Sharapova shines in win over Mirza

Sharapova shines in win over Mirza

CARLSBAD, California, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Top seed Maria Sharapova earned an efficient 6-2, 6-1 victory over India's Sania Mirza to reach the semi-finals of the 1.3 million-dollar San Diego Classic.

Sharapova, the defending champion, awaits the winner of Friday night's quarter-final clash between two in-form players - Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and Russian third seed Anna Chakvetadze.

Chakvetadze is seeking a third title in as many weeks after triumphs at Cincinnati and Standford.

Swiss 11th seed Patty Schnyder continued her roll, upsetting Russian fourth seed Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-4 to reach only her second semi-final of the season. She had stalled seven times at the quarter-final stage this year.

Ninth seed Elena Dementieva moved into her second semi of the season with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

Sharapova, playing her first event since a humbling loss to Williams in the Wimbledon fourth round, was pleased with her performance.

"I had a good start and was able to play my game," said the world number two, one of five Russian to reach the quarter-finals during the final edition of this tournament.

"The two keys were serve and return. Sania is a solid player so it's good to get some matches like I've won this week behind my back."

Sharapova lost serve only once, in the second set, but got it straight back on the way to victory in just 61 minutes.

"I've had three good matches, I much prefer it this way than running around for a long time in the hot sun to win," added Sharapova, who is nursing a sore shoulder. "I've got confidence, and I'm ready to step it up in my next match."

Schnyder followed up her three-set win over compatriot Martina Hingis in Thursday's third round with a comprehensive victory against Petrova.

"I made her run a lot and really got my game going well," said Schnyder, who played a third straight quarter-final after Cincinnati and Stanford.

"I'm feeling great on the court, especially these past three days. Everything seems to fit well in my game. I just want to keep this up for the weekend."

India away form encourages Dravid

India away form encourages Dravid

NOTTINGHAM, England, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - Rahul Dravid believes India are starting to shake off their tag as poor travellers after they went 1-0 up in a three-Test series against England at Trent Bridge.

India's comprehensive seven-wicket win left them on the brink of only their third series victory in England since they first toured the country in 1932, with just the third Test at The Oval starting on August 9 to come.

Since the turn of the century they have enjoyed success on their travels, including a victory against world number ones Australia.

But where they have struggled is in stringing away wins together. For example, an impressive victory against Australia at Adelaide in 2003 was followed by defeat in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne.

And earlier this year in South Africa, India blew another 1-0 lead with a win at the Wanderers the prelude to defeats in both Durban and Cape Town.

"We've not won many games here in England or abroad so this is something to cherish," said India captain Dravid, whose side required just 73 for victory at Trent Bridge after a superb bowling display from Zaheer Khan saw the left-arm quick return Test-best match figures of nine wickets for 134 runs.

The performance of Khan, who also bowled well in the series opener at Lord's where India clung on for a draw with one wicket standing before bad weather ended the match, evoked comparisons with now retired Pakistan left-arm quick great Wasim Akram such was the Indian's ability to swing the ball both ways.

Dravid, while praising Khan's display, said the efforts of India's other left-arm seamer, Rudra Pratap Singh, should not be ignored.

"Zaheer was the star of our bowling. He showed what a leading bowler must do. He was well-supported by RP Singh. I think his critical wickets in both innings made a big impact."

Dravid also highlighted on Tuesday the role of India's unheralded opening batsmen, Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer, who put on 147 after a Khan-inspired attack bowled England out for 198.

"They set up the game for the middle-order."

Spin bowlers have tended to prosper at The Oval in recent years, which could see India leg-break bowler Anil Kumble come to the fore at the south London venue where the Test pitch has a reputation as a good cricket wicket.

"I've always felt we've done well when we've had the opportunity to take 20 wickets," Dravid said. "All it needs then is one good batting performance from us and we set up the game."

England captain Michael Vaughan, now facing up to what would be his side's first defeat in 12 home Test series since they lost the 2001 Ashes, said the opening day at Trent Bridge had been pivotal.

"We could have shown more skill and application to maybe get to 250-260 but it was very tough batting conditions on that first day. All credit though to the way India bowled in both innings."

But while Vaughan was making a stylish second innings 124, the only individual century of a match where India's top score was Sachin Tendulkar's 91, England had hopes of subjecting their opponents to the same pressure they suffered at Trent Bridge two years ago.

Back then, England's top-order collapsed before they secured the 129 they needed to beat Australia for a three-wicket win that gave them an ultimately decisive 2-1 Ashes series lead.

"That game was in the back of my mind as I knew how hard it was chasing 120," added Vaughan, out in unlucky fashion when a Khan delivery bounced off his thigh pad before trickling onto the stumps.

An otherwise engrossing series has been marred by several unsavoury clashes, with players on both sides involved.

However, Vaughan defended England's conduct by saying: "I don't think we stepped over the line. Maybe we said a few things too much in the first innings, it's just good gamesmanship."

India, whose only series wins in England also came during three-Test campaigns, in 1971 (1-0) and 1986 (2-0), are now on the brink of a landmark achievement. But Dravid warned there was much work still to be done.

"We've got to back up good performances. We know England will come back hard and we expect a tough game."

Haas makes triumphant return after Wimbledon withdrawal

Haas makes triumphant return after Wimbledon withdrawal

by Jim Slater

WASHINGTON, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - Tommy Haas was triumphant in his first match since a torn stomach muscle forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon, defeating Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday at the ATP Washington Classic.

German second seed Haas pulled out of Wimbledon before a fourth-round match against Swiss world number one Roger Federer but was rarely in jeopardy in his comeback match, advancing to face American Michael Russell in the third round.

Haas, who lost his only prior meeting with Falla in March at Miami, broke the Colombian in the eighth game of the first set and three times in the second set for the victory, improving to 27-8 for the year.

Haas won his 398th career ATP match in quest of his 12th career title and second this year, having beaten Washington top seed Andy Roddick in February's Memphis final.

Otherwise, it was a day of upsets at the 600,000-dollar US Open tuneup event, with Sweden's Thomas Johansson rallying past defending champion and fourth seed Arnaud Clement of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Clement, playing after a right-side muscle tear that had kept him off the court 10 days, overpowered the 2002 Australian Open winner to take the first set in 30 minutes but Johansson's fightback was too much.

"After 6-1, I thought maybe I could win this match," Clement said. "Then he played a little better and I was a little tight. He was just better than me the last two sets.

"I was very relaxed. I just came this year because I won last year. I didn't expect to play this well a few days ago, so for me it's not such a bad day."

US novice John Isner, in only his second ATP event, fired 30 aces to beat German eighth seed Benjamin Becker 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6). One day after ousting Britain's Tim Henman, the 22-year-old ATP hardcourt debutante sparkled again.

"It was awesome. This is unbelievable. It really is a dream come true," said Isner. "These were the two biggest matches of my life. It's unbelievable I won them the way I did."

German Michael Berrer ousted US sixth seed Mardy Fish 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, in the other upset at the 600,000-dollar event. Fish, slowed by left knee tendinitis, said he needs a month's rest but must prepare for the US Open.

"I'd be lying to you if I said it was a good idea to play this tournament," Fish said. "It probably would have been a better idea to stay home."

Johansson, 32 and pondering retirement, leveled his career rivalry with Clement at 5-5. He will play Chile's Paul Capdeville on Thursday for what would be only the Swede's second quarter-final berth in 18 events this year.

"I'm getting older. It's getting tough to keep up with these young guys," Johansson said. "After this year I have to set down and think about next year."

Clement was a semi-finalist at Queen's and finalist at Nottingham before his first-round Wimbledon ouster in June.

"I didn't serve very good. My first serve wasn't working. I didn't move very well," Clement said. "It was tough to play my best. I need a few more days to practice. I think it's going to be better next week."

Isner, 22, made the field only after world number six Fernando Gonzalez of Chile pulled out at the last moment. He will next face US qualifier Wayne Odesnik, who ousted Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6 7-6 (12/10), 6-3.

Becker hit a forehand wide on the penultimate point, slamming his racket to the court in disgust, and Isner smashed a service winner for the match, then leaned back, pumped his fists and screamed with joy.

"I was ecstatic. I knew I had to hit a big serve and get off the court and that's what happened," Isner said.

Czech Radek Stepanek, who won his second career ATP crown two weeks ago at Los Angeles, beat hometown hero Paul Goldstein 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and advanced to a third round match with Roddick.

Revenge sweet for India's Khan against England

Revenge sweet for India's Khan against England

NOTTINGHAM, England, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - India's Zaheer Khan said he'd been inspired to produce his best Test match bowling figure by a bizarre England prank involving jellybeans.

Left-arm quick Khan took five for 75 in 27 overs as England were bowled out for 355 in their second innings before India closed on 10 without loss, needing just 63 more runs on Tuesday's final day to go 1-0 up in the three-match series with just The Oval finale to come.

That gave the 28-year-old pace bowler match figures of nine for 134 after his first innings return of four for 59.

But in between those stints the left-arm quick had been fired up by the sight of jellybeans being left on the crease when he came out to bat on Sunday during India's first innings 481.

After he'd got off the mark, an angry Khan brandished his bat in the direction of the England slip cordon and at the end of the over the umpires spoke to him and Andrew Strauss, captaining England with Michael Vaughan off the field, in a bid to calm the situation.

"There was an incident that happened on the field while I was batting. On the crease there were some jellybeans so I just tapped one off the wicket to start with," Khan told reporters after stumps on Monday, having taken his fifth five-wicket innings return in his 49 Tests.

"Then I played the next ball, there were again some jellybeans on there on the wicket so someone was chucking them from behind, which I didn't like.

"So I just went up to them (the England fielders) and said 'guys what is this all about?' I'm here to play cricket.'

"They came at me and I was upset about it. I just reacted accordingly. I didn't know from where it was coming. I just felt it was insulting... We are here to play cricket. Personally for me, it definitely inspired me to do well.

"When I go on the cricket field I'm serious, I'm there to play good cricket, nice hard quality cricket. This is Test match cricket we are playing here."

Last season Khan was the second most successful bowler in English first-class cricket, taking 78 wickets for Midlands county Worcestershire.

"I bowled very waywardly in Bangladesh about three or four years back. After that I worked hard in first-class matches to gain control," he said.

Khan added: "Last year, playing county matches definitely helped in getting used to the conditions. And bowling so many overs helped me achieve consistency in line and length."

England all-rounder Paul Collingwood, who made 63 before falling to Khan, said of the India strike bowler. "He's got a great knack of swinging the ball both ways with a similar action. He's hard to pick-up."

And as for the jellybean incident, Collingwood added: "Perhaps he (Khan) prefers blue ones to pink ones."

Sania breezes into last eight at San Diego

	India's Sania Mirza advances to the quarter finals of the Acura Classic in San Diego. (Action Images / David Moir)

Sania breezes into last eight at SanDiego

CARLSBAD, California, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP & espnstar.com) - Sania Mirza's string of upsets at the Acura Classic in San Diego continued Thursday. India's number one women's player downed Russian eight seed Dinara Safina in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

The win took just four minutes over an hour. Mirza displayed a stronger game as Safina failed to be consistent. In spite of creating seven break points in the match, the Russian could manage to break Mirza just twice. It wouldn't prove to be enough as Mirza broke seven times and then served well enough, winning 56 per cent of service points to enter the quater finals.

She now faces world number two and top seed Maria Sharapova in the last eight.

However, it was bad news for Mirza in the doubles. The Hyderabadi and her Israeli partner Shahar Peer lost to Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipei and Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in tough three sets 3-6, 6-3, 12-10

Sania's opponent in the quarters, Maria Sharapova shrugged off worries about a shoulder injury to lead the Russian charge at San Diego on Thursday. The top seed and defending champion swept the first nine games in a 6-0, 6-3 win over French 13th seed Tatiana Golovin.

"It was not as easy as it looked," said the two-time grand slam winner. "About half of those first games went to deuce. I gave back two breaks in the second set and was lucky to get the win in straight sets."

Sharapova is dealing with a long-running shoulder problem which will not get worse and will slowly heal, doctors tell her.

Unseeded Maria Kirilenko followed the winning example, defeating ailing second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

Jankovic, who qualified along with Justine Henin into the year- end WTA Championships field this week, said she was suffering from a cold during the 2hr 44min defeat.

The world number three Serb had a dozen break point chances against Kirilenko, with the Russian saving nine of them.

"Maria really played well, it was one of her best matches," said Jankovic. "I was struggling the whole time. I didn't do the right things and she took her opportunities.

"It's difficult when you're not feeling so well. I tried, but it was just not good enough.

"This was my first match after my holiday. I still need to get back to work on my physical training and be ready for more matches."

The pair of Russian winners were joined in the last eight by compatriots Anna Chakvetadze, Nadia Petrova and Elena Dementieva.

Number three Chakvetadze won her 11th straight match, beating Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-4 while fourth seed Petrova eliminated Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 7-6 (12/10).

Dementieva, the ninth seed, dealt fifth-seeded Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli a 6-4, 7-5 loss.

Bartoli said she is not overly concerned over her post-Wimbledon swoon which has left her 1-2 after two weeks on hardcourt almost a month after her surprise run at the All England club, where she lost to Venus Williams.

"My level was pretty good, but it was a hard match and I didn't play the right tactics. I had chances to close out the second set and get back into it, but I didn't take them."

Dementieva next plays Kirilenko, while Chakvetadze will face Wimbledon champion Williams. The 10th-seeded American advanced with ease, dismissing sixth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-0, 6-3.

Patty Schnyder won a Swiss struggle as she took a 3-2 lead in her career rivalry with Martina Hingis after a 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 win which puts her up against Petrova.

"I'm always nervous when I play her, and winning is always extra special," said the 11th seed, a semi-finalist in 2006. "We're both very ambitious. To beat her feels great.

"The third set really tough for me, mentally and physically," Schnyder added. "I was getting tired but when I got the break I knew I had a chance to win.

"It was a great fight like we expected."