Wimbledon 2010

Wimbledon is back for another year, and everyone here in Britain will be following Andy Murray rooting for him to get to the final and to go all the way. The grass court Grand slam always a fiercely contested slam, always seems to have the same winner, Roger Federer. The cool calm man from Switzerland started his defense of the title today. But the six time champion didn’t have it all his way.

The defending champion came through 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-0 in an astonishing opening match on Centre Court. Falla, the world number 60, served for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, but top seed Federer dug deep. And the six-time champion hit top form in the deciding fifth set as Falla’s fire finally died out.

Today the opening day showed what entertainment there is, and the unpredictablility of the competition. All we can hope for is that the rest of the competition lives up to the entertainment and thrills that we were able to enjoy today in the first match of the competition.

for the latest in the draws and scores

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/tracker/ttFrame.html?ts=1277156937298&lang=en_GB&syn=none&wh=572&mode=draw&ref=www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html&db=false&crt=none

Robbie you naughty boy

ITV World Cup pundit Robbie Earle has been sacked by the broadcaster after tickets for his family and friends were passed on to a third party.

ITV said a “substantial number” of tickets for the Denmark v Holland match on Monday had been passed on, breaching Fifa rules.

It has been claimed a block of tickets were used by a Dutch company for an “ambush marketing effort”.

In a statement Earle said: “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”

He added: “I hope when people hear the full story they will see me in a different light. I have absolutely no connection with any marketing ambush agency and have not profited in any way from these tickets.”

ITV’s full statement said: “Following claims by FIFA that official 2010 World Cup tickets may have been used for ambush marketing, ITV has reviewed its entire ticket allocation for the tournament,” the TV network said in a statement.

“Immediate investigations indicated that a block of ITV tickets would appear to have been used for unauthorised purposes during the Holland v Denmark match.

“Further enquiries have revealed that a substantial number of tickets allocated to Robbie Earle for family and friends have been passed to a third party in breach of FIFA rules.

“As a result, Robbie Earle’s contract with ITV has been terminated with immediate effect.”

The announcement comes after officials ejected 36 women who were wearing orange mini-dresses during Holland’s game against Denmark.

The women were accused of “ambush marketing” for a brand of beer.

Members of the group, accused of promoting a brand that is not one of the tournament’s official sponsors, were found with tickets understood to have been part of Earle’s allocation.

The tickets’ terms and conditions stipulate they must not be passed on or sold to anyone else.

Earle, 45, an ambassador for England’s 2018 World Cup bid, played for Wimbledon and Port Vale as well as for Jamaica in the 1998 World Cup.