Vintage Henman overcomes Tursunov

Tim Henman produced an inspired display to shock Dmitry Tursunov at the US Open and extend his Grand Slam career.

The 32-year-old, playing in his last major tournament, prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 against the 27th seed to reach the second round in New York.

Having snatched the first set, Henman looked short on energy in the second but he dug deep against a player he had beaten only once in six matches.

And the Briton closed out the fourth set in style to seal an unlikely win.

"I've been on the receiving end of defeats by him in the other Slams," said Henman.

"The whole nature of the match, not only the level of play but the support, the atmosphere out on a big court, it was fantastic.

And Henman, who will retire after next month's Davis Cup tie against Croatia at Wimbledon, added: "If I had lost in straight sets today I don't think it would have been the biggest deal in the world.

"But having said that, to play against him of all people, having lost to him on four or five occasions and play that well, it's great. It certainly leaves a good taste and it's definitely something I can build on.

"When you say I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain, I think that's spot on. I feel like I want to play these last two events and give them everything.

"If I do play well and go out on a high, whatever that means, it will mean a lot to me. But, on the other side of the coin, if I hadn't won today and things didn't go according to plan at the Davis Cup, it's not suddenly going to tarnish my career in any way, shape or form.

"So I think with that attitude it could bode pretty well."

Henman, a former US Open semi-finalist, will face 22-year-old Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round.

He will head into that encounter with renewed confidence after coming through a match which he had started as a huge underdog.

Federer is way better HHH

Nadal limps past wildcard Jones

Second seed Rafael Nadal survived an injury scare against Australian wildcard Alun Jones in the first round of the US Open on Wednesday.

The Spaniard, who had heavy strapping on both knees, needed treatment for tendonitis during the match.

Jones, the world number 123, was a break up in the third set before Nadal roared back to win 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1.

World number one Roger Federer beat Chile's Paul Capdeville 6-1 6-4 6-4 in Wednesday's late match.

"I'm very happy the way I played. I think I hit the ball well," said Federer, who made just 11 unforced errors in the match.

World number two Nadal said: "Maybe in another tournament I never go to the court today, but it is US Open and it is very important to me.

"I have more than one day now and I hope it will improve. It's tough when you can't play at 100% in a very important tournament like this.

"But for me, the tournament is not finished. I'm still there."

Henin eases to quickfire victory

Top seed Justine Henin wasted little time in reaching the second round of the US Open as she thrashed qualifier Julia Goerges 6-0 6-3 in New York.

Henin, who was beaten in last year's final by Maria Sharapova, needed just 62 minutes to complete the victory.

Venus Williams beat Kira Nagy 6-2 6-1 but sister Serena was made to work hard before winning 6-3 7-5 against German teenager Angelique Kerber.

Third seed Jelena Jankovic and fifth seed Ana Ivanovic were earlier winners.

The Russian Beauty Sharapova

Maria Sharapova began the defence of her US Open title in blistering fashion with a 6-0 6-1 win over Italy's Roberta Vinci at Flushing Meadows.

The Russian, wearing her much-hyped new red dress, was in great form in the first of Tuesday's night matches.

There was no sign of the shoulder and leg injuries she has struggled with recently and she served superbly on her way to winning in 50 minutes.

Sharapova goes on to face Australia's Casey Dellacqua in the second round.

"It's great to be back, to step on to this court at night - just feel the vibes and be on the centre court again," said Sharapova.

"Every corner I turn here I get goosebumps. When you come back to the place you won your second major, it's incredible.

She's just so so hot T_T

Jamie Murray makes progress

Britain's Jamie Murray won his opening mixed doubles match at the US Open alongside American Liezel Huber.

Wimbledon mixed champion Murray and world number one doubles player Huber beat fourth seeds Paul Hanley and Mara Santangelo 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5).

Murray opens his men's doubles campaign with Eric Butorac against Tomas Behrend and Florian Mayer on Thursday.

Fellow Briton James Auckland teamed up with Germany's Benjamin Becker to beat Chris Haggard and Thomas Johansson.

Playing together for the first time competitively, Auckland and Becker came from a set down to win 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Oooups!! Beckam injured

England have suffered a major injury scare ahead of September's Euro 2008 qualifiers after David Beckham hurt his knee playing for LA Galaxy.

Beckham, 32, was taken off during the Superliga final with Pachuca after twisting his knee in a block tackle.

"At this stage it's hard to tell, but it doesn't feel good," said Beckham.

"A ligament strain is four to six weeks but we'll have to wait for the results of the scan on Friday. If it is four to six, I won't be flying to England."

Beckham, who has had recent problems with an ankle injury, added: "I went into the tackle a little light because of my ankle and tried to compensate for that.
I'd have been better off not doing it at all. Maybe it's a sign that I need a rest and don't come back until it's right."

IMAO He's a pretty good player it would be a shame if he couldn't play for his national team. Oh well.. this means my country has more chances .. soo.. YYEEYY LOL..

Anelka signs new deal with Bolton

Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka has ended speculation over his future by signing a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2011.

Anelka, 28, has been linked with a move away from the Reebok, with several Premier League clubs interested.

But he said: "I seem to have been linked with every club in the country of late, but my heart is with Bolton.

"I am very happy with my form, the club and the manager so signing a new contract was not a difficult decision."

French international Anelka joined the Trotters from Fenerbahce last summer for £8m, signing an initial four-year deal.

However, the much-travelled forward recently hinted he could leave if the club's poor start to the season continued.

But he seems to have been convinced of their ambition, adding: "Hopefully we will prosper together because I would not have remained at Bolton if I'd thought we could not win trophies."

Bolton boss Sammy Lee added: "It is a fantastic boost that Nicolas has agreed to stay with us.

"We have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to get him to commit his long-term future to us.

"Nicolas is one of the world's best strikers and I am immensely proud and happy that he has shown such commitment to the club.

"It's also a boost for the dressing room because a team never wants to lose anybody of Nicolas's stature and presence.

"This shows our ambition to be amongst the top clubs, not just in this country but across the world of football."

Newcastle closing in on Faye deal

Bolton's Abdoulaye Faye is close to completing a move to Newcastle, BBC Sport understands.

The 29-year-old had had a medical on and watched Newcastle beat Barnsley in the Carling Cup on Wednesday.

He has been the subject of increased speculation linking him with a move to Tyneside to link up with former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce once again.

The Senegal international arrived at the Reebok during the 2005-06 season from French club Lens.

He has operated mainly as a defensive midfielder during his time at Bolton.

The versatile 6ft 2in player began his career with Senegal outfits ASEC Ndiambour and Jeanne d'Arc before moving to Lens.

After a spell at French club Istres he joined Bolton on loan in the summer of 2005 before sealing a permanent deal in December of that year.

Clubs await Champions League draw

The draw for the Champions League group stages takes place on Thursday at 1700 BST with six British teams among the 32 names in the hat.

Celtic edged out Spartak Moscow on penalties, while Arsenal completed a comprehensive 5-0 aggregate win over Sparta Prague to progress.

Liverpool and Rangers booked their passage on Tuesday, joining Chelsea and Manchester United in the hat.

Both Sevilla and AEK Athens will be in the draw despite playing next Monday.

The second-leg tie between the pair was postponed following the death of the Spanish club's 22-year-old defender Antonio Puerta.

Sevilla, who hold a 2-0 lead from the first leg, will be among the group of second seeds while AEK Athens are ranked among one of the bottom seeds.

Uefa general secretary David Taylor told uefa.com: "The draw will take place on Thursday at 1700 BST, as scheduled.

"There are additional complications this season related to the tragic and unforeseen circumstances that caused the postponement of the AEK Athens v Sevilla match.

"This means that both clubs will be 'provisionally' entered in this season's competition."

Uefa splits the 32 entrants into four pots of eight teams, divided according to their current European ranking.

Each group will contain one team from the top seeds, one from the second seeds, one for the third and one from the fourth.

The Old Firm clubs will not play their group games on the same evening, but will divide them between Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Uefa said.

To ensure that sides from the same country play on separate days, the eight groups will be distinguished by colour: Groups A-D will be red and Groups E-H blue.

When a paired club is drawn, for example, into one of the red groups, the other paired club - once it has been drawn - will automatically be assigned to one of the four blue groups.

Teams from Pot 1 will be provisionally placed in the first position within their groups, teams from Pot 2 will provisionally take the second spot in their sections, and so on.

I Hope Steaua Bucuresti gets in an easy group even though the team owner Gigi Becali said he wants to be signed in with AC Milan or Chelsea..lol..not too cleaver i might say.

A380 seats auctioned off on eBay

Not long after opening, bids of up to $2,550 (£1,266) had been placed. The auction closes on 10 September.

Most of the seats on the superjumbo flight on 25 October from Singapore to Sydney will be put on sale, SIA said.

Starting prices range from $3.80 in economy to $380 for a luxury package. All proceeds will go to charity.

Profits from the sale will be divided equally between a Singapore charity, two children's hospitals in Sydney and international relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Bid interest

"A majority of seats on both legs of the first flight will be auctioned on eBay... progressively over two weeks from Monday evening (Singapore times), 27 August," the carrier said.

Any bid of more than $1,000, or for any of the "premium packages" on offer will need to be vetted beforehand by the airline to ensure prices are not artificially inflated.

Anyone hoping to bid for the first paid for flights on the plane can pre-register on SIA's website.

SIA has committed to buy 19 of the Airbus superjumbos, despite their delivery being put back by almost two years as a result of wiring faults.

The problems are expected to cost Airbus 4.8bn euros ($6.1bn; £3.2bn) in total and have contributed to a recent profit slump at parent-company EADS.

Some people just dont know how to make some more money and come up with this kind of actions. They buy a 50 MILION $ plane and stil try to make some pocket change by selling the first seat on eBay..lol

Virtual police patrol China web

The animated figures, a man and a woman, will appear on users' screens every 30 minutes "to remind them of internet security", China Daily said.

They will appear on news portals from Saturday and then on all Beijing sites and forums by the end of the year.

The Chinese government censors all internet and media content.

It blocks content it deems politically or morally threatening, but some users have found ways to circumvent government controls.

'Protect netizens'

The virtual officers will appear either on foot, on motorbikes or riding in a car.

They would "be on watch for websites that incite secession, promote superstition, gambling and fraud", the China Daily said, citing Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau.

"It is our duty to wipe out information that does public harm and disrupts social order," the newspaper quoted the bureau's deputy chief of Internet surveillance, Zhao Hongzhi, as saying.

He said the virtual police officers would protect "netizens" from harm.

Hmm.. every single one of us could be Spiderman

A "Spider-man" suit that enables its wearer to scale vertical walls like the comic and movie superhero could one day be a reality, according to a study.

Natural technology used by spiders and geckos could help a human climb the side of a building or hang upside down from a roof, the analysis suggests.

The findings are published in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter.

Both spiders and geckos possess tiny "hairs" that allow them to stick to surfaces.

Some studies suggest that geckos can hold hundreds of times their own body weight.

These are produced by billions of hair-like structures of different sizes that are arranged in a hierarchical structure on each gecko foot.

The intermolecular "van der Waals" forces arise when unbalanced electrical charges around molecules attract one another.

The cumulative attractive force of billions of gecko hairs allows the reptiles to scurry up walls and even hang upside down on polished glass.

This is pretty cool , if i make some money with my blog i'll buy one these suits :))

A dog got $12 M After His Owner Died.

New York hotelier and real estate billionaire Leona Helmsley has left $12m (£5.97m) to her pet dog.

The pampered pooch received the largest bequest from Mrs Helmsley's will.

The will also says that when Trouble dies, she is to be buried alongside Mrs Helmsley, who died last week, and her late husband in their mausoleum.

But some human members of Mrs Helmsley's family fared less well, with two of her four grandchildren cut out of the will entirely.

Mrs Helmsley, who died last week, was dubbed the "Queen of Mean" by the US media, and was known for her tough approach to business.

She and her late husband, Harry, built a company which managed some of New York's most prestigious addresses, including the Empire State Building, as well as hotels across the country.

DAMN LUCKY DOG!! I'd marry him for that fortune.