“I would be very proud to carry the Swiss flag again, like I did in Athens”
WORLD 100 metres record-holder Asafa Powell has resumed training after missing time with a chest injury, and should be in good health in time for the August Beijing Olympics, his manager said. via The Age
HAMBURG: Neither fourth-seed Nikolay Davydenko nor fifth-seed David Ferrer wasted any time booking their places in the third round after comfortable wins at the Hamburg Masters Series here on Tuesday. via Daily Times
- Spain’s choice of a Madrid bull ring as the venue for its Davis Cup semifinal series against the United States was officially announced Monday by the International Tennis Federation.
Spain’s national tennis federation decided Friday to host the defending champion Americans on outdoor clay at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas despite pressure from the players to use a different venue.
In the other best-of-five semifinal series, Argentina will host Russia on outdoor clay at the Estadio Parque Roca in Buenos Aires.
The semifinals will be played from Sept. 19-21.
Second-ranked Rafael Nadal was among eight Spanish players who, along with Davis Cup captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario, signed an open letter last week denouncing the federation’s process for choosing the host city.
The team said Madrid’s 650-metre altitude will remove the team’s home-court advantage and accused federation president Pedro Munoz of favouring the capital city because of sponsorship money.
“We are happy to play in Madrid, but it’s more difficult to beat the Americans at 650 metres altitude,” Nadal said Monday from the Hamburg Masters. “We the players prefer to play at sea level. We accept to go to Madrid, but we don’t accept this president. We are angry with the president. We don’t believe in him.”
The Spaniards are at their best on a slow clay surface, while the Americans - led by hard-serving Andy Roddick - are likely to benefit from the higher altitude speeding up play.
It’s the first time in 10 years that Madrid will host a Davis Cup match.
via The Canadian Press“There’s more than one way to dictate a match”
Theatre Reader reviews Theatre Music Music London, Any painful reminders don’t worry Murray as he thumps Tursunov Add your view If Andy Murray felt Monday brought a sense of closure after the agonies of 12 … via This Is London
“We had lost some tough three-setters and we won them this week. Things are turning around and hopefully we just need to build on them.”
Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic lost the Rome Masters doubles final after a lengthy tiebreaker Sunday, falling 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan. via Sportsnet.ca
“They said I need maybe three days off before they test it again.”
Top-seeded Northwestern was upset by No. 8 California in the quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s tournament Saturday in Tulsa. via Chicago Tribune
HAMBURG, Germany Roger Federer beat unseeded Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters on Saturday. via ESPN
Top seed Roger Federer advanced to the last eight of the Hamburg Masters in Germany on Thursday with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Sweden’s Robin Soderling. via CCTV
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday May 15 2008. It was last updated at 20:31 on May 15 2008. via Surrey Hants Star
Defending champion Roger Federer reached the quarter-finals of the Hamburg Masters Series after needing a little over an hour to see off Sweden’s Robin Soderling on Thursday. via Raw Story
“Over the last few years all the players have been to numerous mandatory (WTA) meetings and sometimes you go back feeling you are talking about the same things and having the same issues and your voice is never being heard”
JUSTINE Henin appeared to have it all, ranked world number one and with the consistency and mental strength to dominate her sport for years to come. via The Straits Times
“This place really works for me,”"
Top-ranked Roger Federer eased past Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3 Wednesday to reach the third round of the Hamburg Masters, a tournament he has won four times. via CBS SportsLine
“It’s always difficult to play your first match of a tournament, it doesn’t matter how confident you feel”
Neither fourth-seed Nikolay Davydenko nor fifth-seed David Ferrer wasted any time booking their places in the third round after comfortable wins at the Hamburg Masters Series here on Tuesday. via The Age
“It’s my birthday on the day of the opening ceremony”
Roger Federer hopes to celebrate his 27th birthday on August 8 by carrying the flag again for Switzerland at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. via Manawatu Evening Standard
“Everybody got used to Federer and Nadal playing the finals of every major event. All I can say is that mentally they’re struggling”
Supremely confident… Novak Djokovic believes Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are mentally struggling. via Australian Broadcasting Corporation
