Former Wimbledon champion, Goran Ivanisevic, has told Andy Murray to give the French Open a miss to ensure he returns to full fitness in time for another assault on the title at SW19.

A lower-back problem, which plagued Murray throughout the clay-court season in 2012 resurfaced at the Italian Open recently, forcing him to retire from his second-round match against Marcel Granollers. He remains doubtful for the second Grand Slam of the year at Roland Garros.

The British number one battled on with his injury last season as he reached the French Open quarter-finals. His Wimbledon bid was not adversely affected by his decision to play through the pain barrier in Paris. He reached the final for the first time before losing to Roger Federer.

Ivanisevic has warned Murray against taking the same approach this year. He believes the Scot’s hopes of winning a first Wimbledon title would improve by taking a break over the next month.

“He’s not the favourite in the French, a lot of guys can beat him there. I don’t know how bad his injury is. If he’s not 100 per cent, I think he and Ivan (Lendl) will decide not to play, which is better,” said Ivanisevic, who lost Wimbledon finals in 1992, 1994 and 1998 before winning in 2001.

“He can get ready for Wimbledon. His chance this year is huge and I don’t think he wants to risk it, playing in the French and injuring himself more.”

According to the tennis betting news on the Bet365 website, the Croat expects Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to battle it out for the French Open, which begins next week.

“I have to go with Nadal. There’s only one guy who can beat him there, Djokovic. He has to pray for weather like this, heavy (overcast). When it’s sunny it’s very tough to beat Nadal,” added Ivanisevic.

Keep up with the latest from Roland Garros with betting news and odds from the dedicated Bet365 website.

Rookie Geno Smith has insisted he is ready to learn from Mark Sanchez while at the same time challenging him for the quarterback position for the New York Jets this season.

The second round draft pick will be battling it out with a quarterback who has led this Jets team for the best part of four seasons, but that’s not to say the youngster won’t have a great chance of establishing himself as the number one, with the NFL betting odds suggesting he may well be in contention to start.

If certain situations had been different, Sanchez would have left this offseason along with the recently released Tim Tebow. As it is, though, the 26-year old is now preparing for his fifth season with the Jets.

While Sanchez managed to keep his starting position last season despite Tebow’s high-profile arrival at the franchise the previous offseason, the quarterback’s form over the year would have seen him dropped by the majority of the other teams in the NFL.

Smith will be well aware that a strong showing in pre-season training camp could be enough to convince the Jets management that he is capable of doing a better job than Sanchez – reflected in the betting NFL markets. But the youngster has been quick to pour praise on Sanchez rather than make any bold statements, although it would be too much to call that praise ‘glowing’.

“He’s (Sanchez) a guy I’m going to be in competition with but at the same time I’m going to learn from. He’s a professional, he’s done it for several years. He’s carried himself well in my opinion.”

“Everything that he’s done, the ups and downs, the overall perception of him may be swayed depending on the games he’s played, but I think he’s a pretty good quarterback and I look forward to competing with him and being around him,” said Smith.

Jason Spezza is refusing to say when he will be able to return to action after finally being able to take part in practice with his Ottawa Senators team-mates for the first time in 15 weeks.

The 29-year-old suffered a back injury during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in January and endured surgery for a herniated disc in his back later in the month.

It had been hoped that Spezza would be able to return to the Senators line-up in the second round of the NHL playoffs, ironically against the Penguins, but the centre insists there is no set timetable for his return to action.

“I want to play, I want to back out there,” he told NHL betting news reporters. “But I don’t want to have any pain. I wish I could the play the next game. It’s all going to be about how I respond. I’ve got to push myself.

“That’s why we’re really going to try and push forward. It might tell me that it’s not time to play and it might respond real well, but I would be lying if I tried to give you a straight answer on a return date.”

Spezza, who has been with Ottawa since 2002 after being drafted second overall the previous year, finished fourth in NHL scoring last season with 34 goals and 50 assists in 80 games.

Ottawa played well in the first round of the playoffs and surprised punters betting on NHL games, despite Spezza’s absence, eliminating the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

The Senators have got used to playing without Spezza though as he has only featured in five games this season. It was initially hoped he would be able to return to action in early April but he has suffered several setbacks during the recuperation process.

Despite collecting his fifth title since returning from a lengthy injury layoff, Rafael Nadal has continued to play down his chances of winning this month’s French Open and his eighth title at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard, playing in his seventh straight final since his return from injury, made it five titles this year with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win against Stanislas Wawrinka to claim the ATP Madrid Open.

The king of the clay-court looked every bit the Nadal of old on his way to a routine victory against his Swiss opponents, claiming victory in just 71 minutes. Once again, Nadal showed no ill-effects of the knee problem that kept him out of action for seven months, playing some scintillating tennis on his way to a 40th title on clay.

Now ranked number-five following his prolonged absence, Nadal has played down his chances of defending the title at Roland Garros he won last year despite struggling with the injury that later ended his season following his early exit at Wimbledon.

“I’ve only played seven tournaments, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to compete to win Roland Garros,” insisted the seven-time French Open champion. “I don’t know it today. The only thinking I have is that how I have played until now has been really good. The results have been really positive.”

While Nadal will be telling the press he doesn’t believe he has a chance, there’s no way the Spaniard won’t head to Paris this month genuinely thinking this is a perfect opportunity to announce his return to the game and begin his climb back up the rankings.

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Buffalo Sabres have announced that interim head coach Ron Rolston has been handed the role on a permanent basis.
Rolston had been in interim charge since 20th February when he replaced the axed Lindy Ruff.

He guided the Sabres to 15 wins in 31 matches since then, although that record was not good enough to propel Buffalo into the playoffs.

They finished in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the eighth-placed New York Islanders.

Earlier in his career, the 46-year-old served as head coach of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and was an assistant hockey coach at Boston College, Harvard University, Clarkson University and Lake Superior State University.

During his seven-season stint with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, he became the first coach in American hockey history to lead the United States Under-18 team to three gold medals – in 2005, 2009 and 2011.

Rolston, who becomes the 16th head coach in the Sabres’ franchise history, had been the coach of the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League since 2011, guiding the team to a 63-44-17 regular-season record during his spell in charge.

Since being formed in 1970, Buffalo have failed to win the Stanley Cup, although they were runners-up in 1975, when they were beaten 4-2 by the Philadelphia Flyers, and in 1999 when they lost out by the same scoreline to the Dallas Stars.

They were Conference champions in both of those seasons as well as in 1980 when the New York Islanders beat them 4-1 in the semi-finals.

Buffalo have endured some lean seasons of late though, only reaching the playoffs twice in the last six years and being knocked out at the first stage – by the Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers – on each occasion.

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Rising stars Ollie Devoto and Tom Dunn have both put pen to paper on new deals at Bath, as the club look to the talent that continues to rise from their academy system.

With Leicester Tigers No.10 George Ford moving to The Recreation Ground for next season, fellow fly-half Devoto will be hoping to push the new signing for a starting role at stand-off.

Devoto, like Ford, has worked his way through the England youth set-up and is now fly-half for the under-20 side, which is a good indication the 19-year-old has the potential for great things in the future.

Meanwhile 20-year-old Dunn looks set to be a future regular in the Bath front-row and the club’s management have clearly seen enough of the hooker/prop to offer him a new deal, as he continues his development.

Former England and Bath forward Danny Grewcock is now the academy director down at The Rec and he feels this pair of youngsters could have a bright future ahead of the in the Premiership.

He said to Betfair Rugby Online: “It’s great news that both Ollie and Tom have agreed new deals.

“They are both working very hard to become first team regulars for Bath, and their respective attitudes are exceptional.
“They aspire to be regular members of the senior squad here, and they both have the potential to achieve that.”

This is just another sign that Bath are moving in the right direction and with a mix of new signings and using the young talent at their disposal from the academy, the South West outfit should start challenging for silverware and Premiership playoff rugby in the coming campaigns.

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The Cleveland Indians may have to do without starting pitcher Brett Myers for a while after the right-hander was placed on the disabled list following an injury to his forearm last weekend.

Although the initial hurt appeared meaningless, an MRI scan has revealed tendinitis in Myers’ elbow and a slight strain to his ulnar collateral ligament, and the veteran must sit out the rest of April as a result.

Unfortunately for Indians fans, the injury could be prolonged further should Myers fail to deal with the pain. Since spring training the 32-year-old has reportedly combatted these growing pains in
his arm and although he was never going to admit it he really should have had a restful April.

In fact, many fans in the betting world have suggested this two-week reprieve from the game could be a blessing in disguise, for Myers hasn’t exactly been on form this spring.

Maybe he was desperate to impress his new manager but the man who saved 19 games last season yet didn’t start once has had trouble adapting to a new position.

In four appearances he’s posted an 8.02 ERA from just over 21 innings, allowing 29 hits that includes 10 homers. Twelve strikeouts prove he can pitch to his old standard but sadly Myers just hasn’t got the arm he used to.

If anything, this injury could just be the first sign of his age and tendinitis is never a good thing to have if you want to play regular baseball.
Myers has never been a consistent starting pitcher and shouldn’t be fielded as one. Instead, the Indians should use his veteran nous when they need it and not strain his arm too much with innings he’ll only fail to deliver.

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Injuries appear to have blighted the early part of the season for many teams and there have been some high profile damages suffered by the stars at several leading franchises. The Dodgers will have to replace Zach Grienke, whilst the Blue Jays could be without Jose Reyes for up to three months with an ankle sprain. On top of all that the Angels’ Jared Weaver will also be out for four to six weeks with a fractured left elbow.

Those players are irreplaceable so the teams concerned will have to make the best of the situation, make do with what they have while keeping a close eye on the market to see if any trades make sense.

Each situation is different and here’s our take on each one. With the injury to Greinke we have found out why the Dodgers have so many starting pitchers and they have options at least to cover the injury. It’s most likely that they will move Chris Capuano into the rotation as acquiring a better option this early in the season is nigh on impossible. Remember that they still have one of the best pitchers in baseball, Clayton Kershaw, leading a pretty good rotation of Chad Billingsley, Josh Beckett and Hyun-Jin Ryu. It’s not easy losing a player of Greinke’s quality and they have plenty of pitching depth and they’ll have to use all of it to compete in the NL West.

Jose Reyes at the Blue Jays might take a little bit more replacing internally and they look a little short of good options. It’s Brett Lawrie who now looks as though he will have to fill in and he’s not the most durable option. Trade targets look thin on the ground and although teams might be willing to part with their starting shortstops later in the season if they fall out of contention, Reyes should be back before the trade deadline, so it looks a case of make-do and mend for Toronto.

Currently 4-8 the Los Angeles Angels are attempting to climb out of a hole without Jered Weaver and that won’t be easy. Garrett Richards, his replacement, has potential but even if he comes through the rest of the rotation has struggled and the Angels might have to consider an aggressive run at a starter who may be available in a trade. They would have to trade away one of their top position prospects to attract an adequate replacement right now and this could be one situation that could be difficult to solve in the short-term for the Angels.

Three injury situations all of which have given their own problems to these sides early in the season and may put them on the backfoot as they chase playoff places.

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Ding Junhui ensured a safe passage into the second round of the 2013 Betfair World Snooker Championship thanks to a 10-5 win over Alan McManus.

The man from China is looking to become the first player from Asia to get his hands of the world title, and the Betfair World Snooker Tips believe that he can justify his favourable odds.

Ding has made up for his disappointment 12 months ago where he was shocked in the opening round by Ryan Day 9-10.
The Star of the East has only once been past the second round on one occasion when he went as far as the semi-final in 2011. He was beaten by free online betting favourite, Judd Trump, in a tight last four clash 15-17 which ended his run.

Ding got his 2012/13 campaign off to a slow start with early exits coming in the Wuxi Classic, Shanghai Masters, Australian Goldfields Open and in the International Championship.

Things got no better for the 26-year by the time the opening major competition of the season arrived. He went out of the first round of the UK Championship in York when defeated by Day once again.

His form did change in 2013 though. His opening title of the campaign arrived in the Players Tour Championship Finals. After finishing third in the order of the merit, Ding picked up wins over Andrew Higginson, Anthony McGill, Mark Allen and Kurt Maflin to reach the final.

It looked as the though the trophy was heading in Neil Robertson’s favour when the Australian took a 3-0 lead but The Chinese Sensation won four consecutive frames to pick up the victory.

Leading into the Crucible there were also semi-final appearances in the Champions League and at the Welsh Open. He was unable to retain his crown in the ranking event in Newport due to a 5-6 defeat to Stuart Bingham in the last four.

James Wade will arrive in Birmingham this week knowing victory against Raymond van Barneveld will all but book his place in the Premier League play-offs in London.

The world number four moved closer to sealing a top-four place in the table with a well-earned 7-4 victory against Robert Thornton in Dublin, moving to 16 points and keeping the pressure on Michael van Gerwen at the top of the league.

Wade had to be at his best to see off a determined Thornton in front of a packed O2 in Dublin, holding his nerve to clinch what could be a crucial two points when it comes to securing his play-off place for the fifth time.

“It was a tough match but I remained focused and got the job done. Robert is a fighter and I had to outfight him a little bit there,” admitted Wade to Betfair correspondent, Wayne Mardle.

“I didn’t think I was going to shake him off as I kept breaking and he kept doing the same early on but eventually I got one break that he didn’t reply to and I’m happy to get another win. My eyes are on the top of the table now. I’m feeling great and I want to go all the way and win this again.”

The 2009 Premier League champion will now take on fellow play-off contender van Barneveld in Birmingham, with the Dutchman lying to one place behind Wade in the table.

But while the Englishman will go into the match full of confidence following his win in Dublin, van Barneveld is coming off the back of a draw against Phil Taylor in a match that he had numerous chances to win.

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