Wimbledon

Dinara Safina of Russia plays a forehand during the women's singles fourth round match against Amelie Mauresmo of France on Day Seven of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 29, 2009 in London, England. (Getty Images) more pics » Swine flu fears hit the Wimbledon tennis tournament Monday as global cases topped 70,000 and Denmark reported the first case of resistance to the key Tamiflu drug used to treat the virus. With the death toll from the pandemic at 311 and total cases at 70,893, according to the WHO, more countries reported their first ... Read Full Story

Novak Djokovic is not quite the faceless teenage sensation that he seems.  In the locker rooms he is known as a great mimic. Friends call hime Nole. Others call him the Djoker. On TV after losing at the 2007 US Open he did impersonations of Maria Sharapova, hitching his pants up and posing and grunting, and then Rafael Nadal to the delight of the crowd, an evening which has stayed with him. On another occassion at a Davis Cuop match he draw a heart in the clay and palced the Serbian flag in the middle which led to fatuos questions being asked in the ... Read Full Story

The history books will dryly record that Rafael Nadal won the Stella Artois Queens final against Novak Djojkovic 7-6 (8/6), 7-5. but no one who saw it was in any doubt that a new chapter in men’s tennis is unfolding. A repeat at Wimbledon would be a treat and Nadal knows that if either of them can beat The Federation who did not drop a service game in Halle, Germany that beating the Australian Open champion again will call for all his resources. And Wimbledon would be over five sets. Given the tempo and fire these two engendered on Sunday afternoon who kbnows how ... Read Full Story

It’s true. It is not a mirage. The photo proves it. The semi final listing in the Girls event is a matter of record. And she is 4-1 up as I am writing this. But she also thrashed the American number one seed Melanie Oudin 6-1, 6-3 in the first round. Oudin won the US Open and is 17, where Laura Robson is only 14. The prospect of having a real contender on the circuit looks less impossible, although whether the nation can survive the kind of emotional pandemonium that a winning tennis star might engender is another matter. Probably best not to mention ... Read Full Story

Wimbledon Centre Court. The smile on Venus Williams says it all, There was no fix. The sisters Williams slugged it our fair and square. The statistics showed that - as in the men’s final - the crucial points were won by Venus - four out of seven giving her a percentage of 57% against Serena’s two out of 13 making just 15%. And as in the men’s final the fastest serve was a staggering 129mph - by Venus again. If you had bet £10 on her to win the first set 5-7 then you would be £150 richer. Read Full Story