Serena Williams pulls out of Hopman Cup

PERTH, Australia (AFP) - US Open winner Serena Williams has withdrawn from next month's Hopman Cup mixed teams event with a hamstring injury, organisers said here Monday.

The world number two injured her hamstring in the year-ending WTA Championships and has not been able to recover in time to prepare for the Perth tournament, although she still intends to play the Australian Open later in January, organisers said.

World No.10 James Blake will now be partnered by Meghann Shaughnessy, who last year played in the Hopman Cup and defeated Sania Mirza of India.

Shaughnessy, winner of six singles and 15 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, has had an injury-plagued year but the United States will remain the top seeds for the January 3-9 event.

Organisers said Russian star Marat Safin has shelved retirement plans and has committed to play in the Hopman Cup. Safin will team up with his sister and world number three Dinara Safina, with Russia the second seeds.

US is the most successful nation in the 20-year history of the Hopman Cup having won the event five times.

Source:
http://eurosport.yahoo.com

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Pregnant Davenport withdraws from Aussie Open

Three-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport announced that she is pregnant and has taken herself off the WTA Tour indefinitely.

After agreeing to participate in the Australian Open last week, the 32-year-old former world No. 1 pulled out of the event on Wednesday.

"Of course this unexpected, but exciting, surprise now means I will be putting tennis on hold for the foreseeable future," Davenport said.

After returning to the tour after the birth of her first child, Jagger, Davenport won four of her 55 career singles titles.

Davenport has won three Grand Slam titles - US Open in 1998, Wimbledon in 1999 and the Australian Open in 2000.

She has 37 doubles titles to her credit, including triumphs at Roland Garros in 1996 (with Mary Joe Fernandez), the US Open in 1997 (with Jana Novotna) and Wimbledon in 1999 (with Corina Morariu).

Source:
http://eurosport.yahoo.com

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Rossi set for Bayliss Superbike duel

MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has agreed to a one-off Superbike race against Troy Bayliss, according to reports in Spain.

Solo Moto magazine claims the Italian will take on Bayliss in a head-to-head battle on March 14 in Qatar, saying the deal is "said and done".

The duel will take place during the weekend of the second round of the 2009 Superbike World Championship at the Losail circuit.

Rossi is expected to race a Yamaha R1 - as used by factory riders Tom Sykes and Ben Spies in 2009 - while Bayliss will be on the familiar Xerox Ducati.

Bayliss retired from the World Superbike scene after romping to his third championship in 2008 on the Ducati.

The Australian's dominance of an increasingly competitive series earned him the Rider of the Year award from the well-respected Italian magazine Moto Sprint ahead of Rossi, who won his sixth world championship in MotoGP's premier class, his eighth overall.

The 29-year-old Rossi is thought to be unhappy at the snub, and has agreed to the race in a bid to hammer home his supremacy.

Rossi recently said he was keen to take Bayliss on one-versus-one, telling Corriere dello Sport: "If there was an opportunity and the right date then I would race there tomorrow.

"I like World Superbikes to be mad, I like to watch it and I'd love to ride in it, the problem is the dates.

"I do not know when, but I hope that I can make a race in WSB. I am sad that I would not be able to race against Bayliss on track now because I would like to challenge him on a superbike. Maybe, if I ask him he might even come back for one race for the challenge."

There has been no official confirmation from either rider.

Source:
http://eurosport.yahoo.com

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Ronaldo returns to training

Cristiano Ronaldo was able to return to training on Tuesday morning and could be involved in Manchester United's Champions League clash with Aalborg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The Portugal international had to be substituted after picking up a hip injury in Saturday's victory against Sunderland and had been thought to be a major doubt for the final Group E clash against the Danish side.

However, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra and Daniel Welbeck did not take part in the training session, increasing speculation that John O'Shea, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury, could return to the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, veteran defender Gary Neville has admitted that his continuing injury problems are starting to frustrate him.

The 33-year-old has struggled to regain full fitness since injuring ankle ligaments against Bolton Wanderers in March 2007.

He made only one substitute appearance in the whole of the 2007-08 campaign and, despite returning to the first team this season, has not made a Premier League start for over a month.

He told United's official website: "To be honest, I've not been able to stay fit enough, or produce consistently good enough performances, to stay in the team, simple as that.

"You've got to be realistic and honest with yourself. The first thing you've got to do is stay fit.

"If you do that over a long period of time, you get the opportunity to get your level of performance to something that's acceptable for this club."

Source:
http://www.football.co.uk

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FIA confirm S2000 future for WRC

The FIA today confirmed an S2000 based future for the WRC, which is thought to include a kit of a control turbocharger, rear wing and other small parts costing in the region of £25,000. The statement released today, from the December World Motorsport Council meeting, failed to give much explicit detail on the new formulae.

The statement from the FIA reads:
"As already announced, the 2010 World Rally Car will be S2000 based. However, the removable kit, already adopted by the WMSC, will be redefined with no electronic benefits, or similar upgrades, to ensure cost reductions. The new S2000-based World Rally Car will only be permitted for use on World Rally Championship events.

The FIA Production Car World Rally Championship will be retained for Group N cars, including the existing S2000 car."

Source:
http://www.rallye-info.com

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Subaru withdraw from WRC

Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship. This sudden decision was in response to the widespread economic downturn that is affecting the entire automotive industry, and follows Suzuki’s withdrawal announced yesterday.

After 20 years in the sport, during which time the Prodrive-run Subaru World Rally Team has won six World Rally Championship titles, this is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for millions of rallying fans around the world. Thanks to its highly successful World Rally Championship programme, Subaru has developed into one of the world’s most widely recognised and evocative automotive brands.

Prodrive chairman, David Richards, said: “Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”

For many, Prodrive and Subaru are synonymous, given the long-standing and close association between the two companies. However, while the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no more than 20 per cent of the company’s turnover.

Prodrive will look to redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of its business operations, which have grown to span advanced engineering and manufacturing for the automotive, defence, marine and aerospace industries, in addition to other motorsport programmes.

Despite the current economic downturn, Prodrive’s automotive engineering business remains buoyant as it works with vehicle manufacturers to accelerate the development of next generation fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuel technologies.

Together with Subaru, Prodrive’s commitment to its customer rally teams will also continue unabated for 2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to 500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent rally teams in 47 countries. During this time, Prodrive’s customers have won five consecutive Production World Rally Championships and countless international rallies. In 2008, Prodrive-supported customer teams have claimed eight rally championship titles around the world.
Looking ahead, 2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and success.

Source:
http://www.rallye-info.com

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Alex de Angelis Signs for 2009

From a season of up and downs, De Angelis has signed with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team for a second season. De Angelis has had mixed results over the course of the season with some crashes and some impressive results at Mugello and Sachsenring. The signing is a result of the commitment and confidence De Angelis has shown throughout this season.

De Angelis is now part of a list of riders signed up to continue with their current teams for next year. This list includes three yamaha riders; James Toseland, Colin Edwards, Valentino Rossi and the Rizla Suzuki Riders Vermuelen and Capirossi.

Alex De Angelis currently sits in 13th position in the MotoGP championship while team mate Shinya Nakano is 8th overall.

Source:
http://www.two-news.net

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