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/ 31 January 2007
England’s lack of cohesion was in the spotlight again on Wednesday after wicketkeeper Paul Nixon took aim at captain Andrew Flintoff’s claims about their fielding in Australia. Nixon also contradicted coach Duncan Fletcher’s assertion that the players had been training too hard, underlining the disarray in the England side during their calamitous tour down under.
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/ 30 January 2007
New Zealand completed a comfortable 58-run win over England on Tuesday, all but guaranteeing themselves a place in the tri-series finals against Australia. Lou Vincent, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram blasted half-centuries to help New Zealand post a record total of 318-7 on a perfect batting pitch in Perth.
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/ 29 January 2007
The Super 14 series kicks off this weekend without some of the sport’s biggest names after they were ordered to save themselves for the 2007 World Cup. New Zealand have blocked their leading 22 players from appearing in the first seven rounds of the competition to undergo ”conditioning” while Australia and South Africa will almost certainly rest key performers.
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/ 29 January 2007
England are again set to be without three of their key players for the crunch triangular one-day series clash with New Zealand on Tuesday. Defeat will almost certainly end England’s hopes of reaching the tri-series finals to cap a disastrous tour, and they look to be missing captain Michael Vaughan as well as opening bowlers James Anderson and Jon Lewis.
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/ 28 January 2007
Centuries by Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden helped Australia maintain their winning streak with an unexpectedly narrow eight-run victory over a plucky New Zealand in their triangular series one-day international in Perth on Sunday. Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in extremely hot conditions. His decision was vindicated as Australia capitalised on New Zealand fielding errors.
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/ 28 January 2007
Defending champion Roger Federer swept to his 10th Grand Slam title with a commanding straight sets victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday. The peerless Swiss world number one fought off two set points in the opening set and went on to secure his third Australian title with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4 win over the Chilean 10th seed.
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/ 28 January 2007
England captain Michael Vaughan says his side urgently need to find a way to heal some of the mental scars inflicted during their horrific Australian tour. Vaughan, who is himself sidelined as he continues to battle to overcome a hamstring strain, said the self-doubt permeating the team was ”cancerous” and a real threat to England’s hopes in the upcoming World Cup.
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/ 27 January 2007
England batsman Ian Bell says his side hit rock bottom in their embarrassing nine-wicket loss to Australia in the latest one-day international in Adelaide. They were routed on Friday for just 110 by Australia in 34.3 overs and Bell, who top-scored with 35, said the loss was even more disappointing than their Ashes failures earlier in the tour.
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/ 27 January 2007
Serena Williams destroyed Russian top seed Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-2 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to clinch her eighth Grand Slam title. Unseeded after a year plagued by injury, Williams made a mockery of the rankings by tearing the United States Open champion apart in just 63 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena.
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/ 26 January 2007
Chilean Fernando Gonzalez continued his rich vein of form to demolish German Tommy Haas 6-1 6-3 6-1 on Friday to reach the Australian Open final. The 10th seed produced another sublime performance against 12th seed Haas to advance to his first Grand Slam final in which he will play world number one Roger Federer on Sunday.
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/ 26 January 2007
Australians love their muffin tops — but not the kind you buy from a bakery. The arbiter of Australian English, the Macquarie Dictionary, has declared ”muffin top” the word of the year for 2006 — even though it is two words — defeating ”affluenza”, a noun that describes dissatisfaction with consumerism.
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/ 26 January 2007
Australia heaped more humiliation on England with a nine-wicket victory in their tri-series one-day international at Adelaide Oval on Friday, as the tourists produced their worst batting display of the disastrous tour. Australia cruised to an easy victory with more than half of their 50 overs to spare, booking their place in the finals after England crumbled to be all out for 110.
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/ 25 January 2007
Top seed Roger Federer put on a virtuoso display to blow away Andy Roddick 6-4 6-0 6-2 to reach the Australian Open final on Thursday. The Swiss defending champion unleashed an unstoppable barrage of winners to shatter the American sixth seed and book a place in a record-equalling seventh consecutive Grand Slam final.
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/ 25 January 2007
Maria Sharapova gate crashed Kim Clijsters’s farewell party at the Australian Open on Thursday to set up an historic final showdown with Serena Williams. Comeback queen Williams proved that she still belonged among the elite as she doused the youthful exuberance of Czech 10th seed Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 6-4 with a ruthless exhibition of power-hitting.
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/ 25 January 2007
England’s cricketers are under siege after a dismal series of performances in Australia evoked stinging criticism from opponents, media and even their own fans. The tourists had already been slammed after losing the Ashes to Australia 5-0, but they plumbed new lows with a 90-run loss to New Zealand in the one-day series.
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/ 25 January 2007
Maria Sharapova was fined 000 after her father coached her from the sidelines during her Australian Open quarterfinal win over Anna Chakvetadze, officials said on Thursday. The top seed received the fine after getting a code violation from Portuguese umpire Mariana Alves during Wednesday’s match because of her father’s behaviour.
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/ 24 January 2007
A stunned Rafael Nadal was turfed out of the Australian Open on Wednesday by Fernando Gonzalez as Kim Clijsters ended the dreams of Martina Hingis to set up a semifinal showdown with Maria Sharapova. Russian third seat Nikolay Davydenko joined Nadal on the scrapheap, beaten by unfancied German Tommy Haas in five tough sets.
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/ 24 January 2007
Kim Clijsters had another quarterfinal win over Martina Hingis despite a rash of unforced errors, and moved into the Australian Open semifinals against top-seeded Maria Sharapova. Fourth-seeded Clijsters won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday, breaking Hingis’ serve in the last game and ending the match with a forehand passing shot.
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/ 23 January 2007
The ”ultimate competitor”, Serena Williams, upset the form book to blitz into the Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday as Roger Federer and Andy Roddick set up a showdown against each other. Seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams, who won here in 2003 and 2005, staged an amazing fightback to down Israeli 16th seed Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 in an epic battle.
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/ 23 January 2007
Pace bowler James Franklin went from villain to hero as New Zealand kept their triangular series hopes alive with a 90-run win over England at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday. The Black Caps did not look to have enough on the board when dismissed for 210 after winning the toss and electing to bat, but they bowled and fielded exceptionally well to restrict England to just 120 in reply.
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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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/ 23 January 2007
An Australian abalone diver told rescuers on Tuesday he was partly swallowed head-first by a great white shark but managed to fight his way free, suffering a broken nose and bite marks around the chest. The 25-year-old diver said he was underwater off Cape Howe, near Eden on Australia’s south-east coast, when the shark attacked on Tuesday.
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/ 22 January 2007
Rafael Nadal battled through a five-set firestorm to book his ticket to the Australian Open quarterfinals early on Tuesday as Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters set up an enticing clash. Top seed Maria Sharapova also marched on, outmuscling fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-4.
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/ 21 January 2007
Veteran New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan rode his luck and came to the rescue as the Kiwis made 218 in their triangular one-day series clash with Australia here Sunday. McMillan’s vigorous 89 enabled his side to recover from 136 for seven and post a competitive total after winning the toss and electing to bat.
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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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/ 21 January 2007
Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo suffered a stunning 6-4, 6-3 defeat by unseeded Czech Lucie Safarova in the Australian Open fourth round on Sunday. The French second seed imploded after taking a 4-1 first-set lead, losing seven straight games before the 19-year-old Safarova completed victory in 89 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
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/ 20 January 2007
Top-seeded Maria Sharapova got another taste of the elements, ignoring the saunalike conditions in Rod Laver Arena to advance to the second week of the Australian Open. While often heavy rain prevented play on outside courts, the roof on Rod Laver Arena was closed on Saturday for Sharapova’s 6-3, 6-1 third-round win over 30th-seeded Tathiana Garbin.
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/ 20 January 2007
Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist insists the Australian squad is not complacent despite being undefeated in the tri-nations one-day international series with England and New Zealand. The Australians continued their run of victories when they beat England at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday by four wickets.
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/ 20 January 2007
For the first time in the Open era there is no American female seeded at the Australian Open, but Serena Williams is doing her best ensure United States tennis doesn’t sink completely from view. With Lindsay Davenport pregnant and expected to retire and sister Venus Williams out injured, she is flying the Stars and Stripes with a watershed match on Sunday in her comeback from injury.
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/ 19 January 2007
Marat Safin was bounced out of the Australian Open in the third round by Andy Roddick in a bad-tempered dogfight on Friday as Serena Williams announced she is back with a vengeance. World number one Roger Federer also made the fourth round, as did women’s champion Amelie Mauresmo and Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.
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/ 19 January 2007
Mike Hussey showed why he is regarded as the best finisher in one-day cricket when he guided Australia to a four-wicket win over England in a low scoring tri-series international on Friday. Hussey scored an unbeaten 46 in Brisbane to steer the world champions to their victory target with more than 11 overs to spare.
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/ 19 January 2007
Australian Open organisers on Friday defended keeping quiet about the sexual assault of a five-year-old boy in a toilet this week, saying they did so at the request of police. The young boy was sexually assaulted at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday. Police said they were examining hours of security video footage taken at the tournament’s opening day.