Kournikova and Hingis Lend Some Spice to Court Two

Thursday 1st July, 2010 15 Kournikova and Hingis lend some spice to Court Two

BY BRENDAN GALLAGHER Jordan trailing home a very distant second. Court Two has long been At one stage her earnings Wimbledon’s best kept secret, from endorsement and appear- a modest but beautiful arena ance money was nearly 20 slightly away from the times that which she accumu- madding crowd that bakes lated in a season’s prize slowly in the sun from dawn money. to dusk and all its slumbering Nice work if you can get it, Hiu Tung Yu inhabitants likewise. although not a situation that That was until Tuesday always encouraged harmony evening, anyway, when the among the WTA ranks. Hardly HK names self-styled Spice Girls – the her fault though. still youthful but long retired With Kournikova it was as Anna Kournikova and the if ‘tennis girl’ – normally reck- team for Davis perennially “re-emerging” oned to be the biggest selling Martina Hingis – decided it poster in the world – had sud- was time for one last revival denly morphed into life and Cup against SL “gig” before going their sepa- that the iconic blonde so BY REVATA S. SILVA rate ways. Veterans of 29, they cheekily scratching her have both admittedly derierre had stepped off the Hong Kong, China named a four-mem- squeezed in a couple of lives bedroom walls of schoolboy ber team for this month’s Asia-Oceania apiece in they contemplate the millions and straight onto cen- Zone Group-II Davis Cup against Sri horror of 30th birthdays. tre court. A fantasy player of Lanka. The Invitation Doubles massive style and just enough This Zonal round-2 best-of-five-match tie will be held at the SL Tennis conveniently caters for such substance. Association clay courts in Colombo from romps down memory lane and For such a natural athlete July 9-11. Kournikova has suffered hor- Britain’s Ann Hobbs and Sam Hong Kong, China Davis Cup Team: Smith were the perfect side- ribly from lower back and Hiu-Tung Yu, Martin Sayer, Gilbert kicks, in no way attempting to spinal injuries and she even Wong and Kelvin Siu-Fai Lam share the limelight but provid- picked up a nasty burst blister Non-playing Capt. - Derek Hay Ming ing enough oppspositon to see on her right hand, Tuesday Ling, Manager - Jeremy Chung Lai Pong night. one “great” and one very fine SEALED WITH A KISS: Anna Kournikova and Martina Hingis celebrate their doubles win at Wimbledon. and Coach - Ray Kelly. woman’s tennis player to best She has been “retired” Sri Lanka has so far met Hong Kong effect as they moved to a 6-2, 6- straight sets so the main act Hingis was the Singles kept going, on Tuesday was seven years now with a litany five times, but has won only once. Only 4 win. could take centre stage. The champion here in 1997 and a her first appearance at of back injuries. the winning team of this tie will retain The Wimbledon blazers, massed ranks of photogra- seven time Grand Slam cham- Wimbledon since she tested Money is no object, with her place in Group-II next year. The losing country will be demoted to Group-III in who weren’t born on Tuesday phers cursed audibly about pion although on the evidence positive for cocaine here three pop god Enrique Iglesias as 2011. and have forgotten more about “losing the light”, but then or her performance recently years ago, a transgression her steady squeeze in sunny putting on a show than we again they start piping up in Strictly Come Dancing not which earned a two-year ban. Miami. Life is still sweet and will ever know, teasingly with that one soon after on account of her dodgy foot- All seemed forgiven – she she does more than her fair scheduled the match as fourth breakfast. work. remains the naughty but nice share of charity matches but, Clarke steers on Court Two and you could “Come on the grannies” She was the first to be daughter most families have. amid the laughter and the fun, see one or two dejected males shouted a deeply ironic voice eliminated and even the kind- Kournikova was/is a very you could also sense a little adopting a position of prayer early in the first set. “Come ly ‘Head Judge Len’ struggled fine doubles player – the yearning for what might have Aussies to 290 mid-morning as the rain lin- on England,” responded a to find anything encouraging dynamic duo twice won the been. Michael Clarke's missed out on a fifth ODI century as Australia posted 290 for gered and a full day’s play deluded man in a Wayne to say. Could the eyesight be Australian Open title – and What this Spice Girl wants, Rooney shirt. Play was light- going as well? One of her once ranked eight in the sin- what she really really wants, five in the fourth one-dayer against seemed unlikely. So near and England at The Oval on Wednesday. hearted but high quality and challenges last night was out gles but above all else she was is to be fit and injury free like yet so far. Earlier Tim Bresnan's first wicket of Mercifully the sun came the Spice Girls seemed to have by a yard, or perhaps she was the original attitudinal blonde the golden teenager she once the NatWest Series prevented Australia out and the punters politely, a ball, applauding their oppo- gently showboating, some- bombshell from Russia. In her was. posting a fourth successive half-century but with a tangible impa- nents’ occasional winners thing she never did as a stellar pomp she was the most opening stand. tience, willed the three ‘under- even louder than the home player. googled sportstar on earth, (C) The Telegraph Group, Bresnan drew a blank with the ball in card’ games to finish in crowd. A teenage prodigy who Basketball superhero Michael London, 2010 each of the three victories which mean England have already wrapped up the series and are targeting an unprecedented one-day international whitewash of their Ashes rivals. The Yorkshire seamer managed a Japan applauds team breakthrough this time, though, disturb- ing the Tim Paine-Shane Watson alliance Capello desperate to which has served Australia so well in an otherwise disappointing campaign. after World Cup exit The upshot at The Oval was a 15-over BY JAY ALABASTER world and in poor form dur- total of 70 for one, after Australia had ing warm-up games. been put in on a cloudy afternoon. TOKYO (AP) - Japan fans But fans were captivated stay on to avenge Paine was the man to go with a shot he have applauded their national after first-round victories will want to forget and which rather soccer team after its bid to against Cameroon and defied description, but ended with a tame make the quarter finals of the Denmark. For Wednesday’s catch at cover from a delivery on leg- World Cup for the first time game, bars and restaurants in stump line. Tokyo were standing room England’s failure The Australia wicketkeeper had been fell inches short. only despite the 11 p.m. local unable to gather any momentum against Thousands of fans who is chairman of the Premier FA that he should be given the swarmed the streets of Tokyo time kickoff, with patrons BY JASON BURT the new ball, but Watson - on the back of decked in their blue uniforms watching raptly throughout AND PAUL KELSO League, as well as the newly chance to carry on and sort successive 50s at Old Trafford and the in an early morning drizzle, the match and some breaking created Club England, to decide things out. If he does, general SWALEC Stadium - was soon demonstrat- chanting and cheering despite down into tears after. Fabio Capello is desperate which role he wants to take. It manager Franco Baldini will also ing he remains in fine form. a grueling loss to Paraguay “This really hurts, I may lead to Richards conclud- stay. It took Watson 17 deliveries to find the to stay on as England manager boundary for the first time - a fierce cut that sent the “Samurai Blue” thought we could do it,” said ing that he does not want to be Despite the tensions in the to exact “revenge” for the World off James Anderson - but he immediately out of the tournament. Ase Yokoyama, 21, a universi- the man effectively to remove camp Capello is not blaming the ty student who stayed out into Cup failure. doubled up with another crunching four The teams fought to a Capello and there is nervous- players — such as John Terry or scoreless draw through extra the early hours to watch the According to sources close driven down the ground. ness that he holds dual roles. David James – for the failure. Ricky Ponting, with only 37 runs in time, then Japan lost on game with his friends in the to Capello, he is “embarrassed three innings so far, quickly looked in penalties after defender central Shibuya district. and angry” by England’s des- Capello wants to get back good touch, picking Bresnan off for two Yuichi Komano sent his shot “But this team was the perately disappointing campaign into the international arena to leg-side fours and then driving him wide just high and it caromed off most fun of any national team restore his and the country’s but, significantly, he firmly of mid-off too. the crossbar. so far.” believes that the Football reputation. “He is desperate to After Watson clubbed Stuart Broad for Japan advanced to the The celebration started Association would waste the last stay,” one source revealed. a straight six for good measure, Australia round of 16 for the first time hours before the game, as rev- 2½ years of good work if he was Richards was asked by inter- were beginning to hint at a major total on ever outside of its home coun- elers with Japanese flags im FA chairman Roger Burden a pitch of good pace. (BBC) try. Little was expected of the painted on their faces and removed now. team, ranked 45th in the blue vuvuzela horns poured The 64 year-old is also to review Capello’s position and into the city centre. With adamant that he has the energy make a recommendation to the many shops sold out of and desire to succeed in the main board. He will work with Nigeria president national team jerseys, fans post and does not want to look Club England managing director snapped up plain blue T-shirts for another job. If anything his Adrian Bevington and board and drew on logos and num- members Sir Trevor Brooking suspends team bers. determination has been redou- and Alex Horne, the FA general Nigeria's president has suspended his After the loss, thousands bled by the setback and this Fabio Capello nation's football team from international crammed into Shibuya’s cen- may, in itself, convince the FA to secretary. competition for two years after a poor tral crossing, dancing and Gartside had stressed that Last night one insider said: keep faith with him. showing at the World Cup. he did not “know what the out- “The performances in South singing in support of their FA sources stressed that Special presidential adviser Ima Niboro team despite the rain and Phil Gartside’s opinion that come will be” after Capello Africa were deeply disappointing told reporters the decision by Goodluck early hour. Dozens of police Capello was still “the best man revealed that Richards had told but we have to ask whether we Jonathan will "enable Nigeria to reorgan- arrived in large riot buses to him, the day after the defeat to can afford to keep chopping and ise its football". keep carousers away from for the job” was a personal one and that there would be a Germany, that the FA wanted changing managers. Capello will The BBC understands the Nigerian traffic and make fruitless Football Federation is to be dissolved and pleas for everyone to go home. process to go through, including two weeks to decide the Italian’s have learned an awful lot about future. Importantly, Capello is tournament football in South an interim board appointed. The result was front-page a convening of its board in the Nigeria were knocked out in the group understood to have accepted Africa and that would go to news on all the major newspa- second week of July, before a stages without winning a game. pers Wednesday morning, and decision was taken on his this time frame, although he waste if he were to leave. And Niboro said: "This TV news shows repeatedly future. does want to know what level of you have to ask whether we can directive became played highlights of Japan’s A Japanese soccer fan dives However, there are clear support he has. even afford to do that.” necessary follow- four games. The team last into the Dotonbori River in indications that there is no The decision to pause for The lack of serious alterna- ing Nigeria's poor advanced when it hosted the performance in central Osaka, western World Cup with South Korea appetite to sack Capello — who two weeks was prompted by a tives is also a concern. Roy desire to let anger at England’s Hodgson’s imminent appoint- the ongoing Japan, in early Wednesday in 2002. has two years to run on his World Cup. morning, June 30, 2010 as Prime Minister Naoto Kan £6million England contract fol- failure subside and allow the FA ment as Liverpool manager will Under Fifa he reacts to Japan’s defeat issued a statement thanking lowing the costly removal of a to make its decision in a less remove the likeliest successor rules, government to Paraguay in a World Cup the team. break-clause on the eve of the febrile climate, but it is clear that to Capello, while Harry interference soccer knockout round “The players and the World Cup — partly because he opinion is uncertain and that Redknapp is facing trial on with bench were united and match in South Africa. Japan has been so adamant that he Capello retains the backing of charges of alleged tax evasion. national showed the world the poten- teams is lost to Paraguay 5-3 on wants to stay. significant figures. tial of Japanese soccer. I sin- strictly forbidden. penalties after a scoreless cerely congratulate their Significantly, there is also Capello has already put for- (C) The Telegraph Group, draw. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) efforts,” he said. pressure on Sir Dave Richards, ward a persuasive case to the London, 2010 (BBC)