By Nick Harris 16 June 2010 For the first time in the 133-year history of Wimbledon, there will not be a single English man in the men’s singles competition, a fact that the renowned American tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri, describes in his sportingintelligence column today as “staggering” and “sad”. Two British men will take part […]

* NICK BOLLETTIERI is the world’s most famous tennis coach, and the most successful. He’s coached an unequalled 10 players to No1 in the world, from Andre Agassi and Monica Seles to Jim Courier and Maria Sharapova. He’s never been accused of being shy, and he’s certainly not retiring. Ever. Holy Mackerel! . . . […]

* SARAH HAMES is a lawyer by education but swapped the bar for the piste, then PR. She knows her sport from the inside, the offside and blind side, with a portfolio stretching from the hallowed corridors of the All England Club to the expanses of the Southern Ocean… . . . . . By […]

By Nick Harris 16 June 2010 When Germany won the Eurovision song contest last month, it was billed back home as the ‘Miracle of Germany’ because it was so unexpected. The triumph for their 19-year-old songstress, Lena Meyer-Landrut, with ‘Satellite’, was the first time in 13 years that one of the “big four” in the […]

16 June 2010 The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, are the No1 and No2 seeds for the ladies’ Wimbledon singles, meaning the Americans could meet in a third Wimbledon final in succession, and a fifth altogether. Serena won last year and Venus in 2008. Serena also won their meetings in 2002 and 2003. Venus has […]

16 June 2010 Roger Federer is the No1 seed for the men’s Wimbledon singles in 2010 despite being knocked off the No1 ranking slot by Rafa Nadal. The seedings are calculated using a formula that takes into account a player’s performance on grass, meaning Federer, tennis king of grass for years and reigning champion in […]

By Nick Harris 15 June 2010 Portsmouth’s administrator Andrew Andronikou has told sportingintelligence this evening that he is “pretty certain” that his proposal to creditors to take the club out of administration will be accepted at a meeting on Thursday. The plan offers creditors 20p in the pound, and although one major creditor, HMRC, has […]

By Nick Harris 15 June 2010 Lalit Modi, the suspended chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, finished his response to third “show cause” notice against him last night and submitted it to the relevant authorities in India via email from London today. Modi is accused of a variety of misdemeanours and improper conduct […]

By Keira Daley 15 June 2010 A rowing crew hoping to become the first women to row non-stop around Britain’s coastline have completed 600 miles of their 2,010-mile challenge within the first 14 days and are guaranteed to win the two-boat “race” to finish the challenge after their male opponents withdrew yesterday. When they set […]

By Keira Daley 15 June 2010 As Switzerland prepare to open their World Cup campaign tomorrow in Durban, against the favourites Spain, some lucky compatriots back home – workers in a Swiss bank – are benefitting from a unique World Cup table football room (see pictures below). The identity of the specific bank cannot be […]