Radwanska, Craybas to meet in Pattaya finale

Pattaya City, Thailand (Sports Network) - Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and seventh-seeded American Jill Craybas were Saturday's semifinal winners at the $170,000 Pattaya Women's Open.

The 18-year-old Radwanska dismantled helpless Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 6-1, 6-1, while the 33-year-old Craybas handled Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 6-4, 6-0 on the hardcourt at Dusit Resort.

Radwanska will appear in her second career final. She titled in Stockholm in her first-ever title match last year. Craybas will also appear in her second WTA final. She titled in Tokyo in her only other title bout, back in 2002...Full Story

Strong-serving Sharapova wins Australian Open title

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Russian Maria Sharapova used strong serving to capture her third Grand Slam title, beating Serbian Ana Ivanovic, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to win the 2008 Australian Open.

The fifth-seeded Sharapova won 24 of her last 26 service points in the battle of 20-year-olds. Incredibly, she won 24 of 27 points on her first serve for the match.

"This is just incredible," Sharapova said to the crowd at Rod Laver Arena after the match. "If someone had told me in the middle of last year that I'd be standing on this stage in front of all you guys with the big one I'd probably say forget it."

Sharapova, who didn't lose a set over these two weeks, had also won Wimbledon in 2004 and the U.S. Open in 2006. She lost the 2007 Australian Open final to American Serena Williams.

Sharapova said the last year has been a trying one since her coach's mother passed away. Sharapova said she also got inspiration for the match from a text message earlier on Saturday from Hall of Famer Billie Jean King, the 1968 Australian Open champion...Full Story

Nadal eases into Aussie quarters; Davydenko out

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Rafael Nadal easily moved into the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday when Paul-Henri Mathieu retired in the second set of their fourth-round match, but Nikolay Davydenko was among the upset victims as the first week of the year's first major concluded.

The second-seeded Nadal had built a 6-4, 3-0 lead when Mathieu called it quits for what appeared to be a calf problem. The 23rd-seeded Frenchman twice received treatment in the first set, then decided he couldn't continue after dropping serve twice in the second.

Nadal will next meet Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals. Nieminen knocked off Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (11-9), 6-3. Kohlschreiber had eliminated sixth-seeded American Andy Roddick in his last match and was coming off a title in Auckland last week.

Nieminen, seeded 24th, saved a combined 11 set points between the second and third sets before advancing...Fulls Story

Henin reaches quarterfinals at Aussie Open

Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Top seed Justine Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Sunday by winning her 32nd straight match, a straight-set victory over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh.

Additionally, third-seeded Jelena Jankovic, fifth seed Maria Sharapova and defending champion Serena Williams, seeded seventh, also advanced to the quarterfinals.

Henin, the 2004 Australian Open champion and reigning French and U.S. Open titlist, had a relatively easy time, winning 6-2, 6-2. Hsieh, who had never advanced beyond the first round at Melbourne before this year's tournament, fought off match point twice in the second set.

But Henin was dominant -- winning 10 straight games after being down 2-1 in the first set -- and eventually closed out the win. She will face Sharapova, who breezed through her match with 11th seed Elena Dementieva, in the quarterfinals. The match, which Sharapova won 6-2, 6-0, took all of 62 minutes....Full Story

Tennis: Murray withdraws from Wimbledon

London, England (Sports Network) - Andy Murray of Britain has decided to withdraw from Wimbledon because of a nagging wrist injury.
The third Grand Slam of 2007 is scheduled to get under way Monday from the venerable All England Club.
"I have done everything possible to get ready for Wimbledon," said Murray on Sunday. "I have played practice sets the last few days but still cannot hit a topspin forehand properly."
Murray was slated to face Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti in the first round and will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Kevin Kim of the United States.
The eighth-seeded Murray was likely Britain's best hope to end the nation's long drought of homegrown Wimbledon winners. A Brit has not won the men's singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.
Murray was hurt at the Hamburg Masters six weeks ago when he hit a forehand against Filippo Volandri. After playing two more points, Murray decided to retire and hasn't played competitively since.
The 20-year-old Scotsman practiced on Saturday, but was advised by doctors not to play for at least another 10 days.
"It has been six weeks of really hard work but I'm not 100 percent ready," Murray added. "The wrist is a very important part of tennis and there are a number of players who have made the decision to come back too soon and ended up with long term injuries and I do not want to take the risk and make the same mistake.
"The doctor has advised me not to play and that I probably need about 10 days to be ready. Unfortunately, I don't think it is going to rain for the next 10 days. I love playing Wimbledon because of the great support I get from the British public and that is what I will miss the most."
Murray, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year in his second appearance, has won a pair of ATP titles in his young career, including a triumph at San Jose in February.