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The Timpview Thunderbirds won their second straight Class 4A state title, and this time, they did it in style. The Thunderbirds became the first team in 4A history to win all five individual titles.

“This is amazing. To be part of this record-breaking team was an awesome experience,” Timpview senior John Pearce said. “This is the perfect way to end my high school career.”

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At a glance

Timpview became the first team in 4A history to sweep all five individual titles.

Senior John Pearce won the No. 1 singles championship for the third straight year.

The Thunderbirds have now won two straight state championships, and they won have three of the past four titles.

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The Thunderbirds were the heavy favorite to win all three singles titles, and they took care of business. Pearce earned the No. 1 singles championship for the third year in a row. Sophomore Matthew Pearce, John’s younger brother, repeated as No. 2 singles state champion. Neither Pearce brother lost a set in the tournament.

Timpview freshman Paul Monson was the most dominant player in the tournament, blowing every other No. 3 singles player away on his way to the championship. In his four matches, Monson lost a total of three games.

In the No. 2 doubles bracket, Timpview was actually an underdog. Senior Jacob Jensen and junior Josh Harrison had their share of adversity, especially on Day 1 of the tournament. In their quarterfinal match, Jensen and Harrison lost the first set and trailed 5-2 in the second, but they turned it around at just the right time. They came back to win that match, and they cruised in the semifinals and finals.

“Once we kicked it into gear yesterday, that was all we needed,” Harrison said. “We were able to ride the high from coming back last night.”

The No. 1 doubles team for Timpview was the last to take the court. They fed off the emotion created by their teammates and won in two sets to clinch the sweep for the Thunderbirds.

“It was so great to have everybody there,” Timpview coach Rob Sperry said. “4A was stronger than 5A this year. We can never prove it because the 4A and 5A champions don’t play. We would love to play Brighton. I have begged them, but they won’t play us.”

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/tribpreps/54146251-190/timpview-pearce-thunderbirds-won.html.csp

RELEASES FROM ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE UNIVERSITY:

PIRATES DO THE DOUBLE ! No. 1 Armstrong Men Blank No. 2 West Florida, 5-0, For Men’s Tennis Title

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The top-ranked and undefeated Armstrong Atlantic State University men’s tennis team captured its third NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis National Championship with a 5-0 win over No. 2 West Florida on Saturday afternoon at the Top Gun Tennis Academy in Louisville, Ky.

The Pirates (30-0) returned to the top of DII men’s tennis after also capturing titles in 2008 and 2009, doing so in dominating fashion on the scoreboard – although the singles play was much tigher than the final score would indicate. West Florida ended its season at 28-3 after winning 19 in a row coming into the Championship match.

Armstrong got out to a 3-0 lead after doubles on the Argos, picking up  an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles in a showdown of the top-ranked duo of Georgi Rumenov and Mikk Irdoja against the No. 2-ranked duo of Kevin Ducros and Bruno Savi. The Pirates won fairly easily at No. 2 doubles with No. 17-ranked Sven Lalic and Pedro Scocuglia defeating No. 18-ranked Leandro Ferreira and Andrey Pozhidaev and then collected an 8-6 win by Eudaldo Bonetand Matus Mydla at No. 3 doubles over Mike Lue and Domenico Sano.

In singles play, the Pirates won all six first sets, making it look like it would be an easy 5-0 win, but West Florida battled back in the second sets on all courts. No. 12-ranked Matus Mydla came up with the first point, getting a 6-2, 6-4 win over Leandro Ferreira at No. 4 singles. Top-ranked Georgi Rumenov then finished off the win, downing No. 7 Kevin Ducros, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 1 singles.

This is the third time that the Armstrong men and women have both won the NCAA DII National Championship and this is also the first time that both teams have run the table, finishing undefeated for the 2012 season.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! No. 3 Armstrong Notches 7th Title With 5-2 Win Over No. 1 BYU-Hawaii

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Armstrong Atlantic State University senior Kathleen Henry captured a second-set tiebreaker to lift the No. 3-ranked Pirates to their seventh NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis National Championship in a 5-2 win over top-ranked BYU-Hawaii on Saturday morning at the Top Gun Tennis Academy in Louisville, Ky.

The Pirates completed an undefeated season, going 29-0 in winning their fourth NCAA DII Women’s Tennis title in the last five seasons. BYU-Hawaii – gunning for their eighth title – suffered their first loss of the season and fell to 29-1. The two teams now are tied for the most DII women’s tennis titles in NCAA history with seven.

BYU-Hawaii got out to a very quick doubles lead and took No. 1 doubles behind the top-ranked doubles duo of Annie Hwang and Sherry Liu, 8-1, over second-ranked Barbora Krtickova and Aleksandra Filipovski. The Pirates got their first doubles point at No. 3 doubles as No. 17-ranked Kathleen Henry and Clara Perez notched an 8-5 win over Marika Kobayashi and Tanja Rebholz, then the No. 11-ranked duo of Marlen Hacke and Olga Kalodzitsa convered a late break to come up with an 8-5 win over No. 5-ranked Yuan Jia and Marietta Tuionetoa at No. 2 doubles and give Armstrong the crucial 2-1 lead heading into singles play.

Armstrong got off to a fantastic start in singles play, winning five of six first sets in the singles matches. No. 30-ranked Clara Perez picked up the first point in singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Marietta Tuionetoa at No. 6 singles, then No. 21-ranked Marlen Hacke notched a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win at No. 5 singles put the Pirates just one singles match away from the title.

BYU-Hawaii did not go down quietly. Top-ranked Hwang prevailed in a Top 10 battle at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 6-ranked Barbora Krtickova, and the Seasiders rallied for a second set win at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.

That’s when Henry, down 5-3 at one point in the second set, battled back with a break to force a tiebreaker. Henry raced out to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, then watched a shot go long on match point from BYU-Hawaii’s Tanja Rebholz for a 7-2 victory in the tiebreaker and the national title for the Pirates.

The appearance in the national championship was the 15th for the Pirates and the other national championship titles came in 1995, 1996, 2005 and 2008-10.

Article source: http://www2.wsav.com/sports/2012/may/19/armstrong-tennis-teams-capture-titles-ar-3821858/

The defending champion at the Foro Italico, Djokovic beat Federer 6-2, 7-6 (4). Five-time winner Nadal eliminated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6 (6), 6-0 in the other semifinal.

Maria Sharapova defeated rising German player Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 and will defend her title against French Open champion Li Na. The Chinese player advanced after Serena Williams withdrew shortly before their semifinal with a lower back injury.

Williams said the back problem affected her game earlier this week. But she said she’ll be ready for Roland Garros.

“It was feeling a little stiff and I don’t think this is the right moment to force (it),” she said. “I just want to relax and get ready for the next few months. … This is a good week to get better and I’m confident that I’ll be 100 percent.”

Djokovic beat Nadal in last year’s final, and defeated the Spaniard in an epic Australian Open final in January, which at 5 hours, 53 minutes was the longest Grand Slam championship match. Nadal easily won their last meeting in the Monte Carlo final last month when Djokovic was mourning the death of his grandfather.

Against Federer, Djokovic was cruising until he served for the match at 5-4 in the second. Federer saved a match point with a blazing inside-out forehand crosscourt winner, then converted his first break point of the match to draw even.

However, even with the sell-out crowd of 10,500 doing their best to encourage Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam winner made a series of costly groundstroke errors in the tiebreaker to hand Djokovic the win.

In all, Federer committed more than twice as many unforced errors as Djokovic, 42-20.

Nadal struggled with his backhand but overcame a difficult first set to post his 11th consecutive win on clay over Ferrer.

Nadal won clay titles in Barcelona and Monte Carlo this year before losing in the third round on an experimental blue surface in Madrid last week.

“(It’s the) best thing possible (for me) after a fantastic time in Barcelona and Monte Carlo. To keep playing in (a) clay tournament and then in the final without losing a set is something fantastic,” Nadal said. “We can forget the tournament of Madrid — that wasn’t clay.”

With Ferrer picking on his backhand and winning most of the long rallies early, Nadal needed to save seven break points to hold his opening service game.

“(In) the first set it was unbelievable how David set the (tone) with amazing rhythm and aggressive (shots),” Nadal said. “The thing that I tried to do was to keep the score close.”

The first set was decided by just two key points. Early on in the tiebreaker, Ferrer was up a mini-break and in control of a point when he attempted a drop shot that landed in the net. Nadal then took control when he ran down a difficult half volley from Ferrer.

Of Nadal’s 20 unforced errors in the first, 15 were off backhands.

Sharapova controlled her match with aggressive baseline play, leading 27-9 in winners against the 12th-seeded Kerber.

“It feels good coming back to the place where you have accomplished so much and to be in the position to regain that position,” Sharapova said. “I’m happy how I’ve progressed.”

Sharapova has won three of her last five titles on clay, beating top-ranked Victoria Azarenka in the Stuttgart final last month to add to her titles in Rome last year and Strasbourg the year before. The French Open, which starts next weekend, remains the only Grand Slam the Russian has yet to win.

“The most important thing is physically feeling stronger on the court and handling longer rallies and I recover better,” Sharapova said of her clay-court game. “I have improved a lot in that department.”

At 24, and just a year younger than Sharapova, Kerber won her first career title at the Paris Indoors this year, then took another title in Copenhagen. The German will break into the top 10 for the first time when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday.

It will be Li’s second final of 2012 after losing the Sydney championship to Victoria Azarenka. Li beat Sharapova in the semifinals at last year’s French Open, while Sharapova won their last meeting in Miami in March.

Williams has a 17-match winning streak. She had won consecutive titles in Charleston, S.C., and Madrid, plus two matches in Fed Cup.

Williams will move up one spot to No. 5 in the rankings on Monday.

Several other players are also nursing injuries.

Azarenka withdrew with a right shoulder injury before her third-round match. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was bothered by an abdominal injury during a quarterfinal loss to Kerber. And Italy’s Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing Williams 4-0 on Friday.

On the men’s side, fourth-ranked Andy Murray skipped last week’s Madrid Open with a back problem and said it was still affecting him after a three-set loss to Richard Gasquet in the third round this week.

Article source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120519/WIRE/120519493

Tim Duncan scored 19 points, helping engineer a 24-0 run in the third quarter after the Spurs trailed by 24 points, and San Antonio defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 96-86 on Saturday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/injured-serena-hands-li-place-rome-final-092944755--ten.html

ROME (AP) – Serena Williams withdrew from the Italian Open with a lower back injury shortly before she was scheduled to meet French Open champion Li Na in the semifinals on Saturday.

Williams said the problem also affected her earlier this week.

“It was feeling a little stiff and I don’t think this is the right moment to force (it),” she said. “I just want to relax and get ready for the next few months.”

The withdrawal comes eight days before the French Open, but Williams said the move was mainly precautionary and that she’ll be ready for the clay-court major.

“This is a good week to get better and I’m confident that I’ll be 100 percent,” she said.

The decision ended Williams’ winning streak at 17 matches. She had won consecutive titles in Charleston, South Carolina, and Madrid, plus two matches in Fed Cup.

In the Rome final, Li will face either defending champion Maria Sharapova or 11th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany, who were playing later.

The men’s semifinals feature five-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and top-ranked Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer.

Several other players are also nursing injuries.

Fourth-ranked Andy Murray skipped last week’s Madrid Open with a back problem and said it was still affecting him after a three-set loss to Richard Gasquet in the third round this week.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was bothered by an abdominal injury in a three-set loss to Kerber in the quarterfinals. And Italy’s Flavia Pennetta retired with a right wrist injury while trailing Williams 4-0 in the first set Friday.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.wthr.com/story/18561332/serena-williams-withdraws-with-back-injury

The French Open gets underway May 28, and one man is in a position to make history more than any other. If Rafael Nadal were to win at Roland Garros, it would be the seventh win in Paris for the Spaniard. That would be the all-time stand alone record.

Currently, Nadal shares the record of six wins in the modern era with one of the greatest legends in tennis history, Bjorn Borg. The Swiss champion held sway over the red clay a player’s generation before Nadal and also shares another record with Nadal, that being four consecutive Roland Garros triumphs.

When I was a kid a first became interested in tennis, Borg was one of the players who gave me such a love of the game. His style, grace under pressure, and outright natural ability impressed from the first match I saw him play in. That’s why I do not want to see Nadal break his record.

I know, records are meant to be broken. Still, some should remain unassailable. If Nadal doesn’t win and break Borg’s win record this year, there’s a decent chance he never will. He already has the privelege of sharing it, let that be enough.

Djokovic the favorite

The final in the Italian Open features Novak Djokovic taking on Nadal. It’s the battle of the no. 1 and no. 2 seeds, but the top-ranked vs. the third-ranked. That’s because Roger Federer moved past Nadal in the rankings after Rafa was sent out early in Madrid.

The Serb looks to be back on his form that saw him defeat Nadal in Rome last year, and I think he will triumph again May 20. My second hope is that he takes that winning form through Roland Garros, denying Nadal that seventh win,.

Roger Federer is of course in the mix, and to a lesser degree, Andy Murray and possibly Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer. Whatever happens, however, the likeliest scenario is either Djokovic or Nadal winning the French Open.

Jeff Musall is a longtime fan and player of tennis. He began following the professional game as a kid back in the ’70s, watching the greats of that era – including Bjorn Borg.

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/djokovic-nadal-face-off-rome-final-primer-french-202100415--ten.html

Faced with adversity, No. 11 Stanford refocused. Irritated and frustrated, No. 6 Kentucky unraveled.

In one of the wildest postseason finishes in recent memory, Stanford rallied for a 4-1 victory over Kentucky on Friday night in the round of 16 at the NCAA men’s tennis championships at the University of Georgia.

The seedings might indicate an upset. However, Stanford’s biggest victory of the year came in the form of a 4-1 win over then-No. 6 Kentucky back on Feb. 19 at the National Team Indoor Championships. So, the Cardinal entered Friday’s match with confidence.

For the second straight season, Stanford has advanced to the quarterfinal round and will battle No. 2 Virginia on Sunday.

Despite losing the doubles point, the Cardinal (20-8, 5-2 Pac-12) stormed back to collect four straight singles victories to secure the match. John Morrissey’s 6-1, 3-6, 5-4 (default) win at the No. 4 position provided the clincher, with the final match point awarded to Morrissey following an unsportsmanlike point penalty on Kentucky’s Tom Jomby for hitting a ball at the umpre.

Bradley Klahn evened the match at 1-1, efficiently picking apart third-ranked Eric Quigley 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot. Looking sharper with every match since his return from injury, Klahn wrapped up the match so quickly that losing the doubles point became an afterthought.

Ryan Thacher put Stanford in front 2-1, defeating Alex Musialek 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 2

position. After experiencing little resistance in the first set, Thacher finally moved ahead 6-5 in the second frame and booked the match following a lengthy battle in which neither player seemingly could win back-to-back points.

Over on court five, Daniel Ho grinded out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Alejandro Gomez to give Stanford a 3-1 edge. Ho is now 7-1 in three-set matches this year.

That left three matches remaining, with Morrissey providing the clincher while Matt Kandath and Robert Stineman were both battling in third sets.

MEN’S GOLF

Cardinal 3rd in regional

Stanford is tied for third place after two rounds of the NCAA’s Stanford Regional. The Cardinal shot 5-under 275 Friday and will be first-place Cal and second-place San Diego State today. The Cardinal is six strokes behind Cal. The top five advance to the NCAA finals.

Stanford freshman Patrick Rodgers shot 4-under 66 and is tied for eighth at 136 (-4). Rodgers picked up birdies on holes 7 and 8 to make the turn at 1 under. He added five birdies on the backside, three in a row through holes 15, 16 and 17 before making bogey on 18 to finish at 66.

Rodgers is five strokes behind Cal’s Michael Kim, who crafted a 6-under 64 to move to 9-under 131 for 36 holes.

Stanford’s Patrick Grimes, a sophomore from Palo Alto who opened the tournament with a 2-under 66, turned in an even par score of 70 Friday and is tied for 18th place at 138 (-2). Grimes made birdies on his first two holes but slipped back to even par on the day following bogeys on holes 3 and 5. An eagle on the par-5 seventh hole got him back to 2 under, but he played his final nine holes at 2 over.

SOFTBALL

Stanford wins in NCAAs

The 16th-ranked Cardinal opened the NCAA tournament with a 1-0 win over No. 23 Baylor in the Lafayette (La.) Regional. Stanford (39-17).

Junior pitcher Teagan Gerhart earned the win in the circle, moving to 31-11 for Stanford (39-17). She struck out seven and recorded her ninth shutout of the season.

The teams were scoreless through the first 4 1/2 innings. Five of the first six outs recorded by the Cardinal were strikeouts by Gerhart.

Stanford broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman Hanna Winter led off with an infield single, then rookie Leah White laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position. After the Bears intentionally walked junior second baseman Jenna Rich, freshman Cassandra Rouldund brought home Winter with a single to the shortstop.

Stanford will either Louisiana-Lafayette or Mississippi Valley State today.

BASEBALL

Appel too much for Utes

Mark Appel pitched a four-hitter, striking out 13, as No. 12 Stanford won 6-0 at Utah.

Appel retired 12 in a row until in the middle innings — five by strikeout, until back-to-back singles in the sixth. Appel twice struck out the side after giving up hits, in the second and sixth innings.

Eric Smith’s two-run single in the fourth gave Stanford (34-14, 15-10 Pac-12) a 2-0 lead. Two RBI groundouts then doubled the lead through six.

An RBI groundout by Stephen Piscotty gave the Cardinal a 3-0 lead in the fifth, while another RBI groundout, this time by Woodside native Kenny Diekroeger, made it 4-0 in the sixth.

Two sacrifice flies added to the lead (by Austin Wilson in the seventh and Palo Alto’s Alex Blandino in the ninth) to make it 6-0.

Appel (9-1) hit double digits in strikeouts for the second straight week for the second time this season. It was also his fourth complete game of the season.

Earlier in the day, Appel was named a Howser Trophy semifinalist. The award goes to the nation’s top player.

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_20661002/stanford-reaches-ncaa-tennis-quarterfinals

To escape the pressures of the problems currently gripping the country, he is
also said to invite friends over for a game of snooker.

When he is on his own, he takes on a machine that fires tennis balls at him at
high velocity, which he has nicknamed “the Clegger” following his
closely-fought victory against the Deputy Prime Minister.

The book, titled Cameron: Practically a Conservative, suggests his capacity to
unwind is crucial to his ability to cope with the strains of the job.

The book is written by Francis Elliott of The Times and James Hanning of The
Independent on Sunday.

In extracts published on Saturday, in Mr Elliot’s newspaper, the books claims
the Prime Minister’s Sunday routine generally starts early in he morning
with the newspapers and time working on his computer.

Friends quoted in the book say that throughout the day it can then involve “a
c— film on telly, play with the children, cook, have three or four glasses
of wine with lunch, have an afternoon nap, play tennis”.

The book also discloses how Steve Hilton the outgoing Number 10 director of
implementation, left Downing Street this week believing Mr Cameron had
become too focused on power rather than forcing through radical change.

Despite their 20-year friendship, the book is said to chart a loss of faith
between Mr Cameron and his policy guru, who left Downing Street this week
for a post at a Californian university.

The book also discloses how Mr Cameron to be a frequent visitor to political
betting websites, in order to keep tabs on the latest polling methodology
while he is also known for his intense “dislike of people clicking pens and
checking phones during meetings”.

With Britain in recession and the Conservatives slipping in the polls, the
Prime Minister’s leisure habits have increasingly been used as political
ammunition against him by both Conservative and Labour opponents as a sign
of a lack of application.

Mr Cameron, 45, has been dubbed “DVD Dave” for his love of box sets and mocked
for enjoying weekly “date nights” with his wife, Samantha, 41.

But friends say Mr Cameron’s enthusiasm for pursuits other than work is a
healthy sign of an appetite for life.

On Friday night, a Downing Street spokesman said: “This weekend the Prime
Minister will be working at the G8 and Nato summits in Washington and
Chicago, before returning to a full week’s work in the UK.

“He considers the job of Prime Minister, with its requirements to be on
duty seven days a week, to be an enormous privilege.”

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9276511/David-Cameron-how-karaoke-and-tennis-make-PM-a-chillaxing-champ.html

ROME (AP) — One week after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal made early exits in Madrid on an experimental blue court, both showed they remain a force on red clay Friday by reaching the Italian Open semifinals.

The top-ranked Djokovic struggled with his serve in the opening set but found his range to eliminate fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 6-1. Nadal defeated seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5.

“In the second set I played one of the best sets on clay this year and this is encouraging for the challenges to come tomorrow and with Roland Garros,” Djokovic said. “I am playing and feeling better every match I play.”

Nadal was equally pleased.

“It was a big match and one of the higher quality matches this year because the level of the opponent is high and he plays with big confidence and I played under pressure all the time,” he said. “I hit a few fantastic shots and this kind of shot comes with confidence.”

Djokovic, the defending champion, will next play Roger Federer, the winner in Madrid who cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Italian hope Andreas Seppi. Federer has never won this tournament. Nadal’s semifinal opponent is sixth-seeded David Ferrer, who beat Richard Gasquet 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Among the women, Serena Williams reached the last four after Flavia Pennetta quit with an injured right wrist while trailing 4-0 in the first set. Williams’ winning streak is up to 17 matches following titles in Charleston, S.C., and Madrid. She also has two victories in Fed Cup. Her next opponent is French Open champion Li Na, who eliminated No. 14 Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Defending champion Maria Sharapova beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3. She will play No. 12 Angelique Kerber, who defeated Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-1.

While Djokovic has not been as dominant as he was last year — when he had a 43-match winning streak — the Serb still finds a way to win without playing his best. Serving at 5-5 in the first set, he saved a potentially decisive break point with a serve and volley. Then he took six straight points.

“I really don’t compare with 2011,” Djokovic said. “This is a new year and I had great results so far in and I’m playing good in Rome so far. I’m increasing the level as the tournament goes on and this is important.”

Down to No. 3 in the rankings this week, Nadal broke in the opening game to take control of the first set. He recovered a break midway through the second set before pulling ahead for good. Berdych was coming off a runner-up performance at the Madrid Open. He lost to Federer, who then replaced Nadal at No. 2.

Federer had never lost to Seppi, and the 16-time Grand Slam winner took just 19 minutes to win the opening set. Seppi then pleased the partisan crowd by taking the opening game of the second. He had two break points in the next game, but Federer stormed back. The Swiss star closed the match when Seppi failed to return a serve

Pennetta called for the trainer after falling behind 3-0. Her wrist was retaped but the Italian conceded during the fifth game after 28 minutes of play.

“I felt pain during the second or third point of the opening game,” Pennetta said. “Something happened on the backhand. … Then not being able to serve and attack like usual, there wasn’t much else to do.”

For Serena, who won this tournament 10 years ago, the quick match was welcome.

“I have played every day and I haven’t had a day off,” she said.

Kvitova has an abdominal injury and needed to be bandaged again after losing the first set. That seemed to work. She stormed through the second set, easily winning the first five games.

Kerber, however, came back in the final set and took the match when Kvitova netted a ball. The victory put Kerber into her sixth semifinal of the year and into the top 10 in the rankings for the first time in her career.

Article source: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sports/rome-140390-advance-serena.html

Added eyes … Waite is there for Michael Campbell. Photo: Getty Images

Mike Waite spent nearly 30 years caddying for many masters including Rodger Davis, Ian Baker-Finch, Michael Campbell, who won the 2005 US Open while he was on the bag, Craig Parry and Stephen Leaney. During his second stint with Robert Allenby – who would never get a nomination for a player-caddie relationship – he was sacked. “It was the first time I’ve ever been sacked,” said Waite, universally known in the golfing world as Sponge, not for his ability to absorb strong drink like many among the caddie ranks but because of his tight-knit hair.

It was early 2010 and Sponge, now 47, quit caddying, save for working with Campbell whenever he played in Australia. Waite has three young children – Georgia, 10, Harrison, 8, and Ella, 4 – and wanted to spend more time with them in their formative years. He bought a Subway franchise on the Gold Coast and has been making sandwiches ever since. The business is now thriving and he has the staff in place to run the show. Caddying beckoned once more. “I’ve been keen to get out there again,” he said. It was simply waiting for the right opportunity – offer really.

A couple of weeks ago, Englishman Lee Westwood, the world No.3, found himself without his caddie Billy Foster, who injured his knee in a warm-up for a charity football match that he never actually intended playing. He’s off the bag for up to six months. Foster caddied for the late Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Darren Clarke; he even filled in for Steve Williams on Tiger Woods’s bag in the 2005 Presidents Cup. In other words, he is a hard man to replace. Sponge heard of Foster’s injury and rang him asking if he could put in a word for him with Westwood. “You’re No.57 on the list who has called me,” Foster replied. Foster said he’d oblige. Sponge heard nothing and last weekend he rang Westwood’s manager, Chubby Chandler. “I’m talking with Lee in a couple of hours. You’re on the list of five,” Chandler said. The call came through a few hours later. “Have you got visas for the UK, Sweden and the US?” Of course he did.

Sponge made his last sandwich on Thursday and left yesterday to work with Westwood in this week’s British PGA championship and will be on the bag at the US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco mid-next month.

And therein lies an omen. When Campbell came through qualifying to win the 2005 US Open, Sponge had nowhere to stay. Foster was caddying for Clarke at the time but the Northern Irishman withdrew from the tournament due to injury. Sponge took Foster’s place in the house he’d booked with four other caddies. So, yet again, Sponge has replaced Foster at the US Open. Surely that’s worth a few dollars with the bookie. He’s well aware this latest gig is temporary but he’s hoping it will lead to a permanent job elsewhere once Foster is fit again.

OGILVY MO-MENTUM

Golfers are a superstitious breed. Tiger Woods always wears a red shirt on Sunday, some have lucky coins to mark their ball, one golfer who I perhaps shouldn’t name never changed his underpants if he’d had a good round. We’re wondering if Geoff Ogilvy is worried about his now very healthy moustache that started with Movember, the prostate cancer awareness campaign dear to his heart because his father Michael suffered from the disease. This year, with the mo, Ogilvy has been quiet on the PGA Tour. He’s played 11 events and his best finish is tied 12th, in last weekend’s Player Championship. He tampered with moustaches a few times before but his wife Juli never liked the look. Now, he says, she fancies it. “It grew on me and it grew on her,” he said. If we see him clean-shaved in coming weeks maybe we’ll add him to the superstitious bunch.

ELS BACK IN THE RUNNING

Augusta National showed no sentiment towards Ernie Els when he wasn’t eligible for this year’s US Masters after playing every event since 1994. The club could have given him a special invitation but chose not to. No such worry for Els in the second major of the year, next month’s US Open. His play-off loss to American Jason Dufner in the New Orleans Classic earlier this month boosted him from outside the top 60, who are ineligible for the Open, to his present 43rd spot. Els has won the open twice – in 1994 and 1997 – and has been runner-up and has had three other top 10 finishes. Maybe it’s worth putting a few dollars on him.

RULES ARE RULES

Trevor Herden, once the rules boss of the Australasian Tour, has three big-name disqualifications to his name – Nick Faldo, John Daly and Greg Norman – but now he is on the receiving end. A couple of weeks ago, the annual Cock of the Block competition was held in Victoria with Golf Australia, of which Herden is now tournament director, the PGA of Australia and Golf Victoria competing in five events – a par three comp, table tennis, a boat race that involved the quick downing of beer, pool and finally an 18-hole event. GA led through the first four events and then won the 18 holes of golf. The trouble was they forgot to sign their card giving victory to Golf Victoria. “Heads will roll,” GA chief executive Steve Pitt said.

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Article source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/golf/sponge-bags-opening-with-westwood-20120519-1yxf8.html