IF ANDY MURRAY learnt anything through his tempestuous period of tutelage from Brad Gilbert, it was surely the ability to win ugly. Such a requirement was necessary as the Scot got off to a shaky start in a Sony Ericsson Open campaign that he hopes will propel him to a position of third-best player in the world.
Six days after being blown away by a combination of a desert storm and the magnificence of Rafael Nadal on the opposite side of the United States in Indian Wells, Murray again struggled with the elements as he made tough work of acclimatising to the conditions in Miami.
Argentina’s Juan Monaco will never be the most testing of opponents but Murray also had to battle against his own early lethargy before finally getting to grips with the task in hand and winning through 4-6 6-3 6-2.
“I was not at my best at the start and found things difficult to begin with,” said Murray, who admitted he was so fatigued after reaching last week’s final so soon since recovering from a virus that he was forced to take a couple of days away from the practice court.
I found it virtually impossible to serve from one end of the court because of the sun, which made things really tough. Once I got going things became a little better, but it was a very difficult match.”
Temperatures nudging towards the 90-degree mark, humidity in excess of 76% and a fierce overhead sun combined to send Murray scuttling outside his comfort zone but after reverting to his recently abandoned baseball cap he somehow found a way to better his performance of a year ago, when he lost his initial match in the tournament to Croatia’s Mario Ancic.
For much of the time his tennis was not pretty, and unforced errors proliferated in a first set that seemed to suggest he was destined for another early exit. Murray, however, finally hit something approaching his normal rhythm.
More than once rallies in excess of 40 shots tested the determination of both players, but Murray’s superior ability at the net, more consistent serve in the later stages and greater variety saw him through.
Miami Open, tonight, British Eurosport, 10pm
Source:the times
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Colin Montgomerie leads the way in Seville
Colin Montgomerie was right where he wanted to be today on his 500th European Tour appearance as a professional - at the top of the leaderboard.
Europe's new Ryder Cup captain, with only three top-10 finishes to his name since the start of last season, raced to five under par after 12 holes of the Andalucian Open in Seville.
It put Montgomerie, now a lowly 137th in the world and with no hope of qualifying for The Masters in two weeks, two strokes ahead of England's John Mellor and John E Morgan, Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara and Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin, winner of last year's European Masters.
The 45-year-old Scot was presented with a cake yesterday to celebrate his landmark appearance, and he was optimistic about the state of his game.
Montgomerie went on to birdie four of the first six holes on the back nine and after going in the lake for a bogey six at the long 16th, responded by picking up further strokes at the 18th and first.
Putts of 15 and 30 feet found the target there and an 18-footer was needed for par on the next before he bogeyed the 436-yard fourth to slip back to four under.
Montgomerie is the 18th player to reach 500 tournament appearances and has notched top 10 finishes in 182 of them.
His last top 10 finish was his second place to Pablo Larrazabal at last June’s French Open, but he is hungry for more.
“I’d like to get to 200. I’m busier than ever, but I’m still competitive enough to be able to contend,” Montgomerie said.
Europe's new Ryder Cup captain, with only three top-10 finishes to his name since the start of last season, raced to five under par after 12 holes of the Andalucian Open in Seville.
It put Montgomerie, now a lowly 137th in the world and with no hope of qualifying for The Masters in two weeks, two strokes ahead of England's John Mellor and John E Morgan, Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara and Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin, winner of last year's European Masters.
The 45-year-old Scot was presented with a cake yesterday to celebrate his landmark appearance, and he was optimistic about the state of his game.
Montgomerie went on to birdie four of the first six holes on the back nine and after going in the lake for a bogey six at the long 16th, responded by picking up further strokes at the 18th and first.
Putts of 15 and 30 feet found the target there and an 18-footer was needed for par on the next before he bogeyed the 436-yard fourth to slip back to four under.
Montgomerie is the 18th player to reach 500 tournament appearances and has notched top 10 finishes in 182 of them.
His last top 10 finish was his second place to Pablo Larrazabal at last June’s French Open, but he is hungry for more.
“I’d like to get to 200. I’m busier than ever, but I’m still competitive enough to be able to contend,” Montgomerie said.
Jenson Button wins Australian Grand Prix after perfect drive
Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello secured a dream debut victory for Brawn GP with a memorable one-two in today's Australian Grand Prix.
Button led from start to finish ahead of his team-mate Barrichello, who recovered after being slow off the line at the start line, and Lewis Hamilton, with the race finishing under safety car conditions following a late accident.
Hamilton, who started 18th after a catastrophic gearbox failure in qualifying, was promoted from fourth to third place after Italian Jarno Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for overtaking while the safety car was on the track.
No Formula One team had won on their debut since Wolf in 1977 while the last to secure the top two places first time out was Mercedes in 1954.
"This is a fairytale ending for the first race," Button, who secured only his second win in his 10th year of racing, said. "Some people may say its a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don't care, I won the race and that's all I care about."
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go, ending their races and bringing out the safety car. Vettel will drop ten grid places in the next race in Malaysia next weekend for causing the collision.
Toyota's Timo Glock finished fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi, who got one point in his first grand prix.
For the second year running, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before sustaining a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.
There was a crash at the first corner that ended the race for McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, and forced BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil to immediately pit, effectively ending their chances.
Leading Final Positions after Race (58 Laps): 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1hr 34mins 15.784secs, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:34:16.591, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:34:18.698, 4 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:34:42.388, 5 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:34:20.219, 6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:34:20.663, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:21.506, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34:21.788, 9 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34:22.082, 10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:34:22.119, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34:22.869, 12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:34:23.158, 13 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull at 1 lap, 14 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull at 2 laps, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 3 laps, 16 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 3 laps
Not Classified: 17 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 45 laps completed, 18 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 24 laps completed, 19 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 17 laps completed, 20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 0 laps completed
Leading World Championship Standings After Australian Grand Prix:
Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 10pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 8, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 6, 4 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota5, 5 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 4, 6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 3, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 2, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 18pts, 2 Toyota 9, 3 McLaren 6, 4 Renault 3, 5 Williams 2, 6 Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
Button led from start to finish ahead of his team-mate Barrichello, who recovered after being slow off the line at the start line, and Lewis Hamilton, with the race finishing under safety car conditions following a late accident.
Hamilton, who started 18th after a catastrophic gearbox failure in qualifying, was promoted from fourth to third place after Italian Jarno Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for overtaking while the safety car was on the track.
No Formula One team had won on their debut since Wolf in 1977 while the last to secure the top two places first time out was Mercedes in 1954.
"This is a fairytale ending for the first race," Button, who secured only his second win in his 10th year of racing, said. "Some people may say its a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don't care, I won the race and that's all I care about."
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go, ending their races and bringing out the safety car. Vettel will drop ten grid places in the next race in Malaysia next weekend for causing the collision.
Toyota's Timo Glock finished fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi, who got one point in his first grand prix.
For the second year running, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before sustaining a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.
There was a crash at the first corner that ended the race for McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, and forced BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil to immediately pit, effectively ending their chances.
Leading Final Positions after Race (58 Laps): 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1hr 34mins 15.784secs, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:34:16.591, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:34:18.698, 4 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:34:42.388, 5 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:34:20.219, 6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:34:20.663, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:34:21.506, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34:21.788, 9 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34:22.082, 10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:34:22.119, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34:22.869, 12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:34:23.158, 13 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull at 1 lap, 14 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull at 2 laps, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 3 laps, 16 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari at 3 laps
Not Classified: 17 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 45 laps completed, 18 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 24 laps completed, 19 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 17 laps completed, 20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 0 laps completed
Leading World Championship Standings After Australian Grand Prix:
Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 10pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 8, 3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 6, 4 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota5, 5 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 4, 6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 3, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 2, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 18pts, 2 Toyota 9, 3 McLaren 6, 4 Renault 3, 5 Williams 2, 6 Scuderia Toro Rosso 1
Injuries mar England’s stroll
ENGLAND’S satisfaction with an emphatic victory was tempered by injuries to Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole, who are in danger of missing the far more important World Cup qualifying tie against Ukraine at Wembley on Wednesday. Fabio Capello’s first- and second-choice centre-forwards had to be substituted in the first half, as did their eventual replacement, Peter Crouch, with Wednesday in mind.
On the credit side, England are in good heart, and impressive form, for the resumption of the World Cup qualifying campaign after winning with plenty to spare, with two goals from the pugilist-cum-predator they call Wayne Rooney and one apiece from Heskey and Frank Lampard.
If this friendly fixture is to linger long in the memory, though, it will be as the occasion when David Beckham, on as second-half substitute for Aaron Lennon, beat Bobby Moore’s record for an outfield player of 108 caps. Emotional as ever, old “Goldenballs” was in tears as he ran off, milking Wembley’s warm applause, at the end.
The past week has seen so much talk of Rooney’s combustible temperament that it would hardly have been a surprise had he taken the field wearing gumshield and boxing gloves. To universal relief, the Scouse scrapper was on his best behaviour. Afterwards Capello indicated that he would be happy to play Rooney as a lone striker. “He is my joker in the pack, he can play anywhere,” the head coach said. David James retained his place in goal, and Rio Ferdinand’s recurrence of groin and back trouble let in Matthew Upson in central defence. Ferdinand will be fit to return against Ukraine. Shaun Wright-Phillips’s calf injury saw Lennon on the right wing for his first cap since March 2007.
Steven Gerrard instigated the first goal. His pass released Rooney, who returned the compliment for Gerrard to make ground before crossing low for Heskey to shuffle his feet and turn the ball in with his left, from three yards. After nine minutes Heskey reacted horribly to Rooney’s inviting cross from near the byline on the left, heading over from a central position, four yards out.
With only 14 minutes gone, Heskey had to withdraw from the fray. Here was his career in microcosm — goal, fluffed chance, injured. He gave way to Carlton Cole, whose second appearance for his country lasted just 20 minutes. Cole collapsed with a muscular injury and was replaced by Crouch.
Slovakia’s first semblance of a chance came in the 20th minute, when Stanislav Sestak, under challenge by Upson, struck a volley from 15 yards not too far over James’s bar, from a right-wing cross. The lack of cover in front of Ashley Cole in this situation pointed up the problems inherent in allocating Gerrard a starting position on the left. He is allowed to roam when England have possession, but when they lose the ball he can be caught AWOL from his defensive station. Rooney’s attempts to shift across and fill the gap were not always successful.
On the other flank, Lennon, in splendidly resurgent form for Tottenham of late, came to the fore after 28 minutes, when his cross was cleared only as far as Lampard, whose shot was saved, unconvincingly, by Stefan Senecky. Almost immediately the Spurs flyer was set up on the left by Gerrard’s clever back-heel, only to cross wastefully behind the goal.
James was required to make a notable save after half an hour, when he plunged to his right to keep out Miroslav Karhan’s meaty drive from the 18-yard line, but England quickly resumed the initiative, and a trademark sprint on the right culminated in a shot from Lennon that Senecky beat out straight to Gerrard. The consequent header was repelled by the keeper at whites-of-the-eyes range. Senecky has yet to keep a clean sheet in Slovakia’s World Cup qualifiers, and was keeping England at bay as much by luck as judgment.
Ashley Cole, savaged in the past by the Wembley crowd for carelessly giving the ball away, probably expected censure again when he surrendered possession for Robert Vittek to get in a strong shot that James was happy to tip over.
The half-time reshuffle that is de rigueur in friendlies gave Ben Foster a rare chance in goal, and both wide players were replaced. The introduction of Beckham, flagged up as inevitable, was at Lennon’s expense, while Stewart Downing, who is considerably less dynamic than Gerrard, at least gave England a left-footer on the left. Beckham quickly delivered a trademark free kick, which came to nought. His appearance, and almost every touch, was greeted with an ovation from the adoring, near-capacity crowd, but whether he deserves his place right up there alongside Moore in the pantheon is debatable for those of us who were fortunate to see England’s World Cup-winning captain in his pomp. This peerless defender did not have the benefit of late appearances as substitute — he had to play the full 90 minutes, and sometimes more, for every one of his caps.
On the credit side, England are in good heart, and impressive form, for the resumption of the World Cup qualifying campaign after winning with plenty to spare, with two goals from the pugilist-cum-predator they call Wayne Rooney and one apiece from Heskey and Frank Lampard.
If this friendly fixture is to linger long in the memory, though, it will be as the occasion when David Beckham, on as second-half substitute for Aaron Lennon, beat Bobby Moore’s record for an outfield player of 108 caps. Emotional as ever, old “Goldenballs” was in tears as he ran off, milking Wembley’s warm applause, at the end.
The past week has seen so much talk of Rooney’s combustible temperament that it would hardly have been a surprise had he taken the field wearing gumshield and boxing gloves. To universal relief, the Scouse scrapper was on his best behaviour. Afterwards Capello indicated that he would be happy to play Rooney as a lone striker. “He is my joker in the pack, he can play anywhere,” the head coach said. David James retained his place in goal, and Rio Ferdinand’s recurrence of groin and back trouble let in Matthew Upson in central defence. Ferdinand will be fit to return against Ukraine. Shaun Wright-Phillips’s calf injury saw Lennon on the right wing for his first cap since March 2007.
Steven Gerrard instigated the first goal. His pass released Rooney, who returned the compliment for Gerrard to make ground before crossing low for Heskey to shuffle his feet and turn the ball in with his left, from three yards. After nine minutes Heskey reacted horribly to Rooney’s inviting cross from near the byline on the left, heading over from a central position, four yards out.
With only 14 minutes gone, Heskey had to withdraw from the fray. Here was his career in microcosm — goal, fluffed chance, injured. He gave way to Carlton Cole, whose second appearance for his country lasted just 20 minutes. Cole collapsed with a muscular injury and was replaced by Crouch.
Slovakia’s first semblance of a chance came in the 20th minute, when Stanislav Sestak, under challenge by Upson, struck a volley from 15 yards not too far over James’s bar, from a right-wing cross. The lack of cover in front of Ashley Cole in this situation pointed up the problems inherent in allocating Gerrard a starting position on the left. He is allowed to roam when England have possession, but when they lose the ball he can be caught AWOL from his defensive station. Rooney’s attempts to shift across and fill the gap were not always successful.
On the other flank, Lennon, in splendidly resurgent form for Tottenham of late, came to the fore after 28 minutes, when his cross was cleared only as far as Lampard, whose shot was saved, unconvincingly, by Stefan Senecky. Almost immediately the Spurs flyer was set up on the left by Gerrard’s clever back-heel, only to cross wastefully behind the goal.
James was required to make a notable save after half an hour, when he plunged to his right to keep out Miroslav Karhan’s meaty drive from the 18-yard line, but England quickly resumed the initiative, and a trademark sprint on the right culminated in a shot from Lennon that Senecky beat out straight to Gerrard. The consequent header was repelled by the keeper at whites-of-the-eyes range. Senecky has yet to keep a clean sheet in Slovakia’s World Cup qualifiers, and was keeping England at bay as much by luck as judgment.
Ashley Cole, savaged in the past by the Wembley crowd for carelessly giving the ball away, probably expected censure again when he surrendered possession for Robert Vittek to get in a strong shot that James was happy to tip over.
The half-time reshuffle that is de rigueur in friendlies gave Ben Foster a rare chance in goal, and both wide players were replaced. The introduction of Beckham, flagged up as inevitable, was at Lennon’s expense, while Stewart Downing, who is considerably less dynamic than Gerrard, at least gave England a left-footer on the left. Beckham quickly delivered a trademark free kick, which came to nought. His appearance, and almost every touch, was greeted with an ovation from the adoring, near-capacity crowd, but whether he deserves his place right up there alongside Moore in the pantheon is debatable for those of us who were fortunate to see England’s World Cup-winning captain in his pomp. This peerless defender did not have the benefit of late appearances as substitute — he had to play the full 90 minutes, and sometimes more, for every one of his caps.
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