Sports Page | News | The First Post

Sunday July 6, 2008

Awesome Nadal wins classic

Rafael Nadal won an amazing Wimbledon final to end Roger Federer's five-year reign as king of SW19. In a game that will go down as one of the greatest ever, five-times champion Federer battled back from two sets down to take the match to a nailbiting finale, but Spaniard Nadal eventually triumphed 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7. Dusk was gathering as he served out the match well after 9pm. Nadal appeared to be cruising after taking the first two sets and he had the defending champion under serious pressure in the third before a rain interruption. When play restarted the set went to a tie-break, which Federer won. The Swiss also won the fourth set, but not before Nadal had led 5-2 in a tie-break only to see Federer bounce back to win 10-8. The standard of tennis in the fifth, as throughout, was breathtaking but eventually the Federer serve cracked and Nadal clinched victory in front of a delirious crowd. (The First Post)

Venus eclipses Serena in final

Venus Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title, overpowering her sister Serena 7-5 6-4 in a high octane final. It was the third time they have met in the final, but the first time Venus has won. As Jon Henderson writes in the Observer: "Thank goodness they were only rubber bullets. The Williams sisters bombarded each other with such ferocity that anything more solid might have caused lasting damage. Defending champion Venus won - to claim the Wimbledon title for a fifth time - principally because she controlled her power just that little bit better in a buffeting wind, which did its best but not enough to spoil an excellent match." (Observer)

Brit star wins Wimbledon crown

Britain has a potential new superstar in the form of 14-year-old Laura Robson who won the girls' singles competition at Wimbledon yesterday. Robson, the youngest player to take part in this year's championships, showed maturity and poise to beat Thai third seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn in three sets on Court One to take the title. She is Britain's first winner since Annabel Croft in the same competition in 1984 and will now be thrust headlong into the limelight. "As of last night, Laura's life took a significant turn," writes Barry Newcombe in the Sunday Times. "The challenge now is to take care of all her current assets and shield her from all the side issues which could only distract from the main objective." (Sunday Times)

"I thought I was going to be sick when I walked on court as there were so many people watching. [But next year] I will take Venus down!" Wimbledon's new darling Laura Robson might only be 14 - but she knows how to dazzle in her post match interviews.

Lewis reigns supreme in the rain

Lewis Hamilton produced a phenomenal performance at Silverstone to win the British Grand Prix in the most challenging of conditions. The McLaren driver somehow stayed on the track as the weather veered between sunshine and torrential rain, despite refusing to switch to wet weather tyres - but his rivals suffered horribly at the hands of the elements. Hamilton had a great start jumping from fourth to second and after he took the lead in the fourth lap he never looked back. Of his main championship rivals, Felipe Massa could barely keep his car pointing in the right direction and was the last finisher, Robert Kubica spun off in the rain and Kimi Raikkonen was a distant fourth. The result leaves Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen tied on 48 points. (The First Post)

"It is by far the best victory I've ever had... on my last lap, I could see the crowd starting to rise to their feet, and I was just praying, praying, praying I could get the car round." After his display over the previous 59 laps was there really any doubt Lewis Hamilton would make the chequered flag?

Ferguson loses Portuguese

Manchester United have lost the services of an important Portguese - Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant Carlos Queiroz is leaving to become Portugal's national manager according to the Sunday Times. Ferguson "now faces the headache of finding the sixth No 2 of his 21-and-a-half-year reign," writes Jonathan Northcroft. Meanwhile in the Mail on Sunday, Joe Bernstein says United will avoid Ronaldo's suitors Real Madrid at a meeting of Europe's top clubs next week. "United's usually diplomatic chief executive David Gill is prepared to blank his Real counterpart Ramon Calderon rather than get sucked into a conversation about the future of United's Portugal superstar," he writes. (Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday)

Kewell completes Galatasaray move

Former Liverpool striker Harry Kewell has completed his move to Galatasaray... Hull City have snapped up Geovanni from Manchester City, the 28-year-old Brazilian joins on a two-year contract... Zenit St Petersburg have slapped a £20m price-tag on Andrei Arshavin, who is being courted by Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal... Didier Drogba wants to leave Chelsea and the London club are lining up Samuel Eto'o as a replacement... Arsenal are set to offer £18m for Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Transfer Talk: all the comings and goings of the close season

Valverde stakes Tour claim

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde will wear the yellow jersey today after winning the opening stage of the Tour de France. He took the lead in the final sprint to claim the victory after Lilian Jegou and David De La Fuente spent 185km of the 197.5km stage in front but were caught by the peloton with 7km remaining. "The Murcia pro was not rated one of the main challengers at the start of the year,"writes Alasdair Fotheringham in the Independent on Sunday. "Valverde's re-emergence on the international scene will almost certainly cause some raking over the ashes of the fading scandal surrounding Operacion Puerto, an anti-doping investigation dating from 2006." (Independent on Sunday)