The prospect of Lord's holding the world's first day-night Test match next summer will remain on hold

It will remain on the shelf until cricket's administrators can work out which colour ball can be used fairly under floodlights.
The white ball in use for many years for floodlit one-day internationals is not an option when players are also dressed in white, as they always have been for Test cricket.
The guardians of the game at the Marylebone Cricket Club must therefore solve the problem before day-night Test cricket can be seriously considered, let alone scheduled.
That point was made on Wednesday by an England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman, reacting with some surprise to reports that an inaugural day-night Test between the hosts and Bangladesh has been mutually agreed and therefore simply needs International Cricket Council approval to go ahead in May or June next year.
"Floodlit Test cricket will not take place until the appropriate ball has been tested and approved," said the spokesman.
Pink and orange balls have so far been trialled, but it is not yet thought either fits the purpose - while a traditional red ball is obviously not feasible once darkness falls.
It has already been confirmed one of the two Tests set to take place against Bangladesh will be at Headingley, while Lord's has staged a match against the early-season tourists for several consecutive seasons.

England v Australia - one-day international scoreboard

Scoreboard in the third one-dayinternational between England and Australia in Southampton onWednesday.Australia beat England by six wickets
England innings
A. Strauss c Clarke b Hauritz 63
R. Bopara c Hopes b Bracken 10
M. Prior c Hopes b Johnson 0
O. Shah lbw b Johnson 8
P. Collingwood c Bracken b Watson 28
E. Morgan c Johnson b Lee 43
L. Wright c sub b Hopes 9
T. Bresnan not out 31
G. Swann lbw b Watson 3
R. Sidebottom c White b Watson 24
Extras: (lb-1, w-4, nb-4) 9
Total: (nine wickets; 50 overs) 228 Fall of wickets: 1-41 2-41 3-62 4-98 5-132 6-147 7-183 8-188
9-228 Did not bat: J. Anderson Bowling: Lee 9-1-58-1 (3nb), Bracken 10-0-36-1, Johnson
10-1-39-2 (3w), Hopes 7-0-34-1, Hauritz 6-0-24-1, Watson
8-0-36-3 (1nb, 1w)
Australia innings
S. Watson lbw b Anderson 7
T. Paine lbw b Collingwood 29
C. White c Sidebottom b Wright 105
M. Clarke b Swann 52
C. Ferguson not out 20
M. Hussey not out 8
Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-6) 9
Total (four wickets; 48.3 overs) 230 Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-52 3-195 4-220 Bowling: Anderson: 9.3-1-52-1 (1w), Sidebottom 10-1-39-0
(1w), Bresnan 10-1-46-0 (1w), Collingwood 7-0-39-1 (2w), Wright
7-1-16-1, Swann 5-0-35-1
Australia lead the seven-match series 3-0
Sept 9 (Reuters)

White leads the way for Australia to another ODI victory

England's losing streak in ODIs continued as a Cameron White hundred propelled Australia into a 3-0 NatWest Series lead.
White tackled the sluggish surface at the Rose Bowl expertly to hit 105 in a six-wicket floodlit victory, secured with nine balls to spare.

Ironically, before this third match of seven-match ODI series, it was 26-year-old White who appeared most vulnerable when Ricky Ponting returns to action at the weekend.
However, this match-winning contribution among a campaign tally to date of 200 runs should guarantee his retention.
Stand-in skipper Michael Clarke, who will hand over the reins with a flawless record during Ponting's rest period, also struck a half-century as Australia extended their dominance over England to 10 wins in 13 attempts in 50-over cricket.
White did not give a chance until he was on 92 although it was a dolly, dropped by Tim Bresnan at long-on off James Anderson with 46 required from 44 balls.
In truth, however, he should have been run out a couple of times, with James Anderson involved on each occasion.
first was when White was four short of his second one-day international 50 as Anderson seized on a misjudged single to mid-on and missed with a left-handed shy as he slid to intercept and the second, on 70, when he missed with his first attempt to break the stumps from a poor flicked throw from Andrew Strauss.
Australia were 154 for two, with 75 runs required from 11 overs, when they opted for the batting powerplay.
It was a period which began with a huge White six off Ryan Sidebottom, the first by an Australian in the series, and included 41 runs in all.
It was during this time that the 100-run alliance was registered by the third-wicket pair - of which Clarke's share was 40.
Their blend of power and placement, White providing the former, reaped 143 runs in all, with Clarke finally dismissed the very next ball after registering his first boundary.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann claimed the success as Clarke tiredly wiped at a full delivery and was bowled.
White had celebrated his maiden ODI hundred earlier in the over from 116 deliveries. He eventually succumbed when he mishit to mid-off with just nine needed.
His innings doused English enthusiasm, which had been stoked by a couple of early wickets in defence of their 229-run target.
Two leg-before decisions, for Anderson and Paul Collingwood respectively, inside the first two blocks of powerplay, left Australia 52 for two in the 14th over.
Both were straightforward decisions for the umpires as Shane Watson was beaten for pace by Anderson in the fifth over of the innings and Tim Paine, who struck four boundaries in an inventive 29, was outfoxed by a Collingwood cutter.
Strokeplay proved tricky on the sluggish surface and only captain Strauss truly prospered as once again the home batsmen failed to take responsibility.
When Strauss picked out opposite number Clarke at midwicket off spinner Nathan Hauritz, in fact, it meant England were in need of consolidation at 98 for four.England post modest total
It took Irish-raised batsman Eoin Morgan to ensure respectability.
Morgan manoeuvred the ball into gaps and also cleared the rope at long-on off James Hopes to hit 43, his highest international score since switching allegiance to England earlier this year.
The left-hander was eventually one of two batsmen to fall in the batting powerplay, taken at the start of the 46th over and including just 24 runs, when he lobbed a low full toss from Brett Lee to mid-off.
Yorkshiremen Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom then chipped in with career-best one-day international scores, 31 not out and 24 respectively, to ensure England breached 200.
Throughout batsmen were restricted when the bowlers took pace off the ball and scoring was generally easier when the fast men were in operation.
Left-hander Strauss was the one top-order player to come to terms with the sluggish surface.
He struck 63, from just 72 deliveries, after opting for a change of tactic, having seen his side fail in pursuit of modest scores during the current campaign.
His innings at least provided hope that one member of the top six could go on and develop a start. But he could not fulfil the demand of batting through the innings as he perished attempting to force the tempo.He shared an opening stand of 41 with Ravi Bopara, whose demise came when he attempted a second six off Nathan Bracken.Matt Prior then pulled straight to square leg without addition to the score and Mitchell Johnson doubled his wicket haul when Owais Shah was adjudged lbw to a delivery which appeared to be going on past the off stump.
Teams:
England: RS Bopara, AJ Strauss, MJ Prior, OA Shah, PD Collingwood, LJ Wright, EJG Morgan, GP Swann, JM Anderson, RJ Sidebottom, TT Bresnan.
Australia: SR Watson, TD Paine, CL White, MJ Clarke, CJ Ferguson, MEK Hussey, JR Hopes, MG Johnson, B Lee, NM Hauritz, NW Bracken.
Source : Star sports

Team India arrives in Colombo Sri lanka

The Indian team arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport to take part in the tri-nation ODI tournament.
The 15-member Indian team arrived here on board an Air India flight from Bangalore after their scheduled Jet Airways flight got cancelled due to the on-going pilots' strike of the private airline.Air India operated a special flight from Chennai at 1100hrs today to reach Bangalore from where it picked up the Indian cricketers, including skipper Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and R P Singh, who were busy playing for the Air India team in the BCCI corporate trophy.

Speedester Lee is not thinking of retirement

A rib injury forced Lee to miss last month's entire Ashes series, which Australia lost 1-2 on English soil. But the speedster said he had nothing to prove before anyone."I'm not even thinking about the end at this point in time. I don't think have to prove anything, I've been playing cricket for Australia for 10 years and hopefully proved myself enough," he was quoted as saying by The Age."I'm enjoying my cricket, every opportunity I get. I'm not even thinking about the schedule when I've been on the sideline for three or four months watching a lot of cricket - I struggled to watch. Maybe in 12-18 months down the track I might have to have a look," he said."I don't look at 32 as being old as a cricketer. I have missed a bit of cricket through the odd injury here and there through the past 10 years," he added. . The 32-year-old New South Wales pacer, however, expressed disappointment of not getting a single opportunity during the Ashes series and said he was fit enough to turn out for Australia in the fourth and final Tests."I was available to go for the fourth and fifth Test but it didn't work out with the mix and make-up of the team. It's unfortunate I didn't play an Ashes Test over here," Lee said."I was disappointed to say the least. I did declare my fitness for the fourth Test match, that's all I can do, front up to training. I would have loved to play that fourth and fifth Test."The thing I can only say is I know when I'm right to go.I know I was 100 per cent fit. It just wasn't the case. People thought otherwise, it's behind me. I haven't taken any ill feeling about it," he added.
"T20 has helped me brush up my skills"
Twenty20 might be considered a bowler's nightmare but for the Australian speedster it is a format which has helped him finetune his skills."Twenty20 has developed a range of new skills. The yorker, slower ball and slower ball bouncer have all become more regular," Lee told PTI in an e-mail interview."Also, the first ball six when batting is required more often!" he quipped.Lee will be in India next month to play for New South Wales in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament.The high-profile tournament will be held at three venues -- New Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad -- from October 8 to 23.The pacer said teams without stars are likely to do better than the star-studded ones in the tournament as there won't be any pressure on them."I think teams that don't feature the 'stars' will have an advantage in this tournament. There is more pressure on the teams that are expected to win! We have a good balance in the NSW Team," he said.The 32-year-old speedster, who is battling to save his place in the Australian Test side after a string of ordinary performances and injuries, said he likes to intimidate batsmen to get the psychological edge."If most batsmen don't like facing me then this is an obvious advantage. Anything that puts other thoughts into a batsman's head is only going to assist the bowler. Like any bowler, I gain confidence if I know I am attacking a batsman," Lee said.His love for all things Indian is well known and Lee says it is fun to play in the country where noisy spectators add excitement to the proceedings."The Indian spectator is one of the most knowledgeable of all cricket crowds. They are passionate but support good play, a little more for an Indian player though. I love the constant noise when playing in India," he said.
Source : Star Sports

Kirsten backs Little Master's ODI proposal

Gary Kirsten gave a thumbs up to Sachin Tendulkar's idea of splitting the one-dayers into four innings of 25 overs each.
"It is a good idea. I know it has been suggested before somewhere down the line," Kirsten told reporters here.
Tendulkar had suggested that ODIs be split into four innings of 25 overs a side to negate the luck factor associated with winning the toss and bring some excitement to the format which is fighting for survival in the face of the Twenty20 storm.
Kirsten said the the option can be explored.
"I think what he is doing is that he is just opening it up to see the different options that could be brought about in the one-day game. A player of his stature, one should listen to him," he said.
Tendulkar had said he hit upon the idea during the 2002 Champions Trophy when India played two finals against Sri Lanka due to rain disruptions but no result could come forcing the organisers to declare the two sides joint winners.
"I thought 110 overs and no result, that's when I thought of this (splitting the match into four innings of 25 overs a side)," he had stated.
Source : Star Sports

No further action over Shoaib TV appearance

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said he would not pursue further action against Shoaib Akhtar for appearing on a television show.
Shoaib breached terms of his central contract by appearing on the programme and saying he had considered suing the PCB for releasing confidential information on a medical report just prior to the World Twenty20 in England.
Shoaib was controversially dropped from the team after being picked to the final squad and the PCB said in a statement the paceman was dropped because he was suffering from "genital viral warts".
Shoaib was ordered to render an explanation for his comments and the fast bowler subsequently apologised to the PCB.
"Akhtar has realised his mistake and he has apologised to the board for his actions," Butt said.
"We have decided to close this matter now."
Shoaib, who is still fighting a legal battle with the PCB over a five-year ban imposed by former chief Nasim Ashraf, is hoping to revive a career which has also been hit by injury.
Butt, however, offered the fast bowler hope by suggesting he could still play as long as he proved his fitness.
"If the national selectors are satisfied with his fitness he is eligible to play for the country," Butt said.
Source Star Sports

Kirsten: Team India is confident enough

India's cricket coach Gary Kirsten today said the team would draw inspiration from its past success in Sri Lanka.
The Indian team today left for Sri Lanka for the tri-series that also features New Zealand and Kirsten said not having Sehwag, who is ruled out due to a shoulder injury, in the side is quite a blow. The Indians will play their first match tomorrow against the hosts.
Asked who would be opening the innings with Gautam Gambhir, Kirsten said, "We are not sure about the combination.
We would decide it on the day of the game. But obviously, missing Sehwag is huge. He is a high quality player and any team would love to have him in the mix. But we have got a lot of depth in the team."
However, Kirsten was quite excited about Rahul Dravid's return to the team after being out for close to two years.
"It's great to have him. With the sort of experience he brings, it's going to help the team. It's great," he said.
List of targets
A clean-sweep in the short series would catapult India to the top of the ICC ODI rankings and Kirsten said being the best in the world is high on the team's list of targets for the next eight months.
"We have set our goals. One of them is to be the best cricket team in the world. We are headed that way and we are very excited. We know we have to perform well as we continue the quest to be the best," Kirsten said.
The team enjoyed a welcome break after a gruelling first half of the year and Kirsten said having the Corporate Trophy just a few days ahead of the tri-series will ensure that the players don't turn up rusty in Sri Lanka.
"I think it was great to have a six-week break followed by the Corporate Trophy. It gave the players games before a big series. We might have been a bit rusty but the Corporate Trophy has helped," he said.
Asked about the team's chances in the tri-series, Kirsten said, "We won the last two series in Sri Lanka and we are confident. But we think ahead and don't harp on the results of the past."
"We have got a good batting line-up which is quite flexible in the middle. We would like to mix it up during the series," he said.
"We have got a very good run in one-day cricket. We have got good depth in the side and the younger players have proved themselves," he added.
Source : Star sports

US Open : Men's Day Nine Roundup

Rafael Nadal reclaimed the world number two ranking and stormed into the quarter-finals with a four-set victory over Gael Monfils.
Nadal's victory, combined with Murray's shock fourth-round defeat in a tournament the Briton had reached the final in 12 months ago, meant the Spaniard regained the number two spot but that was just an added bonus as he kept alive his dream of completing a career grand slam at the age of 23.
Nadal came from a set down to France's 13th seed to win 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-3 and set up a last-eight meeting with Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, the 11th seed, who had handed the French their first defeat of the night with a four-set win over seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
A superb display of power tennis sent Juan Martin Del Potro into the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the second year running.
The sixth seed slammed down 22 aces as he ended the run of the in-form Juan Carlos Ferrero with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory.
As well as his impressive serving display - Del Potro did not drop his serve in the match - the Argentine was excellent from the baseline, showing again that he possesses some of the most powerful groundstrokes in the game.
Ferrero competed as well as he could, but Del Potro always looked like he had a little extra in reserve as he set up a meeting with Andy Murray's conqueror, Marin Cilic.
Afterwards Del Potro expressed his surprise that he would be facing Cilic and not Murray.
"Cilic has everything to be a good player," Del Potro said. "But Murray is number two, winning everywhere.
"So maybe everybody is surprised but Cilic has very good weapons. If he beat Murray he's confident and it will be a very tough one for me."
Ferrero, however, believes Del Potro can win that match and indeed challenge for the title.
Asked if he could go on to win the tournament, Ferrero said: "Yeah, I think he's playing at a level to win a Grand Slam. I mean, I think he can play against anybody here - the guys who are in quarter-finals right now.
"He has to play against Cilic right now. I think this is a chance for him to get into the semis."
Source : Star sports

US Open : Women's Day Nine Roundup

Kim Clijsters' remarkable return to Grand Slam tennis shows no sign of coming to end after she moved into the semi-finals.
The Belgian, playing just her third tournament since coming out of a two-year period of retirement, beat China's Li Na 6-2 6-4 at Flushing Meadows.
In doing so she became the first mother to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Yvonne Goolagong did so en route to the Wimbledon title in 1980.
Whether Clijsters can emulate the Australian and lift the trophy here remains to be seen - next up for her will be a meeting with title favourite Serena Williams.
Clijsters, conqueror of Venus Williams in the previous round, drew first blood with a break of serve in the third game on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
While Clijsters was continuing her high level of play, Li was simply making too many errors and she was soon a double break down and the Belgian served out to claim a one-set lead after just 25 minutes.
Another wayward shot from Li handed Clijsters an immediate break in the second set and the Chinese then saved two break points to prevent herself falling a double break down.
That seemed to give Li some confidence and for the first time in the match she began to trouble her opponent.
She broke back to level the set at 3-3 and Clijsters must have had some concerns when she stepped up to serve at 3-4.
However, the former world number one steeled herself and Li fell back into trouble in the ninth game when she slipped to 0-40.
The Chinese saved two of the break points but went long on the third to leave the 2005 champion serving for the match.
And another unforced error - Li's 41st of the contest - saw Clijsters clinch victory in just 63 minutes.
What pleased Clijsters most was the way she was able to back up her victory over Williams.
"I have a really good feeling the way I stayed focused after the Venus match," she said. "I think that's something that I learned from the past, that experience that I have when you beat big players, not to get carried away and just refocus on a match like today.
"For the quarter-final it was a pretty good draw, but it was still a tough
opponent to beat. So I knew that I had to play well, and I'm glad that I did."
Serena Williams booked her place against Clijsters in the last four by beating Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3 in their quarter-final.
The defending champion moved into the semis by comprehensively outclassing the 10th seed.
Serena's serve played a significant part in her victory as she hit seven aces and finished with an 86% first serve success.
The American is now relishing a showdown with Clijsters.
Williams said: "She is such a great person and I only wish the best for her - though not in the next match of course.
"It will be a great match. She has nothing to lose and is having so much fun, which makes me so happy.
"Initially I was surprised how well she's been doing but she did so well a couple of weeks ago that I knew she was someone to look out for."
Source : Star Sports

Yanina Wickmayer made it a Belgian double in the US Open women's semi-finals

World number 50 Wickmayer defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, ranked two places below her, 7-5 6-4 after coming from 4-1 down in the second set to win her first grand slam quarter-final.
Wild card Clijsters will next play defending champion and second seed Serena Williams - the only player from the top eight left in the women's draw - while Wickmayer awaits the winner of tonight's quarter-final between 17-year-old Melanie Oudin of the United States and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
"Playing semis in a grand slam is great, amazing," said Wickmayer.
"Before this my best was second round, so it's so exciting, it's all been amazing."
It was also 23-year-old Bondarenko's first appearance in the last eight of a major but Wickmayer adjusted more quickly, breaking the deadlock in a tight first set to go 4-2 up on the way to a one-set lead.
The second set was more of a see-saw affair as the women traded breaks of serve at the start and Bondarenko then broke as Wickmayer sent a drop shot from the baseline into the net, taking a 3-1 lead.
The Belgian seemed to be letting the tension get the better of her, at one point smashing her racquet to the floor and later firing a ball down to the other end of the court in frustration.
Her mood will have darkened even further when Bondarenko saved a break point in the next game and then held serve as a Wickmayer backhand found the net.
Bondarenko, watched in the stands by sister Alona Bondarenko, the ousted number 30 seed, continued to dominate the second set as she earned a break point of her own in the fifth.
Wickmayer saved it but still screamed at herself as she went on to hold serve and the tide began to turn in her favour.
The 19-year-old broke back and at 4-3 down Wickmayer was back on serve and she saved more break points before levelling.
It got even better for her as she broke Bondarenko again to serve for the match.
Wickmayer had had trouble closing out the first set but wasted little time securing her semi-final spot.
"I missed a few opportunities so I was pretty mad at myself," Wickmayer said of her problems early in the second set.
"But I kept on fighting, kept on hanging in there and I just came back."
Source : Star Sports

Andy Murray has vowed to bounce back a stronger player for his shock US Open exit

Andy Murray has vowed to bounce back a stronger player for his shock US Open exit, better equipped to give him the best possible chance of winning a grand slam.
The 22-year-old British world number two had been tipped by many experts including John McEnroe and Andre Agassi to improve on last year's progression to a first grand slam final at Flushing Meadows and end Roger Federer's five-year dominance of the last major of the season.
Yet Murray fell short at Flushing Meadows, comprehensively beaten in straight sets by 20-year-old Marin Cilic, the 16th seed from Croatia. He lost 7-5 6-2 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the form that had taken to him five ATP Tour titles in 2009, four of them on hard courts, deserting the Scot at the worst possible time.
"I'm disappointed," Murray said. "I don't know how long or how quickly it will take me to get over it but I played well in the summer. I had a good grass court season.
"This hasn't been a bad hard court season. Just today was not good.
"So I'm going to be disappointed, but I'll have to go and work on some things.
"I'll go sit down with the guys that I work with and see what went well this whole year and what didn't go so well, and work as hard as I can on it to be ready to win a slam in Australia (in January).
"I think that next year I've got a very, very good chance of doing it.
"I think I'll be a better player next year than this year, and hopefully I'll do that."
Having had so much success so far in 2009, winning titles in Doha, Rotterdam, Miami, Queen's Club and Montreal, Murray refused to let his surprise defeat to Cilic cloud his overall verdict on the campaign to date.
"It's been a very good season. I don't think I could say it's been anything less than that," he said.
"I improved my results at Wimbledon and at the French Open. Here was worse, and the same result in Australia. I equalled my best result in Australia.
"I guess it's been a good season. It could have been better in the slams, but the rest of the season has gone well.
"I have to make sure I work on my game a lot to make sure that when I go into the slams next year and the beginning of the year I'm ready to win one."
In the meantime, Murray, who denied a left wrist injury had led to his poor performance against Cilic, said he hoped to be fit for this month's Davis Cup tie, when Great Britain host Poland in a Europe/Africa Group One relegation play-off at the Liverpool Echo Arena.
"I plan on playing just now. I'll see what I do from here," he said. "Go and take a few days off, I've been over in the States now a good six and a half, seven weeks.
"So I will go home and rest and make sure I do all the right things and hopefully be okay."
As to the specifics of the injury, which had Murray wincing in pain during some changeovers, the world number two declined to share the diagnosis he had been given.
"I will try not to discuss injuries, as I leave it to my doctors and physio to let me know what I should be doing with it and how much I should be playing and how much time I need to take off.
"I'm not going to give out any details."
Murray, though, was more candid about his performance in going down to Cilic.
"Sometimes if you play badly you don't find a way back into the match," he said. "Sometimes that can happen. I don't think I'm perfect.
"Sometimes when you play badly, you just don't have a way back in.
"If you look at the way that he struck the ball from the first set to the end of the third set, he started to play a lot, lot better.
"My game wasn't up to scratch, and it's unfortunate. Sometimes in individual sports that can happen.
"That's the tough thing about it. You don't have any other players or anyone to hide behind and cover for you. You have to take responsibility yourself. I just didn't play well enough."
Source : Star Sports

Leander Paes and Cara Black beat Su-Wei Hsieh and Kevin Ullyett enter the US Open mixed doubles finals.

India's Leander Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe beat Su-Wei Hsieh and Kevin Ullyett to enter the US Open mixed doubles finals.
They defeated Su-Wei Hsieh and Kevin Ullyett 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.
Paes and his partner clinched the first set 6-2 but Hsieh and Ullyett bounced back to clinch the second set 6-3 and level the scores 1-1.
The final set went on for 15 games. Paes and his partner won the set 10-5.
Earlier on Monday, Paes and Black had beaten Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt 7-5, 3-6 (10-6) to make it to the mixed doubles semi-finals.
Source : Star Sports

Fan charged for kissing Nadal courtside at US open

A fan of tennis player Rafael Nadal, who breached U.S. Open security to embrace the Spaniard courtside, faces jail time after he was charged on Wednesday with interfering with a sporting event.
Nadal was in the midst of changing shirts on Tuesday after he beat France's Gael Monfils when the male fan leaped out of the stands onto the center court in Arthur Ashe Stadium and put his arms around Nadal before kissing him on the cheek.
Noam Aorta, 23, of Queens, New York, who sprinted past courtside security to reach the 23-year-old Nadal, faces up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for criminal trespassing.
District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement that authorities took such security breaches seriously after previous incidents including former world number one Monica Seles, who was stabbed in the back by a spectator in 1993 in Germany. The stabbing severely hampered her career.
"For me it wasn't a problem," Nadal, who appeared unruffled, told reporters about the encounter. "The guy was really nice. He was a great fan, he said 'I love you' and he kiss me."
NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters)

Capello satisfied and happy with English display

Fabio Capello hailed the "best performance" of his reign after England romped to a 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley.
The Italian coach declared: "We played quick, moved the ball and moved when we did not have the ball.
"The first 20 minutes were fantastic and we were very compact.
"The performance tonight was very important and we did everything which we tried in training.
"Now we can talk about South Africa."
Much had been made of Slaven Bilic's pre-match talk over this team having lost their "Englishness".
Capello, however, maintained there was no reason to take the former West Ham and Everton defender to task.
"I spoke with Bilic," Capello added on ITV1.
"He said that it is now a different team tactically, not the spirit.
"I made sure of what he had said."

England Demolishes Croatia 5-1 , through to World cup

England booked their ticket to the World Cup finals with a dominant performance at Wembley as Croatia were hammered 5-1.
There was no wally with a brolly, just a man with a plan at Wembley tonight as England booked their ticket to the World Cup finals with a five-star performance.
Two years after Croatia triumphed in the Wembley rain to sweep England out of Euro 2008 and Steve McClaren out of a job, Fabio Capello showed how it should be done.
Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard scored two goals each to exact their own personal revenge for that horrible night, with Wayne Rooney adding another near the end.
Capello was the master technician though as England completed an eighth straight qualifying win to secure a trip to South Africa next summer with two games to spare.
Capello preferred Aaron Lennon to Shaun Wright-Phillips and was rewarded with a blistering man-of-the-match performance from the fleet-footed Tottenham star, who created two goals, plus a chance for Emile Heskey and one he wasted himself. And that was before half-time.
To say Lennon ran Croatia ragged in front of the world's fastest man would be a supreme understatement.
Even Usain Bolt must have been impressed at Lennon's electric turn of pace. If he had still been careering round Wembley in front of England's delirious fans when his team-mates had disappeared for their break, it would have been no surprise.
He was certainly too fast for Josip Simunic as he sped into the box on a fateful seventh minute charge. Simunic might have been complaining. Goodness only knows why. A clearer penalty you could not wish to see.
Lampard kept his nerve and drove home from the spot.
Eleven minutes later, Lennon was at it again. Hugging the right touchline, then delivering a perfect far-post cross for Gerrard, who headed it straight back where it had come from, right into the far corner.
As things tend to happen in threes and Belarus had already done the Three Lions a favour by holding Ukraine to a draw in Minsk, meaning only a point was required to qualify, the action might have been over. Few would have complained.
But, their lead coming from Lennon, England's offensive continued.
Smug and triumphant on his last visit, Slaven Bilic looked beaten and broken this time around as he tried to work out how to stop the onslaught.
Gareth Barry and Lampard forced Vedran Runje into flying stops, Lennon attacked the Croatia defence, then raced clear onto Rooney's return pass, only to fluff his shot.
Then Lennon sent Emile Heskey clear. The Aston Villa man had been preferred to the free-scoring Jermain Defoe, his ability to bring others into play not in doubt.
Finding the net remains a problem. Heskey has only done it seven times for his country. Runje prevented him making it eight.
In stoppage-time, Heskey latched on to a defence-splitting Lampard pass. This time he got the ball stuck under his feet. Even this night of glory provided Capello with a reminder of the flaws in his team.
Equally, the England coach could not have been too happy at the way his defence completely fell asleep at Darijo Srna's corner after the restart, allowing Mario Mandzukic a free shot at goal which he wasted.
Moments later, Glen Johnson got away with a penalty box foul on Eduardo. On such moments can entire campaigns turn, as both McClaren and the watching Sven-Goran Eriksson testify.
Under Capello, England know exactly where they are going.
Before Defoe could replace Heskey, they had scored again, Johnson providing the cross for Lampard to steer into the corner.
Not that they were in the mood to ease off. For Lampard, Gerrard and Barry in particular, as survivors from the last day of McClaren's reign, the pain will never quite go away.
So it must have been very gratifying for Gerrard to see his header loop home midway through the second half.
Eduardo tucked home a consolation for Croatia, who must now overhaul Ukraine in the battle to be runners-up. England will play a part in the outcome as they visit the Ukraine next month.
For the Three Lions, that trip to Dnipropetrovsk on October 10 now represents the start of a six match build-up to the World Cup.
They can begin the journey with confidence, Rooney tapping home after a howler from Runje to increase England's tally to nine in two matches against a Croatian team they were not expected to finish above when the draw was made in January last year.
England have found a plan since then. It looks pretty useful.
Sorce : Star Sports

Messi, Ronaldo may miss the WC

Argentina and Portugal are both in danger of missing out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
By Adarsh Vinay Imagine the next Wimbledon without Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Or the 2011 Cricket World Cup, sans Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. What if Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps didn’t turn up at the next Olympics in London? The world's greatest sporting events could be robbed of their appeal if they did not feature their biggest icons. But this could very well be the case during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in July 2010. Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably two of the world's greatest footballers, could be missing when the top 32 countries line-up for the biggest showpiece on Planet Earth next year. Their national teams’ miserable performances in the World Cup qualifiers see them trailing the spots that ensure automatic qualification. Argentina's Saturday night 3-1 defeat to Brazil leaves them languishing at fourth position among the 10 teams in the South American group. The top four qualify for the World Cup, while the fifth in the group will take on the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF in a two-legged play-off. The win seals Brazil's qualification but leaves Argentina in fourth place with 22 points, just 2 above Colombia and Ecuador, who have 20 each. Argentina face tricky away fixtures with Uruguay and Paraguay next and Diego Maradona's men haven't won on foreign soil since a win at Venezuela two years ago. Maradona has come under fire for his bizarre tactics, with the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Bolivia in April being the all-time low. He started the match against Brazil without a striker, playing two wide players instead. The gamble did not pay off and resulted in Argentina's first home defeat in a Word Cup qualifier since the 5-0 loss to Colombia way back in 1993. Portugal, on the other hand, did a little better. They managed a last gasp 1-1 draw with Denmark on Saturday. The draw narrowly keeps their World Cup dream alive. With only the winner of the eight-member group guaranteed automatic qualification and the runners-up entering the play-off in November, fourth-placed Portugal have a daunting task on their hands to make it to the second spot. Denmark lead the group with 17 points, while Hungary and Sweden are second and third with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Portugal, who are on 10, take on Hungary twice and Malta at home in their remaining three matches. Despite the presence of world-class players like Ronaldo and Deco, manager Carlos Queiroz lacks adequate cover in other key areas. Portugal don’t have a genuine finisher or a holding midfielder and this has made the going difficult for his team. Unlike many greats like George Best, Ryan Giggs and Alfredo Di Stefano, who have never played a World Cup, Messi and Ronaldo played in the 2006 edition and will still have age on their side for the 2014 edition. Having been voted first and second in last FIFA Player of the Year poll, the El Classico rivals are approaching the peak of their careers and it will be a pity if they do not play at the sport’s biggest platform next summer. With form and fitness being capricious factors, Brazil 2014 might come a little too late for two of the game’s biggest stars.
Source : Star Sports

Russia's greater experience took closer to the World Cup finals. Beat Wales 3-1

The scoreline flattered the visitors at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, who are still neck and neck with Germany at the top of qualifying Group Four.
Wales had plenty of impressive displays, young Aaron Ramsey, goalscorer James Collins and Brian Stock on his debut.
But despite some well-planned play early on, Wales were behind at the break after Andrey Arshavin created a fine goal for Igor Semshov.
Collins equalised for the Welsh soon after the break, but a free-kick from Sergei Ignashevich and late goal from substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko settled the issue.
Wales gave a debut to Doncaster midfielder Stock, while manager John Toshack - on his 50th full international in charge - went for five at the back with Danny Gabbidon playing his first game at the Millennium Stadium in almost two years due to injury.
Russia had Arshavin in midfield after the Arsenal man had recovered from a groin injury, and he had a constant impact on the game.
Wales, however, had started with a surprisingly fluid formation, with Aaron Ramsey supporting Craig Bellamy up front with David Edwards making runs from deep.
Their triangle certainly surprised the Russians, as did Collins - who was not slow to venture forward.
Stock looked composed from the start and had the first chance after six minutes when a poor clearance dropped for him 25 yards out - his rising drive flashing past Igor Akinfeev's right-hand post.
Toshack had been critical in Wales' last match in Montenegro of the lack of adventure from his full-backs. Not this time, though.
Sam Ricketts was a constant threat on the right, and his first-time cross on the run was nodded down by Stock for Edwards, with Akinfeev scooping the ball off the Wolves man's toes.
Edwards went close again with a diving header from another Ricketts cross, before Arshavin's ball for Vladimir Bystrov produced a near-post shot which Gabbidon almost turned into his own net.
Alexander Kerzhakov fired in an angled 20-yard effort which Wayne Hennessey turned away at full stretch, before Bellamy lifted a cross into the box for Joe Ledley to produce a header that was pulled down by Akinfeev.
But Wales found themselves behind after 36 minutes when they were cut open by the brilliance of Arshavin. His instinctive turn and pass picked out Semshov's run, the Dynamo Moscow man having managed to lose Stock before firing an angled shot into the far corner.
Arshavin almost created a second four minutes later when his low cross was lifted over the top from six yards by Kerzhakov.
There was still plenty of fight in the Welsh side, and Bellamy started the second period with a couple of high-speed runs which caused danger in the box.
And from one such run, Bellamy earned a corner from which Wales levelled the score.
It came on 54 minutes with Ramsey firing the corner into the near post for Collins to force past Akinfeev for his second goal for his country.
Alexander Anyukov was booked a minute later for a foul on Bellamy, then Chris Gunter shot wide from 20 yards.
Akinfeev dropped a corner and Ledley set up Ramsey for a shot which flashed wide, with Russia badly exposed.
More good work by Bellamy saw Ramsey force his way into the box for two efforts which almost put Wales ahead, Semak eventually clearing the danger with an overhead clearance under his own bar.
Russia sent on Tottenham striker Pavlyuchenko for Semshov after 70 minutes, and two minutes later they regained the lead.
Kerzhakov went down for what looked a soft free-kick against Gabbidon a yard outside the box, and Ignashevich drove the free-kick straight through the wall and past Hennessey.
Wales immediately replaced Gabbidon with an extra striker in Sam Vokes.
But Pavlyuchenko almost made it three with a dipping drive that crashed against Hennessey's bar.
Russia sent on Alexei Rebko for Kerzhakov with seven minutes left, with Wales still battling away for an equaliser.
Gunter was booked for taking a free-kick too quickly in the closing minutes, before Pavlyuchenko's last-minute strike - following poor play in defence from the hosts - gave the scoreline a flattering look.
Wales - who long ago had conceded any realistic chance of qualifying for the finals - now know it is mathematically impossible.
Source : Star Sports

Germany closer to securing a place at next summer's World Cup finals with a comfortable victory over Azerbaijan.

Michael Ballack opened the scoring with a penalty in the 14th minute, but Germany coach Joachim Low would not have been happy with the remainder of the first half as his side risked conceding an equaliser in Hanover.
Their guests had Samir Abbasov sent off early in the second half and there was no stopping Germany with a one-man advantage.
Two goals from Miroslav Klose and a Lukas Podolski strike sealed the comprehensive win which keeps Germany top of qualifying Group Four by a single point from Russia, who they meet in Moscow on October 10.
After making his full debut in the 2-0 win over South Africa at the weekend, Mesut Ozil's name has become one of the first on Low's teamsheet and he showed precisely why he is one of Germany's hottest properties at the moment.
He left three Azerbaijan defenders stranded as he moved into a position to shoot in the seventh minute, but Kamran Agayev made his first save of a very busy opening 15 minutes.
The visiting goalkeeper was called into action five minutes later by Ballack, who tried his luck from long range before he was given the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
Podolski was fouled inside the area by Samir Abbasov and the Chelsea midfielder stepped up to send Agayev the wrong way from the spot and give Germany a 14th-minute lead.
The floodgates were expected to open and Mario Gomez should have added a second two minutes later when he had a free header from Ballack's cross, but Agayev made another save.
However, Germany lost their early momentum too quickly and even risked conceding a goal before the interval when Olexandr Chertogan tested Rene Adler from long range.
Adler tipped his shot over the crossbar before making a more difficult save to deny Mahir Shukurov moments later.
Low brought Klose on at the interval and he made an instant impact, luring Abbasov into a foul which earned the Azerbaijan captain his second yellow card of the evening in the 50th minute before the Bayern Munich striker doubled Germany's lead five minutes later.
He picked up the ball from Philipp Lahm before picking his spot past Agayev for a goal which will come as a major fillip to a player who no longer has a guaranteed place for club or country.
The goal certainly did do Klose good, as he showed in the 66th minute when he provided an excellent finish to a deflected cross from Andreas Beck from just inside the six-yard box.
Podolski got in on the action five minutes later when he added the fourth after Ballack nodded Ozil's cross down to him inside the penalty area and Germany's first-half struggles had been forgotten as they looked capable of scoring on every attack.
Klose was denied his hat-trick when another effort was correctly ruled out for offside in the 73rd minute, but his two earlier goals had done enough damage to earn Germany a vital three points.
Source : Star Sports

Greece's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals were dented, Moldova Draw Greece 1-1

Greece's hopes of reaching the World Cup finals were dented as they were held to a draw by Moldova.
Otto Rehhagel's side, displaced by Switzerland at the Group Two summit after losing 2-0 to the Swiss in Basel on Saturday, overcame early nerves to take a first-half lead through Theofanis Gekas after 33 minutes.
But Greece suffered a late blow when Valerui Andronic levelled in the first minute of added time. It was a result of a disjointed display by the home side at the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau.
The result means that the Swiss, who drew 2-2 with Latvia, lead the standings on 17 points and are now favourites to take the automatic qualification spot with their remaining two games at Luxembourg and at home to Israel.
Greece lie three points adrift and level on 14 points with Latvia, who they next face in Athens on October 10 in a match which will likely decide which of the two sides claim the play-off spot.
Thunderous drums and jeers provided a challenging atmosphere for Greece, and the opening exchanges were characterised by nervous play with the Moldovans chasing every lost cause.
The visitors, with midfield talisman Giorgos Karagounis back from injury, created the first opening after 12 minutes with Angelos Charisteas sending over an inviting cross for Gekas, but the Greek striker headed straight at home goalkeeper Stanislav Namasco.
Charisteas then missed a golden chance to put Greece ahead when he scuffed his shot wide.
Greece persevered, though, and Gekas struck a post on the half-hour mark before the breakthrough came three minutes later.
Namasco did well to parry Giorgos Samaras' initial cross, but Nikos Spiropoulos blasted a follow-up shot on goal which Gekas diverted past Namasco.
Moldova responded with Denis Calincov's shot which sailed just wide of the right post but it was the visitors who looked most likely to add to their lead.
Karagounis fired a free-kick inches wide and almost created another goal as his dangerous free-kick was turned goalwards by Sotitis Kyrgiakos. The Liverpool defender was thwarted by Namasco, however.
Greece suffered a scare on 74 minutes when Valerii Catinsus headed against the right post, and it proved a sign of things to come when Andronic evaded the lacklustre marking by substitute Avraam Papadopoulos and volleyed home Victor Bulat's hopeful lobbed pass.
Source : Star Sports

Slovenia beat Poland by 3-0

This was after a convincing victory over Poland which leaves them five points behind Slovakia with two games left to play.
Zlatko Dedic (pic right) put them in front after 12 minutes in Maribor and Milivoje Novakovic added a second on the stroke of half-time before Valter Birsa (63) put the match beyond reach of Poland.
Dedic was at the centre of controversy early in the match when he was booked for diving in the Polish penalty area in the 10th minute but three minutes later he became the hero.
Miso Brecko did some good work down the right and Dedic was on hand to shoot home right-footed from his cross for his second international goal.
The half was largely uneventful from that point until the final minute when Dedic laid on Slovenia's second. He picked out Andraz Kirm and he crossed from the right-hand side of the penalty area to the unmarked Novakovic, who made no mistake.
The game was all over after 62 minutes when Novakovic and Kirm combined well before the ball reached Birsa on the left wing and he was able to advance on goal and put the ball beyond Poland goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
Poland rallied late in the game as they aimed to salvage some pride, but Slovenia kept a clean sheet to the final whistle.
Source : Star Sports

Italy 2-0 beat Bulgaria to book their slot

Fabio Grosso opened the scoring in the 11th minute before his Juventus team-mate Vincenzo Iaquinta doubled the Azzurri's lead shortly before half-time.
The outcome sees the world champions go four points clear at the top of Group Eight and leaves them needing just a point away to second-placed Republic of Ireland in October to go through.
The Italians looked much improved from their fortunate 2-0 triumph over Georgia on Saturday and closer to the sort of form which took them to the world title in 2006.
Having struggled in front of goal in their last four games, boss Marcello Lippi opted to start with Alberto Gilardino alongside Iaquinta up front, relegating Giuseppe Rossi to the bench.
The Azzurri enjoyed a strong start and Claudio Marchisio came close to opening the scoring in the fourth minute but his close-range effort was met by a fine save from Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov.
It was not long before the Italians broke the deadlock, however.
An inspired Grosso, playing in his new home stadium having joined Juve from Lyon last week, exchanged a one-two with Andrea Pirlo before firing a left-footed volley from 12 yards past Ivankov.
The Azzurri should have made it 2-0 shortly after when Iaquinta latched onto Gianluca Zambrotta's cross but pulled his shot wide.
The visitors should have equalised on 26 minutes but Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon produced a stunning save from Stiliyan Petrov's close-range header.
On the half-hour mark, the head of Iaquinta met Pirlo's free-kick but his effort went high over the crossbar.
Shortly after, Iaquinta latched onto Pirlo's cross but his header too was off target.
Italy continued to surge forward and their efforts were rewarded five minutes before the break.
Iaquinta played a one-two with Gilardino and then lashed a diagonal shot past Ivankov.
Bulgaria responded well and Chavdar Yankov tried his luck from distance but his blast went wide in what was the last chance of the first half.
The visitors almost reduced the deficit after the restart but Stiliyan Petrov's header from Martin Petrov's cross went just high over the bar.
Lippi made his first substitution on the hour mark, with Rossi replacing Gilardino.
Rossi twice tested Ivankov with two powerful strikes which the keeper saved.
At the other end, Buffon was forced to fully stretch to clear Blagoy Georgiev's fierce free-kick.
Shortly after, Marchisio found no takers for his dangerous low cross towards the far post.
With 15 minutes remaining, Dimitar Berbatov got past his marker, surged inside the area and fired inches high over the crossbar.
Georgiev then tried his luck from long range but his shot flew high over the bar and Italy held on for their sixth victory in qualifying.
The result leaves Stanimir Stoilov's side third in the pool, eight points behind Italy with two games remaining.
Source : Star Sports

European clubs clash with FIFA over Olympics

European clubs have criticised FIFA and its president Sepp Blatter over the Olympic soccer tournament, saying they have backtracked on an agreement to restrict it to under-21 teams.
"We are very surprised about the change of opinion of FIFA," European Clubs' Association (ECA) chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in a statement.
"In several meetings, we had the consensus to change the eligibility for the Olympic Games to under-21 players with no over age players.
"We think it's not acceptable and encourage FIFA to maintain its first position."
The Olympic soccer tournament is currently open to players aged under-23 with up to three over-age players allowed per team.
"We remember some statements from Mr Blatter supporting this proposal. We thought it was clearly accepted by FIFA," Barcelona president and ECA vice-chairman Joan Laporta told reporters.
"We expect Mr Blatter to honour his commitments."
The Beijing Games were marked by a number of club-versus-country disputes, the most publicised involving Laporta's Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi.
Barcelona eventually allowed Messi to take part after winning the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and Argentina went on to win the gold medal.
"We had the right to keep the player, it was our decision to release him," said Laporta. "They won the gold medal and Messi had a marvellous season for Barcelona, winning the championship."

GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters)

England demolish Croatia to reach World Cup finals

England cruised into next year's World Cup finals when two goals each from Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and one from Wayne Rooney gave them a superb 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.
Lampard scored with an early penalty and a 59th minute header while Gerrard scored with headers after 18 and 66 minutes.
Rooney added a fifth 13 minutes from time to give England their eighth successive victory in the group and a place in the finals with two matches to spare.
Eduardo da Silva scored a second-half consolation for the visitors.
England have qualified with 24 points from their eight games, with Croatia second on 17 points with one match to play and still with hopes of landing a place in the two-legged play-offs.
They are ahead of Ukraine on 15 points, who have two matches to play after drawing 0-0 with Belarus on Wednesday.
Source : Reuters

2010 World Cup qualifiers comentery LIVE!

England have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after an emphatic 5-1 win over Croatia.

0520 HKT: There's still one game left in Europe - and that's the reigning Euro champs Spain. They are leading Estonia 1-0.
0509 HKT: And it's all over. Dez Corkhill and Abbas Saad can't believe it. The Saudi Arabian fans can't believe too. Twice they took the lead and twice Bahrain came back. The dream is on for Bahrain.
0508 HKT: It can't happen can't it? Bahrain equalises with a last-gasp goal from a corner and they are on their way to meet New Zealand.
0507 HKT: Drama in Saudi Arabia as the home snatch a late, late goal. Game over?
0500 HKT: "England really got a chance in the World Cup. They will be thereor thereabouts." says Steve McMahon whose man-of-the match is Aaron Lennon. Who can disagree with him after the winger's display for England?
0445 HKT: It's all over at Wembley. England have qualified for South Africa.
0437 HKT: David Beckham makes an appearance for England. He comes on for Lennon. Gerrard has been replaced by James Milner.
0434 HKT: ENG 5-1 CRO - Complete disaster for Runje. The Croatian goalkeeper miskicks a backpass ala Paul Robinson and it gave Rooney a simple goal. That's his 25th goal for England.
0429 HKT: ENG 4-1 CRO - Eduardo pulls one back after a fantastic double save from Green. Capello will not be pleased.
0424 HKT: ENG 4-0 CRO - Game over. Rooney was released down the right again and his cross found Gerrard charging into the box. The midfielder looped a perfect header over the 'keeper and a defender on the line to give England a 4-0 lead. Their lead is well-deserved. Both Lampard and Gerrard are on a hat-trick!
0420 HKT: Scotland are virtually out after Holland beat them 1-0 at Hampden while Norway beat Macedonia 2-1 to jump into second place in Group 9.
0415 HKT: ENG 3-0 CRO - Just when Croatia look to turn the tide, England score. Lampard scores his second goal and his 20th goal for England. Nice assist from Johnson from the right. Defoe comes on for Heskey.
0412 HKT: A penalty shout for Croatia. A clumsy challenge by Johnson on Eduardo was deemed fair by referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco. Bilic was understandably livid.
0411 HKT: Holland have taken the lead against Scotland with five minutes remaining. Scotland's dreams lie in tatters.
0408 HKT: And the substitutions seem to be working. Croatia come close to scoring twice. England are yet to make a meaningful attack. Can Croatia come back?
0402 HKT: Croatia restart the game against England at Wembley. Slaven Billic makes his first change - Rakitic on for Pokrivac; Petric on for Olic.
0400 HKT: Bahrain have equalised against Saudi Arabia.
0346 HKT: Half-time at Wembley and England are in full control. They could even have had three more goals if not for Croatia's 'keeper Runje.
0335 HKT: France have equalised against Serbia through Thierry Henry. Game on.
0331 HKT: I take that back. Saudi take the lead against Bahrain after a well-executed counter-attack.
0330 HKT: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are canceling each other out in midfield at the moment.
0317 HKT: ENG 2-0 CRO - Good goal for England. Steven Gerrard was the architect. Stevie G starts the move with a pass to Lennon on the right. The Spurs man was in acres of space before he crossed to Gerrard at the far post to extend England's lead!
0315 HKT: Scotland have missed some great chances to score against Holland as half-time approaches in that game. Under-pressure Portugal are leading 1-0 at Hungary. France are losing 1-0 at Serbia - they are also a man down - Hugo Lloris was sent off.
0307 HKT: ENG 1-0 CRO - Frank Lampard dispatches the penalty with ease.
0306 HKT: And they do get a penalty! A stone-dead penalty conceded by Simunic on Lennon whose positive run into the box created the chance.
0305 HKT: Storming start by England and they had a couple of penalty shouts already! Meanwhile, Italy go one-up against Bulgaria and Slovakia are leading 1-0 at Northern Ireland.
0300 HKT: England kick-off against Croatia. Will they get revenge today?
0252 HKT: And England do need just a draw against Croatia. Ukraine and Belarus have drew 0-0.
0247 HKT: As it stands, England might just need a draw as Ukraine and Belarus are locked in a 0-0 draw ...
0245 HKT: England vs Croatia line-upsEngland: Green, Johnson, Terry, Upson, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Heskey.Subs: Foster, Brown, Bridge, Milner, Defoe, Beckham, Crouch.Croatia: Runje, Srna, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic, Mandzukic, Vukojevic, Pokrivac, Kranjcar, Eduardo, Olic.Subs: Subasic, Drpic, Cale, Rakitic, Petric, Leko, Klasnic.Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)
0227 HKT: Sweden have beaten Malta 1-0 to keep their hopes alive in Group 1. Which means Denmark cannot confirm qualification today.
0222 HKT: Scotland vs Holland team line-ups Scotland: Marshall, Hutton, Weir, McManus, Whittaker, Hartley, Naismith, Brown, Darren Fletcher, Maloney, Miller.Subs: Neil Alexander, Graham Alexander, Gary Caldwell, O'Connor, Steven Fletcher, Commons, Rae.Holland: Vorm, Van Der Wiel, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst, Sneijder, De Zeeuw, De Jong, Robben, van Persie, Kuyt.Subs: Velthuizen, Heitinga, Schaars, Braafheid, Van der Vaart, Elia, Huntelaar.
0220 HKT: Be sure to join Dez Corkhill and Abbas Saad as they preside over the play-off second-leg game between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain LIVE on ESPN at 0310 HKT.
0215 HKT: Just as I was saying it's the night of the minnows, Sweden go on to score a late goal against Malta - poor Ian Azzopardi with the own goal.
0215 HKT: It's a night of minnows as the Faroe Islands notched their first victory in Group 7 against Lithuania.
0210 HKT: So no surprises there for Fabio Capello's England selection. He has stuck with Emile Heskey up-front with Wayne Rooney. But I have backing Jermain Defoe to make an appearance in the second-half.
0205 HKT: Cameroon continue their good form in the African qualifiers with a vital win over Gabon.
For the full list of fixtures for the World Cup Qualifying and other International matches click here.
Visit our Live Scores for match updates and goals!
Click on our Stats Centre for your fix of teams' facts and figures.
0200 HKT: England team to play Croatia: Green; Johnson, Upson, Terry, Cole; Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard; Rooney, Heskey.Subs: Foster, Brown, Bridge, Milner, Defoe, Beckham, Crouch.
0155 HKT: Little Armenia have collected thier first win of their 2010 qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Belgium. The Belgians are out of the running for second place in Group Five while Armenia remain rooted at the bottom of the group.
0150 HKT: Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty is out of the game against Slovakia with a knee injury.
0130 HKT: On a side note, Tomas Rosicky made his first competitive appearance in 20 months when he played 56 minutes for the Czechs. Arsenal fans rejoice/lament ...
0120 HKT: Czech Rep have won 6-0 7-0 against San Marino - Baros scored four goals. The Czechs still have a slim chance of second place but they need other results to go their way. In a big way.
0115 HKT: US Open news: Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have beaten the Bryan brothers!
0105 HKT: The Czechs are on their way to a 6-0 win over San Marino!
0050 HKT: US Open news: Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy are close to progressing to the Doubles final at the US Open.
0030 HKT: BPL news - FIFA pres Sepp Blatter has fired a warning shot to poachers.
0018 HKT: BPL news - Portsmouth have signed former Sheff Utd striker Danny Webber on a free transfer.
0015 HKT: Friendlies - Japan have beaten Ghana (match report here) while China were held by Senegal (report).
0010 HKT: Just as we were talking about the Czechs, they are currently cruising against San Marino. Former Milan Baros has scored a hat-trick and the Czechs lead 3-0 at half-time.
0005 HKT: David Marshall will deputise for the injured Gordon for Scotland. Wesley Sneidjer has been passed fit for Holland.
2353 HKT: Isha from Kolkata emails in to Streettalk and backs Croatia to win 2-1! "I 'm sure Eduardo should do well," he says.
2335 HKT: One match is already underway and it's between Czech Rep and San Marino. The once-mighty Czechs are virtually out of contention to qualify. They seemed to have lost their invincibility after the retirements of Paved Nedved and Jan Koller.
2325 HKT: Be sure to join Andy Penders and Steve McMahon as they guide you through England vs Croatia LIVE on STAR Sports at 0255 HKT. McMahon has already predicted a draw in this game. Do you agree?
2330 HKT: By the way, the biggest news today was the parting of ways between Peter Reid and Thailand. Steve Darby will be caretaker for now. Good news for S'pore?
2318 HKT: Whispers from England indicate Emile Heskey will partner Wayne Rooney up front for England against Croatia.
2300 HKT: A blow for Scotland as first-choice Craig Gordon is out of their crunch tie against Holland.
PREVIEW
England, Denmark, Slovakia, Spain and Serbia will qualify for the World Cup if results go their way tonight.
Can England beat Croatia? HAVE YOUR SAY @ streettalk@espnstar.com!
South Africa (hosts), Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Holland, Brazil and Ghana have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals. Who will join them?
ASIA - Play-off second leg
Fixture: Saudi Arabia vs Bahrain (LIVE on ESPN at 0310 HKT)
1st Leg: 1-1 (Winner will face New Zealand in a two-legged play-off)
Click here for Preview
EUROPE
Group 1: Denmark will be on that plane to South Africa if they beat Albania IF Hungary lose to Portugal X Sweden fail to beat Malta.
Teams: Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Albania and Malta
Fixtures: Albania vs Denmark, Hungary vs Portugal, Malta vs Sweden
Click here for Group Preview
Group 2: Switzerland will be favourites to go through if they beat Latvia.
Teams: Greece, Switzerland, Latvia, Israel, Luxembourg and Moldova
Fixtures: Lativa vs Switzerland, Israel vs Luxembourg, Moldova vs Greece
Click here for Group Preview
Group 3: Slovakia can go through if they beat Northen Ireland.
Teams: Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and San Marino
Fixtures: Northern Ireland, Czech Rep vs San Marino, Slovenia vs Poland
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Group 4: Another closely fought group but Germany and Russia are favourites to go through. Wales will be out if they fail to beat Russia.
Teams: Germany, Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein
Fixtures: Germany vs Azerbaijan, Wales vs Russia, Liechtenstein vs Finland
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Group 5: Spain will go through IF they beat Estonia X Bosnia fail to beat Turkey.
Teams: Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia
Fixtures: Armenia vs Belgium, Bosnia vs Turkey, Spain vs Estonia
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Group 6: It's simple. Three points for England will ensure their passage to South Africa. Belarus have an outside chance of taking second spot.
Teams: England, Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra
Fixtures: England vs Croatia (LIVE on STAR Sports at 0255 HKT), Belarus vs Ukraine, Andorra vs Kazakhstan
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Group 7: Serbia will go through IF they beat France.
Teams: Serbia, France, Lithuania, Austria, Romania and Faroe Islands
Fixtures: Faroe Islands vs Lithuania, Romania vs Austria, Serbia vs France
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Group 8: It's between Italy and the Republic of Ireland in this group although the Italians can consolidate their position with a win over Bulgaria.
Teams: Italy, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and Georgia
Fixtures: Italy vs Bulgaria, Montenegro vs Cyprus
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Group 9: Same as last Saturday: Holland have already qualified. The fight goes on for that all-important second spot.
Teams: Holland, Scotland, Macedonia, Norway and Iceland
Fixtures: Norway vs Macedonia, Scotland vs Holland
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Kateryna Bondarenko recorded the famed 'double-bagel' victory

Kateryna Bondarenko recorded the famed 'double-bagel' victory as she booked her place in the US Open quarter-finals.
The Ukrainian crushed Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-0 to set up a meeting with Yanina Wickmayer at Flushing Meadows.
It was a case of family revenge given Dulko had beaten Bondarenko's sister Alona in the second round.
Despite being ranked 12 places higher than her opponent, Dulko looked thoroughly outclassed with five double faults and 20 unforced errors hardly helping her cause.
The match was finished in just 47 minutes as Bondarenko, who toppled 11th seed Ana Ivanovic in round one, booked her place in the first Grand Slam quarter-final of her career.
Bondarenko's clash with Wickmayer ensures there will be at least one unseeded player in the semi-finals.
Source Star Sports

Oudin continues Russian Rein on

Melanie Oudin continued her giant-killing run at the US Open when she knocked out a third Russian seed in succession.
The 17-year-old world number 70 from Marietta, Georgia, had already eliminated fourth seed Elena Dementieva and former champion Maria Sharapova, the No. 29 and she returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium to come from a set down to add 13th seed Nadia Petrova to her list of victims and reach the last eight.
The American teenager had been in tears after beating Sharapova but she was all business in beating Petrova 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in front of a wildly enthusiastic New York crowd enjoying an extra day off for Labour Day.
"It's kind of hard to explain how I've done it," Oudin said. "There are no tears because I believed I could do it and it's like now that I know that I do belong here.
"This is what I want to do and I can compete with these girls no matter who I'm playing.
"I have a chance against anyone."
Oudin will be able to put that to the test in a quarter-final against the winner of the night match between the only remaining seeds in her half of the draw, 2004 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, the reigning French Open champion and sixth seed, and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark
"I don't really care who I get," Oudin said. "I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals. I know it's going to be a tough match no matter who I play."
Petrova is backing compatriot Kuznetsova to face Oudin but with the American having already beaten four tall Russians - her first round victory was over world number 36 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - the ousted 13th seed said she should expect something different.
"Now she gets hopefully a short and a little chubby Russian," Petrova joked. "See how she's going to handle that."
The day had begun in a decidedly lower key at Ashe when unseeded Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko whitewashed Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-0 in just 47 minutes.
"I don't know what to tell you," Bondarenko said. "I'm surprised that it's six-love, six-love but I'm really happy it went that way."
At least one semi-finalist in the women's draw will be unseeded as Bondarenko's quarter-final opponent will be Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, a 4-6 6-4 7-5 winner over Dinara Safina's US Open conqueror Petra Kvitova.
Wickmayer, 19, has been based in Florida since she was nine having left Belgium following the loss of her mother to cancer.
She persuaded her father to sell up and move to the States where she trained at the Saddlebrook tennis academy.
"I still don't know how I did it when I was nine," she said. "I guess I was older than I thought I was.
"He always believed in me and supported me.
"He didn't leave everything because he expected me to be a champion. Actually he just left everything to make me happy. That's a whole lot of difference."
Source Star Sports

Paes, Bhupathi in mixed doubles semis

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are heading towards a possible final showdown in both mixed as well as men's doubles event.
Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber, top seed, cruised to the semifinals of the mixed doubles following their emphatic 6-4 6-3 win over eighth seeds Bethanie Mattek of the US and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.
However, second seeds Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe had to face a stiff resistance from seventh seeded Australian-Swede combination of Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt before prevailing over them 7-5 3-6 10-6 in their mixed doubles quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows, last night.
Incidentally, both the Indian players enjoyed success in the men's doubles events as well although they had to fight hard to earn their last eight berths along with their respective partners.
While the third seeded duo of Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas quelled the challenge of unseeded pair of Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei and Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4 6-4 in the third round, Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth, beat Julian Knowles of Australia and Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 6-4.
Meanwhile, India's Sudanwa Sitaram's campaign in the boys' event ended in the first round after he went down fighting 3-6 6-3 5-7 against local lad Alexander Domijan.
Source : Star Sports

Paes, Bhupathi in mixed doubles semis

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are heading towards a possible final showdown in both mixed as well as men's doubles event.
Bhupathi and his American partner Liezel Huber, top seed, cruised to the semifinals of the mixed doubles following their emphatic 6-4 6-3 win over eighth seeds Bethanie Mattek of the US and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic.
However, second seeds Paes and Cara Black of Zimbabwe had to face a stiff resistance from seventh seeded Australian-Swede combination of Rennae Stubbs and Robert Lindstedt before prevailing over them 7-5 3-6 10-6 in their mixed doubles quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows, last night.
Incidentally, both the Indian players enjoyed success in the men's doubles events as well although they had to fight hard to earn their last eight berths along with their respective partners.
While the third seeded duo of Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas quelled the challenge of unseeded pair of Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei and Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4 6-4 in the third round, Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy, seeded fourth, beat Julian Knowles of Australia and Jurgen Melzer of Austria 7-5 6-4.
Meanwhile, India's Sudanwa Sitaram's campaign in the boys' event ended in the first round after he went down fighting 3-6 6-3 5-7 against local lad Alexander Domijan.
Source : Star Sports

Andy Murray will go into his US Open fourth-round clash

Andy Murray will go into his US Open fourth-round clash with Marin Cilic prepared for any challenge the tall Croatian can throw at him.
Britain's world number two believes he has overcome a variety of tests in getting to the fourth round with victories over Ernests Gulbis, Paul Capdeville and Taylor Dent and he will hold no fears about being able to deal with 16th seed Cilic, a 6ft 6ins 20-year-old from Zagreb whom he has beaten three times before without defeat.
"I played three pretty different players," Murray said of his journey to the last 16.
"First one was a big server who stayed at the back. Second one didn't hit the ball that big, but really had nothing to lose. Taylor is a serve and volleyer.
"I thought I dealt with the different tests that were put in front of me pretty well. Try and play like that for the next few matches."
Murray will play Cilic at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the last day match on the main show court at Flushing Meadows and will be followed on court in the evening by third seed Rafael Nadal as the Spaniard takes on France's 13th seed Gael Monfils.
Nadal, a potential semi-final opponent as he was last year when the Scot went on to reach his first grand slam final, aggravated an abdominal muscle injury he had sustained last month on the way to victory over fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro but Murray said he was not reading too much into that.
"I knew he had that problem since Montreal or whenever he did it," Murray said. "He's had the tape on his abs. Being in the locker room, we obviously can see that.
"You never now how bad it is. To me, after he had the treatment, from what I saw, didn't look like it affected him that much. Maybe lost one more game after that.
"You never know, because things can get better in a couple of days, or sometimes they get worse. You just have to focus on your own matches not what's going on in the other players."
Nadal had been overtaken in the rankings by Murray after missing two months including Wimbledon with tendinitis in his knees, capping a 12 months for the 22-year-old in which he finished US Open runner-up and won five ATP Tour titles in 2009.
Cilic, who first played Murray in 2007, said he believed Murray has coped perfectly well with his new status as world number two.
"He has more self belief from these great results in the past year and I think even sometimes when he's not playing good he believes he is playing well and in a sport like tennis when you're on your own that's really good not to have any doubts about yourself.
"I've watched him in Montreal and Cincinnati recently so I know what he can do, what he can't and mostly he was pretty solid.
"He has some big shots but he's not going to hit you out of the court and he always lets people play against him.
"It's tough to say what would be the best tactics against him but you definitely have to try not to rush too much and try to have controlled aggression."
Source Star Sports

Novak into quarter-finals

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic swept into the US Open quarter-finals with a solid straight sets victory over Radek Stepanek at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Serbian former Australian Open champion scored a 6-1 6-3 6-3 win in an hour and 46 minutes over the 15th seed from the Czech Republic but was never really stretched by an inconsistent opponent.
The victory for Djokovic sets up a last-eight clash with 10th seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, who had earlier in the day ended American interest in the US Open men's singles draw by knocking out the unseeded John Isner in four sets.
Djokovic had needed a five-set tie-break to get past Stepanek the last time they met at the US Open in 2007, the year the Serb reached his first grand slam final, losing to Roger Federer.
It quickly became apparent his work would not be so strenuous this time and Stepanek, the oldest man still left in the draw at 30 years and nine months, even disappeared from view at 1-1 when he took a time-out to apply his contact lenses.
Even 20/20 vision could not have prevented Djokovic breaking serve minutes later to go 3-1 up though, the Serb emulating new coach Todd Martin by rushing to the net and winning the game with a neat drop shot.
An erratic service game from the Czech handed Djokovic the double break and the fourth seed wrapped up the first set in 23 minutes.
Stepanek would need to step up his game considerably if the first set was any guide but there were no signs of that as Djokovic broke early in the second set to go 2-1 up.
The Czech's game was all over the place, 16 unforced errors being chalked up in the first 10 games and without even a sniff of a break point and Djokovic took advantage of another poor forehand to go 3-1 in front.
That said, Djokovic was looking very sharp, particularly off his backhand, but he did not need to deploy that often as Stepanek continued to hand him free points, the Serb going 4-1 up after a netted volley from the scampering Czech taken off his toes.
Yet Djokovic took his foot off the accelerator in the sixth game and Stepanek immediately took advantage to break back and then hold serve to close the gap to 4-3.
The fourth seed regrouped after that, holding serve and then gaining the decisive break to take the second set.
The third set was a tighter affair before Djokovic finally broke the deadlock in the sixth game, lobbing Stepanek, who got to the ball but could not return.
At 4-2 up, Djokovic allowed himself a fist pump and then held serve to leave the 15th seed needing a hold to stay in the match.
Stepanek held serve impressively and there jitters from the fourth seed as he served only his third double fault of the match to start the next game and then sent a backhand long to go 0-30. Djokovic, though, calmed himself sufficiently to get to 40-30 and when Stepanek crouched to return a ball that hopped off the net-cord, the Serb passed him with a forehand to win the match.
Source : Star Sports

Del Potro in US Open quarters

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro powered his way past Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-3 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.
The tall sixth-seeded Argentine boomed 22 serves against Ferrero and never lost serve to the 2003 French Open champion in their Louis Armstrong Stadium match.
Del Potro, who reached his first grand slam semi-final at this year's French Open before falling to eventual winner Roger Federer, had 44 winners as he dominated his 24th-seeded opponent in two hours, eight minutes.
The 20-year-old del Potro will battle for a berth in the semi-finals against 16th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia, who ousted second-seeded Briton Andy Murray in straight sets.
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters)

US Open : Women's Day Eight Roundup

Melanie Oudin continued her giant-killing run at the US Open when she knocked out a third Russian seed in succession at Flushing Meadows.
The 17-year-old world number 70 from Marietta, Georgia, had already eliminated fourth seed Elena Dementieva and former champion Maria Sharapova, the No. 29 and she returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium to come from a set down to add 13th seed Nadia Petrova to her list of victims and reach the last eight.
Oudin had been in tears after beating Sharapova but she was all business in beating Petrova 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in front of a wildly enthusiastic New York crowd enjoying an extra day off for Labour Day.
"It's kind of hard to explain how I've done it," Oudin said. "There are no tears because I believed I could do it and it's like now that I know that I do belong here.
"This is what I want to do and I can compete with these girls no matter who I'm playing.
"I have a chance against anyone."
Oudin will be able to put that to the test in an all-teenage quarter-final against the only remaining seed in her half of the draw, 19-year-old ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who came from a set down to defeat 2004 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova, the reigning French Open champion and sixth seed, in a third-set tie-break.
Kuznetsova, who committed 63 unforced errors in the match, had been a break up in the final set before surrendering two breaks to Wozniacki, only to break again when the Dane was serving for the match at 5-3.
Wozniacki got match point on the Russian's serve before Kuznetsova held for 5-5 and saved another match point at 6-5 before forcing the tiebreak.
A weak backhand from the sixth seed at the net was the turning point in the breaker, handing a minibreak to Wozniacki and giving the Dane the serve at 5-3. This time there would be no more twists in the ploy and the ninth seed closed out the match to book a place in her first grand slam quarter-final.
"She just played unbelievable in the first set," Wozniacki said, "I really didn't know what to do but the crowd helped me through it.
"It feels amazing (to be in a first grand slam quarter-final), I'm so excited.
"(Oudin) is playing unbelievable, it's going to be a tough match but I'm just going to go out there and enjoy it.
"Hopefully someone from the crowd will cheer for me."
The day had begun in a decidedly lower key at Ashe when unseeded Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko whitewashed Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-0 in just 47 minutes.
"I don't know what to tell you," Bondarenko said. "I'm surprised that it's six-love, six-love but I'm really happy it went that way."
At least one semi-finalist in the women's draw will be unseeded as Bondarenko's quarter-final opponent will be Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, a 4-6 6-4 7-5 winner over Dinara Safina's US Open conqueror Petra Kvitova.
Wickmayer, 19, has been based in Florida since she was nine having left Belgium following the loss of her mother to cancer.
She persuaded her father to sell up and move to the States where she trained at the Saddlebrook tennis academy.
"I still don't know how I did it when I was nine," she said. "I guess I was older than I thought I was.
"He always believed in me and supported me.
"He didn't leave everything because he expected me to be a champion. Actually he just left everything to make me happy. That's a whole lot of difference."
Source : Star Sports

US Open : Men's Day Eight Roundup

Roger Federer explained how he took Tommy Robredo apart set by set as he breezed through to the US Open quarter-finals.
Federer made light work of 14th seed Robredo on America's Labour Day holiday as the world number one set up a last eight meeting with French Open final opponent Robin Soderling.
Five-time defending champion Federer had gone into the fourth round clash at Flushing Meadows with an 8-1 playing record over Spaniard Robredo having won their last eight meetings.
That winning streak was never seriously under threat at Arthur Ashe Stadium as Federer, in their first match since the 2007 French Open, defeated Robredo 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.
It was a measured performance from the world number one, slowly turning the screw before killing off his opponent in clinical fashion.
Robredo had began the match solidly, earning break points in fourth game only to see Federer take advantage of poor returns from the Spaniard to hold at 2-2.
Robredo did take the opening set to 5-5, before a sloppy 11th game ended with a poor backhand and Federer had the break, from which he took a one-set lead.
"I tried to figure him out a little bit, the way he played me," Federer said of a cautious first set.
"I thought he really played my backhand a lot. I expected him to open it up sometimes towards my forehand but he didn't.
"I was a little unsure there for a while, how I should play him. He was doing a good job of keeping me off balance and being intense from the baseline.
"So it was a key to get the break and not having to go through the tie-break. I was even down break points so it was kind of tough.
"Once I got the lead I could also hit a bit more freely.
"That didn't allow him to play his game any more. I got on top of him and played good tennis."
Things grew progressively worse from there for Robredo as Federer stayed well within himself and let the Spaniard engineer his own undoing.
That did not take long, the 2009 French Open and Wimbledon champion securing a break in the third game and accelerating away from Robredo with another break to move to 4-1 with serve on the way to a two-set cushion.
Federer obviously had plans for his evening in New York as he kicked on again in the third set, breaking the 14th seed in the opening game, and again in the third for a 3-0 lead.
Robredo finally held serve at 4-1 to cheers from the Ashe crowd but it was cold comfort for the Spaniard and Federer mopped things up in an hour and 48 minutes.
"When we got to five-all (in the first set) he just broke me and then he started playing very aggressive and it everything was very easy for him," Robredo said.
"He was playing so good. When he plays like this it's tough.
"When he saw that he was up a set he started hitting harder and with confidence. Then it's tough to handle."
Federer now faces Sweden's Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals, the third grand slam in succession that the two will have met, including the French Open final.
Twelfth seed Soderling, who has not beaten Federer in 11 previous meetings, progressed to the last eight at the expense of eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko, the Russian retiring with a left thigh injury while trailing two sets to one.
"It seems like he's on a good run again," Federer said of Soderling. "I think of him, obviously of the French Open final which was a great one for me, a great tournament.
"It's a tough challenge. I hope I can play well because it's always kind of close with him. He's a tough player."
Fourth seed Novak Djokovic also swept into the quarter-finals with a solid straight sets victory over Radek Stepanek in the night match on Ashe.
The Serbian former Australian Open champion scored a 6-1 6-3 6-3 win in an hour and 46 minutes over the 15th seed from the Czech Republic but was never really stretched by an inconsistent opponent.
The victory for Djokovic sets up a last-eight clash with 10th seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain, who had earlier in the day ended American interest in the US Open men's singles draw by knocking out the unseeded John Isner in four sets.
"I think I played overall really well," Djokovic said. "I was aggressive and didn't give him any chance to control the match and that was the key."
Djokovic apologised for not giving the crowd a five-set thriller but made up for it by coaxing John McEnroe out of the television commentary booth to play a couple of exhibition points.
At a slightly higher level of play earlier in the day at Louis Armstrong Stadium, 10th seed Verdasco came from a set down to beat unseeded American John Isner, the 6ft 9ins conqueror of fifth seed and compatriot Andy Roddick, 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.
Isner's defeat means there will be no American male quarter-finalist for the first time in US Open history.
"I'm a little bit disappointed, I wanted to go further," Isner said."I played pretty well, maybe I could have played a little bit better but I just got outplayed today."
Source : Star Sports

Beckham open to BPL return

David Beckham has opened the door for a return to the Premier League.
Beckham will win his 114th England cap tomorrow night if introduced during the World Cup qualifier with Croatia at Wembley.
But if he is to remain at the forefront of Fabio Capello's plans for South Africa 2010, the 34-year-old knows he must return to Europe.
A short-term deal is already in place for Beckham to join AC Milan once more.
However, there are alternatives beyond that, which include Premier League offers, even if Beckham remains committed to Los Angeles Galaxy.
"I have got plans," said Beckham.
"I will finish the MLS season. After that, everybody knows that I'll be coming back to play somewhere.
"LA Galaxy know that. If it upsets a few people, I can't do anything about it.
"I keep saying how much I enjoy playing over there and how committed I am to the Galaxy, I think I will be back there after the World Cup.
"But there is a possibility that the contract might break in the autumn and I do have options.
"Milan have made me aware that they want me to go back there and I'm more than happy with that.
"But I have also had another three or four offers, so when the time is right, I will decide."
The prospect of Beckham being back in the Premier League, even if he will have turned 35 by that point, is an appealing one, especially as for all his platitudes for LA Galaxy, a section of the club's support have turned against him.
By then he could have become the first England player to have appeared at four World Cup finals.
Although he remained rooted to the bench during an international for the first time in 11 years on Saturday as England overcame Slovenia, evidence provided by the past 12 months suggests Beckham's name is already pencilled in for one of the 23 spaces Capello will have available, providing England get the win they need from their final three matches.
Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon might all be able to provide blinding speed and the ability to beat a man but none can match Beckham's experience or accuracy from set-piece situations.
That priceless attribute could allow Beckham to achieve a personal milestone at the expense of someone who have never been to one. Not that the former Three Lions skipper would feel bad.
"I wouldn't have any reason to feel guilty," said Beckham.
"The manager will pick a squad he thinks he needs for games. If I'm in it, then great. If I can come on with the experience I have and help the team, I will.
"If I'm not, it's good for the other players."
Source : Star Sports