Australia beat U.S. to keep Hopman Cup title bid alive

Deepak Jain>Tue, Jan 05 10 01:29 PM

Top seeds Australia kept their hopes of making the Hopman Cup final alive on Tuesday as commanding performances from Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur gave them a 2-1 victory over the United States.

Stosur started the ball rolling at the mixed team event with a 6-2 6-4 win over 18-year-old Melanie Oudin before Hewitt dismissed John Isner 6-1 7-5 to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Australia must beat Spain in their last group match on Thursday to make the final but America's hopes of qualifying ended with this defeat. Romania and Spain play later on Tuesday.

The home victory will leave organisers of the traditional Australian Open warm-up tournament breathing a little more easily after the hosts stayed in the hunt, much to the delight of the packed crowd inside the Burswood Dome.

Stosur got the home fans into her match early on, playing the kind of tennis she produced for much of 2009 and which has elevated her to 13th in the world rankings.

The lines on the court were hit consistently as Stosur hammered 14 aces, never giving the few American fans in the Perth crowd a chance to get behind Oudin, a quarter-finalist at last year's U.S. Open.

It took just 70 minutes for Stosur to wrap up a victory that should lift her confidence after defeat to Romanian Sorana Cirstea in Australia's opening round-robin match.

"I thought I played pretty well today so I am very happy," Stosur told reporters.

"I have been working on my serve the last few months and I think I am starting to see the improvement and consistency regularly. I tried to mix it up and thought I hit the corners pretty well."

Former world number one Hewitt was in vintage returning form as he romped through the first set in 26 minutes, dipping returns at the feet of the tall American and then threading passing shots.

The second set was a far closer contest as Isner relaxed but Hewitt snatched the vital break in the 11th game when the American lifted a forehand long and Hewitt served out for the win.

"I played extremely well today," Hewitt said. "John's always an awkward player for anyone. He's pushed (Roger) Federer before and beaten (Andy) Roddick.

"I returned extremely well, made him play a lot of balls and got that early jump on him, which was huge."

The American duo claimed a consolation 2-6 6-1 10-5 win in the mixed doubles.

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Oz provincial govt welcomes 'philandering' but veritable 'goldmine' Woods anytime

Deepak Jain>Tue, Jan 05 10 01:09 PM

Melbourne, Jan 5 (ANI): The Victoria Government is ready to welcome Tiger Woods anytime despite the World No.1 golfer's reputation nose diving after it was revealed that he had cheated on his wife with a host of women.

Woods visit to Victoria cost Australian taxpayers 1.5 million dollars, but his appearance at the Australian Masters returned a dividend of 34 million dollars, before news of his messy personal life broke.

That's how much the event, at Melbourne's Kingston Heath, injected into the Victorian economy, Acting Premier Rob Hulls says.

Launching an economic impact report into the November event, Hulls said the economic benefit to the state was far higher than forecast, News.com.au reports.

Tourism and Major Events Minister Tim Holding said Woods would be welcome to play in this year's Masters at the Victoria Golf Club.

"We have made it clear that Tiger is welcome to come play golf any time in Victoria. He has obviously made some announcements about his golfing future - we respect that and we respect his privacy," Holding said.

Woods received an appearance fee of 3.25 million dollars, with the state government chipping in 1.5 million dollars.

Hulls said Melbourne's major hotels were almost completely booked out during the Masters and golf courses across the state reported a surge in bookings. Then there were the economic spin-offs for restaurants, taxis and the retail sector, he added.

It was expected Woods, who won the Australian Masters, would be in the US team to play in the President's Cup in Melbourne in 2011 but his immediate golfing future is in doubt as he takes time out to try and salvage his marriage.

"The question of what Tiger Woods does in the future is a matter for him, we respect that and he is always welcome to play here," Holding said. (ANI)

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Goodbye Moya

Deepak Jain Tue, Jan 05 10 12:39 PM

Chennai, Jan. 4 -- The journey has not quite ended, but Carlos Moya realises he will leave behind something special. While on his way back to tennis, after a 10-month injury lay-off, Moya again found the Chennai Open and won them over again. And he got the final word on the court despite losing 3-6, 6-7 (2) to fourth seed Janko Tipsarevic in the first round on Monday. The Spaniard was felicitated after the match, celebrating his 10-year affair with Chennai. "You have given me more than I could've asked for," Moya told the crowd. Despite being a break down in the second set, Moya drew level for 4-4. But that's as far as his still-lethal forehand and strong fanfare could get. Tipsarevic played a solid tiebreaker to win 7-2 and complete victory in 92 minutes.

"I hope this is not my last trip here. It's too early to say whether I will retire this season, but I had some great memories here and it was great to share my two victories with these people," said the 2004 and 2005 Chennai champion.

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Semi-nude Tiger Woods flexes some muscles on Vanity Fair cover

Deepak Jain>Tue, Jan 05 10 11:43 AM

Melbourne, Jan 5 (ANI): Scandal-hit Tiger Woods has appeared semi-naked on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Taken by famed photog Annie Leibovitz in 2006, the image of the golfer, who has been accused of having numerous extra-marital affairs, shows him glaring at the camera, holding two dumbbells and wearing nothing but a wristwatch and a beanie, reports News.com.au.

The photoshoot was long before news of a string of affairs the superstar enjoyed with a number of women emerged in spectacular fashion late last year.

Up to 14 women have been linked to the 34-year-old golfer and Woods has admitted to cheating.

He has since elected to indefinitely stop playing golf to work on his marriage.

However, Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children, is reportedly set on getting a divorce. (ANI)

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India to meet Greece in 1st round of World team chess

Deepak Jain Tue, Jan 05 10 10:39 AM

Bursa (Turkey), Jan 5 (PTI) Debutant India will take on Greece in the opening round of the elite World Teams Chess championship, rated as the toughest team event in the world. Ten teams including Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, will take part in the round robin competition, which began here yesterday. The Indian contingent consists of six players, including two reserves but the think tank will be banking heavily on Grandmaster trio of P Harikrishna, Surya Shekhar Ganguly and Krishnan Sasikiran to deliver the goods. Besides them, GM G N Gopal, S Arun Prasad and national champion B Adhiban complete the line up. While the Indian line-up looks impressive, their entry into the event was confirmed only after the last-minute withdrawal of China. The qualification to the tournament is given to the best continental teams, the top three finishers in the chess Olympiad and to the hosts and wild cards. India, being second to China in the last Asian continental championship, the qualifier for this event, it got a lucky ticket after China''s pull out. With star performers like Alxander Morozevich and current Russian champion Alexander Grischuk up its rank, Russia is the rating favourite to win the tournament. But Olympic champion Armenia and current European champions Azerbaijan are expected to give the top seeded Russians a run for their money. MORE PTI Cor SSC

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Auckland Classic women's singles results

Deepak Jain Tue, Jan 05 10 10:09 AM

REUTERS - Auckland Classic women's singles first round results on Tuesday (prefix denotes seeding, * new result).

* Ioana Raluca Olaru (Romania) beat Elena Baltacha (Britain) 6-2 6-2

* Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat 2-Li Na (China) 6-1 6-3

* Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) beat Edina Gallovits (Romania) 6-4 7-5

Sania Mirza (India) beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 5-7 6-1 7-5

5-Virginie Razzano (France) beat Monica Niculescu (Romania) 7-5 6-4

Alize Cornet (France) beat Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-4 6-3

Shahar Peer (Israel) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 7-5 6-3

4-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (France) 6-2 6-3

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Japan to allow North Korean women's team visas

Deepak Jain Tue, Jan 05 10 09:49 AM

Japan is to allow the North Korean women's soccer team to visit Tokyo for regional championships next month, a government spokesman said on Tuesday, despite sanctions in force against Pyongyang.

The decision was taken despite a statement by Japan's justice minister last month that the players were unlikely to be granted visas allowing them to take part in the East Asian championships.

"Basically we have decided to approve it, because it is for sport," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a news conference. "But we will conduct the appropriate immigration inspections."

Japan imposed sanctions on North Korea after the communist state carried out its first nuclear test in 2006, including a ban on almost all visits by North Korean citizens.

It has also pressed Pyongyang to reveal the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

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