The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Djokovic lights up starless Davis Cup
- Paris Open: Bartoli wins after Fed Cup recall, Kvitova advances
- Vijay Singh denies knowingly violating doping rules
| Djokovic lights up starless Davis Cup Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:07 PM PST PARIS: World number one and newly-crowned Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic goes straight back into action in the Davis Cup this weekend while his Grand Slam rivals skip the opening round. The Serb, who collected his fourth Melbourne title and sixth career major with victory over Andy Murray on Sunday, just about catches his breath before leading his country into their World Group opener against Belgium. However, the 113-year-old competition is not the powerful draw card it once was. World number two Roger Federer, fourth-ranked David Ferrer as well as world number seven Juan Martin del Potro have opted not to turn out for Switzerland, Spain and Argentina respectively. Murray's British team does not have a match while 11-time major winner Rafael Nadal also misses Spain's trip to Canada as he completes his recovery from the knee injury which has kept him off court for seven months. Djokovic and ninth-ranked compatriot Janko Tipsarevic, who spearheaded Serbia's first Davis Cup title in 2010, should help their country prevail over Belgium in Charleroi. The home side's top player David Goffin is ranked only at 50. "The Davis Cup title came in the right moment. I believe that feeling of sharing one of the biggest titles in our sport with my team for our country, in our country, was one of the best feelings I experienced as a player," said Djokovic, who skipped the tournament in 2012. His absence last year was felt as Serbia were defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Czech Republic. Spain, winners three times in the last five years, and runners-up to the Czechs in 2012, travel to Vancouver without their three top players - Nadal, Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro, who has a leg injury. Almagro has been replaced by world number 85 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, which should mean Marcel Granollers, the world 34, and 51st-ranked Albert Ramos, will play singles. Canada's top player is big-serving Milos Raonic, who stands at 15 in the world while, in the shape of Daniel Nestor, they boast one of the world's most accomplished doubles players. In Geneva, the Czechs tackle Switzerland who will be looking to world number 17 Stanislas Wawrinka to win his singles on Friday and Sunday and compensate for the absence of Federer. Marco Chiudinelli, the world 139, will have to play the second singles for a Swiss side who have never got beyond the first round in eight years. World number six Tomas Berdych leads the Czechs who are trying to avoid becoming the first defending champions since Spain in 2005 to lose in the first round. They have a good record against Switzerland, having won six of the eight meetings between the two nations. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, who have lost all three finals in which they have appeared and are without 2009 US Open winner Del Potro, tackle Germany. Juan Monaco, the world number 12, leads Argentina but Germany boast two top-30 players in Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer. The United States, who have won the Davis Cup a record 32 times, face Brazil in Jacksonville. Brazil's last win over the Americans came back in 1966. The US will be led by John Isner and Sam Querrey, both in the top 20, and the hosts can also call upon doubles kings Bob and Mike Bryan, who claimed a record 13th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last weekend. In the other first-round ties, Italy welcome Croatia to Turin, France host Israel at Rouen while Kazakhstan play Austria in Astana. - AFP |
| Paris Open: Bartoli wins after Fed Cup recall, Kvitova advances Posted: 30 Jan 2013 07:01 PM PST PARIS: French number one Marion Bartoli celebrated her recall to the country's Fed Cup team on Wednesday with a battling 7-5, 6-1 second-round win over American Christina McHale at the Paris Open. Earlier in the day captain Amelie Mauresmo ended Bartoli's nine-year exile from the international stage by naming her in a five-player squad to face Germany in next month's World Group II first-round tie in Limoges. The world number 10 will be joined in the French team by Alize Cornet, Kristina Mladenovic, Virginie Razzano and Pauline Parmentier. "I'm very happy to return to Fed Cup," Bartoli said in her post-match news conference, citing her relationship with two-time Grand Slam champion Mauresmo as a factor in her return. "The communication was always there with Amelie, it happened bit by bit. "I talked a lot with my dad. He supported me in my project and in my decision because he only wants me to be happy," added Bartoli, whose long-term absence from the team stemmed from her insistence on having her father and coach, Walter, by her side during the competition, a demand that contravened team rules. Bartoli, runner-up to Angelique Kerber in last year's final, was forced to call upon her fighting spirit in the first set in the French capital, fending off four set points on McHale's serve at 4-5 before eventually breaking to level. The third seed then made further inroads in her opponent's subsequent service game as a fortuituous bounce off the tape ultimately handed Bartoli the opening set. With the momentum fully in Bartoli's favour, she broke McHale twice more in the second set to earn a quarter-final showdown with Germany's Mona Barthel, who came from a set behind to knock out Italian fifth seed Roberta Vinci. Meanwhile, second seed Petra Kvitova overcame bouts of inconsistency as she edged past Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele in straight sets. Seeking to put her early-season blues behind her after poor displays in Brisbane and Sydney were compounded by a second-round exit at the Australian Open, world number eight Kvitova experienced little resistence early on from Voegele, racing 4-0 ahead. But the Czech then began to misfire as Voegele, ranked 100, forced a tie-break before Kvitova restored order to close out the first set. The 2011 Wimbledon champion was again far from convincing in the second but she eventually prevailed 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to set up a last-eight match with either French teenager Mladenovic or Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, who ousted Russia's Anastastia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 6-3. Sixth seed Lucie Safarova avoided a third consecutive first-round exit in Paris as she fought back from a set down to beat Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino, while Kiki Bertens and Magdalena Rybarikova also progressed to the second round. - AFP |
| Vijay Singh denies knowingly violating doping rules Posted: 30 Jan 2013 06:58 PM PST SCOTTSDALE (Arizona): Former world number one Vijay Singh denied knowingly using a substance that violated the PGA Tour's anti-doping policy, saying Wednesday he was angry about the situation. In a Sports Illustrated article published Tuesday, the Fijian was linked to a two-man company called Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS) and its deer antler spray that purportedly helps athletic performance. The spray contains IGF-1, an anabolic hormone that boosts muscle growth and is banned by all major sports organizations. Singh, three weeks shy of his 50th birthday, admitted using the spray but said he had no idea it violated PGA anti-doping rules and added that he was cooperating with a PGA Tour investigation into the matter. "While I have used deer antler spray, at no time was I aware that it may contain a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy," Singh said in a statement. "In fact, when I first received the product, I reviewed the list of ingredients and did not see any prohibited substances. "I am absolutely shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry that I have put myself in this position. "I have been in contact with the PGA Tour and am cooperating fully with their review of this matter." The article said PGA players were warned about the deer antler spray in 2011 after PGA player Mark Calcavecchia was told by the tour to stop endorsing another spray by SWATS. In the story, Singh said he used the spray "every couple of hours" and used special chips and a beam ray the company claimed would enhance his body. "I'm looking forward to some change in my body," Singh was quoted as saying in the story. "It's really hard to feel the difference if you're only doing it for a couple of months." Singh's 34 career PGA triumphs include three major titles, at the 2000 Masters and the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championships. - AFP |
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