Sania undergoes 'successful' knee surgeryHYDERABAD: India's top women tennis player Sania Mirza on Saturday underwent a 'successful' surgery on her left knee, which she injured during October's US Open, her father Imran Mirza said.
Imran informed that Sania had torn her meniscus during the US Open Grand Slam tournament in Flushing Meadows last month.
"The surgery was performed by the Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. K.J. Reddy. Her Pakistani cricketer husband, Shoaib Malik was present at the hospital when the operation was performed," Imran said.
It may be recalled here that Sania had earlier undergone an arthroscopy after damaging her ACL on the right knee in 2006 and a right wrist surgery to repair a torn lunate capsule in 2007.
Sania Mirza had broken into the top-10 of the world in women's doubles for the first time in her career when she was struck down with the knee injury during the year's last Grand Slam.
Murray floors Nadal to win Japan Open title
TOKYO: World number four Andy Murray claimed his second singles title in two weeks by coming from a set behind to beat Spain's Rafael Nadal in the Japan Open final on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Briton, fresh from winning the Thailand Open a week ago, put an end to his losing streak of five consecutive defeats to Nadal by scoring a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over the top seed.
Thus, he ended Nadal's bid to become the first man since Pete Sampras in 1993-94 to retain the Tokyo crown.
Nadal started with a stylish game to love, while Murray struggled with his first serve early on and lost the first set.
But in a remarkable second set turnaround Murray's serve clicked into place and jumped into a 3-1 lead. He rained down three aces in a row for a 0-40 in the fifth game before squaring the contest at one set all.
Murray, seeded second, destroyed Nadal in the third set conceding only four points to the Spaniard.
With the win, which brought him $295,000, Murray improved his record against Nadal to five wins against 13 defeats. It was his first win over Nadal since August last year at Toronto.
It was Murray's fourth title of the season, following victories in London, Cincinnati and Bangkok.
It was also the 20th title during his career.
The future's bright, the future's British
At the recent Davis Cup tie in Glasgow,
with the British team changed and ready to play, a couple of
16-year-old lads gatecrashed the locker room. Eyebrows were raised, but
security was not required.They weren't lost or looking to cause trouble. Though few people in the room knew it, they were two of British tennis's finest prospects.
Luke Bambridge and Kyle Edmund had been told to give the team talk by captain Leon Smith, who is also the head of men's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA). British number one Andy Murray was about to be lectured by the rookies.
The speech wasn't exactly an epic tub-thumper, but up they stood and away they went - said all the right things, impressed all the right people.
Yorkshire-born Kyle Edmund reached the semis of the US Open Juniors last month. Photo: Getty
Coming off the back of a successful US Open, when three of the four boys' semi-finalists were Brits, it's impossible not to glow with expectancy for - at last - a bright future.
Of course there is no guarantee of that - promising junior talent has evaporated through every generation and every age group (and Britain is not alone here) - but there are definite signs of encouragement.
For a start, Hoyt, Edmund and Bambridge - born within a fortnight of each other in January 1995 - all look to me like proper tennis players.
They are six-foot-plus, they move well, they are comfortable in all areas of the court and they have big shots. Hoyt has speed and great tactical awareness, Edmund and Bambridge both possess the almost obligatory modern-day combination of big serve, big forehand.
Then there is the athletic ability. Huge strides appear to have been made in the LTA physical training department under Arran Peck, formerly of Ulster Rugby Club, and these lads will beef up considerably over the next couple of years.
Then comes the attitude. They love to compete, they love to play on clay. They don't appear to be in the game for an easy ride or a cushy lifestyle and it's up to them to keep believing this. The minute they waver, the minute their careers will stall.
Bambridge has impressed by winning a series of long tight matches while Hoyt would not have been Rafael Nadal's Wimbledon practice partner three days in a row with anything less than a perfect work ethic.
The National Tennis Centre in Roehampton has been key to young players' development. Photo: Getty
Welshman Hoyt is a student at Tim Henman's former school - Reeds in Surrey - where coach Ben Haran, assisted by early-morning alarm clocks, is achieving terrific things.
Edmund, from Yorkshire, worked for several years with John Black at Bisham Abbey before basing himself at the National Tennis Centre with long-time LTA coach Colin Beecher.
Interestingly Beecher remains in close contact with Black, sending match reports and stats through for feedback. There is no need for Black to be jettisoned, knowing the player so well.
Likewise, Martin Weston, who helped develop Bambridge at Loughborough, just down the road from the player's Nottingham home. Weston remains in close contact with his former charge, still going on some trips, even though Beecher has the coaching reins.
This inclusiveness and recognition for coaches who have done good work with junior players is a big step forward under Smith's leadership at the LTA. There is more to be done but we are heading in the right direction, finally.
Credit must also go to Rusedski, who is insisting on great professionalism from all the 15 to 18-year-olds, that crucial development age bracket. He is giving something back to the sport and the nation that has treated him so well and, for that, he should be applauded.
Also over the weekend, Laura Robson qualified for the WTA event in Tokyo, achieving a career-high ranking of 141 and Northampton's Alex Ward won a first futures (third tier) title in Sweden.
Oh, and someone called Andrew Murray won in Thailand. A 19th title for him, they tell me. How refreshing that there are others under the GB flag who steal attention from the main man today.
Nadal To Face Murray For Title Defence
© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal did not face a break point in his semi-final win over Mardy Fish.
Defending champion and top seed Rafael Nadal won nine of the last 10 games to defeat fourth seed Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo. "For me it’s fantastic to win against Mardy and be in another final," said Nadal. "I think I played well, especially in the second set. I played better than yesterday in the first set, but sometimes my return was shorter than I would have liked."
The Spaniard claimed his ATP World Tour-best 65th win of the season, surpassing Novak Djokovic (64 wins). The 25-year-old Nadal is through to his 10th tour-level final of the season. He is bidding to win his first ATP World Tour hard-court title since triumphing in Tokyo last year, when he defeated Gael Monfils in the final. The left-hander has a 46-19 record in tour-level finals.
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In the final Nadal will face World No. 4 Andy Murray, who continued his impressive run of form as he defeated third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 to record his 20th win in his past 21 matches. Nadal takes a 13-4 career lead into the final, having defeated Murray in all four of their meetings this year, most recently in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.
"I think it will be a very difficult match, he is doing very well winning last week in Bangkok and now into another final," said Nadal. "I will have to play my best tennis to have any chance; it’s a big challenge playing against him."
After a closely contested first nine games in his eighth meeting with Fish, Nadal took control, reeling off the next seven games to clinch the opening set and take a 4-0 lead in the second. He brought up match point with a forehand winner curled inside the line in the seventh game and converted after one hour and 35 minutes as Fish smashed into the net. Victory for Nadal took him to a 7-1 career lead over Fish and avenged the defeat he suffered to the American in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals in Cincinnati.
The 29-year-old Fish was this week looking to make up ground in the Battle for London. The American, who has enjoyed a career-best season, is currently sixth in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings and in prime position to secure one of the four remaining berths at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
"I thought Rafa played very well today," said Fish. "The first set was pretty high quality and could have gone either way, but he picked up his game and the second set got away from me real quickly. The goal is to make London at the end of the year and I’ll take a semi-final appearance here. I’m taking the momentum I had from the summer and putting points on the board hopefully, week after week."
Murray needed just 81 minutes to dismantle Fish’s fellow Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender Ferrer. The Scot converted four of his six break point chances, breaking Ferrer to love in the final game and finishing with a forehand return winner.
"I played great from start to finish," said Murray. "It was always going to be a tough match, but I played smart and I was hitting the ball very deep from the back of the court, so it was a very good performance."
Looking ahead to the final with Nadal, Murray commented, "I think he’s played some very good tennis the last couple of matches. He’s always tough. He won here last year, so he likes the conditions."
The Dunblane native’s rich vein of form has seen him win titles in Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and last week at the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok (d. Young). He is bidding to win his 20th ATP World Tour title.
The 29-year-old Ferrer is next in line to qualify for the season finale at London’s O2 Arena, currently fifth in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings. He will now look to next week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters, where he is seeded No. 3, to gain more vital points.
"You win more matches and you get more confidence," said Ferrer, building on the positives of his week. "I’m happy with the tournament, not today, but I won three matches and this is important for my game."
Andy Murray to meet Rafael Nadal in Japan Open final
Murray's semi-final victory was his 20th win in 21 matches
Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final of the Japan Open after a comfortable win over David Ferrer.
The British number one beat the Spaniard 6-2 6-3 to remain on course for a second successive title after winning the Thailand Open last week.Defending champion Nadal beat American Mardy Fish 7-5 6-1 in the last four.
The top seed served out the first set after breaking Fish in the 11th game before going on to break his opponent three more times in the second set.
