Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Williams, Clijsters make winning returns to tour
Ten-time grand slam champion Williams, who has not played a WTA event since pulling out of last year's US Open, defeated Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-0 6-3 in 77 minutes at the Miami WTA/ATP event.
"It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking ... but I was able to get a great start and settle in and play well against a really difficult opponent. It was definitely an ideal start."
Williams announced at last year's US Open she had been diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder Sjogren syndrome, an illness that saps her energy and causes pain in her joints.
"Just to be in this tournament is a huge win for me," Williams said.
Williams, who played doubles for the US Fed Cup team last month, pulled out of last year's US Open after a first-round victory.
Clijsters, who won at Miami in 2005 and 2010, skipped last week's Indian Wells tournament to rest her injured ankle, the latest in a list of ailments in the past year that has also included a sore shoulder, wrist and abdomen.
"It's just a matter of getting those matches again," Clijsters said. "One thing I can count on is I have the experience, though. It doesn't take me that long to get used to it again. But it has become tougher."
Saying her ankle is at 95 per cent of peak fitness, Clijsters pondered how close she came to knocking off top seed Azarenka in Australia and how strong Azarenka - now undefeated this season in 23 matches - has played.
"I felt like I was really close to winning that match (at Melbourne Park)," Clijsters said. "She has been playing really good tennis. I think she's in a state of mind where she feels very confident and is on a roll.
"It's really showing in her game and in the way she approaches matches. I know what it's like to be in that situation, where you feel very focused but at the same time playing freely, without any worries."
Williams advanced to a second-round match against Czech third seed, and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who had a first-round bye. Next up for Clijsters is her match against Germany's 14th-seeded Julia Goerges.
First round matches began in the men's draw with Russian Nikolay Davydenko outlasting American James Blake 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, to book a second-round date with US 10th seed John Isner, the runner-up to Roger Federer last week at Indian Wells.
Colombia's Alejandro Falla was leading 6-1, 2-1 when Uzbek Denis Istomin retired with an injury, advancing the South American into a second-round match with British fourth seed Andy Murray.
Tom Hanks apologizes and Dame Edna retires
Australians will have one last chance to see Dame Edna Everage on stage, with creator Barry Humphries revealing his new show will be his last live tour.
At the age of 78, Humphries has told News Ltd it's time to move on."Look, the fact of the matter is that I'm beginning to feel a bit senior," Humphries has told the Sunday Telegraph.
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"It's the best aerobics you could do, leaping around on stage, but it's gruelling when there are other things to do," he says.
For fans this means Dame Edna, Sir Les Patterson and Sandy Stone will be retired from the stage for good, but not before one final goodbye tour.
Humphries says his Australian tour Eat Pray Laugh!, which kicks off in Canberra in June, will be his "fond farewell".
After 57 years, Australian actor Barry Humphries is hanging up the purple hair and oversized rhinestone glasses of his Tony Award-winning drag character, Dame Edna Everage.
He’ll take Australia’s self-proclaimed housewife-superstar on a farewell tour — “Eat Pray Laugh!” — over the next two years. “She’s a little weary of touring and strange hotels,” the 78-year-old actor said.
Marie Osmond: Wet and wild
So what made Marie Osmond laugh so hard recently on stage that she actually peed her pants and wiped up the mess with a towel?
She and brother Donny were on the last night of their Donny & Marie Cruise when “there was a video that they put together of the entire cruise, and it was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life,” Donny says.
“At the very end of it, Marie and I looked at each other like, ‘What are we gonna say?’ So we were trying to be very polite, saying that it was sweet, and I said, ‘I wonder who put that together?’ And Marie said, ‘Well, whoever did it is not going to do it next year!’ And that just started the process.”
Marie started laughing, “then I lost it, and finally she just peed her pants! She tried to cover it up, but there’s no way to cover it up,” says Donny. “It just got worse and worse and funnier and funnier.”
An ‘SNL’ reunion
Good news for anyone missing the good ol’ days magic of “Saturday Night Live.” Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase are collaborating on an upcoming script.
“Chevy (Chase) and I are about to start work on a script concept for a comedy movie,” Dan wrote recently on his Facebook page. “Cannot say too much about the concept, but the joy of working with him again is one that I am extremely excited about. Chevy is one of my favorite people, and one of the great anarchistic and physically committed comedians in the business.”
Dame Edna Everage bids 57-year stage career adieu
If the global gladioli market took a tumble yesterday the cause was to be found at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne. There, resplendent in red, dazzling in diamantes, was Dame Edna Everage, back from whatever royal soiree she has most recently graced to announce ''that's all, possums''. After 56 years on the stage (and film and TV and even, occasionally, record), she's calling it a day.
''I feel quite old when you mention that,'' says Edna, when reminded — as if it were necessary — how long it has been since she made her stage debut in a Melbourne University revue in December 1955.
''It's been a journey,'' she adds. ''It began in Melbourne and I'll be achieving closure in Melbourne with this beautiful show. But it will linger in people's minds, like a virus.''
Another of Humphries’ characters, drunken Australian cultural attache Sir Les Patterson, will join Dame Edna on the farewell tour.
Dame Edna’s career began as the more dour Mrs. Edna Everage when she first stepped onto the stage of a Melbourne University review in 1955 in Humphries’ hometown of Melbourne.
She was “Auntie Edna” in the 1974 Australian comedy movie “Barry McKenzie Holds His Own,” in which she was made a dame — a British title that is the female equivalent of a knighthood — as part of the plot during a cameo appearance by the then-Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
Dame Edna was a staple of television and stage in Britain and Australia before Humphries won a Tony Award in 2000 for his Broadway show “Dame Edna, The Royal Tour.” Its sequel, “Dame Edna, Back with a Vengeance,” was also nominated for a Tony, the leading U.S. theater award, in 2004.
Humphries was not available for an interview on Tuesday.
The show’s producer, Dainty Group, described the show in a tongue-in-cheek statement as an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular in which Dame Edna promises to empower audiences as she meditates on the big issues of gender, ethnicity and climate change.
Rabbits rampant as Greg Inglis is now Maguire's No 1 man
It was in 2005 when Inglis was 18 and they were playing for Melbourne. Billy Slater was injured, so Craig Bellamy called up Inglis to debut.
"And after the game," King said, "we all sat there scratching our heads wondering where Billy was going to play when he came back."
It makes you wonder why it took this long for someone to switch the light on at Souths.
Bellamy said for years if he didn't have Slater, Inglis would have been wearing No 1 long ago. At one point he considered switching Slater to the wing permanently.
When Michael Maguire was appointed as the Rabbitohs' new head coach, one of the first calls he made from England was to Inglis to float a possible move.
Now, one of the game's most naturally gifted athletes has the chance to reach his potential - and we have the stats to prove it.
Not only will Inglis get more ball at fullback, but better ball, which in turn helps teammates like John Sutton play to their strengths.
Every Rabbitohs fan will tell you one of their biggest gripes before last Sunday was that their highest-paid player didn't see enough action and too often when Inglis did get involved, the defence was already in his face.
"I think the last time I played that position was 07," Inglis said. "Madge (Maguire) has come through during the week and asked if I wanted to go back there and I was more than happy to. In the end we had to find a way to get my hands on the ball more and that was my job today.
"I'll play anywhere which is best for the team. (But) being back there I found my rhythm."
Inglis effectively broke the Panthers' spirits in the second half. With his team up 22-12, he latched on to a clever pass from John Sutton and made a beeline for the tryline, trampling over the top of poor Panthers fullback Lachlan Coote in the process. It gave Souths a comfortable lead at 28-12 and it was only onwards and upwards from there.
The only question that deserved to be asked of Souths after the game was whether Maguire would leave Inglis at fullback when Merritt returns from a toe injury. The coach probably knew the right answer but toed a diplomatic stance yesterday.
"At the moment I'm pretty lucky," Maguire said. "I've got Nathan Merritt who is pretty close to coming back. He's unfortunately still having trouble with his toe. While Greggy's there and the opportunity is there for Merritt coming back, there's some good pressure on the team and on me to make some decisions." Inglis wasn't the only standout player for the Rabbitohs in a performance that franked their form against Melbourne and proved they are legitimate finals contenders this year. Backrower Dave Taylor came up with two tries including an enterprising effort in which he grubber kicked ahead for himself.
Sutton has long been an enigmatic player for the Bunnies but turned in a strong game while rookie halfback Adam Reynolds looks more polished with each match he plays.
In the rival camp, Penrith coach Ivan Cleary lamented his side's slow start in both halves but said his players never completely gave up hope.
Inglis at centre of Griffin's concerns
Brisbane NRL coach Anthony Griffin has devised a game plan he hopes will keep South Sydney dangerman Greg Inglis in check in Friday night's NRL clash in Perth.
The Broncos wrapped up preparations ahead of their long-trip to Western Australia on Thursday with their focus very much on containing Inglis.
Souths coach Michael Maguire shifted Inglis from the centres to fullback against Penrith last week and the giant international ran riot with the Rabbitohs belting the Panthers 40-24.
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Griffin admitted he'd rather Inglis played in his usual position.
"I'd prefer he was in the centres because he gets a lot of early clean ball now and you saw what he did to Penrith last week," Griffin said.
"We'll just have to be very good with our kick-chase and our edge defence when he comes into the line."
Griffin dismissed talk of young winger Dane Gagai, who extended his contract by two years this week, being a late addition to the 17-man squad.
The Broncos are next on his hit list after finishing their final training session this morning and heading west this afternoon on the five-hour flight to Western Australia.
Coach Griffin was another fan of the performance of Inglis last week and admitted he'd rather see the Queensland and Australian star in the centres, where he was slightly easier to contain.
"He gets a lot of early, clean ball now. You saw what he did to Penrith last week. We'll just have to be very good with our kick-chase, with our wedge defence when he comes into the line," Griffin said.
"If he gets that space, if he gets that line break, he's very hard to stop. He's going to give them some real strike back there at fullback.
"I'd prefer him playing in the centres, from an opposition coaching point of view. We've got to do a job on him."
Brisbane are without influential lock Corey Parker but will bank on their mobile, active pack against the direct style Souths coach Michael Maguire has employed through huge forwards Dave Taylor, Sam Burgess and Roy Asotasi.
Griffin said the new direction Souths had taken was along the lines of the Melbourne Storm, a side that sets the standard for disciplined play with the ball and quality defence.
"They're in great form. They ripped Penrith apart last week. That's the challenge defensively – to get in front of them and shut them down," he said.
Griffin confirmed Dane Gagai would be 18th man despite some suggestions this week he would be promoted to the starting side in the place of winger Gerard Beale, who is heading to the Dragons next season.
"He's 18th man, Dane. There's a rumour going around that he's playing. I'll go and find out for you," Griffin joked.
"He's (Gagai) had seven or eight games last year. He'll get a spot when he earns it, just like everyone else. Gerard will be selected on his merits."
Libby Trickett confident of improvement
“I’m through comfortably to the semi-final in the fastest time that I’ve done in my comeback, the first time under the minute since I’ve come back,” said Trickett.
“To do that in a heat is exciting and hopefully with a little more rest and recovery ansd freshness I can go faster tonight.”
Trickett in the past has always either had to psyche herself up or calm herself down before but for this meet she is taking an entirely different approach.
“I’m aware of how to get my body ready and my body knows how to get me ready to race so I’m sort of letting it do its thing which I’ve never done before,” she said.
“I’m sort of just letting things happen naturally which sounds a little peculiar but after this long in the sport if you can’t just let things happen a bit more than you’re probably doing the wrong thing.”
Coutts , the five-times gold medallist at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, took the opportunity of the heat swim to test a new Arena swim suit. The suit only arrived two days ago and while she would not normally use such an important race as a trial run, she decided it was far safer to experiment in the heats rather than in the semis or final.
“I haven’t decided,” said Coutts, when asked if she would use it at the business end of proceedings. I’m just going in there to see what I can do, do some pb’s and secure some spots in the team.”
Libby Trickett in search of individual berth LIVE tonight
She might be renowned more as a 100m freestyle-butterfly specialist but it is the one-lap splash-and-dash that has always delivered for her and who’s to say it’s not going to happen again after her excellent heat swim at the Olympic selection trials in Adelaide this morning.
With the pressure of making the London Olympic team removed from her shoulders after she qualified as a relay swimmer with her fifth placing in the 100m freestyle last night, Trickett free-wheeleed for a 25.12sec clocking.
That placed her third overall but with Swedish veteran Therese Alshammer (25.06sec) not permitted as a foreigner to progress beyond the heats, that leaves only Alexandra Purcell of the Gold Coast (25.05sec) ahead of her heading into tonight’s semi-finals.
But a sister act of Cate and Bronte Campbell stands in her way after leading the field into the final.
Trickett, a two-time world champion and Athens Olympic bronze medallist in the 50m, has already achieved her biggest goal of selection and admitted earlier today the prospect of a top-two finish was in the back of her mind.
With the pressure of making the London Olympic team removed from her shoulders after she qualified as a relay swimmer with her fifth placing in the 100m freestyle last night, Trickett free-wheeleed for a 25.12sec clocking.
That placed her third overall but with Swedish veteran Therese Alshammer (25.06sec) not permitted as a foreigner to progress beyond the heats, that leaves only Alexandra Purcell of the Gold Coast (25.05sec) ahead of her heading into tonight’s semi-finals.
But a sister act of Cate and Bronte Campbell stands in her way after leading the field into the final.
Trickett, a two-time world champion and Athens Olympic bronze medallist in the 50m, has already achieved her biggest goal of selection and admitted earlier today the prospect of a top-two finish was in the back of her mind.
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