Serena Williams eases into third round in Miami

World number one Serena Williams passed comfortably into the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Alexa Glatch on Saturday.

Having dealt with the 19-year-old Californian Glatch, a wild-card entry, Williams will now play China’s Shuai Peng, seeded 32nd, who beat Italian Mara Santangelo 7-5 6-3.

In the men’s event, American Sam Querrey was knocked out by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-7 7-5 6-2. The number 32 seed fired 15 aces and broke serve three times to set up third-round tie with compatriot Fernando Verdasco.

The eighth-seeded Verdasco defeated German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4. The Spaniard lost on his own serve three times but converted five of eight break point opportunities on Becker’s serve.

Later, world number one Rafael Nadal opens his campaign against Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili while Britain’s Andy Murray takes on Argentine Juan Monaco.

In the women’s event, Venus Williams faces Israeli Shahar Peer and Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic is up against Argentine Gisela Dulko.

Ending ICL contract not enough for Yousuf: PCB

Merely ending his contract with the rebel Indian Cricket League will not be enough for Mohd Yousuf to return to the Pakistan team as the PCB has made it clear that the senior batsman will have to give certain “guarantees” before becoming eligible for national selection. 

The conditions include that Yousuf terminate his ICL contract, give in writing he will not align with any other body without the permission of the board and will not demand any compensation in return for ending his ties with the ICL.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ejaz Butt discussed these conditions with Yousuf in a meeting at the Gaddafi stadium on Friday after the batsman said he was willing to end his contract with the ICL if considered for national selection.

Butt made it clear that while he was also keen to see the senior player back in the team but certain issues had to be sorted out.

“It is not a simple matter and we are looking into it. But I have told Yousuf that he has to meet certain conditions and give guarantees first to be considered for national selection,” he said.

Yousuf has been banned since last year from playing for Pakistan after he joined the ICL, which is not recognised by the International Cricket Council or its member boards.

The Sindh High Court last month allowed Yousuf and other ICL players to play domestic cricket but the ban on them representing the country remains in place.

The ICL had filed a case against Yousuf after he walked out of a contract with them in 2007 before finally joining them again last year claiming he was frustrated at being mistreated by former captain Shoaib Malik and the PCB.

After meeting Butt, Yousuf told reporters that he wants the PCB to include his name in the list of probables for the forthcoming one-day series against Australia and also for the Twenty20 World Cup in England.

“I have discussed my future with other senior players and then decided to be available for Pakistan again. I am keen to play for my country and now the rest is up to the board,” he said.

However, Butt made it clear that Yousuf will have to pass a fitness test like all other players and be cleared by the selectors to play for Pakistan once again.

Yousuf, who has played 79 Tests and 269 one-dayers, is considered one of Pakistan’s top players and is said to have been convinced to leave the ICL by captain Younis Khan.

Indications are that the PCB will first get approval from the ICC before allowing Yousuf back into the team. The move could pave the way for other ICL-aligned cricketers to play for the national team once again.

Dravid is not a natural catcher: Mark Waugh

Australian Mark Waugh, whose record of catches is about to be broken by Rahul Dravid, feels the Indian is not a natural catcher but he makes up for it with his high level of concentration.

Dravid has edged level with Waugh on 181 catches. He has taken the vast majority of his catches from spinners – 99 from Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh alone – a feat that Waugh rates highly because there is often less time to react.

“You might only get one ball in the field all day and you’ve got to catch it an inch off the ground. That’s a concentration thing, switching on and off between deliveries,” Waugh was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald.

“Dravid is good but he’s got a funny style. He’s not a natural catcher but he’s got great concentration and he’s in the right place at the right time,” Waugh said, while predicting Ricky Ponting, who has racked up 148 catches in 131 Tests, would one day dislodge the Indian.

Among current players, only Graeme Smith (104 catches from 77 Tests) is likely to challenge the top order.

Waugh and Bob Simpson, another renowned slips catcher and former holder of the record, believe they learned their skills as kids with tennis balls, which Simpson says teach you to use soft hands.

Separating catching quality from longevity is hard, although catches per innings is a pointer – and one that ranks Simpson (.940) significantly above Waugh (.738), Dravid (.738) and Ponting (.575). The missing feature is the number of catches shelled. On that, Waugh and Simpson are in perfect agreement.

“You don’t judge a slipper on the great catches they take – sometimes, you judge them on the percentage they drop,” Simpson said.

Waugh admits: “I actually think they should have a statistic of how many catches you drop, like baseball – that’s probably the best judge of how good a catcher you are.”

Saina crashes out of Indian Open

Saina Nehwal failed to produce her vintage form of recent years as the Indian ace suffered a shock defeat to lower-ranked Malaysian Julia Pei Xian Wong in the quarter-finals to crash out of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open on Friday.

Second-seeded Saina lost 21-12, 13-21, 18-21 to fifth-seed Julia, against whom she had won three times in four encounters, to bring the curtains down on India’s singles campaign at the Grand Prix Gold event.

However, the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Valiyaveetil Diju kept the Indian flag flying with a 21-13, 21-13 win over Chinese pair of Tao Jiaming and Xiaoli Wang to move into the semi-finals.

Some judgmental errors and mistakes put paid to world number nine Saina’s hopes of winning the title in front of her home crowd.

The Indian was put on the back foot right from the start as her Malaysian rival opened up a 4-0 lead. But Saina came back strongly to draw level at 6-6 and then grabbed the lead at 10-13. The Malaysian pocketed two more points but Saina soon raced away, winning the game 21-12.

But the next game saw the balance swing in favour of Julia as the world number 15 cruised to a 9-1 lead and though Saina managed to win some crucial points, the Malaysian walked away with the second game 21-13.

Tied one all, the third game witnessed a see-saw battle as the duo moved neck and neck from 6-6 to 14-14. But Saina was soon left to do some catching up as Julia opened up the court and involved in soft net play.

The home favourite put up a brave fight and narrowed the gap to 19-18 but the Malaysian had the last laugh.

Saina was done in by the drift which she struggled to gauge for most part of the tie. She also had a couple of backhand smashes not going her way.

“I started off well but I lost it on the way. In the second and third games I committed a lot of errors. I scored points in between, came back in the match but she was playing too well,” said Saina.

“I was also not playing well from the nets and I made some judgemental errors,” a disappointed Saina said.

While Saina sank in agony, Jwala and Diju rose to ectasy as they thumped the Chinese pair convincingly to reach the semi-finals. They will next meet Jien Guo Ong and Sook Chin Chong of Malaysia, who beat Indonesian pair Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto 21-19, 21-19 in the other quarter-final.

“We were on the offensive right from the start and defended well too. They couldn’t read our game and we didn’t allow them to get into the rhythm,” Jwala said.

“We are not thinking too far, we just want to play well and enjoy without being bothered about the result. There is absolutely no pressure on us,” she added.

“The left-right combination is working very well for us but we have to build our consistency level. We are aiming to break into the top-10 by this year.

“There is drift in the air but it is same for all so I don’t think anybody should complain. We have to adjust and play,” Jwala said.

Diju was effusive in his praise for his partner. “Jwala was doing all the job and I just supported her. In the beginning last year I wasn’t very confident but now as we are playing more and more Super Series and Grands Prix, we feel confident now,” Diju said.

Rosberg’s chance to be Williams’ drought-breaker

MELBOURNE: German Nico Rosberg offered Williams-Toyota the prospect of breaking its long Grand Prix drought with the fastest times in Friday’s practice sessions ahead of this weekend’s Australian Formula One season-opener.

Rosberg topped the time charts in both sessions, finishing the day with a fastest lap time of one minute 26.053 seconds.

The 23-year-old German was 0.104secs superior to Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, behind the wheel of the new Brawn GP car.

Williams have not won for 72 GPs with Juan Pablo Montoya winning the British team’s last race, in Brazil in October 2004.

While Rosberg gave Williams some encouragement ahead of Sunday’s opener, championship heavyweights Ferrari and McLaren endured a difficult first day on the Melbourne street circuit.

The Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were 10th and 11th fastest in the second session, while world champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren came home a lowly 18th place out of 20, some 1.76secs adrift of Rosberg’s best time.

The teams fully utilised the opportunity to get in maximum laps in the three-hour practice, with new regulations not permitting further testing during the season.

Williams and two other teams, Brawn GP and Toyota, were the subject of protests from rival teams over the official scrutineering of their cars’ rear diffusers, which FIA stewards late Thursday cleared to race in Sunday’s GP.

Barrichello, in his 17th season and lining up for his 269th GP this weekend, gave promise of better things ahead for debutants Brawn GP, clocking a best lap of 1:26.157.

Briton Jenson Button further underlined Brawn’s impressive winter testing performances, coming fifth fastest in 1:26.374.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli (1:26.350) and Australia’s Red Bull racer Mark Webber (1:26.370), the latter recovering from a broken leg, were third and fourth quickest in the second session.

Renault’s former two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain was 12th fastest in 1:27.232.

Qualifying for the race grid takes place on Saturday.

Terry ready to put his life on the line for British army

England captain John Terry has revealed he is envious of the soldiers who serve in the British Army and would love to serve alongside them.

The Chelsea captain – who is preparing for the friendly against Slovakia and then the crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier against Ukraine next week – was speaking after the squad had trained under the watchful gaze of several members of the Armed Forces.

“They (the armed forces) love their football,” 28-year-old Terry told the Daily Telegraph.

“They like to look up to us but I would like to be in their shoes and do what they do.

“They are brilliant at their job.

“I would love to (serve) of course. Put your life on the line for the country – I would love to, but I don’t think many of us could.”

Several of those who watched the England squad go through their paces had just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and clearly their experiences left an indelible impression on the players.

“I was shocked, I didn’t expect that,” said England football icon David Beckham, after Ben McBean who lost an arm and a leg in Afghanistan asked the former skipper to sign his fake arm.

Terry’s central defence partner Rio Ferdinand summed up the squad’s feelings.

“They are heroes,” said the Manchester United star.

“For us to be able to share the same room is a privilege.”