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Sports 18
Azarenka edges nearer top spot after cliffhanger IStAnBUL aFP
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Bundesliga star remains in coma, moves hospitals BerLIn aFP
Bundesliga star Boris Vukcevic remains in a coma with severe head injuries but his condition has improved enough for him to be moved to a rehabilitation clinic, his club Hoffenheim have said. He has been in a coma since his car hit an oncoming truck on Sept 28 at Bammental, near Heidelberg, but he is showing steady signs of improvement and was moved from Heidelberg University Hospital. The Germany midfielder has already had two operations. "We remain very confident that Boris will make a recovery, but the situation is still very tense, so we want to deal with this respectfully and sensitively," said Andreas Mueller. Vukcevic is a diabetic and he was hypoglycemic, suffering from low blood sugar level, at the time of the accident, a medical report has revealed. Local police are investigating the accident, which they say occurred when Vukcevic's car crossed into the lane of oncoming traffic and was hit by a truck travelling in the opposite direction.
ICTORIA Azarenka had to draw on all her reserves by saving two match points in a heroic three-hour six-minute tussle with Angelique Kerber in the WTA Championships. The top-seeded Belarussian beat the German revelation 6-7 (11/13), 7-6 (7/2) 6-4 in an encounter full of magnificent rallies and surprises. Her win leaves Azarenka needing just one more win to guarantee her finishing the year as world number one. Azarenka saved both match points by following up sound serving with bold and courageous driving. That helped make up for the five set points that Kerber had enterprisingly denied the top seed in the first set tie-break. Had Azarenka lost either of them - from 4-5, 15-40 in the second set a pathway might have opened up for Maria Sharapova to sneak through to the summit instead. Azarenka would now have to lose both her remaining group matches for this to happen, even though Sharapova later made sure of a place in Saturday's semi-finals by beating Agnieszka Radwanska, the Wimbledon runner-up from Poland, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 in another three-hour encounter. "I felt I had to go for it on both match points," Azarenka said. "I felt she would not miss, so I didn't want to wait for her to make a mistake - I was determined to make it happen. "I wanted to change the momentum and take destiny into my own hands. I had a clear mind of what I had to do. It takes time to go through (what's needed) and learn that. "I feel really proud I was a part of this match. Honestly you feel like you don't want to leave the court, the atmosphere is so good!" Azarenka's three-set encounter also guaranteed that Serena Williams' second success of the tournament earned the American a semi-final place. The Olympic, US Open and Wimbledon champion won 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 against Li Na, the former French Open champion from China, but only after a noisy, and surprisingly fraught performance.
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Valencia to offer terry Spanish lifeline
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Williams had to overcome the emotions which impelled her to smash a racket and earned her a code violation warning. That happened during a weird fourth game in which one of the finest servers in the history of the game delivered two successive double faults to go a break down. "I guess I was angry and I wasn't able to control myself," she said. "But sometimes I play better when I get angry." Hers was a triumph of will more than anything,
for she landed less than 50 percent of her first serves, dropped service games five times, and needed an hour and 50 minutes to get the win. "I lost serve today more often than all of Wimbledon," Williams said. "I was just thinking about it too much. I didn't serve well yesterday and I thought about it. I just need not to think. "But to win with a zero serve, compared with what I normally do, is something I can take from the match."
Former England captain John Terry could be on his way out of Chelsea and heading for Spanish club Valencia in the January transfer window, the Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Terry is serving a four-match Football Asociation ban for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand and Chelsea have slapped a fine on the player into the bargain. The Mirror reported that FIFA agent Francois Gallardo has claimed Terry has been offered the chance to relaunch his career in the Spanish top-flight. Valencia are reportedly ready to offer the 31-year-old defender an 18-month contract, with an option for another year. Gallardo told Radio Intereconomia: "Valencia are negotiating, and I am involved in person, with the signing in the winter transfer market. "The offer is on his table. The player is out of contract in June and will not renew there for several reasons at Chelsea and he wants to come to Spain." Gallardo added: "Terry has problems. They are insulting him and he is not taking it anymore. He asked to leave, not us.
Sharapova dreams without sleep IStAnBUL aFP
Having come close to achieving dreams without sleep, Maria Sharapova is resting Friday in the knowledge that a perfect end to a fairytale year is within her grasp. The game's greatest survivor overcame constant deficits in a three-hour match with Agnieszka Radwanska which finished in the early hours of Friday morning, carrying Sharapova exhausted to her bed and to a place in the semi-finals of the WTA Championships on Saturday. It means the tenacious Russian can still finish a character-defining season in which she completed a career Grand Slam by capturing the season-end title she last won in her breakthrough season eight years ago. For a player who was warned she might never be the same after a shoulder operation four years ago, and who has had
to compensate for a reduction in the effectiveness of her service ever since, it is all a massive achievement. "It was such a physical match," said Sharapova after a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win which equalled the longest in number of games of any match in the 40-year history of the WTA Championships. "It just came down just to a few points in the end. It was an example of not playing my best tennis at all, fighting through it, hanging in there, and getting it done. "No matter if it's, you know, a hard shot or a lower slice that has no pace, she makes you work for it," Sharapova said of the world number four from Poland whose intelligent,
varied game dominated many periods of the match. "But I found a way to get through those points against her which is not always easy, especially on a slower court like this. I fought and I won, so I'm happy." Sharapova covered so many acres of ground that at one point, when she managed to get Radwanska to do more of the running for a change, she appeared to give a celebratory yell of, "run, run, run!" And the struggle was so uphill that there were times when she seemed to be disagreeing with coach Thomas Hogstedt. "I was just aggravated because I was making errors and wasn't doing the right
things," Sharapova explained. "In the heat of the moment you've got to blame it on someone, right? It's never on yourself," she added. "But I'm not frustrated. I'm just wondering when I'm going to sleep. Aren't we all?" With Victoria Azarenka's earlier win over Angelique Kerber lasting a similar length of time and an identical number of record-equalling games, the day's schedule of only three matches lasted more than nine hours, ending at 2.10 am. Radwanska, who can still qualify if she beats French Open finalist Sara Errani on Friday admitted that "for sure that match cost me a lot". It will have cost them both, but Sharapova can rest in the knowledge that she can afford to lose her last group match, against Samantha Stosur, the former French Open champion from Australia, who has replaced the unwell Petra Kvitova, the 2011 WTA champion from the Czech republic.
Real’s Khedira set to miss Dutch, Dortmund games BerLIn aFP
Real Madrid star Sami Khedira is set to miss the next two weeks and both his club's Champions League clash with Dortmund, then Germany's friendly with Holland, after picking up a new leg injury. The 25-year-old defensive midfielder limped out of Real's 2-1 defeat at Dortmund on Wednesday in the Champions League clutching his left hamstring. It was his first game back after injuring himself in the World Cup qualifier win in Ireland on October 11. Having also missed Ger-
many's 4-all draw with Sweden in last week, Khedira is now set to sit out the next fortnight and will miss Real's return Champions League clash against Dortmund in Madrid on November 6 with his team second in Group D. He is also unlikely to be fit for Germany's international friendly against Holland in Amsterdam on November 14. Since joining Real after the 2010 World Cup, this is Khedira's eighth injury. BRAzILIAn STAR In 'CoMe AnD geT Me' PLeA: Brazilian midfielder Willian is so desperate to leave Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine he has issued an open
"come and get me" plea to potential Premier League suitors, according to British press reports. The 24-year-old, who destroyed Chelsea in their Champions League tie on Tuesday, has already been a target for the London club as well as rivals Tottenham, managed by Andre Villas-Boas, with whom he claims to be in regular contact. According to the Sun, Willian said: "I've already made it clear to everyone. I want to go, I want to reach new goals. "My mission here in Donetsk is accomplished but I have to remain playing at a high level because I need to show up at a big club to be called up for the na-
tional team. "If I were playing in a bigger league the same way as I've played here, I would have more chances for Brazil. To play in the World Cup in Brazil is my dream and it is only going to happen if I move." But the prohibitive 25 millionpound release clause in his contract is likely to be a stumbling block for all but the wealthiest clubs in Europe's elite leagues, and Willian indicated he would be particularly keen on a move to Chelsea or either of the Milan clubs. The Daily Telegraph claimed that he is so keen to end his stay in Ukraine he would even be prepared to accept a big pay-cut.
Friday, 26 October, 2012