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USA Today preseason football poll

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:44:13 +0000

Who is on the fast track to the 2009 college football national championship? Preseason polls don’t guarantee anything once the games begin, but they can make sure a team doesn’t have to move up too far to stay in the conversation.

Here’s the way the horses will line up at starting gate according to the coaches who vote in the USA Today poll, with first-place votes included:

1. Florida (53)
2. Texas (4)
3. Oklahoma (1)
4. Southern California (1)
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Penn State
9. LSU
10. Mississippi
11. Oklahoma State
12. California
13. Georgia
14. Oregon
15. Georgia Tech
16. Boise State
17. TCU
18. Utah
19. Florida State
20. North Carolina
21. Iowa
22. Nebraska
23. Notre Dame
24. Brigham Young
25. Oregon State

To see the entire poll, visit USA Today.com

Women’s Wimbledon winners

Bill Sullivan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:35:40 +0000

If you were looking to handicap the ladies’ field at Wimbledon in recent years, picking someone named Williams wasn’t a bad place to start. Americans Venus and Serena Williams have combined to win eight of the last 10 titles, including Serena’s win over Venus in the 2009 event.

Here’s a list of the champions since 2000 — a group with a decidedly Williams look:

2009 — Serena Williams, USA

2008 — Venus Williams, USA

2007 — Venus Williams, USA

2006 – Amelie Mauresmo, France

2005 — Venus Williams, USA

2004 — Maria Sharapova, Russia

2003 — Serena Williams, USA

2002 — Serena Williams, USA

2001 — Venus Williams, USA

2000 — Venus Williams, USA

Source: Wimbledon.org

Women’s French Open Winners

Bill Sullivan — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:01:40 +0000

Svetlana Kuznetsova’s five-year wait for a second Grand Slam title finally came to an end at the 2009 French Open. The Russian routed No. 1 seed Dinara Safina, 6-4, 6-2 and needed just 75 minutes to do so.

Here’s a list of most recent female champions at Roland Garros:

2009 — Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia

2008 — Ana Ivanovic, Serbia

2007 — Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium

2006 – Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium

2005 — Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium

2004 — Anastasia Myskina, Russia

2003 — Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium

2002 — Serena WIlliams, USA

2001 — Jennifer Capriati, USA

2000 — Mary Pierce, France

Source: rolandgarros.com

Men’s French Open Winners

Bill Sullivan — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:29:14 +0000

Roger Federer may be the dominant men’s tennis player of his time, and now the folks in Paris can attest to it. Federer won his record-tying 14th Grand Slam title 6-1 7-6 (1) 6-4 win over No. 23 seed Robin Soderling of Sweden.

It was Federer’s first-ever title on the clay courts of Roland Garros, making him only the sixth man to win all four of tennis’ major titles.

Who else has distinguished himself at Roland Garros in recent years?

Here’s a list of the 10 French Open winners preceding Rafael Nadal’s just-ended recent run of four in a row:

2005-08: Rafael Nadal

2004 — Gasón Gaudio, Argentina

2003 — Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain

2002 — Albert Costa, Spain

2001 — Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil

2000 — Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil

1999 — Andre Agassi, USA

1998 — Carlos Moya, Spain

1997 — Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil

1996 — Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia

1995 — Thomas Muster, Austria

Source: rolandgarros.com

U.S. Olympic Men’s Tennis Team

Emily Zipp — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:37:33 +0000

The five men of the U.S. Olympic tennis team are relative newcomers, with only the twin brothers who are the reigning world champion doubles team having played in another Olympic Games. The members of the team, according to the tennis portion of the TeamUSA Web site are:

James Blake (Tampa, Fla.) – Age: 28

Sam Querrey (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) – Age: 20

Robby Ginepri (Kennesaw, Ga.) – Age: 25

Bob Bryan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) – Age: 30

Mike Bryan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) – Age: 30

U.S. men’s tennis coach Rodney Harmon will lead singles players Blake, Querry and Ginepri, as well as the two doubles teams of the Bryan brothers (pictured) and Blake and Querrey.

Blake could become the first African-American man to win an Olympic tennis medal. He is currently ranked No. 2 in America. This is Querrey’s second season as a pro. The Bryan brothers reached the quarterfinals in doubles in 2004. The twins have won the career Grand Slam in doubles.

The United States has won 15 Olympic medals in men’s and women’s tennis since it returned as a full medal sport in 1988 – more than any other nation. Andre Agassi was the last American man to win Olympic gold in men’s singles in 1996 in Atlanta. Ken Flach and Robert Seguso are the last American team to win Olympic gold in men’s doubles in 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

For more information on the U.S. men’s tennis team, go to their website. If you want to see all U.S. Olympic qualifiers in every sport for the Beijing games starting in August, start your search on this official U.S. Olympics page. To learn more of the history of tennis in the Olympics, look at the Olympic games site, or the Beijing games site.

U.S. Olympic Women’s Tennis Team

Emily Zipp — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:18 +0000

Three former gold medal winners and the world’s top doubles player will represent the United States in women’s tennis competition at the Beijing Olympics. The three singles players are familiar names to tennis fans: Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport. The fourth player, Liezel Huber, became a U.S. citizen in 2007 after representing her native South Africa in the 2000 games.

Serena Williams will make her second Olympic appearance having won gold in doubles in 2000 with her sister (pictured). Venus Williams and Davenport will make their third Olympic appearances and both have won gold. The sisters will compete as a doubles team, as will Davenport and Huber. The women’s coach is Zina Garrison.

The first woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport was a tennis player: Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain in 1900. The sport was first played in the Olympics in 1896, but was dropped after 1924 because of conflict over amateur vs professional competitors. It returned to the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Since then, the United States has won 15 medals in tennis, more than any other nation. They were shut out of the medals ceremonies in 2004.

A maximum of 172 players will compete in singles and doubles on 10 hard-surface courts in Beijing.

The members of the U.S. women’s team are:

Serena Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) – Age: 26, singles and doubles

Venus Williams (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) – Age: 28, singles and doubles

Lindsay Davenport (Laguna Beach, Calif.) – Age: 32, singles and doubles

Liezel Huber (South Africa) – Age: 28, doubles

For more information on the U.S. women’s Olympic tennis team, go to their website. If you want to see all U.S. Olympic qualifiers in every sport for the Beijing games starting in August, start your search on this official U.S. Olympics page.