Tennis

By Alexandra Willis in Indian Wells 12 March 2011 Andy Murray has called for Britain’s forthcoming Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg to be housed at a venue that “sells out in minutes” and show off the true atmosphere and excitement of the famous team competition. The British No.1, who gave the clearest indication yet that […]

By Alexandra Willis 6 March 2011 Ivo Karlovic, the long-limbed Croatian known for being the tallest player on the men’s tennis tour, has set a new record for the fastest serve delivery in official competition. Karlovic, competing for Croatia in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas in Zagreb, delivered a serve of 156 mph (251kph) […]

By Nick Harris in Budapest 23 February 2011 David Howman, the director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has today called for the establishment of a global anti-corruption agency to tackle malpractice ranging from match-fixing to institutional corruption. In a statement released at the European Union Sports Forum, which concluded today in Hungary, Howman says he […]

By Alexandra Willis 28 January 2011 Bookmakers are unashamedly backing Novak Djokovic against Andy Murray in the Australian Open final on Sunday, as they face a record payout if the British No.1 achieves a first Grand Slam win. Labrokes were offering 8/1 on a Murray victory in the build-up to the tournament, as the Scot […]

By Alexandra Willis 26 January 2011 The cost of raising the next Rafael Nadal or Maria Sharapova has been estimated to be over $400,000, according to a report by Bloomberg. Based on the example of 12-year-old Mia Smith, whose parents have sold their house in order to send their daughter to the prestigious $68,495-a year […]

By Nick Harris 2 January 2011 America’s Wayne Odesnik has become the first tennis player to become a top-level whistleblower in exchange for a reduced drugs ban, and sportingintelligence can reveal he could be asked to spill the beans about irregular betting as well as about doping. The authorities hope his information will lead to […]

By Nick Harris 19 December 2010 Tony McCoy, the greatest jump jockey of all time, was crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year at a star-studded awards night in Birmingham this evening – and then mentioned the Beeb’s great broadcasting rivals, Sky, in his acceptance speech. He was talking about the delight with which […]

By Alexandra Willis 1 December 2010 Kim Clijsters has been awarded the WTA Player of the Year for 2010 for the second time in her career. Tennis fans and the media voted the bubbly Belgian as their player of the year in recognition of her achievement in winning the US Open title for the third […]

By Alexandra Willis at the O2 Arena 27 November 2010 Rafael Nadal defeated Andy Murray in a spectacular three hours and 11 minutes of edge-of-the-seat tennis in the first semi-final at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena. The Brit, competing against the world No.1 for the 13th time, showed no signs […]

By Alexandra Willis at the O2 Arena 26 November 2010 Andy Murray will meet Rafael Nadal in the first semi-final of the Barclays ATP World Tour at London’s O2 Arena after the world No.1 blistered through his final round robin match against Tomas Berdych. Producing the kind of unrivalled shot-making that we have come to […]