NBey6's Blog

"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism."

- Sir William Osler -

Midday & Evening

** until 7-4-09 **

470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479

920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929

118, 181, 811, 000, 222, 555, 999

 

Roddick survives five-set marathon vs. Hewitt

WIMBLEDON, England - Andy Roddick survived a five-set marathon Wednesday to beat Lleyton Hewitt and advance to the Wimbledon semifinals.

Roddick won 6-3, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4.

Roger Federer neutralized Ivo Karlovic’s huge serves to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and move a step closer to a record 15th Grand Slam championship.

In a match featuring short points and few rallies, Federer conjured up a few great returns to break the 6-foot-10 Croatian twice and secure a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (3) victory on another sunbaked day at the All England Club.

Federer, closing in on his sixth Wimbledon title, reached his 21st consecutive semifinal at a Grand Slam tournament and extended his winning streak to 17 matches with another vintage performance on his favorite Centre Court.

“I love the record I have of reaching so many semifinals in Grand Slams in a row — 21 is quite a number,” Federer said. “It shows how consistent I’ve been.”

It was Federer’s ninth win in 10 matches against Karlovic, who was playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Federer’s next opponent will be Germany’s Tommy Haas, who upset fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to his first Wimbledon semifinal. The 31-year-old Haas was the oldest player in the quarters, while the 22-year-old Djokovic was the youngest.

Third-seeded Andy Murray swept Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal and keep up his bid to become the first British player to win the men’s title since Fred Perry in 1936.

Murray broke the Spaniard five times, served 18 aces and lost serve only once. Murray had 49 winners, compared to 20 for Ferrero, a former No. 1 and only the third wild card to reach the Wimbledon quarters.

It was a dominant performance by Murray, the first Briton to reach the semis since Tim Henman did it for the fourth time in 2002.

Murray will face Roddick.

Karlovic served 23 aces to raise his tournament total to 160, but it was Federer who never faced a break point in this match. The second-ranked Swiss star won 74 of 85 points on serve and was taken to deuce only once, in the sixth game of the third set. Federer got out of that jam with a 129 mph service winner and a 128 mph ace.

“It’s difficult because there’s not really any baseline rallies on his serve or on my serve,” Federer said. “You expect a tough scoreline all the time. It’s not easy to break him. I’m very happy to break him twice and win the match.”

The statistics told the story: Federer had 39 winners and only seven unforced errors, to 29 winners (almost all on serve) and 17 errors for Karlovic.

Federer grabbed the upper hand early when he broke Karlovic in the fourth game of the match with flashes of brilliance.

He got to break point with a reflex backhand return winner off a 130 mph serve and then ripped a forehand return winner off a 122 mph serve, pumping his fist and shouting, “Come on!”

It was the first time Karlovic had been broken during the tournament after winning 80 consecutive service games.

“He returned unbelievable few shots and I could not really react on it,” said Karlovic, who added that he was bothered by the sun in his eyes before putting on sunglasses for the rest of the match.

Asked what Federer does better than other players to read his serves, Karlovic said: “It is only because he is better than everybody else. That’s it. He’s maybe the best player ever, but on the grass, he’s by far the best I think.”

The first extended rally of the match — and one of only a handful during the entire contest — didn’t take place until the fourth game of the second set, a 15-stroke point that ended with a Federer forehand winner 35 minutes into the match.

The second set turned Federer’s way when he broke Karlovic in the 11th game with four straight winners: an overhead, a forehand passing shot down the line, a reflex backhand return off a 126 mph serve and a passing shot that glanced off Karlovic’s racket frame.

The third set ended with the 13th tiebreaker the two men have played against each other in 25 sets of tennis. Karlovic’s limitations were exposed as he made several glaring errors, missing badly on what should have been easy putaways. Federer finished him off with an inside-out forehand winner on the first match point.

The 24th-seeded Haas saved three straight set points against Djokovic after going down 6-3 in the second-set tiebreaker. He broke in the fourth game of the fourth set and sealed the win when Djokovic netted a forehand return on the first match point.

The result wasn’t a complete surprise: Haas beat Djokovic in the grass-court final at Halle, Germany, last month.

Haas led Federer two sets to love in the fourth round of the French Open, only to lose in five. He said he hopes to make amends on Friday.

“That would be nice,” he said. “I’ll give it my best shot. There’s not much he (Federer) can’t do. He’s obviously the favorite to win the title. I’m going to go out there and try to annoy him a little bit and see what happens.”

The women’s semifinals are set for Thursday.

Third-seeded Venus Williams, going for her third straight Wimbledon championship, will be up against No. 1 Dinara Safina. Serena Williams, seeded No. 2, will face No. 4 Elena Dementieva. The Williams sisters could face each other in a Grand Slam final for the eighth time, and fourth in the Wimbledon title match.

There is a roar coming and it's primarily in the USA and Russia!! The top 4 players are in the Semis and it should be a good fight for the final.

Thursday 7-2-09

Dinara Safina (RUS) vs Venus Williams (USA)

Elena Dementieva (RUS) vs Serena Williams (USA)

Are you ready to rumble???

 

"Happiness is a how, not a what; a talent, not an object."

 - Hermann Hesse -

WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon officials played down swine flu fears Monday after four ball boys and girls were asked to remain home because of flu symptoms.

The All England Club urged all visitors and personnel to stay away from the tournament if they develop any symptoms. The club stressed, however, there was no reason to suspect swine flu had reached the Grand Slam event.

"There's no one that has swine flu," All England Club spokesman Henry O'Grady said. "There are a couple of people that have flu symptoms, and as a result they've been asked to stay at home. ... They haven't been tested for swine flu, and they're not going to be tested."

O'Grady said he did not have any information about the staffers' ages or whether they went to the same school.

Five-time champion Roger Federer said the players were told about the flu cases a couple days ago.

"For sure, not good news," Federer said after beating Robin Soderling in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. "Especially for the players traveling around the world, meeting so many people. It's obviously not a good thing. But I'm sure the club, ATP, ITF, they're trying their very best to protect us as much as they can. Being careful, I think, is very important right now."

Venus Williams, who advanced after Ana Ivanovic retired with a thigh injury in the second set of their fourth-round match, didn't seem too concerned about the illness.

"I guess there's sicknesses all around. Hopefully the players won't get sick," Williams said. "Hopefully our immune systems are strong enough. That's what they're there for. We're going to all put ours in use, take vitamin C, keep playing and call it a day."

A hospital in Birmingham said Monday a 9-year-old girl infected with swine flu had died, the third fatality related to the illness in Britain. A 73-year-old man and a 38-year-woman who was pregnant died in Scotland this month after catching the disease.

Britain's health ministry says there have been 1,604 new cases of swine flu reported since Friday, bringing the total in the United Kingdom to 5,937. Britain is the hardest-hit nation in Europe with swine flu.

Safina rallies; Williams sisters advance

---

Monday June 29, 2009

ESPN.com news services

WIMBLEDON, England -- Top-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia became the first player to win a match under Wimbledon's new roof, rallying to beat Amelie Mauresmo of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for a spot in the quarterfinals.

 

The match was interrupted with Safina leading 4-1 in the second set for the first rain delay of the tournament. The roof was closed before play resumed about 30 minutes later.

 

When the roof closed, many spectators responded with a standing ovation. Safina liked the new environment, too.

 

"It was great," she said. "Very nice. You can't compare it with anything. It's a really nice atmosphere, especially with the crowd, because it's getting like louder so it's even nicer to play. I mean, I won, so everything was perfect."

 

Safina trailed 3-0 in the final set but broke back twice for a 5-4 lead and then served out the match. She will next play Sabine Lisicki of Germany, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki.

 

Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals when opponent Ana Ivanovic retired one game into the second set. Second-seeded Serena Williams also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Daniela Hantuchova, losing just two points on her first serve and breaking Hantuchova five times to complete the win in 56 minutes.

 

Venus led 6-1, 0-1 when Ivanovic called it quits.

 

Ivanovic took a 10-minute break during the first game of the second set to have her left thigh taped by a trainer. She returned for two more points, but after hitting a service winner to take the game, she began crying as she walked to her chair and told the umpire she was retiring.

 

Ivanovic said she hurt her thigh hitting an ace to erase a break point in the opening game of the second set.

 

"I didn't feel anything up until that point," she said. "When I landed, I just felt a sharp pain on my inner thigh, and I couldn't step on my leg ever since."

 

Ivanovic said she didn't yet know the extent of the injury.

 

Venus, seeking her sixth Wimbledon title, took a 5-0 lead before Ivanovic won a game 27 minutes into the match. Former No. 1 Ivanovic hasn't reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since winning the 2008 French Open.

 

"I don't even know the last time that I had these circumstances," Venus said. "I don't think ever in a Slam. I think she was in a lot of pain. You know me -- I'm one of those players, I just only pay attention to what's going on my side of the net. But today I felt really sad for her actually. She was really upset.

 

"This is Wimbledon. It's the last place you want to have an injury that you can't overcome. So I'm wishing her a lot of luck in her recovery," she said.

 

Serena is looking for her third Wimbledon title after winning here in 2002-03. She lost last year's final to her sister.

 

American 17-year-old Melanie Oudin was eliminated.

 

Oudin, a qualifier from Marietta, Ga., lost to No. 11-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 7-5.

 

Missed chances hurt Oudin. She flubbed an easy volley to lose the first set, and she was up a break in the second set before her surprising Wimbledon came to an end.

 

"I gave everything I had, and she played a really good match," Oudin said. "She played very smart. She made me run as much as she possibly could."

 

Oudin pulled the biggest upset in the first week of the tournament by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic. Oudin was the youngest American to reach the women's fourth round at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati was a quarterfinalist in 1993.

 

Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva and No. 8 Victoria Azarenka also advanced.

 

Azarenka battled her way into the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3 victory over Russia's Nadia Petrova.

 

The eighth seed, the first woman from Belarus to reach the last eight at Wimbledon since Natasha Zvereva in 1998, will have to raise her game to stand a chance against Serena Williams in the last eight.

 

An abysmal first set was awash with unforced errors, both players each losing their serve three times apiece before Azarenka, yowling with effort on every point, squeaked home 7-5 in a tight tiebreak.

 

Petrova, treated at the end of the set with ice packs to counteract the heat, came back with guns blazing to even the match but could not maintain the pressure in the decider, and Azarenka wrapped it up after 2 hours, 25 minutes.

 

Dementieva beat fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-3.

 

Dementieva faced little resistance in the first set and never faced a break point in the match. She sealed the win by breaking for the second time in the second set, converting her second match point.

 

Dementieva is playing her 11th consecutive Wimbledon tournament and reached the semifinals last year.

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Davenport has second child, a girl

---

Associated Press

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport has given birth to her second child.

 

The former No. 1-ranked player gave birth to a girl named Lauren Andrus Davenport Leach on Saturday morning.

 

She and husband Jon Leach already have a 2-year-old son, Jagger.

 

Davenport's agent Tony Godsick said Sunday that "Lindsay and Lauren are doing great, and Jonny and the other man of the family, Jagger, Lauren's brother, are ecstatic."

 

The 33-year-old Davenport won the 1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon and 2000 Australian Open titles.

 

She pulled out of this year's Australian Open when she learned she was pregnant. Davenport said at the time she would be putting tennis on hold "for the foreseeable future."

Former mayor in Georgia arrested for nudity

 Posted: Jun. 27, 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009
Evert: Shrieks distract from matches

---

Reuters

SYDNEY -- Tennis great Chris Evert has joined the chorus of complaints about the noise level in women's tennis, saying the "grunting" was getting out of hand.

 

Evert stopped short of joining former rival Martina Navratilova in labelling the practice as cheating, but agreed it had reached unacceptable levels.

 

 

"Grunting is one thing but the shrill sound that you hear with players nowadays, and especially they get louder when they hit a winner, that's the thing that I observe as a player," the former world No. 1 told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

 

"It comes before they hit the shot. That's the first thing you hear and you are kind of like thrown off guard as a player and then before you know the ball gets past you."

 

Evert is visiting Sydney with her husband Greg Norman, who announced he would play in the Australian Open golf championship for the next three years.

 

"It is distracting when you are hearing this and I think the grunts are getting louder and more shrill now with the current players," she said.

 

"The next time you watch say a Maria Sharapova -- the grunting is consistent but all of a sudden when she has a set up to hit a winner.

 

"I don't understand, they say you've got to blow air out when you hit the ball.

 

"Steffi Graf hit the ball a ton and she didn't grunt. There were a lot of players, hard-hitting players, and you never heard a peep out of them.

 

"I don't understand the philosophy of it."

'Transformers': Worst-reviewed $400 million hit?

Posted: Today at 6:51 a.m.
Updated: Today at 7:33 a.m.

LOS ANGELES &mdashAfter just five days, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is halfway to $400 million domestically, a box-office milestone only eight other movies have reached. If it climbs that high, the "Transformers" sequel will be by far the worst-reviewed movie ever to make the $400 million club.

Critics and mainstream crowds often disagree, but "Revenge of the Fallen" sets a new standard for the gulf between what reviewers and mass audiences like.

The movie pulled in $201.2 million since opening Wednesday, the second-best result for a movie in its first five days, just behind "The Dark Knight" with $203.8 million. Even after its whopping $60.6 million opening day, "Revenge of the Fallen" was packing theaters, a sign that unlike critics, who mostly hated the movie, audiences felt they were getting their money's worth and were giving the flick good word of mouth.

Critics "forget what the goal of the movie was. The goal of the movie is to entertain and have fun," said Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount, which is distributing "Transformers" for DreamWorks. "What the audience tells us is, `We couldn't be more entertained and having more fun.' They kind of roll their eyes at the critics and say, `You have no idea what you're talking about.'"

According to Paramount's exit polls, 91 percent of the audience thought the sequel was as good as or better than the first "Transformers," which received far better reviews.

Most of Hollywood's all-time biggest hits are accompanied by either good or at least passable reviews, and some can be among the year's most-acclaimed, such as this year's "Up" and "Star Trek" and last year's "The Dark Knight," "WALL-E" and "Iron Man."

Not so for the new "Transformers." On Rottentomatoes.com, a Web site that compiles critics' opinions, the sequel had only 38 positive reviews out of 187, a lowly 20 percent rating usually reserved for box-office duds.

Many critics who liked the movie had reservations, praising the movie's visual effects and relentless action but generally advising audiences to check their brains at the door.

The critical drubbing was a new low for "Transformers" director Michael Bay, never a favorite among professional movie reviewers. But he has long been a favorite among fans, scoring hits with the first "Transformers" and such flicks as "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," "Bad Boys II" and "The Rock."

Like blockbuster maestro Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced many of Bay's movies, the director aims to please audiences, not critics.

"He really had blinders on when it comes to what he believed the picture needs to be, and then he executed it," said Brad Grey, Paramount chairman and chief executive officer. "He's a director who is the definition of blockbuster at this point. His grosses speak for themselves."

Bay's previous worst score on Rottentomatoes was 23 percent for "Bad Boys II," followed by 25 percent for "Pearl Harbor." Even his commercial flop "The Island" rated well above the "Transformers" sequel, with 40 percent positive reviews.

Of the eight movies that have grossed more than $400 million domestically, four scored 90 percent or higher on Rottentomatoes: "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man," "E.T. the Extra-terrestrial" and "Star Wars." Two others, "Shrek 2" and "Titanic," topped 80 percent.

The other two had mixed reviews but still came in far higher than "Revenge of the Fallen," with "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" scoring 63 percent and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" rating 53 percent.

This year's biggest hits so far had terrific scores, "Up" with 97 percent and "Star Trek" with 95 percent. Both movies have grossed about $250 million, a number the "Transformers" sequel will soar past by next weekend.

On Metacritic.com, a site that assigns ratings of zero to 100 based on movie reviews, "Revenge of the Fallen" received a 36, a lowly score barely above those given to recent box-office duds "Year One" and "Land of the Lost."

Bay has said that if there is a third "Transformers" movie, he would like to come back for it. But his next project could be far quieter than the explosions and action for which he is known.

"I've got to take a little time off from the robot world," Bay said before the movie opened. "I've got to do something totally different. It's enough of this for right now. I keep saying I'm going to do my small movie. I've got one I want to do."

Monday 6-29-09

181, 018, 019, 647, 813, 745, 226, 928, 362

186, 503, 590, 637, 641, 684, 752, 537, 459

345, 316, 643, 336, 455, 556, 664, 767, 919

000, 222, 333, 555, 888, 3667, 4667, 5757

7755, 1100, 0101, 1221, 0114, 1645, 5146

"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."

- Andrew Jackson -

12 China officials jailed for deadly landslide

BEIJING - A Chinese court has jailed 12 officials for a mine accident last year that triggered a landslide which swept through a northern village and killed at least 277 people, an official said Sunday.

The officials were sentenced to one to five years on charges of negligence and abuse of power, said an official with the Xiangfen county government in Shanxi province who would only give his surname. Li said he had no further details.

The Sept. 8 disaster in Shanxi underscored two major public safety concerns in China: the failure to enforce protective measures in the country's notoriously deadly mines, and the unsound state of many of its bridges, dams and other aging infrastructure.

The collapse of an illegal mining dump unleashed a wave of mud and mining waste that inundated a valley in Xiangfen. The landslide occurred just as morning customers were arriving at a busy outdoor market near a village of more than 1,000 residents.

An investigation after the accident showed the dumping reservoir was built in violation of regulations and had almost no safety inspections.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the jailed officials included seven who worked for the county's land and resources administration; one land and resources administration official for the city of Linfen, which oversees Xiangfen; one environmental protection official; and three township officials. The governor of Shanxi resigned and his deputy was fired.

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."

- St. Augustine -