Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Roger Federer bids for Olympic glory to complete the set
By Anupam Pratihary
Tragedy may not have been a constant companion as it was in Vincent van Gogh’s life, but Roger Federer’s game has the genius of the maestro’s work. If the Dutch artist’s canvases had yellow as its dominant colour, reminiscent of the sun, the Swiss player’s strokes pack all the sun’s brilliance.
Both artists inspire as much awe as disbelief. From 2003 to 2012, Federer achieved what history had never witnessed: 17 grand slam singles titles and 287 weeks at the top. Now he has his sights set on Olympic glory, the one big prize to so far elude him. The London Olympic tennis takes place in the next two weeks at a familar venue — Wimbledon.
It wasn’t quite a setting-the-court-on-fire sort of start for the unathletic-looking lad from the tennis backwaters of Switzerland. After dominating the junior ranks, Federer cut his teeth in men’s tennis in 1998. He showed promise but little more
Success came in 2001, when he left the tennis world speechless with his triumph over the seven-time champion Pete Sampras at the Centre Court of Wimbledon. The first major title followed two years later when he held the Wimbledon trophy aloft after defeating Mark Philippoussis.
Milan’s future could lie with Inzaghi clones
By Phil O’Connor
Defenders in Italy breathed a sigh of relief this week as Filippo Inzaghi hung up his boots. The bad news for them is that his new challenge is to produce the next generation of Italian goal-hanging greats as AC Milan’s youth team coach.
Inzaghi was the simplest of goal-poachers, with a bloodhound’s instinct for sniffing out a chance and the cobra-like reflexes to exploit it. He was neither a dribbler nor a passer, and his career-long battle with the offside rule reached ridiculous proportions at times, but his finishing ability was second to none.
from India Insight:
Mark of Boucher
In cricket, and in life, a perfect end is a rarity.
Even Don Bradman was bereft of it. Yet a not-so-perfect ending cannot deny a few sportsmen their legitimate place in the sun. South Africa's wicket-keeper Mark Boucher is one such cricketer.
His remarkably long international career, of almost 15 years, was tragically snuffed out when he was hit in the eye by a bail in a warm-up match against Somerset on July 9 during the ongoing England tour. He was only one short of 1,000 victims -- an unheard of feat in the 145 years of international cricket history.
from Photographers Blog:
Roger and out: Wimbledon 2012
By Toby Melville
After two weeks of rainy, cold and windy tennis, somehow kept on schedule courtesy of early starts, late finishes and a much used Centre Court roof, the traditional tournament highlight of the Men’s Singles Final took place on Sunday.
For the first time in 75 years a Briton would contest the match. The only obstacle in Scot Andy Murray’s path to glory was the huge boulder in the shape of sixteen grand slam winner and six time Wimbledon victor, Switzerland’s Roger Federer.
from Photographers Blog:
Paralympic spirit
By Nir Elias
When the idea to photograph Israeli athletes for the London 2012 Paralympic games came to mind, the second athlete I met was Pascale Berkovitch.
Pascale, 44, lost her legs in a train accident in the suburbs of Paris when she was 17 years old. She now lives with her partner and two daughters in Tel Aviv and is part of the Israeli Paralympic staff for the 2012 games in the field of Hand Biking.
Greg Rusedski blog: Murray will one day win a grand slam event
The second week of Wimbledon started with another massive upset. The world number 1 and a lot of people’s pick to win the championship, Maria Sharapova, lost in the fourth round to Sabine Lisicki of Germany in straight sets.
This really opened up the top half of the woman’s draw and meant there would be a new world number 1. Victoria Azarenka the world number 2 or Agnieszka Radwanska the world number 3 would become the new world number 1. It all depended on who went further in the tournament. Radwanska took full advantage of Sharapova losing and made her first Grand Slam final.
Other sports can learn from chilled out Tour de France
This has been my first Tour de France and it has been like going back in time.
Sport has become big business and egos have exploded too, while security restrictions have made visiting many stadiums something of a chore.
But not on the Tour. To say the French approach is laissez faire is an understatement. As a journalist you can practically go wherever you want with hardly any checks, even standing just behind the stage finish line. Yes you might get your toes clipped as the rider speeds past but the access to the cyclists is remarkable.
Van Persie in the hunt for medals, not money
By Phil O’Connor
As the annual Arsenal transfer soap-opera gets underway, it’s worth wondering why such high-profile players leave one of England’s best clubs every year.
Should Robin van Persie sign for Manchester City, much will be made of their financial muscle, but they are not the only club in England with resources – indeed, Arsenal are one of the richest clubs in the world and could easily afford to offer competitive wages.
Still craving Euro 2012? Get ready for Euro 2013
By Phil O’Connor
As Spain’s victorious Euro 2012 male side returned to Madrid with the Henri Delaunay trophy, football administrators in Sweden were already working to make Euro 2013 for women a similar success.
“Euro 2013 is the second-biggest event UEFA are planning next year, after the Champions League final for men,” former Sweden international Viktoria Svensson told Reuters in an interview.
from Photographers Blog:
Robo-cams go for Olympic gold
By Fabrizio Bensch
Is it possible to get 11 photographers into a box and put them in a position where you could never place a photographer? Normally, it would be absolutely impossible. But nothing is impossible when it comes to the Olympic games.
The London Olympic summer games will produce huge emotions, records and we as the Reuters photographers team will catch it from any extraordinary angle. When athletes from around the world compete against each other for the glory of an Olympic medal, hundreds of photographers try to capture the one and only moment which makes the Olympic games so unique.
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Resident Left Field Expert
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