddin.

The advisory board will also have former Test cricketer Arun Lal, footballers Shyam Thapa and Subrata Bhattacharya.

Former Indian football captain P K Banerjee and Leslie Claudius will be members in the working committee which will have representation from various sports

Novak Djokovic ends seven year Roger Federer- Rafael Nadal domination at the top

Novak Djokovic ends seven year Roger Federer- Rafael Nadal domination at the top

Sania leapfrogs to doubles world number 2

The semifinal appearance in the Wimbledon women's doubles on Monday catapulted Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina to number two slot in the WTA Race to the year-end Championships.

Sania-Elena now have 4506 points in the list, headed by Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, who have 6865 points. The top-four pairs compete in the prestigious year-end championship.

"The partnership with Elena has been great in the last four months, specially the Slams. When we started playing together last year at Dubai, and had somebody said that we will be number two after Wimbledon, we would have laughed," Sania told PTI from Dubai.

Sania has taken a three-week break from the circuit to recover from the injury in the left knee.

"It's (knee) sore since I am off the pain killers. I am recovering. Hopefully it will be okay after 10 days rest," she said.

Sania's first tournament after the break will be the WTA event in Washington from July 25.

The good show at the Wimbledon also resulted in Sania achieving the career-best doubles rank of 11, an improvement of three slots. In the singles though Sania slid to 63, a loss of three position, after a first round exit.

In the ATP rankings, Somdev Devvarman rose to career-best 63 in the singles. Leander Paes also improved his doubles rankings by getting back into the top-10.

He is placed eighth while his partner Mahesh Bhupathi is highest ranked Indian in the list at number five. Rohan Bopanna is at number 10, just behind his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi.

Maria Sharapova's seven-year wait to wimbledon 2011final

Seven years after a surprise victory at Wimbledon at age 17, Maria Sharapova is back in the final, this time as a three-time winner in grand slams and the heavy favourite on Saturday.

Petra Kvitova is preparing for her first slam final. The 21-year-old Czech might be dreaming of a debut like that of her Russian rival, who overpowered the top-seeded Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in 2004 to establish herself as a precocious star of the women's game.

The seven-year gap between Wimbledon finals might surprise some, but it is not something that troubles Sharapova.

"You obviously hope that you can be in the final stages every single year, but I guess it's just not meant to happen," she said yesterday. This is the year I'm supposed to be back in the final. I don't know why. I'm not going to question it."

Since 2004, Sharapova has added the 2006 US Open and the 2008 Australian Open titles.

She also has recovered from shoulder surgery in October 2008 that took her off the singles court for nearly 10 months and necessitated a change in her service motion when she returned to action.

Her first slam final since the surgery is the sort of moment Sharapova visualised while nursing her shoulder back to health.

"I had time to reflect on my career and things that I've achieved," she said.

"But I think I was always looking towards the future more than anything than in the past because that's where I was trying to envision myself at some point, to be getting back out there."

Looking back to the 2004 final, Sharapova said she spent the day trying to recover from illness.

As she looked ahead to the biggest match of her career, Kvitova dismissed talk of nerves.

"No, I'm not nervous," she said. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow, for sure. I slept well. It's OK."

If Kvitova can hold her nerve, the final could come down to her serve. The left-handed Kvitova has hit 35 aces in her six matches so far and it was her serve that was a determining factor in her semi-final win over the fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.

Sharapova managed to beat Sabine Lisicki despite 13 double faults and a first-serve percentage of 48.

Martina Navratilova, the last left-handed women's champion at Wimbledon, in 1990, said Kvitova "matches up well" against Sharapova.

"It's such a toss-up. It basically comes down to who serves better," Navratilova said. "Once the ball is in play, Sharapova has an edge with Petra. I think Petra will return better [than did Lisicki] and it will be easier for her to hold serve."

Kvitova has described the nine-time Wimbledon winner Navratilova as her idol.

"She's very sweet," Navratilova said. "It's funny because I haven't had that many players that said, 'You're my hero.' It's nice. I thought she was too young for that."

Kvitova had not won a match on grass before her run to the semifinals at the All England Club last year where she was beaten by Serena Williams.

Since then, she has won three WTA Tour titles and surged into the top 10.

She trained at the same club in the city of Prostejov as 2010 Wimbledon men's finalist Tomas Berdych. Martina Hingis, the 1997 women's champion, also practised there.

Kvitova said her parents are flying over from Prostejov to watch her attempt to become the first Czech woman to win Wimbledon since Jana Novotna in 1998.

Sharapova will again be supported by her fiance, the New Jersey Nets basketball player Sasha Vujacic, who has been at the championships throughout.

Seven years on from her 2004 victory, when she played like a carefree teenager, the 24-year-old Sharapova will go into the final with a far more nuanced perspective.

"I'm a few years older, more mature. I hope so at least," she said, smiling.

"You develop, not only as a player, but as a person as well.

"Obviously, a big part of my life is tennis, but at the end of the day I'm not going to be playing for my whole life. Next page

Sharapova's off day good enough for final return

Maria Sharapova, the glamour girl of women's tennis, showed she is not averse to winning ugly as she overcame some jitters to set up a Wimbledon final against Petra Kvitova on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Russian served 13 double faults on her way to a 6-4 6-3 defeat of Germany's Sabine Lisicki to reach the final for the first time since she burst into the spotlight by winning the 2004 title as a carefree 17-year-old.

Eighth seed Kvitova silenced the wailing Victoria Azarenka 6-1 3-6 6-2 to reach her first grand slam final.

Neither match will live long in the memory though after a day that did little to alter the perception that the women's game is struggling without the rivalries that have fuelled interest in the men's game.

Not that Sharapova was too concerned.

"It's a great feeling. It's been many years, but it's a really great feeling," said Sharapova, who has filled the vacuum left by the fourth-round exits of champion Serena Williams, five-times winner Venus Williams and top seed Caroline Wozniacki.

"Today wasn't my best match of the championships so I was real happy to get through in two sets. So yeah, it's pretty amazing to be back on that stage."

Czech Kvitova and Belarussian fourth seed Azarenka thrashed around for an hour and 44 minutes on the hallowed turf but their "heavy metal" variety of tennis hardly captivated a Centre Court liberally sprinkled with empty green seats.

The famous arena was still not full either when Sharapova, the only genuine A-lister to survive until the semis, strode out under cloudy skies to take on wildcard Lisicki.

For three games the fifth seed could hardly get the ball in court, struggling on serve, lashing forehands into the net and shooting panicky glances to fiance Sasha Vujacic as he tried his best to offer encouragement from the players' box.

She improved steadily but her progress to the final was helped by an opponent whose belief drained away as quickly as Sharapova ramped up the volume on the "grunt-o-meter".

When the ninth service break ended the contest, the long-limbed Russian blew kisses to all four stands and added an extra one for her boyfriend before aiming another at the sky in gratitude for the looming rain clouds staying away.

After storming through the draw without losing a set to reach her first grand slam final since her career was threatened by shoulder surgery in 2008, Sharapova will be odds-on favourite to collect her fourth major title.

"But the next match starts from scratch. Everything that kind of went before, that doesn't really matter," said the Florida-based Russian, who gets to enjoy a few of the perks of being a member of the All England Club.

Azarenka's defeat will at least help keep the volume down on Saturday as left-handed Kvitova is relatively quiet when she smites the ball over the net.

The Belarussian, whose sound effects again brought giggles from the crowd, was briefly drowned out by an alarm blaring across Centre Court at one point of the match but it was Kvitova's accuracy that was the real danger.

The first set whizzed by in 27 minutes with hardly a rally to speak of but Azarenka got a foothold with an early break in the second and went on to level the contest.

With similar playing styles, both smashing the felt off the ball from the baseline, there was a muted atmosphere in the stands as Kvitova pulled away again in the decider.

Kvitova completed victory on her second match point when Azarenka served a double fault.

"I think it was a nervous match for sure," Kvitova, the first left-hander to reach the women's final since Czech-born American Martina Navratilova in 1994, told reporters.

"It was tough mentally but it's something unbelievable to be in the final at Wimbledon."

Andy Murray's quest to become the first British man to win Wimbledon for 75 years takes centre stage on Friday when he takes on world number one and holder Rafa Nadal in the men's semis after Novak Djokovic plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Djokovic into Wimbledon final; to get No.1 ranking

Novak Djokovic cut down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3 on Friday to reach his first Wimbledon final and guarantee becoming world number one next week.

The Serbian second seed looked to be cruising to a straight-sets victory but Tsonga suddenly sprung to life in the third set, breaking Djokovic's serve to force a tiebreak which the 12-seeded Frenchman won 11-9.

But Djokovic held his nerve to secure an early break in the fourth set and Tsonga, who fought back from two sets down to beat six-times champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, could not respond.

Djokovic, now certain to knock Rafa Nadal off the top of the rankings, will play top seed Nadal or Briton Andy Murray in the final on Sunday.

Boris Becker empathises with sportsmen who are caught in sex scandals

Former Tennis player Boris Becker, who has had his fair share of affairs, has admitted that he empathises with sportsman who gets tangled in sex scandals.

Becker, who parted ways with his wife following his brief fling, also expressed sympathy for Tiger Woods and other high-profile people.

"Sportsmen and women are human beings, we’re not perfect, nor do we claim to be," the Age quoted Becker as saying.

"I can empathise with high-profile people who find themselves in the spotlight in this way. I feel their pain, their embarrassment, so I wouldn’t ever dare criticise anybody’s private life," he said.

When he was asked if sportsmen are more prone to straying. Becker, who described himself as “disciplined and a quick learner” said that it was all about chances.

"No. It’s just about opportunity," he added.

Sania-Vesnina in Wimbledon quarterfinals

India's Sania Mirza and Russian Elena Vesnina advanced to the quarterfinal of women's doubles in Wimbledon Championships with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland Tuesday.


The Indo-Russian pair, seeded fourth, will next take on Spain's Nuria Llagostera and Arantxa Parra Santonja.


Sania and Vesnina had also made it to the title round of French Open.

Scan reveals no serious injury for Rafael Nadal

A scan on Rafa Nadal's injured left foot has shown no major damage and the holder and number one seed should be fit to play Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Nadal said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Spaniard suffered the injury towards the end of the first set of Monday's four-set victory over Juan Martin Del Potro and needed almost 10 minutes of courtside treatment from a physio and doctor.

"I thought I'd have to retire," Nadal said after the match. "I felt something very strange. I felt that I had broken my foot, I felt terrible. I am worried for sure. I will have the scan and then let's see if I can recover for Wednesday."

After having the foot strapped he was able to play the rest of the match, though he said he was suffering some pain whenever he hit a forehand.

He underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday morning and will practise in the afternoon.

Worried Nadal to get MRI on injured left foot

Rafael Nadal felt something "crush" in his left foot, and the intense pain immediately made him worry that it might be broken.

And then, as he limped along between first-set points in the fourth round at Wimbledon, came an idea just as scary to contemplate: What if he needed to quit?

"I thought I wouldn't be able to continue playing," the defending champion and top-seeded Nadal said Monday night. "That's the truth. I'm not lying."

After pulling out a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal said he would get an MRI exam on the foot and couldn't be 100 percent sure how fit he'll be for his quarterfinal Wednesday against 10th-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States.

"I'm worried, for sure. I'm going to do the MRI. We'll see what's going on. Tomorrow, we will see," Nadal said. "I cannot predict the future."

By getting past del Potro, Nadal improved to 30-2 at Wimbledon since the start of the 2006 tournament. He's joined in the quarterfinals by the rest of the top four seeded men: No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Roger Federer and No. 4 Andy Murray.

"We've all been playing well, I think the top four or five guys really, for a long time," said Federer, a six-time champion at Wimbledon. "I think it's exciting for tennis."

He dropped a set for the first time in his four matches at Wimbledon this year before coming back to beat 18th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals at a record 29th consecutive Grand Slam tournament.


Federer, now 11-0 against Youzhny, compiled 54 winners — including 14 aces — and broke six times.

Two-time Australian Open champion Djokovic kept up his bid for a first Wimbledon title by beating Michael Llodra of France 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Djokovic can replace Nadal at No. 1 in the rankings by reaching Sunday's final.

Murray, meanwhile, breezed past No. 17 Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 — then took a deep bow to the Royal Box, where Prince William and bride Kate joined the rest of the crowd in giving Britain's top player a standing ovation.

Murray is hoping to become the first British man to win the title at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936. After Monday's victory, Murray met with the royal couple, then sheepishly apologized to them for his appearance.

"If I'd known they were coming, I would have shaved," the Scot said with a smile. "I was thinking to myself as I came off I was sweaty and very hairy. I said to them, 'I'm sorry, I'm a bit sweaty.' But it was really nice."

In addition to Nadal-Fish, the quarterfinals will be Djokovic vs. 18-year-old qualifier Bernard Tomic of Australia, who beat Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to become the youngest man to make it this far at Wimbledon since Boris Becker won a second consecutive championship in 1986; Federer vs. No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France; and Murray vs. unseeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Tsonga got past No. 7 David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (1), while Lopez came back from two sets down to eliminate Lukasz Kubot of Poland 3-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-5.

In the day's most dramatic match, Nadal's foot began hurting during the first set, particularly when he moved to his left to hit defensive forehands. He was visited twice by a trainer, including right before the tiebreaker, when his foot was taped up, which helped alleviate the problem a bit.


Still, Nadal fell behind 3-0 in the tiebreaker, favoring his left foot during points and stepping gingerly after them. Up in his guest box, Toni Nadal — Rafael's uncle and coach — was gnawing on his finger nails.

Aided by mistakes from del Potro, Nadal won four consecutive points to go ahead 4-3, but then fell behind 6-5. Nadal saved that set point with a service winner, ended a 20-stroke exchange with a backhand that landed right on the baseline, and took the set when del Potro double-faulted.

Del Potro — who missed most of 2010 after right wrist surgery — won the second set, but then he tumbled to the turf early in the third, clutching at his left hip. He left to get checked by a trainer, but continued.

Despite both players' health issues, they provided some scintillating tennis. Del Potro pressured Nadal with his powerful forehand and strong serve, often attacking the net. Nadal countered with a series of spectacular passing shots.

After Nadal served out the match at love, the crowd gave both players a lengthy standing ovation.

"I will try my best," Nadal said, "to be very competitive on Wednesday."

Caroline Wozniacki stunned by Dominika Cibulkova at Wimbledon

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki was upset 1-6 7-6 7-5 by Dominika Cibulkova in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday, following defending champion Serena Williams out of the tournament.

Dane Wozniacki, bidding for her first grand slam title, looked to be cruising through to last eight for the first time as she comfortably took the first set against the diminutive 24th seed from Slovakia.

But Cibulkova raised her game to take the second-set tiebreak and she stayed with the world number one through afinal set riddled with breaks of serve before clinching a shock win on her third match point with a crunching forehand.

Cibulkova will play fifth seed and former champion Maria Sharapova in the last eight.

Saina Nehwal's China woes continue

Saina Nehwal fell one point short of claiming a hat-trick of Indonesia Open titles, failing to capitalise on a match point against Wang Yihan of China in the final in Jakarta on Sunday.
Saina was one game up and was leading 20-19 in the second, but Yihan kept her nerve and delivered a precise smash that helped her equalise. That one point kept Saina from winning the badminton’s version of a Grand Slam — for the Indonesia Open is a ‘Premier’ Super Series event, one of five in the circuit modelled on the Grand Slam circuit in tennis.

The four-seeded Indian looked in red-hot form to begin with, demolishing the Chinese third seed 21-12 in the first game. There has been doubt over Saina’s form in recent weeks, with unexpected early losses, but on Sunday, she showed no rustiness as Yihan struggled to keep level against her pace and attack. Saina gained from Wang’s numerous errors of judgments, misplaced shots and her own trademark smashes to clinch the opening game rather easily. Wang committed 12 unforced errors in the opening game. Uncharacteristically for a Chinese, she was the one having to withstand a barrage of smashes. From 9-all, Saina steadily gained while the willowy Chinese girl looked outclassed.

But Yihan recovered in the second game and although the number of unforced errors did not improve, Saina helped her rival’s cause by trying too hard to hurry up the proceedings. The result was 10 unforced errors for the Indian, who also struggled to connect the smashes that more often than not had bailed her out in crunch situations.

Yihan, hitting against the drift in the hall, was able to control the tosses better, and the rallies began to get longer as the Chinese began to get her length right.

At 7-10, Saina netted an easy kill, and Yihan began to gain on her. The Indian, to her credit, kept fighting. Yihan seemed to have done enough with a 19-17 lead, but Saina got back on level terms with two big smashes and held match point at 20-19.
It was here that Yihan showed great composure under pressure; she drilled a round-the-head smash that caught Saina by surprise, and went on to take the game 23-21. Saina put aside her disappointment as she began the third game strongly.

Fortunes fluctuated, and at 12-all, it looked like anyone’s game. Imperceptibly, however, Yihan started controlling the rallies from then on as Saina seemed to flag under the pressure of the precision and length of the rallies. The Chinese closed it out at 21-14.

Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, world No 1 Lee Chong Wei thrashed Danish veteran Peter Gade to win the Indonesian Open for a third time. The 28-year-old Malaysian dominated the match to defeat the Gade 21-11 21-7.