My City starting line-up 29/02/08

MY MANCHESTER CITY LINE-UP

Here is a map of the City of Manchester Stadium, along with my starting line-up and substitutes....I created this while experimenting with Google Maps in our Digital Newsroom seminar...

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A Walk To Avenham Park

This is an exercise that we were required to do to demonstrate our capabilities of creating slideshows. It documents a walk from Foster Building to Avenham Park in Preston. Enjoy...

Sharapova out of Dubai? www.telegraph.co.uk reports the story...

SHARAPOVA PULLS OUT OF DUBAI DUE TO VIRUS

World number one and Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova pulled out of Dubai tournament suffering from a virus. www.telegraph.co.uk leads with the story of the Russian defending her actions...

Maria Sharapova defends Dubai pull-out

Maria Sharapova made what she insisted was a smart decision to withdraw from the star-studded Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships yesterday. Upsetting the organisers, who had used her high profile to publicise the £1.5 million tournament, was a small price to pay, she insisted, in the overall picture of seeking to depose Justine Henin as world No 1.

Smart move? Maria Sharapova defends her decision in Dubai
Sharapova is unbeaten in 14 matches this year - seven of them in the Australian Open, in which she thrashed Henin in the quarter-finals before beating two of the other three players above her in the rankings: the Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic.
The 21-year-old Russian believed that immaculate record was put at too much risk after flying across the Gulf from Sunday's triumph in Doha to the neighbouring Arab Emirates.
"I have done a lot of travelling in the last few weeks," said Sharapova, who has developed a viral infection. "Going to Australia, Israel, then home, with no rest at all, then practising for Doha before making the long trip there. It has taken its toll.
"I have made some wrong decisions in the past. I have played on after getting injured or sick. When you do that, you are liable to hurt yourself. I have a long year ahead of me and I have to be smart about my plans. Realistically, I didn't think I could play five matches here."
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Anna Chakvetadze, another talented blonde Russian, was close to tears after her opening match - not that she was beaten on court but because she was almost beaten up off it just before Christmas.
The sixth seed, who was stretched to breaking point before overcoming the determined Polish qualifier Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, was asked how she had coped with the trauma of being assaulted, tied up and robbed by masked raiders at her Moscow home. "I don't like to talk about it," she lamented, before adding: "You have to fight back in a situation like that."

She was unable to stop the thieves from making off with about £150,000 in cash and valuables.

But she used those stubborn fighting qualities to earn a second-round clash this afternoon with her compatriot Dinara Safina for the probable right to face Jankovic in the quarter-finals.

Nadia Petrova, yet another of the cluster of talented Russians, had expected to be the first opponent for holder Henin today but failed to keep that second-round appointment by losing to the Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik.

The slump of last year's Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli continued with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-1 exit at the hands of Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

World No 9 Bartoli overtook Amelie Mauresmo as French No 1 last October. Mauresmo's recent record reduced her to unseeded outsider status here and she was relieved to go through by a 7-6, 6-2 margin against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Roddick's first title of the season? www.skysports.com/tennis

MR RODDICK'S FIRST TITLE OF THE SEASON IN SAN JOSE

As soon as big-hitting American ace Andy Roddick beat Radek Stepanek in San Jose 6-4 7-5, www.skysports.com/tennis had the write-up published...

A-Rod lands first title

Fourth seed Stepanek overpowered by American's serve

Andy Roddick beat Radek Stepanek 6-4 7-5 to claim his first title of the season in San Jose.

The top seed never faced a break point, using his powerful serve to good effect as he won the event for the third time in his career.

He closed out each set with an ace and, after a low-key start to the year, he is confident he can build on this initial success.

"You want to build on this and use it," Roddick said. "If you get through a couple of tough matches like I did this week, it gives you an opportunity to go on a hot streak.

"I think maybe I got my foot in the door as far as that's concerned and now I need to build on that."

Roddick had played only four competitive matches since winning the Davis Cup late last season, losing in the third round of the Australian Open and winning his only match in this month's Davis Cup tie against Austria.

"It was important for me to come here and play well because I didn't have a good result in Australia and I hadn't really played much tennis this year so far," he said.

"This year might have been more important than other years."

Roddick claimed the decisive service breaks in either set, Stepanek losing his serve to love to open the match before the American broke crucially at 5-5 in the second set.

After winning only 13 points in Roddick's 11 service games, Stepanek explained that he never had the opportunity to find his rhythm.

"It's just the way Andy played," he said. "When I played the guys before, a lot of balls were played. With Andy, the games sometimes go too quickly. Maybe you don't touch the ball or touch it twice but the ball ends up in the fence.

"Today there was no rhythm for me. Usually I'm taking the rhythm of the players but today I didn't get the chance to get mine."

Mauresmo quitting? bbc.co.uk/tennis tells the story...

IS MAURESMO QUITTING TENNIS?

When Amelie Mauresmo, the former number one tennis star, said that she was considering quitting the sport, www.bbc.co.uk/tennis had the story covered...

Disheartened Mauresmo could quit

Mauresmo is a former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo has admitted she is considering retiring from tennis if her struggles with poor form continue.
France's former world number one has won just eight matches since losing her Wimbledon singles title last July.

The 28-year-old told French sports daily L'Equipe: "I sometimes ask myself what the hell I am doing, (playing) in front of half-empty stands.
"In the back of your mind there's always a little something wondering if it wouldn't be better to stop."
Mauresmo's poor run continued in Doha this week when she lost in the second round of the Qatar Open to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn, 7-6 (9-7) 7-5.

"It's typically the type of situation where you wish you were somewhere else," said the world number 29.
"I came to this tournament wanting to do well, but there's always a grain of sand that gets in the works and clogs things up. It's difficult to take."
She added: "I want to carry on playing, and as long as I'm motivated, I'll continue.
"But at the same time I wonder if I don't talk myself into it, will I still have that desire?"