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/ 29 December 2007
It will be the year of the Golden Slam for tennis in 2008 and realistically only two names are in the running. Both Roger Federer and Justine Henin finished this year as clear number ones in their sport and they are set to dominate again. But from there to winning all four Grand Slams events plus Olympic gold in Beijing in the same calendar year is a huge step.
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/ 19 December 2007
The hardest part is yet to come for Beijing Olympic organisers, heading into 2008 with all plans in place but potential pitfalls aplenty in the run-up to the event in August. Traffic congestion, closely linked to air quality, food security, media freedom and human rights as well as boycott calls are issues likely to flare up again over the coming months.
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/ 18 December 2007
Roger Federer again came close to winning the Grand Slam in 2007, reaching the final at all four major tournaments and winning three of them. This year, however, the top-ranked Swiss also came close to losing his record 54-match winning streak on grass at Wimbledon, and then struggled a bit after winning the United States Open.
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/ 2 November 2007
The career of Martina Hingis ended in disgrace and tears on Thursday when she retired after testing positive for cocaine, an inglorious finale to a story that captivated world tennis for more than a decade. ”I have tested positive but I have never taken drugs and I feel 100% innocent,” the five-times Grand Slam champion told a news conference.
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/ 29 October 2007
Maria Sharapova clinched the final place at the season-ending WTA Championships on Sunday. She has qualified every year since winning on her debut in 2004. ”This has been a very frustrating year for me physically but I’m a big competitor and am determined to compete at the WTA Championships,” Sharapova said.
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/ 9 September 2007
Svetlana Kuznetsova said she must work on rising to the big occasion following her 6-1 6-3 defeat by world number one Justine Henin in the US Open final on Saturday. ”I think the match was much closer than the score, for sure,” the 22-year-old Russian, who won the 2004 US Open title, told reporters.
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/ 8 September 2007
Venus Williams left the US Open the same way Serena Williams did, undone by all those big shots off the racket of little Justine Henin. Henin became only the second woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same Grand Slam tournament, reaching the final at Flushing Meadows with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Venus on Friday.
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/ 8 September 2007
Svetlana Kuznetsova got off to a horrible start in her US Open semifinal on Friday. How horrible? Her opponent, Anna Chakvetadze, won the first set despite hitting only one winner. And then, slowly but surely, 2004 champion Kuznetsova began keeping the ball between the lines, and Chakvetadze began missing shots short, long and wide.
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/ 5 September 2007
A despondent Serena Williams grudgingly faced reporters after her 7-6, 6-1 defeat to top seed Justine Henin in Tuesday’s quarterfinals of the US Open, tears staining her cheeks after the bitter result. Williams was reluctant to give the Belgian any credit despite being mauled in a one-sided, 36-minute second set.
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/ 4 September 2007
Justine Henin and Serena Williams will square up in a battle of former champions at the US Open on Tuesday, while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic headline the action in the men’s event. ”I’m going in feeling like I don’t have anything to lose,” said eighth seed Williams, who won her eighth grand slam title at the Australian Open in January.
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/ 3 September 2007
Venus Williams underlined her title credentials at the US Open on Sunday after she reached the quarterfinals with an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory over fifth seed Ana Ivanovic. The Wimbledon champion, seeded 12th, was close to her dominant best as she made it four wins out of four against the Serb, clinching victory in 80 minutes.
Rafael Nadal struggled on a sore left knee past unheralded Australian Alun Jones on Wednesday to reach the second round of the US Open, but his bid for a third Grand Slam final in a row appears doomed. Severe tendinitis slowed the second-ranked Spaniard, who escaped with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory after two hours and 44 minutes over a 123rd-ranked wild card.
Maria Sharapova opened the defence of her United States Open crown in commanding style on Tuesday by overpowering Italy’s Roberta Vinci 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour. There were wins also for two former New York champions, Martina Hingis and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and for Andy Roddick, among others.
World number ones Roger Federer and Justine Henin breezed over qualifiers on Monday into the second round of the United States Open, while reigning grand-slam champions Serena and Venus Williams also advanced handily. Three-time defending champion Federer defeated American Scoville Jenkins in 92 minutes.