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 [...]
Mykonos calls for it-boy who gave it all up July 4, 2008 He failed to buy the Groucho, but Benjamin Fry has no regrets, writes Timothy Barber Benjamin Fry, psychotherapist, TV self-help guru and author, has come a long way. He used to be Benji Fry, stalwart of a west London scene of ultra connected upstarts such as Tom Parker Bowles and Ben Elliot, who in the [...]
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 [...]
O’Neill stands firm on Barry July 4, 2008 Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has hit back at wantaway captain Gareth Barry, admitting he has been left with little choice but to accept the England midfielder’s decision to leave for Liverpool. No-nonsense O’Neill fined the 27- year-old a reported £100,000 and banned him from the club’s training ground after Barry told a national newspaper [...]
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 [...]