Month of December , 2007

James Blake earned the United States a commanding 2-0 lead with a gutsy 6-3 7-6 6-7 7-6 victory over Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second singles match of the Davis Cup final in Portland.
 
American number one Andy Roddick had outclassed Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-4 6-2 in the opening rubber of the three-day tie at Memorial Coliseum.
 
Blake, who lost to Youzhny in their only previous encounter in last year's semi-final, held off a spirited fightback by his opponent in a fluctuating contest lasting three-and-a-half hours.
 

Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev had no regrets over his strategy for the Davis Cup final against the United States despite his team losing the opening two singles matches on Friday.
 
Americans Andy Roddick and James Blake gave the hosts a commanding 2-0 lead after Tarpishchev had omitted his top player, world number four Nikolay Davydenko, for tactical reasons.
 
"I think that our best chances to beat Blake today were with (Mikhail) Youzhny out of all the players that we have," Tarpishchev told a news conference.
 

A disaster of a year has seen Amelie Mauresmo drop out of the top 10. But even if she can make a sturdy comeback, the 2008 competition is bigger and better. How will the French Women cope?
 

Andy Roddick, passionate about the Davis Cup since watching the 1992 final, put the victory by the Americans on a par with his 2003 US Open title.
 
Roddick was in jubilant mood after his team mates Bob and Mike Bryan crushed Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in the doubles to earn the United States an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the three-day tie.
 
"It's definitely on par with anything that I've accomplished in tennis," Roddick, 25, said after the Americans had clinched their first Davis Cup success since 1995.

Bob and Mike Bryan swept aside Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev 7-6 6-4 6-2 in Saturday's doubles to earn the United States an unbeatable 3-0 lead and a record 32nd Davis Cup.
 
The Americans, who won the opening singles matches at Memorial Coliseum, had not claimed the team title for 12 years, their last success also coming against Russia on the clay of Moscow in 1995.
 

Jelena Dokic says she is aiming to return to the top 50 next year and believes her climb back can begin with Australian Open qualification.
 
The career of Dokic, who climbed to a career-high ranking of four in 2002 and was a Wimbledon semi-finalist, has been in freefall but she is back in hard training in Melbourne.
 
"I needed some time away from the game to sort through some personal issues but now I'm back and very focused," Dokic told the Sun-Herald newspaper.
 

Australian Open officials have amended the tournament's heat policy so that matches in progress when extreme conditions are declared won't have to be immediately finished.

Players in the Jan. 14-27 tournament at Melbourne Park will no longer have to complete matches that are already under way once the extreme heat rule is invoked, instead only having to complete the current set.

Belarusia's Victoria Azarenka is one of the game's brightest young stars and after a highly impressive year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, looks all set to continue her rise to the top next season. In January the 18-year-old was barely inside the Top 100, but 12 memorable months later and she sits comfortably inside the Top 30.
 

Dispatches Martin after sluggish start

The United States Sports Academy has nominated world No. 1 Justine Henin and reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams for the 2007 Academy Athlete of the Year award presented by USATODAY.com and MSNBC.com.

SOUTH Australian tennis legend Ken McGregor has died at the age of 78 following a brief battle with cancer.

The right-hander has had a long-running battle with a heart condition, but 10 days ago was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

He died at his Myrtle Bank home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

McGregor was a three time Davis Cup winner for Australia and also won the Australian Open singles title in 1952.

In 1951 along with partner Frank Sedgman, McGregor completed a doubles Grand Slam clean sweep.

Despite losing to the USA in the 2007 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Final, Russia remain top of ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking.

Russia went to this position in the Rankings for the first time after their victory in the 2006 Final in Moscow.
The Davis Cup Nations Ranking is published following every Davis Cup weekend. It takes into account each nation's performances over the previous four years with more recent performances weighted more heavily.
1 RUSSIA  31920.00
2 U.S.A.  30315.00
3 ARGENTINA 16598.75

PORTLAND, Ore. -- In typically arcane Davis Cup fashion, the line score for the 2007 championship final will read 4-1, with the United States and Russia splitting exhibition matches on the final day. But make no mistake -- this was a sweep, as one-sided a thrashing as it gets in international sport.

Right now our sports coverage could perhaps do with a bit of a rest from any further mention of Croatia's sporting skills. Fat chance, because breezing into London tomorrow for a week of walloping aces and talking up the marvels of his homeland is Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia's best-known and most popular athlete.

BEAVER CREEK, COLORADO — Tennis guru Andre Agassi has been dabbling in another sport lately: snowboarding.

The Olympic gold winner flew into town this week to watch the Birds of Prey race.
Originally, he had intended to delight the crowd by boarding with skiier Aksel Svindal but those plans changed when Svindal sustained injuries in a crash on opening day.
Instead, race spectators might have spotted Agassi handing out watches at the awards ceremony. He did so as the icon for Swiss watch company, Longines, an event sponsor that timed the races.

The United States have reasserted their Davis Cup dominance, earning their 32nd title with a 4-1 triumph over Russia in the 2007 World Group final.
 
But captain Patrick McEnroe's close-knit squad of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan, who claimed America's first Davis Cup crown in 12 years, were barely done celebrating when they began looking ahead to the difficult task of retaining the title in 2008.
 

Lleyton Hewitt's plan to match the new court surface of the Australian Open by constructing one in the backyard of his 2.5-million-dollar Sydney estate has apparently gone wrong.
 
Sydney media report that the Australian's new court has ended up by being covered with the wrong surface.
 
Instead of the "True Blue" Plexicushion to be used at the season's first Grand Slam starting January 14, Hewitt's court was surfaced with a competing product to the ire of the former number one.
 

Former British number one Greg Rusedski will play at the BlackRock Masters Tennis at London's Royal Albert Hall after Goran Ivanisevic withdrew.

Rusedski stepped in after Ivanisevic failed to recover from a hamstring injury in time for Tuesday's start.
 
Bjorn Borg pulled out last week with an elbow injury.
 
Rusedski, who only retired in April, will be a strong favourite to beat the likes of John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Michael Stich and Jeremy Bates.

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour legend Lindsay Davenport received the Sportswoman of the Year Award at the March of Dimes 24th Annual Sports Luncheon in New York City on Wednesday, November 28 in recognition of her extensive accomplishments in the world of tennis and her philanthropic endeavors.
 

Former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich has warned Andy Murray it could be "dangerous" to surround himself with too many coaches and advisors.

The British number one, 20, has revealed his intention to employ a rotating staff after splitting with former coach Brad Gilbert last month.

But Stich, who won at the All England Club in 1991, believes that, just because Murray's new-found wealth permits him to bankroll a sizeable support team, it does not necessarily make it the best option.