Jankovic upset at Charleston WTA tennis
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki advanced in straight sets and second seed Jelena Jankovic was upset in the quarter-finals of the WTA Family Circle Cup.
Wozniacki reached the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Russian Nadia Petrova while Daniela Hantuchova rallied to beat Jankovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Wozniacki will face seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over American Melanie Oudin.
“I feel like I’m playing very well,” said the second-ranked Wozniacki, who won last week at Ponte Verde Beach, Florida. “I’m very confident, and I’ve got some good results with my play.”
Jankovic won the first three games of the opening set en route to a 6-1 win. But then she fell apart losing the first four games of the second set.
“I played really well in the first set and I played really aggressive,” said Jankovic. “But then I just stopped and I especially had trouble hitting my backhand.”
It marks the first time in three years that Hantuchova has beaten a top ten ranked player.
“Definitely, I felt very good on the court today, even though the first set was not easy,” Hantuchova said.
Slovakian Hantuchova said her strategy changed in the second set.
“I tried to put a little more on the ball, move her a little more around and stay more aggressive, and that made the difference,” she said.
Hantuchova next faces Aussie Samantha Stosur who beat Peng Shuai of China 6-4, 6-1.
Stosur trailed 3-4 in the first set against the unseeded Peng.
“I got that break down, and on that change of ends I thought I had to step it up a gear and not play so many straight shots through the middle and give her a chance to hit it,” Stosur said.
Crosby stars as Pens beat Sens 2-1; even series
The goal he scored was timely, and so was his save. Sidney Crosby’s biggest highlight of all on a night he did it all was the winning goal he created with a bit of dazzling improvisation.
Crosby scored a goal, prevented one and his artful playmaking led to Kris Letang’s winner late in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rebounded to beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Friday night to even the Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.
“It’s impossible to stop him, especially every night,” Senators coach Cory Clouston said about Crosby, who was shut out on two shots as Ottawa won 5-4 in Game 1. “He was the best player on the ice and he showed what he is able to do. When they needed a goal, he made a big play.”
At least three of them, and it’s why the Stanley Cup champion Penguins are going to Ottawa for Game 3 on Sunday tied at 1, not staring at a daunting 2-0 deficit.
Several minutes after Crosby slid on his stomach across the crease to punch away Anton Volchenkov’s shot as it lay inches from the goal line, Crosby began cycling the puck by himself behind the Ottawa net. Looking for an opening to pass or to dart out and take a shot, he crossed the goalie trapezoid three times before finally carrying the puck out and, sliding to the ice, feeding it to Letang at the right point.
Letang’s shot with 4:12 left beat goalie Brian Elliott, who made 29 saves but didn’t get any support after Peter Regin scored on the Senators’ first shot 18 seconds into the game.
“If I would have missed the net (after what Crosby did), I would feel really bad,” Letang said. “He’s a special player, he’s probably the best in the world.”
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury shook off Regin’s second goal in two games and a poor first game to turn aside Ottawa’s next 19 shots. With Crosby’s help, of course.
“We had a couple of chances, one laying right on the (goal) line,” the Senators’ Mike Fisher said. “It was right there. Disappointing, but we’re heading back home.”
The Senators, emboldened by their surprise victory Wednesday on the champions’ home ice, got off to the best-possible start — and the worst for Fleury. On the Senators’ first shift, Jason Spezza controlled the puck along the boards and got it out to Regin, whose shot sailed past Fleury’s outstretched glove and into the net.
With Penguins backup goalie Brent Johnson out with flu-like symptoms, coach Dan Bylsma had to wonder about Fleury’s confidence — already a concern because of his shaky Game 1. But Fleury, 9-2 in his playoff career following up a game in which he allowed four goals or more, settled down to shut out the Senators the rest of the way.
“We stayed with it, and we saw what happens if we stay with it for 60 minutes,” forward Max Talbot said.
The Penguins tied it slightly more than 8 minutes later when Crosby put in a backhander from close range off a rebound of Chris Kunitz’s shot.
Crosby’s super save came with 9:13 remaining, and Ottawa pressing to take the lead.
Volchenkov’s long wrist shot deflected off Fleury and was skittering toward the goal line before a sliding Crosby punched it away. TV replays didn’t show conclusively if the puck would have crossed the line if Crosby hadn’t touched it. Crosby doesn’t know, and doesn’t want to know.
“Right place, right time,” he said. “I didn’t want to watch it. I know it was close. … It’s a split second, but 8,000 things are rushing through your mind.”
A relieved Fleury said, “The puck was out of my reach and I kind of saw him go by behind me. I said a big, `Thank you’ to Sid.”
The game became much more physical than the opener after Ottawa defenseman Andy Sutton leveled defenseman Jordan Leopold with an elbow hit late in the first period. Leopold to lay on the ice for several minutes before being helped to the locker room and didn’t return to the game. Sutton was not penalized.
“He’s suffering from the hit, and he’ll be evaluated further,” Bylsma said.
Crosby and several other Penguins said Sutton’s elbow was clearly raised, but Sutton disputed that.
“Just a hit like any other hit I’ve been doing this year,” said Sutton, who drew a two-game suspension in January for a hit on the Penguins’ Pascal Dupuis. “I saw that he had his head down and moved toward him, and I think it was a clean hit.”
That play led to several minutes of booing by the crowd of 17,132, Talbot fighting center Zack Smith after the period ended, and numerous big hits on both sides.
The Senators played without forward Milan Michalek, who is out for the remainder of the playoffs with a torn left knee ligament after reinjuring the knee Wednesday. They were already missing another of their top six forwards, Alex Kovalev, with a similar injury.
Still, they came within inches of winning both games in Pittsburgh.
“Getting a split on a road is pretty good to start the series off,” Elliott said. “We go home and we have a lot of confidence.”
NOTES: The Penguins scratched Ruslan Fedotenko. He scored seven goals in the playoffs last season. … Pittsburgh had 10 shots in the first period, compared to four in Game 1 and finished with 31. … The Penguins’ victory assures there will be another game at 49-year-old Mellon Arena, which they will vacate after this season. Game 5 will be there Thursday night, following Game 4 in Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Volcano sparks more flight disruptions
A lingering volcanic ash plume forced extended no-fly restrictions over much of Europe on Saturday, as Icelandic scientists warned that volcanic activity had increased and showed no sign of abating — a portent of more travel chaos to come.
Scientists say that because the volcano is situated below a glacial ice cap, the magma is being cooled quickly, causing explosions and plumes of grit that can be catastrophic to plane engines if prevailing winds are right.
“The activity has been quite vigorous overnight, causing the eruption column to grow,” Icelandic geologist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told The Associated Press on Saturday. “It’s the magma mixing with the water that creates the explosivity. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.”
An expansive cloud of grit hovered over parts of western Europe on Saturday, triggering extended flight bans that stranded people around the globe. Continued volcanic activity could produce more plumes if the weather patterns stay the same.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the amount of ash in the plume grew Saturday and that the vast ash cloud is continuing to travel south and southeast. Scientists had planned to fly over the volcano to see how much ice has melted to determine how much longer the eruption could spew ash, but the Icelandic Coast Guard said Saturday’s flight had been postponed.
Aviation experts say the volcanic plume has caused the worst travel disruption Europe — and the world — has ever seen.
“I’ve been flying for 40 years but I’ve never seen anything like this in Europe,” said Swedish pilot Axel Alegren, after landing his flight from Kabul, Afghanistan, at Munich Airport; he had been due to land at Frankfurt but was diverted.
Anxious passengers have told stories of missed weddings, graduations, school and holidays because of the ominous plume, which seemed likely to disrupt world leaders’ plans to attend Sunday’s state funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria in the southern city of Krakow.
So far, delegations from India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and Pakistan have canceled plans to attend the state funeral. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel still planned to attend.
On Saturday, the French prime minister extended the closure of airspace in northern France until Monday morning. British and German airspace is closed until at least 0000 GMT Sunday (8 p.m. EDT Saturday), and British Airways is canceling all short-haul flights to and from London airports Sunday. The Belgian, French and Swiss governments extended their ban until Saturday evening.
Stranded passengers reported the delays were causing financial hardships. Some had to check out of hotels and sleep in the airports.
“I have been staying in a hotel but have now checked out and do not know what I am going to do — I have limited financial resources here,” said Anthony Adeayo, 45, who was due to travel from Britain to Nigeria with British Airways.
Eva Macieyow, 33, said she had been due to depart for Germany with a friend.
“We are a little frustrated,” she said. “Last night we thought we had a flight … but now it has been canceled and we know nothing.”
Shoppers were warned Saturday that continued flight bans could spark shortages of imported fresh fruit and vegetables.
“There are no shortages yet, but we may start to see certain ranges affected if this carries on,” said Christopher Snelling, head of global supply chain policy for the Freight Transport Association.
Italian aviation authorities were closing airspace in northern Italy on Saturday until midday (1000 GMT; 6 a.m. EDT), with airports in Milan and Venice to close. Spain’s Iberia airline is canceling most of its European flights until further notice.
Denmark and Finland’s airspace also remained closed, while Norway and Sweden said some air space in the far north could be opened as the cloud moves south. Air space in the central and southern parts of the Nordics was expected to remain closed at least until Sunday afternoon.
Serbia also closed a small strip of its airspace in the north of the country and said it could close more later. Belarus and Ukraine introduced closures and restrictions.
Australia’s Qantas canceled all flights to Europe on Saturday, and passengers were being offered refunds or seats on the next available flight. The airline said it was not known when flights would resume. Cathay Pacific was already canceling some Europe-bound flights leaving Hong Kong on Sunday.
“The British Airways telephone message says check the Web site for updates but when you check the site it says call the customer services number,” said James Kirkman, 41, who was visiting family in Australia with his two kids. “There’s no information. The kids were due back at school on Monday.”
Southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH’-plah-yer-kuh-duhl) volcano began erupting for the second time in a month on Wednesday, sending ash several miles (kilometers) into the air. Winds pushed the plume south and east across Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and into the heart of Europe.
Authorities told people in the area with respiratory problems to stay indoors, and advised everyone to wear masks and protective goggles outside.
The air traffic agency Eurocontrol said about 16,000 of Europe’s usual 28,000 daily flights were canceled on Friday — twice as many as were canceled a day earlier.
U.S. airlines canceled 280 of the more than 330 trans-Atlantic flights of a normal day, and about 60 flights between Asia and Europe were canceled.
The International Air Transport Association says the volcano is costing the industry at least $200 million a day.
Extra trains were put on in Amsterdam and lines to buy train tickets were so long that the rail company handed out free coffee.
Train operator Eurostar said it was carrying almost 50,000 passengers between London, Paris and Brussels. Thalys, a high-speed venture of the French, Belgian and German rail companies, was allowing passengers to buy tickets even if trains were fully booked.
Ferry operators in Britain received a flurry of bookings from people desperate to cross the English Channel to France, while London taxi company Addison Lee said it had received requests for journeys to cities as far away as Paris, Milan, Amsterdam and Zurich.
The disruptions hit tourists, business travelers and dignitaries alike.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had to go to Portugal rather than Berlin as she flew home from a U.S. visit. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg managed to get a flight to Madrid from New York but was still not sure when or how he would get back home.
The military also had to adjust. Five German soldiers wounded in Afghanistan were diverted to Turkey instead of Germany, while U.S. medical evacuations for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are being flown directly from the warfronts to Washington rather than to a care facility in Germany. The U.S. military has also stopped using temporarily closed air bases in the U.K. and Germany.
In Iceland, torrents of water have carried away chunks of ice the size of small houses. Sections of the country’s main ring road were wiped out by the flash floods.
More floods from melting waters are expected as long as the volcano keeps erupting — and in 1821, the same volcano managed to erupt for more than a year.
Iceland, a nation of 320,000 people, sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic’s mid-oceanic ridge and has a history of devastating eruptions. One of the worst was the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano, which spewed a toxic cloud over Europe, killing tens of thousands.
Lesbian teen sues to force school to hold prom
An 18-year-old lesbian student who wanted to take her girlfriend to her senior prom is asking a federal judge to force her Mississippi school district reinstate the dance it canceled rather than let the couple attend.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi on Thursday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oxford on behalf of 18-year-old Constance McMillen, who said she faced some unhappy classmates after the Itawamba County School District said it wouldn’t host the April 2 prom.
“Somebody said, ‘Thanks for ruining my senior year.’” McMillen said of her reluctant return Thursday to Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton.
The lawsuit seeks a court order for the school to hold the prom. It also asks that McMillen be allowed to escort her girlfriend, who also is a student at the school, and wear the tuxedo.
The district’s decision Wednesday came after the ACLU demanded that officials change a policy banning same-sex prom dates because it said it violated students’ rights. The ACLU said the district violated McMillen’s free expression rights by not letting her wear a tux.
McMillen said she never expected the district to respond the way it did.
“A lot of people said that was going to happen, but I said, they had already spent too much money on the prom” to cancel it, she said.
McMillen said she didn’t want to go back to Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton the morning after the decision, but her father told her she needed to face her classmates.
“My daddy told me that I needed to show them that I’m still proud of who I am,” McMillen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “The fact that this will help people later on, that’s what’s helping me to go on.”
The school board statement said it wouldn’t host the event “due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events” but didn’t mention McMillen. District officials didn’t return calls seeking comment Thursday.
Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country, said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a Washington-based advocacy group.
“A lot of schools actually react rather than do the research and find out what the rights of these students are,” said Presgraves.
In 2002, a gay student sued his school district in Toronto to allow him to attend a prom with his boyfriend. A judge later forced the district to allow the couple to attend and stopped the district from canceling the prom.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., said a bill he’s introduced in Congress would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students. He said at least 10 states have such laws, and his bill is modeled after those.
“This situation with the prom is a perfect example of why we need to protect students from discrimination. In this case it’s a prom. It other cases, it’s getting beaten up or killed,” Polis said.
The school district had said it hoped a privately sponsored prom could be held.
Southside Baptist Church Pastor Bobby Crenshaw said he’s seen the South portrayed as “backwards” on Web sites discussing the issue, “but a lot more people here have biblically based values.”
Itawamba County is a rural area of about 23,000 people in north Mississippi near the Alabama state line. It’s near Pontotoc County, Miss., where more than a decade ago school officials were sued in federal court over their practice of student-led intercom prayer and Bible classes.
Tiger Woods likely to return at Masters
Tiger Woods intends to remain out of golf at least until the Masters, two people with knowledge of his plans told The Associated Press.
Woods has been practicing at Isleworth near his Orlando home the last two weeks, and swing coach Hank Haney flew there during the weekend to work with him. That led to speculation Thursday he was close to playing again.
The two people, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because only Woods is supposed to release such information, say he is likely to play first at Augusta National in April.
Woods twice has gone nine weeks without competing before showing up at a major. The first time was in 2006, when he didn’t play after the Masters while coping with his father’s death, then missed the cut in a major for the first time in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Two years ago, he was out because of knee surgery until winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on a shattered left knee.
Woods has not played since Nov. 15, when he won the Australian Masters in Melbourne for his 82nd career victory. Twelve days later, he crashed his SUV into a tree near his Florida home, setting off shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife.
In his first public appearance Feb. 19 at the TPC Sawgrass, when he apologized for his behavior and confessed to having extramarital affairs, he said he would return to golf and that “I don’t rule out that it will be this year.”
There have been signs during the last few weeks he was getting closer.
Woods returned from family therapy in Arizona on Feb. 28 and began getting into a routine of fitness and practice. Haney was working with Woods on the practice range earlier this week.
Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, came to the CA Championship at Doral this week to do business — Steinberg also is the managing director of golf for IMG, which conducts numerous tournaments around the world.
Meanwhile, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer declined to comment on reports that he had been brought on board to help with Woods’ return. Fleischer said in an e-mail to the AP he could neither confirm nor deny that Woods was a client.
Several reports said Woods was planning his return at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he is the defending champion and a six-time winner on a course that is a short drive from his home.
Bay Hill is the only regular PGA Tour event that Woods has never missed since turning pro.
Tournament director Scott Wellington already had made contingency plans for media and security, as have other PGA Tour events upon learning that Woods had returned to practice.
Wellington said he had not heard anything from Woods or his management team.
“At this point, we still don’t know,” he said. “He has until next Friday to commit. But it was a busy day, for sure. We had a lot of calls, a lot of interest and we sold some tickets. It was interesting.”
Woods won at Bay Hill last year for his first victory after an eight-month layoff from knee surgery.
He is a four-time Masters champion, setting records in 1997 as the youngest winner with the lowest 72-hole score. The Masters is more restrictive of media credentials than any other major, and it is the one tournament where the media is not allowed inside the ropes.
Tournament week is April 5-11.
Woods typically has a press conference on Tuesday of the Masters, and the Champions Dinner also is held that night.
