A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Djokovic helps Serbs to emphatic win
TENNIS:Novak Djokovic kick-started his 2011 campaign with a well-earned victory yesterday as top seeds Serbia whitewashed Kazakhstan 3-0 in their opening Group A match at the Hopman Cup mixed team event.
The world number three dropped the first set to the hard-hitting Andrey Golubev but slowly wore down the 23-year-old to clinch a 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory.
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic had earlier put Davis Cup winners Serbia ahead with a 7-6 6-1 win over Yaroslava Shvedova.
Djokovic and Ivanovic then teamed up to beat Golubev and Shvedova 7-6 6-4 in the mixed doubles to complete the rout.
“We got here just two days ago and it’s really hard to get used to the time change and the conditions here,” said Djokovic.
DCU Saints end Killester's run
BASKETBALL:Killester's unbeaten record in the Nivea Men's Superleague, which stretches back to February 28th, 2010, came to an end yesterday away as they lost 81-88 to Dublin rivals DCU Saints.
Vinny O’Keefe’s side stunned the champions with a complete team display. Martins Provizors and Mark Nagle shared 38 points, while Eoin Darling and Emmet Donnelly chipped in with 15 points apiece.
Saints coach Vinny O’Keeffe said. “We had a fantastic team performance and even when they slowly started coming back, we still held our heads.”
O’Keeffe was delighted that the victory puts the Saints back into second place in the Northern Conference. “All the things that have gone against us during the season all came together today and worked for us.”
Neptune returned to winning ways against Ulster Elks triumphing by 74-56. Ger Noonan led the way for the Cork side with 20 points.
UL Eagles maintained their fine form at the expense of Moycullen courtesy of a 79-45 success.
The Limerick side boasted another superb performance in preparation for the National Cup semi-finals in Cork with their US stand out Cameron Mitchell, contributing 30 points in the contest.
Moycullen kept the scoreline within reach in the first half with Mason Ambler netting 10 of his 16 points, but it wasn’t enough to counter the Eagles’ stance on the defensive end.
Eagles player Matt Hall added 16 points and said: “It was a great chance to be able to get back together as a team and work on our game in time for the cup.”
Havern completes a notable double
HANDBALL:The victorious Irish Junior Team return home today and arrive in Dublin Airport at 11.30am. A large crowd is expected to greet the side, who managed to complete a clean sweep at the US Junior Nationals in San Diego last week, where they took Girls Under 19, 17 and 15 and Boys Under 19, 17 and 15 honours.
The three-day event took place at the San Diego Tennis and Racket Club, and San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
In the 19 and Under brackets, Down’s Lorraine Havern and Tyrone’s Caolan Daly took singles honours, while Havern also joined forces with Cork’s Catriona Casey to take the 19 and Under Doubles title.
Casey collected her third US Juniors Singles crown in winning the Girls 17 and Under, while Killian Carroll, also sealed the Boys 17 and Under Singles title. In the 15 and Under grades, there were victories for Monaghan’s Darren Doherty and Roscommon’s Lauren O’Riordan.
Kallis steadies South African ship
CRICKET:An unbeaten half-century from Jacques Kallis helped South Africa end a rain-affected day one of the decisive third Test against India on 232 for four at Newlands.
Hashim Amla also hit an aggressive 59 as the hosts recovered from the early loss of Graeme Smith (six) and Alviro Petersen (21) to reach stumps on top in Cape Town.
Kallis was not out on 81 at the end with Ashwell Prince (28 not out) offering good support on a stop-start day that witnessed several rain interruptions.
The tourists, who won the Test in Durban by 87 runs to square the series, came into the game with plenty of confidence.
Home captain Smith has struggled against Zaheer Khan (one for 62) and was again dismissed lbw, the 11th time he has been out to the left-arm paceman in 23 innings.
Murray works on his serve as Australian Open looms
TENNIS:World number four Andy Murray admits he still needs to improve his serve if he is to break his Grand Slam duck at the Australian Open later this month.
The Scot, who was beaten in the final at Melbourne Park by Roger Federer last year, begins his 2011 season today at the Hopman Cup, where he will take on Potito Starace of Italy.
Looking fit and strong after a month of training in Miami, Murray said the form of world number one Rafa Nadal and 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer meant it would be even tougher to win one of the sport’s four biggest events.
“Last year’s Australian Open was one of the best events I’ve played in my life,” said. Murray.
“I played some of my best tennis so I’ll have to play even better if I want to win because Rafa and Roger are playing so well just now.
Murray said he had been focusing on particular areas of his game in the short off-season. “I’ve worked a lot on my serve and I’ll keep working on it the next couple of weeks.”
