Federer, Sharapova knocked out of Wimbledon

June 27, 2013

federerLondon, Jun 27: Defending champion Roger Federer's remarkable run of reaching 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals or better was ended in a shock second-round Wimbledon defeat by unheralded Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky on Wednesday.

Federer's 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) loss in exactly three hours rocked Wimbledon to its core on a day that already seemed surreal after seven players withdrew or retired injured and third-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova also stumbled to defeat.

The last time Federer, who has won a record 17 Grand Slam titles, including seven gilded Challenge Cups, failed to reach at least the last eight was in the 2004 French Open.

But on day three of the championships an opponent ranked a lowly 116th in the world launched outrageous winners left, right and centre to bring Federer to his knees and condemn the Swiss to his earliest Wimbledon exit since a first-round loss in 2002.

Second seed Victoria Azarenka did not even take to the court as the knee injury she suffered in a first-round fall made it impossible for her to take on Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

The medical bulletins came thick and fast from the moment stricken American marathon man John Isner, who needed 183 games to beat Nicolas Mahut in 2010, survived only two before his knee buckled and he quit against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

Next it was Belgian man-of-the-moment Steve Darcis whose challenge began with a bang by beating Rafa Nadal but ended with a whimper as he withdrew before his second-round match against Poland's Lukasz Kubot with a shoulder injury. Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kazakh Yaraslava Shvedova all went out due to injuries.

Shvedova's no-show meant it was the worst day for withdrawals and retirements at a grand slam tournament, surpassing the five on the opening day here last year.

It inevitably led to questions about the condition of grass and during her injury time-out Sharapova was overheard to describe the Court Two surface as "dangerous".

"I don't think I've ever fallen three times in a match before in my career, so that was a little strange," the 2004 champion, who saved four match points, told reporters. "I noticed a few more players falling than usual. Understandably the first couple of days, they're always a bit (slippery), but I don't think I've seen as much as I have maybe in the last few years."

Amid all the thrills and spills home favourite Andy Murray kept a cool head to progress unscathed to the third round with an unremarkable three-set victory over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun.

Second seed Murray, whose broad shoulders carry hopes of a first British men's singles winner since 1936, started slowly but took control to win 6-3 6-3 7-5 and set up a third round clash with Spaniard Tommy Robredo.  Murray's path looks a lot less tangled with Nadal's first-round defeat and Tsonga's demise and "Murray Mania" will move up a level in the coming days as the draw opens up.

Tsonga, Murray's predicted quarterfinal opponent, had looked in control against Gulbis, winning the first set 6-3. After losing the second set by the same score he required a strapping on his left knee and after losing the third set the Frenchman threw in the towel.

While pleased to be in the third round for the first time, Gulbis said he would have preferred a fight to the finish.

"Grand slam should be five sets, blood, fight five sets all the way until the end, until somebody is dead," he said.

After Wednesday's woes 10 singles players have withdrawn or retired from the tournament in the first three days. The most in a single grand slam is 17 - 11 men and six women - at the 2011 US Open.

Indians shine

Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza, along with their respective partners, advanced to the second round. Another Indian who enjoyed a winning day was Rohan Bopanna. Bopanna and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who are seeded 14th, defeated Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen and Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 in their doubles opener.

Bhupathi and his partner Julian Knowle beat Leonardo Mayer and Alberto Ramos 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2. Sania and Liezel Huber beat Czech Republic’s Renata Voracova and Klara Zakopalova in the women’s doubles 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Atlanta, Jan 9: Top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams will be playing an exhibition match to raise funds for Australia's bushfire relief.

Apart from these three, Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also confirmed their availability for the match, CNN reported.

The match will be played on January 15 at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The Australian Open Rally for Relief will be donating the proceedings from the ticket sales to the bushfire relief efforts.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova had also announced on Wednesday that she had left 10 signed pairs of her tennis shoes in her Brisbane hotel that members of the public could buy with a donation to the Australian Red Cross.

"Brisbane, I have signed ten pairs of my tennis shoes, left them at the @BrisbaneTennis
desk at the Westin Hotel, alongside a donation envelope for fire rescue efforts.They're yours to keep,we just ask you to donate AUD 300 a pair. All money going directly to Red Cross," Sharapova tweeted.

Earlier, former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday had announced to auction his Baggy Green cap to raise funds for victims of devastating bushfires in Australia.

Taking to Twitter, Warne made the announcement and posted a statement.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief. The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too," Warne wrote.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways to contribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auction my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Test career," he added.

Warne joined a growing list of cricketers to raise money for the bushfire victims. Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Short have already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each for every six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to support bushfire victims.

Athletes from other sports too joined the movement as tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic decided to donate 25,000 dollars each for Australia's bushfire relief fund.

Wildfires have been raging across Australia for months, killing 23 people, burning about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland and killing a billion animals.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway.b

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News Network
June 27,2020

Jun 27: India's Test batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara cannot describe in words the influence that Rahul Dravid has had on his life but says he will always remain grateful to him for teaching the importance of switching off from cricket.

Often compared to Dravid, who was considered the 'wall' of Indian cricket, Pujara said he is thankful to Dravid for teaching him how to keep personal and professional lives separate.

"He helped me understand the importance of switching off from cricket. I had the same thought, more or less, but when I spoke to him, it gave me a lot of clarity about it and I was sure of what I needed to do," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"I also saw in county cricket how they keep personal and professional lives separate. I value that advice a lot. Many people consider me to be focused. Yes, I am focused, But I also know when to switch off. There is life beyond cricket."

In his illustrious international career, Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests and 10889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also captained India in 79 ODIs, winning 42 of them, which includes the world record of 14 successive wins while chasing.

"I cannot say in one line what Rahul bhai means to me. He has always been an inspiration, and will remain one," Pujara said.

His mental fortitude and batting technique is often compared to Dravid but Pujara said "despite my enchantment with him" he never tried to "copy him."

"There is a similarity in our games, but that's not because of my fascination with him. That came mainly through my experiences with Saurashtra, where I learned that scoring a hundred alone isn't enough, you have to carry your team," he said.

"That is how I learned responsibility - it is about helping my team to raise a big total, and for that I ought to attach importance to my wicket. I learned that from my junior cricket days with Saurashtra, which was a weaker team in domestic cricket."

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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