The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Venus Williams dumped out of Rome masters by Robson Posted: 13 May 2013 08:48 AM PDT
With clay dust swirling around the tree-lined Foro Italico courts, the American former world number one suffered a scrappy, undignified exit as her fabled power game misfired. Robson will now try to complete a rare double as top seed Serena Williams, winner in Madrid, awaits in round two. Venus, who has been out of action since early April when she lost to sister Serena in the semi-finals at Charleston, lost her serve three times in the first set and conceded the opener with two wild forehands that landed metres over the baseline. Robson, who returned to form in Madrid with a notable win over world number three Agnieszka Radwanska after a series of early defeats following a strong run at the Australian Open, was the more solid of the two in the swirling breeze. The 32-year-old Williams continued to struggle and dropped serve to trail 3-1 in the second set when Robson belted a forehand on to the baseline. Robson, 19, who recently split from coach Zeljko Krajan after nine months, wobbled when serving for the match at 5-1, throwing in an eighth double-fault. Two Williams double-faults in the following game allowed Robson to reach match point but she made a hash of the first one before Williams saved a second with a thumping forehand winner. Robson completed victory at the third attempt with a simple forehand put-away off a loopy Williams miss-hit. Ninth seed Samantha Stosur eased through with a 6-2 6-3 win over Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan while Italian wildcard Nastassja Burnett, ranked 141, enjoyed a surprise 6-2 6-2 win over France's Alize Cornet. In the men's draw Marin Cilic was one of the few seeds in action on Monday, the Croatian seeing off Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 6-4 6-2. Men's top seed Novak Djokovic will hope to make up for an early defeat in Madrid when he begins in the second round on Tuesday against either Spain's Albert Montanes or Slovakian Martin Klizan. Rafael Nadal, winner of four claycourt titles already this season after returning from injury, will begin with an Italian opponent in round two, either Fabio Fognini or Andreas Seppi who were battling it out later on Monday. — Reuters |
| Spanoulis drives Olympiakos’s “miracle” victory Posted: 13 May 2013 07:27 AM PDT
Spanoulis, nicknamed "Kill Bill", buried 22 second-half points to steer recession-hit Olympiakos to a memorable 100-88 win against the eight-time Euroleague winners at London's 02 Arena on Sunday. As so often before in his illustrious career, which has included one title in Europe's premier club basketball competition during two stints with bitter city foes Panathinaikos and a spell with the Houston Rockets, the 30-year-old stepped up to the mark when his team needed him most. "It was an unbelievable three days in London because we came as champions but also as outsiders, considering the budget and the difficult season in which we've had to play so many games," Spanoulis told reporters after engineering his team's fightback from a 17-point deficit. "We had our backs against the wall so many times but this team has amazing chemistry. Everyone knows his role, we feel like a family and we are a family. "We came into a difficult situation but remained united in the locker room and we deserve to be at the top of Europe," he said. Olympiakos, cheered on by thousands of Greek fans, became only the fourth team in the competition's history to retain the title and their comeback was just as impressive as last year's when they beat CSKA Moscow 62-61 in the final thanks to a game-winning shot on the buzzer by forward Georgios Printezis. Their double success is all the more admirable given that it came amid the crippling recession in Greece, which has had three years of harsh budget and wage cuts with unemployment rising to 27 per cent. DORSEY DEPARTURE Olympiakos, like other sports clubs, have felt the crunch and were forced to release some of the game's big names in order to stay afloat, including NBA stalwart Josh Childress in 2010 and Serbia guard Milos Teodosic in 2011. Olympiakos triumphed last year after overturning a 19-point second-half deficit in the final but repeating the feat this term looked unlikely when their towering American centre Joey Dorsey left the club midway through the season after the holders endured a patchy run. Driven by Spanoulis and the supporting cast, notably Printezis, fellow forward Kostas Papanikolau and American centre Kyle Hynes, Olympiakos reached the playoffs and then the Final Four with a 3-2 win over Efes Istanbul in a gruelling quarter-final series. Coach Georgios Bartzokas had a huge pair of shoes to fill after taking over from Serbian Dusan Ivkovic during the off-season but kept the bulk of the side together, preserving the team spirit that enabled Olympiakos to yet again humble the royalty of European club basketball. "We were united and we are a big example for all of Greece that we can make miracles," Bartzokas said. "Life makes beautiful stories and I want to thank the fans who came here all the way from Greece and spent so much money. I was in the right place at the right time with this team." Bartzokas, who coached modest Greek sides Panionios and Maroussi before he succeeded Ivkovic, paid tribute to his predecessor and fellow Serbian Zeljko Obradovic, who won 11 Greek championships and five Euroleague titles with Panathinaikos before he quit last year. "The Serbian coaches who achieved previous titles with Greek teams helped Greek basketball. They brought the knowledge. But my face is the face of a Greek coach. I hope there is a continuation and that many coaches will achieve more titles." — Reuters |
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