Istanbul: Guus Hiddink's contract as Turkey coach has been terminated by mutual consent following the team's failure to reach the Euro 2012 finals, the Turkish Football Federation said on Wednesday, ending a disappointing spell in charge for the Dutchman. The federation said it had decided to part ways with the 65-year-old Dutch coach, ending his contract that was due to expire next summer. The decision, announced on the federation's website,...
07:24 PM, Nov 16, 2011
London: Old foes Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet in the group stage of the ATP World Tour finals starting in London on Sunday while world number one Novak Djokovic will clash with number three Andy Murray. The round-robin competition which ends the men's tennis season is made up of two groups of four with the top two from each pool going through to the semi-finals. Defending champion Federer...
09:41 PM, Nov 15, 2011
London: Veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and debutants Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi were placed in different groups for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, starting in London on Sunday. Paes and Bhupathi, who will probably play with different partners next season, have been placed in Group A along with three-time winners Mike and Bob Bryan of the United States. Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau and Jurgen Melzer and...
09:40 PM, Nov 15, 2011
Paris: Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Paris Masters with a nagging shoulder injury before his quarter-final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday. The top-ranked Djokovic announced on his website that the injury got worse after his third-round comeback win against fellow Serb Viktor Troicki on Thursday. "Sadly I have to inform you that I have withdrawn from the tournament. I have pushed myself to the limit by playing, and after...
06:48 PM, Nov 11, 2011
Paris: Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Mardy Fish filled out the last qualifying berths for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday. All three earned their spots for the elite London tournament after Berdych beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the Paris Masters. Tipsarevic needed to win the title in Paris to qualify for the season-ending event, which starts on November 20. Novak...
05:56 AM, Nov 11, 2011
Paris: Novak Djokovic pocketed a $1.6-million bonus just for turning up on court on Wednesday before making light of recent shoulder pains to beat Croatian Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Paris Masters. An ATP rule designed to entice top players to take part in top events states that, as world number one, Djokovic is entitled to a $2-million bonus if he plays in all eight...
12:09 AM, Nov 10, 2011
Paris: Tournament favourites and fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes were knocked out in thrilling three-set encounter in the second round of Paris Masters on Wednesday. The Indian duo were edged out by the pair of Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and German Christopher Kas 6-3, 1-6 , 0-1 (8-10). The former world number one, who got a first-round bye, started on a positive note, winning the first set with ease....
08:01 PM, Nov 09, 2011
Paris: Juan Martin Del Potro has withdrawn from the Paris Masters because of a shoulder injury. The tournament started on Monday and the Argentine's withdrawal ends his chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. Del Potro said: "My shoulder started bothering me in Valencia and it got worse after each round." The 2009 US Open champion lost to Marcel Granollers of Spain in the semi-finals of the Valencia...
02:18 AM, Nov 08, 2011
New Delhi: The Indo-Pak tennis duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi has booked a berth in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals to be held from November 20 to 27 at London's O2 arena. The "Indo-Pak Express", who have got a bye in the opening round of the ongoing BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, will be making their team debut at the season finale, which will feature the top...
04:33 PM, Nov 07, 2011
Valencia: Top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain beat Russia's Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of the Valencia Open, while Gael Monfils' bid for a berth at this month's ATP World Tour finals suffered a setback when the third seed was upset by unseeded Marcel Granollers in the quarter-finals. The defending champion used a combination of speed and deep ground strokes to force Davydenko into costly...
10:10 AM, Nov 05, 2011
Basel: Roger Federer advanced to the quarter-finals and Andy Murray withdrew because of an injury just before his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors on Wednesday. Andy Roddick also advanced, using his serve to beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-4 in the late match. The seventh-seeded American had 12 aces and never allowed Haas a break point chance. Federer, defending champion at his hometown event, dropped a set against...
02:53 PM, Nov 04, 2011
Valencia: Sam Querrey beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (5), 6-2 to reach the Valencia Open quarter-finals on Thursday, dealing a blow to the second-seeded Frenchman's hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals. The American player secured his first back-to-back ATP match wins since June to leave Tsonga relying on his performance at next week's Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in...
02:43 PM, Nov 04, 2011
Basel: Mardy Fish retired from his first-round match at the Swiss Indoors against fellow American James Blake on Tuesday after just one game because of a hamstring injury. The fifth-seeded Fish held serve in the opening game and lost the first point of the next game when he decided the pain in his left leg would not allow him to continue. Fish is hoping to qualify for the season-ending ATP...
01:02 PM, Nov 02, 2011
Valencia: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was given a scare by Spanish teenager Javier Marti before rallying to win their first-round match at the Valencia Open 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday. The second-seeded Frenchman had won 11 of his last 13 matches coming in, including titles at Metz and Vienna. But Tsonga trailed early due to unforced errors and the smooth backhand of the 19-year-old wildcard, who was playing his first match against...
01:00 PM, Nov 02, 2011
Basel: Novak Djokovic made his return after missing six weeks with a back injury and defeated Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors on Tuesday. The top-ranked Serb overcame some difficult moments before improving his record this season to 65-3. Djokovic arrived on the court for the first time since September 18 wearing a fright mask resembling rock star Alice Cooper the night after...
12:43 PM, Nov 02, 2011
Valencia: India's Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan on Tuesday advanced to the men's doubles quarter-finals of the Valencia Open. The fourth-seeded India-Pakistan pair defeated Spaniards Nicolas Almagro and Pablo Andujar 6-3, 7-5. The duo took merely 67 minutes of play to wrap up victory in straight sets, to reach the quarters of the ATP World Tour 500 event. Bopanna and Qureshi now await the winner of the match...
11:00 AM, Nov 02, 2011
Belgrade: Nemanja Vidic has quit the Serbian national team after their failure to qualify for the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine, the Serbian Football Association (FSS) said on Monday. The FSS published a statement by the Manchester United defender, who said media and fan criticism over his recent performances for Serbia had persuaded him to hang up his international boots. "The basic reason for my international retirement is...
03:30 AM, Oct 25, 2011
Moscow: Agnieszka Radwanska secured the last remaining spot in the season-ending WTA Championships without hitting a ball after Marion Bartoli retired from her Kremlin Cup quarter-final with an illness on Friday. Kremlin Cup organisers said the Frenchwoman was forced to withdraw from her match against Russia's Elena Vesnina after suffering from a viral infection. World number nine Bartoli was the only player with a chance of catching the eighth-ranked Pole,...
08:43 PM, Oct 21, 2011
Stockholm: India's Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan staged a commendable fightback to defeat Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina and enter the final of the 600,000 Euros Stockholm Open on Friday. The top-seeded India-Pakistan pair won 2-6, 6-2, 10-8, in a match that lasted 68 minutes. In total, they fired 8 aces and saved six of the eight break points they faced. Bopanna and...
05:31 PM, Oct 21, 2011
Paris: Defending champion Robin Soderling has pulled out of next month's Paris Masters because of illness, organisers said on Thursday. World number six Soderling is suffering from the viral infection mononucleosis and has not played since he won in Bastad last July. The Swede's withdrawal will jeopardise his chances of playing in the ATP Tour Finals in London next month, for which three of the eight places are still up...
08:06 PM, Oct 20, 2011
