Dubai: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic lost for the first time this season, falling to Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships on Friday. The surprisingly one-sided victory ended Djokovic's 10-match winning streak that included the Australian Open title and his bid for a fourth successive Dubai title. In the final, Murray will meet Roger Federer, who edged Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). Del Potro...
08:41 AM, Mar 03, 2012
Dubai: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, who need to improve their rankings to earn a direct entry into the London Olympics, stormed into the summit clash of the ATP Dubai Open with a straight sets win on Friday. The fourth-seeded Indian pair of Bhupathi and Bopanna edged past the giant-killing Austrian pair of Julian Knowle and Alexanderin Peya 7-6 (2) 7-6 (7) in the semi-finals of the USD 1,700,475 hard...
06:44 PM, Mar 02, 2012
Dubai: Novak Djokovic defeated fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 7-6 (6) Thursday to set up a Dubai Championships semifinal against Andy Murray, a rematch of a marathon five-setter at the Australian Open. Murray, who lost to Djokovic at the Australian Open each of the last two years, defeated fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday. Roger Federer will face Juan Martin del Potro in the other semifinal. Del Potro beat...
08:54 AM, Mar 02, 2012
Dubai: India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna beat Lukas Dlouhy and Alexandr Dolgopolov to enter the men's doubles quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here. Bhupathi-Bopanna, seeded fourth, defeated the Czech-Russian pair 6-4, 7-5 in the opening round on Wednesday. The Indians converted four of their 14 break points and wrapped up the match in 70 minutes. They next face Australian-English combine of Paul Hanley and Jamie Murray...
08:16 PM, Mar 01, 2012
Dubai: Novak Djokovic beat fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 7-6 (6) on Thursday to set up a Dubai Championships semifinal with Andy Murray, who beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5. Roger Federer too made it to the last-four beating Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 and now awaits the winner of Juan Martin del Potro vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga quarter-final later on Thursday. The top-ranked Djokovic, gunning for his fourth straight title in Dubai,...
07:30 PM, Mar 01, 2012
Dubai: Roger Federer defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships. Federer broke the 15th-ranked Lopez in the final game to end a tight opening set. The second set was more routine, breaking the Spaniard to lead 5-3 and closing out the match with a volley winner from the net. Federer will face Mikhail Youzhny, who defeated Mardy Fish of the...
07:43 PM, Feb 29, 2012
Dubai: Roger Federer defeated Michael Llodra 6-0, 7-6 (6) to reach the second round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday. The second-seeded Federer needed only 17 minutes to win the first set, dictating play on his serve and using a solid net game to break the Frenchman three times. The second set was a much tighter affair, as both players held their serve throughout. Llodra, coming off a final loss...
12:25 AM, Feb 29, 2012
Dubai: Novak Djokovic shook off the rust to beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 6-2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday in his first match since winning the Australian Open. Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish also had an easy time against Andreas Beck of Germany, winning 6-1, 6-1 to join Djokovic in the second round. The top-ranked Djokovic has not played a match in nearly four weeks and it showed at times. He...
12:16 AM, Feb 28, 2012
New Delhi: The poor singles run in recent times has further dented Sania Mirza's ranking as the Indian slipped to 129, a loss of 16 places, in the latest WTA list issued on Monday. Sania had lost in the WTA Dubai Open qualifiers in the singles but did well in doubles by ending runners-up along with Elena Vesnina. The runners-up finish helped Sania retain her seventh place in the doubles...
03:19 PM, Feb 27, 2012
Dubai: Roger Federer blames a loss of confidence for failing to add to his record 16 Grand Slam titles in more than two years. The former No. 1 last won a major title at the 2010 Australian Open but denies his form has been in decline, instead attributing that to "a bit of confidence not on my side and on my opponent's side." "I've had some tough losses over the...
12:41 PM, Feb 27, 2012
Dubai: The body of an Indian, who died in an accident in Saudi Arabia, is finally being flown back to his family in Kerala after a year of relentless efforts to overcome legal and bureaucratic hurdles. Krishnankutty Nair, 55, who hailed from Kindangoor in Kottayam, Kerala, died on February 24, but could not be brought back home because his sponsor refused to complete the requisite formalities to transport the body....
09:28 AM, Feb 27, 2012
Dubai: Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland won her eighth career WTA title on Saturday, defeating Julia Goerges of Germany 7-5, 6-4 in the Dubai Tennis Championships final. Radwanska will rise one place to a career-best No. 5 when the world rankings are updated on Monday. The fifth-seeded Radwanska led in both sets but it took her almost two hours to overcome the unseeded Goerges, who ousted defending champion Caroline Wozniacki the...
11:26 PM, Feb 25, 2012
Dubai: Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina suffered a crushing 2-6, 1-6 defeat against top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond to end runners up at the WTA Dubai Open here on Saturday. The second seeded Indo-Russian pair had started well and gave a good fight in the first 30 minutes of the match but were blown away after that. It was the pair of Sania and Vesnina, who earned the...
08:38 PM, Feb 25, 2012
Dubai: India's Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina edged out Shuai Peng of China and Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh to book a place in the doubles final of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Tennis Championships. The second seeded Indo-Russian pair took an hour and 40 minutes to beat their opponents in the super tie-break, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (13/11) here late Friday night. The duo converted five of...
11:58 AM, Feb 25, 2012
Dubai: Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki lost in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, falling to Julia Goerges 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Friday. The former top-ranked Dane led 4-2 in the second set before Goerges regained control to close out the match in just over two hours. "I didn't play my best game today," Wozniacki said. "Made way too many unforced errors, and Julia took advantage of that." Goerges will...
11:56 PM, Feb 24, 2012
Dubai: Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 on Friday to reach the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The fifth-seeded Radwanska took an early 4-1 lead and won the first set in 33 minutes. The Polish player faltered in the second when Jankovic broke twice. Radwanska regrouped and wrapped up the match without losing a game in the third set. Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki...
09:12 PM, Feb 24, 2012
Dubai: Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina entered the women's doubles semifinals of the Dubai Open tennis event on Thursday, defeating Maria-Jose Matrinez Sanchez and Shahar Peer. The second seeds got the better of the Spanish-Israeli combine 6-1, 4-6, 10-8 in the quarterfinals, which was their first match of the tournament after getting a bye in the opening round. The Indo-Russian duo next play China's Peng Shuai and Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh,...
09:08 PM, Feb 23, 2012
Dubai: Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki reached the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, while US Open champion Sam Stosur was beaten by Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. Caroline Wozniacki ousted Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5 in a meeting of former No. 1s, after Jankovic had beaten Stosur 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday. The 22-year-old Wozniacki eased through the first set and then overcame tougher resistance in the second before...
08:48 PM, Feb 23, 2012
Dubai: The UAE's Ministry of Economy has ordered removal of certain cans and bottles of Pepsi and Coca Cola from the market within one month, saying that the companies have reduced quantities without prior permission. The decision was taken after meeting between the Ministry and local departments following complaints the two multi-national companies have reduced the size of their cans or bottles without prior approval. The meeting concluded that reducing...
02:00 PM, Feb 23, 2012
