The players had only won three out of four categories during last year’s event.

The five champions from Miri were Hui Yin Yii who competed in the Under 8 Unisex Red Ball category, Virvien Bejosano (Under 12 Girls’ singles), Belinda Chai Wei Xin (Under 18 Girls’ singles), Charles Runyaam (Under 18 Boys’ singles) and Belinda Chai who partnered with Kristin Leong from Kuching to win the Under 14/18 Girls’ doubles.

Four other players finished second place while six other players qualified for the semifinals.

The second place winners were namely Nur Irdina in the Under 12 Girls’ singles and Ivan Lau in the Under 12 Boys’ singles, Virvien Bejosano (Under 18 Girls’ singles) and her younger brother, Virman who partnered with Biag Edward from Brunei in the Under 14/18 Boys’ doubles. Those who qualified for the semifinals were three siblings – Ika, Idris and Daniel Johan, Vince Diloy, Virman Bejosano and Amar Muaz.

Players from Kuching also did well in the competition and they include Tan Lin En in the Under 10 Unisex ITF Green Ball, Den Aiman in the Under 12 Boys’ singles and Alvin Teng in the Under 14 Boys’ singles.

The winners received their prizes David Kho, the founder of Greensports who said the two-day was on May 17-18 and organised by Miri Division Lawn Tennis Association (MDLTA).

The event had attracted a total of 127 players from Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu as well as neighbouring Brunei.

“The turnout was overwhelming indeed. This year we turned the championship into an international event where we also received new teams from from Labuan and Sibu,” he enthused.

“We are happy to hear that the kids are planning to come back again next year and Singapore too wanted to take part,” said Kho who disclosed the competition had provided a good platform for young players to enhance their competitive skills as well as to strengthen relations. They are also planning to organise the competition annually.

Having pulled clear of Bjorn Borg’s record of six wins at Roland Garros with a seventh championship in 2012, the 26-year-old has already confounded the critics who had written him off during a seventh-month injury absence.

Since his return to the tour in February, Nadal has shaken off the heartbreak of missing the Olympics, as well as the US and Australian Opens, to collect six titles from eight finals.

Super-charged by that astonishing run, Nadal now has the opportunity to genuinely confirm himself as one of the greats of the sport.

No man has ever collected more than seven titles at the same major.

Roy Emerson, with six, is the Australian Open’s most successful while William Renshaw, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer all triumphed at Wimbledon seven times each.

Bill Larned, Bill Tilden and Richard Sears were seven-time winners at the US Open.

Since his French Open debut in 2005, Nadal has only lost once — an injury-hit fourth round exit to free-hitting Robin Soderling in 2009.

His record stands at 52 wins against just that single blip against the Swede.

In 2013, Nadal may have lost his Monte Carlo Masters title to world number one Novak Djokovic after an eight-year monopoly, but he swept to victory on clay in Madrid and Rome where he allowed Federer just four games in the final.

He is on a 15-match winning streak and being seeded three at Roland Garros this year after the withdrawal of Andy Murray makes Friday’s draw compulsive viewing.

Djokovic, beaten in last year’s final, or Federer, who has lost four title matches to Nadal at the tournament, will find they have the Spaniard as a potential semi-final opponent.

Nadal insists his 2013 run has taken even him by surprise after his second round exit at Wimbledon last year at the hands of world number 100 Lukas Rosol sent him home to Manacor to rest-up his suspect knees.

“If you told me four or five months ago that after eight tournaments I would have won six titles from eight finals, I would say you are crazy,” said Nadal, who spends less time on the practice courts to protect his aching joints.

Djokovic, who captured the season’s opening major in Australia, needs a French Open to join Nadal and Federer as active players to have completed a career Grand Slam.

But he has endured a bitter-sweet relationship with Roland Garros, seeing a 41-match winning streak ended by Federer in the semi-finals in 2011 before losing the 2012 final to Nadal.

That final was completed on the third Monday because of rain. When play was suspended on the Sunday, the Serb, having dropped the first two sets, had taken the third and was a break up in the fourth.

Victory would have given him the coveted Grand Slam.

Having relieved Nadal of his Monte Carlo title in April, Djokovic lost his Madrid opener to Grigor Dimitrov and then slumped to a quarter-final loss in Rome to the dangerous Tomas Berdych.

“I believe that I can go all the way in Paris. It’s a very long tournament,” said the Serb, who has a 15-19 career record against Nadal.

After world number two Murray, a semi-finalist two years ago, pulled out to nurse his injured back ahead of Wimbledon, Nadal and Djokovic should have their only serious rival in Federer, the record 17-time Grand Slam title winner and the champion in Paris in 2009 when he defeated Nadal’s shock conqueror, Soderling.

But Federer, with his 32nd birthday fast approaching, heads to Paris not having won a trophy in the year for the first time since 2000.

Not that his confidence has been dented.

“I am playing well and I am healthy, so I have everything to play for next week,” said the Swiss. — AFP

SINGLES SETBACK: Sarawak’s Mohd Norhairi Khaidir lost 5-9 to Ahmad Hazeeq Ahmad Hisham of Perlis in the men’s singles of the group match yesterday. But Sarawak bounced back to finish the day with a 3 – 2 victory over Perlis.

KUCHING: Sarawak achieved a record breaking feat of some sort after qualifying for the quarterfinals of this year’s Maksak Malaysia Tennis Championship held at Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association Tennis Centre yesterday.

Sarawak beat Perak 4-1 and edged Perlis 3-2 to emerge as the top team in Group C and will take on Johor, the runners-up in Group A in today’s quarterfinals.

Sarawak had their women’s doubles pair Elmy Muliani and Chang Sie to thank for as the duo grabbed the winning point by beating the Perlis pair of Zuhannis Zahari and Nur Farhana Mohd Yussof 9-8 (8).

Earlier, Mohd Norhairi Khaidir lost the men’s singles 5-9 to Perlis’ Ahmad Hazeed Ahmad Hisham but Amin Tamel responded to level the score 1-1 for Sarawak when he thumped Hashim Taib 9-0 in the veteran men’s singles.

Zainoren Alek and Wahi Samad gave Sarawak the 2-1 lead after they beat Mohd Yussof Abdullah and Abdullah Salim in the veteran men’s doubles while it was all square again when Perlis’ Ruhil Amar Razali and Ahmad Faizal Mansor beat Kelvin Chong and Mohd Iskandar Jong 9-5.

This is the first time in 16 years that Sarawak has advanced to the quarterfinals and the last time they reached the semi-finals was in 1997.

Meanwhile, defending champions Selangor faced little problem in making into the last eight, with a 4-1 win over Johor and Prisons to top Group A.

Their opponent in the last eight is Perlis and other quarterfinals will be fought between Group B leaders and last year’s runners-up ATM and Group D runners-up Terengganu, Group D leaders Kuala Lumpur and PDRM.

One hundred and thirty-two players from 12 teams throughout the country are taking part in the competition which ends tomorrow.

State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani will close the event and give away the prizes at Kuching Civic Centre.

ROME: World number two Andy Murray admitted Wednesday that he could miss the French Open after a long-term back injury forced him to quit the Rome Masters.

“I’d be very surprised if I was playing in Paris,” a subdued Murray said after retiring from a second-round start at the Foro Italico, handing a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7) win to Spain’s Marcel Granollers.

Murray, who was celebrating his 26th birthday on Wednesday, said that pain in his lower left back, which has bothered him since late 2011, has been flaring recently, bringing on the Rome pullout.

“I felt pain today, the same as in Madrid. I hit yesterday and played some points. But I was still sore today,” added Murray, with the French Open due to start on May 26.

There were no such problems for Madrid Masters champion Rafael Nadal who began laying the groundwork for a dream seventh Rome title, hammering Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3.

Nadal owns five titles since making his return after seven months out with a knee injury.

The Spaniard, who has now won his 32nd match of the season against two defeats, will next play Ernests Gulbis, a winner over Serb Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1.

“Tomorrow I play against an opponent who is very dangerous,” said Nadal.

“He’s having a great season and we had a tough match in Indian Wells this year.

“He’s aggressive with a big serve, big shots from the baseline. I have to be playing great if I want to have any chance.”

Murray said the back problem is the same one which required him to take a pain-killing injection last spring in order to play Roland Garros in 2012 where he reached the quarter-finals.

“We will have to wait and see on Paris. I’ll try to make a decision after the next five days or so. I need some days off for it to hopefully settle down,” added the world number two.

Murray, the US Open and Olympic champion, said he was loathe to take another injection since the one in 2012 still did not leave him feeling 100 per cent.

The Briton has not quit a match since May, 2007, in Hamburg when he suffered a wrist injury which took three months to heal.

The defeat marked the second straight year in Rome that Murray, a 2011 semi-finalist, has gone out early, following a third-round exit a year ago.

Murray, who has never clinched a claycourt title, has won just three matches on the surface this season, alongside as many defeats.

“(The back) has not been perfect for a long period, I want it to start feeling good again. Everyone goes into matches with niggles, but this is very frustrating,” added Murray.

“Some shots hurt more on clay because the movement is so exaggerated. There is not a lot of power on the ball so you have to generate power and pace yourself.

“I don’t want to go into details, but I’ve got a disc problem, it changes week to week. It’s been an issue for a while, but I want to make sure it goes away.

“I don’t want to be playing with it long-term, it’s not enjoyable at all.”

Murray was joined on the sidelines at the Foro Italico by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, with Polish underdog Jerzy Janowicz ripping off his shirt in celebration seconds after clinching a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) win over the eighth seed. — AFP

Nadal eased to his fifth title in just seven tournaments since returning from a seven-month injury layoff due to tendinitis in his left knee as he beat Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4 in little over an hour to claim his third title in the Spanish capital.

He now has 55 career titles with 40 coming on clay, an astonishing record that prompted Wawrinka to describe the Spaniard as a “killer” on clay courts.

His win on Sunday was also a 23rd Masters Series title.

Having also won on the clay in Sao Paulo, Acapulco and Barcelona this season, the 11-time Grand Slam champion looks well set for a tilt at an eighth French Open crown at Roland Garros.

“It’s true these last matches I have been able to reach that goal, that line, that place where I want to be playing, the kind of play that I’m aiming for,” he said.

“Since we started playing on clay in Europe, these last two matches are the best I have played. I’ve realised that my forehand is working again at its highest level and I’m able to open the angles and play a lot of winners.

“I couldn’t do that in Barcelona or Monte Carlo; over here I could. I was playing with a lot of aggression.”

However, the world number five still refused to accept that he is the clear favourite for Roland Garros, which starts in two weeks, and insisted his mind is solely set on retaining his title in Rome this week.

“Next week I will be in Rome and I will be thinking about Rome. I won’t be thinking Roland Garros,” said Nadal. “Tomorrow I will be in Rome practicing a little bit, and I need to adapt to conditions which are a little bit slower than here.

“Hopefully that should not be a problem, but I need to do it, and I need to do it with the right concentration.”

Williams, meanwhile, has a second title at Roland Garros firmly in her sights as she claimed a title on the red clay for the first time since that triumph 11 years ago with a 6-1, 6-4 win over world number two Maria Sharapova.

The world number one ranking was also on the line as the two met for the third time already this year, but it was a familiar story for Sharapova as Williams extended her nine-year winning streak over the Russian to 12 matches.

“This court definitely plays more like Roland Garros, so I think that’s a plus. It’s a little slower than it was last year and plays more like a true clay court so I think it’s great preparation,” said Williams who now has 50 career titles. And the 15-time Grand Slam champion is determined to make up for the disappointment of losing in the first round in Paris last year.

“It is the ultimate challenge. Whether I reach it, I don’t know. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself.

“I wanted to last year and I didn’t get it. So this year I’m just looking forward to Rome, and then after that Roland Garros, and see what happens.”— AFP

DIFFERENT STROKES: Participants playing Tennis Soccer game during the Tennis is Fun Carnival. Although the game is played for fun, it is also part of the internationally-recognised and ITF approved teaching module of the Play and Stay Coaching Course.

KUCHING: About 100 players took part in a tennis carnival organised by IPG Tun Abdul Razak Campus (IPGKTAR) tennis club at the Sarawak Lawn

Tennis Association here from May 7 – 9.

Club chairman Fardzizul Ismail said that he was happy with the good turnout and attendance at the ‘Tennis is Fun Carnival’.

The carnival promoted tennis through coaching clinics and explored ways to have fun and play games with tennis equipment.

“During the carnival, we experimented and created a few games with the tennis ball and racquet. It is really done just for fun,” he said.

The ‘invented’ games included Tennis Soccer, Tennis Takraw, Mini Tennis Games,Tennis Bowling and Ace Fun Fair.

He added that although the games were played for fun, they were also part of the internationally-recognised and ITF approved teaching module of the Play and Stay Coaching Course.

“Some of the games like Tennis Soccer, Tennis Takraw and Tennis Bowling which were played using tennis balls can help to develop good footwork and coordination in playing the real tennis game,” enthused Fardzizul.

The club is seeking sponsors to help them buying more equipment and fund more activities for the club in the future.

The club currently has 46 members and Fardzizul hoped more people would join the club.

Hel thanked all those who helped and contributed in making the carnival a success.

Three-times major winner Singh was initially found by the PGA Tour to have breached the sport’s doping rules after using a spray, which contains a banned substance, to treat an injury but he was later cleared of any wrongdoing after winning an appeal.

He filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Wednesday, and issued a statement saying the PGA Tour had damaged his reputation. “I am proud of my achievement, my work ethic and the way I live my life,” Singh said in the statement.

“The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.”

Although he never failed a drugs test, Singh was deemed to have breached golf’s rules on doping when he told Sports Illustrated earlier this year he had used deer antler spray to address knee and back problems.

The spray was found to have contained small extracts of IGF-1, a growth hormone on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances.

The PGA Tour notified Singh on Feb. 19 that he would be banned for 90 days following his admission but the Fijian appealed, saying he was unaware the spray contained any banned substances.

He was cleared last week when WADA informed the PGA Tour the use of deer antler spray was not prohibited unless a positive test resulted. Singh, a 34-times winner on the PGA Tour, is in the field for this week’s Players Championship which starts on Thursday.

Singh’s lawyers said on Wednesday the PGA Tour violated its duty of care by suspending the golfer without properly investigating the case.

“The PGA Tour could have known by conducting some basic testing and research, the product that Singh sprayed contained no active biological ingredient and could not possibly have provided any performance enhancement,” Singh’s attorney, Peter R. Ginsberg, said in a statement. “The PGA Tour has now finally admitted that the use of deer antler spray is not prohibited.

“Rather than performing its duties to golfers first, and then determining whether there had been any violation of the anti-doping program, the PGA Tour rushed to judgment and accused one of the world’s hardest working and most dedicated golfers of violating the rules of the game.”

The lawsuit said that Singh was seeking damages “for the PGA Tour’s reckless administration and implementation of its anti-doping program” after exposing the Fijian “to public humiliation and ridicule for months.” — Reuters

Nadal eased past Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-4 and will next face either compatriot Nicolas Almagro or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.

One break in each set was enough for Nadal as he overcame some impressive variety and touch shown by Paire early on to break when the world number 37 was serving at 2-3 down in the opening set, before eventually sealing it 6-3.

Paire had his only look at a break point on the Nadal serve early in the second set but couldn’t take advantage, and in typical Nadal fashion he upped the pressure to break at 4-4 before serving out to book his place in the last 16.

Nadal insisted that it would be “arrogant” to consider himself the title favourite following the shock exit of world number one Novak Djokovic at the hands of Grigor Dmitrov on Tuesday.

“I’m not looking beyond the next round, it would be arrogant to do that so I am not going to do it,” said Nadal.

The seven-time French Open champion has compiled a 27-2 match record this year after missing seven months of with a knee injury.

That run has included trophies in Sao Paulo, Acapulco, Indian Wells and Barcelona.

Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer also made the last 16 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Last year’s finalist and sixth seed Tomas Berdych stayed on course for a quarter-final meeting with Andy Murray as he
recovered from a set down against Jerzy Janowicz to win 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.

German 13th seed Tommy Haas, the champion in Munich last weekend, saw off Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-5 while French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1).

Japanese 14th seed Kei Nishikori will face Roger Federer in the third round after he beat Victor Troicki 7-5, 6-2.

On the women’s side there was a big upset as world number three Azarenka crashed out to Russian Ekaterina Makarova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Azarenka had looked as if she would cruise into the last 16 early on as she dominated the world number 24 in the first set.

However, Makarova turned the match on its head in the second set as she broke early on and again with Azarenka serving at 2-5 to force the match into a decider.

There were even more twists and turns in the third as Azarenka again appeared to take control as she surged into a 2-0 lead, but the double Australian Open champion then fell to pieces with a string of unforced errors that allowed Makarova back onto level terms at 3-3.

Azarenka was then unhappy when she was docked a point by the umpire for smashing her racket in the next game as Makarova moved ahead for the first time in the set.

Azarenka, who had a 17-0 winning record on court this year going into the tournament, blamed her exit on a lack of match practice due to an injury that had kept her out for two months.

“I think it was really noticeable. I made mistakes that I don’t normally do, but that’s what comes after not playing for a long time,” she said.

“I still have another tournament before the French Open to compete in, and I’m going to go back on the practice court as I always do and work hard to improve.”

German sixth seed Angelique Kerber was the first woman into the quarter-finals with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over former French Open and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Serb 14th seed Ana Ivanovic also made the last eight, coming from 2-5 down in the final set to beat Britain’s Laura Robson 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5). — AFP

BIG FAN AND SUPPORTER: File photo of Semariang assemblywoman, Sharifah Hasidah (right), attending one of the tournaments organised by PTBS last year. Also seen are PTBS president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Bujang Mohd Nor (left) and PTBS player Alia Azman.

KUCHING: Sarawak Bumiputera Tennis Association (PTBS) is organising a ladies open tournament this Friday (May 10).

It will be held at PTBS courts located in Jalan Semariang.

According to PTBS development and competitions officer Ismail Abdullah, the main objective of the tournament is to encourage more Sarawak women to play tennis.

“This tournament is open to all women who are interested regardless of race, age or religion,” said Ismail.

Ismail also revealed that the tournament will be called the ‘YB Hajjah Sharifah Hasidah tournament’ in recognition of Semariang assemblywoman, Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman.

“She is a big fan of tennis and she has given tremendous support to PTBS since she was elected assemblywoman. This tournament is one of the ways that PTBS can say thank you to her,” he added.

Winners of the tournament will walk away with trophies, medals and cash prizes.

The tournament will run on a knock-out format which is based on a two-tie break set. Final sets gets 10 points match tie-break.

There will be two categories contested: doubles and singles. The tournament will be conducted based on International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) rules and regulations.

Ismail has also reminded that all interested PTBS members to first settle all their fees with the association before participating.

Those who are interested to participate can contact Zain Wasli (082-311176) at the PTBS complex.

The wealthy Southeast Asian city-state beat rival bids from China’s Tianjin and Monterrey in Mexico for the season finale, which next year will boast a purse of £6.5 million, its largest ever.

The arrival of the tournament, the biggest in the Asia-Pacific region after the Australian Open Grand Slam, will be one of the most important events in Asian tennis since Li Na’s historic French Open win of 2011.

“This is the largest and most significant WTA Championships partnership in our history,” Stacey Allaster, chairwoman and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), told a packed press conference.

“It’s a record-breaker.”

The season-ending event features the top eight women’s players and from next year, the eight leading women’s doubles pairs. Former winners include current champion Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Maria Sharapova.

It is also a major addition to the portfolio of sports events in Singapore, which bills itself as an Asian events capital, alongside its Formula One grand prix and international golf tournaments.

Including the WTA Championships, next year the women’s tour will hold a record 23 events in the Asia-Pacific zone, marking the first time the region will have hosted more tournaments than any other part of the world.

The push is largely due to China’s Li, who became Asia’s first Grand Slam winner in 2011 and reached her second Australian Open final this year, gaining such a profile that she appeared on Time magazine’s cover last month.

Allaster said the impact of Li’s win was only just being felt and would continue to reverberate for years as more Asian women players come to prominence.

“If we look 10 years down the road we will see the impact of Li Na winning the first Grand Slam for Asia-Pacific, where there will be so many young players in this territory saying ‘If Li Na can do it, I can do it’,” Allaster said.

“So I think we will see more Asian players in the next decade.”

The announcement follows a year-long process which attracted interest from 40 potential hosts. Singapore becomes the event’s ninth venue with predecessors including Los Angeles, New York, Doha and Istanbul, the current organisers. — AFP

Australian John Tomic denied a charge of assault on Monday against his son’s practice partner Thomas Drouet in a brawl outside a hotel where players in the Madrid Masters were staying.

“I don’t feel guilty. I did not do anything wrong,” John Tomic told reporters, claiming he was acting in self-defence when he headbutted the player.

Drouet, from Monaco, appeared outside court in a neck brace with a white plaster over his nose.

The court postponed a hearing until May 14 but whatever happens next, Tomic has already taken his place alongside other notorious tennis parents, including Jim Pierce, Damir Dokic and Stefano Capriati.

Tomic, a former taxi driver, had previously courted controversy when he once ordered his son off court in Perth, haranguing the umpire who he claimed was not penalising the opposing player.

At the 2010 Australian Open, he confronted officials who scheduled his son to play at night. And last year, Bernard asked an umpire in Miami to throw his father out of the stadium for disruptive behaviour.

Tomic is not the sport’s only unruly parent, with Pierce once shouting during a match for his daughter Mary to “kill the bitch”. The French star eventually took a restraining order out against him amid claims of assault.

But Dokic, father of Jelena, took it to a new extreme. The Serbian first sprang to attention when he was ejected from the US Open in 2000 for abusing staff about the price of a salmon lunch.

He then alleged that the draw for the 2001 Australian Open had been rigged against his daughter. And when Jelena switched allegiance to Australia, he claimed Australian authorities, “with the help of Croatia and the Vatican have brainwashed my daughter” and even threatened to “kill an Australian in revenge”.

Like Pierce, he was banned by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). In 2009, he was jailed for threatening to bomb the Australian ambassador to Belgrade with a hand grenade. — AFP

In excerpts from an interview with ESPN Magazine, Stephens said Williams has not spoken to her since the 20-year-old beat 15-time major winner in the first Grand Slam of the year.

“People should know,” Stephens said.

“They think she’s so friendly and she’s so this and she’s so that – no, that’s not reality.”

In the interview conducted last month, Stephens said she now gets the silent treatment from Williams in the locker room and through social media since their last WTA Tour match. The two were teammates at a Fed Cup tie two weeks ago in Florida.

“She’s not said one word to me, not spoken to me, not said hi, not looked my way, not been in the same room with me since I played her in Australia,” Stephens told ESPN. “And that should tell everyone something, how she went from saying all these nice things about me to unfollowing me on Twitter.

“You don’t unfollow someone on Twitter, delete them off of BlackBerry Messenger. I mean, what for? Why?” Stephens said two days following their quarter-final match in Australia, Williams posted a backhanded tweet on her social networking page.

“I made you,” Williams wrote.

Said Stephens, “You really don’t think I know that’s about me.”

Stephens also told a story of the time when she was 12 and watched Serena and her sister Venus play for the first time at a Fed Cup tie. She said she was left with a bad impression of the two after they ignored autograph requests.

“I waited all day (for an autograph),” she said in the May 13th edition of the magazine.

“They walked by three times and never signed our posters.”

The Williams sisters and Stephens are three of just a few African Americans playing on the WTA Tour. Contrary to popular belief, Stephens said Williams was never her favourite player and certainly not a mentor as she has been portrayed.

The Williams sisters grew up in crime-plagued, drug-ridden Compton, California before moving to Florida, while Stephens is from Plantation, Florida.

“For the first 16 years of my life, she said one word to me and was never involved in my tennis whatsoever,” says Stephens.

“If you mentor someone, that means you speak to them, that means you help them, that means you know about their life, that means you care about them. Are any of those things true at this moment? No.” — AFP

The men’s team comprised of Muhd Shakrin Ibrahim, Muhammad Ashraf, Dunly Foo and Chee Kien Ee while the women paddlers were Beh Lee Wei, Ng Sock Khim, Ting Hie Phin from Kuching, Sarawak and Ho Ying. Shakrin, Beh and Ng will also represent Malaysia at the World Individual Table Tennis Championships in Paris, France from May 13-20.

Accompanying the national paddlers to New Delhi are TTAM vice president Michael Teo who is also team manager, coach Soong Poh Wah and delegate Chan Foong Keong.

In a simple ceremony at TTAM headquarters in Kuala Lumpur recently, TTAM president Dato Tang See Hong handed over the national colours to Teo.

Also present was TTAM secretary Chan Foong Keong.

With the French Open looming large on the horizon, Nadal is back in the claycourt groove as he continues his comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him for seven months.

The Spaniard has won four titles in six tournaments since returning in Chile in February, finishing runner-up in the other two, yet remains in unfamiliar territory outside the world’s top four.

Starting in Madrid next week, however, where he suffered a surprise third-round exit last year to compatriot Fernando Verdasco, fifth-ranked Nadal can start making inroads.

While the Mallorcan must defend 3,000 points at the Rome Masters and then at Roland Garros, where he will be chasing an eighth French Open title, the second half of the year looks like being a win-win situation for the 11-times grand slam champion.

A stunning second-round defeat by Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon last year proved to be his final match of 2012, meaning the Spaniard will have six months to harvest ranking points and close the gap on those above him.

Djokovic is hoping to finish a third successive season as world No.1 but Brad Gilbert, former world number four and coach to Andre Agassi, believes Nadal has will be breathing down the Serb’s neck later this year.

“To me this is the meatiest part of the season,” Gilbert told ATPWorldTour.com

“You’ve got two Masters 1000s back-to-back and then the French and Wimbledon. That’s 6,000 points up for grabs over a short stretch, and what happens during this time will set the tone as to who has a shot of finishing No. 1.

“Djokovic is in good position now but it still could be a very tight race.”

Djokovic, world number two Roger Federer and number three Andy Murray will all be defending sackloads of points after the French Open, and providing Nadal suffers no injury setbacks he will be relishing a pressure-free second half of the year.

Gilbert said Nadal’s decision to delay his comeback until after the Australian Open and then skip the Miami Masters was paying dividends.

“What a tremendous effort to be in the final every week he’s played. I love the way he goes about his business,” Gilbert said.

“He didn’t rush back until he was close to 100 per cent, and the results back up that he made the right decision.” — Reuters

FANTASTIC NUMBER EIGHT: Rafael Nadal bites the trophy after defeating compatriot Almagro in the men’s singles final match of the Barcelona Open tennis tournament. — Reuters photo

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal extended his record number of Barcelona titles to eight as he brushed off a slow start to beat Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday. Last weekend’s Monte Carlo runner-up regained his accustomed position on an ATP winner’s podium with his fourth title of 2013 and his third on clay for the year.

He rallied from two breaks down on a day of drizzle and heavy conditions, beating Almagro for the tenth time without defeat.

“I’m very happy,” said Nadal.

“This has been an important week for me. To win here again is a great joy after everything I’ve been through.

“It was a fantastic match for me,” he told a crowd which had huddled under umbrellas for the duration of the contest.

“Thanks to the people who watched us.”

The world number five has made a storming comeback to tennis after missing seven months from last summer with knee injuries. Since his February return, he has played finals in all six events he has entered.

“I’ve played just six tournaments this year but have been in the finals of all of them,” said the satisfied winner, who moves up to second in the season points race behind Novak Djokovic, according to ATP calculations.

“I’m in the top 10 and I’m getting my tennis back.”

Nadal went into recovery mode after trailing Almagro 0-3 in less than a quarter hour on the heavy court. But as quickly as he had temporarily let his guard down, Nadal was able to muster his resources to fight back.

He claimed an epic ninth game for a 5-4 lead before serving out the opening set a game later as Almagro couldn’t reach a forehand to the corner.

“It was cold and rainy today and I was not aggressive enough at the start,” said Nadal.

“It was important to get a break-back (when) down 3-0.”

The second seed sped away with the second set in the testing conditions and finished off the victory with an overhead smash.

“I’m used to losing to Rafa,” said Almagro.

“I started well but after it really started to rain the balls got heavy and Rafa found his game in the conditions.”

Nadal becomes the first man this season to win four ATP titles, adding Barcelona to those he lifted in Brazil, Mexico and California.

The 26-year-old who is rediscovering the form that habitually makes him the favourite when the French Open comes around in May. This victory took his Barcelona win streak to 39 matches. In clay finals, the impeccable Spaniard has lost only to Djokovic (three times), Roger Federer (twice) and Horacio Zeballos (once). He now stands 40-1 in Barcelona. — AFP

A similar attack must rank as every sports stars’ worst nightmare and any harmless fan, waiting for hours simply for their idols’ autograph, is now viewed as a potential threat by security staff.

French Open champion Maria Sharapova, who won her 20th consecutive clay-court match when she defended her Stuttgart WTA title on Sunday, is renown for having scores of bodyguards in the wings when she steps on court.

“It’s not something I worry about, the security guys would be pretty quickly onto it if there was a problem,” she said on the subject. But Seles is the first to admit the attack robbed her of her self confidence.

She had finished both 1991 and 1992 as the world’s top ranked female player and in 1990, aged just 16, she had become the youngest-ever French Open champion. On April 30, 1993, the tennis world was at her feet.

Having won her eighth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier that year, the Yugoslav (of Serbian origin) was still only 19 when she played her quarter-final at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum in the day’s last match.

Having won the first set against Bulgaria’s Magdalena Maleeva, Seles was resting during a break in play when Guenter Parche, a 38-year-old unemployed tool maker, plunged a 23cm-long knife into her back. Her attacker had waited four days for his chance.

His motive was that as an ardent admirer of Steffi Graf, he had been irritated that Seles had usurped the German in the world rankings.

After his arrest, he was found to be carrying 1000 deutschemarks (511 euros) and had a ticket to fly to Italy where Seles was registered to play at the Rome tournament the following week.

He told Hamburg police he had been planning the attack for weeks but only wanted to harm Seles, not kill her.

At his trial, Parche’s lawyer said his client lived in a fantasy world and his interest in Graf had reached an unhealthy level, fuelling his hatred of Seles.

Experts confirmed Parche had a personality disorder and the judge ruled it was attempted assault, not murder, giving him a two-year suspended sentence. Due to the light sentence, Seles has never set foot on German soil again.

“Germany is the country where that man attacked me from behind, yet was not sufficiently punished,” she said later in a television interview.

“I cannot understand why this man did not have to pay for his crime.”

Two factors saved Seles from further harm. At the moment of her attack, she was bending forward to get up from her seat, sparing her the full length of the blade, which missed her spine by five centimetres.

A security guard then wrestled Parche to the ground to prevent a second stabbing, holding him in a headlock, while others rushed to help Seles. “I didn’t know what exactly had happened,” Seles recalled.

“Suddenly I remembered it was hard to breathe and I felt a terrible pain in my back.”

Parache was arrested and taken away in handcuffs by police, while a distraught Seles was taken to hospital.

Incredibly, the tournament was not cancelled and Graf, ironically, went on to beat Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the final.

A million marks (511,291 euros) had been spent on security for the Rothenbaum tournament and Seles had employed several security guards to protect her.

She lapsed into depression after her attack and her weight shot up by 30kg due to binge eating.

She made her comeback in July 1995 in Atlantic City against Martina Navratilova and eventually won the Australian Open for the fourth time in 1996.

But she never recovered the form she has showed from before her attack and eventually retired in February 2008. Having won nine Grand Slams before the attack, she would win only one more in her career.

Having suffered several strokes, Parche is now incapacitated in a nursing home in Nordhausen, Thuringia, but Seles said the scars of her attack are both physical and mental.

“I was stabbed on court, in front of thousands of people,” she wrote in her autobiography.

“It is not possible to talk about distancing yourself from that. It changed my career and irrevocably damaged my soul.

“A split second mademe a different person.” — AFP

ALL CLASS: Sharapova celebrates after she won a Porsche 911 4S in the final of the Stuttgart tennis Grand Prix againstLi Na. — Reuters photo

STUTTGART, Germany: Defending French Open champion Maria Sharapova claimed the Stuttgart WTA title on Sunday, beating China’s Li Na 6-4, 6-3 in just over 90 minutes to get her clay-court season off to a winning start.

Having been taken to three-sets in all of her previous three matches here en route to the final, Sharapova saved her best tennis until last to defeat the Chinese in straight sets.

She broke Li twice in the first, but the Chinese managed to reply with a break of her own before Sharapova used the first of her three set points to take the first set.

The 26-year-old world number two then turned up the heat in the second set, breaking Li twice, while holding her own serve without due concern and her aggressive style paid off as she wrapped up victory in an hour and a half.

“I knew this was going to be the toughest match of the week, so I am really pleased with the way things worked out,” said Sharapova, who had lost the previous meeting to Li in the semi-final of January’s Australian Open.

“She has played good tennis all week and I am really happy to have won here again.”

Having beaten Lucie Safarova, Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber on the way to the final, Sharapova is now undefeated at Stuttgart on her second appearance at the clay-court tournament.

After seeing off Victoria Azarenka in last year’s final, Sharapova then went on to win her fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros and she said she is happy to have got her clay-court season off to another good start.

“It definitely helped last year on the way to the French Open, it’s good to bring back the same confidence on clay as last year,” said Sharapova.

Li had won all her three matches in straight sets, seeing off qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, fifth-seed Petra Kvitova then qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands on her way to the final.

“Of course, it’s always disappointing to lose in the final,” said the 31-year-old Chinese. — AFP

HAMMER TIME: Spanish player Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Canadian player Milos Raonic during the Barcelona Open tennis tournament Conde de Godo in Barcelona. Nadal won 4-6, 0-6. — AFP photo

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal kept alive his hopes of an eighth title at the Barcelona Open on Saturday as he waited out a rain delay before hammering Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-0 in their semi-final.The 26-year-old has made a remarkable comeback from the depths of 2012 when he sat out seven months from July to February with knee problems. His Barcelona success marks his sixth straight final since his return to the game.

The second seed will face Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro on Sunday after the fourth seed beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1 in well under an hour.

“Whatever happens tomorrow it’s been a great tournament for me,” said the world number five.

“Six finals out of six since my injury return is fantastic. What could be better. I’m so happy to be in this final again.”

The semis were played simultaneously at the Real Club de Tenis after rain delayed the start for nearly five hours. Both Nadal and Raonic had won two matches on Friday as the event was delayed earlier by a rainy Thursday. Nadal holds a perfect 9-0 record over Almagro and has already beaten his compatriot this season in an Acapulco semi-final.

Raonic duplicated his final-four showing here from 2012 but was stopped cold in 72 minutes by an inspired Nadal, making light of the heavy, wet conditions on the clay.

Nadal extended his Barcelona win streak to 38 matches and stands 39-1 lifetime at the tournament where his lone loss came a decade ago to Alex Corretja, current Spanish Davis Cup captain.

Nadal improved to 3-0 over Raonic after knocking the Canadian out of the Toyko hardcourt tournament in successive years in 2010 and 2011.

The defending champion dropped his opening service game against Raonic but quickly got the break back as he began his dominating performance.

Nadal added an insurance break in the seventh game and took the opening set in 40 minutes on his second opportunity before running away with the second set.

Almagro was equally in charge against Kohlschreiber as the Spaniard advanced into the title match in 52 minutes with four breaks of serve.

Almagro, who reached the semi-finals in 2006 and 2011, improved his head-to-head record against eighth-seeded Kohlschreiber to five wins and three defeats with a similarly clinical performance.

The Spaniard is aiming for a 13th career title but faces a huge ask every time he takes on Nadal.

“Nico is playing at a very high level, he’s had a great week,” said Nadal. “I must be aggressive and dominate the points, it’s tough against a player like him.” — AFP

“Sharapova’s a fighter, she never gives up and I will have to focus on every point out on the court,” said the 31-year-old Li after Sharapova won last year’s final on her Stuttgart debut.

“She’s an aggressive player, but every final is tough.”

Li won their last meeting in January’s Australian Open semi when the Chinese enjoyed a 6-2, 6-2 victory; her fifth win over the Russian, who has beaten her eight times.

Second-seed Li enjoyed a 6-4, 6-3 win over qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA, ranked 104th in the world, to reach the final.

“We both had our chances and it was a very tough match,” admitted Li.

“It was a tight match and I was starting to lose energy as the second set wore on and a few 50:50 things went my way, but that’s tennis.” With a brand-new Porsche waiting court-side for Sunday’s winner to drive off, Li admitted she could be presented with a luxury problem as her sponsorship deal with Mercedes would forbid her from driving her prize.

“I would have two options: keep it in my garage until the contract expires or give it to my husband,” she said.

Earlier, Russia’s Sharapova saw off Germany’s Angelique Kerber in her last four clash with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 victory as she was again involved in a marathon tussle.

The 26-year-old Russian has also been taken to three sets in both her previous matches, when she saw off Lucie Safarova, then Ana Ivanovic in Friday’s semi, and showed some grit to see off Kerber, who was cheered on by the crowd.

Sharapova, the world number two, has played seven-and-a-half hours in her three matches here on clay.

LATEST: Defending French Open champion Maria Sharapova won the Stuttgart WTA title on Sunday beating China’s Li Na 6-4, 6-3 in just over 90 minutes. — AFP

Due to rain on Thursday which wiped out much of the programme, the second seed did double duty in both the third round and quarter-finals, defeating Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the morning and following up with a more substantial victory over Spanish compatriot Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-0 in late afternoon.

Ramos had booked his place against Nadal by putting out Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a delayed third-round match.

Nadal will play a Saturday semi-final against Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic, who beat Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) and followed up by winning a hard-fought battle with Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) in almost two and a half hours.

Nadal has won seven of the last eight editions at the Real Club de Tenis.

The Spaniard, sidelined for seven months until February with a knee injury, appeared to be well on the road to recovery after his loss in the Monte Carlo final last week to Novak Djokovic.

The 26-year-old Nadal improved to a 38-1 career record in Barcelona with his only loss against current Davis Cup coach Alex Corretja in the 2003 second round.

He now stands 24-2 this season and 19-2 on clay.

In his win against Paire, Nadal shook off a slow start. As the morning match wore on, he found his familiar claycourt groove, lifting the first set in a tie-breaker and dominating in the second to take his third-round win.

“It wasn’t a brilliant match but winning was the most important thing,” said Nadal. “It’s a long day today, so straight sets is not a bad way to start.”

Nadal could not have been happier with his day’s work: “I played my best match of the tournament so far,” he said after dispatching Ramos in 65 minutes. “I got through this very complicated day just fine.

“I was much better in the second match and was helped by a lot of mistakes from Albert.”

German eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber came back to finish a Thursday match, turning the tables on Slovak 11th seed Martin Klizan for a 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5) win.

Kohlschreiber then struck it lucky as intended quarter-final opponent Thomaz Bellucci withdrew injured, sending his opponent into the first of the semi-final places.

He will aim for the final against Spanish fourth seed Nicolas Almagro, who defeated Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 7-5.

“I’m excited to finally make the semis here,” said Almagro. “But it will be tough against Kohlschreiber, he’s such a good returner.” — AFP