Pearce coy on England captaincy

Stuart Pearce has continued to play his cards close to his chest in regards to the England captaincy, saying he will reveal who will lead them out against the Netherlands tomorrow morning, amidst more squad withdrawals. 

Ferrer wins opening-round match at Mexican Open

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP)â€"Two-time defending champion David Ferrer of Spain defeated fan favorite Santiago Gonzalez 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Mexican Open.

The top-seeded Ferrer, trying to win his third title of the season, needed just over an hour to eliminate the Mexican player at The Fairmont Acapulco Princess. The sixth-ranked Spaniard saved all five break points he faced and converted on four of his seven opportunities.

Ferrer won the Copa Claro last week in Argentina and a title at Auckland, New Zealand in January.

Djokovic, Nadal, Murray enter Indian Wells doubles

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP)â€"Defending singles champion Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will play doubles at the BNP Paribas Open next month.

Djokovic, the world's No. 1 men's player, will play with fellow Serb Viktor Troicki when the doubles draw begins March 11 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. They reached the quarterfinals last year.

Nadal, No. 2 in the world, plans to play with Marc Lopez. They won the 2010 title and lost in the semifinals last year. Murray, No. 4 in the world, will team with his brother, Jamie, after reaching the quarterfinals last year.

Other top-10 singles players who will compete in doubles include No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 8 Mardy Fish, who will play with fellow American Andy Roddick. The draw includes the top-ranked team of brother, Bob and Mike Bryan.

The tournament featuring men's and women's players runs March 5-18.

Isner Prevails In Delray Beach Opener; Roddick Rallies

Top seed John Isner prevailed in a 32-point second set tie-break to defeat local wild card Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-6(15) on Tuesday at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Ferrer Opens Acapulco Title Defence; Wawrinka Edges Ferrero

Top seed David Ferrer opened his bid for a third straight Abierto Mexicano Telcel title Tuesday night with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mexican Santiago Gonzalez, who was playing his final singles tournament on the ATP World Tour.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Erlich/Ram Reach Dubai Quarter-finals

Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won 74 per cent of their service points to beat Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 7-5 in 74 minutes on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

REVIEW: Meet Sebastian Vettel

Books about Formula One drivers are plenty and they range from brilliant to marginal. I recall a book about Michael Schumacher with his publicist, Sabine, listed as the author and it was a difficult read as it was obviously translated into English. Books from Italy, France and Germany may often have terrific pictures but the translations loses the eloquence of

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Isner wins in Delray; second-seeded Cilic ousted

DELRAY BEACH, Florida (AP)â€"Top-seeded John Isner outlasted fellow American Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-5 (15) on Tuesday in their first-round match at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.
 
In another first-round match, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, ranked 43rd, beat second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Isner barely held off a tenacious Levine, who is ranked No. 133 in the world and needed a wild-card entry into the main draw.
 
Levine trailed the 11th-ranked Isner throughout the tiebreaker. The match ended when Levine’s backhand hit the top of the net and carried long, putting Isner into the second round.
 
“I served very well and to be honest I was very lucky to win it,” said Isner, who had 13 aces. “To be honest, if I lost that second set I didn’t really fancy my chances in the third because the humidity was getting to me.”
 
Nieminen has already won a title this year at Sydney, while Cilic was playing his first match of the season. The 21st-ranked Cilic has been nursing a left knee injury and this was his first match since last November.
 
Known for a big serve, Cilic racked up nine acesâ€"but he was streaky. His first-serve percentage was only 48 percent.
 
“It was my first match for a while and it felt a little bit awkward I would say,” Cilic said. “I played some moments pretty good but I think my fitness level, not great. … I expected that to happen.”
 
Also during the day session, fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-4. Latvian Ernests Gulbis, the 2010 Delray Beach champion, beat Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-4, 6-1. And Belgium’s Xavier Malisse, a two-time Delray Beach champion, scored a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.
 
Fourth seed Andy Roddick, making his first visit to the Delray Beach tournament since 2003, plays his opening match against Philipp Petzschner of Germany on Tuesday night.

Glock weighs in on crash test

You’ve most likely heard that Marussia Virgin failed their crash test which of course means a lot of hard work for the engineers and Pat Symonds but what you may not have heard is Timo Glock’s feelings on the matter. Timo, the team’s veteran driver and F1B favorite, told the German press: “Of course it

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Wawrinka Edges Ferrero In Acapulco

Stanislas Wawrinka earned a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 2010 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Buenos Aires.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Caldwell to lead Scotland out for first time

Gary Caldwell has been named as the Scotland captain for tomorrow's friendly with Slovenia, meaning the Wigan Athletic defender will lead out his country for the first time, after coach Craig Levein decided to rest Kenny Miller.

Dhaka make final despite Shakib

Dhaka Gladiators made it to the final of the Bangladesh Premier League with a nine-run victory over Khulna Royal Bengals in the second semi-final, in front of a packed Shere Bangla National Stadium that backed the home team as well as could be expected

Navratilova to join Dancing With the Stars

Martina Navratilova will compete on the next edition of "Dancing with the Stars" along with, among others, the Green Bay Packers' Donald Driver, former Little House on the Prairie star Melissa Gilbert, singer Gladys Knight, EXTRA host Maria Menounos, and Jack Wagner of General Hospital.

Hsieh beats Keothavong in Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)â€"Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan defeated eighth-seeded Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-4, 7-5 Tuesday to advance into the Malaysian Open’s second round.

Third-seeded Peng Shuai of China also advanced, beating Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 at Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort. Fourth-seeded Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia defeated Kathrin Woerle of Germany 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, and sixth-seeded Ayumi Morita of Japan defeated Nudnida Luangnam of Thailand 6-4, 6-0.

Twin sisters Kristyna and Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic both celebrated victories. Kristyna beat Iryna Bremond of France 6-0, 6-2, while Karolina defeated Chang Kai-Chen of Taiwan 6-3, 6-2.

Oudin doesn't make IW qualies; moves to NYC

Georgia native Melanie Oudin has moved her base to New York and is currently working at the USTA Player Development center at Flushing Meadows, the home of the U.S. Open. Oudin, who began to work with USTA coaches last fall after splitting with her longtime private coach, Brian DeVilliers, was unable to get into the qualifying draw at Indian Wells, as her ranking has fallen to No. 209.

The 20-year-old has not won a WTA main-draw match without her opponent retiring since last April, and has not won a set in four matches this year. The 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist is one of three prominent U.S. women now working at the facility, including No. 34 Christina McHale and No. 85 Varvara Lepchenko.â€"Matt Cronin

Isner Prevails In Delray Beach Opener

Top seed John Isner prevailed in a 32-point second set tie-break to defeat local wild card Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-6(15) on Tuesday at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Fish praises faster surfaces, Dubai hardcourt

Mardy Fish praises the quick hard-court surface in Dubai. The world No. 8 crushed Andreas Beck in the first round, 6-1, 6-1.

"It's nice to have at least a tournament or two that's a quicker surface on the tour these days," Fish told reporters. "They've slowed everything down. They've slowed Wimbledon down, they've slowed the U.S. Open down. Montreal was the fastest surface of the year last year, Cincinnati is usually relatively quick. A lot of that has to do with the weather as well. But this court is quick. It's playing fast, especially during the day. And it's nice to get that sort of variety a little bit. We've lost the variety, no doubt about it. There are hardly any faster-surface tournaments any more. I love them. There should be a couple more at least."

Fish routs Beck in first round of Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)â€"Mardy Fish eased into the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, beating Andreas Beck of Germany 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.

The American has had a mixed year so far, losing in the second round of the Australian Open and beaten by 388th-ranked Albano Olivetti in the Marseille quarterfinals last week. He did, however, help the United States rout Switzerland 5-0 in the Davis Cup.

On Monday, Fish broke Beck twice in the first set to lead 4-0. In the second, he broke three times before closing the match in 57 minutes.

Does Alonso sound frustrated to you?

It’s no secret that Ferrari seems to be off to a slow start this Formula 1 season. This may be worrying the Tifosi, but is it worrying Fernando Alonso? You be the judge. These comments are from Ferrari’s website, so consider them pre-packaged, trimmed, changed, gusseyed-up: “We are continuing with development of the new car,”

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Williams: Parr logical choice to replace Sir Frank?

Sir Frank Williams has always been a favorite here at F1B and the thought of a Formula One paddock without him is down right sad. However, all things change and time is the grand equalizer. We really didn’t think we’d see a day that legendary car designer and Williams F1 owner Patrick Head would be

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Novak: Tremendous pressure on my brothers

Novak Djokovic says his younger brothers must learn to deal with the pressure of being related to the world No. 1. Djokovic's 20-year-old brother, 869th-ranked Marko, received a wild card into Dubai, but fell to Andrey Golubev in straight sets on Monday.

"Obviously he's not at this level yet, but he's getting in there," Novak told reporters. "I think it's a useful experience for him. He's been struggling a lot with injuries. In the end, he has to face this, I guess, pressure in a way for having Djokovic surname. All over the world where he plays tennis, I guess he has to face this pressure that is not necessary for him at this age. It's his burden, and he's very committed. He wants to succeed in tennis. But everybody obviously has a different path. It's hard because the people compare him to me. In all his junior tournaments and all these years that he's been playing tennis he's been compared to me when I was that age. It's absolutely different. So he's trying to fight I think with his mind more than really with the game. So I think as soon as he manages to control his thoughts and, you know, focus on his own career, I think he's going to be good. He has potential obviously, and it's in the blood."

Djokovic's 16-year-old baby brother, Djordje, also plays and trains in Florida.

"They had to face that kind of already five years ago when I [first] became a top-10 player," Novak said. "Obviously they got more attention back in Serbia because they spend most of the time there. So it is something that they're carrying on their backs. They are spending a little bit maybe more time now outside of Serbia, which gives them maybe a little bit more freedom to improve."

Murray beats Berrer in three; Federer wins in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)â€"Andy Murray overcame an error-strewn performance to defeat German qualifier Michael Berrer 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Tuesday in the first round of the Dubai Championships.

Fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga edged Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (2), 6-4 to set up a second-round encounter with Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.

Murray, playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, looked ragged and at times his movement appeared labored in the midday heat. He said he didn’t “feel great” at the start of the match and at times felt nauseous on court.

“It was quite a frustrating match because I was up a break in the second set, and each time I think gave it straight back,” Murray said. “And then the third set again, I went up a break and gave the break straight back. So I could have made it a little bit easier for myself if I played a bit better.”

The third-seeded Murray lost his opening service game, but broke back twice to claim the first set. He was saved by his serve, which produced three aces and kept the 116th-ranked German off balance.

Berrer dominated the second set, displaying an improved service game and more aggressive play that forced Murray into a slew of unforced errors. Murray went up 3-2 only to see Berrer break back when he hit a volley into the net. Berrer broke Murray to force the third set when the 24-year-old Briton made four unforced errors. After hitting a backhand into the net, Murray punched his leg and muttered to himself.

The first four games of the third set went against serve. Berrer went up 4-3 only to see Murray regain the momentum and win the final three games.

Murray will faces Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli, who beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. It will be the first time Murray has faced Chiudinelli. He added he needs to make his game more “match tight” if he wants to go deep in the tournament.

“He’s quite a flat striker of the ball. He’s pretty quick. He’s obviously going to have a lot of experience as well on his side,” Murray said. “He had a very good win today and a couple of good wins in qualies, so he’s playing well.”

Baghdatis served for the first set at 5-4 against Tsonga, who said he was tired coming into his match after reaching the semifinals Saturday in Marseille. But Tsonga broke back and then easily won the tiebreaker.

In the second set, the fifth-ranked Tsonga stepped up his game. He broke Baghdatis to go up 3-2 and never trailed after that.

“It was a tough challenge,” said Tsonga, who won the title in Qatar last month. “Not a lot of energy. Without this energy, it’s difficult to play. But I was there mentally and I did it, so I’m really happy.”

In other first round matches, fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych also made quick work of Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour. Mikhail Youzhny defeated Richard Gasquet when the Frenchman retired with the flu after losing the first set 6-3.

Djokovic wins after long layoff in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)â€"Novak Djokovic shook off the rust to beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4, 6-2 at the Dubai Tennis Championships Monday in his first match since winning the Australian Open.

Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish also had an easy time against Andreas Beck of Germany, winning 6-1, 6-1 to join Djokovic in the second round.

The top-ranked Djokovic has not played a match in nearly four weeks and it showed at times. He broke the 72nd-ranked German to go up 1-0 but had to save two break points in the fourth game as he struggled with Stebe’s return game. Stebe pushed the set to 5-4 and deuce before Djokovic hit his first ace and another good serve which the German returned long.

Djokovic had an easier second set, breaking twice. He won the match with his third ace of the match and another serve that Stebe couldn’t return.

“He definitely played well. I was impressed with his game, especially in the first set,” Djokovic said of Stebe, who moved up nearly 300 ranking places in 2011 and took Lleyton Hewitt to four sets at the Australian Open last month.

“He was hanging in there. I thought I served well when I needed to,” Djokovic continued. “It could have gone a different way really, because he was returning well. He was very aggressive on the baseline. You could feel that even though he’s young and doesn’t have much experience playing on the big stage, he really didn’t care much.”

Djokovic, going for a fourth consecutive Dubai title, is now 8-0 this year after beating Stebe. He insisted that he was not concerned with matching his exploits in 2011, in which he won three Grand Slams and started the season with a 41-match winning streak.

“Well, you know, people talk about that obviously, and I’m expecting that. But to be honest, I’m not really comparing 2012 with 2011,” Djokovic said. “I want to have this positive mindset on the court that is going to kind of keep me away from unnecessary pressure that I already have as No. 1 in the world and as a top player, somebody that’s expected to win in most of the matches.

“The last year was amazing. Definitely best year of my career. If you ask me if I can repeat it, I don’t know. It’s going to be very, very hard obviously.”

A few hours before his match, Djokovic was courtside as his younger brother Marko lost his match to Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2. The 869th-ranked Djokovic was granted a wild card into the tournament.

Djokovic serves as a mentor of sorts for the 20-year-old Marko and said it was hard to see his brother struggling, admitting that can difficult for Marko and his other tennis-playing brother 16-year-old Djordje to always be compared to him.

“In the end, he has to face this, I guess, pressure in a way for having Djokovic surname,” Djokovic said of Marko. “All over the world where he plays tennis, I guess he has to face this pressure that is not necessary for him at this age. It’s his burden, and he’s very committed. He wants to succeed in tennis.”

Fish, meanwhile, broke Beck twice in the first set to lead 4-0. In the second, he broke three times before closing it out in 57 minutes.

The American has had a mixed year so far, crashing out in the second round of the Australian Open and losing to 388th-ranked Albano Olivetti in the Marseille quarterfinals last week. He did, however, help the United States rout Switzerland 5-0 in the Davis Cup.

“Obviously it’s nice to get through quickly early in the tournaments, but it gets tough from here on out for sure,” Fish said. ” I’ve never played him (Beck) before. I assume he’s played better matches for sure. But these courts suit me very well.”

Fish, who replaced Andy Roddick as the American No. 1 last year, admitted there is a lot of “responsibility” “that comes with that role and he felt it last week in Marseille.

“It certainly is different than my past being the third or fourth or 10th American at times,” he said. “The match that I played last week in Marseille bugs you a lot more than it used to because you don’t want those guys to have that over you. You don’t want those guys to beat you. You don’t want to give players and your colleagues the idea that you’re vulnerable as well.”

Fish was not satisfied with a 3-2 start in 2012, but relished his Davis Cup experience.

“I haven’t had the best start to the year individually, but I must say Davis Cup in Switzerland certainly made up for the disappointment in Australia. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Winning that tie and being a part of that with the guys, with captain (Jim) Courier, certainly doesn’t feel like a bad start.”

Kohlschreiber, Former Champion Gulbis Advance To Second Round

Fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber fired 13 aces past Olivier Rochus of Belgium for a 6-1, 6-4 win on Tuesday at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Federer Beats Llodra, Plays Lopez Next; Berdych, Del Potro Win Openers

Four-time former champion Roger Federer defeated last week's Open 13 finalist Michael Llodra of France 6-0, 7-6(6) on Tuesday night at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Federer Beats Llodra, Plays Lopez Next; Berdych Races To Win

Four-time former champion Roger Federer defeated last week's Open 13 finalist Michael Llodra of France 6-0, 7-6(6) on Tuesday night at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Erlich-Ram Reach Dubai Second Round

Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram won 74 per cent of their service points to beat Americans Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 7-5 in 74 minutes on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]

Murray, Tsonga score Dubai first-round wins

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)â€"Andy Murray overcame an error-strewn performance to defeat German qualifier Michael Berrer 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Tuesday in the first round of the Dubai Championships.

Fourth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga edged Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (2), 6-4 to set up a second-round encounter with Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic.

Murray, playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, looked ragged and at times his movement appeared labored in the midday heat. He said he didn’t “feel great” at the start of the match and at times felt nauseous on court.

“It was quite a frustrating match because I was up a break in the second set, and each time I think gave it straight back,” Murray said. “And then the third set again, I went up a break and gave the break straight back. So I could have made it a little bit easier for myself if I played a bit better.”

The third-seeded Murray lost his opening service game, but broke back twice to claim the first set. He was saved by his serve, which produced three aces and kept the 116th-ranked German off balance.

Berrer dominated the second set, displaying an improved service game and more aggressive play that forced Murray into a slew of unforced errors. Murray went up 3-2 only to see Berrer break back when he hit a volley into the net. Berrer broke Murray to force the third set when the 24-year-old Briton made four unforced errors. After hitting a backhand into the net, Murray punched his leg and muttered to himself.

The first four games of the third set went against serve. Berrer went up 4-3 only to see Murray regain the momentum and win the final three games.

Murray will faces Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli, who beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. It will be the first time Murray has faced Chiudinelli. He added he needs to make his game more “match tight” if he wants to go deep in the tournament.

“He’s quite a flat striker of the ball. He’s pretty quick. He’s obviously going to have a lot of experience as well on his side,” Murray said. “He had a very good win today and a couple of good wins in qualies, so he’s playing well.”

Baghdatis served for the first set at 5-4 against Tsonga, who said he was tired coming into his match after reaching the semifinals Saturday in Marseille. But Tsonga broke back and then easily won the tiebreaker.

In the second set, the fifth-ranked Tsonga stepped up his game. He broke Baghdatis to go up 3-2 and never trailed after that.

“It was a tough challenge,” said Tsonga, who won the title in Qatar last month. “Not a lot of energy. Without this energy, it’s difficult to play. But I was there mentally and I did it, so I’m really happy.”

In other first round matches, fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych also made quick work of Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour. Mikhail Youzhny defeated Richard Gasquet when the Frenchman retired with the flu after losing the first set 6-3.