Tsonga shocks Nadal

World number one Rafael Nadal crashed out of Queen's on Friday when French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled off a shock 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-1 win in the quarterfinals.

Nadal arrived at the Wimbledon warm-up event admitting he felt exhausted in the aftermath of his record-equalling sixth triumph at the French Open.

Despite his tiredness this was still a major blow for the Spaniard, who had reached seven successive finals before this defeat, and it leaves him short of game time on grass ahead of the defence of his Wimbledon title later this month.

"After losing the second set, mentally I lost my concentration. It has been a lot of matches in a row and after that break in the third set it was a mountain for me to come back," said Nadal.

"I am a little tired. I wasn't there like usual and certainly I think I need a little bit of break."

Tsonga added: "The first time I reached the world top 100 was here at Queen's and today I have beaten the world number one. It was close to my best tennis -- it has to be to beat Rafa."

The match wasn't even two games old when a light shower forced the players off court, but they returned within half an hour to slug it out in a setgruelling first set.
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Nadal had been below his best in a three-set win against Radek Stepanek in the previous round and Tsonga provided an even greater threat than the Czech veteran.

He refused to give an inch to Nadal as the first set went without a break of serve.
The tie-break was equally close, but Nadal raised his game at the key moment and, aided by a Tsonga double-fault that gave him set-point, the Spaniard buried a volley to take the set.

Tsonga came at Nadal just as strongly in the second set however and the Wimbledon champion found it harder to keep him at bay this time.

The Frenchman's brilliant diving winner put Nadal under pressure at 4-4 and he broke when Nadal dragged a forehand well wide before producing a strong service game to send the match to a final set.

Nadal looked a spent force now and Tsonga went for the kill. He broke twice in quick succession to establish a 3-0 lead and was never in danger of relinquishing his advantage.

Tsonga was a picture of joy as he danced on the court in celebration of only his second career win over Nadal, a triumph that sets up a semifinal against British wildcard James Ward.

Andy Roddick kept his bid for a record fifth Queen's title on course as the American set up a semifinal clash with Andy Murray after beating Spain's Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2.

World number four Murray reached the semifinals after his last-eight opponent Marin Cilic was forced to pull out before the match due to an ankle injury.

Murray was joined in the semifinals by his compatriot Ward as the British number two enjoyed a superb double success.

Ward, ranked 216th, started the day by ending Sam Querrey's reign as Queen's champion as he won the final set of their rain-delayed third-round match to clinch a shock 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The 24-year-old son of a London taxi driver had to return just hours later for his quarterfinal clash against France's Adrian Mannarino.
But Ward showed no signs of tiredness as he recovered from wasting seven match points in the second set to win 6-2, 6-7 (14/16), 6-4.
Ward, who was watched by British Prime Minister David Cameron, said: "This is a brilliant feeling. I played a poor game at the beginning of the third but I knew I'd get my chances.

"It's a shame I'm not playing Rafael Nadal, but it's not exactly a bonus draw playing Tsonga."

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Gayle hopeful of speedy national return

Chris Gayle, who was named the 2010 West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Cricketer of the Year as well as Test Player of the Year during the eighth annual First Citizens WIPA Awards in St Ann’s on Thursday night, is hopeful about getting back into the national side “as quickly as possible”.Gayle, who had been omitted from the West Indies limited-overs squad for the Twenty20 and first two ODI games against India, following his ongoing dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over his controversial radio interview in April, wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times that he wanted the “issue to be sorted out”.”We have a meeting scheduled sometime in the next few days,” Gayle wrote, “[and] I want to be involved in the game. But it is out of my control. The WICB people are the ones in charge. I have to see if we can resolve the issue. As I had stated to the board, they have known that I am fully available.”Gayle, who watched the Twenty20 game between West Indies and India in Trinidad on Saturday from the stands, wrote it was “disappointing to actually be on the sidelines” and “strange not to be involved in the game, not to be walking out to open the batting”.”The atmosphere was great but the stands are not a great place to be. I want to be in the middle.” Gayle had called on his fans to give him “a wake up call to go and watch cricket, wake me at 9-30am T&T plz [sic]” on Twitter the day before the match. After the game he tweeted that he had a “blast at cricket It was really nice to see the support and appreciation by fans thank you all for d [sic] support!!” During the game he had tweeted “WI Fans Don’t worry about a thing,cause every little things gonna [sic] be alright”, suggesting that that there could soon be a reconciliation between him and the board.The WICB was angered by Gayle’s decision to play in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore but Gayle had said the way he had been treated by the West Indies board (WICB) had left him with little choice but to join Bangalore and miss the home series against Pakistan. Gayle, who ended the IPL as the tournament’s top run scorer, called his stint “memorable.”"The people and fans there showed a lot of warmth,” he wrote. “That was in contrast to how one’s own people fail to recall, tend to forget the things you have done for the team.”From a player’s point of view, that kind of respect is definitely deserved. In your own region you are made to feel like an outsider. It is sad but that is how it is. Yes, here I’m definitely talking about the administration. It is always important that you should feel absolutely relaxed to feel an integral part of an environment.

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Maradona Attacks 'Corrupt' FIFA Chiefs

                                                                                                  

- Football legend Diego Maradona has accused world governing body FIFA of being corrupt and run by greedy officials who have made millions from the sport.The 1986 World Cup winner delivered the broadside at his first press conference as coach of Dubai-based club Al Wasl on Saturday, as he reflected on the recent FIFA presidential elections in which incumbent Sepp Blatter ran unopposed.Blatter's main opponent, Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar, was suspended ahead of the vote along with fellow FIFA executive Jack Warner following accusations of bribery."There is a lot of corruption involving FIFA officials and they are all millionaires because of football," the former Argentina player and coach said."I wonder if Blatter has ever kicked a football in his life, and yet we have been under the control of such people who have refused to give up power in FIFA."Why don't they all just relinquish their positions, take the money they have made and leave the running of the sport in the more capable hands of former football players?"Maradona, a controversial figure who was sent home from the 1994 World Cup for using drugs, said he had never liked the FIFA establishment."I don't support corrupt people and I will never be on their side. I have always been asked by them to support the FIFA family. But what family are they talking about? This sport belongs to us and they have never ever asked us to be part of the development process," the 50-year-old said."They have too much power and this has made them so arrogant and proud. This is not what a genuine football lover needs from such officials. After all football, is the biggest sport in the world."We will continue doing what we are doing so that these corrupt people go away. They are too old and since they have made so much money at the cost of football, they should simply take it all and go away. Please leave football alone."Maradona, who turned up more than an hour late for the media briefing, added that FIFA had stifled his attempts to form a players' union."What did FIFA do? They worked against us to ensure the union never saw the light of day," he said.Meanwhile, FIFA is investigating Argentina's 4-1 defeat by Nigeria on Wednesday as part of a wider investigation into match-fixing, according to a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph on Saturday.The paper said there was evidence of irregular patterns as referee Ibrahim Chaibou of Niger allowed three extra minutes of injury-time in addition to the five already awarded before Argentina scored from a penalty."FIFA can confirm that this match between Nigeria and Argentina was one that we had an active interest in, and forms part of a wider ongoing investigation," it said in a statement to the Telegraph.The Nigerian Football Federation released a statement denying the accusation on Saturday."We are concerned at attempts by unscrupulous elements to play down the feat that our national team performed by beating Argentina," general secretary Musa Amadu said."This match was shown on many television stations, including ESPN, and in front of a crowd of 50,000, and we are certain that Nigeria's Super Eagles deservedly won that match, playing to the rules, and clearly outplaying our opponents."

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