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/ 23 January 2007
Australian Open spectators face a dilemma when crowd favourites Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis compete in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Clijsters was once known as ”Aussie Kim” when she dated local hero Lleyton Hewitt and Hingis won here three times and says appearing on the Rod Laver Arena is ”like coming home”.
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/ 21 January 2007
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams gestured ”number one” with her index finger after rolling back the years to gatecrash the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday. The unseeded Williams crushed eleventh seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-2 in front of an adoring crowd at the Rod Laver Arena after passing the sternest test yet in her comeback from injury.
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/ 16 January 2007
Police flooded the Australian Open on Tuesday to prevent further clashes between Serb and Croat fans as players and the media ganged up to condemn the ethnic violence that marred the first day’s action. ”A Disgrace”, the Melbourne Herald-Sun said on its front page beneath photographs of rival fans kicking each other and swinging flagpoles as weapons.
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/ 27 November 2006
England’s players hope to erase memories of the demoralising defeat to Australia by getting it right for Friday’s second Adelaide Test, captain Andrew Flintoff said. Flintoff welcomed the back-to-back scheduling of the first two Tests because it meant his players could not dwell on their 277-run caning in the first Ashes Test.
Former Australia captains Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor defended umpire Darrell Hair’s integrity in the wake of the Pakistan forfeit row on Tuesday, as the local media dubbed him ”the bravest man in cricket”. Waugh said the Australian official correctly awarded the fourth Test to England on Sunday after Pakistan refused to come out after tea.
Scientists in Australia have discovered a fossilised ancient relative of the blue whale with a fearsome razor-toothed appearance that has seen it dubbed ”the T. rex of the oceans”. The fossil is the latest in a list of ancient creatures, including the unlikely sounding ”demon duck of doom”, that are reshaping views of Australia’s prehistoric past.
Australian pace bowler Glenn McGrath tempted fate on Tuesday when he named England’s stand-in captain Andrew Strauss and batsman Alastair Cook as his batting ”bunnies” (batsmen he intends to dominate) for the upcoming Ashes series. McGrath’s bold claim comes after he predicted a 5-0 whitewash to Australia in the last Ashes series.
South Africa are determined to prove their scrummaging dominance this weekend against an Australian side desperate to erase the memories of last week’s Tri-Nations drubbing by the All Blacks. The Springboks’ touring party has been weakened by injuries but still boasts a monster pack.
South Africa coach Jake White compared the pressure on his team to that faced by soccer superpower Brazil on Wednesday as he named two debutants for the Tri-Nations clash against Australia this weekend. Uncertainty over White’s future overshadowed the team announcement for Saturday’s match.
Wallabies coach John Connolly’s hopes of beefing-up the Australian front row to face South Africa’s monster pack this weekend were dashed on Wednesday when prop Rodney Blake lost a fitness race. Connolly made four changes to the team that played the All Blacks after suffering his first loss since taking over as coach earlier this year, dropping Mat Rogers to allow Matt Giteau to return from injury.