Saturday, 24 March 2012
Bangladesh says it will seek review of final-over collision
England says farewell to a symbol of â66
Crew down Impact, Earthquakes impress
Columbus Crew were 2-0 winners over newcomers Montreal Impact, while New England Revolution got on the scoresheet early to edge Portland Timbers, and San Jose Earthquakes beat Toronto FC in convincing fashion.
Killie win hands Celtic title chance
Paul Heffernan scored twice as Kilmarnock defeated Motherwell, boosting Celtic's chance at wrapping up the Scottish Premier League title tomorrow, while Dundee United and St Johnstone claimed respective wins over Hibernian and Hearts.
Boosts for Bolton, Wigan in relegation battle
Toure rescues City draw at Stoke
Peter Crouch grabbed the lead for Stoke City with a long-range stunner, but Yaya Toure made sure the points were shared as Manchester City provisionally climbed back into top spot in the Premier League.
Guangzhou slip up as Liaoning near
Guangzhou clung on to top spot in the Chinese Super League despite a 1-0 defeat by Shanghai Shenhua, while Liaoning Whowin kept up their chase of the leaders with a 3-3 draw against Changchun Yatai.
Twente held as Heerenveen cruise
Twente missed their chance to go top of the table after they were held to a 1-1 draw by ADO Den Haag, while Heerenveen eased to a 4-1 win over VVV-Venlo, and Roda JC defeated Vitesse Arnhem 3-1.
Montpellier grab late win, Marseille bag point
Montpellier clinched a late 1-0 win over Saint-Etienne to go top of the table in Ligue 1, while Marseille ended a dismal streak of defeats with a 1-1 draw at Nice, and Lille clung on to third place with a 3-0 win over Evian.
Serena likes Sloane Stephens' poise
Serena likes Sloane Stephens poise
Serena powers into fourth round in Miami
Williams dominated with her serve and played patiently from the baseline, winning a succession of long rallies. She hit 25 winners while committing 20 unforced errors.
Seeded 10th, Williams is making her return to tournament tennis after a two-month absence because of a left ankle injury. At No. 20, Vinci is the highest-ranked player Williams has beaten this year.
Williams is seeking a record sixth title in Key Biscayne.
Federer, Serena advance; Clijsters out in Miami
He mistook a fanâs shout for a linesmanâs call, which cost him the game. Play continued for another 25 minutes before Federer finally closed out his opening match at the Sony Ericsson Open by beating 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-6 (3).
âIâd like to make it a bit more difficult for my opponent,â Federer said. âI was just completely confused about the whole situation.â
Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick won in more straightforward fashion, but two-time champion Kim Clijsters was eliminated.
Federer led 5-2 in the second set and had a chance to finish in less than an hour until he lost two fluky points that extended the match.
Serving at 5-3, Federer blew an easy overhead to fall behind 15-30. One point later, facing break point for the only time in the match, Federer hit a forehand that landed on the baseline.
A fan hollered âOut!â and Federer stopped. By the time he realized the ball was still in play, Harrison had won the pointâ"and the game.
âIt completely threw me off,â Federer said. âItâs the first time it has ever happened in my career. I was like, `Thatâs it? Thatâs a break point? This is how this is going to happen?ââ
Harrison took advantage of the break, although he said he felt bad about it.
âObviously I want to win every point the right way, and not because something happened,â the teenager said. âUnfortunately somebody interrupted play.â
After Harrison held twice to force the tiebreaker, Federer hit a spectacular lunging lob to turn a scrambling exchange his way for a 4-2 lead. Four points later, he closed out his 40th victory in the past 42 matches.
âI felt like I had to win the match like three times at the end, so I was relieved to come through,â he said.
Federer has a 77-match winning streak against players outside the top 20. Harrison is ranked 73rd but on the rise.
âHeâll make his move up the rankings,â Federer said. âHeâs a good athlete. I hope he stays healthy so he can show everyone what heâs got.â
The No. 3-seeded Federerâs opponent in the third round will be another American, familiar foil Roddick. Theyâve played 23 times and Roddick has won only twice, although he did beat Federer at Key Biscayne in 2008.
âThereâs no getting around the fact that he has been the biggest obstacle in my career,â Roddick said. âHis game matches up well against mine.â
Roddick lost only five points on his first serve, never faced a break point and beat Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-2. Roddick is trying to improve a ranking that has dropped to 34th, the lowest he has been since 2001.
Williams started early and finished fast. Walking onto the stadium court at 11 a.m., Williams dominated with her serve, played consistently from the baseline and moved into the fourth round by beating Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-1.
Williams was done shortly after noon.
âIâm not a morning person,â she said. âI actually hate morning matches, but I always do my best at 11 oâclock matches.â
Williams won most of the short points and a succession of long rallies as well. She hit 25 winners while committing 20 unforced errors.
Seeded 10th, Williams is making her return to tournament tennis after a two-month absence because of a left ankle injury. At No. 20, Vinci is the highest-ranked player Williams has beaten this year.
Williams is seeking her first tournament championship since August, and sheâs bidding for a record sixth title at Key Biscayne.
âI need trophies,â she said. âI want to add more and to do more. There are records to break. So Iâll do it. Iâve just got to believe it. I do believe it.â
Sharapova, seeded second, beat American qualifier Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-2. Clijsters, coming back from an ankle injury, lost to No. 23 Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 7-6 (5).
No. 8 Mardy Fish was among 12 seeded men to advance. One lost: No. 15 Feliciano Lopez was beaten by fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Fish Beats Dancevic; Anderson, Verdasco Advance
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Federer: Success means winning matches
Bryans Record 45-Minute Win; Join Mirnyi/Nestor In Second Round
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Federer: Success means winning
Federer, Serena Williams advance in Miami
Federer led 5-2 in the second set and was on the verge of finishing in less than an hour when he lost two fluky points that extended the match.
Serving at 5-3, Federer blew an easy overhead to fall behind 15-30. Federer then stopped playing when he mistook a shout from the stands for a linesmanâs call, which cost him the next point, and he went on to lose serve.
The match continued for another 25 minutes before Federer closed it out for his 40th victory in the past 42 matches. He extended to 77 matches his winning streak against players outside the top 20.
Federerâs opponent in the third round will be Andy Roddick, who never faced a break point as he beat Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-2. Roddick hopes to improve a ranking that has dropped to 34th, the lowest he has been since 2001.
Roddick is 2-21 against Federer, but did beat him at Key Biscayne in 2008.
âThereâs no getting around the fact that he has been the biggest obstacle in my career,â Roddick said. âHis game matches up well against mine.â
Serena Williams started early and finished fast. Walking onto the stadium court at 11 a.m., Williams dominated with her serve, played consistently from the baseline and moved into the fourth round by beating Roberta Vinci 6-2, 6-1.
Williams was done shortly after noon.
âIâm not a morning person,â she said. âI actually hate morning matches, but I always do my best at 11 oâclock matches.â
Williams won most of the short points and a succession of long rallies as well. She hit 25 winners while committing 20 unforced errors.
Seeded 10th, Williams is making her return to tournament tennis after a two-month absence because of a left ankle injury. At No. 20, Vinci is the highest-ranked player Williams has beaten this year.
Williams is seeking her first tournament championship since August, and sheâs bidding for a record sixth title at Key Biscayne.
âI need trophies,â she said. âI want to add more and to do more. There are records to break. So Iâll do it. Iâve just got to believe it. I do believe it.â
No. 12-seeded Sabine Lisicki edged No. 17 Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-5.
Seeded men swept the dayâs first nine matches. Winners included No. 5 David Ferrer, No. 14 Gael Monfils, No. 17 Richard Gasquet and No. 20 Fernando Verdasco.
Federer To Meet Roddick In Third Round
[[More Tennis News on ATPWorldTour.com]]
F1B Sector 3: March 24, 2012
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• Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS • LinkedInRoddick, Ferrer, Monfils Into Third Round
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Safin: 'Isner should be a top 5 player'
The Russian added that he doesnât see any change in the current top four by yearâs end. "I think at the end of the year [Novak] Djokovic will be No. 1," he said. "Then No. 2 will be [Rafael] Nadal, then [Roger] Federer, then [Andy] Murray. Not much will change. Djokovic is doing really well, and I think itâs going to be difficult for Nadal this year because Djokovic just keeps getting better and better and he has the confidence edge over him right now. And Federer is getting older, which is normal of course, and Murray has the game but he is still missing something for me."
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Safin: 'Isner should be top 5'
The Russian added that he doesnât see any change in the current top four by yearâs end. "I think at the end of the year [Novak] Djokovic will be No. 1," he said. "Then No. 2 will be [Rafael] Nadal, then [Roger] Federer, then [Andy] Murray. Not much will change. Djokovic is doing really well, and I think itâs going to be difficult for Nadal this year because Djokovic just keeps getting better and better and he has the confidence edge over him right now. And Federer is getting older, which is normal of course, and Murray has the game but he is still missing something for me."
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Who made Vettelâs tire strategy call?
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• Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS • LinkedInDriver Quotes: Malaysian GP qualifying
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• Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS • LinkedInLokomotiv upset CSKA in Moscow derby
Lokomotiv scored two goals in the first half through Roman Pavlyuchenko and Felipe Caicedo to deal local rivals CSKA Moscow a 2-0 derby defeat and deny them the chance to make up ground on leaders Zenit St Petersburg.
Miami Saturday Briefing - Djokovic, Federer, Roddick Open Campaigns
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Familiar foes reunited en route to Brazil
Asia's final round takes shape
The final round of qualifying in Asia for Brazil 2014 has finally taken shape, with ten teams learning the challenges that await when the final-round draw took place at AFC House.
Victoria face tough chase for final spot
Flamengo win as Nacional stay top
FICA calls for postponement of Pakistan tour
Four-goal Smeltz fires Glory
Gwangju go ahead of beaten Bluewings
Sendai stay perfect, tied with Tokyo
The grand old foes of Recife
Ireland demolish Namibia to qualify for World T20
FIA post-qualifying press conference - Malaysia
Werder lose Arnautovic, sell Wesley
Qualifying - Hamilton beats Button to Sepang pole
Morelia beat Club America to move clear
Malaysia Quali Recap: Hamilton, Button lead McLaren to another front row lockout
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• Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS • LinkedInResponse to 'Good governance and ethics in sport'
Guardiola: Messi is the greatest
Schweinsteiger returns to Bayern training
Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger returned to training for the first time today since tearing ankle ligaments, however, is unsure as to when he will be back to match fitness.