Rafael Nadal says needs time to get confidence back

An unenthused Rafael Nadal played down his form at the Australian Open and said he would need more time to regain his confidence after digging himself out of a hole against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Defending champion Nadal, who has not missed the last 16 of a grand slam since the 2005 U.S. Open, has set himself modest goals at Melbourne Park and was not feeling more bullish about his prospects after being stretched to a 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5 win over the German in the third round.

"Well, it wasn't bad," Nadal told reporters after the three and a half hour match.

"I think because I won, so I am happy for that. I am less happy about my game, what I was practicing. But, yeah, you know, everybody has not very good days."

The Spaniard had not dropped a set in his first two matches at Melbourne Park and appeared set to do the same against 27th seed Kohlschreiber, but the German threw caution to the wind at two sets down to scramble back to force a fourth.

The tactic came undone at 5-5 in the last, however, an unforced error giving Nadal the break and allowing the Spaniard to coolly serve out and seal the match with a sweetly-struck winner.

Nadal, who defeated Roger Federer in a classic five-set final last year, has struggled to reach his fist-pumping best since being struck down by knee tendonitis after the French Open last year.

He has not won a tournament since April and was bundled out of the ATP Tour Finals in London after losing three straight matches there.

"If I lose here next round, I am gonna have chances to play well during all the season," said Nadal.

"So the Australian Open is a very important tournament, but it is not the end of the world. You have a lot of time to get your full confidence, to play well."

Nadal said he would need to be more aggressive ahead of a fourth-round encounter with big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who bounced out compatriot Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6.

"Always a really difficult opponent, no, because the match is decided in a few points.

"So the thing is to concentrate hard on my serve all the time and try to convert the small opportunities that I can have on the return. That's it."

Source : Reuters

Champion Nadal into fourth round

Nadal has already accumulated six Grand Slam titles Defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-2 2-6 7-5 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber. The second seed's serve was put under pressure and he needed some inventive shots to win in three-and-a-half hours. Fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro survived some anxious moments before beating the unseeded Florian Mayer. The 21-year-old US Open champion served 11 aces but was guilty of 46 unforced errors in a 6-3 0-6 6-4 7-5 victory. Nadal extended his record against Kohlschreiber to 5-0 but it was their closest match to date, and in statistical terms only eight points separated them over the 38 games. "Well, the most important thing is I won, so I'm happy for that," the 22-year-old said. "I am less happy about my game, what I was practising. But everybody has not very good days. "I think I played much better the fourth set. The second set for a few moments I played well, too. But the first set and the third, I played bad and I need to play a little bit more aggressive for my next match." That will be against the gargantuan Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who beat compatriot Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 3-6 6-3 7-6. for more : http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8474055.stm

Sri Lanka overcome India to win Mirpur final

Tri-nation tournament final, Mirpur: Sri Lanka 249-6 beat India 245 by four wickets Scorecard By Oliver Brett for BBC Sri Lanka newcomer Chanaka Welegedara impressed with 3-53 Sri Lanka won the triangular tournament in Bangladesh, beating India by four wickets with a strong team performance. India tossed away wickets freely early on in Mirpur, and without Suresh Raina's brilliant 106, they would have struggled to put up any sort of total. However, their modest 245 all out was overhauled with nine balls remaining. Former skipper Mahela Jayawardene played the key innings, making 71 not out from 81 balls after India seamer Ashish Nehra had limped off injured. Questions will be raised about the wicket for the event in Mirpur. In all seven matches the team batting second won with some ease. But really India could not blame the conditions. With Raina (106 off 115 balls) picking up the baton from Virender Sehwag (42 from 27), the opportunity for a big total was there if only the other batsmen could seize it. The first Indian wicket to fall was unfortunate, Gautam Gambhir bowled off his thigh-pad in the first over, but the next four were entirely avoidable. 606: DEBATE Our selectors axed all the non-performers and replaced them with talented youngsters such as Randiv and Perera, which was the right thing to do Bath Maruwa At a time when they should have been taking stock and waiting for the moisture in the wicket to dry out, Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Mahendra Dhoni tried a succession of extravagant shots outside off-stump, and nicked a succession of catches. Worse was to come when Sehwag, whose firebrand innings demonstrated there were few demons in the wicket, tried to deflect Nuwan Kulasekara through the vacant slip cordon only to give wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara a straightforward catch. India were 60-5 in the 11th over and in huge trouble. Thankfully, they had Raina, who cut, pulled and then produced some wonderful drives over extra cover as Sri Lanka's inexperienced bowling line-up was finally asked a few questions. But they emerged with some decent figures, not least Kulasekara (4-48) and the newcomer Chanaka Welegedara (3-53). India's late renaissance suggested a total of at least 260 might be on the cards, but Zaheer Khan holed out to extra cover after smacking two fours and a six and soon afterwards Raina played across the line and was bowled by Welegedara. Still, the left-hander had registered his third ODI century and first since mid-2008. Ten balls went unused after Sreesanth was the last man out. Raina played the innings of the day, but India lost the final Sri Lanka matched India by losing a wicket from the third ball of their own innings, Upul Tharanga's feet glued to the surface as he nicked Nehra to slip. A 93-run stand between Sangakkara (55) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (49) featuring some eye-catching strokeplay was ended by a brilliant catch from Dhoni, clinging onto a bottom edge off Dilshan. India were just getting back into the contest when Sangakkara edged a wonderful Harbhajan Singh off-break to slip, but Jayawardene batted coolly and India's bowling resources were limited. Nehra got through just two legal deliveries of his second over before creasing up in pain and was unable to continue. Sreesanth was out of sorts, and the back-up spin of Yuvraj and Ravindra Jadeja was not testing enough. Jayawardene picked the gaps intelligently, finding twos where other batsmen would have settled for singles. There was a brief panic when Suraj Randiv became the sixth man to be dismissed, given the weakness of the Sri Lankan tail. But Jayawardene pulled the first two balls of the penultimate over, bowled by Sreesanth, for four to level the scores - and sealed the deal from the third with another boundary.