New Delhi: Indian men paddlers entered the finals of the team championship event after beating England, while the women went down fighting against the same opponents in their semi-final encounter at the 19th Commonwealth Championship here Tuesday. Even as men prevailed 3-2, the women's team lost 2-3 to settle for a bronze medal. Indian men will now take on mighty Singapore, who defeated Malaysia 3-0, in the finals Wednesday. The...
06:15 PM, May 07, 2013
Madrid: Milos Raonic said he needed to iron out "crucial mistakes" after the Canadian 12th seed squeaked past former world number three Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-6 in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Monday. Raonic, at 22 almost 10 years younger than his unseeded Russian opponent, managed one break of the Davydenko serve to secure the first set and edged the second-set tiebreak 7-5 to set up a...
11:59 AM, May 07, 2013
Madrid: Maria Sharapova rallied from a break down in the first set to beat Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 7-5, 6-2 on Monday and reach the second round of the Madrid Open. The second-seeded Russian said she was still adjusting to changing weather conditions in Madrid and "the altitude as well" after winning the title in Stuttgart last weekend. "It was a tough match," Sharapova said. "I was really happy that...
11:24 AM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Indian paddlers continued to impress as both men's and women's teams assured themselves of at least two bronze medals by progressing to the semi-finals of the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, here on Monday. Both teams have common rival in England in their respective semi-finals, to be played on Tuesday. Men paddlers topped their group by winning all the three matches while women finished second behind Singapore. Women...
10:16 PM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: Indian women paddlers put up a brave fight before going down 1-3 to Singapore in a league match of the second stage at the 19th Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, here on Monday. However, India made a positive start to their campaign overwhelming Scotland 3-0 in the opening match of the day. The eves will now take on Wales to seal a spot in the last four round. Against...
07:20 PM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: Indian paddlers made a fine start at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships topping their respective groups in Stage I on Sunday. The men's team, led by Sharath Kamal, first saw off Australia 3-1 and then blanked South Africa in Group B matches played at the Thyagaraj Stadium. The women too had it easy in Group C, beating Sri Lanka and Canada with an identical 3-0 margin. They got...
08:54 AM, May 06, 2013
Munich: Tommy Haas won the BMW Open for the first time in his 10th attempt. The third-seeded Haas beat defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Sunday to win the first all-German final in Munich in 48 years. The 35-year-old Haas capped an impressive week by beating Kohlschreiber in 83 minutes for his 14th ATP Tour title and his fourth on home soil. He is the first 35-year-old to...
11:08 PM, May 05, 2013
Madrid: Top-ranked Serena Williams won her opening match on the red clay of the Madrid Open on Sunday. She and other stars are glad the tournament returned to the traditional surface after its trial with blue "Smurf" clay flopped last year. After dispatching Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 7-6 (5), 6-1, the defending champion said she liked the new courts at the Caja Magica. "I think these clay courts are really...
11:01 PM, May 05, 2013
Oeiras: Stanislas Wawrinka won the Portugal Open by beating top-seeded David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday's final. The second-seeded Wawrinka, who is from Switzerland, broke Ferrer's serve three times while not giving up one break point to finish the lopsided match in 1 hour, 5 minutes. It was Wawrinka's fourth career title and first this year. ...
10:53 PM, May 05, 2013
Madrid: Seventh-seeded Sara Errani advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open, beating Urszula Radwanska of Poland, 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday. The Italian will face either Sorana Cirstea or Ayumi Morita. Also, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated Sloane Stephens of the USA 6-3, 7-5, Germany's Julia Goerges downed Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-1,and Lourdes Dominguez-Lino of Spain beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Alize Cornet, Sabine Lisicki,...
10:58 AM, May 05, 2013
London: Tennis great Chris Evert has hit out at her former fiance Jimmy Connors for hinting that their relationship ended in the 1970s after she had an abortion against his wishes. "In his book, Jimmy Connors has written about a time in our relationship that was very personal and emotionally painful," Evert said in a statement released on Saturday through her agent Lawrence Frankopan at StarWing Sports. "I am extremely...
10:07 AM, May 05, 2013
Munich: Tommy Haas will play defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in an all-German final at the BMW Open on Sunday. The third-seeded Haas defeated Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday, while Kohlschreiber edged compatriot Daniel Brands 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5) to set up the first all-German title match in Munich in 48 years. The 35-year-old Haas, who reached the 2000 final and hopes to win the title for...
11:10 PM, May 04, 2013
Oeiras: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Spain's Carla Suarez 7-5, 6-2 to win the Portugal Open on Saturday. The 21-year-old Russian saved six of seven break points and overcame five double faults to win her fifth career title and second of the year. Later Saturday, top-seeded David Ferrer plays Andreas Seppi in the semifinals, while Stanislas Wawrinka faces Pablo Carreno-Busta. ...
08:15 PM, May 04, 2013
Paris: Rafael Nadal will not be protected with a higher seeding at the French Open, tournament director Gilbert Ysern said on Saturday. Roland Garros committee member Guy Forget suggested last month that the Spaniard, who has slipped to fifth in the world rankings, should be protected to avoid a potential quarter-final clash with world number one Novak Djokovic. "Considering what Nadal represents in Paris, i.e. the best player in the...
04:40 PM, May 04, 2013
Madrid: Chinese tennis star Li Na arrives at the Madrid Tennis Masters with a positive frame of mind, and praised her coach for a successful start to the season. The 32-year-old world number five began the year in fine form as she reached the final of the Australian Open and warmed up for Madrid by reaching the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, reports Xinhua. Speaking to...
02:10 PM, May 04, 2013
Munich:L Daniel Brands beat top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Friday at the BMW Open to set up an all-German semi-final with defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber defeated Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (3). He is bidding for his third Munich title after also winning in 2007. Ivan Dodig of Croatia continued his upset streak by ousting fifth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final...
09:35 AM, May 04, 2013
Oeiras, Portugal: David Ferrer led the top three seeded players into the Portugal Open semi-finals on Friday, beating Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 7-6 (2). Second-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka knocked out local favourite Gastao Elias 6-4, 6-4, and No. 3 Andreas Seppi beat No. 8 Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-3. Pablo Carreno-Busta rallied past fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to complete the final four. In the women's event, third-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova...
09:24 AM, May 04, 2013
London: Brad Drewett, a former tour player who led the ATP as executive chairman and helped increase prize money at Grand Slam tournaments, died Friday after a short battle with motor neurone disease. He was 54. The ATP said in a statement the Australian died at his home in Sydney. Drewett was a top-40 singles and top-20 doubles player before he retired in 1990. He was hired in 2006 to...
08:20 AM, May 04, 2013
Rafael Nadal says the decision to destroy the evidence in the Operation Puerto doping case is "a mistake." "My opinion is that the ruling wasn't positive for anyone," the tennis great said on Friday. "The only ones that benefited were the ones who cheated. The ones that are hurt are Spanish athletes and sports in general." In the verdict on Tuesday, the doctor at the heart of the doping ring,...
08:14 AM, May 04, 2013
World number seven Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn from next week's Madrid Open because of a viral infection, organisers said on Friday. The heavy-hitting Argentine reached the semi-finals last year before losing to Czech Tomas Berdych. "He has a virus and will not be fit to play," a statement on the tournament's website (www.madrid-open.com) said. "We wish him a fast recovery." Belgian David Goffin, who was in the qualifying...
07:21 PM, May 03, 2013
