Roddick pulls out of Cincinnati with pain in the neck
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Andy Roddick's chances of getting rid of his tag as a one-shot, one-slam wonder suffered a further blow when he was forced to quit the Cincinnati Masters due to injury on Tuesday. "I fell asleep last night and woke up with the lights still on," Roddick told reporters on Tuesday. "I kind of passed out and I'm guessing I was in the wrong position.
Wariner has vision of perfect finish in Beijing
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It is the perfect scenario for Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner, a breathtaking image that he has contemplated countless times. The date is August 21 and he is thundering toward the finish line of the men's 400 meters final at the Beijing Games, roared on by a capacity crowd of 91,000 in the Bird's Nest National Stadium.
Federer almost leaves the door open for Nadal
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Roger Federer came close to suffering three successive losses for the first time in five years before scrambling to a 6-7 7-6 6-0 win over Robbie Ginepri at the Cincinnati Masters Series on Tuesday. Federer was staring defeat in the face when he lost his serve to go 5-6 down in the second set, but Ginepri, an American ranked down at 64 in the world, did not quite have what it took to close the match out.
Road Map sends WTA tour in new direction
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Women's tennis will get a 40 percent pay raise next year along with bigger fines, suspensions and responsibility for the leading players. Road Map 2010, the WTA's masterplan to bring order to the sport's structure and schedule, will be formally unveiled at the U.S. Open next month.
Svetlana Kuznetsova first through to third round at Montreal Cup
MONTREAL (Reuters) - Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was the first player through to the third round of the Montreal Cup on Tuesday when compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva retired with a shoulder injury. Kuznetzova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, easily won the opening set 6-1 and was up 1-0 in the second when Kudryavtseva, unable to serve, walked to net to shake hands.
Eton schoolboy rides for China
WESTBURY (Reuters) - Olympic host country China has pinned its hopes of equestrian success on a lanky Eton schoolboy sponsored by a Guangzhou property tycoon. Last September, 18-year-old Alex Hua Tian, the son of an English mother and a Chinese father, swapped Eton's coat-tails and top hat for riding helmet and outfit to train to become China's first Olympic three-day eventer.
"Yellow bull" scalpers run with Olympics tickets
BEIJING (Reuters) - Tickets for the Beijing Games have officially sold out, setting off China's own running of the bulls -- "yellow bull" scalpers who want big profits for tickets to the Olympics' hottest events. Despite threats of fines and possible detentions of up to 15 days, scalpers are offering thousands of pricey tickets on scores of websites, making enforcement efforts all but a farce.