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Saturday, July 7, 2007

Venus rises above Bartoli to capture fourth Wimbledon title

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - American Venus Williams captured her fourth title at Wimbledon after defeating 18th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in Saturday's lucrative title match.
In the first-ever meeting between the two, Williams, the 23rd seed, dominated the match from the start and won 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Wilkens resigns as Sonics vice chairman

Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Former Seattle player and coach Lenny Wilkens, a Hall of Famer, resigned as vice chairman of the SuperSonics on Friday.
It's the latest in a wave of changes for the team. A day earlier the Sonics named P.J. Carlesimo head coach, and last month the team named Sam Presti general manager...Full Story

Gardiner moves in front at Legend Financial

Highland Heights, OH (Sports Network) - Australia's Scott Gardiner posted his second consecutive round of five-under 66 on Friday to move to the top of the leaderboard at the Legend Financial Group Classic.
Gardiner stands at 10-under-par 132 at StoneWater and is one clear of both Keith Nolan (65) and James Driscoll (68).
Kris Cox (65), Jason Day (66), Joe Daley (67), Jeff Klauk (66) and Hunter Haas (67) are knotted in third place at eight-under-par 134....Full Story

Choi and Appleby lead AT andT; Woods lurking

Bethesda, MD (Sports Network) - K.J. Choi and Stuart Appleby both posted rounds of three-under 67 on Friday to share the second-round lead of the AT&T National.
The pair, both of whom were among a large group of first-round leaders, finished 36 holes at seven-under-par 133 and are three ahead at Congressional Country Club.
Craig Kanada hit every fairway and green on Friday and shot a three-under 67, He is tied for third place with Robert Garrigus (67) and Billy Andrade (68) at minus-four...Full Story

Edberg shoots 65 to lead European Open

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - Bolstered by a pair of 60-foot birdie putts and recognizable only by the red bandana he wore on his head, unheralded Swede Pelle Edberg fired a five-under 65 on Friday to take the lead midway through the Smurfit Kappa European Open.
The 28-year-old Q-school graduate posted six birdies and just one bogey on the shortened K Club course to finish two rounds at eight-under 132, one shot better than Colin Montgomerie and Niclas Fasth...Full Story

Derby County adds Jamaican Davis

London, England (Sports Network) - Derby County, newly promoted to the English Premiership, signed Jamaican defender Claude Davis to a four-year, $6 million deal on Friday.
Davis, 28, played 18 games last season at Sheffield United, which was demoted after finishing 17th in the Premier League. The signing is pending a physical and a successful work permit.
Davis is the third signing of the offseason for Derby, joining Robert Earnshaw and Tyrone Mears.

Marseille bring Liverpool's Zenden into fold

Marseille, France (Sports Network) - Marseille announced on Friday that the team has signed midfielder Boudewijn Zenden on a free transfer from Liverpool.
The 30-year-old Zenden was let go by the Anfield club after the season, which finished with Zenden getting a starting spot in Liverpool's Champions League final defeat to AC Milan.
Zenden struggled with injuries during his two-year stay at Liverpool, and was limited to making 47 appearances and scoring two goals.
The Dutchman has played at prominent clubs such as PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Chelsea and Middlesbrough, and now will add Marseille to that list after signing a two-year deal with the Ligue 1 runners-up.
Zenden made 14 appearances with Liverpool in European competition and will get a chance to add to that total as a member of Marseille playing in the Champions League next season.
He may be joined at the club by former Liverpool teammate Djibril Cisse, who is reportedly close to signing with Marseille as well in an effort to help the team close the 17-point gap between themselves and six-time defending champions Lyon.

Nurnberg inks Greek striker Charisteas

Nuremberg, Germany (Sports Network) - Nurnberg announced on Friday that the club has signed Greek striker Angelos Charisteas to a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee from Feyenoord.
Charisteas, a Greek international, is best known for scoring the lone goal in his country's improbable EURO 2004 title-clinching win over Portugal. He joins Nurnberg after spending just one season with Feyenoord, where he scored nine goals 28 league contests.
The 27-year-old striker has also enjoyed a three-year stay at Ajax, and has experience playing in Germany's top-flight league as well. Charisteas tallied 18 goals in 66 Bundesliga contests for Werder Bremen from 2002-2005 and joins a Nurnberg team that finished sixth in the Bundesliga and will take part in the UEFA Cup next season.
Charisteas has also had success on the international level as well, notching 16 goals in 59 appearances for Greece.

Bartoli shocks Henin; Venus reaches sixth Wimbledon final

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - In one of the biggest upsets in the history of women's tennis, 18th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli stunned top-seeded and reigning world No. 1 Justine Henin to reach the women's final at Wimbledon. The upstart Bartoli will be opposed by three-time champion Venus Williams in Saturday's lucrative title match.
After getting leveled by the six-time Grand Slam event champion Henin in the opening set, Bartoli steadied her nerves to win the second and promptly throttled the two-time Wimbledon runner-up in the third set to record an improbable 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 decision in the second of Friday's semifinals on Centre Court.
Henin struggled mightily amid windy conditions on a roof-less Centre Court, while Bartoli, who plays two-fisted tennis from both sides, powered her way through the blustery conditions.
Bartoli charged out to a 5-0 lead in the final set, which ultimately came to a close when Henin sent one final forehand beyond the baseline to make her French counterpart one of the most unlikely of Wimbledon finalists.
The 22-year-old Bartoli prevailed in 1 hour, 55 minutes with the help of 30 unforced errors by Henin. The Belgian stalwart struck 10 more winners than the Frenchwoman (37-27), but Bartoli managed one more break of serve (6-5) in the amazing victory.
Bartoli competed in her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal on Friday and will now compete in her first major final on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Henin had been 2-0 lifetime against Bartoli, including an easy grass-court semifinal victory at Eastbourne just last month.
Henin was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to another Frenchwoman, Amelie Mauresmo. The Belgian star is now 2-3 in her career Wimbledon semis.
In addition to her runner-up finish here last year, Henin also lost in the 2001 Wimbledon finale, against Venus.
The previously high-flying Henin had won her last 12 Grand Slam matches, including a third straight and fourth overall French Open title last month.
Henin still needs Wimbledon to complete a career Golden Slam. She already owns Australian, French, U.S. Open and Olympic titles, not to mention a Fed Cup championship. She was trying to reach her sixth Grand Slam final in as many tries, as she appeared in all four major finals last year, skipped this year's Aussie Open and returned to the French Open final last month.
The diminutive Henin had won her last 16 matches on tour, including a title in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon '07 commenced.
Meanwhile, the former world No. 1 Venus secured a berth in her sixth career Wimbledon final by beating sixth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic at the storied All England Club.
The 23rd-seeded Williams doused the French Open runner-up Ivanovic in 6-2, 6-4 fashion on Day 11 of this fortnight. Williams, now a flawless 6-0 in her semis here, is now a perfect 3-0 in her career against Ivanovic.
An elated Williams moved on in 1 hour, 25 minutes by committing a mere 11 unforced errors, compared to 24 for a shaky Ivanovic. The American also piled up four service breaks, compared to only one for her overmatched Serbian counterpart.
The 27-year-old Williams is now 50-7 lifetime at the All England Club. She owns five major titles, including Wimbledon championships in 2000, 2001 and 2005, and was the 2002 and 2003 runner-up here to her younger sister Serena.
Venus is 5-6 in her major finals, with her last trip to a Grand Slam title bout resulting in a victory right here two years ago. The veteran star owns 34 titles on the WTA Tour, including one in Memphis earlier this season.
Williams and Bartoli will meet for the first in their careers here on Saturday.
Bartoli, who had never advanced beyond the fourth round at a major before this week, owns just three titles on the circuit, with all three coming last year. She was a runner-up at an event in Prague earlier this season.

Federer, Nadal reach semis; Roddick falls in Wimbledon quarters

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Reigning four-time champion Roger Federer and last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal charged into the semifinals, while two-time finalist Andy Roddick lost to talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet in Friday's quarterfinal action at Wimbledon.
The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer needed two days to get past 20th-seeded former top-ranked star Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 on the famed Centre Court. The match was tied at 5-5 in the first set here on Thursday when rain halted play for the day.
Federer prevailed in 2 hours, 16 minutes with the help of 15 aces among his 51 winners and five service breaks. The 27-year-old Ferrero recorded 32 fewer winners and only broke Federer's serve on two occasions.
The high-flying Swiss, now 36-4 lifetime at the All England Club, wound up dropping his first set of the fortnight against the Spanish Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion.
"OK, a set is lost, but a match isn't lost," Federer said.
This marks Federer's first result here in a week, as the combination of a scheduled day off, inclement weather and a withdrawal by his scheduled fourth- round opponent, Tommy Haas, kept him idle here for five days.
"It was hard for me," said Federer. "I had many days off. I'm just really happy I came through it and I'm back in the rhythm now."
Federer's grass-court winning streak is now up to 52, including a 32-match string here at the All England Club. The super Swiss already owns 10 Grand Slam titles and is trying to become only the second man in the Open Era to capture five straight Wimbledon championships. Swedish icon Bjorn Borg turned the trick here from 1976-80.
The 25-year-old Federer has appeared in a record eight straight Grand Slam finals and landed in the semifinals in his last 13 majors. He beat Nadal in last year's Wimbledon finale and lost to the Spaniard in the last two French Open title bouts.
Federer, who's also the reigning Australian and U.S. Open champ, will meet the surprising Gasquet in Saturday's semifinals.
A second-seeded Nadal, the reigning three-time French Open champion, reached his second straight Wimbledon semi by dousing seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court on Day 11 here.
Nadal moved on in 2 hours, 7 minutes with the help of 30 unforced errors by his fellow 21-year-old Berdych. The powerful Spaniard also piled up four key breaks, compared to only one for his 6-foot-5 counterpart.
Unlike the well-rested Federer, Nadal played for a fifth straight day here on Friday.
Nadal's semifinal opponent will be rapidly-rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in last month's French Open semis. The Spaniard is 4-1 lifetime against the Serb, including a 3-1 record this season.
A 12th-seeded Gasquet came all the way back to stun the third-seeded Roddick 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3), 8-6 on Court 1. Roddick was up two sets and 4-2 in the third when Gasquet mounted an unlikely comeback.
Roddick won his first 14 sets at this fortnight before Gasquet turned their round-of-eight match around on Friday.
Gasquet stunned Roddick in 3 hours, 34 minutes. The Frenchman actually struck more aces than the massive-serving American (23-22) and piled up 33 more winners (93-60) than Roddick.
The 24-year-old Roddick is a former world No. 1 and captured his lone Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open in 2003. He lost to Federer in the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals.
Gasquet, who had never won a five-set match before Friday, will meet Federer for a seventh time, with the supreme Swiss holding a 5-1 all-time advantage. Federer beat Gasquet in the first round at Wimbledon a year ago and has won five straight matches in their series.
The 21-year-old Gasquet will perform in his first-ever major semi on Saturday.
In another marathon quarterfinal on Friday, a fourth-seeded Djokovic landed in his second semi in the last two majors by outlasting 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5 on Court 1. A fatigued Djokovic needed five hours to sneak past the 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist Baghdatis. The victory marked the fourth-longest match in modern Wimbledon history. And the longest Wimbledon singles match ever played on one day lasted only five minutes longer than this Djokovic-Baghdatis epic.
Djokovic recorded a huge service break to grab a 6-5 lead in the fifth set and closed out a game Baghdatis by holding his quality serve in the 12th game of the stanza. The Serb fired 12 aces among his 58 winners on Day 11. The Cypriot struck 16 more winners than Djokovic, but also piled up 10 more unforced errors (60-50) in the disappointing setback.
A weary Djokovic played 9 hours, 12 minutes of tennis over the last two days here. He required 4 hours, 12 minutes to stave off former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt here on Thursday and required some on-court treatment from a tour trainer on Friday.

Ho-Hum heavyweight

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Forget the "recognized" world championship.
It's small potatoes by comparison.
Lurking just below the grimy surface of the heavyweight division these days, there's a seamy underworld of overblown prospects, fringe contenders and over-the-hill impact-makers still plugging away for one last chance.
Evander Holyfield and Henry Akinwande kept their battle for kingpin status in the latter grouping alive on Saturday night, each scoring one-sided 10-round decisions against hand-selected opponents with little chance of upsetting the 40-plus apple carts.
Holyfield, 44, swept scorecards against journeyman Lou Savarese on a PPV show from El Paso, while Akinwande - a 6-foot-7 Brit making his home in Tallahassee, Fla. - performed a similar, albeit less-publicized number on Ukrainian pug Andriy Oleinyk.
The 41-year-old stylist earned the milestone 50th win of his career against the 12-8-1 Oleinyk in Moscow, going 10-for-10 in the eyes of all three judges in his first outing since dropping the IBF's intercontinental crown to Leg Platov last November.
That title was the most recent in a series of second-tier jewelry for the Londoner, who's also held the British Commonwealth, EBU, WBO, WBC/Fecarbox, WBC international and WBN intercontinental crowns while going 50-3-1 since his debut in 1989.
Still, he'd hock the trinkets for another crack at full-fledged WBC laurels and a chance to right the wrongs of a five-round clinch fest against Lennox Lewis - which ended in the passive challenger's disqualification in July 1997.
Only two men have beaten Akinwande since the Lewis debacle - Platov and, ironically enough, Oliver McCall (KO 10 in November 2001) - whose own go-round with Lewis had ended via teary fifth-round surrender just five months earlier.
McCall, for his part, has lost just once in 26 outings since his breakdown and actually moved closer to an improbable return to credibility with a 12-round decision over Sinan Samil San in a WBC eliminator on June 16 in Ankara, Turkey.
Meanwhile, coming up on the outside of the 200-plus pound scrap heap is hulking slugger Francois Botha, who'll end a nearly five-year ring exile tonight with a scheduled 12-rounder against one Bob Mirovic at the Carousel Casino in Temba, South Africa.
The outing - for the WBF's vacant interim title - is the first for Botha since he ended a 51-bout run with an eight-round TKO loss to Wladimir Klitschko in March 2002 and a 10-round stalemate against Clifford Etienne four months later.
The now 38-year-old Botha, like McCall and Akinwande, was also stopped in a grab for Lewis's top-spot status, falling in two non-descript rounds in a WBC/WBO/IBF championship fight in London in July 2000.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Lafeber's 64 leads wet European Open

Straffan, Ireland (Sports Network) - Maarten Lafeber fired a six-under 64 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Smurfit Kappa European Open.
Niclas Fasth, Gregory Havret, Jyoti Randhawa and Robert Rock shared second place at five-under 65.
Defending champion Stephen Dodd was at 66 alongside Soren Kjeldsen and Patrik Sjoland. Eight players were tied one shot further back at 67, and there were 49 players who broke par overall.
The low scores at the K Club were a result of more than just good play.
The weather forecast called for 40 mph winds and a driving rain, but the conditions were more benign than that. When it did rain, umbrellas were a common sight...Full Story

Suns set to sign Hill

Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) - Injury-plagued star Grant Hill has reportedly agreed to sign with the Phoenix Suns.
According to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, Hill will join the Suns for the $1.2 million veteran's exception.
The swingman's seven-year, $93 million contract with the Orlando Magic expired after the past season, in which he averaged 14.4 points per game and played in 65 games -- his most since playing 67 in the 2004-05 season.
The 6-foot-8, seven-time All-Star originally arrived in the Magic Kingdom during the summer of 2000 with high expectations. But, he underwent five surgeries on his left ankle and played in just 202 regular season games during his stay.
In 635 career games -- with Detroit and Orlando -- Hill has averaged 20 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

Venus, Ivanovic land in Wimbledon sem

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Former world No. 1 star Venus Williams moved into familiar territory on Thursday, as she reached the semifinals at Wimbledon for the sixth time in her great career. The powerful American will face sixth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic in Friday's women's final four at the venerable All England Club.
The 23rd-seeded Williams, a three-time Wimbledon champion, doused fifth- seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 25 minutes on the famed Centre Court. The steady Kuznetsova was the 2004 U.S. Open champion and reached last year's French Open finale.
Venus had her big serve broken only once by Kuznetsova, who, in turn, was broken three times by her American counterpart.
The 27-year-old Williams, who is the oldest woman still standing here, is now 49-7 lifetime at the All England Club. She owns five major titles, including Wimbledon championships in 2000, 2001 and 2005, and was the 2002 and 2003 runner-up here to her younger sister Serena.
The French Open finalist Ivanovic continued her winning ways at the last two majors by overcoming 14th-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Ivanovic advanced on her second match point when a rattled Vaidisova committed a double fault after blowing three match points of her own only minutes earlier. A sloppy Vaidisova wound up with six double faults and 39 unforced errors, as Ivanovic moved on in just under two hours on Centre Court.
Friday's other semi will pit top-seeded/world No. 1 Belgian Justine Henin against 18th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. The 22-year-old Bartoli will perform in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.
The six-time Grand Slam event champion Henin, last year's Wimbledon runner-up to France's Amelie Mauresmo, will appear in her fifth Wimbledon semi (2-2). The gritty Belgian also finished as the runner-up here in 2001, when she lost to Venus in the final while still a teenager.
The high-flying Henin has won her last 12 Grand Slam matches, including a third straight and fourth overall French Open title last month.
A determined Henin still needs Wimbledon to complete a career Golden Slam. She already owns Australian, French, U.S. Open and Olympic titles, not to mention a Fed Cup championship. She's trying to reach her sixth Grand Slam final in as many tries, as she appeared in all four major finals last year, skipped this year's Aussie Open and returned to the French Open final last month.
The red-hot Henin has won her last 16 matches on tour, including a grass- court title in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon 2007 commenced.

Nadal, Djokovic fight to reach Wimbledon quarters

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Last year's runner-up Rafael Nadal battled all the way back to win his fourth-round match Thursday and reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Rising Serbian star Novak Djokovic also secured a berth in the round of eight by taking out former champion Lleyton Hewitt in a dramatic bout.
The second-seeded Nadal fought back after dropping the first two sets to defeat 14th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The capable Youzhny was slowed by a back problem over the final three sets.
Nadal needed 3 hours, 5 minutes to record his comeback, which he did with the help of six service breaks. The Spaniard played a clean match by committing a mere 18 unforced errors over five sets.
The reigning three-time French Open champ Nadal was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the great Roger Federer and lost to Youzhny in the 2006 U.S. Open quarters.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who topped 19th-seeded Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-0, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0.
Berdych fired 15 aces at the ageless Bjorkman, who failed to break his Czech counterpart's serve while Berdych piled up a whopping seven breaks of the Swede. Berdych also struck 31 more winners (48-17) than the overmatched Bjorkman.
The 35-year-old Bjorkman reached the Wimbledon semis last year, only to be destroyed by the amazing Federer.
The 6-foot-5 Berdych will now appear in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
A fourth-seeded Djokovic fought his way into the quarters by holding off a 16th-seeded Hewitt 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Djokovic moved on by converting on his third match point against the gritty Hewitt. The Serb needed 4 hours, 12 minutes to dismiss Hewitt, who withstood a barrage of 56 winners, including 17 aces, from Djokovic, who also piled up 49 unforced errors on Day 10.
The former world No. 1 Hewitt captured the second of his two Grand Slam event titles here Wimbledon in 2002.
Djokovic reached the French Open semifinals last month, only to lose to the reigning king of clay Nadal.
Also advancing to the quarters was 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who upended sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The 2006 Australian Open finalist Baghdatis reached the Wimbledon semis last season.
Baghdatis advanced in 2 hours, 9 minutes, as he broke Davydenko's serve six times while the Russian piled up 39 unforced errors.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Hewitt wins third-rounder at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Former champion Lleyton Hewitt was a third-round victor on a rainy Tuesday at Wimbledon.
The 16th-seeded Hewitt got past 22nd-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on yet another rain-interrupted day at the venerable All England Club. Hewitt was leading 3-1 in the third set when the match was suspended because of rain here on Monday.
The former world No. 1 Hewitt is a two-time major titlist, including a Wimbledon championship in 2002. He also captured a U.S. Open crown, in 2001.
Another former top-ranked star, Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, booked a spot in the quarterfinals by handling Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). The 2003 French Open champion Ferrero, seeded 20th at this grass-court fortnight, is rewarded with a match against reigning four-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.
Ferrero will appear in his first-ever Wimbledon quarter and is only the fifth Spaniard in the Open Era to advance this far at the All England Club.
Sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, who typically plays his worst tennis on grass, moved into the fourth round by handling inconsistent Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Davydenko should have his hands full with 10th-seeded 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the fourth round on Wednesday.

Vaidisova ousts Mauresmo to reach Wimbledon QFs

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova dismissed defending champion Amelie Mauresmo in Tuesday's fourth-round action at Wimbledon.
Mauresmo lost her 10-match winning streak at the All England Club when the 14th-seeded Vaidisova stunned the fourth seed in 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-1 fashion on the famed Centre Court on yet another rain-interrupted day at the year's third Grand Slam event.
After dropping a tough first set via tiebreak, Mauresmo fought back to sneak out a second-set victory and force a deciding third in between rain drops on Day 8.
But the former world No. 1 Mauresmo came up flat in the final stanza, and bowed out by dumping one final forehand return into the net after 2 hours, 20 minutes of tennis.
Mauresmo swatted 13 aces, but also piled up 14 double faults and had her serve broken five times by the slugging Vaidisova. The French star was also sloppy at the net, where she converted on only 26-of-50 approaches.
The two-time major titlist Mauresmo beat Belgian star Justine Henin in last year's Wimbledon and Australian Open finals. The athletic Frenchwoman was seeking a fifth trip into the Wimbledon quarters.
The 18-year-old Vaidisova will appear in her first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal, where she will meet French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia or Russian Nadia Petrova.
Fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova eased into the quarters by dousing 16-year-old rising Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-3, 6-2. The 2004 U.S. Open champion and 2006 French Open runner-up Kuznetsova will now compete in her third Wimbledon quarterfinal in five years.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Fisher gets release from Jazz to care for daughter

Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Derek Fisher was released from his contract with the Utah Jazz Monday as he seeks the proper medical care for his 11-month-old daughter who is fighting eye cancer.
According to the Salt lake Tribune, Fisher, who is leaving nearly $21 million in salary on the table over the next three years, said that basketball is not a priority right now, but that retirement is not being considered at this time.
Fisher left the team for a short period during the Western Conference semifinal round this past season when it was learned that his daughter Tatum had the disease. He returned to help the Jazz defeat the Golden State Warriors and advance to the conference finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs.
A 10-year veteran, Fisher averaged 10.1 points and 3.3 assists this past regular season. In 16 playoff games, he averaged 9.5 points and 2.6 assists.

Kings agree to terms with four free agents

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Kings made their first dip into the free agent market on Monday and made a big splash as the team agreed to terms with defenseman Tom Preissing and center Michal Handzus to four-year contracts, left wing Kyle Calder to a two-year contract, and left wing Ladislav Nagy to a one-year contract.
Preissing, 28, has played in 223 career games with 20 goals and 80 assists and 56 penalty minutes. The defenseman played two seasons with San Jose from 2003-04 and 2005-06 before leading all Senators defensemen in points with seven goals and 31 assists last year for Ottawa.
Handzus, 30, has 115 goals and 185 assists with 313 penalty minutes over eight NHL seasons, including this past season with the Chicago Blackhawks and three with the Philadelphia Flyers, two with the Phoenix Coyotes and three with the St. Louis Blues.
Calder, 28, has registered 99 goals and 146 assists with 242 penalty minutes over seven seasons, six of which were with the Blackhawks from 1999-06 before splitting last season between Philadelphia and Detroit.
Nagy, 28, has 106 goals and 179 assists with 340 penalty minutes over seven NHL seasons with Dallas, Phoenix, and St. Louis.

Twenty-eight players qualify for British Open

Bloomfield Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Michael Putnam won a British Open qualifier at Oakland Hills on Monday, shooting rounds of 69 and 67 to lead a group of 12 players who earned exemptions to Carnoustie in two weeks.
Putnam won the qualifier with a four-under 136 total, beating John Senden and Ryan Moore by two shots.
In England, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell posted rounds of 67 and 64 to lead a qualifier at Sunningdale, where 16 players earned berths in the Open.

Kerr to No. 4 in world rankings

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Cristie Kerr won her first major championship Sunday at the U.S. Women's Open and moved up one place to No. 4 in the latest Rolex Rankings for women's golf.
Above her, Lorena Ochoa strengthened her hold on the No. 1 ranking with a runner-up finish to Kerr. She now leads No. 2 Karrie Webb by 4.61 average points, up from 3.58 points last week.
Annika Sorenstam finished poorly in the U.S. Women's Open, but still gained ground on Webb for the No. 2 spot after Webb missed the cut.
Kerr's moved to No. 4 dropped McDonald's LPGA champion Suzann Pettersen to No. 5, where she was followed by Morgan Pressel, Paula Creamer, Se-Ri Pak, Juli Inkster and Mi Hyun Kim to round out the top 10.
Ji-Yai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Brittany Lincicome, Jeong Jang, Shiho Oyama, Jee Young Lee, Stacy Prammanasudh, Mi-Joong Jeon, Yuri Fudoh and Pat Hurst completed the top 20.

Bateman vaults 207 places in world rankings

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Brian Bateman received his first world ranking points of the season Sunday by winning the Buick Open, where he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to avoid a possible playoff at Warwick Hills.Bateman jumped 270 places from 408th to 138th in the latest Official World Golf Ranking.Further up, there were few changes at the top of the rankings.Tiger Woods, of course, remained the No. 1 player in the world ahead of his scheduled start at the AT&T National this week, where he will play host in his first event back since the birth of his daughter last month...Full Story

Henin, Serena reach QFs; Venus survives third-rounder at Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded and 2006 runner-up Justine Henin and two-time winner Serena Williams will square off in the quarterfinals, while three-time champion Venus Williams survived her third- round match Monday to setup a fourth-round showdown with Maria Sharapova at a rain-plagued Wimbledon.
The world No. 1 and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Henin cruised past 15th- seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-2 on yet another rain-interrupted day at the All England Club. Henin will now meet Serena in a quarterfinal showdown here.
Henin erased the lefthanded Schnyder in 56 minutes to reach her fifth Wimbledon quarterfinal.
The 25-year-old Henin is a six-time major titlist, including a third straight and fourth overall French Open title last month. The Belgian stalwart lost to Amelie Mauresmo in last year's Wimbledon final and gave way to Venus in the 2001 title bout here.
Henin still needs Wimbledon to complete a career Golden Slam. She already owns Australian, French, U.S. Open and Olympic titles, not to mention a Fed Cup championship. She's trying to reach her sixth Grand Slam final in as many tries, as she appeared in all four major finals last year, skipped this year's Aussie Open and returned to the French Open final last month.
The diminutive Henin has won her last 15 matches on tour, including a grass- court title in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon 2007 commenced.

Berdych, Baghdatis reach fourth round at soggy Wimbledon

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis snuck in third-round wins in between rain drops Monday at Wimbledon 2007.
Berdych, who titled on a grass court in Halle just three weeks ago, finished off Korean Hyung-Taik Lee 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) in a match that was suspended because of rain here on Saturday. Berdych will meet veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman in the fourth round.
The 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist Baghdatis, meanwhile, waltzed pasted 23rd- seeded Argentine David Nalbandian 6-2, 7-5, 6-0 on Day 7 of this wet fortnight. The 2002 Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian appeared to throw in the towel in the third set against the '06 Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis.
Second-seeded Spanish star Rafael Nadal was leading 28th-seeded Swede Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 4-6, 2-0 when their bout was stopped for the day. Nadal was two points away from victory in the third-set tiebreak when rain forced the players off the court. Following a lengthy delay, Soderling managed to capture the third and fourth sets before Nadal went up a break in the fifth, only to be interrupted by rain once again.
Other third-round wins came for 14th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny and a 19th-seeded Bjorkman, as Youzhny dropped 18th-seeded Finn Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 and the ageless 35-year-old Bjorkman knocked out 36-year-old Aussie Wayne Arthurs 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. Arthurs had already announced that he would retire from the ATP when his 2007 Wimbledon run came to an end.

Henin cruises into Wimbledon quarterfinal

Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Justine Henin marched on at Wimbledon Monday with an easy straight-set victory over Patty Schnyder.
Henin, a six-time major titlist and runner-up here last year, disposed of the 15th-seeded Swiss, 6-2, 6-2, in just 56 minutes to reach the quarterfinals.
The world No. 1 will now face either two-time former Wimbledon champion Serena Williams or Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the quarters.
In third round action on Monday, fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova upended Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3 and No. 6 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia downed France's Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-2.
Other third-round winners included 11th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, who dismissed Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), and No. 14 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, who got the best of Belarus' Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2.

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