Sydney  - 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained flat on his back in bed on Friday after withdrawing from an ATP quarter-final, his hopes of playing the Grand Slam starting Monday looking grim.

Doctors say the Frenchman, who lost the January 2008 title match to Novak Djokovic, said he is suffering form a bulging disc and will need to remain in bed for several days.

Sydney - Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried has hit an injury crisis with four days to go before the start of the tournament at Melbourne Park as a bad back forced him to withdraw ahead a match in Sydney on Thursday.

The pullout at the Medibank International sent Finn Jarkko Nieminen into the semi-finals, his first of the season and third in a year.

Tsonga had complained of back trouble during previous wins this week, but was unable to take to the court for his quarter-final against the 41st-ranked Finn.

Tsonga lost the Open final last January to Novak Djokovic, the Sydney top seed.

Sydney, Jan. 15 : Former Australian Test great Mark Waugh believes 20-year-old Phillip Hughes is the man who should take the opener's slot in the Australian squad.

Waugh said a fit and firing 20-year-old Hughes was worth the gamble, instead of Phillip Jacques, for the tour to South Africa.

"You could go either way but if you wanted a younger guy you''d go with Hughes," Fox Sports quoted Waugh, who played 128 Tests and was arguably one of the country''s greatest fielders, as saying.

Sydney  - What is it with farmers and their ploughs?

Thirty years of experience shows the superiority of drilling seeds directly into the ground rather than turning over the soil and scattering them along the furrows the plough's discs make.

But many who live on the land seem wedded to their ploughs and are staunchly against what's called "no-tillage" or "conservation farming".

Sydney  - Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong on Thursday was geared up for a practice ride on the hilliest stage of next week's Tour Down Under.

The Australian classic signals his return to competition after three year in retirement.

Cycling pundits are predicting that the 37-year-old Texan will finish in the peleton until the penultimate stage of the six-day race and make his move when the pack goes up Willunga Hill.

Sydney  - The dive on Wal