Wimbledon's Hosking wants to gain competitive edge this winter

Wimbledon rower Sophie Hosking has vowed not to give her rivals any advantage this winter as she prepares to qualify for the London Olympics.

“There are always people coming behind you, so you have to defend your position in the boat, but you also have to push yourself to be better,”(wimbleadon said)
“The world championships were disappointing, but they come around again pretty quickly, so there is a chance to put it right.

“This is only my second year in the event and I feel a lot more confident in what winbledon is doing"

Wimbledon will lead the table on Christmas Day after a string of games were postponed at the weekend, but Evans says their squad is light compared to his and Luton's.

Wimbledon Championship: Anderson to play SA Tennis available

At the 2011 SA Wimbledon Championship Tennis now available will be played at Montecasino in Johannesburg from 31 January to 6 February.

Feliciano Lopez is a champion 2010 of Spain, Kevin Anderson will be in the field for this R3.5-million tournament. Previous year Anderson left the tournament in 2008. However, the South African will return in 2011 in all likelihood as a seeded player.

Tournament Direction Ian Smith said, “It is very exciting for us to have Kevin back for next year’s tournament. The South African public love to support the local players and with his current form, Kevin is sure to give them something to shout about.

Smith said, “Considering that the Australian Open is played just before our tournament which makes top-20 players hard to acquire, I feel we’ve put together a most competitive and interesting field. I have little doubt we will be witnessing some remarkable tennis during the first week of February.”

The tournament will be played end of the weekend for 29 and 30 January and their torunament will be no charge for tennis fans to attend end those two days.

At all Computicket outlets nationwide and the Montecasino Box Office tikets are available.

Philip Brook: Chairma of All England Club

Philip Brook, member of Wimbledon championship management committee since 1997. He is a captain of Cambridge University's tennis team.

Brook, 54 years old has been a member of All England Club and elected chairman of Wimbledon’s All England Club.

Tim Phillips had last chairman in the post after 11 years who retired.

The appointment was announced on Thursday and is effective instantly.

Wimbledon Championship Winner Jamie Murray Weds with Her Fiancée Alejandra Gutierrez

JAMIE MURRAY wed his fiancée Alejandra Gutierrez on 29, OCT, 2010.

Now the next rising question is that would his little brother and best man, tennis ace Andy be next to tie the knot with long-term love Kim Sears?, time will only tell.

Jamie weds Alejandra in her home town Dublin,the on-off couple Andy and Kim Sears posed happily for wedding pictures with 24-year-old Wimbledon doubles winner Jamie and his Colombian bride.

The family tried no to unveiled the wedding venue - but Andy, 23, Jamie and dad Willie, 55 had to dodge a scrum of waiting snappers by using the tradesmen's entrance to the Cromlix House Hotel in Kenbuck, Perthshire.

Only around 40 friends and family were invited to the intimate service.

Roy Erskine exposed that "I don't think either of my grandsons will find the wedding too much of a trial.

"We know Alejandra very well and she's a really lovely girl."

Hercules Wimbledon is the action in the English six-stage road relay championships

Hames Hare & Hounds' Matt Lynas was the first UK finisher Munich Marathon Sunday in 2:42:18. He was the twenty-second out of over 5000 runners.

Hercules Wimbledon Alex Urban was the second British runner out of almost 2000 finishers in the Brussels marathon personal best 2:48.00.

Fran-tastic: Hercules Wimbledon's Francesca Clarke made nearly half minutes off his previous best time to win the women's race parkrun Kingston on Saturday. Suspicious "Claus Wagner won the men's competition.

DEADLY DUO: The Ethiopians Twedros Shirebaw (30:51) and Kidst Yickenki (36:40) led home a 200-strong field in Kingston 10 km road race on Sunday. Hercules Wimbledon's over-60 veteran Steve Badgery was 16 (42:29).

FIT Fagan Herne Hill's Deron Fagan was eighth a personal best 37:37 at Lexus Croydon 10 km road race on Sunday won the Eritrean Mehretab Solomon (30:54). Kingston & Polytechnic Ron Taylor was ninth (37:57).

KINGS PARK: Thames Turbo Triathlon Roger Barr will lead the field home Bushy Park parkrun, while Clapham Chasers' Rachel Bentley scored five wins in a row at Crystal Palace. Belgrave Neil Speaight was in Cambridge and Epsom & Ewell Lloyd Hurrell at Banstead Woods.

Wimbledon Championship at WTA tennis finalist Zvonareva triumphs

Finalist Vera Zvonareva Winbledon at WTA tennis defeated Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 at the 700,000-dollar in her first match WTA San Diego Open.
For the third seeded it was the first match Russian since she lost to US star Serena Williams in the Wimbledon championship match.
Zvonareva, ranked ninth, breezed through the first set but was pushed to a third as Cibulkova battled back.
But Zvonareva answered the challenge, showing no sign of a right hamstring injury that saw her withdraw last week at Stanford.
Next up for Zvonareva will be US qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, who advanced when Argentina's Gisela Dulko retired with a sprained right ankle after losing the first nine games.
Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska defeated South African Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 6-3 to book a date in the round of 16 against Russian Dinara Safina, who snapped a six match losing streak on Monday.
China's Zheng Jie defeated American Shenay Perry 6-3, 6-2 while Israeli seventh seed Shahar Peer ousted Serbian Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
Italian fifth seed Flavia Pennetta downed Ukranian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 7-5 and will next face Russian Maria Kirilenko, who outlasted Japan's Kurumi Nara 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3.

Wimbledon 2010: Epic halted at 59-59 in fifth set

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut tore up the record books as their epic first-round contest at Wimbledon became the longest in tennis history.

The match was locked at 59-59 in the final set after 10 hours of play when it was suspended because of bad light.

The decision meant that, incredibly, the contest would go into a third day, having been called off at two sets all on Tuesday for the same reason.

It will resume on Court 18 on Thursday after two other singles matches.

The final set, which began shortly after 1400 BST on Wednesday and was still going seven hours later when the sun went down, is already longer than any match ever played.

Isner, with 98, and Mahut (95) have also both smashed the previous record for the most aces, the 78 set by Ivo Karlovic in a Davis Cup tie in 2009.

The previous longest match was at the French Open in 2004, when Fabrice Santoro beat Arnaud Clement after six hours and 35 minutes.

The longest at Wimbledon had been the famous battle in the days before tie-breaks between Pancho Gonzales and Charlie Pasarell in 1969, which took five hours 12 minutes and finished 22-24 1-6 16-14 6-3 11-9 to Gonzales.

There was no indication of the drama that was about to unfold when Isner and Mahut resumed on Tuesday afternoon locked at two sets all.

But fans quickly crammed into court 18 - capacity 782 - as word spread about the historic contest and every possible vantage point outside was taken.

Mahut, from France, had his first break points of the entire set at 50-50, but Isner, 25, dug deep into his reserves to save both.

The 6ft 9in American had two match points himself at 33-32 and another at 59-58, all of which Mahut managed to fend off.

Towards the end, the umpire's voice was going, rallies had become collectors' items and the scoreboard was broken because it could not cope with the alien numbers.

Just after 2110 BST, Mahut complained that he was having difficulty seeing the ball and the decision was taken to suspend play.

Wimbledon 2010: Rafael Nadal powers past Nishikori on Centre Court return

RAFAEL Nadal made a significant statement of intent as he launched his Wimbledon assault with a hugely impressive victory over Kei Nishikori.

The Spaniard, who missed out on the chance to defend his title 12 months ago through injury, was returning to Centre Court for the first time since his epic final win over Roger Federer in 2008.

And while Federer and Novak Djokovic, the two players directly behind him in the world rankings, laboured to five-set victories over journeymen opponents the previous day there were no such worries for Nadal.

Normally it takes the 24-year-old a couple of matches to find his feet on grass after switching from his favoured clay but the transition this time was almost immediate.

The way he clinically despatched the dangerous Nishikori 6-2 6-4 6-4 was impressive and would not have gone unnoticed by Federer, who regained his crown in the Mallorcan's absence last year.

Nadal was delighted to get off to a flying start and avoid the problems which befell his great rival against Colombian outsider Alejandro Falla.

He said: "Opening matches are tough and it's important to pass them.

"After that I think I will start to play a lot better. It just takes a little while to adjust to the timing of the ball.

"For me it was very special to come back to the nicest centre court in the world. To be here is unbelievable as I worked so hard to come back. The crowd here are always amazing so I want to thank them very much, they make me feel like I'm at home.

"I watched Roger the previous day and it was very close, but the first round is always very difficult.

"Normally for him it is easier than the rest of the players because he likes to play on grass so much. He needs to adjust his game less than everybody else.

"Falla had a great chance to beat the best player in history on this surface but he didn't and the win will be very good for Roger's confidence."

Despite watching Federer toil Nadal still thinks the Swiss star is the man to beat here over the next fortnight and believes he still sets the benchmark in the men's game.

Nadal has seven Grand Slam titles - nine behind the world No.1, but has been tipped to double his tally now he is free from the knee problems which blighted his progress last season.

He said: "I'm happy to have seven as that's more than I dreamed of a few years ago. I feel lucky to have a chance of winning another here but we will see how many I have when I finish my career. If I'm still playing well and improving hopefully I will have more chances to win, although it is very difficult to win Grand Slams."

Many shrewd observers reckoned Nadal's knee injuries would prove insurmountable yet he appears even stronger than ever this year.

His Japanese opponent is tipped to be a future top-10 performer but he was handed a tough lesson yesterday.

Nadal said: "For me this was a very good victory against a diff icult opponent and the next round will also be dangerous against a server like Robin Haase."

Nadal will now face Dutchman Haase in front of the Queen, who will be on Centre Court tomorrow for the first time since 1977.

He said: "It will be a pleasure to have the Queen here at Wimbledon. It is very good for the sport.

"There is not any extra pressure on me. It will just be an honour to watch her in the Royal Box. I would love to have the chance to say hello to her."

Wimbledon 2010: Serena Williams 'to dress more conservatively' for the Queen

The world number one is expected to play her second round match in front of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Centre Court.
It is the first time the monarch has visited SW19 since 1977.

Williams, who beat her first round opponent in straight sets yesterday (tues), has been busy practicing the mark of respect and said she was “speechless” at the thought of playing in front of the Queen.
“My curtsy is really fun, she said yesterday. “It is a little dramatic, I want it to be more natural - right now it feels really forced, so I am looking forward to nailing it.
“It’s something that she’ll definitely never forget, if I ever even get a chance to meet her.
“We really don’t do that so much in the United States, so I’m working really hard on it.”
Williams, 28, said she had planned to practice her curtsy during her first round match, but lost the courage.
“I think I flubbed it, so I’m definitely going to work on it a little more. I’m trying to tone down my wrist action.”
Williams beat Portugal’s Michelle Larcher de Brito in an hour and three minutes as the two women battled it out in front of a capacity crowd.
Both women are known for their loud grunting as they hit the ball, with the loudest noise recorded at 90 decibels – the equivalent of motorway traffic.
Williams, who is known for her striking fashion sense, sported a “strawberries and cream” outfit in honour of Wimbledon – complete with strawberries on her socks.
Temperatures reached 27 degrees Celsius on Centre Court and by 3pm 66 people had been seen by St John’s Ambulance for heat related ailments.
There was further disappointment for British tennis as Anne Keothavong threw away a 4-0 lead in the third set to lose to Australian Anastasia Rodionova.
Rodinova drew boos from the crowd after repeatedly shouting at Keothavong’s supporters to be quiet.
Keothavong was not immune to losing her temper after a series of umpiring decisions went against her, at one point shouting at the line judge: “Are you kidding me? Oh my God. What are you doing, lady?”
Afterwards, Keovathong said: “Nerves got the better of me, to be honest. There’s so much pressure on all of us here.
“There is nothing we would love more than to do well. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. Life goes on, nobody died.”
The warm weather encouraged spectators to flock to the tournament and the queue for on day two was full by 10.15am.
The queue allows for 1,500 seated tickets and 7,000 ground tickets to be bought. Fans without tickets being advised to turn back at Southfields underground station.
The capacity for this year’s tournament has been reduced by 2,500 because courts three, four and six are closed for improvements.
It is the last phase of improvements for the SW19 site.
Wimbledon had its latest finish on Monday night, with a match between Novak Djokovic and Olivier Rochus ending at 10.58pm.
The roof was closed at 8.15pm to allow te first round, five set match to continue with the last two sets lasting an hour each.
By the time the match finished, Centre Court was only a third full.
An All England Club spokesman said: “It is not something we seek to repeat on a regular basis, if at all.”

Wimbledon 2010: Venus Williams wins opening match

Five-time winner Venus Williams safely booked her place in the second round at Wimbledon with a straight-sets win over Paraguay's Rossana De Los Rios.

Belgian duo Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both marked their SW19 returns with opening-round successes.

Clijsters, in her first appearance since 2006, beat Italy's Maria Elena Camerin while Henin was too good for Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova.

But French Open champion Francesca Schiavone was knocked out.

The fifth seed, who reached the quarter-finals last year failed to close out her match against Russia's Vera Dushevina in the second set and lost 6-7 (0-7) 7-5 6-1.

The Italian has not enjoyed the best of records at Wimbledon, but reached the quarter-finals last year, but after also losing in the first round at Eastbourne, she refused to accept she might have rested on her laurels after her Roland Garros win.

"It was a tough match on a different surface with a different feeling. But she played very well and I didn't take my chance in the second set," she said.

"I work hard every day like I always did in my life. Of course, you can enjoy [winning in Paris]. But at the end you have to come back to work."

There were few problems for second seed Venus Williams, Clijsters, seeded eighth and Henin, the 17th seed, who last played at Wimbledon in 2007.

Venus plans to be 'simply the best' again at Wimbledon

LONDON — Venus Williams has revealed her bid for a sixth Wimbledon singles' title is being inspired by pop star Tina Turner.

Venus raised more than a few eyebrows at the French Open last month when she played in a black corset-style dress and flesh-coloured underwear.

The powers that be at the All England Club would never tolerate such a flamboyant outfit, so the eight-time Wimbledon finalist has had to tone down her appearance here.

But Venus still took to the Court One on Monday for her match with Rossana De Los Rios in a uniquely personal outfit.

She claims the so-called shimmy dress is inspired by Turner, whose hits includes the likes of 'Simply The Best' and 'What's Love Got To Do With It'.

Williams was definitely far too good for De Los Rios as she crushed the Paraguayan 6-3, 6-2 to set up a second round meeting with Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

"My dress was inspired by Tina Turner," Venus said. "It still has a lace motif and I think it's just a fun, elegant dress. Here it's all about white. There is no illusion this time.

"I love Tina Turner. Obviously, she's just an amazing, amazing artist, just a survivor.

"She reinvented herself. Plus she looks great. I've loved her forever. So the dress is really inspired by her."

Venus, beaten by sister Serena in last year's final, was never troubled by De Los Rios and admitted she had been raring to go after a long wait due to the length of previous matches on the court.

"It was a really a long day at the tennis (waiting to play). So I was happy to get on and everything was pretty straightforward," she said.

"I was just ready to go. I've been practicing on the grass since Wednesday so I feel like I had a good feel for it.

"It's the first round and that can be tough because you never know how the courts are going to play, if it's going to be slippery, how the bounce will be.

"Each one's playing so different but I was pretty happy with how the court was playing."

Few players on the women's tour can match the potent mix of power and poise Venus displays on grass, but the 30-year-old refused to get carried away by the ease of her first round victory.

"I've had times where I've had a slower start, I've had times where I've had a faster start, so each one is different," she added.

Curtsy and bow--Wimbledon stars work on etiquette

For Queen Elizabeth, whose favorite sport has always been horse racing, is coming to the world's most famous tennis tournament for the first time in 33 years.

She never misses Royal Ascot's annual festival of top-class racing. But she has not been to Wimbledon since her Silver Jubilee year in 1977 when Britain's Virginia Wade won the women's singles.

Current titleholder Serena Williams. who hopes to be playing in front of the Queen on Thursday if the draw works out, said "Wow, this is really, really cool."

"I've been working on my curtsy. It's a little extreme so I am going to have to tone it down," she said.

Murray is not quite sure what the etiquette will be.

"I don't want to be bowing and the person I'm playing with walks straight past or the other way round. You obviously need to have an agreement before you go on," he said.

Wade reckons the royal presence will help to energize the Scot and really fire up his game which has tapered off since he reached the Australian Grand Slam final in January.

Last year, when Murray became the first Briton in 71 years to land the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queens, the monarch sent him a note of congratulations.

Britain, which invented the game of tennis and hosts its most glamorous tournament, has not enjoyed success at Wimbledon in the men's singles since the glory days of Fred Perry way back in the 1930s.

BBC commentator Max Robertson was beside himself with excitement after Wade's victory: "Virginia Wade has won the centenary title with the Queen watching her. Virginia will be taking tea with the Queen."

Organizers are hoping -- shocks permitting -- that Queen Elizabeth will get to watch both Murray and Williams when she takes her seat in the royal box on Thursday.

But if Murray fulfils the sporting dreams of a nation, she will not be able to return next week for the final -- she and Prince Philip will be on a state visit to Canada.

Records show that the first royal visit to Wimbledon came in 1895 when Crown Princess Stephanie of Austria came to watch the men's doubles.

Before his accession, George VI even competed in the men's doubles at the 1926 championships. He and Commander Louis Greig were easily defeated in the first round. Their opponents were spared a trip to the Tower of London.

Princess Diana was lucky enough to attend the nail-biting 1981 final between arch rivals John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

But perhaps the most memorable royal moment was offered by the Duchess of Kent in 1993. At the prize-giving, she comforted losing finalist Jana Novotna who broke down and sobbed on her shoulders after her defeat.

Simply the best: Venus Williams begins her quest for for a sixth Wimbledon crown wearing dress 'inspired by Tina Turner'

She was once content to be simply one of the best tennis players in the world, but lately Venus Williams has seemed more interested in causing a stir with her outfits than her performances.But mercifully the 30-year-old chose to avoid the flesh-coloured knickers that caused a stir at the Australian Open.

And yesterday she appeared on the first day of Wimbledon in a tasseled outfit inspired by 80s popstar Tina Turner.

Williams - the number two seed at the tournament - chose a white layered dress that looked more suited to a night club than a tennis club.

Referring to the furore her unflattering underwear caused earlier this year, Williams said yesterday: 'There's no illusion this time. Here it's all about white. I just think it's a fun, elegant dress.

Explaining the inspiration behind the outfit, she said: 'I love Tina Turner. Obviously, she's just an amazing, amazing artist, just a survivor.

'She reinvented herself and she looks great. I've loved her forever. So this dress is really inspired by her.'

Despite the attention attracted by her skimpy outfit, the five-time Wimbledon champion won a straight-set victory over Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay.

Wimbledon 2010: Andy Murray vs Jan Hajek Preview

The 2010 Wimbledon tennis tournament is now into its second day of play today (Tuesday, June 22nd), and we’ve already seen a rather eventful day of play yesterday. And today, is when Andy Murray takes on the likes of Jan Hajek from the Czech Republic, on Court 1.

As reported by Mike Dickson, Hajek – who has hardly ever played on grass, has a ranking of 90 and who suffered a heart scare 2 years ago – has high ambitions heading into today’s match against Murray, and is hoping to knock the British No. 1 out.

Hajek says that he not only wants to knock Murray out of the competition, but he also wants to put a dampener on The Queen’s visit to Wimbledon on Thursday for what should, theoretically speaking, be Murray’s second-round appearance.

Joking around about it, Hajek said: “I know she would be disappointed if I beat Andy as this is her first visit for more than 30 years, but it would be good to interrupt her plans.” Hajek has also been keen to emphasize that all his problems are now behind him.

GRF : Roger Federer --- Wimbledon 2010 Preview Ad

Jamie Murray and Laura Robson line up for the Wimbledon mixed doubles

Jamie Murray is hoping to repeat his Wimbledon mixed doubles triumph of 2007, this time with former junior champion Laura Robson.
The pair have applied to the All England Club for a wildcard entry into a form of the game in which Robson, 16, has already done well, reaching the Hopman Cup final with Murray's brother Andy in Perth back in January and then the quarter-finals of the Australian Open women's doubles two weeks later.

Wozniacki Struggling!

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki bounced back from a horror start to her third-round match against Maria Kirilenko to book her place in the last 16 of the Sony Ericsson Open with a 1-6 6-1 6-4 win.

The Danish teenager, ranked second in the world, was reduced to firefighting in the first set as she managed to win just 22% of points on second serve. But she was much improved in the second set, holding her nerve to convert the two break points she created before out-battling her Russian opponent in the third.

She will next face another Russian, 22nd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Francesca Schiavone 7-5 6-3.

Roger Federer Rewrites The History With his 15th Grand Slam Title

The tennis lovers would have had a feast for their eyes on Sunday evening, if they had got a chance for watching the Wimbledon 2009 final match.

The Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer made tennis history Sunday, winning the sixth Wimbledon title in 7 years to claim an all-time best 15th Grand Slam trophy 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14 over American Andy Roddick.

The Swiss, only man to appear in seven consecutive Wimbledon finals, re-wrote the records in front of tennis royalty - Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras, the seven-time All England club champion with whom he shared 14 Grand Slam honours. Federer's victory was his 60th career trophy and third Wimbledon finals victory over Roddick, whom he also beat in 2004 and 2005. The Swiss has defeated the American in 19 of 21 meetings.

Federer will take back the number one ranking he lost last summer to Rafael Nadal, regaining the position he held for a record 237 weeks.

The Swiss was appearing in his sixth consecutive Grand Slam final dating to Roland Garros last year.