By Steve Ginsburg

Washington - Unseeded South African Wesley Moodie used a big service game and steady groundstrokes to stun third seed Tim Henman 7-6, 7-5 on Tuesday to advance to the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

"Overall, I felt I served well," said Moodie, who had nine aces. "And when I do that, I feel I always have a chance to win the match."

Top seed Andy Roddick avoided Henman's fate, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti to join Moodie in the third round.

The Briton's luck ran out serving at 5-6
Moodie won the opening-set tiebreak 7-4 after each player held serve with little trouble though Henman's service game fell apart in the second having to save three match points while serving at 4-5 in the second set.

However, the Briton's luck ran out serving at 5-6 when he dug himself into a 0-40 hole before saving another two match points. But at 30-40, Henman's half-volley hit the net, giving the 113th-ranked Moodie the win.

"He served well and has aggressive groundstrokes," said Henman, the 2003 champion, who was playing his first match since Wimbledon. "I didn't play badly tonight but ended up losing. Sometimes, that's the way it goes."

The 26-year-old Moodie, who is still looking for his first singles title, said the victory would give him a boost.

"To beat a world-class player like Tim gives me a lot of confidence," he said. "I know that I am able to win these types of matches."

Roddick, the 2001 Washington champion, smashed eight aces and numerous service winners to subdue Lapentti.

"I felt like I hit the ball better than I normally do in the first round," said Roddick, who received a bye in the opening round. "I was in control."

In other matches, Australian Mark Philippousis, who received a wild card, lost to Luis Horna of Peru 7-5, 6-4, while American Robby Ginepri defeated compatriot Kevin Kim 6-2, 6-3.

By Nick Mulvenney

London - Champions Chelsea plan a statement of intent for one of their main title rivals when they face Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield match at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The traditional prologue to the English season between the champions and FA Cup winners also offers Jose Mourinho's side the chance of a first domestic win over Arsenal since their 5-0 League Cup victory in November 1998.

Reinforced by the multi-million pound signings of Spanish defender Asier del Horno and English winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, Chelsea are keen to take more silverware back to Stamford Bridge after their Premier League and League Cup double last season.

'There's a trophy to be won and we want to win it'
"There's a trophy to be won and we want to win it," said their Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Shield holders Arsenal, no strangers to the showpiece season-opener having been involved for five of the past seven years, start the post-Patrick Vieira era a little less bullish than at the same stage of last season.

Then they were champions having gone through the previous season unbeaten and in their 3-1 victory over Manchester United they showed some of the superb attacking play that lit up the first half of the campaign.

New midfield signing Alexander Hleb should add something to the side going forward but it remains to be seen how their defence will cope without the cover provided by Vieira, who moved to Juventus for £13,7-million (about R160-million).

"He is a world-class player," Chelsea captain John Terry said of the departed Frenchman. "He is obviously going to be a big miss.

'Sunday is an important game for us'
"Arsene Wenger has some great players and has some young players who can maybe step into the hole and maybe be as good as him one day. But I think initially they will miss him."

Arsenal will not be helped either by the likely absence of Brazilian midfielder Gilberto, who scored the only goal in the 2002 Community Shield against Liverpool on his club debut.

"Sunday is an important game for us," said Wenger, whose team visit Chelsea in the league in two weeks. "It sets up where you stand before the season starts."

Terry said Sunday was the perfect opportunity to end Chelsea's winless run against the North Londoners, a seven-year drought broken only by their Champions League victory at Highbury the season before last, with their last Premier League win coming 10 years ago.

"We didn't beat Arsenal last year despite winning the title," said Terry. "I think it's been a few years since we've beaten them in the league.

"It would be nice to get a win under our belt and the Community Shield would be the perfect place to do it and to get one up on them."

The Community Shield has thrown up some fine matches in recent seasons and Gudjohnsen thinks the rivalry between the two clubs will ensure that trend continues on Sunday.

"When you look at the games we had last year between us and Arsenal everything was done on the pitch," he said. "High-quality games, high intensity, no one pulling out of any tackles but handshakes after and get on with it.

"I think that's the way the game should be played."

There will be a period of silence before the match between the two London clubs to pay respect to the victims of the recent bombings in the English capital.

Results of Currie Cup games played on Friday night.


Eastern Province Mighty Elephants 36 (9) SWD Eagles 17 (10)

Blue Bulls 14 (14) Natal Sharks 18 (3)

Griffons 0 Free State Cheetahs 43 (15)

AMD Valke 28 (17) Boland Cavaliers 36 (10)

Leopards 26 (13) Griquas 24 (12)

Bulldogs 15 (15) Pumas 28 (7) - Sapa

Whose watching??


Great start to the game....

Hope the boys keep it up

:worthy: Percy :worthy:


Bokke 16 - 13 Kiwis.. 2nd half just started!!

:jog:


p.s. ForumAdmin?? Where's the rugby smilie??? :innocent:

Ferrari has confirmed that Sauber driver Felipe Massa will join Michael Schumacher in its 2006 line-up and has announced that Rubens Barrichello will leave the team at the end of the year.

Following intense speculation over the weekend, Ferrari has taken up an option on Massa that dates back to 2001.

"I am very happy and proud to be racing with Ferrari in 2006," Massa told his official website.

"I feel ready for this new challenge, which is the best opportunity of my career.

"I am aware of the responsibility it places on me and I cannot wait to be part of a team like Ferrari, alongside the best driver in the world, Michael Schumacher."

The Brazilian driver, currently in his third season with Sauber, took a year out from racing in 2003 to fulfil the role of test and reserve driver for Ferrari.

He has long been linked with a return to the Scuderia and is managed by sporting director Jean Todt's son, Nicolas.

"I wish to thank Peter Sauber for having had faith in me over these past three years. I will do my very best in the final six races of the season to get the best possible results for his team.

"Maranello has believed in me since 2001, when I had yet to make my Formula 1 debut.

"Now, I am in my third season as a Sauber driver and I can also count on a year's experience as a Ferrari test driver, an experience which helped me to grow a great deal."

Rubens Barrichello was released from his Ferrari contract early so that he could accept the opportunity of multi-year deal from a rival team according to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.

Ferrari confirmed on Monday that the Brazilian is to be replaced by compatriot Felipe Massa in 2006.

"We gave Rubens Barrichello the possibility of accepting an offer of a multi-year contract, longer therefore than the length of his relationship with us," said Montezemolo.

"We also had the possibility of exercising an existing option in the contract we have with Felipe Massa, a young driver who nevertheless already has sufficient experience and whom we had already targeted as far back as 2001."

Barrichello's is expected to announce a two-year deal with the BAR-Honda deal shortly.

The Brazilian is known to have been unsettled with the Maranello team for some time and his relationship with Michael Schumacher has been strained at best since the German barged past him on the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix in May.

Montezemolo added in his statement that he was grateful for Barrichello's six years of service.

"I wish to thank Rubens for his contribution over the past few years, which, to date, has helped us to win five constructors' championships," he said.

"From him, from everyone at Ferrari and from our technical partners, first and foremost Bridgestone, I am expecting maximum concentration and effort to get back to winning ways before the end of this season."

A South African business consortium believes it is on the verge of bringing Formula 1 back to the country that lasted hosted a grand prix back in 1993.

The South African F1 bid Company expects to conclude a deal in the next few months with Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management, which is responsible for the commercial side of the sport, according to Reuters.

"We hope then to sign a contract with Mr Ecclestone just before the end of the year which will in turn allow us to host the event starting in 2009," said the venture's Dave Gant.

The consortium is hoping to attract government backing to support the bid.

"We have been working on this for about 18 months and each day we get more confident that we are going to pull it off," he added.

"Formula One demonstrably want it to happen, they want it to come here."

"The initial agreement would last from the 2009 to 2015 seasons with an option to renew thereafter.

"All we have to finalise from a South African point of view is the extent to which the government is going to participate in this public-private partnership," he said.

Ecclestone has said previously that he expects F1 to return to the African continent.

"We are going to South Africa - it's not a question of if, it's only when," he said last November.

"There will be a South African Grand Prix hosted by Cape Town within five years."


:f1:

On currently Frid/18.15

Family were season-ticket holders at Hartleyvale (Hosking Stand) from the begining with Jose de Nobrega (give a man a Lucky), Ian Goodall (the penalty king), Eric Logan, Roger Coetzee etc. Our Championship winning captain, Jimmy Morrison lived in the same block of flats in Vredehoek. Watched the hated Hellenic at Green Point when we were away. Nothing was like the excitement of waiting for Friday nights to come. I later years I sat behind the goals on the pitch at both grounds pretending to be a press photographer. It was so easy. Most matches, didn't have a film in the camera, but do, however, have a collection of photo's which I'll updload from time to time. (I've just submitted the first couple).Those were great (footballing) days.

I am in charge of SA rugby, says Markgraaff
An explosive charge that SA Rugby vice-president André Markgraaff threatened to sack Bok coach Jake White has emerged on the eve of Saturday's Tri-Nations Test between the Springboks and All Black at Newlands.

The allegation comes in a letter from White to his bosses.

He said an "aggressive" Markgraaff had confronted him last Friday, just before the opening Tri-Nations Test against Australia in Pretoria, where he was warned to toe Markgraaff's line.

Markgraaff had told him: "Like it or not, I am in charge of rugby in South Africa." for full story source IOL

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There truly seems to be a pattern of destruction within SA Rugby