Isner powers to victory as U.S. draw level with France in Davis Cup

John Isner (right) beat Gilles Simon in straight sets to tie the Davis Cup

(CNN) -- The United States are tied 1-1 with France after the first day of the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinal at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebrune, France.

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave the hosts the initiative with a four-set 7-5 6-2 2-6 6-2 win over Ryan Harrison in the opening rubber.

But the United States hit back to level the tie as big-serving John Isner fired nine aces in a straight-set 6-3 6-2 7-5 win over Gilles Simon.

"I took the court very confident," Isner said, DavisCup.com reported.

"To me no matter who I was going to play today, I was going to feel confident no matter what. So that was the case today," he added.

"I went out there and I played very well, simple as that. I was very happy with how I played and I am happy that I was able to help the team out."

The U.S., who are without Andy Roddick or Mardy Fish, will look to the Bryan brothers (Bob and Mike) to edge them into the lead tomorrow as they face Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau.

Meanwhile in Castellon, Spain took a firm hold on their tie against Austria as Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer recorded straight set wins over Jurgen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer respectively.

The five-time champions, who are without the services of an injured Rafael Nadal, can now clinch the tie on Saturday with victory in the doubles.

Almagro was on court for just under two hours in his 6-2 6-2 6-4 win over Melzer while world No.5 Ferrer demolished Haider-Maurer 6-1 6-3 6-1 to continue his unbeaten status in Davis Cup singles matches.

"I won relatively easily and am happy with my game. Maybe the opponent played a little bit bad and made many mistakes but I played very solid and consistent," Ferrer said, DavisCup.com reported.

Over In Prague, Serbia, who are without the services of World No.1Novak Djokovic, got off to a bad start against the Czech Republic as Tomas Berdych cruised to a straight-set win over Victor Troicki 6-2 6-1 6-2.

But Janko Tipsarevic overcame Radek Stepanek in a five-set thriller 5-7 6-4 6-4 4-6 9-7 to level the tie.

The winners will face either Argentina or Croatia who are battling it out in Buenos Aires.

That tie is nicely poised after Croatian No.1 Marin Cilic beat David Nalbandian 5-7 6-4 4-6 7-6 6-3 before Juan Martin del Potro hit back leveling the match with a straight sets victory over Ivo Karlovic 6-2 7-6 6-1.

News by CNN

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

John Isner upsets Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells

John Isner

John Isner upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a semifinal match at the BNP Parbias Open.

The victory will move Isner into the top 10 of the next ATP rankings. He'll have a chance to add to his point total on Sunday, when he'll face either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in his first-ever Masters 1000 final.

Isner utilized his game plan to perfection. With his powerful serve, the 6-foot-9 American was able to hold serve with ease and extend both his winning sets to tiebreaks. Isner is 10-4 in such sets this season, a record that's not unexpected when you're hitting 144-mph third-set serves, as he did on Saturday.

"It's a lot of pressure knowing that somebody serves that well," Djokovic told reporters after the match.

The 26-year-old Isner also used a deft touch at the net in the victory. He's surprisingly nimble when coming in for volleys and the angle at which he hits those shots makes them difficult to return.

Djokovic was the defending champion at Indian Wells. It was his second semifinal loss in the past two weeks. Much like his other defeat against Andy Murray, this one had more to do with the opponent than any poor play from Djokovic. If his game has slipped at all since last year's historic start, it's only slightly. His peers are improving.

Isner's was the first victory for an American over a world No. 1 since James Blake defeated Roger Federer at the 2008 Olympics.

News by Yahoo

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Why Beach Volleyball is the hottest sport ever

Player of Beach Volleyball

Beach volleyball is a sport. With boobies.  It would appear that the object of the game is to hit the volleyball over the net and ground it on the other side of the net to gain points.

The real objective, however, is to see how long you can oogle gorgeous women in bikinis before anyone realizes you are paying no attention whatsoever to the game.

There is also men's beach volleyball. Men's beach volleyball is for queers.

The first recorded beach volleyball game took place in Waikiki, Hawaii. The sport was popularized in Southern California. Analysts blame the lack of beautiful, tanned women in bikinis in states such as New Jersey.

The game skyrocketed in popularity when men came to the realization that this was a chance for them to be able to stare at hot women in bikinis running around for a while and not get called perverts. Tennis has also seen a rise in popularity due to this trend, but beach volleyball players are wearing much less than tennis players. Plus, the chance of a top coming off is significantly higher than in tennis.

Before starting a game of beach volleyball, there are two very important things players must do:

1. Stretch out. Preliminary stretching both loosens one's muscles to make them more flexible and agile, but also prevents muscle injuries.

2. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water in order to prevent dehydration.

News by Cracked

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Roger Federer reaches 100th career final

Roger Federer

LONDON— Every time Roger Federer steps onto the court, another milestone seems to be within grasp.

He seized another one Saturday, reaching his 100th career final by beating David Ferrer 7-5, 6-3 in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals. Federer could add a few more Sunday. He's in position to win his 70th title overall and a record sixth at the season-ending tournament for the world's top eight players.

"It's obviously a special occasion for me," said Federer, who will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

Tsonga beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 in the late match, putting the sixth-seeded Frenchman into the final of this event for the first time, in only his second appearance.

"Roger is the best player for the moment indoors," Tsonga said. "It's going to be really special here, for my first final here. It's going to be an amazing atmosphere on court, and I like that. ... I know it's the last match (of the year) so I will give it everything."

The victory over Ferrer sent Federer past Andy Murray to No. 3 in the year-end rankings, trailing No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic and Nadal were eliminated after losing two of their round-robin matches this week, both saying their minds and bodies weren't up for top-level tennis following another grueling season. Murray pulled out injured following his opening loss to Ferrer on Monday.

Federer — who holds a record 16 Grand Slam titles — is tied with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras with five victories at the ATP Finals, formerly known as the Masters Cup. A win Sunday would also tie Lendl's record of 39 match victories in the event.

Federer became the fifth player to reach 100 finals in the open era, joining Jimmy Connors (163), Lendl (146), John McEnroe (108) and Guillermo Vilas (104).

"I'm shocked every time that I've reached so many finals or won against so many players or whatever record it is," Federer said. "It strikes me and makes me obviously very happy and very proud that I've been able to do it for so many years at the highest of levels."

And with his 806th victory Saturday, Federer moved into a share of sixth place on the career list with Stefan Edberg.

"Stefan was my idol," Federer said. "So to achieve something that he achieved is obviously very nice. I don't think it matters much, but it's still very nice to get reminded that you equaled your idol's or hero's achievements."

In a tournament where his biggest rivals complained of fatigue after failing to make it out of the group stage,Federer showed no signs of slowing down. The 30-year-old Swiss star extended his unbeaten streak to 16 matches after winning titles in Basel and Paris before coming to London.

Federer has played some of his best tennis of the year in London, and while he did not look as sharp against Ferrer as he did in his three group-stage victories, he never faced a break point. He broke the fifth-seeded Spaniard twice in the second set and converted his second match point with a forehand winner.

Ferrer came within two points of the first set six times in Federer's service game when the Spaniard led 5-4. But he never earned a break point in a game that went to deuce five times, and Federer finally held when Ferrer sent a backhand passing shot wide. That marked a turning point, with Federer winning the next four games as well to take control.

"Obviously it was a key 5-4 game for me," Federer said. "That was a crucial sort of 15, 20 minutes for me. I'm happy I was able to decide the match right there."

Ferrer dropped to 0-12 against Federer. The Spaniard started the week by beating Murray and Djokovic convincingly, but couldn't keep up that level of play less than 16 hours after losing a three-set match against Berdych on Friday.

"Maybe I didn't have really time to relax, but (that) is not the excuse here," Ferrer said. "He played better than me."

Berdych also struggled against the rested Tsonga, landing just 53 percent of his first serves and double-faulting five times — including on break point to go down 4-3 in the second set.

The Czech broke back immediately but then lost serve again to let Tsonga take a decisive 6-5 lead, and the Frenchman served out the match with an ace.

Tsonga will play Federer for the third Sunday in a row, after losing to him in the Paris final two weeks ago and their first round-robin match in London last weekend.

In doubles, Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada reached the final, beating American twins Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (6), 6-4. They will play Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland, who beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes of India 6-4, 4-6, 10-6.

News by AOL

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com

Tennis: Fed Cup final, Russia and Czech Republic back to back

Kvitova

AFP - Russia and the Czech Republic are back to back (1-1) in the Fed Cup final after victories N.1 of each camp, and Petra Kvitova Svetlana Kuznetsova on Saturday in Moscow. Everything will play Sunday when the first single from Kuznetsova and Kvitova looks decisive. Given what she has shown in recent months and again Saturday against Maria Kirilenko (6-2, 6-2), the Czech favorite part. But the experience of Russian, very useful against Lucie Safarova (6-2, 6-3), gives the equilibrium between two players that are never encountered. It will then be in two N.2, Kirilenko and Safarova, trying to bring the final blow. In equal to two victories over the fate of the final and the estate of Italy will be decided in the doubles.

Saturday, the two leaders of each side were perfectly into their ranks, winning on scores quite similar and clear. Kuznetsova, the 19th World was a little more difficult, particularly struggling to conclude the first set against Safarova who was very ill in the entry. The Czech, who has followed most of the part of Kvitova in the stands, contrary to the practice whereby it is concentrated in the privacy of the locker room, never recovered from the loss of the first four games. Kuznetsova, known for his emotions, has shown some excitement. But the double Grand Slam winner (Roland Garros 2009, US Open 2004) was able to draw on his enormous experience to cash the big pressure off his shoulders and allow Russia to stay in the race for fifth coronation.

Kvitova has it, shown in the impressive first single to put on track the Czech Republic is its first Fed Cup victory since independence in 1993. "It was much harder than the score would indicate," she said. Nevertheless, the world No.2, never worried about his service, his game has held powerful left-handed, do not hesitate to enter the net to win an ace after a recital almost 1:10 perfect. Confident after winning the Masters Sunday, she has regularly outstripped Kirilenko, after the defection of tenured Vera Zvonareva who beat her in their two previous meetings in 2009. Since the Czech champion at Wimbledon this year, has grown a lot. Click here to find out more!

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com