Andy Murray and Laura Robson share Wimbledon spotlight

sports

Britain's Andy Murray and Laura Robson will both take to Centre Court on Friday after rain affected the schedule at Wimbledon.

Robson will play Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino in their second-round match at 13:00 BST, with the weather preventing them from appearing on Court Two on Thursday.

Murray will hope to take another step through an increasingly open draw when he plays Tommy Robredo in the third round at approximately 17:00, after 15th seed Nicolas Almagro takes on 24th seed Jerzy Janowicz.

Play media

Playing on Centre Court could prove advantageous, with the weather forecast suggesting the roof might be required at some stage in the day.

Robson, 19, upset 10th seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round, opening up a potential path into the second week of the tournament.

Duque-Marino, 23, is happiest on clay courts but battled through three rounds of qualifying and beat world number 36 Julia Goerges in the main draw on Tuesday.

"She's tough for sure, she's pretty consistent," said Robson. "I think she's got quite a nasty little slice, so it's going to be a tough match."

Second seed Murray, 26, will hope to avoid the fate of Rafael Nadal,Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, all of whom have made early exits.

Almagro is the highest seed remaining in Murray's half of the draw at 15, but the Scot refuses to look beyond his next match and a place in the last 16.

He faces an experienced campaigner in the 31-year-old Robredo, who has fought his way back up to 29 in the world rankings after slipping as low as 471 last year when he missed five months with a leg injury.

"At his age, it's obviously a good effort to come back from a tough injury, but he's a top player," said Murray.

"He had a good win [in round two] against Nicolas Mahut, who has been playing well on the grass. He's very, very experienced. He's extremely fit. He won three matches in a row at the French Open from two sets to love down. He fights right until the last point.

"When he's not injured, he's been in the top 20 in the world for a number of years. He knows how to win tennis matches, so it's a tough match for me."

This time last year, Robredo was ranked 266  and he has since won the 10th ATP title of his career in Casablanca. He was one of the stories of the French Open when he became only the second man ever to come back from 0-2 down in three consecutive Grand Slam matches.

He has also won two of his four previous matches against Murray, although they were their first two meetings in 2006 and 2007.

"I have nothing to lose," said the Spaniard. "I'm enjoying myself. I'm playing great tennis. It's lovely to be in a Grand Slam playing one of the best players on tour.

"Also he's British, so he's going to have the crowd, we're going to have Centre Court. It will be lovely to be on Centre Court here again."

He added: "If I have no chance, I don't go into the court, I go home. This way I have one more day of holiday.

"So I'm going to go for it; I'm going to go into the court and try my best. If I have a chance, I will try to get it. If not, then I'll congratulate him, best of luck to him, see you next time."

Read More

Celtics, Nets make mega-trade on NBA draft night

The breakup of the Boston Celtics appears to be entering its second stage, and the Brooklyn Nets may have taken their role as Eastern Conference contenders.

Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has agreed to waive the no-trade clause in his contract in order to join the Nets with teammate Paul Pierce as part of a blockbuster deal that has been agreed on in principle.

The deal is also expected to send Celtics guard Jason Terry to Brooklyn, with the Celtics netting three first-round draft picks, Keith Bogans (in a sign and trade), Kris Humphries (expiring contract after next season), Gerald Wallace (three years, nearly $30 million remaining), and Reggie Evans (two years, $3.3 million). In order for Garnett to agree to the deal, the Nets agreed to guarantee his entire salary for the 2014-15 season, which was $12 million in all but only protected for $6 million if he was waived. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the talks.

Yet the two sides need Pierce's 2013-14 salary to make the numbers work for salary cap purposes, meaning the deal can't be formalized until July 10. The trade would accelerate the Celtics rebuilding process that began in earnest last week when former coach Doc Rivers was, in essence, traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a 2015 first-round pick.

The picks that they'd net would be from 2014 (with some protections), 2016 (unprotected) and 2018 (unprotected). The Atlanta Hawks have the right to swap their 2014 pick with the Nets, meaning the Celtics would get the worse of the two picks. Bogans would have to go to the Celtics as part of a sign-and-trade.

While Garnett may need some time to consider this opportunity, it seems likely that he would welcome the chance to contend with new Nets coach Jason Kidd in Brooklyn rather than remain during Boston's inevitable decline. Yahoo! Sports first reported the talks.

Read More

Mortgage rates jump to 2-year high

business

 

WASHINGTON — US mortgage rates have suddenly jumped from near-record lows and are adding thousands of dollars to the cost of buying a home.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed loan soared this week to 4.46 percent, according to a report Thursday from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. That is the highest average in two years and a full point more than a month ago.

The surge follows the Federal Reserve’s signal that it could slow its bond purchases this year. A pullback would probably send long-term interest rates even higher.

In the short run, the spike in rates might be causing more people to consider buying a home soon. Rates are still low by historical standards, and would-be buyers would want to lock them in before they rise further.

But eventually, more expensive home loans could price some people out and slow the housing market’s momentum.

‘‘People are getting off the fence a little bit more or choosing to buy now instead of choosing to buy three months from now,’’ said Anthony Geraci, a Cleveland real estate broker-owner.

Mortgage rates are rising because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for most long-term interest rates. The 10-year yield began rising from near-record lows in May after speculation grew that the Fed might be closer to reducing its bond purchases.

In early May, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage was 3.35 percent, just above the record low of 3.31 percent.

But rates began to surge after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke made more explicit comments about the Fed’s plans. He said the Fed would probably scale back its bond-buying later this year and end it next year if the economy continued to strengthen.

The rate on 30-year loan soared from 3.93 percent last week to 4.46 percent this week — the biggest one-week jump in 26 years.

The effect on buyers’ wallets in just the past two months is striking.

A buyer who locked in a 3.35 percent rate in early May on a $200,000 mortgage would pay $881 a month, according to Bankrate.com. The same mortgage at a 4.46 percent rate would run $1,008 a month.

The difference: $127 more a month, or $45,720 over the lifetime of the loan. Those figures don’t include taxes, insurance, or initial down payments.

The rate hike comes at a critical time. Low mortgage rates have helped fuel a housing recovery that has kept the economy growing modestly, despite higher taxes and steep federal spending cuts.

Lower rates have also inspired a refinancing boom over the past two years. Many homeowners have locked in rates below 4 percent. That has lowered their monthly payments, leaving them with more cash to spend elsewhere and fuel more economic growth.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing instrument, soared this week to 3.50 percent — its highest point since August 2011 — from 3.04 percent last week.

Read More

Obama heads to South Africa with Mandela on his mind

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama heads to South Africa on Friday hoping to see ailing icon Nelson Mandela, after wrapping up a visit to Senegal that focused on improving food security and promoting democratic institutions.

Obama is in the middle of a three-country tour of Africa that the White House hopes will compensate for what some view as years of neglect by the administration of America's first black president.

Before departing Dakar, Obama was scheduled to meet with farmers and local entrepreneurs to discuss new technologies that are helping farmers and their families in West Africa, one of the world's poorest and most drought-prone regions.

But it was Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president who is clinging to life in a Pretoria hospital, who will dominate the president's day even before he arrives in Johannesburg.

Asked on Thursday whether Obama would be able to pay Mandela a visit, the White House said that was up to the family.

"We are going to completely defer to the wishes of the Mandela family and work with the South African government as relates to our visit," deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters in Senegal.

"Whatever the Mandela family deems appropriate, that's what we're focused on doing in terms of our interaction with them."

Obama sees Mandela, also known as Madiba, as a hero. Whether they are able to meet or not, officials said his trip would serve largely as a tribute to the anti-apartheid leader.

"I've had the privilege of meeting Madiba and speaking to him. And he's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama said on Thursday. "If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."

The president arrives in South Africa Friday evening and has no public events scheduled. He could go to the hospital then.

Obama is scheduled to visit Robben Island, where Mandela spent years in prison, later during his trip.

On Friday morning, Obama will take part in a "Feed the Future" event on food security. That issue, along with anti-corruption measures and trade opportunities for U.S. companies, are topics the White House wants to highlight on Obama's tour.

Obama, who has been in office since 2009, has only visited Africa once in his presidential tenure: a short trip to Ghana at the beginning of his first term.

While acknowledging that Obama has not spent as much time in Africa as people hoped, the administration is eager to highlight what it has done, in part to end unflattering comparisons to accomplishments of predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Food security and public aid are two of the issues the Obama team believes are success stories.

"Africa has seen a steady and consistent increase in our overall resource investment each year that we've been in office," said Raj Shah, head of USAID. "And sustaining that in this political climate has required real trade-offs to be made in other areas, but we've done that."

(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Stacey Joyce)

Read More