Roddick survives, Federer thrives

It was an unexpected invasion, less likely to succeed than the famous Spanish Armada that set sail to conquer these islands in the summer of 1588. But the latest Hispanic La Armada Grande manned by caramel-tanned, bandanna sporting rebels attired in tennis shorts and wielding graphite racquets has surely created a sensation in these parts.

After all, Spanish - and Spanish-speaking - tennis players who fancy their chances towards the business end of the world’s premier grass court championships are as rare as banana plantations in Kent. For, this is a breed that normally books holidays to coincide with the Wimbledon championships.

But, as with all evanescent novelties, the shelf-life - of the unlikely invaders - has turned out to be rather limited, no matter that the dashing Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Gonzalez - the first men from Spain and Chile to figure in the men’s quarterfinals here since…well, since before Roger Federer was born - did play their parts almost as well as they might have been expected to on Wednesday.

Former champions Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer will face off in the men’s semi finals at Wimbledon after both recorded convincing quarter-final victories.

It what looms as the match of the tournament so far, Hewitt will be looking to end a seven-match winning drought against the world number one, who has now gone 34 matches unbeaten on grass.

The other semi-final will feature No.2 seed Andy Roddick, who was a 3-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3 winner over France’s Sebastien Grosjean, and 12th seeded Swede Thomas Johansson, who defeated 2002 runner-up David Nalbandian of 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-2.

Hewitt saw off Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2), progressing without incident and without testing his much-publicised temper.

The Australian dropped his serve early in the first set but bounced back before gaining another break, and the set, in the 12th game, when Lopez netted an easy return.

The Spaniard, playing in his first Grand Slam quarter final, tried hard in the second set, but was broken again. He saved two set points, but again netted a return to concede the set.

The third set went to a tie-break and Hewitt reeled off three straight points from 4-1 on his way to victory and a re-match with the man who knocked him out at the quarter final stage of the 2004 tournament.

“He played extremely well right from the start and was the one dictating play,” Hewitt said of Lopez. “I just had to wait for my opportunities but started seeing the ball like a football and was playing better and better.”

Federer’s progression was just as easy, and he quickly had the Chilean in trouble, racing to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Gonzalez levelled at 4-4 but Federer broke again in the 12th game before racing through the second set 6-2. Gonzalez forced a tie-breaker in the third, but couldn’t keep the pressure up in the tie-break.

Meanwhile, Roddick reached the semi-finals for a third-straight year, but only after shaking off a determined Grosjean, who took the first set after breaking the big-serving American in the sixth game.

Roddick changed his serving tactics in the second and it paid off as he grabbed the momentum with the second and third sets. A series of errors in the sixth game of the fourth set allowed Grosjean to level but the No.2 seed raced to a 3-0 lead in the fifth and never loosened his grip from that point.

That left Johansson as the only surprise semi finalist. He prevailed from an epic first set, which lasted 73 minutes and broke Nalbandian twice in the second set. The Argentine broke early in the third, but the Swede answered with two more breaks of is own and he now faces Roddick, whom he has a 0-2 record against.

Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt gave no quarter to dangerous opponents at Wimbledon Wednesday but Andy Roddick was made to fight hard for his semi-final place.

Violent thunderstorms erupted

Rain brought a premature end to England’s chase of a challenging Australia target in a one-day cricket international on Tuesday.

As evening fell over this Midlands city, violent thunderstorms erupted as England prepared to chase 261 after an incident-packed Australia innings.

England faced only six overs, reaching 37 for one before rain returned for the third time to end the tri-series match. Floodlights for the evening match had to be lowered because of the danger from lightning.

Andrew Strauss smashed veteran bowler Glenn McGrath for four fours in one over when England batted, but McGrath had him caught by Jason Gillespie for 25 from what turned out to be the last ball of the match.

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Dominant years for Indian cricket under Greg Chappell guidence

Lauding new Indian coach Greg Chappell’s leadership abilities, former Australian speedster Dennis Lillee on Monday predicted dominant years for Indian cricket under his guidance.

“Greg has phenominal abilities in coaching and Indian cricket will have dominant years under him,” Lillee, who was described by Chappell as one of the tough players whom he had handled while captaining the Australian side.

Lillee, who is here on his routine annual visit to the MRF Pace Foundation to select the Indian boys for training, said: “Greg had shown great leadership abilities as captain of the Australian team. No doubt that his cricketing experience will help India to be a dominant force in world cricket.”

The legendary bowler, however, declined to respond when asked to give his comments on players like Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. “I cannot comment on them.”

As for the coming Ashes series between England and Australia, Lillee said “England look a well-knit team now and the series is going to be a close affair”.

But we have to wait when India will play match under his guidence.

ICC arbiter likely for Ganguly

The International Cricket Council today described as “incorrect” media reports in India that the game’s governing body was likely to reopen Sourav Ganguly’s case regarding the six-match suspension.

ICC President Ehsan Mani said the Ganguly issue did not come up for discussion during the Board meeting.

“Reports in India about the ICC reopening Ganguly’s case are not correct,” Mani said after the ICC’s Business Forum in London.

He said the Indian Cricket Board had written to the ICC on the Ganguly issue and the apex body had in turn replied to the Indian authorities.

“We are now awaiting a reply from them.” Ganguly was slapped with a six-match suspension for his team’s slow overrate during the one-day series against Pakistan.

BCCI had appealed against the suspension by it was turned down by ICC Appeals Commissioner Michael Belloff.

Mani also said that the change in rules regarding one-day matches are on experimental basis for a ten-month period.

“If we find that it is good we will continue with these new rules. If we find that it is damaging to the game we will not adhere to it.”

New labor contract

Now Nba has a new labour contact system.The National Basketball Association players union won’t have to pay legal fees if a high school player sues to overturn the league’s new 19-year-old minimum-age requirement, union spokesman Dan Wasserman said.

According to the labor agreement announced last week, which must still be ratified by owners and players, the National Basketball Association would pay the legal fees associated with the case, Wasserman said in an interview at the organization’s summer meeting in Las Vegas.

Under the new labor contract, a player can’t enter the NBA draft until he’s 19 or until one year after his high-school class graduation date. Players who entered the league directly from high school include LeBron James, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

Last year, eight of the first 19 picks in the draft came from high school, and three of the past four No. 1 overall picks — Kwame Brown, James and Dwight Howard — skipped college. Players coming directly from high school can be selected in tonight’s NBA draft.

NBA Commissioner David Stern had lobbied for a 20-year-old age limit, saying it was too difficult for team executives to evaluate players at such a young age.

Billy Hunter, executive director of the players association, has said he’s philosophically opposed to an age limit but relented during negotiations to secure economic concessions from the owners.

Opposition

A number of players, including Indiana Pacers All-Star Jermaine O’Neal, who entered the NBA from high school, argued against a minimum age.

Former Ohio State University football player Maurice Clarett sued to enter the National Football League draft last year as a sophomore and lost.

NFL policy bars players from entering the draft unless three full college seasons have elapsed since their high school graduation. The league says the rule protects young athletes from injury and protects the jobs of current players.

Clarett argued the policy violated U.S. antitrust laws, and a federal judge in New York sided with Clarett. That ruling was overturned by an appeals court that said the NFL was shielded from liability because its policy was ratified by a collective bargaining agreement with the union.

Stern said he’s confident that the NBA rule would survive any legal challenge.

“It has been held up over time from legal attack,” the commissioner said when the league and union announced the new labor deal on June 21.

Shane’s it at again

The story that drove Shane Warne into hiding finally broke when a London newspaper published more allegations about the cricketer’s extramarital sex and explicit text-messaging.

Three days after Shane and Simone Warne announced their separation after 10 years of marriage, the Daily Mirror claimed Warne had an affair that lasted more than a month with a 31-year-old sales manager, Kerrie Colliemore, just before his family arrived in Britain.

The paper said Warne had assured Colliemore he had separated from his wife.

A “close friend” said Warne began bombarding Colliemore with text messages after they met at a nightclub in Southampton, where the leg spinner captains the English county team Hampshire.

The friend claimed to have found 48 text messages from Warne on Colliemore’s phone, one of which was so steamy it could not be printed.

“Shane wouldn’t leave her alone. The phone was on fire with his messages. Kerrie couldn’t believe how raunchy he was. He had the hots for her big time. She didn’t know anything about his past and thought he was separated,” the friend is quoted as saying.

“He couldn’t keep his hands off her. He wanted sex outside, inside, wherever he could,” including, according to the article, on the bonnet of his black BMW.

The affair apparently ended when Colliemore discovered Simone and the children were on their way from Melbourne.

The lurid account of Warne’s sex life is the latest in a string of off-field scandals to surround the drama-prone cricketer.

Less than two weeks ago the same paper published claims from a 25-year-old London student that Warne pestered her for sex after a night out with his friend, the England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

Five years ago, Warne was stripped of the Australian vice-captaincy after making a string of lewd calls to a Leicestershire nurse, and last year a South African woman, Helen Cohen Alon, was jailed for extortion after claiming he hassled her for sex.

Warne has not been seen since releasing a statement with Simone about the marriage break-up, and it remains unclear whether they have escaped to Spain.

Hampshire have given Warne a fortnight off, and he is due to join the Australian Test squad on July 11 before the Ashes series. Warne’s brother and manager, Jason, was not available for comment last night.

Despite the vivid accounts given by the friend of Colliemore, the paper quotes the woman herself as saying: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have absolutely nothing to say.”

The latest allegations raise more questions about how Cricket Australia handles constant unsavoury revelations about the private life of its most famous cricketer. Its public affairs manager, Peter Young, could not comment specifically but said: “Clearly we would prefer Shane Warne to be creating publicity for the game of cricket through his on-field performances.”

Better than a bump on the head

The last time many fans saw Andy Roddick with a trophy, it was falling out of an overhead bin on an airplane and hitting him in the head.

The TV ad still airs often, and Roddick was asked about it Monday after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

“Every place I go, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen it,” Roddick said. “I’ve been watching that thing for a year now.”

The second-seeded Roddick hopes to fly home next week with his first Wimbledon trophy. He’s three wins away and faces frequent practice partner Sebastien Grosjean on Wednesday.

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