Djokovic Makes First Wimbledon Final

New world number one Novak Djokovic fought off a resilient display from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to earn a place in his first Wimbledon final.

Djokovic, seeded second, battled back from a break down to take a marathon first set before easing his way to a second in front of a packed crowd on Centre Court.

The Serb then wasted two match points in a thrilling third-set tie-break before eventually sealing a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-7 (11/9) 6-3 victory.

Despite being on the back foot during the opening stages, Djokovic performed admirably in the face of some brutal tennis from his towering opponent and will be confirmed as world number one on Monday, regardless of whether he beats Rafael Nadal, who later beat Andy Murray in the second semi-final, in Sunday's decider.

There was little to suggest that Tsonga would lose at the start of the match as he came flying out of the blocks with a superb display of attacking tennis.

The Queen's Club finalist started in the same way he had finished against Roger Federer in the previous round, breaking Djokovic in the first game with a series of punishing strokes.

Djokovic, seemingly taken aback by the Frenchman's power, appeared to have no answer to his opponent's beast of a forehand.

However, he provided occasional reminders of his brilliance and grew in confidence towards the end of the first set.

Djokovic wasted two break points in the eighth game, but made no such mistake when Tsonga served for the first set.

Both players held to take the set to a tie-break where Tsonga buckled again at 4-6, finding the net with a volley to give Djokovic the advantage.

Tsonga went from bad to worse as he was broken twice in quick succession to trail 4-1 in the second set.

Djokovic was now in full flow, mixing fierce ground strokes with nonchalant drop shots and he took the second set 6-2.

Mindful that Tsonga had battled back from two sets down against Federer, Djokovic looked to close out the match in the third.

A rollercoaster set followed, with both players breaking each other twice to cause another tie-break.

The tie-break proved just as entertaining as the games that had preceded it, with Djokovic spurning two match points, although the second was missed thanks to a stunning ace from Tsonga.

Tsonga had himself squandered three set points before making the fourth one count, forcing Djokovic to return just over the baseline to win the tie-break 11-9.

The hard work Tsonga had put in at the end of the third set was wasted at the start of the fourth as Djokovic stormed into a 2-0 lead after breaking his opponent to love.

Serving later to stay in the match, Tsonga hit a wonderful lob to take the fourth set into a ninth game, but in truth the Frenchman was looking tired and defeat looked inevitable.

Djokovic kept calm to earn two match points after Tsonga put a forehand into the net, and the Serb was soon kissing the Centre Court turf with joy after Tsonga sent a return wide.

Djokovic admitted afterwards that he was struggling to come to terms with the win.

'It's difficult to put it into words,' Djokovic said.

'My dreams are coming true, it's the first finals of Wimbledon. I'm so happy to be playing well. It's hard to express your emotions in such a short time.'

Olympic Park Employee Suspended

An employee has been suspended from the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) after it was discovered she was working as a consultant for West Ham United during the Olympic Stadium bid.

The woman, who is not being named, has been suspended with immediate effect while the potential clash of interests is investigated.

The OPLC board, in charge of securing the future of the Olympic Park site, voted 14-0 in February to make the Hammers the first choice to move into the £486 million stadium. The Hammers were in a head-to-head contest with Tottenham.

A statement from the OPLC read: "It has come to our attention that an employee of the Olympic Park Legacy Company has been undertaking paid consultancy work for West Ham United FC.

"The company had no knowledge of this work and no permission was given to undertake it. This individual had no involvement whatsoever in our stadium process.

"The individual concerned had declared a personal relationship with an employee of West Ham United FC when she joined the organisation and we therefore put robust measures in place to ensure our stadium process was not compromised.

"The stadium team has been based at our law firm Eversheds' offices in the City and only the stadium team had access to information about the bids.

"As soon as this new information came to light the company took immediate action and launched an independent investigation.

"The employee has been suspended pending the outcome of this."

The discovery about the employee's work status came to light today.

West Ham also released a statement, stressing their belief that the bidding process had not been compromised.

The statement read: "We have become aware of enquiries being made in respect of a lady who has undertaken work for West Ham United on a consultancy basis relating to the Olympic Stadium project.

"Having learned of the enquiries, we have undertaken an initial internal investigation.

"We have established that the work that was carried out was not connected in any way to the bidding process for the Olympic Stadium, but procurement project management thereafter.

"We are of the firm view that the integrity of the bidding process has not been compromised.

"We consider that the bidding process was robust and believe that remains the case."

The woman, who has been suspended on full pay, told her bosses at the OPLC that she was in a relationship with a West Ham employee when she got the job at the company.

The OPLC stressed they did not know about any other connections with the east London club until today.

It claimed it had been "meticulous" and taken care to be "robust" about the bid process due to the sensitivity of the hotly-contested campaigns to move into the Olympic Stadium.

The decision to award the Olympic Stadium to West Ham is still subject to possible High Court legal judicial reviews.

The OPLC moved the base for the Olympic Stadium bidding process away from their east London headquarters to their lawyer's offices in central London.

It is believed that this precaution has given the OPLC confidence that no information could be discovered, even accidentally.

This week Tottenham went back to the High Court to continue their bid for a judicial review of the decision to award the Olympic Stadium to West Ham.

Spurs are refusing to accept defeat after last week's decision by Judge Mr Justice Davis to reject their bid and that of Leyton Orient's.

The north London club will now have the chance to make a case in an oral hearing at the High Court.

Dingo Deans to Stay with Wallabies

Robbie Deans thinks something special is brewing in Australian rugby and the New Zealander is determined to be around to enjoy it.

Nicknamed “Dingo Deans” back home, the 51-year-old looks set to forego the chance of succeeding Graham Henry as All Blacks coach after the World Cup and commit his future to the Australian Rugby Union. “First and foremost, we’re doing really well this year and I would like to continue on,” he said recently. “But the priority now is what we’re doing here and now.”

Deans is preparing his side for this year’s World Cup finals, where Australia play Ireland in their second match on September 17th in Auckland. He hopes to lead Australia to a third title at the expense of the feelings of his compatriots.

A master of the dead bat, Deans is not given to the kind of hyperbole that has had ARU chief John O’Neill talking of the dawn of a new “golden era” for Australian rugby. There is little disguising, however, his enthusiasm for young Australian talent at his disposal like backs James O’Connor, Quade Cooper, Will Genia and flanker David Pocock – especially now they have all committed to the ARU beyond the World Cup.

“You build connections, it’s challenging but it’s good fun,” Deans added. “Obviously we’re chasing some outcomes this year but . . . the playing group have all, to a man recommitted. That shows how excited they are to do something. And they’re excited about the opportunity they have in the game and I would love to continue and be part of it.”

Deans played five Tests at fullback for the All Blacks in the 1980s before going on to build his coaching reputation at the Canterbury Crusaders, who he led to five of their seven Super rugby titles.

Even while the Super rugby competition continues and before a ball is kicked in the Tri-Nations, however, you get the impression Deans already knows who he would like in his team when the Wallabies open their World Cup against Italy on September 11th.

“It’s a living document, particularly because of injuries and more so the impact of injuries on those permutations,” he said. “Our picture is becoming much clearer, the front end is often reasonably easy, it’s more where we go to when things don’t go the way we want them to.”

Super rugby has contributed to his selection problems with injuries to winger Drew Mitchell, prop James Slipper, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, number eight Wycliff Palu and scrumhalf Luke Burgess. But it has also given him more options with fringe players putting their hands up for selection. “A year or two previously, if we’d been asked to commit to a group of 30, it wouldn’t have been nearly as challenging as it is right now,” said Deans.

Platini Against New Technology

Uefa president Michel Platini claims the introduction of technology would be bad for football and says the additional referees being used behind the goal-line in European competitions would have seen Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986.England were denied a clear goal in their World Cup defeat to Germany last year, when Frank Lampard’s drive hit the crossbar and crossed the line before bouncing out. That, along with a series of other controversial incidents, brought renewed calls for goal-line technology to be introduced, but Platini will strongly oppose any moves to bring it in.

“In my opinion technology isn’t good for football,” he said. “Nobody (at Uefa) wants to bring it into our sport — and nor does (Fifa president Sepp) Blatter.”

Platini says the two additional referees recently introduced behind the goal-line in the Champions League and Europa League are sufficient, claiming they would have spotted Maradona’s handled effort 25 years ago.

“The two additional referees in each area are a great help,” he said. “They would have seen Maradona’s hand. Football was managed by just one man for 100 years and it was impossible to appreciate everything that happened on the pitch, so sometimes he would make decisions without having seen what went on.

“Now if a referee doesn’t see something it’s because he’s not very good.”

Platini also claims the additional referees have limited diving in the penalty area, and believes no further technology is necessary.

“In the last edition of the Champions League there were three of four decisions that the referees corrected on seeing that the ball had not entered the area,” he said. “There is no more simulation in the area because there is a referee who sees it; we are happy and we don’t need more technology.”

Angry Contador Still Chasing Tour Title

Alberto Contador says it will be "ridiculous" if he is stripped of the Tour de France title should he again win the event which starts on Saturday.

The Spaniard tested positive during his victory last year and though cleared he is awaiting results of an appeal.

"From the beginning of the season I've been the rider who's had the most doping tests, and I've been tested in all the races I've been in," he said.

"The idea victory could be taken away if I win, I just find ridiculous."

Contador is seeking to become the first man for 13 years to complete the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double as he defends his title, starting in Passage du Gois in the Vendee region of western France.

The late Marco Pantani was the last rider to achieve the feat.

Contador tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol on the second rest day of last year's Tour.

He was cleared of wrongdoing by the Spanish federation but the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed against the verdict.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will not hear the appeal until August, meaning that Contador - the overwhelming favourite - could be stripped of all his victories since and including last year's yellow jersey triumph at Le Tour.

The Spaniard has had a winning habit this season, snatching nine victories and using his outstanding climbing abilities to dominate the field in the Giro.

However, the 28-year-old admits his current form is something of an unknown quantity after his exertions in Italy.

Contador said: "As time goes by, I feel more and more rested [after the Giro] but I'm still a bit in the dark because all I did was rest.

"I don't know how I will respond. Undoubtedly, [compared to those who did not ride the Giro], I lack physical but also mental freshness.

"I'm very conscious of the fact there has been more pressure on me off the bike, but all I can try and do is fully concentrate on the race.

"I have to try not to lose focus and get on with what needs to be done to win."

Andy Schleck, who has finished runner-up to Contador in the last two years, will once again be the defending champion's top challenger.

Schleck left Saxo Bank to launch his own outfit, Leopard Trek, with several others. They include his brother Frank and the Olympic and world time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara.

This year's route will favour climbers and the race is likely to be decided during a tough third week in the Alps.