The Sports Matrix: Friday 13 May 2011

Woods drops out after injury strikes

Tiger Woods yesterday withdrew injured from the Players Championship at Sawgrass for the second consecutive year. Former world No 1 Woods was six over for his first nine holes before quitting, due to a combination of knee, Achilles and calf injuries. MORE

Joyce and Nash lead Sussex home

Sussex beat county champions Nottinghamshire by nine wickets yesterday at Hove. The visitors were bowled out for 342 following on, setting Sussex 184 to win. They made it comfortably, thanks to 88 not out from Ed Joyce and 57 from Chris Nash. MORE

Coaching legend Jackson retires

Phil Jackson, the most successful coach in American sporting history, has retired after his LA Lakers lost in the play-offs. Jackson, who emphasised his team’s mindset, won 11 championships at the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers. MORE

10-man Swansea frustrate Forest

Swansea drew their Championship play-off first leg 0-0 at Nottingham Forest last night despite being a man down for nearly the whole game. Neil Taylor was sent off for a first-minute tackle on Lewis McGugan, but Forest could not break them down. MORE

Bopara continues fine form with ton

Ravi Bopara hit 119 for Essex yesterday, his second century of the season, as his side fought back against Derbyshire at Derby. Bopara, along with his rival for the England Test team Eoin Morgan, will play for England Lions against Sri Lanka next week. MORE

Dalglish signs new Liverpool contract

Kenny Dalglish has signed a three-year contract to become permanent Liverpool manager. He had been caretaker manager since January, since when he has led Liverpool from 12th to fifth in the Premier League. Dalglish said he was “delighted” to sign. MORE

Nadal fights virus and beats Lopez

Despite suffering from a virus, Rafael Nadal beat world No 40 Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-2 yesterday in the third round of the Rome Masters. Nadal will play Maran Cilic in the quarter-final. “I’m not great now,” he said, “but hopefully it will be OK tomorrow.” MORE

Whelan wants to ‘get one over’ City

Stoke City’s Glenn Whelan, who started his career at Manchester City, is especially keen to beat them in tomorrow’s FA Cup final. “When I left I always looked out for their results,” he said. “It’s different now – it would be good to get one over them.” MORE

RFU change job description again

RFU chief executive John Steele was forced by the management board yesterday to change back the job description of the new performance directorship, making it include the national team within the remit, despite Martin Johnson’s recent opposition. MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

There is talk that Manchester City might make a summer move for Barcelona’s dynamo Xavi. City must lift their game, and need a player to build around. If they offer Xavi an enviable pension plan they would have that. MORE

England worry on Green retirement

Fabio Capello faces a goalkeeping crisis. Days after Ben Foster announced a break from international football, it emerged yesterday that Robert Green may follow him and retire from England duty. The West Ham keeper told England staff after the Ghana friendly in March that he no longer wanted to play for his country; he wanted to play but was an unused substitute. Green has not appeared for England since his mistake against the United States in the World Cup last year. He will be contacted before the qualifier with Switzerland on 4 June. Should Green retire, Capello will have lost his two preferred back-ups to Joe Hart. Next in line would be West Bromwich Albion’s Scott Carson, who has three caps. MORE

City hero ‘annoyed’ at final ticket snub

Bert Trautmann, Manchester City’s Cup final legend from 1956, tells i that he has not been offered a ticket for tomorrow’s game by the club. The German goalkeeper said that he was “a bit annoyed”, and that all the “warm-heartedness” had left football. MORE

Carlton House sets up Derby with win

Carlton House, owned by the Queen, is now 6-4 favourite for the Derby on 4 June after winning the Dante Stakes at York yesterday. Carlton House won so easily from Seville that winning jockey Ryan Moore said that it was a “messy, stupid race”. MORE