Tennis

The 2010 Australian Open Tennis Championship gets underway on the 18th January and concludes on 31st January with the Men’s Singles Final. It is the first tennis Grand Slam of the year and for many of the players it is their favourite tournament, due to the fun atmosphere created by the half a million spectators that visit Melbourne Park each year. Reigning Australian Open singles champion is Rafael Nadal, who won his first hard court Grand Slam following a titanic five set battle with his... Read Full Story

Two-time Grand Slam winner Amelie Mauresmo of France announced on Thursday she is retiring at the age of 30 following a decision made "after careful consideration." Geneva-based Mauresmo, a former world number one who currently stands 21 in the rankings, won Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006 during a stellar career which saw her land 25 singles titles as well as 15 million dollars in prize money. "I've come here to announce the end of my career. I made this decision after careful... Read Full Story

PARIS (Reuters) - France's two-time grand slam winner and former world number one Amelie Mauresmo announced her retirement from tennis on Thursday. "I came here to announce the end of my career. I made this decision after careful consideration," Mauresmo told a news conference before bursting into tears. Mauresmo, 30, topped the WTA rankings in September 2004 and clinched her two grand slam titles in 2006 when she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She collected 25 WTA singles titles... Read Full Story

Federer v Nadal is up there with tennis’ greatest rivalries, including McEnroe v Borg and Sampras v Agassi, says Simon Mundie. But what will 2010 hold for the world numbers one and two? At the outset of 2009, there were a number of potential challengers for the top spot in the men’s game, such as Andy Murray (7.6 to win the Australian Open) and Novak Djokovic 8.2. But they were no more than pretenders. The main plotline was still all about Roger and Rafa, the duo which had dominated... Read Full Story

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal made a thrilling return to form to sweep aside Tomas Berdych 7-5 6-0 6-2 to give Spain a 1-0 lead over Czech Republic in the Davis Cup final on Friday. Nadal, who failed to win a set in three defeats at the ATP World Tour Finals last week, clearly relished a return to his favorite clay surface as he overwhelmed Berdych in the sort of style that brought him four French Open titles. David Ferrer was due to face Czech Radek Stepanek in the day's second rubber... Read Full Story

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal enjoyed a pressure-free 6-3 6-4 victory over Jan Hajek to extend Spain's winning lead over Czech Republic to 4-0 in the Davis Cup final on Sunday. Nadal, who set Spain on their way to victory in the tie by winning the first point on Friday, returned to the clay court at the Palau Sant Jordi to help himself to a second singles win. The world number two, back fit and in form at the end of an injury-troubled season, broke Hajek in his first service game and... Read Full Story

Rafael Nadal has given defending champion Spain a 1-0 lead over the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup final by beating Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-0, 6-2. Nadal converted a decisive break point in the 11th game Friday on his way to taking the tight first set. Berdych was never in the match after that. Nadal was back on his favorite clay surface after four straight indoor defeats. He improved his Davis Cup clay record to 11-0. Radek Stepanek will look to even the best-of-five series later Friday when... Read Full Story

Thanks to Astro SuperSport CH811, I get to watch The Glam Slam - Showdown of Champions in the comfort of my home. It would be great if it's shown on HD though. Although I did not watch the two-day event from the stadium, I'm glad I attended the meet-the-fans session on Friday. The Russian babes Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko defeated Asian girls Sania Mirza and Zheng Jie in a 3-0 win at the Melawati Stadium yesterday. Dementieva/Kirilenko had won the doubles on Saturday beating Mirza... Read Full Story

Amid the sporting world raising doubts over India's ability to organise the 2010 Commonwealth Games , champion boxer Vijender Singh and tennis star Leander Paes have shown there is much more to achieve than merely cashing in on Olympic medals. Unlike some other Olympic medal winners who have failed to attain the standards they set for themselves, Paes and Vijender tried to improve upon their performance. Paes won his bronze at the Atlanta Olympics 13 years ago and he is still among the top... Read Full Story

WTA babes Zheng Jie, Sania Mirza, Elena Dementieva and Maria Kirilenko are currently in town for the annual tennis exhibition match, The Glam Slam Showdown of Champions 2009. The tennis stars were at Pavilion KL this afternoon for a meet and greet autograph session. As a tennis fan, of course I didn't want to miss this event. I was a bit reluctant to go to KL at first because my office is just next to the shopping mall and I was really lazy to go all the way there on a public holiday! I went... Read Full Story