An unmistakable sound drifted down the Yarra River from Federation Square where, on Friday evenings, the chattering classes gather. From Melbourne Park to the feverish city centre the sound of bagpipes could be heard, resounding as a clarion call for those here for the Australian Open during the next fortnight.
Is this really Andy Murray's time? Are the bookmakers, lured by an incredible level of investment in the 21-year-old British No1 to win a grand-slam championship, spot on with their odds? Is history to be made and are the giants of the game heading for the Rod Laver Arena, including the Rockhampton Rocket himself on the 40th anniversary of his only grand slam in the open era, about to witness something the old country has long dreamed of?
Murray himself remains outwardly untouched by a situation of his making only because he is beating everyone in sight at present. He refuses to act, talk, or demand attention as a favourite might. Roger Federer, a three-times champion here, may find all this blue-eyed boy stuff somewhat disconcerting, but the wonder of it is that Murray is treating the surge of celebrity with mature disdain. “I've heard stuff about me being favourite and in recent events, it's something I've become used to because I have been the favourite in lots of my matches,” the Scot said.
“All I know is that physically, the work I've done in November and December in Miami has made a huge difference, especially with my serve and the balance I have reaching for wide balls and being able to hang in better in the longer matches.
My first-serve percentage is getting better and better, there is more strength in the legs and the upper body and I'm happy with the prospect of keeping that improvement going.”
On the occasion of his extraordinary victory over Andrei Pavel, of Romania - his first-round opponent here - in the opening round of the 2005 US Open, Murray raised a finger to his lips in the style of a footballer who, having been plagued by insults from opposing supporters all afternoon, responds with a sublimely satisfying goal. He had done the same after his final-round qualifying victory over Giovanni Lapentti, of Ecuador.
Those of us sitting courtside bearing notebooks at both matches were in no doubt that his reaction was an unsubtle indication that we should not take what was perceived as a lack of physical strength for granted. Murray was still growing into his body, and at 18 there was much growing to do, but he did not take kindly to being told that he may be found out in the endurance stakes.
The second, and almost as important, recollection was the reaction from Pavel, who lost in five sets after Murray, playing in only his second grand-slam event, had twice thrown up on the court. “I had the feeling all the time I was winning the points, but somehow I was losing them; it was a strange situation,” he said.
Looking at Murray yesterday, the definition in his arms, the strength in his legs, the tightness of his face, it was clear that, whatever else may prevent him winning his first grand-slam tournament over the next two weeks, a lack of physical strength will not be the reason. And, if the event goes the way Britain hopes, there will be more players who will be left gawping in wonder at what Murray has done to their games.
“I have made those sacrifices at the end of last year in Miami because if I had stayed at home in Europe and just practised indoors for three or four weeks it would be too big a shock coming down to Australia,” Murray said.
Whether he can put it out of his head or not, the Scot is the main talking point as this championship approaches. One day it can be 19C here, the next 38C; it can blow a gale, it can be becalmed; the roof can be opened or closed; the formbook can tell the truth or it can lie. Has there been an Australian Open like it in British hearts since John Lloyd reached the final against Vitas Gerulaitis in 1977? A hush has descended. Except for those bagpipes.
Anne Keothavong, the British No1 female who has reached a career-high 53 in the world rankings, will have to cause an upset if she is to progress beyond the first round after being drawn against Anna Chakvetadze, the No17 seed from Russia. Melanie South, Keothavong's fellow Briton, has also been handed a tough opening encounter against Marion Bartoli, of France, the sixteenth seed.
source:the london times
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Colin Montgomerie is Europe’s choice to take Ryder Cup captaincy
The images remain as clear in the mind's eye as if they had happened yesterday. In the Ryder Cups at The Belfry in 2002 and The K Club in 2006, Colin Montgomerie was the player chosen by his team-mates and captain to lead Europe in the singles matches. If the Scot had been given the European flag to carry and told to shout: “Follow me, lads”, the significance could not have been greater.
Montgomerie was considered the man to answer his continent's call by giving a winning example to his 11 team-mates. Both times he not only delivered the point expected of him, but he also seemed at home as he did so. His singles record is remarkable. He has won six and halved two of his eight matches in the biennial competition against the United States.
It is now clear that the love affair between the Scot and the Ryder Cup will be consummated at Celtic Manor in September 2010. European Tour officials, having made a policy decision to select the best available captain for each future Ryder Cup, are doing everything they can to make sure that Europe regain the trophy that was lost at Valhalla last year and will shortly confirm that the Scot will lead the team in Wales.
The first signs that Montgomerie was going to be involved much sooner than the match at Gleneagles in 2014, for which he had hitherto been pencilled in, came on Thursday. Bookmakers in Britain reported heavy betting on the Scot being the first choice as next year's captain if José María Olazábal turned it down to play his way into the team.
Clearly there had been leaks from the meeting of the Tour's tournament committee, held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening, when the names of Montgomerie and Olazábal were mentioned as future captains, but no decision was made. Odds on Montgomerie being involved in the 2010 match dropped from 16-1 to 2-1 within a few hours on Thursday.
Despite these leaks, the tournament committee wanted to delay the announcement until a committee meeting in Dubai scheduled for January 28. That remains the position. “No decision on the Ryder Cup captain has so far been taken,” George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said yesterday. “The Ryder Cup captain will be decided at that meeting.”
All the signs in the desert yesterday, however, were that the job will be Montgomerie's, particularly after Sergio Gómez, Olazábal's manager, confirmed that his client had not been offered the 2010 captaincy, contrary to previous indications. “Thomas Björn [the chairman of the tournament committee] sounded him out four weeks ago but we have heard nothing since,” Gómez said. Olazábal will not play in Qatar next week because of a recurrence of rheumatism.
There are two other reasons why it will be Montgomerie and not Olazábal. The latest thinking is that, to remain in touch with the players, captains need to be younger than Nick Faldo, who was 51 when he captained Europe at Valhalla last year. Montgomerie will be 47 at Celtic Manor and will have spent most of the season competing against many of those he will want in his team.
A second reason concerns history, which tells us that Montgomerie cannot be captain in the US because of the feeling against him, even though much of it has dissipated. At the 1999 Ryder Cup, for example, James Montgomerie was so upset by the abuse being directed at his son that he walked off the course after seven holes. It would be insensitive and a mistake to consider putting Montgomerie in a position where old feelings against him might be revived.
When, in Dubai in 11 days' time, Montgomerie is named as Europe captain, it will allow Olazábal to take the reins at Medinah, near Chicago, in 2012, when he will be 46. Paul McGinley, who is 42, Darren Clarke, 40, and Lee Westwood, 35, all of whom will probably captain a Ryder Cup team, should be asked to form an orderly queue.
The way that things have changed since Tuesday night might explain Montgomerie's good humour yesterday after he had completed his second round in the Abu Dhabi Championship, a five-under-par 67 that left him six strokes behind Richard Green and Graeme Storm, the joint leaders.
“We are no further forward with that selection process than we were when we left the meeting last Tuesday - I know as much as anyone else,” Montgomerie said, managing to keep a straight face. But, he could not suppress a smile as he walked away, asking cheerily: “Was that diplomatic enough?”
Paul Casey, who has played in winning Seve Trophy teams captained by Montgomerie, has been impressed by his leadership. “He was very attentive.” Casey said. “He asked us what we wanted. We said, 'A ping pong table in the team room.' He showed good attention to detail. He spoke well at meetings. He got the guys nicely motivated. There was lots of consultation with us. We felt very much a team.”
Making Montgomerie and Olazábal the captains for the next two Ryder Cups would significantly enhance Europe's chances in the event. “History shows that the captain is very important,” Padraig Harrington said yesterday. “I think Monty is the right man. He will make a great captain.”
source: the london times
Montgomerie was considered the man to answer his continent's call by giving a winning example to his 11 team-mates. Both times he not only delivered the point expected of him, but he also seemed at home as he did so. His singles record is remarkable. He has won six and halved two of his eight matches in the biennial competition against the United States.
It is now clear that the love affair between the Scot and the Ryder Cup will be consummated at Celtic Manor in September 2010. European Tour officials, having made a policy decision to select the best available captain for each future Ryder Cup, are doing everything they can to make sure that Europe regain the trophy that was lost at Valhalla last year and will shortly confirm that the Scot will lead the team in Wales.
The first signs that Montgomerie was going to be involved much sooner than the match at Gleneagles in 2014, for which he had hitherto been pencilled in, came on Thursday. Bookmakers in Britain reported heavy betting on the Scot being the first choice as next year's captain if José María Olazábal turned it down to play his way into the team.
Clearly there had been leaks from the meeting of the Tour's tournament committee, held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening, when the names of Montgomerie and Olazábal were mentioned as future captains, but no decision was made. Odds on Montgomerie being involved in the 2010 match dropped from 16-1 to 2-1 within a few hours on Thursday.
Despite these leaks, the tournament committee wanted to delay the announcement until a committee meeting in Dubai scheduled for January 28. That remains the position. “No decision on the Ryder Cup captain has so far been taken,” George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said yesterday. “The Ryder Cup captain will be decided at that meeting.”
All the signs in the desert yesterday, however, were that the job will be Montgomerie's, particularly after Sergio Gómez, Olazábal's manager, confirmed that his client had not been offered the 2010 captaincy, contrary to previous indications. “Thomas Björn [the chairman of the tournament committee] sounded him out four weeks ago but we have heard nothing since,” Gómez said. Olazábal will not play in Qatar next week because of a recurrence of rheumatism.
There are two other reasons why it will be Montgomerie and not Olazábal. The latest thinking is that, to remain in touch with the players, captains need to be younger than Nick Faldo, who was 51 when he captained Europe at Valhalla last year. Montgomerie will be 47 at Celtic Manor and will have spent most of the season competing against many of those he will want in his team.
A second reason concerns history, which tells us that Montgomerie cannot be captain in the US because of the feeling against him, even though much of it has dissipated. At the 1999 Ryder Cup, for example, James Montgomerie was so upset by the abuse being directed at his son that he walked off the course after seven holes. It would be insensitive and a mistake to consider putting Montgomerie in a position where old feelings against him might be revived.
When, in Dubai in 11 days' time, Montgomerie is named as Europe captain, it will allow Olazábal to take the reins at Medinah, near Chicago, in 2012, when he will be 46. Paul McGinley, who is 42, Darren Clarke, 40, and Lee Westwood, 35, all of whom will probably captain a Ryder Cup team, should be asked to form an orderly queue.
The way that things have changed since Tuesday night might explain Montgomerie's good humour yesterday after he had completed his second round in the Abu Dhabi Championship, a five-under-par 67 that left him six strokes behind Richard Green and Graeme Storm, the joint leaders.
“We are no further forward with that selection process than we were when we left the meeting last Tuesday - I know as much as anyone else,” Montgomerie said, managing to keep a straight face. But, he could not suppress a smile as he walked away, asking cheerily: “Was that diplomatic enough?”
Paul Casey, who has played in winning Seve Trophy teams captained by Montgomerie, has been impressed by his leadership. “He was very attentive.” Casey said. “He asked us what we wanted. We said, 'A ping pong table in the team room.' He showed good attention to detail. He spoke well at meetings. He got the guys nicely motivated. There was lots of consultation with us. We felt very much a team.”
Making Montgomerie and Olazábal the captains for the next two Ryder Cups would significantly enhance Europe's chances in the event. “History shows that the captain is very important,” Padraig Harrington said yesterday. “I think Monty is the right man. He will make a great captain.”
source: the london times
Ron Dennis hands over the controls at McLaren
Ron Dennis chose his moment to go carefully: behind him yesterday, a car designed by computer to win yet another world championship and at his side the driver he created, Lewis Hamilton, who was transformed from go-karting novice to Formula One world champion.
Dennis refuses to accept that his decision to step down as McLaren team principal is the end of an era, but his announcement - casually dropped in at the end of the unveiling of the McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 car that will contest the 2009 championship - caused jaws to drop inside the glittering steel-and-glass room at the heart of McLaren's futuristic £250 million headquarters in Woking, Surrey.
Hamilton, the protégé Dennis groomed from the age of 13 to be world champion, had talked through his chances of winning a second consecutive title, while his mentor had discussed how McLaren now designed and tested 95 per cent of their 200mph speed machine using only technology, even before a wheel is turned for the first time this morning at a track in Portugal.
And then Dennis, the most high-profile team leader in Formula One, suddenly revealed that, from March 1, he will no longer be the voice and face of the McLaren Mercedes team. He is passing the mantle he has held for almost three decades to Martin Whitmarsh, his chief executive and right-hand man.
Dennis admitted that he would have gone a year ago but for the debacle of the 2007 season when Hamilton lost the championship in his maiden season by a single point, added to which were the accusations of cheating for which McLaren were fined a record £50million by the FIA, the world governing body.
He could have walked away then and enjoyed a retirement away from the spotlight, spending some of his £200million fortune, flying in his Learjet and sailing on his new yacht.
But Dennis, 61, is the ultimate Formula One street fighter and turned McLaren into a war machine for the 2008 season.
Every waking minute was devoted to expunging the humiliations of the previous year. He succeeded - just - in the final few seconds of one of the most breathless championships in history in Brazil when Hamilton clinched the world title. That signalled the time to go.
“It is a comfortable time to do it,” Dennis said. “There were lots of reasons why it would have been an uncomfortable time a year ago. People would have thought I was doing it under duress, under personal pressure because we had narrowly lost a world championship. Now, people can understand there is no pressure, that I am doing this freely.”
Dennis will be in Australia in March for the first race of the season, but the ignition key to the McLaren race team will be held by Whitmarsh while Dennis attempts to stay in the background as the wise man, ready to be consulted, but not making decisions.
Instead, he will devote his time to the burgeoning McLaren business, which is much more than two racing cars on a grand-prix grid as a world leader in electronics, supplying race series around the world as well as to aviation companies. In the face of the economic downturn, Dennis is committing himself to the rest of the empire he has built from scratch over the past 28 years.
“Let's get it clear - I am not retiring,” he said. “I am going to work harder so that McLaren can power through this recession.” Just as Dennis powered McLaren to the top of Formula One.
source:the london times
Dennis refuses to accept that his decision to step down as McLaren team principal is the end of an era, but his announcement - casually dropped in at the end of the unveiling of the McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 car that will contest the 2009 championship - caused jaws to drop inside the glittering steel-and-glass room at the heart of McLaren's futuristic £250 million headquarters in Woking, Surrey.
Hamilton, the protégé Dennis groomed from the age of 13 to be world champion, had talked through his chances of winning a second consecutive title, while his mentor had discussed how McLaren now designed and tested 95 per cent of their 200mph speed machine using only technology, even before a wheel is turned for the first time this morning at a track in Portugal.
And then Dennis, the most high-profile team leader in Formula One, suddenly revealed that, from March 1, he will no longer be the voice and face of the McLaren Mercedes team. He is passing the mantle he has held for almost three decades to Martin Whitmarsh, his chief executive and right-hand man.
Dennis admitted that he would have gone a year ago but for the debacle of the 2007 season when Hamilton lost the championship in his maiden season by a single point, added to which were the accusations of cheating for which McLaren were fined a record £50million by the FIA, the world governing body.
He could have walked away then and enjoyed a retirement away from the spotlight, spending some of his £200million fortune, flying in his Learjet and sailing on his new yacht.
But Dennis, 61, is the ultimate Formula One street fighter and turned McLaren into a war machine for the 2008 season.
Every waking minute was devoted to expunging the humiliations of the previous year. He succeeded - just - in the final few seconds of one of the most breathless championships in history in Brazil when Hamilton clinched the world title. That signalled the time to go.
“It is a comfortable time to do it,” Dennis said. “There were lots of reasons why it would have been an uncomfortable time a year ago. People would have thought I was doing it under duress, under personal pressure because we had narrowly lost a world championship. Now, people can understand there is no pressure, that I am doing this freely.”
Dennis will be in Australia in March for the first race of the season, but the ignition key to the McLaren race team will be held by Whitmarsh while Dennis attempts to stay in the background as the wise man, ready to be consulted, but not making decisions.
Instead, he will devote his time to the burgeoning McLaren business, which is much more than two racing cars on a grand-prix grid as a world leader in electronics, supplying race series around the world as well as to aviation companies. In the face of the economic downturn, Dennis is committing himself to the rest of the empire he has built from scratch over the past 28 years.
“Let's get it clear - I am not retiring,” he said. “I am going to work harder so that McLaren can power through this recession.” Just as Dennis powered McLaren to the top of Formula One.
source:the london times
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