Nadal ends Federer reign in epic finale July 7, 2008 As the night sky fell to plunge Centre Court into near darkness, a tearful Rafael Nadal held aloft the glistening gold trophy to celebrate his first Wimbledon title in a match which will surely go down as the greatest ever to grace this famous stage. After five sets and almost five hours of an epic [...]
Phoenix to rise to the occasion July 4, 2008 Tomorrow’s Coral-Eclipse looks an ultra competitive contest with no superstar entries like in the last two seasons, but two horses who look the type to have a very good second half of the season. Phoenix Tower is definitely the form pick with a very good second at Royal Ascot to Duke of Marmalade, while Mount [...]
Brawn says Hamilton can be the next Schumacher July 4, 2008 Ross Brawn says British Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton reminds him of a young Michael Schumacher. Brawn teamed up with Schumacher as his technical director at Ferrari and helped him to a record seven Formula One titles. Now Brawn, who leads his Honda team into this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, believes Hamilton has [...]
Federer wary of Safin threat as he goes in search of title number six July 4, 2008 Roger Federer admits he is wary of semi-final opponent Marat Safin, describing the Russian’s lowly ranking as “ridiculous”. Safin is ranked as low as 75th in the world but has discovered the best grass court form of his career after beating No3 seed Novak Djokovic on route to a place in the last four. And [...]
Serena: Rivalry will be as strong as ever July 4, 2008 Serena Williams says she won’t go easy on sister Venus after the pair booked their places in tomorrow’s final at Wimbledon. The siblings ensured a third family affair on Centre Court tomorrow after securing straight-sets victories in their respective semi-finals yesterday. But sixth seed Serena, 26, who has won both the previous Wimbledon finals against [...]
Chambers sets the legal ball rolling on challenge to BOA July 4, 2008 Dwain Chambers has formally begun his legal war with the British Olympic Association in an attempt to be granted permission to run in the Olympics. The sprinter is challenging a BOA bylaw which prevents athletes who have failed drugs tests from competing in the Games. Chambers served a two-year ban for testing positive for the [...]
Take Safin to start well, but be Fed up July 4, 2008 It’s easy to predict that Roger Federer will beat Marat Safin in the Wimbledon semi-final today, and is all set to clash with Rafa Nadal in the final. But there might still be some value out there if you look for it. Looking at the semi-final between Federer and Russian maverick Safin, better have an [...]
Federer routs Ancic to march into semis July 3, 2008 Defending champion Roger Federer continued his serene progress towards a sixth successive Wimbledon title with a quarterfinal stroll against Mario Ancic. Croatia’s Ancic, the last player to beat Federer on grass, in 2002, failed to earn a single break point as the world No1 cruised into the last four, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. It was another [...]
Villa order captain Barry not to come back as Liverpool transfer row deepens July 3, 2008 Liverpool target Gareth Barry looks to have played his last game for Aston Villa after the club disciplined their captain and ordered him not to report for pre-season training. Villa took action after Barry criticised manager Martin O’Neill during a newspaper interview in which the England midfielder reaffirmed his desire to leave the club for [...]
Murray hopes crushed as Nadal scales new heights July 3, 2008 Britain’s dream of a home-grown Wimbledon champion was rudely awoken last night when second seed Rafael Nadal mercilessly dispatched Andy Murray in straight sets. British No1 Murray looked jaded from Monday’s epic five-set comeback against Richard Gasquet and was no match for Nadal, who swept into the semi finals 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The Scot, playing [...]