Was this “revelation” absolutely necessary to sell his book?! Get the details Here.
This is crazy. What a match this was! Watch what Federer calls the best shot of his professional tennis career:
Trespassing, possible jail time… not sure if the man-on-sweaty man kiss was worth it buddy. Nadal seems pretty cool about it though! Check out the video from the US Open here:
From ESPN.com:
WIMBLEDON, England — Five-time champion Venus Williams overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and move a step closer to another possible championship showdown with sister Serena.
Venus, seeking her third straight Wimbledon title, outhit the 14th-ranked Pole from all parts of the court and proved again that she is the dominant female player on grass.
“Do I feel invincible?” Williams said. “I’d like to say yes, but I really do work at it.”
Venus had her left leg taped up again but showed no weakness at all as she ripped 29 winners — compared to six for Radwanska — in a match that lasted just 68 minutes on a sunbaked Court 1.
“I can’t complain,” she said. “I’m in the semifinals of Wimbledon, right where I want to be. I just need to take another step forward.”
Venus will next face top-ranked Dinara Safina, who overcame 15 double-faults and beat German teen Sabine Lisicki 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.
“I was Santa Claus on the court, serving so many double-faults,” said Safina, who served three straight doubles in one game in the third set.
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 4 Elena Dementieva beat Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-2 to set up a semifinal encounter with two-time champion Serena Williams, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Victoria Azarenka.
Venus raced to a 5-0 lead against Radwanska and finished off the first set with back-to-back aces. She dropped only two of 18 points on serve in the set.
“That first set for me was almost perfect,” Williams said.
Radwanska managed to win the first two games of the second set, but Venus regained command and ran off six straight to finish the match, ending with a clean forehand winner.
“She was serving and hitting the ball so strong,” Radwanska said. “Her tennis is so powerful. Today she was playing so good, it was very hard to do anything. If she will play like this, she will [win] one more time this tournament.”
Serena broke the eighth-seeded Azarenka for a 5-3 lead in the second set and then served out the match at love, converting her first match point with a forehand winner.
The sisters have met in three Wimbledon finals, including last year, and are on course for a fourth title meeting.
“I would love it to be a Williams final, and so would she,” Venus said. “That would be great.”
Venus is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three Wimbledon titles in a row.
Only once in the last nine years has there been a Wimbledon women’s final that didn’t feature at least one of the Williams sisters. The sisters were the only two Grand Slam winners left in the women’s field — Serena has 10 major titles and Venus seven.
“We are definitely the front-runners in tennis as far as being some of the best players out there,” Venus said. “I just think that the style of game that Serena and I play, that particular style we play better than the other women.”
Safina, who has risen to No. 1 in the world despite never having won a Grand Slam title, struggled against the 19-year-old Lisicki. The Russian had to come from behind after double-faulting to lose the first set tiebreak, smashing her racket to the turf and drawing a warning from the chair umpire.
Safina was down 3-2 on serve in the second set but got the one break in the seventh game to force a third set. The 41st-ranked Lisicki received treatment on her right calf after going down 4-1 in the third. In the next game, Safina was up 40-0 before serving three straight double-faults. She still managed to hold and then broke for the match.
“I was tough mentally, that was the key today,” Safina said.
Dementieva, meanwhile, grabbed a 5-0 lead in the first set against the 43rd-ranked Schiavone and converted both of her break points in the second to seal the win in 66 minutes.
Dementieva also reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year. She is still looking for her first major title after being runner-up at both the French Open and U.S. Open in 2004.
Temperatures topped 90 degrees on Tuesday, with no need to close the roof on Centre Court.
They may miss the net, but these players have scored hot spouses and girlfriends!
-Paris Hilton and Jose Theodore
-Kelly Carlson and Tie Domi
-Josephine Johansson and Mats Sundin
-Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie
-Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood
-Elisha Cuthbert and Sean Avery
From SympaticoSports.com
Time Warner takes a page from the book of “give people what they want”
Enter SI Vault. If you are wondering what SI Vault is, as the name would imply, it’s 54 years of Sports Illustraded’s covers, images, stories and much more. If an image is worth a thousand words, what would 54 years’ worth of images be worth?
Here’s a story dating back to 1992, for example, on Christian Laettner and Duke. Hmm… Laettner? Duke? Pardon the shameless plug, but enjoy WatchMojo.com’s classic college programming:
Duke in Top College Programs:
And Laettner in Top College Careers:
All right, enough shameless promotion, now go and enjoy 54 years of SI at SI Vault.
You have to love ESPN. Check out this list on the 25 greatest single season feats by athletes:
25. Marcus Allen, USC Trojans, 1981
24. Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox, 1941
23. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers, 2006
22. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, 1987-88
21. Martina Navratilova, 1984
20. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1992-93
19. Pedro Martinez, Boston Red Sox, 1999
18. Richard Petty, 1967
17. Lew Alcindor, UCLA Bruins, 1966-67
16. Bobby Jones, 1930
15. O.J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills, 1973
14. Steffi Graf, 1988
13. Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals, 1961-62
12. Dan Marino, Miami Dolphins, 1984
11. Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers, 1987
10. Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins, 1969-70
9. Bob Gibson, St. Louis Cardinals, 1968
8. Pete Maravich, LSU Tigers, 1969-70
7. Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants, 2001
6. Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State Cowboys, 1988
5. Tom Brady, New England Patriots, 2007
4. Tiger Woods, 2000
3. Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers, 1981-82
2. Babe Ruth, New York Yankees, 1921
1. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia Warriors, 1961-62
Read the whole thing here.
Let me get this straight: Martina Hingis did cocaine?
Well, at least it’s not performance-enhancing, but still. When was the last time we spoke about actual athletics in the world of sports?
“We have to keep the integrity of the matches,” ITF spokesman Bill Babcock said. “I think we have that, but we have this looming cloud now that we have to dissipate.”
The announcement came as world No. 18 Andy Murray of Scotland told BBC Sport that he believes matches are being fixed.
“It’s difficult to prove if someone has tanked a match or not tried because they can try their best until the last couple of games of each set and then make some mistakes, a couple of double-faults, and that’s it,” Murray said. “It’s pretty disappointing for all the players, but everyone knows it goes on.”
Read more. Click here for a rundown of some of the suspect matches.
Taiwan and China have been debating about the road to be taken by the 2008 Olympic Torch for five months, due to an argument about whether or not Taiwan is in actuality, property of China.
Alas, the Olympic International Committee has announced the fate of the torch’s route for the following year - it will not, in fact, be passing through what China calls, “Chinese Taipei.”
“ TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - The International Olympic Committee said Friday that negotiations between Taiwan and China on the torch relay route for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games are at a dead end, and the torch will not be coming to Taiwan. The announcement ends a five-month saga that began when Taiwan turned down a proposal by the Beijing Organizing Committee to place the island next to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong on the prestigious relay route.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing claims the island as its own, and works hard to deny it any trappings of sovereignty.
The Taiwanese government of President Chen Shui-bian tries just as hard to emphasize its separateness, and makes no secret of its eventual goal of formal independence.
In rejecting the torch route, Taiwan officials said the Taiwan-Hong Kong contiguity made the island appear to be a part of China, despite their separate status. It said it would only participate when China stopped “downgrad(ing) Taiwanese sovereignty.” “
Read the complete article for all details.
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