TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Premier League live: Torres strikes late for Liverpool while Hunt leads Hull fightback Premier League results feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Carling Cup semi-finals fall to the big freeze Both of this week's Carling Cup semi-finals have been postponed due to heavy snow and plummeting temperature across England. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
No. 19 Clemson snaps 10-game losing skid to No. 13 UNC Trevor Booker scored 21 points, Demontez Stitt added 20 and No. 19 Clemson broke a 10-game losing streak to No. 13 North Carolina with a 83-64 ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Federer overcomes early wobble to win As great as he still is, the world No1 has more moments of fallibility than he once did – as Igor Andreev provedIt is a year since he wept, a year since Roger Federer had to bow to the will of Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, but even as he pursues his 16th grand slam title with the support of the bookmakers there is little compelling evidence yet that he deserves to be unequivocally so regarded. He more than likely will provide proof in the days to come but, after the early cull, there are contenders left who might now fancy their chances.As Federer prepares for the Romanian Victor Hanescu in the second round on Thursday, he resolutely holds at bay suggestions that he should be worried about the state of his game after getting by the unseeded Russian Igor Andreev in what was at key moments a desperate scrap.He dropped a tight first set and was in serious trouble twice in the third yet insisted: "I think I played a very good match from start to finish, really."He did, in the end, but he struggled too, especially when Andreev worked him over on his backhand with heavy top spin. Paradoxically, it was the Russian's forehand that let him down in the end, as his nerves were shredded by the prospect of an upset and his body drained of all physical coherence in a final set he conceded to love.This was the measure of Federer's aura, a champion who commands respect and teases doubt from pretenders by his mere presence. Andreev, ultimately, could hardly believe he was on the verge of beating the great man. Federer, then, owed victory over a tense two hours and 44 minutes in the Rod Laver Arena to his grit as much as peerless talent, as well as to the evaporating resolve of his intense opponent. Others were more convincing. Hanescu's straight-sets win, for instance, over the Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela was clear-cut, although his record here suggests he will go the way of all cannon fodder.Andy Murray also impressed fleetingly in beating the South African qualifier Kevin Anderson, as sound a workout as he could have wished for before his second match tomorrow , against the Frenchman Marc Gicquel. The 32-year-old Gicquel needed two tie-break struggles to see off the Italian Simone Bolelli in a rain-delayed match 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.All eyes, though, stay fixed on Federer. Was he not concerned about his close call? "No, it was a tough match," he said. "It was not going to be easy. He's got incredible acceleration on his shots, especially his forehand. He's very physical and intense, so I was happy with the start I got [to the tournament]." Federer arrives at a championship now as more than just a genius. He is a father and nearer to 30 than when establishing his legend on all surfaces, against all styles, against all-comers.The rise of Nadal, naturally, has altered his world view and he takes comfort from a perspective on life that does not settle exclusively on the great tennis courts of the world. His crying days might be over – but his twins provide plenty of the wet stuff when he comes home. And that simple domestic fact could make him more dangerous, a relaxed and well-rounded player, a man with cares beyond the locker room. "Yeah, I'm happy," he said of his situation. "Before, it was 'only the No 1 in the world' challenge. For a tennis player that is obviously the greatest thing and I feel really good about it. [But] it's a lot of fun coming back and spending time with [family]. It becomes also a bit more fun for Mirka, day to day."Last year, he was in a bit of mess. He had not made the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters and his back was troubling him sufficiently to impair his unfettered movement. And Nadal played like a god over five sets in the Melbourne final. It would drive lesser men to tears.Now, he says, he is in good shape. "I know if my body is there and my game is there," he says. "I can beat anybody. I'm sure Rafa was on an incredible run, but he had issues himself. He'd pulled out of Paris. We couldn't predict how incredibly well he was going to play."Nor, really, can anyone say how Federer will perform over the rest of the campaign here. There is a scintilla of doubt now, a chink of light. As great as he still is, Federer has more moments of fallibility than he once did. Against Andreev he had a month's worth.Opponents have always feared Federer. Did he now fear others, Nikolay Davydenko, for instance, who reckoned Federer is "scared" of him? "Scared is a bad word," Federer said. "I don't like that word. I respect [Davydenko], like I do over a hundred players in the draw." And they still respect him. It is his ace.Roger FedererAustralian OpenTennisKevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Boot of Ronan O’Gara leaves Northampton in sweat Munster reached the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the twelfth year in succession, but only after Northampton had tested them to the limit and come perilously close to producing one of the great upsets in European rugby last night. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |