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Champagne moment
It's one of the most
special ones. In the last year I have had some low moments but without
my family I would not have done this. Without my physio I could not have
done this. I never realised something like this could happen for
me." — Rafael Nadal |
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Makarova, Vesnina win doubles title
Ekaterina Makarova (L) and Elena Vesnina of Russia celebrate after defeating Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in their women's doubles title at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday. — Reuters
Sweet Sixteen: Serena slowly ending greatest debate
New Zealand hold nerves to beat Lanka
Nathan McCullum catches Kusal Perera off the first ball during the Champions Trophy match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand on Sunday.
— AFP
Srikanth clinches Thailand Open
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Nadal beats David Ferrer in French Open final to become the first man to win a Grand Slam singles title eight times
"I enjoyed the two weeks here. I congratulate Rafa, he's the best," said Ferrer. "But I will try my best to have another chance to play in a final and win a Grand Slam. This tournament is very special to me." Ferrer had raced through the first game to love, but it was the champion who broke first for 2-1 when his compatriot unleashed a wild forehand. Ferrer, showing all the attributes which gave the nickname of 'bloodhound', was level in the next game at 2-2 and with both sluggers evenly matched, it was going to take something out of the top drawer to settle the opening set. Nadal produced it right on cue, flashing a superbly controlled, sliding backhand on the move, from 10 metres behind the baseline, past the advancing Ferrer. Nadal backed it up in the ninth game when a double fault from Ferrer handed him a set point which translated into the a first-set advantage when the veteran dumped a weak backhand into the net. Ferrer hadn't dropped a set in the tournament and had spent six hours fewer on court getting to his maiden final. But he was in serious trouble and he knew it, suddenly confronted by Nadal's record of 145 wins against just three losses when he had won the first set of a Grand Slam match. Their personal history was also stacked against him with just four wins against 19 defeats coming into the final. — AFP
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Makarova, Vesnina win doubles title
Paris, June 9 The fourth-seed Russian pair, beaten by Errani and Vinci in the Australian Open semi-finals this year, clinched four games in succession in the second set, wrapping it up with a Vesnina overhead. "Honestly, for us it's a surprise that we didn't drop a set for the whole tournament, because it was a really difficult tournament," Vesnina told a news conference. The result marked the Russian pair's first victory against Vinci and Errani in five meetings. “We really wanted to beat them finally, because it's really difficult to play against the same team and losing all the time," said Vesnina. "For us it was a turning point this time. We were not thinking it was a final or a grand slam, we were just thinking that we have to beat them and we have to keep playing our game, not changing anything and believing in ourself." Bryan twins win 14th Grand Slam title
The 30-somethings have enjoyed themselves at the French Open this year and American twins Bob and Mike Bryan continued the trend by winning a record-extending 14th grand slam doubles title at Roland Garros on Saturday. Just a few hours after 31-year-old fellow American Serena Williams hoisted the women's trophy, the Bryans broke French hearts by beating Nicolas Mahut and Michael Llodra 6-4 4-6 7-6(4) in an entertaining final. When the 35-year-old identical twins captured the Australian Open title this year, they broke the record of 12 grand slams they had shared with John Newcombe and Tony Roche.
— Agencies |
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Sweet Sixteen: Serena slowly ending greatest debate
Paris, June 9 Digesting the disappointment of her 13th straight loss to Williams since 2004, Sharapova grimly noted that David Ferrer might not serve that hard when he plays Rafael Nadal in the men's final Sunday. And who in the pantheon of stars in women's tennis ever hit the ball more ferociously than Williams? Sharapova did as well as could be expected in defending herself against the flurry of forehands and backhands that spring off the racket that Williams wields like an axe. The intimidation starts even before the first ball is played, in the coin toss. Facing Sharapova across the net, Williams looked as though she might cleave open the Russian's famously blonde head, waving her racket up and down in a chopping motion, practicing her service motion. Once hostilities commenced, Sharapova lasted exactly one hour longer than Williams' hapless semifinal opponent, Sara Errani, who was swatted aside 6-0, 6-1 in 46 minutes. In short, the Russian made a contest but not an epic of this match."She's doing what she's always done extremely well, but she's just doing it on a much more consistent level," Sharapova said. "I know that's a pretty broad answer, but that speaks a lot." Would Chris Evert or Martina Navratilova, with her all-around mastery of tennis, have fared significantly better than Sharapova? Hard to say. Impossible to prove. What can be said with certainty is that Williams can bury the debate about her place in tennis' hierarchy by winning more titles. She might play the most destructive, if not the most varied and interesting, tennis ever seen from a woman. She might be one of the best female athletes seen in any sport, not just tennis. But the argument-clincher is that Evert and Navratilova (both with 18), Helen Wills Moody (19), Steffi Graf (22) and Margaret Court (24) all won more Grand Slam singles titles than Williams. Her 16th major title gets Williams a step closer to reasonably being declared the most impressive female player ever, but she isn't there yet. "We can have that debate if it makes you happy but it would be better if everyone agreed," said Patrick Mouratoglou, the French coach Williams turned to after her crushing first-round loss at Roland Garros a year ago. ''Now it's up to her to do what is necessary so there is no more debate.'' At 31, Williams has time. Navratilova was 33 when she won her ninth Wimbledon title in 1990. It may also be true that her timeouts from the grind of modern professional tennis over the years — because of injuries, interests outside the sport and because she didn't want to play every tournament — have saved her from being prematurely eroded physically and mentally. — Agencies
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New Zealand hold nerves to beat Lanka
Spinners Daniel Vettori (1/16) and offie Nathan McCullum (2/23) also complemented the pacers well as Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals. Such was the dismal show of the batsmen that as many as eight out of 11 failed to reach double figures. As Sangakkara waged a lone battle, he never had anyone who was able to stay long enough to put up a semblance of fight. It was skipper Brendon McCullum's inspirational catch in the slips off the very first delivery of the match that set the tone. Kusal Perera (0) flashed hard at an outgoing delivery from Mills as McCullum pulled off a stunner in the slip cordon. Tillakaratne Dilshan (20) hit a few boundaries before he was cleaned up by McClenaghan with a fuller delivery. Their miseries compounded when Mahela Jayawardene (4) padded an arm ball from Vettori, while talented Dinesh Chandimal (0) got an inside edge off Mills. At 34 for four, Angelo Mathews (9) joined Sangakkara and the duo added 31 runs before the shipper shuffled a wee bit too much to lose his leg-stump off McClenaghan. The other notable partnership was between Sangakkara and Thisara Perera (15) for seventh wicket that yielded 36 runs. Sangakkara hit some exquisite shots as he completed his 50 off 70 balls with five boundaries. He was the eighth batsmen to get out as he tried to hit McCullum against turn as he offered a simple catch to Kane Williamson at short third man.
— PTI Scoreboard Sri Lanka K Perera c B McCullum b Mills 0 Dilshan b McClenaghan 20 Skara c Williamson b McCullum 68 Jayawardene lbw b Vettori 4 Chandimal c Ronchi b Mills 0 Mathews b McClenaghan 9 Thirimanne run out 9 T Perera c Vettori b McClenaghan 15 Herath not out 8 Eranga c Mills b Mccullum 0 Malinga c Taylor b McClenaghan 2 Extras: (lb 1 w 2) 3 Total: (all out; 37.5 overs) 138 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-27, 3-33, 4-34, 5-65, 6-82, 7-118, 8-135, 9-135, 10-138 Bowling Mills 6-0-14-2 McClenaghan 8.5-0-43-4 Vettori 6-1-16-1 Southee 7-1-25-0 N McCullum 8-0-23-2 Williamson 2-0-16-0
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Srikanth clinches Thailand Open
Bangkok, June 9 “I just wanted to give my 100 per cent. I was focusing on one point at a time and I knew it was all about who plays well on that particular day,” he said. The first game went neck-and-neck before Srikanth broke free to notch up six consecutive points to win the game and wrest the initiative. “The first game was tough. I was leading by 2-3 points from the start but in the end he was like 15-16 but he made some unforced errors as I played some attacking badminton. It worked as I got four points on the trot and that made all the difference,” he said. The second game was a completely one-sided affair with Srikanth scoring at ease. The Indian sent down nine smashes against his rival’s three to stamp his authority in the match. Ponsana had a two-point lead to start with but Srikanth made amends quite quickly to reel off eight successive points and seal the game and the match in his favour. “In the second game I played pretty well, I was leading 11-5 and continued in the same vein,” he said. Indian shuttlers lift mixed doubles title in Maldives
New Delhi: Indian duo of K Nandagopal and K Maneesha clinched the Li-Ning Maldives International Badminton Challenge mixed doubles title after registering a straight-game victory over Dae Sung Kim and Bo Kyung Oh of Korea in Male. The pair from Andhra Pradesh registered a 21-16 23-21 win.
— PTI |
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Paris, June 9
Paris, June 9
New Zealand bowlers stuck to a disciplined line to skittle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 138 inside 38 overs in a group A league encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy.
Barring former skipper Kumar Sangakkara who stood tall amidst ruins, scoring 68 off 87 balls with eight boundaries, others simply didn't have any clue against controlled seam bowling by seasoned Kyle Mills (2/14) and young left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan (4/43).
Paris, June 9
Nadal claimed his 12th major with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over his Spanish compatriot who was playing in his first Grand Slam final at the age of 31 and at the 42nd time of asking. It also gave Nadal his 59th win out of 60 matches played in Paris. However, the 27-year-old's push to victory suffered a heart-stopping moment when a protestor, naked from the waist up, leapt from the stands on Court Philippe Chatrier, carrying a flare and protesting France's controversial same sex marriage law. The protestor, who was wrestled away by security staff, came within just a few feet of the Spaniard as he prepared to serve at 5-1 in the second set. A burly security official immediately came to Nadal's aid in front of the VIP box where Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt and Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio were watching. 
The drama, however, didn't alter the outcome as Nadal claimed his seventh title of 2013 after returning to the tour in February following a seven-month injury lay-off. "Thanks to everyone in my family and team. Without their support, especially when I was out of action, this would have been impossible," said Nadal. "Thanks also to everyone who sent me messages on Twitter and Facebook. They all gave me positive energy for today." Ferrer vowed to keep fighting to break the Grand Slam stranglehold of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Cardiff, June 9
