Sydney - Multiple Davis Cup champion Australia faces unprecedented sanctions including a temporary ban from the competition after refusing Saturday to send a team into what it considers a danger zone. Australia declared Saturday it would boycott next month's Davis Cup tie against India in Chennai over security concerns after the London-based International Tennis Federation (ITF) rejected its request for a neutral venue like Singapore.

The ITF insisted the May 8-10 matches go ahead, warning Tennis Australia (TA) of sanctions if its team stayed home.

Sydney - Australia declared Saturday it would boycott next month's Davis Cup tie against India in Chennai over security concerns after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rejected its request for a neutral venue. The ITF insisted the May 8-10 matches go ahead, warning Tennis Australia (TA) of sanctions if its team stayed home.

TA head Geoff Pollard said it was "unreasonable" to expect the team to play in India during elections.

Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald also criticized the ITF, saying "some thought must be given to the players' safety."

Barcelona  - Russian Nikolay Davydenko checked in for another successful work day on the clay Friday while Rafael Nadal took advantage of a quarter-final walkover as the pair prepared for a Saturday semi-final clash at tennis' Barcelona Open.

Top-seeded world number one Nadal put in some practice time after learning the day before that seventh-seeded Argentine opponent David Nalbandian would not be fronting up for their match due to hip problems which intensified during the previous round.

London  - Wimbledon officials said Tuesday that there are no plans to change the daytime format of the Championships but refused to categorically rule out future play under the new lights which make their debut at this summer's edition.

The upcoming tournament will mark the initiation of the new moveable roof which will allow at least one match to continue when the inevitable rain arrives.

The 1,000-tonne monster covering 5,200 square metres will open and close in less than 10 minutes.

London - Wimbledon officials said Tuesday that there are no plans to change the daytime format of the Championships but refused to categorically rule out future play under the new lights which make their debut at this summer's edition.

The upcoming tournament will mark the initiation of the new moveable roof which will allow at least one match to continue when the inevitable rain arrives.

The 1,000-tonne monster covering 5,200 square metres will open and close in less than 10 minutes.

London - Wimbledon has shrugged off the current world economic woes, handing this summer's champions a massive 13.3 percent pay rise for the upcoming edition.

Officials expressed their monetary solidarity with the game's millionaires who bank in dollars, happily lifting the payout to compensate for the drop in British sterling from around 2 to 1.5 against the greenback.