Jankovic knocked out of Pan Pacific Open

JELENA Jankovic's hopes of regaining her world No. 1 spot this week ended on when she crashed out of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals.

Jankovic edged out in Tokyo

JELENA Jankovic's hopes of regaining her world No. 1 spot this week ended on when she crashed out of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals.

France name strong Cup team

FRENCH hopes of a first-up Hopman Cup tennis triumph have been given a massive boost following confirmation that Alize Cornet will team up with Gilles Simon to represent the country.

Australia appoints coach Mantilla

TENNIS Australia has hired Felix Mantilla and acquired a Barcelona-based training facility to fasttrack the learning and development of clay-court skills among Australian players.

Bob Bryan out of Davis Cup semi

TOP-ranked US doubles tennis player Bob Bryan will miss this weekend's Davis Cup semi-final against Spain in Madrid due to a shoulder injury and was replaced by Mardy Fish.

Serena Williams Set To Serve Up Memoir In 2009

A memoir by Serena Williams will be released in 2009 by Grand Central
Publishing, which beat out a handful of other publishers bidding for
the life story of the No. 1 ranked women's tennis player.

Mac Snr wants top ATP job

JOHN McEnroe Sr, father of the most volatile tennis champion of the modern era, wants to run the men's game.

Simon retains Bucharest title

GILLES Simon retained the BCR Open Romania title in Bucharest, defeating Carlos Moya 6-3 6-4 in the final to boost his chances of contesting the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.

Davydenko cleared in corruption probe

RUSSIAN tennis player Nikolay Davydenko has been cleared by the ATP of suspicion of corruption.

Davydenko Cleared By ATP In Tennis Gambling Probe

Russian tennis star Nikolay Davydenko was cleared by the ATP on Friday
after a yearlong investigation into suspicious betting patterns on a
match he lost to a low-ranked opponent.

Broadway biz boosted in '08

Business News: Attendance hits a record 12.32 million -- Broadway sales last year hit $940, 871, 190, a calendar-year record -- but just barely. Ditto attendance, which squeaked out a record of 12.32 million.

Courbit invests in music talent site

Business News: MyMajorCompany looks to expand into U.K. -- Gallic media entrepreneur Stephane Courbit, the former prexy-CEO of Endemol France, has acquired a 49% stake in French website MyMajorCompany.

Apple drops anti-piracy protection

Business News: iTunes to introduce variable pricing -- Apple is dropping its anti-piracy protection on iTunes and the music biz if finally getting the variable pricing it has long desired.

Canal Plus, Orange agree to pact

Business News: Deal will extend reach of competitors -- After months of phony war, France’s two media giants, Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group and France Telecom-Orange, have signed what looks like a historic peace pact.

ITV invests in Carbon Media

Business News: U.K. broadcaster takes 25% stake -- Blighty’s biggest private terrestrial web, ITV, has taken another stake in a shingle as the broadcaster attempts to beef up its global content activities.

France TV workers protest ad ban

Business News: Strikers hope to influence Senate -- Staffers on Gallic pubcaster France Televisions have again gone on strike to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy's post-8 p.m. ban on advertising on channels France 2, 3, 4, 5 and radio station RFO, which became effective on Monday.

Dilution of eSun halted

Business News: Passport Capital blocks efforts by company -- Wall Street investment fund Passport Capital is blocking a share dilution by eSun, the holding company that owns Hong Kong film producer Media Asia.

UTA makes Jeremy Barber partner

Business News: Film agent reps Cheadle, Coogan, Morgan -- UTA has promoted film agent Jeremy Barber to become the percentery's 19th partner.

Hollywood swag on the decline

Business News: Golden Globes to host a lighter gift of grab -- The economy is a real drag on swag. It's definitely the time of year for freebies, with at least six Golden Globes gifting suites scheduled over the weekend.

Universal takes Gamble in CFO post

Business News: Executive will report to Meyer, Calpeter -- Universal Studios has tapped Sean Gamble as executive VP and chief financial officer.