AT Sports: November 2011

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Anna Kournikova Biography

Anna Kournikova
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova (Russian: About this sound Анна Сергеевна Ку́рникова; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite the fact that she never won a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google.

Although reaching No. 8 in the world in 2000, she never won a WTA Title in singles. Kournikova's forte has been doubles, where she has at times been the World No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002. Based on their looks, Hingis and Kournikova referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis".Kournikova's professional tennis career has been curtailed for the past several years, and possibly ended, by serious back and spinal problems. She resides in Miami Beach, Florida, and plays in occasional exhibitions and in doubles for the St. Louis Aces of World Team Tennis. She was a new trainer for season 12 of the television show The Biggest Loser, replacing Jillian Michaels, but will not return for season 13.

Anna Kournikova

Tennis Oops Anna Kournikova

Oops Anna Kournikova

Sunday 27 November 2011

Luke Donald 2011 WGC win

Luke Donald Girlfriend
Donald's biggest win to date came in February 2011 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when he defeated the German and subsequent world number one Martin Kaymer 3&2 in the final. During the final, Donald built a three-up lead over the first five holes, however Kaymer pegged him back and won three of the next four holes meaning the match was all square entering the back nine. Donald was able to regain his lead with two successive wins at holes 11 and 12, then followed that up with a birdie on hole 15 to re-build his three-up lead with three holes to play. Both players then parred the par three 16th ensuring Donald's first World Golf Championship title and biggest victory of his career.

Donald had been in exceptional form all week and held an unprecedented record of having never trailed at any point during the week. He started the tournament off in fine fashion with thumping 6&5 win over American Charley Hoffman. The second round was much more competitive and his toughest test all week when he faced fellow Ryder Cup team mate Edoardo Molinari. It was a tight match that went down to the 17th, when Donald would win the hole with a birdie to seal a 2&1 victory. His third round opponent was another Italian, this time the young 17 year old Matteo Manassero, however Donald effectively won this by the time the pair reached the 10th hole with a five-up lead. The Italian fought back on the back nine winning two holes off Donald but it was all in vain as Manaserro went down 3&2. In the quarter final on Saturday, he faced American Ryan Moore and Donald again found himself five-up at the 10th hole, but this time finishing it off at the 14th with a 5&4 victory. Later that Saturday his semi final opponent was another United States player in Matt Kuchar, but Donald was in scintillating form, crushing Kuchar 6&5, having found himself seven-up through the first 10 holes.

It was indeed Donald's form on the front nine all week that took him to this title, as apart from the final when Kaymer clawed it back, Donald was able to build unassailable leads on route to victory. As a result of this tournament win, Donald climbed to his highest ever World Ranking position of World Number Three.

Luke Donald

Thursday 24 November 2011

Danica Patrick Hot Images

Danica Patrick

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Rafael Nadal "The King of Clay"

Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan: [rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 24 October 2011, he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time;his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.

Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including six French Open titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.

Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first title at Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. He regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French Open title. He held it until 3 July 2011, when Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1.

Rafael Nadal

Saturday 19 November 2011

Danica Patrick Women Racer Car Driver

Texas -- Danica Patrick said Friday she is glad to have a "roof over her head" this weekend in a Nationwide Series car, two weeks after the tragic death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon in a race at Las Vegas.

[+] EnlargeDanica Patrick
Jonathan Ferrey/Getty ImagesDanica Patrick will wear this helmet in Saturday's Nationwide race as a tribute to Dan Wheldon -- her first race since Wheldon's death on Oct. 16.

"It does feel safer," she said. "It felt safer two years ago when I first got in a Nationwide car. Accidents still happen, but not a lot of serious head injuries. Having my head covered definitely adds a level of comfort."

Patrick was racing in her final IndyCar event as a full-time driver when Wheldon was killed in a terrifying multicar accident early in the race. She is moving full-time to NASCAR in 2012.

"It was nice to have a couple of weeks off and create some space between those emotions and getting back on the track," Patrick said. "It's a tragedy and it's terrible, but hopefully everyone can learn from it and be safer from it."

Patrick is driving a Wheldon tribute car this weekend in the Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday. The No. 7 Chevy has Wheldon's lionheart symbol on it.

Patrick is donating her prize money to a trust fund established for Wheldon's family. She also will wear a Wheldon tribute helmet, which will be auctioned off and the money given to the family.

Bumpier Ride For Patrick?

As she moves full time to NASCAR, Danica Patrick faces trickier cars, rougher racing and a longer, hotter season. It all starts Saturday in Texas. Story

She said her decision to switch to NASCAR had nothing to do with the safety aspect of the cars.

"No, my decision was a result of a sponsor [GoDaddy.com] being willing to go with me," she said. "After that, it was where I had the most fun racing, and I have the most fun racing these cars."

Patrick was asked where she thought IndyCar racing was heading in light of the death of Wheldon.

"I don't have to think about it anymore," she said. "They still have great race cars, great events and the Indy 500. Those things still exist.

"But I don't really have an answer and I don't think about it. I'm all in here [with NASCAR] and these are my thoughts and my focus. I told people when I left [IndyCar] I'll be watching, and I'm sure sometimes I will wish I was out there because it looks fun."

Wheldon's death was the second time Patrick has dealt with a driver being killed. Paul Dana was killed in a warm-up accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2006.

Patrick did not race that day because Dana was her teammate at Rahal-Letterman Racing. The Vegas race last month was canceled two hours after the accident.

"They came in [a drivers' meeting] and told us Dan had passed away," Patrick said. "We discussed what to do. It was very complicated, but Randy Bernard (IndyCar's CEO) came in and said, 'You guys can't think straight. You're going to do a five-lap tribute and not run today.'

"It probably was true. We couldn't think straight. We were very emotional and it was the right thing to do."

Patrick said the Wheldon tragedy will not affect her decision about possibly competing in the Indy 500 next year, if the opportunity is right.

"I'd love to," she said. "It's the greatest race in the world and I still have memories I want to create there."

Danica Patrick

Friday 18 November 2011

Luke Donald Golf's saving grace

Golf isn’t all about golf. In the early hours of Friday morning the world’s number one golfer greeted the arrival of child number two.

It was the culmination of an emotional few days for Luke Donald; just three days previously his father died suddenly on the other side of the Atlantic. This was a timely reminder that amongst all the million-dollar prize funds, world ranking points and continent-hopping involved in the life of a professional golfer, there’s a human at the centre of it all. And that humanity is exactly what the sport needs to restore its reputation.

While it’s been a career year for Donald – ticking off the number one ranking, US money list and probably the European money list next month – it’s been far from an annus mirabilis for golf. Just last week, comments from Tiger Woods’ sex-caddie Steve Williams caused a storm akin to the John Terry race row currently engulfing English football.

On Thursday, a frustrated John Daly walked off the course at the Australian Open for probably the last time in a not dissimilar fashion to the way Carlos Tevez ran away to Argentina this week.

At the start of the year Elliot Saltman was branded a cheat after being found guilty of a ‘serious breach’ of golf’s rules. And parallel to this all are the continuing woes of Woods, golf’s fallen hero.This all seems a far cry from some of the golfing moments the grey-haired, plus-fourred men will tell you about, if you hang around a club bar for too long on seniors’ morning.

They remember fondly the famous 1969 Ryder Cup where Nicklaus conceded Jacklin’s putt on the final hole to tie the match.Or the story of Greg Norman, who took defeat with such grace and composition when he handed the 1996 Masters to Nick Faldo after throwing away a six shot lead.

Some might even spin the old yarn of Jesse Sweetser at the 1926 British Amateur, who refused to accept the title when his opponent in the final was hours late for tee-off and the organisers declared the match would be forfeited. He went on to win anyway.

Golf is at a cross-roads right now. While nobody sees the sport descending into the bickery and individualism of Premiership football, the danger to its reputation is all too real. The quiet and unassuming Donald has found himself at the top of a game that is in need of a statesman. And there is no better man for the job.

Over the course of 2011 he’s duelled with the best and won – Lee Westwood at Wentworth, Webb Simpson at Disney and Martin Kaymer at the World Championships – but with modesty, grace and dignity. He withdrew from the HSBC Champions in Shanghai last week as his wife approached her due date, saying: “making history in the sport is very important to me, but the roles of husband and father are the most important…being there for my wife and family is where I have to be.”Donald isn’t going to dominate the sport in the way Woods has done for the last decade, nor is he going to attract crowds to the same extent as the new talents of Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler are.

But Donald can be a role-model for the game, a leader by example and a statesman. The game needs an injection of humanity, and the Englishman is the perfect candidate to provide it.

Luke Donald

Monday 14 November 2011

Vera Zvonareva

MOSCOW: Dominika Cibulkova advanced to her second straight semifinal Friday, rallying to upset top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup.

In later quarterfinals, Kaia Kanepi upset sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2 to set up a semifinal clash with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, who ousted another Russian, Vera Dushevina, 6-4, 6-4.

Vera Zvonareva

Vera Zvonareva

Earlier, Marion Bartoli of France withdrew from the quarterfinals with an illness, handing Agnieszka Radwanska a spot in the season-ending WTA finals.

In the men's quarterfinals, defending champion Viktor Troicki of Serbia rallied from 4-love down in the third set and prevailed in a tiebreaker to eliminate Alex Bogomolov Jr. of the United States 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (1), while three-time winner here Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Michael Berrer of Germany.

Kanepi won four consecutive games to go a set up in the match. In the second set, the 43rd-ranked Estonian endured eight deuces on her serve in the sixth game, which lasted for 12 minutes. She then fought off five break points and went on to win.

"I fought my best today, but I didn't attack her," said Kuznetsova. "This is not my game and I understood it but couldn't change it."

Kanepi, who is making her debut at the event, agreed with the two-time Grand Slam winner.

"Normally a player can play attacking tennis when the other allows him," Kanepi said.

Safarova, at No. 8 the only seeded player to survive into the semis in the women's draw, broke Dushevina decisively in the third game of the second set.

Cibulkova, who was runner-up in Linz, Austria, last week, played with her right leg bandaged after she aggravated a knee injury in the previous match. Both players took medical timeouts in the third set - Zvonareva to treat her shoulder and Cibulkova to have her leg massaged and retaped.

The 20th-ranked Slovak rallied from 5-3 down in the second set to break the fifth-ranked Zvonareva in the 10th game and stay in the match.

Cibulkova said she lost the first set because she was not aggressive enough on her second serve.

"In the second set I just said, OK, come on, you have to play 100 percent and also to go for second serve. And you have nothing to lose. And it just paid off," Cibulkova said.

Serving in the tenth game of the third set, the Russian raced to 40-love up but could not finish and finally returned wide and long to lose the game and the match.

"You cannot go 50-50, you should decide at the right time," Zvonareva said. "Maybe I should have retired, because I'm to play next week in Istanbul and then be back here for the Fed Cup."

Vera Zvonareva

Vera Zvonareva

Zvonareva said that she had played a good match but because of the pain in her shoulder caused by an old injury and concerns about her upcoming matches she could maintain concentration.

The third-seeded Bartoli, who has not dropped a set in six matches, was scheduled to play Elena Vesnina of Russia in the first quarterfinal but pulled out because of a viral illness.

"I think just my whole body needed a break," Bartoli said. "I really was trying till the end but yesterday during my match I already felt not very good.

"I still have a bit of energy left, so it was enough (to play), but early this morning I had so much pain in my whole body, on my neck - I couldn't even warm up," she said.

Vesnina said it was the first time she had advanced by a walkover at this stage of a tournament.

"It's really sad when you are not feeling good, not very healthy," Vesnina said. "I saw her match yesterday, and she was playing really well."

The 64th-ranked Russian will play Cibulkova in the semifinals.

Bartoli won her seventh career title in Osaka last weekend and needed to win the title in Moscow to secure the last open spot for next week's WTA Championships in Istanbul.

With Bartoli's withdrawal, Radwanska qualifies directly for the event for the first time, despite losing in the second round in Moscow. She was a substitute in 2008 and 2009.

Bartoli will travel to Istanbul and will be the first alternate.

In early men's quarterfinals, the 133rd-ranked Jeremy Chardy of France landed 11 aces to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-3 and make it to the semifinal