Federer, Roddick land in Wimbledon final
Five-time champion Roger Federer and two-time runner-up Andy Roddick will do battle in Sunday's men's final at Wimbledon. The iconic Federer will appear in a men's record seventh straight Wimbledon championship match.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 Federer topped 24th-seeded German Tommy Haas 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-3, while a sixth-seeded former top-ranked Roddick upended third-seeded heavy British crowd favorite Andy Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5) at the storied All England Club.
Federer, who would supplant his great rival Rafael Nadal atop the men's rankings with a victory on Sunday, beat Roddick in the 2004 and 2005 finals here.
The Swiss Federer titled here from 2003-2007 and was last year's runner-up to Nadal in arguably the greatest tennis match of all-time.
The great Federer is trying to become the men's all-time leader in Grand Slam singles titles, as he's currently tied with American great Pete Sampras at 14. The super Swiss equaled Sampras and became the sixth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam when he titled at the French Open last month.
Federer will also appear in a men's record 20th Grand Slam final (14-5). He's reached 16 of the last 17 major finals.
With tennis luminaries such as Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg in attendance on Friday, a confident Federer snuck out an ultra-tight first set against Haas by cruising in the tiebreak on Day 11 of the fortnight.
In the second set, things were air-tight again, but Federer finally broke through on his third set point when a game Haas misfired long with a forehand in the 12th game of the stanza.
Federer then charged across the finish line in the third set and converted on his first match point with a resounding overhead smash winner, as the Swiss notched his 10th love service game of the day in the process.
The sublime Swiss, who couldn't have served any better than he did on Friday, advanced in 2 hours, 2 minutes and never faced a break point. Federer broke Haas only twice, but also fired 21 more winners (49-28) en route to victory, his 18th straight on the circuit.
"He just comes up with the goods, you know," Haas said. "He can play defensive and turn it into offensive so quick, like no other player, and that makes him so extremely tough."
Federer is now 10-2 all-time against Haas, including wins in their last nine meetings. The 31-year-old former world No. 2 Haas was appearing in his first- ever Wimbledon semifinal in 11 trips here. He's also played in three Aussie Open semis, losing all three.
Haas, who lost to Federer in the fourth round at the French Open last month, had been a perfect 10-0 on grass this year, including his first-ever grass- court title in his native Germany just three weeks ago.
The 27-year-old Federer played in a record 21st straight Grand Slam semifinal on Friday, and he's now won seven straight at the AEC.
Federer is 46-1 at Wimbledon and 71-1 on grass overall since 2003.
The reigning French Open and five-time U.S. Open titlist Federer is 59-22 in his career finals, including a 2-1 mark this year. He lost to Nadal in the Aussie Open finale back in January.
Meanwhile, the former U.S. Open champion Roddick reached his fifth career Grand Slam final (1-3) and his first since the 2006 U.S. Open by ousting the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Murray in 3 hours, 7 minutes. The big-hitting American struck fewer aces (25-21) and fewer winners (76-64) than Murray on Friday, but was able to sneak out a pair of tiebreaks to pull the upset.
Roddick won the first set by breaking Murray in the final game of the stanza, but the Dunblane, Scotland native pulled even in the second set by breaking Roddick for a 5-4 lead and the holding his serve to secure it.
The determined Roddick, by virtue of a break, jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, only to see Murray get the break back and ultimately level the frame at 5-5. The set went to a tiebreak, which Roddick won in 16-point fashion when Murray netted a forehand.
In the fourth and final set, Roddick nailed down another tiebreak by converting on his second match point, as he improved to 3-6 lifetime against Murray. Roddick also improved to 26-4 in his 2009 tiebreaks.
Both players could manage only two service breaks apiece in the tight affair.
Roddick is now 34-8 lifetime at Wimbledon.
Murray was trying to give Britain its first male Wimbledon champion in 73 years (Fred Perry) and was the highest-seeded Brit here since Roger Taylor in 1973.
The 26-year-old Roddick is 27-15 in 42 career finals, including a 1-1 record this season. He lost to Murray in a final in Doha in January.
Federer is a lopsided 18-2 lifetime against Roddick, including a perfect 3-0 mark this year. The Swiss handled the American in the Aussie Open semifinals back in January and is a flawless 3-0 against Roddick in major finals. In addition to the '04 and '05 Wimbledon finals, Federer also topped Roddick in the 2006 U.S. Open finale. The Swiss also defeated the American in the 2003 Wimbledon semis.
The 2009 Wimbledon champ will pocket $1.39 million. Federer is the all-time leader in prize money, with more than $48 million earned.
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co
Kuznetsova stuns Safina to win French Open title
PARIS (AFP) -- Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 in an all-Russian final of the French Open on Saturday to take away her second Grand Slam title.
It was a comprehensive win for the 23-year-old seventh seed who lost in the final here in 2006 to Justine Henin two years after she stunned the world of tennis by winning the US Open as a 19-year-old.
For Safina it was a crushing way to end a two-week-long campaign geared at securing a first Grand Slam title and proving that she is a worthy of the world number one spot.
It was the second straight year she has lost in the final here going down in straight sets to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia last year and her second successive Grand Slam final defeat having lost to Serena Williams in Melbourne this year.
"It was so many years since I won a Grand Slam and I thought it would never happen again," Kuznetsova said.
"Today when I was coming onto the court I knew everything was going to be fine. It was the same as before when I won the US Open."
It was the 14th time the two had met as professionals, Safina leading 8-5, but they go further back than that having been rivals in Russia in girls' tournaments as they were growing up.
With conditons cold, damp and overcast and the Court Philippe Chatrier three-quarters full, Safina was quickest out of the blocks breaking Kuznetsova to 15.
But the younger of the two 23-year-olds surrendered that advantage immediately with a nervy service game that included a double fault and two unforced errors.
Safina was in trouble on serve again at 2-3 down when a double fault and a deft Kuznetsova drop shot left her at 0-30, but she came out on top of a marathon rally and then took the next three points to level the score.
Two games later though and on the back of another double fault, the Muscovite went 0-40 down. She saved the first two of those breakpoints but was left flat-footed by a raking Kuznetsova backhand drive on the third.
The St Petersburg-born player, however, failed to cash in, dropping her serve for the second time in the next game.
That mattered little though as she struck again in the following game, staggering Safina by running round her backhand to hit an outright winner and then forcing the world No.1 into slapping a forehand into the net.
Kuznetsova held serve to open the second set and Safina was beginning to berate herself for allowing her smaller and less powerful rival for the crown to dominate most of their rallies.
Games went with serve until the sixth game when a sixth double fault gave Kuznetsova the edge and she broke for the fourth time in the match shortly after when Safina blasted a forehand wide and long.
Kuznetsova held serve to make it 5-2 and then her pressure on the Safina serve paid dividends again with a seventh double fault on match point.
It was all over in 74 minutes and was the eighth consecutive straight sets women's final at Roland Garros.
Copyright (c) 2009 AFP
Safina, Venus advance in France
World No. 1 Dinara Safina played perfect tennis to start her title quest, while Venus Williams was tested at the 2009 French Open on Monday.
Safina needed only 61 minutes to embarrass Anne Keothavong 6-0, 6-0 and is seeking her first Grand Slam title, despite holding the top ranking.
A finalist in two of the last four major tournaments and a runner-up in last year's French Open to Ana Ivanovic, Safina won 60-of-93 total points on Day 2, including a 24-4 winners advantage against her overmatched British opponent.
Safina has appeared in three straight clay-court finals, including titles in her last two events prior to her trek to Paris.
The third-seeded former No. 1 Williams struggled in her opening match, needing three sets to top fellow American Bethanie Mattek Sands. After dropping the second set, Williams recovered to post a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 decision in just under two hours on the famed red clay at Roland Garros.
The elder Williams sister, a seven-time major champion, is looking to win her first French Open title, having made the final only once -- losing to her younger sister Serena in 2002. Venus is the reigning Wimbledon champ.
Copyright 2009 Miami Herald Media Co
Roger Federer's Next Major Will Be the Sweetest; Just Ask Pete SamprasA lot has been made of Roger Federer's recent form; the 13-time Grand Slam Champion and former World No. 1 has not won a Masters 1000 event since August 2007 in Cincinnati, and the Swiss maestro has not won a title of any description since he triumphed in the ATP event in his hometown, Basel, in October 2008.
Federer's recent form has led many to believe that he will never win another major. I find this view quite amusing, to say the least. The great man is still the holder of the US Open and has made the finals of the other three majors the last time that he competed in each of them.
Such was Federer's dominance of the sport between 2003 and 2007, it seemed as though he just needed to turn up to a major to be victorious. The regularity of Federer's success meant that Federer's greatness would never be overlooked, but perhaps at times the achievement, hard work, and toil needed to win a major was not completely apparent - given how easy Federer was making it seem.
This is why I believe that when Federer wins his next major title, it will be his proudest and the sweetest of all. If Federer needs any inspiration at all, he just needs to look to Pete Sampras.
Sampras is, almost to the day exactly, 10 years older than Federer, and in many ways Federer's career has mirrored the legendary American's. Sampras won his first Wimbledon title in 1993, while Federer was triumphant at SW19 for the first time in 2003.
However, perhaps the most relevant similarity between these two legends is the fact that between Wimbledon 2000 and the US Open 2000, Sampras, too, suffered a lean period: The American did not win a title in that time, and many pundits, and even former players, believed that Sampras would never hit the heights again.
Sampras went into the 2002 US Open having lost to the Australian journeyman Wayne Arthurs a few weeks earlier and having suffered an embarrassing second round loss at Wimbledon to the Swiss player George Bastl.
Despite these setbacks, Sampras said at a press conference on the eve of the 2002 US Open that he still believed he had one more major in him, and that when he pulled it off, it would be his greatest accomplishment given what he had gone through. Many journalists in that press conference had the audacity to snigger at these sentiments from Sampras.
Even Sampras' opponents seemed to write off his chances. Prior to his third round match against Sampras, Britain's Greg Rusedski, claimed that Sampras "was a great player in the past." After losing to the American in five sets, Rusedski simply said, "He is a step-and-a-half slower than he was in years gone by."
Sampras' reply was brutal, honest, and to the point: "Well, I don't need to be a step-and-a-half quicker to beat him."
Such comments only served to bring out the best in Sampras and take him to another level. After claiming the first set of his semifinal against Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, Sampras pumped his fist and mouthed to the media box, "That's what I am talking about."
Sampras would go on to defeat his longtime rival Andre Agassi in the final and win his 14th Grand Slam, which, to date, makes him the most prolific major winner of all time.
The man poised to break Sampras' prestigious Grand Slam record is Federer himself, and while the titles may not have been coming, there is every chance that Federer could once again mirror Sampras and have a fairytale fortnight that answers his critics with such disdain yet such flair.
Copyright (c) 2009 Bleacher Report, Inc
No-tears Nadal still revels in wins over Federer
Even nice-guy Rafael Nadal has his limits when it comes to sympathy for friend and rival Roger Federer, whom he has defeated in their last five matches.
"When you play against Federer and you play finals, for the loser it's always tough," said the Spaniard, who owns a 13-6 record over the Swiss and has won their last five meetings. "But you can ask him if he feels the same when he beat me the two finals in Wimbledon, 2006 and 2007."
Nadal said that emotions for the opposition can extend only so far in the one-on-one sport. "You feel a little bit sorry for him, but he has five Wimbledons in a row and 13 Grand Slams.
"Sometimes win, sometimes you lose, and that's the game. But in the end it's only game. You have to accept both things: the win and lose. You have to be ready for everything.
"If you play against good person, a legend like Roger, it's happier to win, but at the same time you do feel a little bit sorry."
tennistalk.com
Marat Safin: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
Former World No. 1 Marat Safin is currently on his farewell tour, as the charismatic Russian announced, that this will be his last season.
In the last two tournaments that Safin has played, the Masters 1000 events in Miami and Monte Carlo, he managed to crash out early in both events, when he was leading 5-2 in the final set in Miami against Gael Monflis, and 4-0 in the final set in Monte Carlo against Nicolas Lapentti.
As we draw nearer to the day that Safin finally hangs up his racket, I thought it would be fitting to look back at some of the finest performances, from the tallest-ever world number 1 against two of the greatest players ever to play the game.
In 2000, a 20-year-old Safin fought his way through the draw at the US Open and found himself in the final of the last Grand Slam of the year.
His reward for reaching the championship match was a showdown with Pete Sampras, who had become the most prolific Grand Slam Winner of all time.
Even though Safin had beaten Sampras for the first time a few weeks earlier in a tight match in the Masters Series event in Montreal, there was no doubt that Sampras was the favourite to beat Safin and win his 14th Grand Slam title.
Safin may have been playing in his first-ever Grand Slam Final but he played with the courage and conviction of someone playing in his 10th championship match.
The Russian was firing winners from all corners of the court and was serving with pace and accuracy that Sampras himself would have been proud of. Sampras, in the end, had no answer as Safin emerged a comfortable winner 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
The way in which Safin cruised past Sampras to claim his first Grand Slam title, suggested to many that the Russian was likely to be the heir to Sampras throne and win multiple Grand Slam titles.
Indeed, Sampras said after his defeat to Safin in the final that the Russian was the future of tennis.
Injuries and perhaps a suspect temperament prevented Safin from dominating the men's game, as so many thought he would following that breathtaking display in the 2000 US Open final.
Safin did produce some consistent performances, and appeared on course to secure his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2002. However, he lost in the final to Sweden's Thomas Johansson.
Two years later, Safin once again reached the Australian Open Final but on this occasion he lost out to Roger Federer in straight sets.
Federer's 2004 Australian Open triumph was his second Grand Slam victory, and he would go onto to add more majors to his tally that year.
When Safin and Federer met in the Australian Open Semi Final, while many expected a competitive match, the reality was the two men's careers appeared to be heading in very different directions.
Federer was the undisputed World No. 1 and appeared on course to break all all the major records in the game, while Safin seemed destined to finish as a "One Slam wonder."
Just like at the US Open Final in 2000, Sampras had scant regard for the reputation of the man on the other side of the net. The Russian fought back from two sets to one down, and saved a match point to send the contest into a fifth and deciding set.
The fifth set was like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out; it truly was awesome power hitting from these two champions, but in the end it was Safin who upset the odds and Federer to claim the match 9-7 in the fifth set.
It was an epic victory and arguably the greatest performance of his career. Safin would go onto to defeat Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in the final to claim the second Grand Slam title of his career.
While many believe that Safin has underachieved given his immense title, his two Grand Slam titles have come five years apart, in two different tennis eras and he has beaten two of the game's greatest-ever players.
Safin has had a remarkable career and these two triumphs were two of the main highlights especially given the nature of the opposition as he up against and the stage that he was playing on.
The Russian will truly be missed when he does finally retire at the end of the year, all the remains to be said, is it has been a pleasure to watch you Marat, it has been an incredible roller coaster ride, thank you for the memories Marat.
Copyright (c) 2009 Bleacher Report, Inc
Nadal wins in Monte Carlo
MONTE CARLO: Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the Monte Carlo Masters five times in a row when he beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in yesterday's final.
The Spanish world number one underlined his status as hot favourite for a fifth consecutive French Open triumph at Roland Garros when the claycourt Grand Slam starts in five weeks.
The 22-year-old improved his personal record against Djokovic to 12-4, but the Serb showed the colossus could be beaten when he managed to win the second set, the first Nadal has dropped in the principality since the 2006 final.
"First of all, congratulations to Novak anyway. A fifth victory here is a dream coming true. Thank you to everybody and see you next year," Nadal said in his post-match speech.
"Congratulations to Rafa and his team. You guys are unbelievable, well done again," said Djokovic, who has lost his seven matches on clay against Nadal.
Nobody has matched Nadal's performance in the Monte Carlo tournament since tennis turned professional in 1968.
Briton Reggie Doherty won the event six times, from its inception in 1897 until 1899 and from 1902 to 1904, while New Zealander Anthony Wilding won it four times in a row from 1911.
Djokovic came out on centre court all guns blazing, opening a 3-1 lead as Nadal was struggling with his serve.
The Spaniard hit back hard, winning five games in row and breaking decisively in the seventh at his fourth attempt when Djokovic sent a backhand wide.
The Serb had his back massaged at change of sides before pocketing the first two games of the second set.
Nadal threatened to come back again, finding outrageous angles with his devastating forehand.
Off balance, he fired a forehand winner down the line to set up a third break point in the fourth game, which Djokovic saved at the net.
Nadal was clearly on the back foot and a forehand that went long gave Djokovic another break and he followed up on serve to open a 5-1 lead before levelling the match with an ace.
The climax of the match was an astonishing, body-punishing, 14-minute first game in the deciding set.
Nadal staved off a break point after an amazing run to recover a drop shot and he saved two others before keeping his serve.
The Spaniard then broke his opponent to move 2-0 up, only for Djokovic to break back. But the effort proved too much for the Serb, who twice double faulted when he was serving at 40-30 and advantage in the fourth game.
Nadal converted a break point when a Djokovic forehand clipped the top of net and bounced out, and then never looked back, wrapping it up on his first match point when the Serb netted a backhand.
Meanwhile in Madrid, Roberta Vinci of Italy won the WTA Barcelona claycourt tournament yesterday defeating title-holder and sixth seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-0, 6-4.
(c) 2001 The Peninsula
|
