No image available
/ 28 January 2009
Rafael Nadal booked an all-Spanish Australian Open semifinal against Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday.
No image available
/ 27 January 2009
Novak Djokovic’s hopes for a second straight Australian Open title ended under a broiling sun on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 27 January 2009
Australia’s brutal January weather claimed another victim on Tuesday when Novak Djokovic quit midway through his clash against Andy Roddick.
No image available
/ 26 January 2009
Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams stayed on track at the Australian Open on Monday but Andy Murray’s campaign came shuddering to a halt.
No image available
/ 25 January 2009
Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic went down in the fourth round and number three Dinara Safina was twice just a point away from following her.
No image available
/ 23 January 2009
Swiss second seed Roger Federer demolished old rival Marat Safin in fearsome style at the Australian Open on Friday.
No image available
/ 23 January 2009
Violence boiled over at the Australian Open on Friday when Serbian and Bosnian fans fought after the match between Novak Djokovic and Amer Delic.
No image available
/ 22 January 2009
Rafael Nadal hammered out his intentions with a thunderous display on Thursday while Serena Williams made her way to the third round.
No image available
/ 21 January 2009
World number one Jelena Jankovic and men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic showed glimpses of their best form at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
No image available
/ 19 January 2009
Roger Federer made heavy weather of little-known Andreas Seppi at the Australian Open Monday before joining Jelena Jankovic in the second round.
No image available
/ 19 January 2009
Australia’s notorious summer sun made an unwelcome appearance on the opening day of the two-week tournament.
No image available
/ 18 January 2009
Rafael Nadal swiped his top ranking and his Wimbledon crown, but Roger Federer is still the man to beat when the Australian Open kicks off on Monday.
No image available
/ 17 January 2009
Roger Federer heads into next week’s Australian Open in devastating form after crushing Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday to win the Kooyong Classic.
No image available
/ 16 January 2009
The Protea Test side might be on top of its game, but the one-day squad still needs some work, writes Neil Manthorp.
No image available
/ 15 January 2009
This year Roger Federer comes to the Australian Open with a few questions to answer — the one is can he regain number-one ranking?
No image available
/ 28 December 2008
South Africa wriggled off the hook and even managed to snare an improbable lead on the third day of the second Test against Australia on Sunday.
No image available
/ 27 December 2008
South Africa were calling for rain or miracles as they ended the third day of the second Test against Australia on 198 for seven, or 196 runs behind.
Australia beat Ireland 18-12 to give their new coach Robbie Deans a winning start in an entertaining Test match on Saturday.
Departing Auckland Blues coach David Nucifora will take up the position of the Australian rugby Union’s (ARU) high performance manager in June, ARU chief executive John O’Neill told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday. The former Wallabies hooker will replace Pat Howard, who returned to Australia last year after a successful stint with English club side Leicester Tigers.
Cricket Australia has played down reports that retired leg-spinner Shane Warne could return to international cricket for next year’s Ashes tour of England. The former leading Test wicket-taker, who quit the international arena after Australia’s 5-0 victory over England in early 2007, was quoted in local media as saying he would consider returning for the next Ashes series.
Protesting pensioners brought traffic to a standstill in Australia’s second-largest city on Friday when some stripped to demand more money from the government. The scantily clad seniors braved the autumn weather in a 150-strong protest against this week’s federal budget, which offered them little despite a Aus$21,7-billion surplus.
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will look at introducing experimental law variations (ELVs) for this year’s Tri-Nations tournament. The International Rugby Board said on Thursday that 13 of the 23 ELVs, many of which are being trialled in this year’s Super 14 competition, would be adopted for a 12-month global trial from August 1.
France flyhalf Frederic Michalak could be out of action for six months after tearing a ligament in his left knee during a Super 14 match in Sydney on Saturday. Michalak, who has played 50 tests for France, hyper-extended his knee nine minutes into the Sharks’ 25-10 loss to the New South Wales Waratahs.
Australia utility back Julian Huxley has conceded he will never play rugby again after confirmation he needs surgery to remove a brain tumour. Huxley discovered he had a benign tumour while undergoing scans after he began convulsing on the field during a Super 14 match for the ACT Brumbies earlier this month.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton avoided the mayhem around him to open the Formula One season with a pole-to-flag victory in a crash-strewn Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The 23-year-old Briton, last year’s rookie sensation, finished 5,4 seconds ahead of Germany’s Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber.
Lewis Hamilton got an early psychological edge over Kimmi Raikkonen, winning pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix while the world champion will start near the back of the grid. McLaren’s Hamilton had the fastest times in the second and third runs of the three-phase qualifying session.
No image available
/ 29 February 2008
Adam Gilchrist produced a scintillating 83 off 50 balls before a batting collapse by Australia gave Sri Lanka a consolation 13-run victory in their triangular series one-day international on Friday. Gilchrist smashed 11 boundaries and two sixes in his final innings at the Melbourne Cricket Ground until the collapse derailed his team’s pursuit of Sri Lanka’s 221 all out.
No image available
/ 26 February 2008
Australian fast bowler Brett Lee defended his team’s on-field behaviour on Tuesday and played down talk of another rift with India. The lingering ill-feeling between the sides surfaced again when Indian paceman Ishant Sharma was fined 15% of his match fee for a verbal altercation with Australian batsman Andrew Symonds during Sunday’s tri-series clash in Sydney.
No image available
/ 22 February 2008
Sri Lanka’s chances of reaching the tri-series finals were dealt a serious blow when Australia beat them by 24 runs in a rain-shortened one-day match on Friday. The visitors’ gamble to bowl first — expecting the match to be shortened by the weather — looked to have paid off and they restricted the hosts to just 184-7 from their 50 overs.
No image available
/ 22 February 2008
Former Australia scrumhalf Matt Henjak had his contract with the Western Force Super 14 side terminated on Friday, but the Australian Rugby Union have not ruled out him returning to the game. Henjak had been found guilty by a Western Australia Rugby Union disciplinary committee of breaking teammate Haig Sare’s jaw after punching him at a Perth hotel.
No image available
/ 10 February 2008
Teenage fast bowler Ishant Sharma reinforced his status as one of the most exciting young talents in world cricket with a man-of-the-match performance to inspire his side to victory in a tri-series match against Australia in Melbourne on Sunday.
No image available
/ 1 February 2008
Australia captain Michael Clarke steered his side to a nine-wicket victory over India in their Twenty20 international at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. After skittling the world champions out for just 74, with Nathan Bracken taking three wickets, Clarke then scored 37 of Australia’s runs needed for victory.