The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Reality check for Mr Sharapov as daughter advances Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:46 AM PDT  Sharapova of Russia hits a return to Jankovic of Serbia during their women's singles quarter-final match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris. — Reuters pic PARIS, June 5 — Maria Sharapova's father is so confident about his daughter's French Open credentials that he has declared that she "can beat Rafael Nadal on clay". Whether or not Yuri Sharapov still held that belief when his only child was whitewashed by Jelena Jankovic in the opening set of her Roland Garros quarter-final on Wednesday is anyone's guess. What is in no doubt is that he raised a champion who is always ready to fight it out to the bitter end, and Sharapova kept her wits about her following a first-set walloping. After watching the set disappear under a hail of unforced errors flying off her racket, Sharapova kept alive her hopes of retaining the Suzanne Lenglen Cup with a 0-6 6-4 6-3 win over Jankovic. Sharapova had entered the contest with a 7-1 win-loss record over her old sparring partner from the Bollettieri Academy but no one would have guessed that following the opening 28-minute nightmare. With the Russian's backhand misfiring, forehand malfunctioning and serve stuck in first gear, Sharapova gave Jankovic free rein to do as she pleased. The Serbian former world number one blasted winners with her "money-shot" backhand "that pays my bills" and drew loud cheers for sliding into the splits as she chased down the ball. Jankovic wrapped up the first set after yet another sloppy forehand from Sharapova, which took the number two seed's unforced errors count to 20. "You have to erase the chapter and move forward... no matter how bad I was playing or how well my opponent was playing, I still felt I was in the match," a relieved Sharapova said in courtside interview. "Sometimes you just have to get the job done, and I did today." Jankovic, rather than pressing home her advantage in front of a group of flag-waving Serbian male fans who chanted her name throughout the match, paid a huge price for what at the time seemed like an innocuous mistake. A slight misjudgement from the 18th seed in the opening game of the second set, when she opted to hit the ball at Sharapova rather than go for an outright winner, threw the Serbian off course and she went on to drop her serve and the set. That left Jankovic to resort to her usual habit of muttering away to herself as Sharapova kept her eye firmly on the ball to break in the seventh game of the third. A forehand into the tramlines from Jankovic handed Sharapova a place in the semi-finals for the third year running and a date with third-seeded Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka who beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (3) 6-2. "At the end she was the better player. I was a bit unlucky, but I fought, I fought hard until the end," said Jankovic, who was unsurprisingly plastered with tape along her shoulder and thighs after a hectic few days of playing singles, doubles and mixed doubles in Paris. "A couple of bad decisions...and this is what happens." — Reuters |
| Everton appoint Martinez as manager Posted: 05 Jun 2013 07:10 AM PDT  Reuters file pic of new Everton manager Roberto MartinezLONDON, June 5 — Roberto Martinez has been named Everton manager after leaving Wigan Athletic where the Spaniard forged a reputation for making the best of limited resources and playing attractive football. Martinez has signed a four-year contract at Goodison Park, Everton said on their website (http://www.evertonfc.com) on Wednesday. He guided Wigan to FA Cup success in May when they upset Manchester City in the final but could not prevent the club being relegated from the Premier League days later. The 39-year-old replaces David Moyes who left Everton in May after 11 years to take over from Alex Ferguson who has retired as manager of Premier League champions Manchester United. The Spaniard is likely to bring a fresh approach to the Merseyside club who are used to Moyes's more pragmatic style. Everton finished sixth in the standings last season. Despite habitually being involved in a relegation battle with Wigan, Martinez bucked the trend of struggling coaches by sticking to his principles and playing passing football. After spending most of his playing days in Britain, Martinez began his managerial career at another of his former clubs Swansea City. He won plaudits for their free-flowing style of play and guided the Welsh side to the League One (third division) title in his first full season in charge. He joined Wigan in 2009 replacing Steve Bruce, and had kept them up against the odds every year until this season. Martinez was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool last year and was even photographed talking publicly with the club's owner John W Henry but has now joined their rivals Everton. — Reuters |
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