Virus prompts Williams’ retirement July 1, 2014 WORLD No1 Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon yesterday after the effects of a virus reduced her to tears while playing doubles with sister Venus on Court One. Having looked groggy in the warm-up, Serena, who bowed out of the single’s competition in round three, served an entire game of double faults against [...]
Murray rules out recruiting Sir Alex to backroom team June 30, 2014 FORMER Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will not be invited to join Team Murray in an official capacity, but was on hand last night to offer words of wisdom he hopes will take his Scottish compatriot all the way to the Wimbledon final once again. Ferguson watched from the royal box on Centre Court [...]
World Cup: Germany need extra time to see off Algeria June 30, 2014 GERMANY 2 ALGERIA 1 (After extra time) EXTRA-TIME goals from Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil saw Germany reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the 15th time in 16 tournaments at the expense of plucky Algeria. The three-time winners advance to play France at the Maracana on Friday, but were given an almighty scare [...]
Wozniacki calls for introduction of shot clocks June 30, 2014 FORMER world No1 Caroline Wozniacki has called on tennis authorities to get tough on time-wasters following her surprise fourth-round exit in straight sets to Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova. With top two seeds Serena Williams and Li Na already out, 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska and former world No1 Ana Ivanovic joined Wozniacki on the scrapheap on a rain-disrupted [...]
Aussie wildcard bidding to upset world No1 Nadal June 30, 2014 THE TWO most dominant players men’s tennis has ever known are in action at Wimbledon today. World No1 Rafael Nadal continues his pursuit of a 15th grand slam title against Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios, the surprise package of the tournament so far. And 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer is looking to inflict an 11th defeat over [...]
World Cup: Navas’s penalty heroics continue fairytale campaign for Costa Rica June 29, 2014 COSTA RICA 1 GREECE 1 Costa Rica win 5-3 on penalties GOALKEEPER Keylor Navas enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a stunning save to keep out veteran striker Theofanis Gekas’s penalty, as Costa Rica won a high-class shoot-out to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history. The Central American minnows, ranked [...]
Anderson aims to end Murray’s reign on grass June 29, 2014 CHAMPION Andy Murray has never had it so easy in the first week at Wimbledon. The Scot dropped just 19 games in the first three rounds, enabling him to extend his winning run at the All England Club to 16 matches, pre-dating the London 2012 Olympics in which he won gold. But standing 6ft 8in [...]
British title win has Chambers rethinking retirement June 29, 2014 SPRINTER Dwain Chambers revealed he was considering hanging up his running spikes before storming to an eighth British title – and fifth in a row – in Birmingham yesterday. The 36-year-old rolled back the years to cross the line in a season’s best 10.12 seconds ahead of Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and third fastest Briton of all [...]
Williams’ conqueror Cornet set to take Centre stage once more June 29, 2014 FRANCE’S Alize Cornet dumped world No1 Serena Williams out of Wimbledon on Saturday and faces an immediate return to the action when she is first on Centre Court today to play Canadian rising star Eugenie Bouchard. With Williams’ exit following second seed Li Na’s early flight home, world No3 Simona Halep is the highest ranked [...]
Cotter looks to bright future June 29, 2014 SCOTLAND rugby union coach Vern Cotter is adamant his team’s summer tour has been valuable despite being thumped 55-6 by South Africa at the weekend. Following victories in USA, Canada and Argentina already this month, Scotland shipped eight tries in Port Elizabeth to end a marathon overseas tour on a sour note. But, having had [...]
