First-time Wimbledon winners Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova will bid to retain their titles in the next fortnight.

Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova defend their titles when the 126th edition of Wimbledon begins next week, but the odds are against both of them lifting the trophies for the second year in a row.

Such is the competitive nature of modern tennis, this feat was last achieved back in 1986 when Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova completed the double double. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

Serena Williams proudly shows off her fourth Wimbledon crown but can she win a fifth?

The news that Serena Williams is to return to action for the first time in nearly a year certainly gives added spice to the build-up to the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon.

Williams has been sidelined since winning her fourth title at the All England Club since July, not hitting a ball in anger unless you count a money-spinning exhibition match against Kim Clijsters in Belgium in front of a record crowd for a tennis match.

But days before she had stepped on a shard of glass in a restaurant in Germany to set in course a train of events which she will want to banish to the back of her memory bank. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

Rafael Nadal gets his teeth into his sixth Barcelona Open crown.

Another clay-court tournament, another win for Rafael Nadal.

This part of the tennis season is becoming all too predictable, with the world number one hoovering up titles in Monte Carlo and now Barcelona with imperious ease for the loss of just one set.

It was his seventh straight title in Monaco, a record which will take some beating, and sixth in seven years in the Catalan capital. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sports Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

Liverpool's Fernando Torres is being linked with a big-money move to Chelsea.

With the wheeling and dealing of football's transfer deadline day in full swing, Europe's top clubs have the last chance to strengthen their squads for the challenges ahead.

But with the stakes high, an ill-timed gamble in an inflated transfer market can lead to a downturn in a team's fortunes and it's significant that the real giants of club football – the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United – rarely make permanent signings in mid-season. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Football

After a quiet 2010, Usain Bolt will be seeking to reassert his dominance next year. (AFP/Getty Images)

CNN's World Sport will be broadcasting its predictions for 2011 in upcoming shows between December 31-January 2. In the fifth of a series of preview blogs, Paul Gittings takes a look at sprint star Usain Bolt's prospects at the World Athletics Championships.

The 2011 track and field season will be crucial in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics, and the sport’s top stars will want to lay down a marker with their performances in the major championships.

The question on everyone’s lips will be: Can Usain Bolt repeat his triple triumphs at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2009 Berlin world championships - and again break world records to boot?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Athletics

Tiger Woods has had a turbulent 12 months following revelations about his personal life.

It is just under a year since Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant near his Florida home and set in chain a sequence of events which saw his tangled personal life become front-page news for week after week.

It was a public relations disaster and Woods went into a self-imposed exile, only returning to competitive golf for the Augusta Masters in April.

A fourth-place finish at the first major led many to predict that it would take only a matter of weeks for the 14-time major winner to regain his former preeminence and dominate his fellow professionals.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Golf •World Sport Analysis

The four participants in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf battled it out for over $1 million in prize money.

Golf's silly season officially began with the PGA's rather loftily titled Grand Slam of Golf, which took place in the sun-kissed paradise of Bermuda recently.

It brings together the four winners of the year's majors who play over 36 holes. The winner takes home  a cool $600,000  with generous prize money for the other three.

PGA champion Martin Kaymer and U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell snapped up their invitations but unfortunately for the organizers, Masters champion Phil Mickelson understandably decided to put his family first after a long season and skip the event, while British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was injured.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sport Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Golf

Graeme McDowell has that winning feeling after beating Hunter Mahan in their crucial singles match at Celtic Manor.

Forget the rain delays or the row over ticketing arrangements for the final unexpected day of play at Celtic Manor, the Ryder Cup has cemented its status as the biggest and best one-off team event in world sport bar none.

It brings together a collection of multi-millionaires, who spend their whole year in pursuit of individual glory, to play for their country, or in Europe's case their continent, with no prize money at stake.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sports Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Golf

John Isner proved a hero at Wimbledon but can he become a grand slam winner at Flushing Meadows ?

In the not so distant past, the U.S. Open was dominated by American tennis legends such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and before that John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, but going into next week's final grand slam home hopes are slim at best.

Andy Roddick may have moved back into the top 10 in the world rankings and Mardy Fish pushed Roger Federer all the way in the Cincinnati final, but it's really hard to make a case for a home player to triumph at Flushing Meadows.

Strip away the Williams sisters (Serena is injured for the final grand slam of the year) and Roddick and the cupboard is worringly bare, and none of that illustrious trio is getting any younger.

The USTA, rather like their counterparts at the LTA in Britain, has come under heavy criticism for not producing the successors to the likes of Sampras and Agassi, or even Roddick, despite the huge revenues raked in by their home grand slam.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Sports Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Tennis

Tiger Woods pulled out of the Players Championship on the final day with a neck injury.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin caused quite a stir when he said Tiger Woods would not be an automatic choice in his team for the Ryder Cup clash against Europe at Celtic Manor later this year.

Pavin was reacting as Woods slipped further outside the eight guaranteed selection spots in the latest American standings, meaning if the situation remained the same the world number one would have to rely on his largesse to make the team as one of his four picks.

All-time majors leader Jack Nicklaus was unusually outspoken when saying Pavin would need a "brain scan" if he did not to pick Woods, but with respect to a golf legend, the bald facts, not to mention the world number one's current off course difficulties, do not make this so cut and dried.

Because for all his supreme talents, Woods has a losing Ryder Cup record of 10 wins against 13 defeats.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN Digital Sports Writer, Paul Gittings
Filed under: Golf