Naomi's brother Liam qualified and won the 1st round match at the mens $15k Felixstowe grasscourt event today giving him his first ATP point at just 15 years of age. He beat Dubcan Mugabe of Uganda with a scoreline of 6-2,6-3.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the Australian Open after a stunning performance from French 16th seed Marion Bartoli, who won 6-1 6-4. Bartoli took the first five games of the match to leave the Serbian reeling. Jankovic looked dismally out of sorts despite a brief resurgence in the second set, and Bartoli reached the quarter-finals with surprising ease. Third seed Dinara Safina saved two match points on her way to beating France's Alize Cornet 6-2 2-6 7-5. Safina now plays unseeded Australian Jelena Dokic, who delighted the home fans with a gritty 7-5 5-7 8-6 win over Russian 29th seed Alisa Kleybanova.     

Source - BBC online                                                                                                   

Roger Federer insists he is not worried by the prospect of being overtaken by Novak Djokovic in the world rankings. Federer lies second, but Djokovic closed the gap to only 10 points with victory at the Masters Cup. "I'm going to sleep well for a month. He is not going to pass me anytime soon," said Federer, 27. "For me, honestly, ranking two, three, four, five, 25, it doesn't really matter a whole lot. It is either number one or being in the main draw." Federer lost his world number one ranking to Rafael Nadal in August, and now finds himself in a precarious position in second following Djokovic's triumph at the end-of-season Masters Cup. The Serb, who has set his sights on becoming world number one, will lose ranking points if he fails to defend his Australian Open title in January - but Federer has semi-final points to protect.  

Federer, though, says regaining his Wimbledon title ismore important to him than both his ranking and beating Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles. The 27-year-old, who is one shy of Sampras's mark, lost to Nadal in the 2008 final, ending his five-year reign at the All England Club. "While I would love to beat Pete's record, and also to regain my number one ranking, I place winning another Wimbledon title above all else," he said. And Federer insisted he has no plans to retire in the near future, and is looking forward to the improved schedule in 2009. "Retirement is not going to happen anytime soon because I want to play for many years to come," he said. "It is going to be interesting because I think next year will be a much better scheduling year for everybody. "This year the travel was pretty gruelling and I think next year is going to be better so I'm looking forward to that." Federer ended a disappointing season by going out in the group stage of the Masters Cup with defeat by Andy Murray. That was his 15th loss of the year, having suffered less than 10 in each of the previous four seasons. His performances at the Masters Cup in Shanghai were hampered by a back injury, but he has travelled to Malaysia to take part in an exhibition event with James Blake, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

Source:-   BBC

Former champion Lindsay Davenport has signalled a return to the WTA Tour by entering next year's Australian Open.

The 32-year-old American has not played a tournament since the US Open in September, but is on the entry list for January's Grand Slam in Melbourne.

Davenport, who won the Australian title in 2000, took time out of the game in 2006 and 2007 to start a family.

The former world number one has won four titles since returning in September 2007.

Speaking last month, Davenport said: ''Nothing is in stone yet. I really just tried to enjoy this fall (autumn), be a mom, be at home.

"For sure by December 1st - I need to be practising by then if I am going to go to

Australia and really compete.''

Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic is determined to

lose the tag of being the only WTA world number one never to have won a Grand Slam title when she gets to Melbourne.

"I'm working very hard and that is one of my priorities for 2009, to win a Grand Slam, to start by winning one," she said.

"I believe in myself and I believe my time will come."

The Serb added: "I had holidays, but they are over and now I start to get back to work.

"I started training two weeks ago in Mexico. The accent was on my fitness - I was doing a lot of running, a lot of endurance and a lot of hours in the gym.

"Now I've arrived in Florida where I will be working on my tennis together with my fitness."

Source:-  BBC

Tennis legend Pete Sampras believes British number one Andy Murray is on the cusp of winning a Grand Slam title.

Murray enjoyed a superb 2008, reaching his first major final at the US Open and climbing to fourth in the rankings.

"He is one notch below Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal," said 14-time Grand Slam winner Sampras.

"He's right on the edge of breaking through and winning a major. He's got the game. He'll do it, I really believe that. He's the real deal."

Murray's maiden Grand Slam final ended in defeat by Federer, but Sampras - a five-time winner in New York - said all the 21-year-old lacked was belief.

"He needs a bit more self-belief and confidence that he can win a major," said Sampras.

"Watching the US Open, I could sense that he didn't really believe he could win that match.

"But he's right there ready to break through and he's only 21 so he's got many years to keep it together."

Sampras was speaking ahead of the BlackRock Masters event at London's Albert Hall where he will compete against the likes of John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg and Greg Rusedski.

Since his retirement in 2003 following a glittering career, the American has forged a close friendship with Federer, whose US Open win left him a tantalising two short of breaking Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

However, Federer's fifth consecutive win at Flushing Meadows was a rare highlight in an otherwise disappointing season which saw the 27-year-old lose his world number one ranking to Nadal.

Sampras, though, remains confident that Federer will break the record, and has cast doubt on whether Nadal is equipped for a prolonged stay at the top of the rankings.

"It will be interesting to see what happens with Nadal next year," said the 37-year-old.

"The amount of work he has to do to stay on top and stay healthy... I think that's where Roger has a bit of an advantage because he it takes a lot less energy for him to stay on top than Nadal.

"Rafa puts so much effort into each point that eventually something will break."

Federer suffered 15 defeats in 2008 having picked up less than 10 in each of the previous four seasons.

He lost his Wimbledon crown to Nadal, his first loss on grass since 2002, and failed to win a Masters Series title, all of which has led some to suggest that he could be in permanent decline.

Sampras, though, disagrees.

"There's a lot left in him," he said.

"I think he'd like to get back to number one and he's looking forward to breaking my record soon. He can win as many Wimbledons as he wants - he's got the game.

"Roger's probably going to break it over the next couple of years. I've been pretty accepting that he'll break it.

"He's a credit to the game, he's a friend and there's nothing I can do about it apart from sit back and watch him do it and respect it."

Source: BBC