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/ 22 January 2008
A bullish mood is spreading among his rivals that dominating world number one Roger Federer is beatable coming into the showpiece rounds of the Australian Open. The Swiss top seed, the winner of 12 Grand Slam titles, second only to Pete Sampras’s 14, has ruled men’s tennis for four years and has been a constant in the last 10 Major finals.
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/ 22 January 2008
Indian wicketkeeper and one-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni dismissed talk on Tuesday of a dressing-room rift over former skipper Sourav Ganguly’s omission from the upcoming triangular one-day series against Australia and Sri Lanka. Dhoni became a hero when he led India to their first major trophy in 24 years at the Twenty20 World Cup in September.
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/ 22 January 2008
Two Australian thieves were labelled "a pair of fools" by a judge on Tuesday as he jailed them over a bungled restaurant robbery in which one shot his female accomplice in the buttocks. Donna Hayes was shot by her former boyfriend, Benjamin Jorgensen, during an attempt to rob the Cuckoo Restaurant in Melbourne on April Fool’s Day last year.
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/ 22 January 2008
A listless Serena Williams stumbled out of the Australian Open on Tuesday, the champion jettisoned by Serbia’s ”wounded animal” Jelena Jankovic. Rafael Nadal continued his assault on the first Grand Slam of the season with a muscular defeat of Finn Jarkko Nieminen and will next meet either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Mikhail Youzhny, who clash later on day nine.
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/ 21 January 2008
It was back to business as usual for Roger Federer on Monday as he clinically moved into an Australian Open quarterfinal against James Blake, with Venus Williams also working up a head of steam. The world number one rebounded from his uncharacteristic five-set scare in the third round to resume his sprint towards a 13th Grand Slam title.
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/ 21 January 2008
Swiss top seed Roger Federer recovered from his major scare in the previous round to cruise into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Tomas Berdych on Monday. The 12-time Grand Slam champion overcame the Czech 13th seed, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 in one hour 59 minutes.
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/ 21 January 2008
Eighth seed Venus Williams moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-4 victory over talented Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska on Monday. The Wimbledon champion, who had her right thigh strapped, recovered from an early breakdown to win the first set and staved off a late fightback from the Pole.
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/ 21 January 2008
Almost 60% of Australians are either members or want to join the ‘mile-high club’ — where membership is gained by having sex on an aircraft. Asked whether they would consider making love at altitude, almost half of the 1 110 surveyed by a travel website said they would but had not yet satisfied their desire.
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/ 20 January 2008
A rattled Roger Federer was given a major scare in a five-set epic at the Australian Open on Saturday, but he avoided the fate of number-two seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who skidded out of the tournament. Other casualties included women’s sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze and men’s seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez.
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/ 20 January 2008
Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt says behind-the-scenes scheduling dramas unsettled his build-up to his big Australian Open match with Marcos Baghdatis that led to the latest finish in grand-slam history. Meanwhile, fifth seed Maria Sharapova brushed aside fellow Russian Elena Dementieva and Justine Henin stormed into the quarterfinals.
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/ 18 January 2008
Sixth seed Andy Roddick was knocked out of the Australian Open after a bad-tempered five-setter early on Saturday, joining 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo on the third-round scrapheap. The American fell on his sword after a marathon three hours and 53 minutes of intense tennis against German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.
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/ 18 January 2008
Australia were battling to avoid their first defeat since the 2005 Ashes series after India seized control of the third Test in Perth on Friday. The Indians piled on 294 in their second innings to set Australia a near-impossible target of 413 to win, then picked up two early wickets to leave the home team in deep trouble when play ended on the third day.
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/ 18 January 2008
Rafael Nadal wore down an early challenge from French seed Gilles Simon to steam into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday. The Spanish second seed fought off six first set points to seal a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win on his fifth match point in two hours 26 minutes.
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/ 17 January 2008
Proving boomerangs really do come back, an Australian town was on Thursday celebrating the return of a boomerang stolen from an outback museum by an American tourist 25 years ago. The boomerang was posted home to the city of Mount Isa in the northern state of Queensland by a Vermont man who named himself in a letter only as Peter.
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/ 17 January 2008
Roger Federer stepped up his unrelenting charge towards a third successive Australian Open title with an emphatic win on Thursday, but Venus Williams had to dig deep to reach the third round. The Fed Express, chasing a 13th Grand Slam title, crushed wily Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, playing in a record 62nd Major tournament, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.
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/ 17 January 2008
Australia’s bid to break their own world record for consecutive Test wins was on shaky ground on Thursday after their batting collapsed on a dramatic second day of the third Test against India in Perth. India bowled the Australians out for 212 in 50 overs and then added 52 runs for the loss of one wicket, reaching stumps with an overall lead of 170.
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/ 17 January 2008
Novak Djokovic may soon be copping a satirical look at his own leisurely serving style from Maria Sharapova. The Russian court diva is among a handful of tour players said to appreciate — or at least not go ballistic — when the fun-loving Serb delivers one of his exaggerated impersonations of their serving styles.
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/ 16 January 2008
Police defended their use of pepper spray on rowdy tennis fans and the sport’s big guns kept on blasting at Melbourne Park as the Australian Open got back on track on Wednesday. As the fall-out of Tuesday night’s crowd trouble settled, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova all blasted their way into the third round of the year’s opening Grand Slam.
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/ 16 January 2008
India’s master batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid made half-centuries before Australia fought back with a flurry of wickets on an absorbing opening day of the third Test on Wednesday. Dravid top scored with 93 while Tendulkar made 71 after steering the tourists out of trouble early on to reach stumps on 297-6 in their first innings.
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/ 16 January 2008
Victoria Police vigorously defended its use of pepper spray on a section of the crowd at the Australian Open tennis on Tuesday night, saying its officers had feared for their own safety. Three people were arrested and charged with offences relating to assaulting police, resisting arrest and failing to obey the lawful instructions of the police force.
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/ 16 January 2008
Rafael Nadal breezed into the Australian Open third round with a 6-0 6-2 6-2 demolition of Frenchman Florent Serra on Wednesday. The world number two won the first eight games with his usual barrage of groundstrokes and although Serra competed more effectively in the second and third sets, he never threatened to halt the Spaniard’s progress.
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/ 16 January 2008
Serena Williams thinks her sister Venus got a bum rap when a television station played slow motion clips as a male commentator admired her bottom on air. Switchboards around the nation lit up with complaints following the incident on Tuesday during Venus’s match against China’s Yan Zi, according to local television reports.
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/ 16 January 2008
Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo stumbled into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday, admitting she still lacks the confidence that took her to the top of the rankings. The 2006 Melbourne Park champion led 5-1 in the second set but she allowed Russian Yaroslava Shvedova back into the match before sealing a 6-4 7-6 victory.
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/ 15 January 2008
Crowd trouble and police ejections cast a shadow across Melbourne Park on Tuesday, diverting attention from world-class sport at the Australian Open. A violent incident marred a tennis fiesta in which fans bathed in glorious sunshine and the world’s best players showcased their skills.
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/ 15 January 2008
Five or six players on the Women’s Tennis Association tour have been approached to throw tennis matches, tour chairperson Larry Scott said on Tuesday. ”I’ve said several initially, and I think five or six would be in the ballpark,” Scott said. ”I don’t want to go into any more details because it’s part of an investigation.
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/ 15 January 2008
India are poised to recall Virender Sehwag for the third Test against Australia starting at the Waca on Wednesday as the tourists look to keep the series alive. The dashing opener pushed his claim with a century in the tour match in Canberra at the weekend and captain Anil Kumble said he was almost certain to be picked.
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/ 14 January 2008
Andy Murray crashed and burned at the first obstacle but Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko made stress-free starts in the men’s singles on the first day of the Australian Open on Monday. Murray, the world number nine, has plenty of free time on his hands after coming off second-best to flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a centre-court showpiece.
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/ 14 January 2008
Defending champion Serena Williams and top seed Justin Henin survived gritty encounters on the first day of the Australian Open on Monday, while Maria Sharapova set up a tough clash with Lindsay Davenport. Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo also showed glimpses of the form that won her the 2006 championship.
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/ 14 January 2008
An Australian man who waved out a car window at two young women was expected to lose his arm on Monday after it was almost severed by another passing vehicle. the 20-year-old was a passenger in a pick-up truck at Bunbury, in Western Australia state, when he waved at two women in a car wash.
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/ 14 January 2008
Australia will hope to put the acrimony of recent days behind them as they chase a world record 17th straight Test win against India this week. Batsman Michael Clarke said the home team were ”keen as mustard” to get back on the field after the fall-out of the second Test in Sydney.
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/ 13 January 2008
Roger Federer has shaken off a stomach virus and is 100% fit for the defence of his title at next week’s Australian Open, the Swiss said on Sunday. The world number one, who will be bidding for his 13th grand-slam title, will go into the event having not played a competitive match for two months.
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/ 12 January 2008
Andy Roddick warmed up for next week’s Australian Open in ideal fashion with a 7-5 6-3 win over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus on Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic for the third successive year. The American, who is seeded sixth next week, outgunned Baghdatis in 76 minutes.