Tag: Sydney

SYDNEY - Kim Clijsters stormed into the semi-finals of the Sydney International with a straight sets demolition of Victoria Azarenka on Wednesday. The Belgian world number three reaffirmed her status as favourite for next week's Australian Open with five service breaks on the way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over the seventh-seed from Belarus in 85 minutes. Clijsters will face Alisa Kleybanova on Thursday after the unseeded Russian overcame Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the

SYDNEY - Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva crashed out of the Sydney International on Tuesday, leaving them short of vital match practice ahead of next week's Australian Open. Denmark's world number one Wozniacki was knocked out by Slovakia's 32nd-ranked Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 in one hour 40 minutes and was followed out of the tournament by Russian Zvonareva on a rain-interrupted day. Second-ranked Zvonareva fell to Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-5 7-5, leaving US Open

SYDNEY - US Open champion Kim Clijsters dropped just three games in a warning to her Australian Open rivals in a confident start to the Sydney International tournament on Sunday.
Third seed Clijsters crushed Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1, 6-2 in 62 minutes and only lost six points on serve. "Maybe not the fastest serves I've hit, but I was very focused on trying to place my serves well and just making a lot of serves, especially when you're playing into the sun," Clijsters

SYDNEY - Australian opener Shane Watson is dreading the prospect of a record third innings defeat against a rampant England in the last day of the final Sydney Ashes Test on Friday. As his teammates prepare to face defeat on Friday in front of the bellowing Barmy Army visiting support, Watson said the prospect of a third humiliation at the hands of the old enemy is difficult to take. "It's not great, is it? In the end, we are doing our absolute best and it hasn't been good enough,"

SYDNEY - England, at 488 for seven at the stumps on the third day, were not the only ones in the pink as the fifth and final Ashes Test celebrated "Jane McGrath Day" at
the Sydney Cricket Ground Wednesday.
The famous cricket arena was transformed into a sea of pink for the third year in support of funding for breast-cancer research and in memory of the late Jane McGrath, wife of Australian fast bowling great Glenn McGrath.
The vast majority of the 40,000 spectators at

MELBOURNE
The International Cricket Council will not re-investigate the Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan despite being confronted with reports that it had knowledge of suspected match fixer Mazhar Majeed's ''activities'' during the game.
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the governing body did not have "sufficient evidence" to warn the Australian authorities about Majeed's activities during the January series. Australia won the Sydney Test after Pakistan