Free Republic

Umpire Carlos Ramos appeared to receive an apology from one of his severest critics on Thursday – as figures emerged showing that male players are penalised far more often than women for bad behaviour. The Portuguese official was pictured in Croatia talking with USTA President Katrina Adams, with witnesses claiming they overheard her saying sorry for the fallout over the Serena Williams sexism row in the US Open final. The conversation — prior to America's Davis Cup semi-final in Zadar — coincides with Sportsmail obtaining data from the last twenty years of Grand Slams displaying the misdemeanours of the two...

MALMO, Sweden - Dozens of anti-Israel activists clashed with police Saturday as they tried to storm a closed arena where Sweden and Israel were playing a Davis Cup tennis match. The activists hurled rocks and firecrackers at police vans as they tried to break through the barricades set up to keep protesters from the arena. Hundreds of riot police pushed them back using truncheons. There were no immediate reports of injuries. At least five people were detained, police spokesman Lars Hakan Lindholm said. The clashes erupted after about 7,000 people gathered at a square in downtown Malmo to hear speeches...

I remember being a 10 year old "patriot" wondering whatever happened to Swedish tennis after McEnroe defeated Borg. Then came Wilander. Then came Edberg. By today, I no longer conceive of my "tiny" Sweden as a nation that, for divine reasons, forever will dispose of magnificent tennis players. Today, Sweden sooner is the foremost breeding ground of UN careerists and suchlike people found on this planet. But despite undeniable, widespread PC idiocy, there's something I still feel is right about our little Viking nation. Ambition. If you decide to confront this challenge, I say: Go, Stefan Edberg!

Bob and Mike Bryan beat the Russian doubles team of Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev in straight sets to clinch the Davis Cup final for the United States on Saturday in Portland, Ore. It's the 32nd Davis Cup title for the U.S., but its first since 1995. Russia was looking to become the first country to repeat as Davis Cup champions since Sweden in 1997-98.

Jan 21, 1:26 AM ESTIraq to Play in Davis Cup Despite War By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIAAssociated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Some tennis players grumble about bad bounces or the sun being in their eyes when they serve. At Baghdad's Alwiyah club, the distractions often are of a lethal variety: distant gunfire, explosions and U.S. helicopters clattering over the courts.American military commanders sometimes meet Iraqi officials at the club, founded by British occupiers in 1924.Tennis might seem incongruous in a city where American soldiers and Iraqi police brace for bomb attacks, residents chafe at power blackouts and gasoline lines, and...