TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Kobe: 'Nothing there' for Cavs-Lakers rivalry LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher scarcely remember how to celebrate Christmas without a high-profile game smack in the middle of their holiday season.... hosted.ap.org |
Decade's surprises in sports difficult to imagine It is Jan. 1, 2000. Y2K is here, and we have not returned to the stone age. A new sports decade beckons, so just think of all the possibilities. ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Florida's Pouncey twins to split with one going pro along with Dunlap For the first time since birth, the Pouncey twins are splitting up. Maurkice Pouncey, who won the Rimington Award as the nation's top center ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Murray gets tough Australian Open draw • No5 seed to face qualifier in first round• Scot put into same half of draw as Nadal, Del PotroIf Andy Murray is to win his first grand slam title in Melbourne over the next fortnight then the chances are he will have to beat the world's top three players to do it. The Scot, seeded fifth for the Australian Open, was handed a first-round match with a qualifier after this morning's draw, but if the seedings go to plan he will play the defending champion, Rafael Nadal, in the quarter-finals, the No 4 seed, Juan MartÃn Del Potro, in the semi-final and the top seed, Roger Federer, in the final.Should he get past his opening match, his second-round clash would be against either the Frenchman Marc Gicquel or Italy's Simone Bolelli. The first week of the draw offers Murray the chance to ease himself into a tournament in which he has yet to go past the fourth round, but the latter stages look tough.The world No1 Federer faces a potentially tough first-round match against the Russian Igor Andreev, who took him to five sets at the US Open in 2008. Nadal will play the Australian Peter Luczak in round one.Del Potro, the US Open champion, is expected to be fit to take his place in the draw despite pulling out of the warm-up tournament in Kooyong yesterday. The Argentinian said he felt a twinge in his wrist but Craig Tiley, the tournament director at the Australian Open, said: "He decided to take a couple of days' break. He wants to start 2010 well."The two Britons who earned direct entry into the women's draw both avoided a seed in their opening matches. The ÂBritish No1, Elena Baltacha, will play Pauline Parmentier of France, while Katie O'Brien will take on Patricia Mayr of Austria.The two Belgian comeback stars, the US Open champion Kim Clijsters and the former world No1 Justine Henin, could meet in the quarter-finals of the Âwomen's event, although Henin has a potentially difficult second-round match against the No5 seed Russian Elena Dementieva.Murray rounded off his competitive preparation for the Australian Open with a confident 6-1, 6-4 victory over the American Sam Querrey at the Kooyong Classic yesterday. Having begun his acclimatisation by playing four singles matches indoors at the Hopman Cup in Perth last week, the Scot asked for one match outdoors and looked in fine form as he cruised to a convincing victory.The result was not really important, not least because the intensity of the match was far from what he will encounter next week when things begin for real at Melbourne Park. Murray used the match to continue testing some of the techniques he has been developing in recent months, with his forehand, hit with more spin and more power, particularly effective against Querrey, the world No25.Australian OpenAndy MurrayRoger FedererRafael NadalJuan MartÃn del PotroTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Robinho '90 per cent certain' to join Santos from Manchester City Robinho believes he is "90 per cent certain" to leave Manchester City and join Santos on loan, 16 months after his arrival in a British-record £34.2 million move. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |