Gaming addiction is fairly difficult to recognize

It is truly hard to identify the real reason to recognize what is obsession and how it is brought about. Many people are suffering from gaming addiction and it is an actual ground to pry out the true reason for it. The emotional and the intellectual devotion with some things and a necessity of something generated from inner side make the individual to completely depend on the game and to do anything to capture that taste of the extreme limit.

The basic reason for addiction is something above limit - when an individual wishes to do something out of control, not in an attitude of making any right settlement with respect to the right opportunity. Anyway, usually it might be similar to the drug addiction or some sort of gluttony and, surely, may be alcohol as well, when it's associated with the gambling field. It could be the severe trouble when talking about the gamblers.

It is true that it's pretty hard to find the cure for this addiction. According to a broad review and many other activities made on the same aspect, the individual that has these types of experiences - wins the game without any trouble, gains money again and again and could earn more and more money without confronting much difficulties during the game - is the main suspect to opt this kind of addictive activity, which is always playing in the gambling field. The income and the person's winning capability when it boundlessly increases make them to not even think of quitting the gamble as they become more and more profitable and they gamble in such a manner that no one can stop them from playing over and over again. This increases the gambler's necessity to gamble again and again, more and more, as this is does not take much effort to the player to win the game. The situation could as well arise when the need for money appears after having lost once, the player might want to play once again and then again and again, and again.

This addiction might become so destructing that it might take a form of a type of dent incident for any gambler that is addicted to gambling. If that happens, winning or losing the gamble will not be the issue then. Whatever the player will achieve, the addiction for the game will continue on prospering. If the addicted lost in Blackjack once, they will continue on playing, until they win. Thinking about them winning money again and again, for example, in Blackjack, makes the gambler addictive, and makes the mind to not think of anything else. This makes the gambler to gamble and play at any chance. Such a player sells their personal things, such as clothing, and also manages some other sorts of illegal activities as well in order to have finances for gambling. A lot of thoughts similar to hopelessness or suicide could arise as well.

Many therapies and of course treatments for the gambling addicted are set to run fairly successfully. The treatment for the same is a great YES today. The psychotherapy takes a very significant place while caring about addicted within a group. The consequence for the treatment is only recognized when the person is completely recovered accommodating the entire process in a settled time period.

Valencia earns praise after scoring on debut

Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia scored on his Manchester United debut in a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Wednesday. "I think he will figure in many games," said United manager Alex Ferguson after the friendly, part of a four-team tournament in Munich that also includes Bayern Munich and AC Milan.

"It was his first game. For his first game, we are very satisfied," he told reporters. Valencia, who joined from Wigan Athletic as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, scored United's second goal in the 42nd minute with a powerful shot that slipped under keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri after he had slipped past two defenders.

"He is a good athlete, has good power and running ability, as we saw today with the way he created a good goal," said Ferguson. "Maybe it was a mistake by the goalkeeper, but he created the opportunity and opened up spaces for himself." United play Bayern on Thursday after the Germans defeated AC Milan 4-1.

Sania wins ITF Lexington Challenger tourney

India's ace tennis player Sania Mirza, seeded second, continued her good show as she upset top-seed Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to clinch the $50,000 ITF Lexington Challenger title. With this win, the 22-year-old rose three places to 80th in the latest WTA singles rankings. However, she dropped 10 places to 49th in the WTA doubles list.

Sania kept her cool in the scintillating final in front of sizeable Indian community as she sealed the first set via tie-breaker after squandering a 5-2 lead and facing 5-all. Mirza had a great start as she broke Julie Coin in the very first game of the match, and also consolidated the break to take an early 2-0 lead.

Coin, however, got herself back in the groove by clinching the third game and then went on to break Mirza's serve to level the proceedings at two games apiece. Both of them held their serve till the eighth game of the opening set when Coin broke Sania to gain 5-3 lead.

Mirza was in no mood to surrender as she fought her way back by holding on to two under-pressure service games to force the opening set into a tie-break. Coin gained a crucial 5-2 lead in the tie-breaker but it was Sania's day as she came back hard to win four points in a row to seal the first set 7-5 in her favour.

Top-seed Coin fought hard as she took an early break to go ahead 2-1 in the second set which was as exciting as the first but Sania levelled the scores to break straight back. Sania broke Coin for a 5-3 lead and served for the match, but was broken back by Julie. However Sania broke the Coin serve in a marathon tenth game to register an impressive win.

Interestingly, this was only the second ITF $50,000 event that Sania had participated in, the first being way back in 2003 when she was still making a name for herself on the pro tour.

US reach Gold Cup final with win over Honduras

Goals from Clarence Goodson and Kenny Cooper took the United States into the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 2-0 victory over Honduras on Thursday. The US, looking to win the competition for North and Central America and the Caribbean for the third consecutive edition, will face the winners of Thursday's other semi-final between Mexico and Costa Rica.

Honduras went close in the 20th minute with a well-struck effort from Marvin Chavez that was tipped over the bar by Troy Perkins. Midfielder Stuart Holden went close in the 43rd minute with a curling free-kick that Donis Escobar tipped over and then Brian Ching struck the bar with a deflected effort.

The pressure paid off on the stroke of half-time when defender Clarence Goodson rose well to head home a Holden corner. Honduras were unable to create many chances despite plenty of midfield possession although Carlos Costly might have done better with a close range effort in the 83rd minute, which Perkins did well to block.

In the final minute, Ching back-heeled to Holden who played a low ball across the face of the goal that was turned in by substitute Cooper.

Ponting calls on Australia to raise their game

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his side had to address "fundamental skill errors" after presiding over his country's first Test defeat at Lord's in 75 years. England's 115-run win concluded on Monday in the second Test saw them take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series just over a week after they scrambled to a draw with one wicket standing in the first Test in Cardiff.

Ponting pinpointed the first innings, where Australia could only manage 215 in reply to England's 425, on a typically good batting pitch at Lord's, as a key factor in the eventual outcome. They then collapsed to 128 for five in their second innings, chasing a world record 522 to win, before a sixth-wicket stand of 185 between Michael Clarke, who made a superb 136, and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin (80) revived Australia.

However, both men lost their wickets as England took the five they needed for victory before lunch on Monday, with fast bowler Andrew Flintoff (three) and off-spinner Graeme Swann (two) doing the damage. "There are fundamental skill errors that we have made in this game," Ponting told reporters here on Monday.

"I'm not just talking about the bowling. We didn't bat very well either in our first innings. Two hundred-odd on that wicket was a long way short of what we needed to get. "The first two days was where the game was decided. I was pretty happy with the way we stuck at things for the remainder of the game. It's just little skill errors that have cost us big time."

Ponting insisted the teams remained evenly matched, unlike the 2006/07 Ahes where he led Australia to a 5-0 whitewash of their oldest foes. It's grabbing the momentum when you can and running with it for as long as you can that's going to decide this series," he said. "If you look at this game, they grabbed the momentum on day one, ran with it, and we found it hard to wrest it back.

"A lot of Test matches are won with what happens in the first hour's play. We were a fair bit off at the start of this game and we have to make sure we're a whole lot better when we start the third one." England captain Andrew Strauss was delighted by the way his side had bounced back from a mediocre performance in Cardiff.

"It was pretty much the ideal response," said Strauss. "It was important we came out and started the game well. "We'd been given that little bit of momentum from the way the guys played that final day in Cardiff and we needed to build on that. "We came out well and put the Aussies under pressure for the first three-and-a-half days, but as is always a case in an Ashes Test they come back at you at some stage.

"To go 1-0 up in the series is all you can ask for and if we can continue playing that brand of consistent, positive cricket then we'll put them under pressure again and then it's just a case of us taking our chances." The third Test starts at Edgbaston on July 30.

Now the show shifts to Spain

There was a time when the principality of Monaco was called the rich man's playing field. The scene has shifted to Madrid, it seems, and that too for one man, a certain Florentino Perez who took charge of the city's most famous club earlier this year. The real-estate honcho is known for splurging over human commodities, otherwise known as football players, and also gave the soccer world a new word 'Galacticos'.

He is at it again this summer after his not-quite-so-rich rival Barcelona's Joan Laporta smugly adorned Camp Nou's trophy cabinet with three of Europe's best silverwares on offer last season. In the process of acquiring those, Barcelona stained Real's spotless white shirt at Bernabeu with six bullet holes. The reason for Perez to go berserk is understandable.

But the way he broke the bank for two best talents, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, evoked censure from the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, keeping in perspective the global economic slowdown. Together for Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and defender Raul Albiol, Perez shelled out something around £184.6 million. Mind-boggling figure no doubt but there is something called shirt-sells in soccer and businessman Perez is not unaware of it.

What Real Madrid or Spain gained, seemed to be Manchester United or English Premier League's loss. The league, boasting of the highest television audience worldwide, has no real world stars to show for this time. 'World Player of the Year' Ronaldo will now don the white shirt instead of the red. It was the colour that made him the darling of millions from being just another trickster from an inconspicuous island of Medeira (Portugal).

Lionel Messi, on whom rests the mantle of Diego Maradona, is also with Barcelona alongwith the best passer in Europe, Xavi Hernandez. Add to it, Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry and perhaps the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the Blaugrana will continue to spawn magic on green turf.

Currently the best Brazilian attacker, Kaka too is under coach Manuel Pellegrini's expensive fold, eschewing his vows of never swapping anything for an AC Milan shirt. The recession, apparently, forced him to break his vow, he claimed.

So what is the Queen of England left with? Her top club Manchester United is flush with funds after Ronaldo was offloaded. If reports are to be believed, they gained £80 million from the sale of the Portuguese star and also let go of a restless Argentine named Carlos Tevez. He just crossed the road to join Manchester City, another club provided with a seemingly bottomless purse by an oil oligarch from the Arab lands.

If hertz power could have been recorded over the transfer buzz, Real Madrid outshouted the rest of the world, let alone Europe. The buying power of Man United, Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool hardly created a ripple in the world talent pool. In fact, Liverpool is trying to save Xabi Alonso from the greedy eyes of Perez now.

'Professor' Arsene Wenger is also not in the pink of health. The Arsenal coach is set to lose his most potent goal-scoring weapon, Emmanuel Adebayor. Well, thankfully not to a Spanish buyer. Man City's Mark Hughes is supposedly his biggest suitor these days.

What Real are doing in Spain, Man City are trying it out in England. Having sprung a surprise on the last night of the January transfer window snaring Robinho from Real, City made their intentions clear of fearlessly buying into Europe's elite. Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and England international Gareth Barry are the new additions to Mark Hughes' dressing-room.

In contrast, roubles from Russia are not quite so forthcoming to Chelsea, it seems. So far, their only major signing is Yuri Zhirkhov, a wingback from CSKA Moscow for a meagre £18 million. New coach Carlo Ancelotti's interest in bringing over Kaka to the British Isles was promptly spurned by the Brazilian.

In this generous July, Italy's response has been the most lukewarm. Apart from losing Kaka, they are about to lose Ibrahimovic as well to Spain with an ageing Samuel Eto'o coming to Inter in a swap. Juventus have roped in Felipe Melo, part of Brazil's Confederations Cup-winning team and Robinho's friend Diego from Werder Bremen, while Inter Milan are almost through in sealing the deal with Brazil captain Lucio.

The money changing hands, however, is peanuts compared to what Perez has done. He has set a stupendous benchmark and dared the rest of the owners to play catch up. Once the season starts in August, focus will surely be on Spain though the prime time slot will be for English League in this part of the world. The absence of Cristiano may make Manchester United a little more beatable.

Though Alex Ferguson, the grand old man of managership, has seen the comings and goings of megastars in his never-ending tenure. Already exhorting Wayne Rooney to lead the charge, the Scot has given a new lease of life to Michael Owen. Not often has Fergie's assessment of skills gone wrong. Remember the Teddy Sheringham show in 1999 when United won the treble?

Ronaldo headers spur Corinthians to 4-3 win

Ronaldo headed two goals in seven minutes in the first half as Corinthians beat Sport 4-3 to improve to sixth in the Brazilian championship on Thursday. "I don't remember having done that before. Some incredible things are happening," Ronaldo told reporters.

Ronaldo, who equalised in the 28th minute following Fabiano's opener for Sport and put Corinthians ahead in the 35th, took his tally to 16 goals in 24 matches since coming back in March after knee surgery as an AC Milan player last year. Midfielder Cristian hit Corinthians' third early in the second half but Sport's Vandinho struck twice in five minutes to level before substitute Moradei drove home the winner from outside the box 10 minutes from time.

Atletico Mineiro added to Sao Paulo's woes by beating them 2-0 at home to go a point above Internacional, 4-2 winners at home to Fluminense on Wednesday, at the top of the standings with 24 points from 11 matches. Title holders Sao Paulo, champions from 2006 to 2008, are 15th after only two wins.

"We've reached the limit, it can't get worse than this. We have to react because things are bad ... It's embarrassing for Sao Paulo," said Brazil midfielder Hernanes, the team's ex-captain now confined to the bench.

Beckham eyes another half-year loan in Europe

David Beckham says he expects to find another half-year loan deal ahead of the World Cup next year to keep himself in England manager Fabio Capello's plans for the tournament in South Africa. Beckham spent the Major League Soccer (MLS) off-season -- and the first part of this current season on loan at AC Milan in Italy and said he hoped to find a similar arrangement next year.

"Leading up to the World Cup, the England manager has made it very clear to me that I need to be playing at a European level," Beckham told reporters ahead of his return match for LA Galaxy against rivals New York Red Bulls. "So I will do everything possible... I'll always regret it if I didn't do everything and to give myself a chance to be involved in that.

"At the moment my priority is the rest of the season and also playing and keeping in every squad for England and representing my country... Going forward of course I want to be involved in the World Cup, I've not hidden that fact." Beckham's extended loan with Milan upset many at the Galaxy, with resentment spilling over into a public spat with team-mate Landon Donovan who questioned his commitment to the team.

The pair have said their differences are water under the bridge, but the prospect of Beckham not starting next season with the team he is contracted to is unlikely to win over sceptical fans.

Terry not for sale, Chelsea insist

Chelsea warned big-spending Manchester City once again on Wednesday that captain John Terry is not for sale. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon told Sky News: "I don't know what they are offering but I am confident John is going to remain with us.

"John is the heart of Chelsea, he is our captain and has also become captain of England while he has been here. We are not going to sell John, so it is irrelevant what another club will offer. "We are very confident he will be leading us in the years to come."

City have reportedly offered the 28-year-old, who still has three years on his Stamford Bridge contract, a staggering 200,000 pounds a week to sign a deal which would see him join Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez who have cost City 50 million pounds in total this summer.

Euro 50 million, the minimum price for Villa

Valencia have set a minimum price of 50 million euros for the sale of their international centre-forward David Villa, Marca said on Tuesday.

Since the end of May, the 27-year-old has been the subject of attention from super-spending Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as Manchester City in the English Premiership. Villa’s agent Jose Luis Tamargo had a meeting with Valencia management on Monday to decide whether he should stay at Valencia for whom he scored 28 goals last season.

It was made clear during the discussions that the player should stay unless a really big offer came in. Obtaining Villa’s services is believed to have become less of a priority for Real Madrid since French international Karim Benzema was recruited from Lyon and the focus has switched to Barcelona, Marca said.

Joan Laporta, chairman at the Nou Camp, was recently quoted as saying Barca were hunting a new striker to cover for Samuel Eto’o, whose commitment to the Spanish champions is currently in doubt even though he has been offered a contract extension.

Several clubs are interested in him, who has scored 30 goals last season, but have been put off by the massive price tag involved.

Beckham fires back at unprofessional Donovan

England star midfielder David Beckham ripped Los Angeles Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan as unprofessional on Saturday ahead of his return to the Major League Soccer squad on Monday. US star Donovan criticized Beckham as stingy, selfish and a poor captain in book excerpts published last week in Sports Illustrated, with Beckham answering on Saturday that Donovan should have come to him with the complaints first.

"It's unprofessional in my eyes," Beckham said. "In every soccer player's eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a team-mate, especially in the press, and not to your face. "But I'm going to turn it on a positive spin because that's what this needs. In 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism."

Beckham rejoins the Galaxy for practice on Monday ahead of his return match on Thursday at New York and a home exhibition July 19 against AC Milan, the team for which Beckham was loaned for five months during the Italian season. "It's important to get this cleared up and I will be speaking to Landon... over the next couple of days," Beckham said. "Me and Landon will talk, but that will be a private conversation."

Donovan told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that he wished he had spoken to Beckham rather than reveal his feelings to a reporter. "I'm not going to apologize for the way I felt," Donovan said. "What I feel badly about is that I should have been a man and told David how I felt as opposed to telling a reporter.

"Obviously, the lesson I learned is that it's not something that needs to be public. It's something we need to figure out within the team and it will get solved." Beckham said he does not see any problem in working with Donovan, whose finishes would be vital to Beckham's precision centering kicks.

"I'm personally very professional when I am on the field," Beckham said. "I don't care what people say about me off the field Once I'm on the field I'm professional and if there is a chance for him to score, I'll be giving him the ball." The book, "The Beckham Experiment", hits shelves on Tuesday. Beckham said that he will not be among those reading it.

"This is an unofficial book that I have not participated in," Beckham said. "I haven't sat down one to one or spoken about the book so there is not comment where I have sat down with the journalist. There are many unofficial books that have been published about me, so this is just another one on the shelf."

Donovan said that reading the book would provide a better context for his criticism. "What you don't get from reading a few excerpts and what you do get from reading the whole book is that we all want David to be here, we all want him to succeed, and he wants to succeed," Donovan said.

"Something happened at some point last year where a switch went off, and that's what I want to talk to him about, and we'll figure that out man to man. "I think David's going to come back and play well regardless of what happens. I think he's motivated. I think he seems like he's rejuvenated and he's excited to come back."

Beckham could buy his way out of his US contract after the MLS season but said he would seek a loan to AC Milan again if need be so he could be fully prepared to play his best for England in next year's World Cup in South Africa.

"To be involved in the World Cup and to be involved with this England squad, I have to give myself the chance to be at that top level," Beckham said. "I'll do that personally and anything to do that. It's just saying that for the moment, this is what I need to do. It doesn't mean I'm running away from a project I believe in."

Beckham hopes to help the Galaxy improve from their fifth-place standing in the Western Conference and reach the playoffs after missing them for the past three seasons. "That's the important part. Now we want to move forward," said Beckham, who expects little trouble adjusting to his MLS return.

"It isn't going to be difficult because we've got talent on our team," he said. "It's just about confidence. It will be different coming back, but I don't see any problems."

Beckham arrived in Los Angeles late on Friday and stayed awake until 5 in the morning to visit with wife Victoria, his first visit with his family in six months. On Saturday, Beckham and French legend Zinedane Zidane played with youth in a ceremony to launch a program to create youth football fields.

Tiger pounces past Hunter to capture PGA National title

Tiger Woods turned a Hunter into the hunted on Sunday, stalking his prey for several holes before pouncing on a rare birdie chance to win the PGA National by one stroke over Hunter Mahan. World number one Woods sank a tension-packed 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole to seize the lead, then added two routine pars to capture his 68th career title and third of the season in his final British Open tuneup.

"This golf course is not easy and we only have basically one real birdie chance coming in, which was 16," Woods said. "At the very end it started going left and it was like, 'Oh God just don't lip out now.' It went in." The 14-time major champion who doubled as tournament host shot a three-under par 67 final round to finish on 13-under par 267 at Congressional Country Club and claim the $1 million top prize at the $6 million event.

"It was kind of in Tiger's court there," Mahan said. "I'm proud of how I played." Mahan matched the 18-hole course record of eight-under 62 set in Thursday's opening round by fellow American Anthony Kim to seize the clubhouse lead on 268 with Tiger still on the prowl and stalking Hunter across the back nine.

"I don't know what golf course he was playing. I didn't see a 62 out there," Woods said. "He put so much pressure on us. We had to play really well. There was a lot of heat back there." Woods sent his tee shot at the 16th into the left rough, put his approach into the right greenside rough and left his chip 20 feet short of the cup.

The 14-time major champion backed away from his putt after being disturbed by a noise, then rammed the ball into the bottom of the cup to reclaim the lead for good. Woods, a winner for the 46th time in 49 US PGA events when leading after 54 holes, also won this year at Bay Hill and Memorial, each victory coming two weeks before a major championship. Woods shared sixth at the Masters and US Open but hopes to better that position two weeks at Turnberry, Scotland.

Mahan made three birdies on the front nine and had runs of three birdies in four holes to begin and end the back nine, taking his lone bogey at 14 and dropped a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th to intensify the pressure on Woods. "At that time I wasn't exactly hitting the ball where I wanted," Woods said.

Woods was on his nemesis hole, the par-4 11th. He found weeds and a ditch off the tee and sank a clutch five-foot putt to salvage a bogey, falling into a tie for the lead with Mahan where he stayed until the critical birdie at 16. Woods had three bogeys and a double bogey at the 11th.

"Great playing. Takes a lot of talent to make 5 or worse four different ways," Woods said sarcastically. "Funny thing is I didn't feel bad over any tee shot. For some reason, just one of those holes that just got me for the week."

The week's five-over par showing by Woods at the 489-yard 11th matched the worst hole for Woods in any non-major tournament in his career, a dubious mark set at Kapalua's first hole in the 2002 Mercedes Championship.

Mahan, whose only US PGA title came at the 2007 Travelers Championship, shared fourth at last week's Travelers and sixth two weeks ago at the US Open. Kim was third on the all-American leaderboard, four strokes off the pace. Bryce Molder was fourth on 272 with US Open champion Lucas Glover and Brandt Snedeker fifth on 273.

Molder and countryman Paul Goydos claimed British Open berths with their results in a select series of events over the past few weeks while Snedeker also booked a trip to Turnberry in two weeks by virtue of a top-five showing.

Roger Federer wins sixth Wimbledon title

Roger Federer made history on Sunday when he defeated brave Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 16-14 to win a sixth Wimbledon title and claim a record 15th Grand Slam crown in a classic final. But the Swiss second seed was given a huge fright by the American sixth seed who led by a set, had four set points in the second and didn't drop serve until the final, heartbreaking game of the match.

In an extraordinary conclusion, the last set was the longest ever played in a men's Wimbledon final. Federer, 27, now has six Wimbledon titles, five US Opens, three Australian Opens and a French Open trophy, and has surpassed Pete Sampras's mark of 14 majors.

He will also reclaim his world number one spot from Rafael Nadal, who beat him in a five-set final here last year, on Monday. Sampras, and fellow greats Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg were on hand to watch Federer's bid for history, as were Hollywood giants Woody Allen and Russell Crowe, such was the attraction of the Centre Court blockbuster.

Federer, in a record seventh straight Wimbledon final and 20th Grand Slam title match, saw Roddick save four break points in the 11th game of the opening set and he immediately paid a heavy price. The Swiss went wide with a crosscourt drive, which put him set point down, and then repeated the error to hand the American the opener 7-5.

Roddick, whose only Grand Slam title came at the 2003 US Open, lost the 2004 and 2005 finals here to Federer, just two of his 18 defeats in 20 career meetings with the world number two. But on Sunday he wisely adopted the same game plan he employed in his semi-final win over Britain's Andy Murray, a powerful mix of trademark big groundstrokes punctuated by regular visits to the net.

Serve again dominated the second set before Roddick stretched to a 6/2 lead, and four set points, in the tiebreaker but Federer fought back and levelled the final when the American unleashed a wild backhand. Roddick was now under siege, saving a break point in the sixth game of the third set before another tiebreaker was required.

Federer went to three set points, two of which Roddick saved, but the Swiss opened up a two sets to one lead when a Roddick service return fell comfortably into his hitting zone and he despatched a fierce forehand winner. Roddick, playing in his first Grand Slam final since the 2006 US Open, refused to surrender and broke Federer to lead 3-1 in the fourth set on his way to levelling the final.

Federer again failed to convert a break point in the second game of the decider before he was forced to fight off two on his own serve in the 17th game. But eventually Roddick, always having to chase the game, wilted in the 30th game of the decider when he ballooned a weary forehand long.

Serena captures third Wimbledon title

Serena Williams clinched her third Wimbledon title and 11th Grand Slam crown with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 victory over sister Venus, the defending champion, on Saturday. The victory added to her 2002 and 2003 wins at the All England Club and shattered Venus's hopes of a hat-trick of titles and sixth overall which would have taken her level with Billie Jean King.

Saturday's final was the fourth all-Williams title match-up at Wimbledon and eighth in all Grand Slams with the win giving Serena the edge in head-to-head meetings at 11-10. Of the eight major finals the sisters have faced each other in, Serena has won six.

"It feels so amazing. I'm so blessed. I feel like I shouldn't really be holding the trophy, Venus should be holding it, she always wins," said Serena who currently holds three of the four Grand Slam titles. "I can't believe I have won 11 majors. It's a real honour."

Venus, 29, admitted Serena had been the better player of the two. "She was just too good today. She had an answer for everything and played the best tennis," said Venus after a final fittingly staged on US Independence Day. "I don't think the loss has set in yet, that's why I'm still smiling. But I have had some great times here and I'm looking forward to coming back next year."

Serve dominated the first set with 27-year-old Serena fighting off the only two break points in the eighth game and it was the younger of the two sisters who seized control of the tie break. Serena went to three set points by forcing Venus to scramble from side to side before putting away a powerful crosscourt forehand.

Venus saved the first set point but was powerless when a pinpoint lob from her sister left her stranded at the net. It was the first set Venus had dropped at Wimbledon since the third round in 2007, a run of 34 consecutive winning sets.

Serena, who had saved match point in her marathon semi-final win over Elena Dementieva, carved out her first set point when Venus double-faulted to hand her a 4-2 lead and revenge for last year's final defeat to her sister looked likely.

Second seed Serena held to love, backed-up by her 12th ace of the match, to lead 5-2. She then wasted three match points in the eighth game but clinched the title when Venus netted with a forehand.

Owen could be on brink of Man Utd move: Reports

Former European Footballer of the Year Michael Owen may be on the verge of joining Manchester United from relegated Newcastle United, according to several British media reports on Friday. The England international could move to the Premier League champions if he passes a stringent medical examination, said the reports.

A Manchester United spokesman said that the club would not comment on the speculation. Owen shot to fame with Liverpool and England before joining Real Madrid in 2004. He had a single, frustrating season at the Bernabeu, where he played well but never managed to cement a first team place, before moving to Newcastle in 2005.

Owen has since struggled for form and fitness and fallen out of favour with England manager Fabio Capello. Last month he said he would be leaving Championship (second division) side Newcastle within weeks. He won the European Footballer of the Year award in 2001.

Haas rolls back years to reach first Wimbledon semis

Tommy Haas rolled back the years as the former world number two defeated fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the first time on Wednesday. At 31, Haas is the oldest man left in the draw, but the 24th seed showed he can still cut it at the highest level with a superb display of grass court tennis.

The German will face five-time champion Roger Federer in the last four as he bids to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time in his 13-year career. If he can somehow shock Federer, he would be one win away from becoming the oldest Wimbledon champion since Arthur Ashe in 1975. It is seven years since Haas was rated as the second best player in the world but a succession of injuries, including a recurring shoulder problem, have forced his ranking outside the top 30 since those heady days.

Things began to look up for Haas at the French Open last month when the Florida-based star pushed Federer all the way in a dramatic five-set match. After beating Djokovic in the final of the grass court tournament in Halle last month, Haas had spent over 10 hours on court at Wimbledon, much of it in sweltering heat, to get to this stage for the first time.

After 10 games of impeccable serving from both players, Haas earned the first break. The German was attacking the net with increasing success and he took the first set with a perfect smash. The second set followed a similar pattern. Djokovic struggled to make an impact on Haas's serve, then dropped his own serve to go 5-6 down.

Haas finally faltered as he served for the set and Djokovic broke back before earning three set points in the tie-break. Even that couldn't halt Haas. He saved all three break points and went for the kill, taking the set with some sublime serve and volley play.

Djokovic refused to go quietly and the Serb broke for a 4-3 lead before serving out the third set. Yet as the temperature rose on Court One, Djokovic began to wilt and Haas broke in the fourth game to move 3-1 ahead. That was one blow too many for Djokovic as Haas closed out a famous victory.

Saina's achievement bigger than Sania's

The hype around tennis ace Sania Mirza may be bigger but ace shuttler Saina Nehwal clearly has the edge in terms of performance, feels badminton legend Prakash Padukone. Comparing both the Hyderabadis's achievements, Padukone said the fact that Saina has beaten more higher ranked players than Sania tilts the balance in the shuttler's favour.

Prakash felt Saina, who recently won the Indonesian Super Series, had it in her to become the world number one within two years' time. "Saina has all the qualities to become the world number one, provided she continues to work hard and maintain her form," Prakash said on the sidelines of the media conference to announce the entries for the Tata Open Badminton tournament commencing at the Cricket Club of India on Wednesday.

Prakash said from whatever little he has seen of Saina's game of late, she seems to have improved her net play and movement on the court. "She has improved her play at the net and is also moving better. She has always been fit but now seems fitter. But she should not rest on her laurels and strive to get better in all these areas," he said.

Prakash also asked the men shuttlers, five of whom are in the top 50, to take inspiration from Saina's performance and put up better displays at the international level. "They should draw inspiration from Saina's performance. After all the facilities for her and them are the same. What I feel is that they need to improve their self-belief when playing against the top players from China, Indonesia and so on," he felt.

The former All England champion said that in tournaments like Super Series a player needs to get past three or four very highly rated rivals before winning the title. Prakash agreed that the depth in women's competitions were not as high as the men's, but said it did not take anything away from Saina's performance.