Nalbandian leads winning charge

DAVID Nalbandian and teenage hotshot Juan Martin Del Potro have given Argentina a 2-0 lead over Russia in their Davis Cup semi-final.

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.

Ayr double for McDonald

Former jump jockey PJ McDonald returned to the scene of his biggest triumph over obstacles and walked away with a big-priced double courtesy of Tale Of Silver and Jim Martin at Ayr.

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.

Petrov blow for City

Martin Petrov has been ruled out of Manchester City’s UEFA Cup first-leg match against AC Omonia tomorrow.

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.

Women set Democratic fund-raiser

Business News: Voices taps David, Short, Garner to perform -- More then 50 women in the entertainment industry have organized an event to raise money for eight Democratic U.S. Senate candidates on Sept. 27, with a lineup of performances by Martin Short, Jennifer Garner and Larry David, among others.

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.

Villa boss O'Neill hopes to extend Young stay

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is confident winger Ashley Young will join midfielder Craig Gardner in signing a new long-term contract “sooner rather than later”.

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.

Politicians praise Smyth's Paralympics achievement

Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tonight praised the success of Derry sprinter Jason Smyth who claimed a gold medal for Ireland at the Paralympics.

Davydenko cleared in corruption probe

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

McGrath named Ulster Player of the Year

Martin McGrath's efforts in driving Fermanagh to their first Ulster final in 26 years have seen him selected as the Ulster GAA Player of the Year.

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.

Winstone replaces De Niro in 'Edge'

Film News: Actor joins Mel Gibson in Campbell drama -- Ray Winstone will replace Robert De Niro in "Edge of Darkness, " starring alongside Mel Gibson in the Martin Campbell-directed drama produced by Graham King's GK Films.

ER tussles with U. S. distributor

Business News: U.K. company claims unpaid fees -- Struggling U.K. tyke specialist Entertainment Rights, whose properties include “Postman Pat” and “The Lone Ranger, ” is taking legal action against its primary U.S. DVD distributor, Genius Products, over alleged unpaid fees.

Berlusconi immunity threatened

Business News: Opposition wants to strip away protection -- Silvio Berlusconi’s year has had a somewhat inauspicious start. Momentum is gathering behind an opposition move to lift the immunity from prosecution that shields the Italo media mogul and premier from his legal woes.

Banijay returns El Terrat to sender

Business News: Buenafuente buys back company -- In a surprise about-face, Gaul's Banijay Entertainment has sold Spanish production company El Terrat back to its original owner, prexy Andreu Buenafuente, just three months after announcing its purchase.

Obama urges for digital switch delay

Business News: Officials concerned that people are unprepared -- Don't flip the switch just yet -- that's what the incoming Obama administration urged Congress on Thursday regarding the long-planned Feb. 17 transition to all-digital broadcasting.

Blu-Ray warms tech expo

Business News: Sony pushes online products in Vegas -- Blu-ray sales could triple or even quintuple in 2009.

Jermaine Dupri out at Island Records

Business News: Rapper-producer-mogul exits music unit -- Jermaine Dupri is out as president of Island Records Urban Music division, a unit he ran for almost two years.

First Look ups Marie O'Reilly-Thein

Business News: Exec will manage retail and rental accounts -- First Look Studios has upped Marie O'Reilly-Thein to senior veep of sales for home entertainment.

Sides more vocal in SAG strike talks

Business News: Meeting next week to decide referendum's fate -- The sides in SAG's strike authorization vote battle are becoming more vocal in advance of the guild's emergency national board meeting next week to determine the fate of the proposed referendum.

Blu-Ray warms tech expo

Film News: Sony pushes online products in Vegas -- Blu-ray sales could triple or even quintuple in 2009.

Fashion kicks off with Golden Globes

Film News: For TV divas, the red carpet is their big moment -- It's fashion kickoff time. First up: the Golden Globes, next the Academy Awards. While the Oscars is as intense as the Super Bowl, the more relaxed Globes pits the smallscreen against the bigscreen: On one team we have the TV clotheshorses; on the other, their big sisters, the movie stars.