The Star Online: Sports

Roddick, Isner reach Winston-Salem quarter-finals
Senna to race for Renault at Belgian GP
Ban lifted on Venezuelan swimmer Albert Subirats

Roddick, Isner reach Winston-Salem quarter-finals

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 07:21 PM PDT

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (AP): Andy Roddick advanced to the quarter-finals in the Winston-Salem Open, beating Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday night in the final men's tune-up before the U.S. Open.

Roddick was in sharp form for the second match in a row and showed signs that he might be recovered from recent injuries in time for the last Grand Slam event of the year.

This was just his third match in the last six weeks because of an abdominal strain.

"That's the biggest thing for me, not to be scared of extended rallies," Roddick said. "You have to get your legs back and there's only one way, and that's jumping in."

Giraldo led the second set 2-1 before Roddick took the next three games to regain control.

Until this week, Roddick hadn't won a match since the second round of Wimbledon, recovering from an abdominal injury during much of that time. Now he has won on back-to-back nights.

"It's a thing where you crawl before you walk," Roddick said. Roddick will next face Argentina's Juan Monaco, who beat Kei Nishikori 6-0, 6-3.

Roddick and local favorite John Isner are the lone Americans remaining in the draw. Fourth-seeded Isner beat No. 13-seeded Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Isner, from nearby Greensboro, solved Nieminen's serve and needed just 23 minutes to win the second set.

"I held serve comfortably today, and that puts so much pressure on my opponents," Isner said. "Any guy with a big serve will tell you being able to get cheap points puts so much pressure on (the opponent)."

In the quarter-finals, Isner will face Marcos Baghdatis, who beat Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-0. Isner lost only seven points out of 51 on his serve. The match ended, appropriately, with an ace.

Third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov advanced by beating Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7). He will face the Netherlands' Robin Haase, who defeated Pierre-Ludovic Duclos 6-4, 7-5.

Ninth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky upset No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final against French qualifier Julien Benneteau, who Russia's Igor Andreev 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5).

Senna to race for Renault at Belgian GP

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 07:19 PM PDT

Published: Thursday August 25, 2011 MYT 10:19:00 AM

PARIS (AP): Brazilian driver Bruno Senna will race for Renault at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Senna will replace German driver Nick Heidfeld and will compete alongside Vitaly Petrov, the Formula One team said on Wednesday, without indicating whether Senna will keep his spot until the end of the season.

Heidfeld was drafted in when Robert Kubica suffered a career-threatening injury in a rally car accident in February.

Senna made his F1 debut with Hispania Racing last season, and had started the season as a reserve driver for Renault.

His late uncle was F1 great Ayrton Senna.

Ban lifted on Venezuelan swimmer Albert Subirats

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 07:17 PM PDT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP): The international swimming federation has lifted a one-year suspension placed on Venezuelan swimmer Albert Subirats, Venezuelan authorities said Wednesday.

Subirats won gold in the 50m butterfly at the short course world championships in 2010, but was banned for failing to notify anti-doping authorities of his whereabouts during a nine-month period.

"I spoke with the FINA president Julio Maglione, who said that everything had come out in a favourable way for Albert," Venezuelan Aquatic Sports Federation president Lourdes De Goncalves told state television.

Subirats claimed he submitted the paperwork to the federation detailing his movements during three periods in 2010 and 2011, and that the Venezuelan body admitted losing the information.

The lifting of the ban clears Subirats to compete in the Pan-American Games at Guadalajara, Mexico, in October.

Subirats will also be available to swim at the 2012 Olympics. If the ban had not been lifted, he would have had just two months to obtain the qualification time necessary to compete in London.

The swimmer's personal trainer, Luis Moreno, posted on Twitter that the decision was "one of the most significant victories in Venezuelan sport."

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Rabu, 24 Ogos 2011