Wimbledon Semi Finals

Wimbledon semifinal by tearing through Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. "I'm just going to pretend, when they say, 'Come on Andy,' they mean me," Roddick said. As Murray bids to become the first male British Wimbledon finalist since 1938 and its first champion since 1936, his support on Centre Court will boom, but so will the serves of an opponent who reached the Wimbledon finals in 2004 and 2005, losing both times to Roger Federer, who just qualified for his record 21st straight Grand Slam semifinal with a masterful 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (3) win over Ivo Karlovic.

Almost certainly before Roddick and Murray get going on Friday, Federer will oppose the 31-year-old Tommy Haas -- who beat No. 4 Novak Djokovic on grass for the second time this summer, 7-5, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, and found his fourth Grand Slam semifinal but first in the Northern Hemisphere -- yet, oddly, for a five-time champion such as Federer, all the pre-Friday noise will steer elsewhere. It will go toward Murray as it has all fortnight, but it will go also to the 26-year-old veteran Roddick: the serve Stefanki calls the best in the game, the tete-a-tete against one of the game's best returners, and Roddick's very presence, a berth which brought him relief.

Since losing to Federer in three sets in the 2005 final, he had agonized through bleak and dour Wimbledons. Seeded No. 3 in 2006, he found Murray in the third round, took a 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4 defeat and bemoaned the slowing of the All England Club grass courts. Seeded No. 3 in 2007, he reached the quarterfinals and led by two sets, but saw Richard Gasquet of France hit a stunning 93 winners and appeared crushed. Seeded No. 6 in 2008, he lost in the second round to Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in four sets and sounded distraught. "You know, when you've seen the Rolling Stones from the front row, and then all of a sudden you're like, seven or eight rows back . . . " he said then.

AIG stock

AIG plans to reduce its debt under a Federal Reserve credit line by $25 billion by handing over stakes in two non-U.S. life insurance units, the insurer said last week. The New York-based company has tapped about $40 billion from the line. AIG has received four bailouts, totaling $182.5 billion, after agreeing in September to turn over a majority stake to the U.S. when the company was overwhelmed by losses on bets tied to the housing market. In addition to a $60 billion credit line, the rescue includes $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-linked assets owned or insured by the company, and an investment of as much as $70 billion.

“We believe there is an excellent chance that we can repay the government,” Liddy said. “The government is not prepared to make any adjustments” to the arrangement that turned over majority control to the U.S., he said. “My hope would be that as we make progress in the overall restructuring, that maybe those conversations will bear fruit.”

Liddy’s remarks echo comments he made to Congress last month when he said the company can pay back the credit line and a $40 billion stock investment within five years by selling units or holding stock offerings for businesses. The insurer may need more time if markets worsen, he said then. AIG has disclosed transactions raising about $6.7 billion, striking deals to sell a U.S. auto insurer, an equipment guarantor, its New York headquarters and a Japanese office tower.

Wimbledon quarter finals

Today Andy Murray plays JC Ferrero in the Wimbledon quarter finals. I have been wading through the pages of opinion about who is going to win Wimbledon this year and can't seem to find the answer. I know nothing about tennis. I find it about as interesting as watching cricket or playing Pacman BUT, I always know who is going to win. I have a scientific theory about the success rate of each tennis player and it ALWAYS works. It's all about the eyes.

Successful tennis players have eyes that are closer together than mere mortals and it's all about evolution. Eventually the top tennis players will all just have one big eye in the middle:- The men's quarter-finals are due to take place at Wimbledon today, with British eyes all trained on the home favourite Andy Murray.

Andy Murray kept British tennis hopes alive as he powered into his first Wimbledon semi-final in the centre court heat. The 22-year-old Scot beat former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets 7-5 6-3 6-2. He said: "To get to the semi-finals for the first time is nice and I'll try my best to go further." Murray said he made "quite a few" mistakes early in the match but started to settle down after the first set.