Wednesday, September 02, 2009 NEW YORK: Former world No.1 Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the US Open by defeating Bulgaria's 98th-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3 6-0 in 73 minutes.Sharapova, the 2006 US Open winner, is coming back after a right shoulder injury that kept her from playing in last year's US Open. The 29th-seeded Russian will next face US wild card Christina McHale, who ousted Slovenia's Polona Hercog 6-3 6-1. Top-ranked Dinara Safina avoided becoming the first top-seeded woman ever to lose her opening match at the U.S. Open, rallying to defeat Olivia Rogowska of Australia in three sets.Safina committed 11 double faults and 48 unforced errors against the 18-year-old Rogowska, a wild-card entry who's ranked 167th in the world.A major upset looked to be in the offing as Rogowska took a 4-2 lead in the deciding set. But Safina reeled off four straight games to win 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in just over two and a half hours and remain in the running for her first major title.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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