Seven titles at the same slam: in the open era, only Pete Sampras has accomplished such a feat, by his seven Wimbledon crowns between 1993 and 2000. While Nadal looks destined to follow Sampras in amassing at least half of his slam titles at one tournament, his dominance at the French is likely to be regarded with far greater fondness than the American’s monopoly in SW19. For Nadal has converted his Parisian public as much by his raw talent as his unquenchable resolve to win, thrilling each fresh crowd with the audacity of his rallying and retrieving. Only the rise of the equally bionic Novak Djokovic, conqueror of Nadal in all three of the last slam finals, has chipped at his lustre. The Serb even ... Continue reading →
The flame itself will have its own seat and, for all we know, complimentary drinks to boot. For no expense is ever spared in the cause of Olympic ostentation. Yes, Greece could soon be cast back to the age of the drachma and yes, Europe risks being engulfed by the single greatest financial conflagration since the Thirties, but why let this spoil the party? No wonder one correspondent, stepping into a gold-liveried BA Airbus for yesterday’s outward journey, confessed to “mixed feelings”. I share his unease. Athens has rather weightier matters to attend to than watching the Mayor of London practise his Greek conjugation outside the Temple of Hera. Of course, Boris, Beckham and their merry brigade cannot be blamed unduly, as the mere recipients ... Continue reading →
Last weekend she won the World Series race in San Diego, a triumph which, allied to her runners-up finish in Sydney in April, has established the 28 year-old firmly among Britain’s leading candidates for an Olympic gold medal. Her much-treasured rural runs at home in Bridgend, south Wales, with her chocolate Labrador Barney bounding at her side, could soon become a little more complicated. It helps that, beneath her impeccable modesty, Jenkins appears to grasp how talented she is. “I’ve got to think that I’m in with a hope of a medal, if not gold,” she admits. “In every World Series event last season, apart from the one where I crashed on the bike in Sydney, I was on the podium. I clearly have an ... Continue reading →
Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager, looked desolate, having spent all 90 minutes on the ragged edge of sanity. Creditably, he had by turns cajoled and excoriated his players until the final whistle, never exhibiting negative body language while there was still chance of a reprieve. As the death knell sounded, though, the shattering impact of the drop was etched in his haggard features. As protocol dictated, he strode over to the away end to salute the supporters, but there was no outbreak of wailing or mass hysteria. Many of them had already left the Britannia, presuming that the theatre in Manchester had taken the task too far out of the reach. While a banner proclaiming 'The Great Escape’ still clung to the seats in a ... Continue reading →
It would be a crass assumption, as anybody steeped in the internecine enmity between Cardiff and Swansea City would attest. At a stroke, the club’s iconography, even their adopted name, is imperilled by outside influence. As one supporter pointed out Wednesday, we should spare a thought for all the dyed-in-the-flesh die-hards who have invested in blue tattoos. But does Tan, for all the alleged short-sightedness of his commercial calculations, have a point? Red, both in his Malaysian homeland and throughout the Far East, is imbued with auspicious nuance. In China, its fiery hue signifies nothing less than the pulse of a nation: brides can wear it at a traditional wedding, while it may also be treated as symbolic of a power to ward off evil ... Continue reading →
