Rising South African star Trevor Immelman heads into this week’s British Open knowing he might have to abandon his challenge mid-tournament if he is to witness the birth of his first child. Immelman desperately wants to be at his wife Carminita’s side, but he admitted on Monday that might not be possible if the baby decides to arrive a few days ahead of schedule.
Colin Montgomerie has turned to a sports psychologist to put him in the right frame of mind to finally slay his major tournament jinx at next week’s British Open. The big Scot suffered his most agonising near miss yet when he left a seven iron from the centre of the fairway short of the final green in last month’s United States Open, running up a double-bogey that allowed Geoff Ogilvy to claim the title.
Roger Federer performed one of the most clinical demolition jobs ever witnessed on centre court as he crushed Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman to move within one match of a fourth Wimbledon title. The Swiss needed just one hour and 17 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 victory with a flawless, almost surgical, display of precision tennis.
Maria Sharapova laughed off the appearance of a streaker at Wimbledon on Tuesday but admitted she had been surprised by how long he had been allowed to remain within a few yards of her on centre court. The appearance of a naked young man mid-way through the second set of her quarterfinal had no apparent impact on Sharapova’s game.
The second week of Wimbledon will be a virtually American-free zone after Andy Roddick and Venus Williams joined Andre Agassi in crashing out before the halfway stage. The unexpectedly early demise of defending champion Williams and Roddick, a beaten finalist in the last two years, left the unheralded Shenay Perry to fly the Stars and Stripes on her own.
Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova showed why they have the right to call themselves Wimbledon champions as they cruised into the last 32 of the men’s and women’s singles on Thursday. Veteran showman Agassi, taking his final bow at the All England Club, looked far less rusty than he had done in a laboured first-round win over Boris Pashanski.
Roger Federer’s bid for a fourth successive Wimbledon title got off to a whirlwind start on Monday only to be stalled by the fickle London weather. Only 35 minutes of play were possible on centre court while none of the 64 scheduled first-round matches were completed.
Chelsea face a tough opening to their bid for a hat-trick of Premiership titles after being handed three potentially tricky fixtures for the start of the 2006-07 season. Flying starts have been a feature of Chelsea’s last two successful campaigns. Last season, Jose Mourinho’s side began with nine straight wins and did not concede a goal in their first six.
Late goals by Samuel Eto’o and substitute Juliano Belletti allowed Barcelona finally to overcome 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in a Champions League final of extraordinary drama at the Stade de France in Paris on Wednesday. Arsenal came close to pulling off what would have been one of the most unlikely triumphs in the tournament’s history.
Arsene Wenger believes fate is propelling Arsenal towards victory over Barcelona in the most-eagerly anticipated Champions League final in years. He seen his young side defy the odds on their way to a Stade de France rendezvous with Barcelona, the one side in Europe who can reasonably claim to combine entertainment and efficiency as attractively as his own side.