₦airaland Forum

In other awards:

Best Young African Footballer: Taye Taiwo

International Team of the Year: Ghana

Club of the Year: Egypt's Al Ahli

Coach of the Year: Manuel Jose

try yousendit.com

Nairaland users can't be wrong afterall.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-42892.0.html

Ask Segun, ur (former?) NL hubby

Youzhny has done it again. Despite saving five match points, the world number two was humbled 7-6, 6-3.

Youzhny now faces Soderling in the other semi-final.

Wonderful list Liz, but erm, where's number 38?

Nadal has lost his first set again. He's down 6-7.

Sean25:
If u agree that a man can rape his wife even though they are married
then the same should apply to the thieving wife

well said!

I wonder how Federer manages to win matches despite all the surrounding distractons.  He was so relaxed yesterday that he had time to sight-see.  I must confess, I was disappointed with his performance today.  He squandered two or three match points and made so many uncharacteristic errors. 

He faces in-form Tommy Haas in the semi-finals.  That's one tough nut to crack.  I hope he doesn't make life difficult for himself tomorrow.

The match between Nadal and Youzhny starts soon.

ATP Dubai:

Sweden's Robin Soderling continued his strong run of form defeating France's Fabrice Santoro 6-1 6-7 (2-7) 6-0 to reach the Dubai Open semi-finals.

German Tommy Haas needed just 49 minutes to demolish Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-0 6-2 and reach the Dubai Open semi-finals.

Federer's quarter-final match against Djokovic is about to start.

Aw! Hope you've seen the replay of a passing shot Roger played through his legs in the second set of the match. It made CNN's play of the day.

WTA Doha:

Top seed Justine Henin shrugged off a determined challenge from Australia's Alicia Molik to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a 6-2 7-6 victory.

The Belgian was joined in the last eight by seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, Patty Schnyder and Francesca Schiavone.

Fifth seed Schnyder's reward for a 6-3 6-4 win over Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues was a date with Henin.

Third seed Hingis set up an intriguing showdown with sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova after posting an easy 6-2 6-2 victory over her doubles partner Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

Hantuchova rallied to down Greek Eleni Daniilidou 6-7 6-3 6-3 and fourth seed Jankovic routed Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-0 6-1.

Kuznetsova, a 7-5 6-1 winner over Germany's Julia Georges, will next face Schiavone.

Schiavone, seeded eighth, was made to work hard in an all-Italian battle with Mara Santangelo before her opponent quit with a left wrist injury while trailing 4-6 7-6 1-0.

Indian pin-up Sania Mirza, who suffered a knee injury during her first-round win, pulled out of her match against Katerina Bondarenko.

ATP Dubai Update:

Roger Federer cruised into the quarter finals with a 7-5 6-3 win over Daniele Braccali.  The world number one will now meet seventh seed Novak Djokovic - who beat Rainer Schuettler 7-6 6-3 - for a place in the semi finals.

Nadal was taken to three sets again again by Andreev. He outlasted the russian 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.  He faces his nemesis Youzhny (who beat Berdych 7-6, 6-3) in the quarters.

Third seed Nikolay Davydenko crashed out of the Dubai Open losing 6-4 4-6 2-6 to world number 34 Olivier Rochus. Rochus meets Tommy Haas next.

Quarter Final Fixtures:

Roger Federer (SUI)  vs.  Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Olivier Rochus (BEL)  vs.  Tommy Haas (GER)
Robin Soderling (SWE)  vs.  Fabrice Santoro (FRA)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)  vs.  Rafael Nadal (ESP)

ATP Las Vegas :

Second seed Hewitt beat American Vince Spadea 6-3 6-3. Safin defeated Austrian Stefan Koubek 7-5 6-2.

Top seed and defending champion James Blake, however, faces a battle to make the last eight after he was humbled 6-2 6-4 by 19-year-old Russian Evgeny Korolev.

Seventh seed Tim Henman, playing for the first time this year after injury and illness, crushed Nicolas Mahut of France 6-1 6-2 in his first round-robin match.

Teams:
1. Arsenal
2. Barcelona
3. Brazil
4. Nigeria
5. Globetrotters

Players:
1. Roger Federer
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Ronaldinho
4. Marcos Baghdatis
5. Kanu Nwankwo
6. Cesc Fabregas
7. Samuel Eto'o
8. Petr Cech
9. John Terry
10. Fernando Gonzalez

WTA Doha:

All the seeds except Anna Lena Groenefeld have progressed to the second round.

Sania Mirza and Mara Santangelo have also progressed.

thanks toptho.

ATP Dubai Update:

Other First Round Results:

Schuettler - Seppi   6-0, 7-6
Simon - Kohlschreiber   6-4, 6-4
Bracciali - Marach   6-4, 6-3
Youzhny - Nieminen   3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Haas - Mr. Hingis   6-4, 6-3

Second Fixtures:

Roger Federer (SUI)  vs.  Daniele Bracciali (ITA)
Rainer Schuettler (GER)  vs.  Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)  vs.  Olivier Rochus (BEL)
Florent Serra (FRA)  vs.  Tommy Haas (GER)
Robin Söderling (SWE)  vs.  Dominik Hrbaty (SVK)
Gilles Simon (FRA)  vs.  Fabrice Santoro (FRA)
Tomas Berdych (CZE)  vs.  Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)
Igor Andreev (RUS)  vs.  Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Nadal has taken the second set and he's a break up in the third set after capitalising on the progressively increasing number of errors (double faults, esp.) from Baghdatis.

ATP Dubai Update:

Defending champion Nadal is on the verge of losing his first-round match as Baghdatis is teaching him some tennis lessons; he is a set down.

Could someone please tell him to change his hot pants, if that's what's disturbing him?

Tournaments between Feb 26 - Mar 4):
WTA Acapulco (MEX)
WTA Doha (QAT)

WTA Doha

Seeds: Justine Henin (BEL), Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), Martina Hingis (SUI), Jelena Jankovic (SRB), Patty Schnyder (SUI), Daniela Hantuchova (SVK), Anna Lena Groenefeld (GER), Francesca Schiavone (ITA)

Other Players: Ai Sugiyama (JPN), Alicia Molik (AUS), Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP), Meghann Shaughnessy (USA), Aravane Rezaï (FRA), Maria Elena Camerin (ITA), Alyona Bondarenko (UKR), Sania Mirza (IND), Romina Oprandi (ITA), Catalina Castano (COL), Selima Sfar (TUN), Eleni Daniilidou (GRE), Maria Kirilenko (RUS), Tszvetana Pironkova (BUL), Mara Santangelo (ITA), Sandra Kloesel (GER).

ATP Dubai

Seeds: Roger Federer (SUI), Rafael Nadal (ESP), Nikolay Davydenko (RUS), Tommy Robredo (ESP), Tommy Haas (GER), Tomas Berdych (CZE), Novak Djokovic (SRB), David Ferrer (ESP)

First Round Fixtures:

Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Kristian Pless (DEN)
Oliver Marach (AUT) vs. Daniele Bracciali (ITA)
Andreas Seppi (ITA) vs. Rainer Schuettler (GER)
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) vs. Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) vs. Younes El Aynaoui (MAR)
Olivier Rochus (BEL) vs. Hyung-taik Lee (KOR)
Florent Serra (FRA) vs. Jonas Bjorkman (SWE)
Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs. Tommy Haas (GER)
David Ferrer (ESP) vs. Robin Soderling (SWE)
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) vs. O. Bahrouzyan (UAE)
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs. Gilles Simon (FRA)
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) vs. Tommy Robredo (ESP)
Tomas Berdych (CZE) vs. Mohammed Al Ghareeb (KUW)
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
Igor Andreev (RUS) vs. Marc Gicquel (FRA)
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) vs. Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Top seed Federer and sixth-seed Berdych struggled to progress to the second round. Federer beat Pless 7/6 3/6 6/3, while Robredo was upset by Fabrice Santoro (FRA) (7/6 6/4).

This week's tournaments (Feb 26 - March 04) are:

ATP Acapulco (MEX)
ATP Dubai (UAE)
ATP Las Vegas (USA)


ATP Acapulco

Seeds: Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP), Agustin Calleri (ARG), Nicolas Almagro (ESP), Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG), Gaston Gaudio (ARG), Nicolas Massu (CHI), Jose Acasuso (ARG), Carlos Moya (ESP)

Other players: Potito Starace (ITA), Lukas Dlouhy (CZE), Alessio Di Mauro (ITA), Juan Pablo Guzman (ARG), Kevin Kim (USA), Luis Horna (PER), Mariano Zabaleta (ARG), Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP), Santiago Gonzalez (MEX), Diego Hartfield (ARG), Hugo Armando (USA), Bruno Echagaray (MEX), Juan Monaco (ARG), Stefano Galvani (ITA), Jan Hajek (CZE), Fabio Fognini (ITA), Nicolas Devilder (FRA), Sergio Roitman (ARG), Albert Montanes (ESP), Jiri Vanek (CZE), Martin Vassallo Arguello (ARG), Oscar Hernandez (ESP), Fernando Vicente (ESP), Alberto Martin (ESP)

The top two players in the ATP, Federer and Nadal, are back in action in Dubai.

ATP Buenos Aires Update:

https://img509.imageshack.us/img509/6905/juanmonacoopz6.jpg

Argentina's Juan Monaco outclassed Alessio di Mauro to win the Buenos Aires Open and claim the first ATP title of his career.

The Tandil-born 22-year-old, who knocked out defending champion Carlos Moya on his way to the final, swept to a 6-1 6-2 win in 64 minutes against the left-handed Italian.

ATP Memphis Update:

https://img252.imageshack.us/img252/397/haastommyns2.jpg

German Tommy Haas produced a stunning performance to crush top seed Andy Roddick 6-3 6-2 and win the Memphis International for the third time.

The defending champion outplayed Roddick in every department, dropping just seven points on serve as he wrapped up his 11th career title in brilliant fashion.

Wigan  1 - 0  Newcastle  (The JJB Stadium)
                      31' N Solano (pen miss)
40' R Taylor 

Tottenham  4 - 1  Bolton (White Hart Lane)
11' R Keane
19' J Jenas
22' R Keane
36' R Keane (red card)
                      37' G Speed (pen)
90' A Lennon

Blackburn  3 - 0  Portsmouth (Ewood Park)
1' S Nonda
25' S Nonda
50' S Warnock
60' S Nonda (pen miss)

WTA Rotterdam Update:

https://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4425/youzhnymikhailoh9.jpg

Unseeded Mikhail Youzhny beat third-seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-2 6-4 to clinch the Rotterdam title.

The defeat meant Ljubicic was spared an expensive bar bill as he had promised to buy every spectator a drink if he won the title.

https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/489/venusda7.jpg

What a comeback after more than four months out through injury. I think I'll stop predicting the williams' matches. The two sisters have proved me wrong this year.

@toptho,  that's funny.

The match between Ljubicic and Youzhny has started. Ljubicic is a break down in the first set .

ATP Buenos Aires Update:

Unseeded pair Juan Monaco and Alessio di Mauro will both be bidding for their first ATP singles title after they reached the final of the Buenos Aires Open.

Argentine Monaco upset fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-1 7-6 to reach the second ATP final of his career. The 22-year-old, ranked 66th, was finalist at Casablanca in 2005.

Italy's Di Mauro, 29, beat unseeded Argentine Diego Hartfield 6-1 6-4 to reach the first final of his career.

ATP Memphis Update:

Andy Roddick gained revenge for San Jose by beating Andy Murray 6-3 7-6 to book a final meeting with Tommy Haas in Memphis.

World number four Roddick will now play Tommy Haas of Germany in the final after the defending champion brushed aside American Mardy Fish 6-3 6-4.

Yea, congrats to Ljubicic, not to Djokovic  .

WTA Rotterdam Update:

Ljubicic overcame a slow start to stun top seed Nikolay Davydenko 4-6 7-6 7-6 in the semi-final of the World Indoor Tournament.

The Croat will be contesting his third final of the season against Mikhail Youzhny, who survived three match points to upset Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6 7-5.