Serena Williams fired a warning to Maria Sharapova ahead of their Wimbledon semi-final clash as the world number one admitted she saves her best performances for clashes with her fiercest rival. Williams and Sharapova meet on Thursday in the latest installment of a bitter rivalry that took root on Centre Court in 2004 and still festers more than a decade later. Sharapova caused one of the great Wimbledon shocks 11 years ago when, aged just 17, she defeated Serena in...
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Rival skippers Alastair Cook and Michael Clarke both have particular reasons for wanting to win the upcoming Ashes series that begins with the first Test in Cardiff starting on Wednesday. For England skipper Cook, an Ashes series win would be the ideal reward for several difficult years which included a 5-0 whitewash reversal ‘Down Under’ in 2013/14, the fall-out from the international exile of Kevin Pietersen and a personal loss of form. Meanwhile an Ashes series win in England is...
Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood kept his cool on the hottest day of the year in England so far by hitting a last-ball six to seal a dramatic four-wicket win for Surrey against Gloucestershire in their domestic Twenty20 tournament clash at The Oval on Wednesday. With temperatures in London rising to 36.7 degrees Celsius (98 Fahrenheit), the 40-year-old Mahmood showed he still knew how to finish with a flourish as his unbeaten 22 off 14 balls saw Surrey to victory...
Australia wicket-keeper Brad Haddin has insisted there will be no changes in his on-field approach despite calls for an end to ‘sledging’ during the upcoming Ashes series against England.Ahead of next week’s first Test in Cardiff, England paceman James Anderson has contrasted the sporting atmosphere which prevailed during his side’s recent series with New Zealand to the bitterness of the last Ashes campaign, which Australia won 5-0 on home soil in 2013/14, and urged an end to ‘sledging’ or verbal...
Defending champion Novak Djokovicreached the Wimbledon third round on Wednesday with a win over Jarkko Nieminen which brought down the...
Former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray get their 2015 Wimbledon campaigns underway Tuesday, desperate to avoid marathon duels in temperatures expected to smash the 30-degree barrier. Second seed Federer, the seven-time champion, faces Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia, who he beat at the French Open this year, 2013 winner Murray takes on Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan while Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, plays Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci. Federer, bidding for his 18th major, says he is in the...
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka can justify their status as Wimbledon’s big four by making the semi-finals on Wednesday. Defending champion, top seed and 2011 winner Djokovic takes on US Open champion Marin Cilic boasting a 12-0 career lead over the Croatian. Seven-time champion Federer faces Gilles Simon with the Frenchman playing in his maiden Wimbledon quarter-final while 2013 winner Murray, seeded three, is up against surprise quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil of Canada. Fourth seed Wawrinka tackles...
Veteran Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Saturday, just four days before the start of the Ashes.The 35-year-old had been left out of Australia’s final warm-up match against Essex after suffering a recurrence of the knee trouble that has plagued his career.Scans revealed that his right knee had suffered more damage.“Given the news I received yesterday, and after talking it over with my family, I know now is the right is the...
Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal target places in the Wimbledon third round on Thursday following a dramatic third day which had seen record temperatures and the evacuation of Centre Court. Seven-time champion Federer faces America’s world number 36 Sam Querrey who has lost both his previous matches against the second-seeded 17-time Grand Slam title winner, failing to win a set. The only time Federer has lost before the third round at a Grand Slam in his last 48...
Injury-plagued Japanese star Kei Nishikori limped out of Wimbledon on Wednesday as top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williamstargeted quickfire wins to escape temperatures soaring to a brutal 34 degrees.Fifth-seeded Nishikori had been scheduled to face Colombian world number 60 Santiago Giraldo on Centre Court for a place in the last 32.But the 25-year-old admitted that the left calf injury he suffered last month in Halle, which had forced him to retire in the semi-finals, was still a factor during...
Defending champion Petra Kvitovatook just 35 minutes to reach the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday as temperatures soared at the...
Novak Djokovic insists his heartbreaking French Open final defeat has been consigned to history as he begins his Wimbledon title defence on Monday. The world number one had stayed resolutely out of the spotlight since his Roland Garros upset by Stan Wawrinka ended his latest bid to complete the career Grand Slam. But the Serb says he is fired up to defend his Wimbledon crown just as he was in 2011 when he captured his maiden title in London. “I...
