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| Organised cheats opening gates to sport’s graveyard When does a cheat become a gate? It’s the most important question of the sporting year. There’ve been an awful lot of cheats in the course of the past 12 months, but only three gates. All the same, it is three more gates than sport needs. Liegate was followed by Bloodgate which was followed by Crashgate. When taken together, they ask a series of devastating questions about sport. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Domestic game is expanding but leading players must also broaden their horizons The first half of the 2009-10 season has been full of questions for English rugby, not all of which have yet been answered. This is not the place to review the national side, who were agonised over sufficiently in November. But what of the quality of the Guinness Premiership, the image of the elite club game, the emergence of new heroes to draw in the crowds in 2010 and the battles for European qualification and against relegation? feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Friends signs deal to play baseball at West Side Athletic Friends University has found a home for its new baseball program. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Serena Williams seeking escape from the shadow of her foot-fault shame • American keen to make up for histrionics at the US Open • Henin, Clijsters and Sharapova add edge to women's drawThere was a nice moment here today during a specially arranged exhibition event in aid of the Haiti earthquake disaster, when Andy Roddick was foot-faulted. "Are you seriously going to foot-fault me in a charity match?" the American said. "Don't you know Serena Williams is over there?"Roddick followed his quip by gesturing with the ball towards the linesperson. He was referring, of course, to arguably the most dramatic moment of the 2009 season when Williams exploded in her Âsemi-final at the US Open against the eventual champion Kim Clijsters, having been foot-faulted on a second serve at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set. The double-fault left Williams facing two match points but her expletive-laden outburst, in which she threatened to shove a ball down the Âlineswoman's throat, resulted in her receiving a point penalty, handing a bemused Clijsters victory.The way Williams handled the incident over the next few days was a PR disaster but she eventually apologised and was fined $82,500 (£50,000) and put on probation for two years. If she has another "major offence" at a grand slam over that period, she will banned from the following US Open.Williams showed a good sense of humour as she put her head in her hands at Roddick's comments but the Australian Open, which begins tomorrow, will offer her the chance to redeem herself. The best way for the 28-year-old to do that is for her to win the title for a fifth time.As she joined a host of top players including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Clijsters for the charity event, which is expected to raise around A$500,000 (£284,000), Williams looked like she was in good shape. The American said she was suffering from a knee injury as she lost to Elena Dementieva in the final of the ÂSydney International warm-up event on Friday, but she is still likely to be the one to beat here. "I definitely had a lot of practice with Sydney," she said. "I definitely want to do the best I can but also want to pace myself. Hopefully I can play seven single rounds and six double rounds."In the opposite half of the draw are some of the biggest threats to her chances, including Clijsters, the returning Justine Henin and the Russian Maria Sharapova, the champion in 2008. Williams would therefore seem to have every chance of continuing her stunning record at ÂMelbourne Park, where she won the title in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. At her best, she is still the world's best player, as she showed here last year and again at Wimbledon when she won her 11th grand slam title.The return of Clijsters and Henin, both former world No1s, and Sharapova, has spiced up the draw, but Williams has been reluctant to get involved in any of the hype. "I think it's a great field every year, to be honest," she said. "It's good to be back and be a part of that strong field. So I definitely look forward to it."If Williams has been cagey about her prospects, others have not. "I think she's going to be fine," said Darren Cahill, who coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi to the world No1 ranking. "I think leading into the Australian Open she's always been a little scratchy. Her form in the normal WTA tournaments has not been good and that's been well-documented, but I've got to say that she looks in good shape and she looks like she's put in a good off-season."Having first Clijsters and now Henin back in the fold will only increase her desire, Cahill said. "I've got to believe, if anything, it's going to really force her and drive her to become even better and I think we're going to see the best of Serena Williams at the Australian Open."Williams begins her campaign on Tuesday with a first-round match against Urszula Radwanska, someone she said she will not take for granted. "I've played her before at Wimbledon and she's a tough cookie," Williams said. "She's definitely no push‑over. She's a younger sister [Agnieszka is the No10 seed] and younger sisters always want to play really hard and really tough. I know that for a fact. It's definitely not an easy first round."Australian OpenSerena WilliamsTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Live transfer window webchat, with Gary Jacob With six days left in the transfer window (it closes at 5pm on February 1) the market is hotting up and Gary Jacob will tackle the ins and outs at your club in an hour-long live debate from 1pm today. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |