Jankovic outlasts Lisicki, Safina cruises past Hantuchova

STUTTGART - Defending champion Jelena Jankovic outlasted fighting German teenager Sabine Lisicki, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, to book a place in the Porsche Grand Prix quarter-finals.

Dementieva advances to set up quarterfinal against Bartoli

STUTTGART, Germany — Second-seeded Elena Dementieva overcame a slow start to beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Thursday and set up a quarterfinal match against Marion Bartoli at the Porsche Grand Prix.

Former No. 1 Hewitt and his former managers go head-to-head in court

MELBOURNE, Australia — Details of Lleyton Hewitt’s commercial deals have been revealed in a Victoria state Supreme Court case involving the once top-ranked Australian tennis star and his former management firm.

Bob The Builder was originally ‘Bill with a moustache’

LONDON - Kids’ much-loved ‘clean-shaved’ cartoon character Bob the Builder was originally grumpy with a moustache and was named Bill.

TA to appeal if suspended for Davis Cup pull-out

MELBOURNE - Tennis Australia (TA) Sunday said it will appeal if the International Tennis Federation (ITF) suspends them from the Davis Cup after their pull-out from the tie in India.

Australia to contest any decision to suspend it from next year’s Davis Cup

MELBOURNE - Australia will challenge any decision to suspend it from next year’s Davis Cup after announcing that it would not send a tennis team to India for the May 8-10 tie against India in Chennai.

Australia risks 1-year Davis Cup ban after refusing trip to India, citing security concerns

BRISBANE, Australia — Australia could face a one-year suspension from the Davis Cup after refusing to travel to India in May for the tennis competition, citing “high-risk” security concerns.

Roddick to join Nadal, Murray at Queen’s

LONDON - Four-time winner Andy Roddick will polish his Wimbledon preparation at the prestige Queen’s Club event, the American said Thursday.

Nalbandian wins into possible Barcelona test against Nadal

BARCELONA - Seventh seed David Nalbandian completed a hat-trick of quarter-final placings at the Barcelona Open Thursday as he beat Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4.

New retractable roof for Wimbledon to beat rain, bad light blues

LONDON - Unlike last season’s Australian Open, when a match at Melbourne Park was stopped due to bad light, this year’s Wimbledon will not problem of face poor lighting thanks to retractable roof over Centre Court.

Cash believes Murray can be first Brit to win Wimbledon since Perry

LONDON - Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash believes Andy Murray can become the first Brit since Fred Perry to win Wimbledon.

Navratilova’s ex-lesbian lover threatens to wash dirty laundry in public

NEW YORK - The long time lesbian lover of tennis great Martina Navratilova is threatening to wash their dirty laundry in public if she doesn’t get a settlement to her liking based on their eight years together.

Nadal declares bid to defend Queen’s Club title

LONDON - Spaniard Rafael Nadal has declared that he will defend the Aegon title at London’s Queen’s Club and head for a rankings war with Andy Murray.

Nadal returns to Queen’s for third straight year

LONDON - Rafael Nadal has confirmed his hopes of repeating as champion at Queen’s club saying that he will return as defending champion at the grass-court event June 8-14.

Andy Murray now an alcohol-free zone

LONDON - England tennis star Andy Murray has revealed his strong dislike for alcohol.

‘I hate alcohol,’ Britain’s clean-hitting tennis player was quoted as saying in the Telegraph. ‘I’m not a fan of going out and getting smashed.’

Murray will win Wimbledon this year, says doubles legend Fleming

LONDON - England’s No.1 tennis player Andy Murray has been tipped to win Wimbledon this year by doubles legend Peter Fleming.

Murray claims that he has rediscovered his winning habit

LONDON - British tennis star Andy Murray insists that he has rediscovered the habit of winning as he prepares for a Masters quarterfinal in Miami today.
The British No 1 will take on Fernando Verdasco - who beat him in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January - at the Sony Ericsson Open.
“I’ve now been finding ways to win when I’ve not been playing my best. I guess that’s all you can do. At the end of last year my consistency was great and I’ve started this year really great. I need to make sure I keep it going,” The Sun quoted Murray, as saying.urray is hoping to capture the world number one spot with his recent stupendous form.

Federer says fatherhood won’t affect his passion for tennis

MIAMI - Swiss champion Roger Federer said fatherhood would not affect his fervor for tennis as he eagerly awaits the birth of his first child in summer.

Britain’s Andy Murray eyeing no.1 spot

LONDON - British tennis star Andy Murray is hoping to capture the world number one spot with his recent stupendous form.

Indians disappointed with change in venue of IPL matches.

NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI - The change in venue for the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has brought disappointment to the Indians who were batting for the Twenty20 competition being played in India.

Millionaire dreams of a club: Maradona president, Messi star

DUBAI - Sulaiman Al Fahim has a dream: he wants to buy a small football club to let Diego Maradona lead it off the pitch as president and Lionel Messi take it to greatness as its star.

Becker announces wedding plans on German TV show

GENEVA - Boris Becker chose a popular German game show to announce another go at marriage, saying he is back with his one-time girlfriend Lilly Kerssenberg, and would marry the 32-year-old Dutch model in June.

Venus Williams disappointed Peer didn’t get visa

DUBAI - Venus Williams said that amid her disappointment over the exclusion of Israeli Shahar Peer from the Barclays Championships, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) will not be rushed into a decision on the future of the now-controversial Gulf event.

Sania to meet Zvonareva in Pattaya Open final

PATTAYA - India’s Sania Mirza held off a second set fightback from the eighth-seeded Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, and enter the Pattaya Open final here Saturday.

Bhupathi says tennis players to blame for new dope rules

KOLKATA - India’s tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi Friday blamed the players for the new stringent dope rules, saying they had brought it upon themselves by cheating repeatedly.

Ferrer returns from the brink to reach Rotterdam second round

ROTTERDAM - Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer recovered his form after a weekend flight from South Africa to overhaul Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 for a spot in the second round of the ABN-AMRO World Tennis championship.

Yuki will have to play a lot to go up, says Ramesh Krishnan

NEW DELHI - Former Davis Cupper Ramesh Krishnan put Junior Australian Open champion Yuki Bhambri’s future in perspective, saying that the youngster has to play a lot of matches to make a mark in men’s tennis.

The title was the best way to make a comeback: Sania

MUMBAI - India’s star tennis player Sania Mirza said Monday that winning the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi was the best way she could make a comeback in the international circuit.

Bhupathi and Sania win Australian Open mixed doubles title

MELBOURNE - Mahesh Bhupathi won his 11th Grand Slam title, the first with an Indian partner Sania Mirza when they beat Israel’s Andy Ram and Nathalie Dechy of France in the Australian Open final here Sunday.

Bhupathi makes it a first all-India affair in mixed Grand Slam

MELBOURNE - Mahesh Bhupathi, the first Indian to win a Grand Slam title, Sunday made it a first Indian mixed pair to win a major when he and Sania Mirza took the Australian Open title.