Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer was in fine form as he brushed aside the local favourite Leyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to enter the quarter-finals of the Australian Open Monday 25 January. Federer was in complete control throughout, dropping serve only once, in the third set, and then coming back immedately to beat Hewitt for the 15th time in succession.
Federer will next face Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Fernando Verdasco in a tough five-setter 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3. Davydenko beat Federer in their last two matches, after a long string of losses against the Swiss star.
First reports are optimistic for two conjoined girls who were separated by a medical team in Melbourne, Australia during 27 hours of surgery. Krishna and Trishna, orphans from Bangladesh who were joined at the head, are doing well, although lead doctor Leo Donnan says they have a long road ahead of them, with risks related to recovering from the surgery but also a 50 percent chance of brain damage and 25 percent chance one of them will die. The girls are 2 years 11 months old. They were living at an orphanage in Bangladesh, where the risk of surgery was considered too great by the organization Children First Foundation, which is helping the girls.
Links to other sites: The Age, Melbourne (video), Times, UK, Royal Children’s Hospital page on the twins’ “incredible journey”
Police in Melbourne, Australia swooped on 19 properties around the city and arrested four men they say were plotting to storm Holsworthy army base northwest of Sydney with automatic weapons and kill as many soldiers as possible until they themselves were killed. The men, Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese origin, are believed to be linked to militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, which is battling the Western-backed government. More than 400 police officers were involved in the early Tuesday 4 August operation. One of the men, Nayef El Sayed, aged 25, appeared in court and has been charged with terrorism offenses. A fifth man, arrested earlier for other reasons, was still being questioned. CNN, Sydney Morning Herald
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - The newly formed Brawn GP team, sponsored by Richard Branson’s Virgin, made a perfect start to the season when Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello took the first two places in their debut race: the first team to do so since Mercedes-Benz in 1954.
There are no official numbers yet, but at least 209 people are known to have died in Australia’s wildfires. The country Sunday mourned the victims in a series of church, prayer and wreath-laying services. Officials are warning residents of towns east of Melbourne to consider evacuating the area, with bushfires continuing the burn and another heat wave on the way. ABC (Australia), CNN
ABC television in Australia reports that with 166 people known to be dead, worse is yet to come in the fire that now appears to be the worst bushfire in the world in 150 years. Fires are still not contained in many areas, including close to Melbourne, says Victoria Premier John Brumby.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Rafael Nadal justified his number one ranking and ended, at least for a while, Roger Federer’s dream of matching Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam victories. Despite his epic five-hour semi-final match two days earlier Nadal ended looking fresher and fitter than Federer at the end of another five-set thriller.
Updated 1 Feb 08:45 Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer (TSR interview, Fre) and Rafael Nadal face each other in the finals Sunday morning at 09:30 (Swiss time) after Nadal beat number 15 Fernando Verdasco in a very tough five-set match that many sports reporters worldwide are calling “epic”: 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4. Meanwhile, in the women’s final Serena Williams crushed Dinara Safina 6-0 6-3 in one of the shortest and most one-sided finals for decades. The win meant that Serena moved to first place in the world rankings.
Updated 15:00 Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick smoothly, 6-2 7-5 7-5. Serena Williams and Dinara Safina will play in the women’s final in Australia. Rafael Nadal and Ferdinand Verdasco move up to the semi-finals. Australian Open site
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – South Africa made a formality of the last day’s play as they won by nine wickets and sealed their first series win in Australia. If they take the third and final test it will also depose Australia from their long-held position as top-ranked cricket nation.
