A round-up of other sports news in brief
Federer inflicts a rare claycourt defeat on Nadal
TENNIS: Roger Federer inflicted a rare claycourt defeat on his great rival Rafael Nadal yesterday when he beat the world number one 6-4 6-4 in the Madrid Open final.
Nadal was bidding to become the first man to win all three claycourt Masters events in one year after his victories in Monte Carlo and Rome but slipped to only his fifth loss on his favoured surface in 155 matches since 2005.
World number two Federer fended off break points in the second and sixth games of the first set and then grabbed a crucial break in game nine before serving out the set to love.
A delicate drop shot that even the athletic Spaniard could not chase down gave him another opportunity in the fifth game of the second set and Nadal netted a backhand to fall 3-2 behind.
Federer slipped to 15-40 when serving for the match but fought back to deuce and powered an ace down the middle on his second championship point before raising his arms in triumph.
Giro riders stop over safety fears
CYCLING: Giro dItalia director Angelo Zomegnan warned riders who stopped racing yesterday because of safety fears there could be a public backlash against the protest.
Riders decided the ninth stage around Milan was too dangerous because of the high speeds they would reach, some tight corners and the risk from parked cars and tramlines. Spains Pedro Horrillo Munoz was seriously hurt after falling down a ravine on Saturdays stage. Riders asked for yesterday's times to be annulled and later stopped entirely to address an angry crowd before continuing. "I don't share the decision of the riders (to stop) while I had to accept the request to annul the stage," Zomegnan said.Lance Armstrong, racing in his first Giro having recovered from a broken collarbone had also complained Fridays course was dangerous.
Two Irish crews set for Spain
ROWING: Ireland will send two crews to the first World Cup in Banyoles in Spain at the end of this month, writes Liam Gorman. Sean Casey, in the single scull, and the pair of Cormac Folan and Martin Walsh won their places through their performances at the Huegelregatta in Essen at the weekend.
Casey finished third on Saturday and fifth yesterday in his finals, while Walsh and Folan finished fourth yesterday after a fifth placing on Saturday.
Ireland's performance director, Martin McElroy, said he was pleased with the performance of the whole team and the regatta had been very useful in establishing the standard of his whole squad.
The under-23 lightweight double scull of Rory O'Connor and Ali Floyd and lightweight single sculler Dave Heffernan failed to make their finals on Saturday, but yesterday they finished seventh and eight respectively.
Irish teams win seven medals
BOXING: Two Irish senior teams claimed seven medals from top Multi Nation tournaments in the Czech Republic and Croatia on Saturday in their final warm-up tournaments ahead of next month's European Union Championships in Denmark.
Former Irish senior champion, Roy Sheahan, Eric Donovan, Philip Sutcliffe, Con Sheahan, Declan Geraghty, Carl Frampton and Ryan Lindberg finished in podium positions.
Ex-Irish senior champion Sheahan, from the St Michael’s, Athy, club, went all the way in Pula, Croatia after beating Croatian Borna Katalin 5-2 in the 69Kg final – Lindberg claimed bronze at the same tournament. But current Irish champions Donovan, Sutcliffe and big Tipperary heavyweight Sheehan had to settle for silver at the 18 nation Ustil Nad Labem box-off in the Czech Republic on Saturday afternoon. Donovan was beaten 6-0 in his lightweight (60Kg) final by Russian world featherweight (57Kg) champion Albert Selimov.
Peirsol halts Phelps' winning run
SWIMMING: Aaron Peirsol brought to a halt Michael Phelps' winning return to the pool by taking the 100 metres backstroke final at the Charlotte Ultraswim meet in North Carolina.
World record holder Peirsol held off a late challenge from Phelps, who on Friday had won the 200m free and the 100m butterfly at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Centre, to win in 53.32 seconds, 0.47 faster than his Olympic team-mate, with Phelps’ North Baltimore team-mate Nick Thoman third in 54.76.
“I’m very happy with that,” Peirsol said. Peirsol also played down the presence of Phelps in the field. “I wanted to win. He’s been 53.0 before but so has Nick (Thoman), so has Ryan (Lochte, fourth). Michael wasn’t the only guy.”
Wimbledon raises the roof
TENNIS: It was the day the new roof closed and Wimbledon threw tradition out of the window.
Tim Henman joined Belgium’s Kim Clijsters in a mixed doubles match against Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in a celebration of a rain-free future at the famous tennis court.
But the star of an entertaining afternoon was the roof, especially as two minutes after it had closed for its big test, the rain fell from the SW19 skies.
