Former winner Serena Williams crashed out of the French Open on Wednesday leaving seventh-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to face Australian Samantha Stosur for a place in the final at Roland Garros. Kuznetsova fended off a determined fightback by U.S. world number two Williams to reach the last four with a draining 7-6 5-7 7-5 triumph over the 10-time Grand Slam champion in two hours 46 minutes.
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Dementieva dumped out of French Open
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva followed third-ranked Venus Williams in departing the French Open at the third-round stage after being upset by Samantha Stosur on Saturday. The 30th-seeded Australian won 6-3 4-6 6-1 to equal her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament
Putin to the West: Hands Off Ukraine
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister and former president, is not renowned for his love of literature. But on Sunday he gave Russian journalists an unexpected reading tip: the diaries of Anton Denikin, a commander in the White Army that fought the Bolsheviks after the Revolution in 1917
Why does Russian energy giant Gazprom wield such power?
Riding through the streets of Moscow or flipping through channels of Russian TV, it’s difficult to escape messages from the country’s natural gas monopoly, Gazprom.
Russia and Ukraine Battle Over Their Shared History
Fresh from their conflict over gas in January, Ukraine and Russia are again in the midst of a heated battle — this time about the countries’ shared Soviet past. As Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko this week lamented that Ukraine had become “a hostage in the fight between two totalitarian regimes — fascist and communist” and called for Soviet-era symbols around the country to be torn down, his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev ordered the creation of a presidential commission “to counter attempts to harm Russian interests by falsifying history.” These latest salvoes represent an intensification of the ongoing war of words between the two countries over their closely linked histories.
Russia to Gays: Get Back into the Closet
Being gay is not supposed to be a crime in Russia. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1993; six years later, the law that sent gays and lesbians to psychiatric wards was annulled. But Russia would still rather have its homosexual citizenry invisible — and silent.
Nadal edges Djokovic in four-hour battle
Clay-court king Rafael Nadal saved three match points before defeating third seed Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6 7-6 in an epic four-hour struggle to reach the Madrid Open final on Saturday.
Natural-gas pipeline explodes in Russia
Four or five people were injured when a natural-gas pipeline exploded in southwest Moscow on Sunday, sending flames up to 300 meters into the air, a Russian state-run news agency reported.
Gorbachev, Shultz, Nunn, Perry Urge a Nuclear-Free World
President Obama’s call for a “world without nuclear weapons,” and his agreement with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to work towards just that, have helped revive an issue that slipped off the foreign-policy agenda following the end of the Cold War two decades ago. But nuclear disarmament hasn’t been completely forgotten in recent years. In 2007, four diplomatic heavyweights — former U.S
Serena loses World No.1 spot to Safina
Dinara Safina will go to the top of the world rankings in place of Serena Williams after the American’s shock defeat at a tournament in Spain, the WTA announced on its official Web site www.sonyericssonwtatour.com. Williams went down 6-4 3-6 6-1 to Klara Zakopalova at the Andalucia Open in Marbella which means the Russian will go to world number one in the ranking lists released on April 20. Safina is only the second Russian woman, after Maria Sharapova, to claim the top spot and it will match the achievement of her brother Marat who was the top men’s player in the world in 2000