The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), builder of Airbus jets, plunged into a stock market vortex on Wednesday, losing about €7-billion in the first few hours of trading on further production delays to its super-jumbo A380 flagship and a profit warning.
In an internet message posted on Monday, al-Qaeda in Iraq has appointed a militant named Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to succeed Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a United States air strike last week. His nationality was not given, but the word ”muhajer” means immigrant in Arabic.
Maybe what Roger Federer needs in order to beat Rafael Nadal is a change of scenery. Bring on the grass. The lawn tennis season begins this week — just the thing to put a little spring back in Federer’s step. He’ll start preparations for Wimbledon by playing in Germany this week after losing to Nadal in the French Open final.
Rafael Nadal of Spain successfully defended his men’s title at the French Open on Sunday, beating world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after three hours on the Philippe Chatrier court. The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his record winning streak on clay to 60 matches with the 100th victory of his career.
Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium won the French Open for the third time on Saturday, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in straight sets. Fifth seed Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 and 2005 Roland Garros champion, achieved her fifth Grand Slam and 26th title of her career with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in 1hr 36min over the eighth seed.
World number one Roger Federer and number two Rafael Nadal set up a dream finish to the French Open on Friday by advancing to the final. Federer (24) made his first Roland Garros title match as Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie.
World number one Roger Federer advanced to the final of the French Open for the first time on Friday when Argentina’s David Nalbandian retired injured while the Swiss player was leading 3-6, 6-4, 5-2 in their semifinal tie. Federer (24) will play either defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain or Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic in Sunday’s final.
Sitting still under a skull cap fitted with a couple of dozen electrodes, American scientist Peter Brunner stares at a laptop. Without so much as moving a nostril hair, he suddenly begins to compose a message — letter by letter — on a giant screen overhead.
Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final of the French Open on Thursday. The 24-year-old fifth seed will meet Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final on Sunday after the eighth seed put out teenager Nicole Vaidisova 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova produced a gritty comeback to reach the final of the French Open on Thursday at the expense of teenager Nicole Vaidisova. The eighth-seeded Russian won 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to set up a final against the winner of the all-Belgian semifinal between former world number ones Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
For the first time in 21 years, the top four seeds have reached the semifinals of the French Open in Paris. And while many purists may be hoping for a dream Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final, two very in-form players are determined to spoil the party.
Reigning champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday after Serbian teenager Novak Djokovic withdrew injured when trailing by two sets to love. The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his winning streak on clay to 58 matches after his 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Roger Federer won his 26th Grand Slam match in a row on Tuesday as he defeated Croatian Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to take a step closer to an expected final showdown with reigning champion Rafael Nadal. Federer was dominant against Ancic, who sought treatment for a shoulder problem.
Former world number one Kim Clijsters produced a masterful display to reach the semifinals of the French Open at the expense of Martina Hingis on Tuesday. Clijsters, who won 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, will face either fellow Belgian and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne or Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the last four.
Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova admitted she was surprised to be in the semifinals of the French Open after she ousted compatriot Dinara Safina 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 on Tuesday. The eighth-seeded Russian will face Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova in the last four after the 16th seed beat Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-3.
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A band of thieves described as ”very organised” broke into a warehouse in a Paris suburb and made off with hundreds of plasma TV sets, ”probably for the 2006 World Cup”, French police sources said on Tuesday. The robbery was carried out by six armed men, who drove up to the warehouse in the Paris suburb of La Courneuve in a lorry.
Rafael Nadal moved to within three wins of defending his French Open crown when he subdued a battling and determined Lleyton Hewitt to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Monday. The 20-year-old Spanish second seed racked up his 57th consecutive clay court win with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 triumph.
In a women’s fourth-round match held over from Sunday, former world number one Martina Hingis beat Israel’s Shahar Peer 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The 12th seeded Swiss will now face Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters for a place in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Roger Federer insists that Mario Ancic won’t catch him out again like he did when the Croatian sent him tumbling to an embarrassing Wimbledon defeat in 2002. The two meet in the French Open quarterfinals on Tuesday with the Swiss world number one still needled by that first round centre court defeat at the All England Club.
Maria Sharapova chalked up her fourth-round exit at the French Open to one thing: a lack of matches. The 2004 Wimbledon champion hadn’t played in a tournament since April 1 because of an injured right ankle, and she wasted a 5-1 lead in the final set on Sunday against Dinara Safina before losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-5.
Edouard Michelin (43), who drowned on Friday in a boating accident, was hailed as a rising French business figure, having helped turn round the fortunes of his family tyre company at a young age. French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said he was one of the ”rising figures” of the French economy.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal marked his 20th birthday with a gruelling 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win against Paul-Henri Mathieu on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering clash against Lleyton Hewitt for a place in the French Open quarterfinals. Hewitt, playing Roland Garros for the first time in two years, swept past Slovakian 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty.
Raymond Triboulet, a World War II Resistance fighter who helped to stage the D-Day landings in Normandy before serving as minister under Charles de Gaulle, died on Friday at the age of 99. Enrolled in the French army and taken prisoner at the start of the war, Triboulet returned home under the German occupation in 1941.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal struck the first psychological blow in his French Open title duel against Roger Federer on Friday. While Nadal cruised into the third round with his 55th consecutive clay-court victory, Federer endured a lengthy struggle to put down the resistance of Chile’s Olympic champion Nicolas Massu.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal took his clay-court winning streak to 55 matches on Friday as he moved smoothly into the French Open third round. But 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio hammered out an ominous warning that he is returning to his best form by disposing of 2003 winner Juan Carlos Ferrero to move into the last 16.
Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters ruthlessly exposed the gulf in talent in women’s tennis on Friday when both stormed effortlessly into the French Open third round. Hingis, the 12th seed and playing at Roland Garros for the first time in five years, crushed Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic, ranked a lowly 114 in the world, 6-1, 6-3 in just 49 minutes.
Lleyton Hewitt and Anastasia Myskina, two players with plenty to prove at the French Open, moved into the third round on Thursday. Hewitt, the former world number one, overcame a difficult first set before seeing off French wildcard Mathieu Montcourt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 and now faces Slovakian 22nd seed Dominik Hrbaty for a place in the last 16.
Top seed Roger Federer and Russian golden girl Maria Sharapova lifted the Paris gloom on Wednesday when they shrugged off the bitter cold and rain-choked skies to reach the French Open third round. And women’s top seed Amelie Mauresmo recovered from second set jitters before overpowering Russia’s Vera Dushevina of 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).
As France’s Jacques Chirac enters the final year of his presidency, a spoof documentary out this week looks set to become an instant hit with its caustic look at his 40-year rise to power. Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac, a 90-minute collage of archive clips irreverently narrated by a Chirac impersonator, screened to hoots of laughter in Paris on Wednesday.
World number one Roger Federer shrugged off two rain interruptions before crushing Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday and keep his Grand Slam dream on track. The Swiss top seed took just 86 minutes to wrap up victory against Falla, who looked every bit his 139 world-ranking.
America’s Andy Roddick and Nadia Petrova of Russia became the first major casualties of the 2006 French Open on Tuesday. Roddick, the fifth seed, retired from his first-round match with Spanish journeyman Alberto Martin trailing 6-4, 7-5, 1-0, still feeling the effects of the ankle injury he picked up at the World Team Cup in Germany last week.
Andy Roddick, the fifth seed, was knocked out of the French Open on Tuesday when he retired from his first-round match with Spain’s Alberto Martin. The American was trailing 6-4, 7-5, 1-0 when he called it quits. Roddick was always destined to struggle having picked up an ankle injury at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf last week.