National Post

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So this is ONE way to celebrate …Polish player Jerzy Janowicz rips off his shirt as he celebrates after winning  against French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the end of their ATP Rome Open tennis tournament. (Photo: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

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Canadian tennis player Rebecca Marino quits after cyberbullying
Marino announced on Wednesday she has decided to “step away from tennis.” While the former world No. 38 did not give specifics about the departure, she recently revealed part of the reason why she went on a seven-month hiatus last February was because of cyberbullying.

The 22-year-old told the New York Times last week she has found the Internet criticism that often comes with being a pro athlete overwhelming at times, and it played a role in her deciding to take a seven-month hiatus from the game about a year ago.

“They’ll say, ‘You gave that match away, you cost me such-and-such amount of money, you should go burn in hell,’ or ‘You should go die,’” she told the Times. “And oh, my gosh, that is really scary.” (Photo: Peter J. Thompson/National Post)

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Andy Murray sends home Roger Federer at Australian Open
Andy Murray has finally beaten Roger Federer at a Grand Slam. U.S. Open champion Murray stayed in the hunt for a second consecutive major with a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 win Friday over the 17-time major champion at the Australian Open.

Murray, who served for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set, will play defending champion and top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who was rarely troubled while beating David Ferrer in straight sets in just under 90 minutes on Thursday night, about 2 1/2 hours less than Friday’s semi-final. (MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

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So, um, that went well … Serena Williams smashes her racquet during her women’s singles match against compatriot Sloane Stephens. (Photo: PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images)

Williams hurt her back in the eighth game of the second set, hampering her serve. She had treatment and recovered well enough to give herself a shot at winning the match, but the 19-year-old Stephens kept her composure in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory on Wednesday.

It was the first loss since Aug. 17 for the 15-time Grand Slam winner, ending a run of 20 consecutive wins. She hadn’t lost a match at a Grand Slam tournament since the French Open, where her first-round exit sparked a resurgence in the second half of 2012 that included titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championship.

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From dawn ‘till dusk: Novak Djokovic plays a return during his men’s singles match against Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych on the nineth day of the Australian Open tennis tournament. (Photo: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

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This might get confusing if you lose sight of the ball: Caroline Wozniacki plays a shot on a mirror court at the Adidas by Stella McCartney media launch on January 13, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

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Tell us how you really feel: Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts to a replay of a disputed line call after hitting a return against Andreas Seppi of Italy during their fifth session men’s singles match on day three of the Hopman Cup tennis tournament in Perth on December 31.

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Artin Elmayan Elmayan, who emigrated to Argentina from Europe when it was on the verge of war in 1938 at the age of 21, said he took up tennis as a hobby and has never looked back. Now, aged 95, he is the world’s oldest-ranked player.

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Roger Federer closed the night on Monday with a 1-hour, 34-minute dispatching of Donald Young and stayed in the mix for his sixth U.S. Open title.

Federer, a loser to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals the last two years, is seeded first for the 23rd time at a Grand Slam, breaking the record he shared with Pete Sampras.

“Being back in New York as world No. 1, it’s crazy, and I really, really enjoy it,” Federer said.
Photo: Charles Krupa/The Associated Press

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BALL! Andy Murray becomes the first British (male) tennis player to make the Wimbledon final in 74 years. He is happy about it, as you can tell.

(via nationalpostsports)

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Hope you’ve already had lunch: Talk about leaving it all out on the court.
After quite a point at the French Open — 38 strokes over nearly a minute — France’s Richard Gasquet vomited right there on Court Suzanne Lenglen. His opponent, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, collapsed with a leg cramp and crawled on his hands and knees to a line judge’s chair.

It came 1 hour, 50 minutes into their second-round match Thursday, with Dimitrov serving at 7-5, 5-4, 30-40. Gaquet hit an overhead winner to break serve en route to a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Gasquet blamed his intestinal distress on some fruit, then joked: “The banana is still on Suzanne Lenglen. I was really feeling bad. But he was on the ground. He was even in a worse situation than I was.

nationalpostsports:

That’s a wrap: Serena Williams suffered her worst-ever Grand Slam defeat on Tuesday when France’s Virginie Razzano knocked her out of the French Open first round in a 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 upset.

It was the American’s first opening round loss in her 47 Grand Slam career and earliest exit since losing in the second round to sister Venus on her majors debut at the 1998 Australian Open.

Razzano, who took victory on her eighth match point, will now face Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus for a place in the last 32.