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Mathew Scott

Russia through to final after Chakvetadze blows past Mirza
Brad Gilbert would have been smiling. The American former player and coach built his reputation on 'winning ugly' - as the title of his guide to playing the sport suggests.
And the two women who fronted the opening match of the JB Group Classic at Victoria Park last night looked all the while like they'd been taking his advice.
Victory, in the end, wasn't pretty - but it was enough for Vera Zvonareva, who managed to hold her nerve when it counted, downing Zheng Jie 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to get Team Russia's campaign off to a winning start.
Things got better as the night wore on, Russia's number two Anna Chakvetadze dispensing with Sania Mirza, 6-4, 6-4, after a seesawing tussle that went on past midnight, to put her team safely into the Gold Group final.
But, as the stats sheet showed afterwards, the opening match was one neither player seemed to want to win, with 13 breaks of serve, 27 unforced errors and 11 double faults between them as the pair laboured for almost two hours on court.
But a win is a win, no matter how you do it. And the Russian captain said she'd been happy to simply get the match out of the way.
'I knew it wasn't going to be the best match for either of us,' said the world number seven. 'It's just the first match of the season so it's very difficult. I had lots of unforced errors and so did she but I also had some great shots.'
Zvonareva paid tribute to Zheng's court coverage and said the Team Asia Pacific captain gave her what she wanted from her first match after the winter break. 'She's a very tough opponent, she's quick on the court,' said the Russian. 'It's never easy to play against her. But it's always difficult for me. I'm a slow starter.''
The new format of the event - which, like the Fed Cup, features teams playing both singles and doubles - will ensure Zvonareva gets plenty of practice this week as she prepares for the first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open later this month. But she was playing it safe when it came to making any bold predictions about what lies ahead.
'Of course I just want to take another step forward, to be better at the grand slams, to win more tournaments,' she said. 'But there is not one goal, like I want to be number one in the world or I want to win this grand slam.'
The full house last night certainly enjoyed the changes to the event - including the chance to see questioned calls on the Hawk-Eye system replayed on the new big screens.
In last night's doubles clash, the Team Europe combination of Jelena Jankovic and Michelle Larcher de Brito got their team rolling with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Team Americas' Venus Williams and CoCo Vandeweghe.
Williams and Jankovic return to face each other in a much-anticipated singles clash tonight, while Zvonareva and Alexandra Panova (Team Russia) play Zheng and Zhang Ling (Team Asia Pacific), and Gisela Dulko (Team Americas) faces Agnes Szavay (Team Europe).



Zvonareva gives Zheng  a lesson in winning ugly