News

Australia beats Switzerland in Fed Cup (July 17)
From Tennis Australia: Australia has returned to the elite Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II following a 5-0 whitewash over Switzerland during this weekend’s play-off, held at Chavannes-de-Bogis.
A comprehensive win by national No.1 Samantha Stosur sealed the victory for Australia. Stosur defeated 17-year-old Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-4 6-2 to give Australia an unsurmountable 3-0 lead.
This year Stosur has amassed an impressive 7-0 win-loss record in Fed Cup singles and doubles, each win coming without the loss of a set.
"I thought I played pretty well," said Stosur. "There were some times there when she started to get back and I really had to put my foot down and get back to the way that I was playing at the start. I tried to keep my concentration towards the end and serve it out.”
Full Tennis Australia report

Plus...
Elena Dementieva did her part, and took Russia all the way back to the World Group for 2007 with two singles victories, leading the visitors to a 3-2 World Group Play-off tie victory against Croatia.
On Sunday, Dementieva took only 67 minutes to beat Croatian No. 1 Karolina Sprem 61 63 to give Russia an unassailable 3-0 lead. The two dead rubbers brought some respectability to the scoreline. Sanja Ancic defeated Vera Dushevina 76 62 in the first of the dead rubbers, and then Ivana Lisjak and Matea Mezak defeated Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Vesnina 36 76(3) 62 to make the final scoreline 3-2 to Russia.

Plus…
Belgium turned in a 4-1 victory over the United States in this Fed Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal and will host Italy in the Final, to be held 16-17 September.
Kim Clijsters sealed the victory by defeating 17-year-old Vania King 60 61 to put Belgium 3-0 up, then Kirsten Flipkens added another point when Mashona Washington was forced to retire in the second set of the dead fourth rubber with a sprained right knee ligament with the score 26 31 ret. The USA gained its only point when Jill Craybas and King defeated Leslie Butkiewicz and Caroline Maes 61 62.
Source: Fed Cup website

Mauresmo takes Wimbledon (July 9)
From Wimbledon.org: In a match where she might so easily have crumbled, top seed Amelie Mauresmo magnificently captured her second Grand Slam title of the year on Centre Court. Having surrendered the first set and seen a hard-earned break of serve in the second wiped out, Mauresmo found the strength to overcome Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to take her first Wimbledon title. She is the first Frenchwoman to accomplish the feat since the great Suzanne Lenglen in 1925.
Full story from Wimbledon

Singles Final Preview (July 8)
From Wimbledon.org: Discounting the absence of a glamour ingredient, the ladies' singles final at the 2006 Championships is about as perfect as it could get, with world number one Amelie Mauresmo, winner of the Australian Open in January, facing the third seed and winner of last month's French Open, Justine Henin-Hardenne, for the world's premier title. Two talented, hard-working ladies who take a positive attitude about their profession and who should make this a memorable occasion.
Mauresmo thinks this will happen if they both achieve the level of performance they are capable of. "Considering our style of play on grass, it's going to be pretty exciting," she predicted. It will certainly be more exciting than the Australian final back in January, Mauresmo's breakthrough victory in a Grand Slam. A joyous moment for her, but a forgettable match for the spectators, with Henin-Hardenne forced to call it a day early in the second set because of illness.
The 24-year-old Belgian clearly wants to put all that behind her and refuses to be drawn into what she learned from it or whether the public reactions were a little unfair. "That was January and already we are in July," was her retort. The only that matters is what happens here in the final. What happened in Australia is far away, I'm a different player now. I don't want to think too much about that. It has been a bad experience and that's it."
Wimbledon.org report

Wimbledon round-up (July 7)
Henin sees off Clijsters
Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne maintained her consistent record in Grand Slam play this year when she defeated compatriot Kim Clijsters in straight sets to reach the ladies’ singles final.
The No.3 seed's 90-minute 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over second-seeded Clijsters was achieved in familiar fashion against an opponent she knows so well. This was their 22nd meeting, and Henin-Hardenne now leads the series 12-10.
Wimbledon.org report
Mauresmo silences Sharapnova
Centre Court bore witness to a personal resurrection this afternoon when Amelie Mauresmo battled through to her first Wimbledon final – and retained her world number one spot to boot – by beating 2004 champion Maria Sharapova.
To a huge ovation from the crowd Mauresmo came back from a disastrous second set to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to secure her place in Saturday’s final, where she will play Justine Henin-Hardenne. It will be an intriguing occasion as it will be a rerun of the Australian Open final from January, which the Belgian decided not to complete as a result of stomach ache, handing Mauresmo the title.
Wimbledon.org report
Navratilova out of doubles
Martina Navratilova's dream of marking her final Wimbledon with an eighth ladies doubles' title -- 20 years after her seventh -- evaporated when she and partner Liezel Huber were beaten in the quarter-finals.
Fourth seeded Chinese pair Zi Yan and Jie Zheng beat Navratilova and defending ladies’ doubles champion Liezel Huber 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in a match carried over from yesterday.
Wimbledon.org report

Belgian final for Wimbledon (July 6)
From Wimbledon.org: As the tournament progresses to its business end, one thing is certain: there will be a Belgian in the ladies’ singles final on Saturday.
It is, to put it mildly, quite remarkable that one of the smallest nations in Europe (pop. 10 million) regularly provides two of the finest contenders at this, or any other, Grand Slam. The head-to-head statistics show just how long, and how evenly contested, has been the rivalry between Justine Henin-Hardenne of French-speaking Wallonia and Kim Clijsters, from the Flemish-speaking part of the country. And also how close are their skills and achievements.
Full story

Wimbledon round-up (July 5)
Naked Capers Fail to Shake Sharapova
It takes a lot to upstage Maria Sharapova, but it is possible. A streaker did it on ladies' quarter-final day but opponent Elena Dementieva was exposed in her efforts to do so.
Full story
The Sound of Maria
She didn't blame it for her loss, but Elena Dementieva took issue with Maria Sharapova's grunting on court today.
Full story
Mauresmo Hopes For French Double
Amelie Mauresmo wants to ensure that France has a day to remember on Sunday, if both she and the French football team can win their respective semi-final clashes this week.
Full story
Clijsters Shows Her Class
In defeating China's Na Li, Kim Clijsters has set up a semi-final encounter with Justine Henin-Hardenne. A win would level the pair's head-to-head tally at 11-11 and propel the No.2 seed to her first Wimbledon final.
Full story
Justine Keeps Her Eye on the Prize
She's in impressive form, but Justine Henin-Hardenne won't be drawn on her chances of winning her first ladies' singles title at Wimbledon this week. That's just not her style.
Full story

Clijsters too strong for youngster (July 4)
From Wimbledon.org: Experience triumphed over youth this afternoon on Court Two, as Kim Clijsters saw off last year's Wimbledon girls' champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2. Despite the defeat, the 17-year-old showed more promise than the scoreline suggested and at times stretched the number two seed with some exciting play.
That the young Pole reached the fourth round on her first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament surely merits congratulation. Ranked 217 in the world – a figure which will receive a huge boost when the new rankings are released next Monday – Radwanska made her Tour debut barely two months ago, in Warsaw, where she beat the 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina en route to the third round. Here at Wimbledon she was only the fifth wildcard ever to progress to the last 16, and she did it without so much as dropping a set.
Full story

Williams exits Wimbledon (July 2)
From Wimbledon.org: Venus Williams headed towards Wimbledon's exit door, admitting that her lack of match practice this year was only partly to blame for the shock defeat to Jelena Jankovic which saw her concede her singles crown before the first week was out.
“It's nice to have a lot of matches going into any tournament. But I definitely think I could have played better tennis whether or not I had more matches,” the three-time Wimbledon champion said.
And the American said that her opponent had done plenty to earn the victory, saying: "She just played well. I wasn't able to play my best. I was having problems with my left wrist. There were definitely some things I could have done better. But as I said, she played well.”
Venus did sound one note of controversy when she explained why she had complained to the umpire about how rapidly Jankovic was serving.
“When I was walking to the line, she would serve immediately, which made it difficult to get ready. As soon as I got into position, like before I could get down, she would start serving.”
But when pressed as to whether she thought this was a deliberate tactic of Jankovic's, Venus opted to remain graceful in defeat. “I just think that maybe she plays at that pace,” she said diplomatically.
Venus, the sole representative of the Williams family at this years’ Wimbledon, admitted that it was strange not to be continuing on to the second week of the tournament. But she insisted she’ll be back.
More from Wimbledon.org

Hingis out of Wimbledon (July 1)
Martina Hingis (12) bowed out at Wimbledon on Day 5 yesterday in what should have been an easy victory for the former Wimbledon champion. Japan’s Ai Sugiyami (18) rallied back from 3 games to love down in the third set to take the match from the ‘Suisse Miss,’ 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. 
When questioned about what went wrong in the match Hingis explained, “She didn’t miss. She played a great match. She’s probably, on this surface, harder to play than anything else because she’s very fast.”
Hingis is well and truly back from her comeback. She denied poor form as a reason for her early demise; “You know the last couple of weeks, I’ve been training. I thought I was doing better. Also here in the tournament. But definitely Sugi was a different level from the other two matches.”
Sugiyami is a quiet achiever on the circuit never having one a grand slam singles title but performing well over her 14 years as a pro player. The 29 year olds previous best Wimbledon singles performance was in 2004 when she made it to the qualifying round.
Still, even without the singles title, there is no denying Sugiyami’s tennis prowess; having won three out of the four grand slams as a doubles player in the last five years. She was champion at Wimbledon in 2003 but has yet to clinch an Australian open win.
By Antonia Magee

Plus…
Kim Clijsters (2) played a strong third round match against China’s Jie Zheng to play on at Wimbledon. Clijster’s read Zheng’s baseline game well and served strongly to take the match 3-6, 2-6. Fellow countrywoman, Justine Henin-Hardenne (3), also won convincingly against Russian Anna Chakvetadze (30), 2-6, 3-6.
In her post match interview, Clijsters explained that although confident in her tournament thus far, “There’s always room for improvement. Doesn’t matter how good you are playing.”
She also sidestepped the controversial ladies prize money problems and put her support behind Venus Williams who has been very vocal on the issue. “I think Venus wrote a really, really good article in the papers… I think she said what we all think.”
Clijsters denied claims that the women were planning on boycotting the tournament but admitted that this had been part of the discussions among the troops. The women’s singles prize money is £30,000 less than the men’s.
The second half of the women’s third round will played today on day 6 of the grass court championships. Reigning champion, Venus Williams (6), plays Jelena Jankovic (26) in what will be only one of the great games in the remaining six matches of the round.
Russian doll, Maria Sharapova (4), plays US stalwart, Amy Frazier on Centre Court in a potentially tough match for the 2004 Wimbledon champion. This is Frazier’s seventeenth Wimbledon and if she can get past Sharapova, it will be a huge ranking boost for the 32 year old, who must be nearing the end of a long career.
With nearly a fifteen-year age gap between the two players, Sharapova was a twinkle in her parent’s eye when Frazier debuted in 1987; there is a clear game advantage to the young Russian not only in skills but also in prize money. The Russian has almost won a third of the American’s career winnings in 2006 alone.
The other matches include Amelie Mauresmo (1) and Australia’s Nicole Pratt. Unseeded American Shenay Perry plays Sybille Bammer from Austria and Shuai Peng faces Flavia Pennetta (16) to make the fourth round.
By Antonia Magee
Wimbledon web

Pratt through to third round at Wimbledon (June 30)
Nicole Pratt has hit her way through to the third round of Wimbledon in a three set win over France’s Tatiana Golovin (29). Pratt fought back after losing the first set 2-6 to take the final two 6-4, 6-4.
Pratt has been a constant on the women’s circuit since her debut as a pro in 1992, but she has never made the third round of the British grass court championships. Her win over Golovin has silenced critics of her grass court abilities after a convincing victory.
The 136th seed Aussie told reporters “ I’m going to remember these moments because it’s getting towards the end of my career and everyone said I couldn’t play on grass, so its nice to be able to play well on grass.”
She now faces what will be one of the toughest matches of her career when she faces number one seed, Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated fellow Australian, Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 6-2.
Pratt is pragmatic about her third round match, “Unfortunately for me, Mauresmo’s going to come in respecting my game.” ”She’s not looking to allow me to get into the match,  so I expect her to take me very seriously,” she said in a post match conference.
She is the only Australian woman left in the singles tournament after Alicia Molic bowed out yesterday in her second round clash with Slovakian Katerina Srebotnik (21), 2-6, 1-6.
By Antonia Magee
Wimbledon  

Hingis back to the good old days (June 29)
From Wimbledon: It seems like old times. Martina Hingis is in the third round, she has dropped a paltry seven games so far and, as the evening drew in over SW19, she took just 60 minutes to beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy 6-1, 6-2. It is five years since Hingis last graced these courts and yet she is playing as if she had never been away.
Perhaps the All England Club were having a little joke at Hingis’s expense (perish the thought) or perhaps it was just the luck of the draw, but no sooner had Hingis expressed, on Tuesday, her deep affection for Court Two and her less than warm feelings towards Court One than she was scheduled to play on the second most famous show court in town.
Then again, you can see Hingis’s point: her memories of the place are grim. It was on Court One that she, as top seed, was beaten in the first round by Jelena Dokic in 1999. A girl remembers these things, especially when she is only six months into her comeback after a three year break and is desperate to prove that she is still a contender.
Full story

Clijsters launches (June 27)
From Wimbledon: Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Kim Clijsters was quickly into her stride as she took on the recently installed champion of Birmingham, Vera Zvonareva, in the opening match on Court No1.
With a series of blistering groundstrokes the Belgian, seeded two at this year’s Championships, put the Russian, world ranked 44, under immediate pressure. The 21 year-old Zvonareva, who has twice reached the fourth round here, was forced to stave off break points in both her opening service games as Clijsters, moving easily over the luscious grass, whipped returns, put away volleys and blasted drives to all corners of the court.
Full story l

Wimbledon scores out (June 26)
From the Guardian: As the curtain rises on Wimbledon for 2006, the sorry truth is that the winner of the women's championship still doesn't get as much prize money as the winner of the men's.
For Venus Williams, who is defending her women's title again this year, it's a travesty. She has been vociferous in her attacks on the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club over the issue: on the eve of the championship she is still smarting over the announcement made earlier this year that the winner of the men's competition will get £655,000, while the winner of the women's will net less - £625,000.
Story link

Davenport withdraws from Wimbledon (June 21)
From The Guardian: Lindsay Davenport has pulled out of this year's Wimbledon championships because of the back injury which has troubled her since last year's final at the All England Club. Serena Williams was another, earlier, withdrawal. Guardian article

Molik a Wimbledon wildcard (June 14)
The All England Club has given former world number eight tennis player Alicia Molik a wildcard entry in the upcoming Wimbledon tournament.
A total of eight singles wildcards are to be announced. So far four Britons (Sarah Borwell, Anne Keothavong, Katie O'Brien and Melanie South) have been nominated, along with the Australian.
The tournament begins  on June 26.
Wimbledon

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Features

Is there a future for Australian tennis? (Nov 7, 2005)
Mixed messages from the sport

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