New York, September 1
Novak Djokovic illuminated New York's midnight hour with an electrifying performance on Sunday, surviving a 234-minute battle to reach the fourth round of the US Open.

The Serbian third seed soaked up the full force of Marin Cilic's armoury to stay in the hunt for the title with an absorbing 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 victory in a contest that ended at 12.48 am local time.

The 21-year-old squandered two match points in the 10th game of the fourth set but roared through the last 11 points of the match to seal the win when Cilic dragged a service return wide.

Asked on court how he was feeling, the Australian Open champion replied, "You're asking me how I'm doing after a four-hour match, not fresh, for sure.”

Djokovic discovered he was in for a long night when set point up in the opening set, he was made to scamper around like a demented bunny only to lose a 31-shot rally.

Cilic, 19, kept up the intensity throughout but eventually was undone by his lack of experience, cracking down 12 double faults to undo his hard work.

Djokovic's next test will be against 15th seed Tommy Robredo.

While Djokovic kept the midnight oil burning, Roger Federer and Jelena Jankovic were enjoying an early night, thanks to their relatively smooth progress during the day session.

After a week of lukewarm performances, four-times champion Federer turned on the heat with a masterful 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 destruction of Czech 28th seed Radek Stepanek.

Women's world number two Jankovic looked to be heading for another long workout but found her range to end the plucky challenge of Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory.

As temperatures soared on day seven of the hardcourt major, an ailing Marion Bartoli said it was a "miracle" she could battle on for more than three hours in the stifling conditions. She eventually fell 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 to Austrian Sybille Bammer.

While Bartoli wilted under sunny skies, Federer flourished.

In his first two matches, the Swiss master had fallen well short of proving his title credentials as he piled up 66 unforced errors and converted only 11 of 28 break points.

On Sunday, he dazzled Stepanek and 23,000 wide-eyed fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium court when his game clicked into overdrive.

At one point, the Swiss even managed to surprise himself. With his back pinned to the rear wall, Federer leapt high into the air and his slam-dunk mis-hit bounced off a startled Stepanek's racket frame for a winner.

After toying with Stepanek for 96 minutes, Federer threaded a forehand down the line to seal victory and celebrated by punching the air and holding aloft his index finger, as if to remind people "I'm still number one in New York."

Federer chalked up his 30th consecutive victory here to set up a meeting with Russia's Igor Andreev.

Another Russian, Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, continued to slice through the draw with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 win over China's Li Na. Next up for her is Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder.

Qualifier Gilles Muller probably entered the Open with more modest ambitions than Jankovic or Dementieva but he put Luxembourg on the tennis map on Sunday.

The 130th-ranked Muller squeezed past Spanish 18th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 to become the first player from the tiny nation to reach the fourth round of a grand slam.

He will now run into fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko, a 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 winner in an all-Russian clash against Dmitry Tursunov.

Three years ago he was a gawky teenager who suffered cramp towards the end of his longer matches. As Andy Murray prepares to face Stanislas Wawrinka his new-found reputation as one of the game's never-say-die strongmen.

Two months after rolling up his sleeve and flexing his biceps to celebrate coming back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon, Murray made the same gesture to his coaching team at the end of another thrilling fightback here on Saturday night. The world No 6 was two points from defeat against Austria's Jurgen Melzer but rallied to win 6-7, 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, 6-3 after three hours and 52 minutes.

Tim Henman was 29 when he first won from two sets down, against Cyril Saulnier at the 2004 French Open. His 21-year-old successor as Britain's flag-bearer has now done so three times: against Israel's Andy Ram in the Davis Cup at Eastbourne two summers ago, against Gasquet at Wimbledon, and now here. He has won seven of his last eight five-set matches, suffering his only defeat against Rafael Nadal inlast year's Australian Open.

Murray considered his latest back-from-the-dead feat a greater achievement than his win over Gasquet. "Melzer was playing so well that it was going to be really tough for me to get back into the match," he said.

Melzer, who will face Murray again at Wimbledon in the Davis Cup in three weeks' time, went for broke and hit some outstanding shots in the first three sets, but there was a lack of sparkle in Murray's early play. The Scot's return of serve is usually one of his strongest weapons, but he struggled to find his rhythm. Melzer also played better in the big moments, saving the first nine break points against him.

Murray's response, nevertheless, was magnificent. At 5-5 in the third set tie-break he hit the biggest serve of his life, a 138mph ace, and followed it with a backhand winner down the line. Thereafter, he took command. While the world No 48 was receiving treatment for cramp throughout the final set, a pumped-up Murray looked stronger than ever.

The past criticism of his fitness used to rankle with Murray. "When you're 18 years old, a teenager, you're not going to be at your physical peak," he said in the wake of Saturday's victory.

"It all came upon me very quickly playing in the Slams. I went from playing Futures level tennis to the main tour within a week or two. It's not just physical but the mental aspect, because you're more nervous and pumped up as well. That can tire you out too.

"Everyone takes time to get stronger. If you asked Federer he'd say he's much better than when he was 18. Nadal is the exception, but even he tired in some matches when he was younger. Everyone does when they're young.

You've got to let your body mature. If you do too much too early you're going to have injuries later. Now that I've finished growing I can do more weights and train harder. When you're 17 and 18, I think it's tough on the body to push so hard."

It remains to be seen how much his latest five-setter has taken out of him, but Murray's next opponent was on court even longer. Wawrinka, who won an Olympic doubles gold medal alongside Roger Federer two weeks ago, was detained for more than four hours by Italy's Flavio Cipolla, the world No 142, and also had to come from two sets down.

— By arrangement with The Independent

There was much to commend Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team winning a one-day series in Sri Lanka, for it was a feat that hadn't been achieved before by India teams with bigger names than in Dhoni's side. Dhoni himself was the big difference, for his leadership style seems to be one that the current generation of cricketers gel with.

In an era where superstars are created in a jiffy, egos are bound to be bigger than ever before and to handle these is the big challenge. Dhoni does it with aplomb and without squashing anybody's self-esteem he does manage to bring out the latent talent in his players.

Take Praveen Kumar who has been in and out of the Indian one-day team. Here is a bowler who has invariably given a breakthrough early on which has allowed the others to pile on the pressure, but by not picking him for every game Dhoni seems to be giving him the desire to fight back and not take his place for granted.

In batting, by promoting and demoting players he sends a subtle but effective signal to the player be it of appreciation or disapproval.

The one-dayers was a great chance for the next generation of batsmen to stake a strong claim for a place in the Test side. Not that one-day deeds are a good pointer to Test selection but when achieved in difficult circumstances does indicate a good temperament which is half the battle won.

Apart from Dhoni and Raina and to a certain extent Virat Kohli none of the batsmen did themselves any favours. The surprise was the failure of Gambhir who batted so well in the Test series earlier and had the measure of the Sri Lankan spinners.

Yuvraj went through a bad patch which can happen to any player as did Rohit Sharma. The plus was the fine temperament shown by Badrinath in the low scoring second one-dayer which India won and which gave them the belief that they could win the series, and they did it without the services of the in-form Sehwag as well as Tendulkar who has had such a magnificent run earlier in the year.

The bowling was dominated by Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan showed that he was hungry for more cricket after having missed out on a fair bit thanks to his suspension. It was the bowling attack that made India's task easier.

On the flat Sri Lankan pitches it is not easy to contain batsmen of the calibre of Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Sangakarra and company but the seamers did that admirably. In that respect Indian cricket looks to be well stocked with bowlers like R.P. Singh in the reserves and Ishant wisely rested by the selectors.

The fielding despite the presence of youngsters was a worry with catches being dropped and throws being erratic. If that is not corrected soon the new Indian season could well begin the way the Test series ended in Lanka. — PMG

New Delhi, September 1
Stung by Shahid Afridi's remarks that he lacks leadership qualities, Deccan Chargers captain VVS Laxman today retaliated, accusing the flamboyant Pakistani all-rounder of breaching team ethics.

Shocked by the Pakistani's sudden outburst, a hurt Laxman said the Indian Premier League (IPL) debacle was a collective failure and the captain alone should not be blamed.

"Afridi has no team ethics. Speaking negatively about the team in public, let alone the captain, is just not on," a miffed Laxman was quoted as saying by www.cricketnext.com.

"Being an experienced cricketer, he should not be questioning the way the team functions. I am really shocked to say the least," the stylish Hyderabadi said.

"He should know that it was a collective failure because he was part of the team. It is unfortunate that he chose to blame the captain for it," Laxman added.

Afridi had said Laxman struggled in IPL because his game was not tailor-made for the Twenty20 format and Australian Adam Gilchrist - who led the side after Laxman fractured his wrist - would have been a better choice as skipper of the side. — PTI 

Melbourne, September 1
Disillusioned Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds is mulling quitting international cricket after he was sent home by the Cricket Australia for going on a 'fishing trip' instead of attending a compulsory team meeting last week.

"I have been asked to think about what is important to me and I will take this time to do that," Symonds was quoted as saying by the 'Courier Mail' today.

"I would ask that during this time, people respect my privacy and that of my friends and family," he said.

"I would like to say thanks for the many messages of support I have received over the past day or so," he added.

The 33-year-old player's decision would be of a great significance to the Australians as their team is set to tour India in October and the final squad would be picked in next two weeks.

Australia's stand-in skipper Michael Clarke has questioned Symonds' commitment and claimed he needed time away from the game to get his act together.

"The main concern for us is Andrew's commitment to playing for this team," Clarke said.

"There is a number of things that we believe as a leadership and a team that he wasn't fulfilling. That isn't just about on the field, that's off the field, that's attitude."

Symonds would lose his $500,000 CA contract if he quits the game but the highest-paid Australian player in the IPL can still earn handsomely in the Indian sub-continent by playing in the Indian Premier League or the Indian Cricket League.

It is not the first time Symonds has thought of quitting cricket.

He had contacted Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett and talked about reinventing himself as a rugby league player in 2002.

Symonds also has a long history of disciplinary dramas, the most serious when he was nearly sent home from the Ashes in 2005 for turning up drunk for a one-dayer against Bangladesh in Cardiff.

He spent difficult 12 months when he felt he was let down by the CA over last summer's race row with India spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Harbhajan, who allegedly called Symonds a monkey during the SCG Test, eventually got off with a slap on the wrist after the charge was downgraded. 

New Delhi, September 1
Did you know that India won two gold medals and not one at the Beijing Olympics? Sunita Lamba, a fine arts artist from Delhi, won a gold at the Games for her sculpture, but so far she has received no felicitation from the government.

Lamba, the sister of late cricketer Raman Lamba, had sent her sculpture, "Spirit of Unity", for Olympic Fine Arts, an exhibition put up by the organising committee at 
Beijing, and it was selected for display.

"The chairman of the International Olympic Committee inaugurated the exhibition on August 11 and on the very same day they announced the gold medal for me," Lamba told IANS.

"I was also given an Olympic torch besides the certificate of winning the gold medal," Lamba added. Shooter Abhinav Bindra is the only sportsperson to have fetched a gold for India at the Games this time.

Lamba's gold medal will be given to her after the 40-day exhibition gets over. The show will run for a few months in different areas of China itself and after that it will move to countries across the world.

The stars in her eyes clearly spell the joy of winning the gold medal, but the pain of being ignored by the authorities shows just as much.

"Is 'art' a discipline which doesn't hold any importance for the country? More than 20 days have passed since I won the medal but no one has contacted me yet," Lamba, who is 40 plus, said.

"My work was selected from among 10,000 entries for the final 110," Lamba said. — IANS

BRIEFLY

When Holyfield came looking for Vijender
Bhiwani: Beijing gave Vijender Singh the most cherished moments of his fledgling career but the one thing the Olympic bronze medallist missed out there was a chance to meet American boxing legend Evander Holyfield who came looking for him after his semifinal bout. "Holyfield came looking for me after my semifinal loss (to Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux) but I had left the arena by then," Vijender, India's first Olympic medallist in boxing, told PTI here. "Later I was told that he praised my performance, which was very nice of him and a great honour for me," the middle weight pugilist added. A former world heavyweight champion, Holyfield, who was also seen at bantam weight boxer Akhil Kumar's quarterfinal bout against Moldovan Veaceslav Gojan, is now a recruiter for professional boxing in the USA. Vijender, however, is not keen on turning professional. "I did give it a thought some time back but I am not interested anymore. I am focused on amateur boxing and I have no plans to turn pro," he said. — PTI

Olympics inspire mandatory lessons
BEIJING: Beijing schoolchildren, returning to school on Monday after China's hugely successful showing in the city's Summer Olympics, will have to take one period of physical education tuition every day, state media said. The opening ceremonies on the first day of school across the city were marked by Beijing 2008-inspired themes placing an emphasis on Olympic education in the new school year. “Students had huge grins on their faces upon receiving the new schedules with volleyball, aerobics and co-ed sports courses added daily, compared to just sports activity time before,” the Beijing Youth Daily said. China has in the past promoted more exercise to beat growing obesity in its children, blamed on a sedentary lifestyle and fondness for unhealthy Western-style fast food. Two years ago, the Education Ministry ordered compulsory dance exercises including waltzes at all primary and secondary schools to get children fit. — Reuters

Muller puts Luxembourg on tennis map
NEW YORK: Qualifier Gilles Muller became the first player from Luxembourg to reach the fourth round of a grand slam when he squeezed past Spanish 18th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 at the US Open. Two days after staging his first comeback from two sets down to knock out Germany's Tommy Haas, the 130th-ranked Muller produced another inspired performance to replicate the feat in just under four hours on a scorching day on Grandstand court. Though aware that he had achieved a first for a player from Luxembourg, Muller said he was not caught up in that pursuit. “It's a nice thing. But on the other hand, I don't want to focus on goals on having a record in Luxembourg, because there's not many players in front of you,” he said. — Reuters

Tottenham sign Corluka, Pavlyuchenko
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur completed the signings of Croatia defender Vedran Corluka and Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko on Monday. The club said in stock exchange statements they had paid Spartak Moscow 17 million euros for the 26-year-old Pavlyuchenko, who has signed a five-year contract. Corluka, who handed in a transfer request to Premier League rivals Manchester City, agreed a six-year contract after his 8.5 million pounds switch to the London club. He joins fellow Croatia international Luka Modric at Tottenham following his move from Dynamo Zagreb in July. Corluka, who also moved to England from Dynamo in 2007, made 41 appearances for City and played in every one of Croatia's matches at Euro 2008. Pavlyuchenko, who scored twice in Russia's 2-1 victory over England in a Euro 2008 qualifier in Moscow in October, has been a target for Tottenham since Robbie Keane left to join Liverpool in the close season. — Reuters

Buchi Babu tourney
Chennai: The Buchi Babu Naidu Memorial Cricket tournament, held under the aegis of the BCCI, gets underway here from Tuesday. Performance of players in this annual event has always been the basis for selection of state teams for the Ranji Trophy championship and this year, 15 state teams and Tamil Nadu Districts XI have confirmed participation in the event. — PTI