ATP WTA Tennis News

Jankovic changes clothes on court

2008-07-15T12:32:00.001+08:00

Jankovic, in the match versus Bartoli, changed her "tiny" undergarment from the black to the white one.

Rafael Nadal and his lover

2008-07-09T15:54:00.001+08:00

Who are they?

2008-07-05T08:52:00.005+08:00

There are two strange people attending Wimbledon 2008 tennis matches. Two mysterious, man and woman, covering their face by a rubber mask appeared around SW19 area.

The mask has small holes near eye and nose area, so they can breathe and see normally.

They come and enjoy the match quietly and seriously. We currently can't determine who they are and the purpose of their disguise.

People think that they are performing art, or this is some advertisement strategy, or some V.I.Ps want to watch tennis matches but don't want to reveal themselves.

Wimbledon 2008 Women Semi Finals

2008-07-03T18:37:00.002+08:00

Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] vs Venus Williams (USA)[7]
Jie Zheng (CHN) vs Serena Williams (USA)[6]

There has been an awesome inevitability about the progress of the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, towards Saturday's women's final. Thursday marks the last chance for the odds to be upset and for a repeat of the 2002 and 2003 "family" finals to be avoided.

So let us examine the prospects of the two ladies whose task it is to attempt to turn back the Williams tsunami: Russia's Elena Dementieva and Zheng Jie of China.

First, Dementieva. This will be her first semi-final in a decade of Wimbledons and on previous form it represents another chance for the 26-year-old - who has swapped Moscow for the tax-free life of Monte Carlo - to live up to her label of the "nearly" lady. This is her 39th Grand Slam and she has yet to win one.

The air of New York appears to suit the Dementieva game most of all: she has had two semi-finals and one final appearance at the US Open, while she also reached the final at Roland Garros in 2004.

Surely, you would think, just one small push would be enough to see Dementieva seize a Slam. And yet, and yet. Tuesday's quarter-final against Nadia Petrova was a classic example of what most ails the 26-year-old Dementieva - a chronic inability to finish off an opponent the way the Williamses do. That, plus a serve that is, to say the least, a touch short of oomph.

This year has been a good one for her, with a ninth career title picked up in Dubai and a return to the top 10. But her difficulties against Venus are starkly revealed in the statistics. Only two of their previous seven matches have resulted in a Russian win and in both of her victories, Dementieva squeaked home in a third-set tie-break, whereas four of the five Williams wins have come in straight sets.

At 5ft 4in, Zheng is the lesser half of the Little and Large semi-final. Lesser in achievement as well as stature, but still a fine athlete with a never-say-die attitude.

The people at the All England Club who dish out wild cards had an inspiration in awarding one to Zheng. It came on the strength of her 2006 doubles win here, a memorable achievement that was followed by a nearly blank 2007 season because of ankle surgery in which her ranking disappeared off the radar.

The fashion in which Zheng saw off her previous five opponents, particularly the top-seeded Ana Ivanovic, was a revelation. She has become the first Chinese, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, winning 10 sets and dropping just one. And everyone's heart went out to her when she announced the dedication of her prize money to the Chinese earthquake disaster relief fund.

Zheng shares a record with Monica Seles as the only other wild card to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, Seles’ coming at the 1995 US Open when she was on her way back after her 1993 stabbing in Hamburg. Should Zheng defeat Serena, she would be Wimbledon's first unseeded finalist.

And so we come to Venus and Serena, who have ruled Wimbledon's roost virtually unchallenged since the start of the century. The kids from Compton, California have transformed women's tennis and, sensibly, now just zero in on the biggest prizes in it, particularly here in London.

Venus, the defending champion, has won Wimbledon four times and Serena twice. Serena's wins came in 2002 and 2003 against her big sister. In only two summers since the millennium, has a Williams not been Wimbledon's champion. It is an extraordinary statistic, oft-repeated in these columns and deservedly so.

The fact that they are seeded sixth and seventh bothers them not a bit. Both have aimed their rackets and their ambitions at finals day on Centre Court from the beginning of the year.

Serena has enjoyed a more successful 2008, with a 30-3 win-loss record, compared to Venus' 19-7. Serena has won six more Grand Slams to add to her brace of Wimbledons, whereas Venus' Wimbledon quadruple is boosted only by a couple of US Opens.

Serena has won all four Slams at least once. Venus has yet to triumph in Australia or Paris but you get the strong impression it doesn't bother her unduly. Another Wimbledon will do very nicely, thanks, until she heads for home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to resume her alternative career, fashion design.

Whether the culmination of Thursday's events will be another all Williams final we shall not know until the end of the day. The pundits say so, but Dementieva and Zheng may yet decree otherwise.

_____________________

Written by Ronald Atkin

source: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2008-07-02/200807021215021394609.html

Wimbledon 2008 4th round: As good as it gets

2008-07-01T17:32:00.002+08:00

- Federer dumps out Hewitt: Roger Federer came out on top in the battle of the Wimbledon champions by trumping Lleyton Hewitt 7-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Australian Hewitt, the only men's winner in the draw other than five-times champion Federer, kept the Swiss on his toes during a tight first set.

The 27-year-old Hewitt, struggling with a hip injury, had hoped to profit from some inside information since his coach Tony Roche had been in Federer's camp until 13 months ago.

But his challenge fizzled after an engaging first set in which he traded an assortment of bewitching volleys and groundstrokes with the Swiss maestro.

Neither player earned a break point during the opening set, but as he has done many times in the past, Federer saved his best arsenal for the tie break.

The vocal Australian contingent of fans tried to lift their man but soon fell silent as Hewitt fell 4-0 behind in the second set.

Two games later, the Australian earned his first break point of the match, only to be thwarted by a ferocious kicking serve.

He stretched the top seed to break points in three successive games but the outcome was the same each time - Federer would come up with the big serves to wipe out any hopes of a Hewitt fightback.

In the third set the Australian slipped behind the baseline and ended up on his knees to surrender his serve and hand Federer a 2-1 advantage.

That was enough for Federer to close out the match and remain on course for a modern-era record of six successive men's titles.

By reaching the quarter-finals without dropping a set in this year's event, the Swiss not only grabbed a 12th successive win over the Australian but also ensured he would keep the world number one ranking when the new list is published next Monday.

- Federer will face another in the next round when he comes up against Croatia's Mario Ancic , the last man to beat the top seed on turf in the first round here in 2002.

Ancic came from two sets down to beat Fernando Verdasco 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 13-11 in a marathon encounter.

Unseeded Croat Ancic, 24, a semi-finalist in 2004, has now reached the quarter-finals three times but missed the tournament last year and was out for nearly six months with glandular fever.

Ancic looked down and out when Verdasco, the number 22 seed, led two sets to one and 4-1 in the fourth, only to fight his way back into a match that lasted three hours and 48 minutes on Court 11.

Ancic, who had beaten Verdasco's fifth-seeded compatriot David Ferrer in the previous round, settled the match after breaking his opponent in the 13th game of the deciding set.

Verdasco saved the first two of three match points before succumbing to an ace.

- Rafael Nadal survived an early scare when he needed treatment to his right calf before beating Mikhail Youznhy 6-3 6-3 6-1.

The second seed, 1-0 up after serving first, slipped and landed badly on his right leg chasing a crosscourt shot and needed a time-out for treatment on the side of court one.

However, it proved a blip and the Spaniard crushed an opponent he needed five sets to overcome at the same stage of Wimbledon a year ago. He next meets Briton Andy Murray in the last eight.

The Russian, seeded 17th, had won the last of their previous 10 meetings by a remarkable 6-0 6-1 in the final at Chennai in January. Their tally is now 7-4 to Nadal.

- Mercurial Russian Marat Safin, his temper in check and his talent to the fore, fought his way into the quarter-finals 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1 against Swiss 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

The twice Grand Slam winner, who had already knocked out Serbian number three seed Novak Djokovic, won the first nine points of the first set before Wawrinka stopped the rot with an ace and fought back to level the match at 4-4.

But then he lost his serve and Safin, who has so often let his volatile temperament get the better of him, held his for a 1-0 lead.

Safin, who was recording his best Wimbledon result since reaching the quarter-finals in 2001, twice broke Wawrinka in the second set which he won comfortably.

Safin, never a great fan of grass, let slip his advantage in the third set with a lapse of concentration.

But the lanky former world number one then firmly re-established control, swiftly dismissing Wawrinka 6-1 in the fourth set.

- Spaniard Feliciano Lopez saved three match points before outlasting Cypriot number 10 seed Marcos Baghdatis 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6 8-6.

The 26-year-old left-hander, seeded 31, was staring defeat in the face when serving at 4-5 0-40 down in the final set but saved all three match points, the final one with an ace, to hold.

He then broke Baghdatis, a semi-finalist here two years ago, to seize the initiative and confidently served out for victory.

Lopez, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2005, his best result at a Grand Slam, now takes on Russian Marat Safin

Never on Sunday: A review of first week of Wimbledon 2008

2008-06-30T03:15:00.002+08:00

The first week of Wimbledon 2008 has passed, and it proved to be one of the most exciting weeks in Wimbledon history with a lot of surprises, thrill and excitement. Many seeds survived, many seeds packed. Satisfactory and disappointment co-exist. This review will highlight some important moments of the most prestige tennis tournament in the world.
The outcome of the men's draw promised a showdown of Federer vs. Djokovic and Roddick vs. Nadal. The first and second seeds survived, however, their predicted opponents had already packed their luggage. Let's see how the draw has played down.

In the first small section of the draw involving the Mighty Federer, there are many tough players such as Hrbaty, Soderling, Hewitt, Bolelli and Gonzalez. However, rounds by rounds, he walks pass each opponent in style. In the first three rounds, he committed only 7 rare breakpoints where his opponents convert twice. His toughest test so far will come in fourth round, where he meets Hewitt, the last tennis player before Federer to capture the title, back to 2002. After that, Federer has produced a great run to capture 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles (from 2003 to 2007). He is heading for his six title here.

Lleyton Hewitt, after his first tough round against R. Hasse where he won in five sets, has found his form back, winning the next two matches in straigh sets. The next match against Federer will bring back memories, sweet and sour. Hewitt was always the favourite in their match ups before 2003 when he captured 7 victories out of 9 matches. The coin flipped after that, with Federer to win 11 times later. In an interview two years ago, when Federer was asked who is his favorite choice for an exhibition match, he said Hewitt and explained that Hewitt's style suits his game.

Fernando Gonzalez is one of the seeds that suffered early exit. In his second round again rising Italian Bolelli, he lost in 4 tight sets.

Silently and effectively, Verdasco beat Kohlschreiber, O. Rochus and Berdych to book a place in the fourth round against Mario Ancic, unseeded player, who defeated David Ferrer in third round. The fact that Ancic was not seeded does not reflect enough his quality but bad luck. He struggled with mono and injuries and could not put his impact on court. He is also the last player to beat Federer on grass (Wimbledon 2002).

The biggest disappointment of the tournament comes from Djokovic, the third seed. He lost in straight sets against Safin, who has gained his form lately. No more psychologic talk from the Serbian to boost his confidence and to eliminate the aura of Federer, something he has been doing since 2007. Now he can spend this free time to work on his fitness, again. Wawrinka still proves the great form of late that earn him a place in top ten ranking. He will meet Safin in 4th round match.

Marcos Baghdatis is finding the form that used to take him to the final of Australian Open in 2006. He booked a place in the 4th round with Feliciano Lopez. I still remember Lopez with a great game to break Federer's serve and take the first set in their match at US Open 2007.

The other side of the draw sees another shocking, but predictable loss of Roddick against Serbian Tipsarevic in 2nd round. Tiprasevic is known as a consitent player with great forehand and backhand. Roddick, according to me, is a player relying heavily on his first serve. His forehand and backhand are average. Not like other elite players, once the serve does not work, they still have backup plans with forehand, backhand, volley...

In the third quarter of the draw, no seed survived, while in the fourth quarter, French talent Gasquet will meet England favourite Murray, and Nadal will meet Youzhny. Nadal is the only 2008 Grandslam champion that remains in competition. In both men's and women's draws, Djokovic (Australian Open), Sharapova (Australian Open) and Ivanovic (French Open) had suffered early losses.

My prediction for the quarter finals:
Federer vs. Verdasco
Safin vs. Baghdatis
Tipsarevic vs. Clement
Murray vs. Nadal

Semis:
Federer vs. Safin
Tipsarevic vs. Nadal

Finals:
Federer vs. Nadal

Champion: Federer

Sharapova In Singapore

2008-06-29T22:40:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanovic - looking for a hero - wta event

2008-06-29T22:39:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanovic - Others

2008-06-29T22:36:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanovic - 2005

2008-06-29T22:34:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanovic - Wimbledon 2008 2nd Round

2008-06-29T22:32:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanovic - Wimbledon 2008 1st Round

2008-06-29T22:19:00.002+08:00

Wimbledon Day 5: Seeds in, seeds out

2008-06-28T04:38:00.004+08:00

Roger Federer lost the first game of the match on serve. On some consecutive service games he looked vulnerable and committed some break points. His forehand did not work perfectly today throughout the match. However, he kept cool at important points. He won in three. He is heading to the fourth round match up with Hewitt, who won over the uprising Italian Bolelli in three sets.

The coin flipped the other face to Ana Ivanovic. She was not lucky today. No net cord help anymore. After defending two match points in the previous match with Dechy, she could not hold it today. A shocked defeat. Will she loose her no. 1 ranking?

Safin goes through. Once he's on a roll, he's a dangerous player. This two time Grand slam champion will meet "the other Swiss" Wawrinka in 4th round.

Verdasco proved he's not a clay but all court player. On his way to 4th round, he defeated Kohlshreiber, Rochus and Berdych.

Serena Williams won over Mauresmo in two sets, who pulled out of double event (wt Kuznetsova) before the match.

Silently, the not-up-to-expectation Vaidisova goes through to 4th round to meet Chakvetadze, where she can prove her credentials.

Massive upset: Sharapova packed!

2008-06-27T01:05:00.003+08:00

After Djorkovic lost to Safin yesterday, today we see another big upset. Sharapova is overwhelmed by a magnificent performance of Alla Kudryavtseva. Wimbledon 2008 contains a lot of surprises.
Who is Alla Kudryavtseva?

Photo Courtesy of JP Sena/AELTC

This 21 years old girl doesn't have a fast serve. Her serve is as slow as Dementieva's. But her forehand and backhand are as dangerous as Dementieva's.

On that fateful day, Alla tirelessly returned all the balls back to under-par Sharapova, flat and deep. On an off day, Sharapova could not bring out her A-game and committed many errors. Normally when facing a weak server like Alla, she would have put all the return serve in corner with pace. However, most of her returns were near Alla or did not threaten her.

This victory is a boost for Alla, especially when she lost to Venus Williams previous year in a match that she almost won.

Nadal won over Gulbis in four

2008-06-26T23:18:00.000+08:00

Nadal, 2nd seed, survived early scare to fight back and grasped the match in four comfortably. Ernests “The Swan” Gulbis would have made things different if he did not make some critical errors in key moments. However, he's still 19 years old and developing. We will see a lot from him in the future.

Next round (3rd round), Nadal will face the resurging German Kiefer. If things go fine with Nadal and Youzhny, a 4th round match-up between these two players promises an exit for Nadal. Well, not exactly, but Youzhny has a little advantage against Nadal on hard court and with a little more determination, he can turn that hard court advantage to grass.

Wimbledon 2008 Seeds dropped

2008-06-25T22:51:00.003+08:00

The No. 3 seed is out! Incredible scenes! In straight sets as well! (Excuse all the exclamation marks but let’s be honest, they are justified!) Marat is a double Grand Slam winner (US 2000, Aus 2005) but I don’t think many people expected that. This is the first time in six Grand Slams that Nole hasn’t made the semis at least. Yeah, this Nole landed on earth again.

Who else:
Ferrero (like a famous chocolate brand) is out. Fatty Nalbandian (7th) was out also. Oh nobody mentions Davydenko (4th). He was defeated by B. Becker. Maybe he knows his limitation by spending his last week playing a CLAY tournament AFTER the French Open. By the way, who is B. Becker? He was the last man to defeat A. Agassi (at US Open 2006)

Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) lost 0-3 against Verdasco, first round. This is a big blow for Philipp, as he was the finalist in Germany last week (l. to Federer)

Next match to watch (tomorrow): R. Nadal vs E. Gulbis. This guy was a phenomena at this year French Open. Hope that he will make Nadal eat grass.

Ana Ivanovic - Indian Well Press Conference

2008-06-24T16:24:00.003+08:00

Ana Ivanvic - Photoshoot Perou

2008-06-24T16:24:00.001+08:00

Ana Ivanvic - Photoshoot Pool

2008-06-24T16:01:00.000+08:00

test

2008-06-24T15:02:00.001+08:00

test here
fantastic here

Federer swiftly into stride

2008-06-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

Monday, 23 June 2008

Written by Ronald Atkin

Roger Federer provided a masterly response on Centre Court today to those who have expressed doubts about his recent form. The Wimbledon champion, chasing his sixth consecutive title at The Championships, opened his defence in rousing fashion, defeating the Slovak Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour 19 minutes.

So much was Federer in command, particularly on his own serve, that he never faced a break point, and some of his classically executed winners were up to even his own demanding standards.

This was the Swiss's 36th win on the grass of Wimbledon and 60th in succession when his victories in Halle, Germany are included. Having received a warm and sunny welcome when he took to the court at 1pm, Federer basked in a rousing ovation at the end. The delighted Federer acknowleged the cheers, hurling his wrist bands into the crowd.

The 30-year-old Hrbaty put up a much better fight than might have been expected from someone who got into Wimbledon with a protected ranking of 70 after several months out because of two elbow operations, and who has won only one match on the ATP Tour this year.

He was also able to celebrate extravagantly the shot of the match. Left flat-footed in the first set by a Federer lob and unable to get to the ball for an approved return, Hrbaty struck it back between his legs for a clean winner down the line, astonishing Federer.

One of only three players to hold a winning record against Federer - he came into this match with a 2-0 lead - Hrbaty never looked like extending that advantage. Federer, hitting with power and accuracy from the start, won the first 11 points and was 4-1 ahead after just 10 minutes.

From that moment Hrbaty made a much better battle of the first set, even holding his serve to love on one occasion. Even so, Federer had the first set wrapped up in 25 minutes, and followed up a service break at the start of the second set by opening up a 4-0 lead. Hrbaty fought off a break point that would have put the defending champion 5-0 ahead but the second set was Federer's in 29 minutes.

There were cheers for Hrbaty, whose finest Grand Slam performance was a Roland Garros semi-final in 1999, when he held serve to open the third set, the first time he had led in the match. Perhaps this served to remind Federer that matches have been lost from two sets up in the past. At any rate he began to unveil his full range of strokes, allied to excellent movement on the fresh, new surface and, hard though Hrbaty fought, the Swiss knocked off five games in succession.

There was a heart-warming moment when, at the changeover before Federer prepared to serve for the match, Hrbaty broke all the conventions by going to sit alongside his opponent for a chat. If he was asking Federer to go easy, it did no good. The final game was won to love and Federer was impressively embarked on the defence of his crown.

Wimbledon 2008 shows up

2008-06-22T09:52:00.000+08:00

ATP Tour - The Championships, Wimbledon
Event: The Championships, Wimbledon
Dates: June 23rd to July 6th, 2008
Event Venue: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: £11,812,000 GBP
Defending Champion: Roger Federer of Switzerland

The 132nd Wimbledon Championships open this week on the grass courts of the All England Club, and the top tennis players in the world will be in action.

The question on people’s minds is: will this be the year that Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer? The pair has met in two straight Wimbledon finals with Federer, the World Number One seed, coming out on top both times.

Federer has been the king of the grass courts and will look to win his sixth-consecutive Wimbledon championship. Nadal, however, has been on a tear of late. He defeated Federer in convincing fashion at the French Open, winning it 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, and followed that up with his first grass court ATP title at the Queen’s Club Championship.

But let’s not forget the rest of the field. Five former Grand Slam champions are slated in Federer’s half of the draw, including the third-seeded Novak Djokovic. The 21-year-old Serb defeated Federer on his way to winning the Australian Open in January and he will look to do the same at the All England Club.

Will Federer continue his grass court success and win at Wimbledon for the sixth year in a row? Or will the electrifying Nadal finally defeat Federer? Who will come out on top at Wimbledon?

History repeating: Borg and Federer

2008-06-06T19:52:00.001+08:00

Friday, 6 June, 2008

Written by Byron Vale

Bjorn Borg
©Getty Images

Do you believe, like George Santayana, that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it? Or do you believe, as did George Bernard Shaw, that all we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history?

If Roger Federer wins the 2008 Wimbledon men’s singles he will claim his sixth consecutive Championship. Five consecutive Wimbledon titles is an improbable achievement. Pete Sampras — the most successful player in Grand Slam history — could only win four in a row.

Only one other player has done it: Bjorn Borg, who won five from 1976 till 1980.

Borg claimed his fifth Wimbledon title by beating John McEnroe. Federer claimed his fifth Wimbledon title by beating Rafael Nadal.

Borg took five sets to beat McEnroe. Federer took five sets to beat Nadal. Borg played right-hand, Federer plays right-handed. Borg was the Ice Man, Federer unflappable.

McEnroe was a leftie, Nadal is a leftie. In 1980 Borg was 24 and McEnroe 21. In 2007 Federer was 25 and Nadal 21.

Heading into Wimbledon 1981 Borg was clearly not at his best. He had been troubled by a shoulder injury earlier in the year and suffered shock losses to Victor Pecci and Rolf Gehring.

Heading into Wimbledon 2008 Federer is clearly not at his best. He revealed in March that he had been diagnosed with glandular fever and suffered shock losses to Mardy Fish and Radek Stepanek.

If you read the newspaper clippings from 1981, the same phrase keeps re-appearing. It is the idea that Borg has to lose eventually. That the juggernaut cannot roll on. That was certainly McEnroe’s line of thought. Anyone who has read an article this year about Federer will recognise the theme.

History will show that Borg could not win that sixth title. The Swede had already endured a gruelling five-set semi-final against Jimmy Connors just to reach the final. Against McEnroe this time round the results were reversed, the American winning the first of his three Wimbledon titles 6-4 6-7 6-7 4-6.

McEnroe would later recall of the final: “Borg no longer had the same fire, it was like he needed to be relieved of the pressure. I think it had all got too much for him after five years. It seemed as if it was ok in his mind to lose to me.”

Borg would later say: “I was not really that disappointed. Of all the Wimbledon finals I have played that’s the one I should have won. John didn’t play well and if I had been a little more focused I could have won in straight sets. But afterwards I wasn’t upset. I didn’t care. That felt strange. All the other players wanted to beat me and people expected so much of me. I had to be motivated everyday of the week.”

That is the crux of this argument. The crucial similarity, or difference, between Borg and Federer that will decide the fate of the latter’s bid for six Championships. How does Federer deal with every player wanting to beat him and with the high expectations?

As Borg said after watching Federer equal his record: “If he continues the way he has been doing and stays away from injuries and still has the motivation, he will be the greatest player ever. I think the motivation is the key thing.”

source

Federer Photos @ Australian Open 2008

2008-05-05T02:53:00.002+08:00

Federer Photos

2008-05-05T02:53:00.001+08:00

1&1 Announcements

2008-01-28T11:08:00.000+08:00

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2008-01-27T09:31:00.000+08:00

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29% off 9 products at Shopadidas. Use code: 29OFF9 (never expires)

Australian Open 2008 Highlights

2008-01-24T14:29:00.000+08:00

Hewitt vs Baghdatis

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IO9GJ0IJ

Federer vs Tipsarevics

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4WEKMP3O

Federer vs. Blake

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z34PFIWW

http://rapidshare.com/files/86155865/federer.vs.blake.aus.open.2008.highlights.xvid.avi

Australian Open 2008

2008-01-20T17:41:00.000+08:00

Federer vs. Tipsarevics

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4WEKMP3O

Collection of tennis matches

2008-01-18T20:07:00.001+08:00

http://rapidshare.com/files/84717880/Federer.Nadal.Rome06.Final.Set4.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84717404/gasquet.vs.federer.monte.carlo.2005.quarters.close.ups.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714923/henin.vs.mauresmo.eastbourne.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714902/federer.vs.nalbandian.madrid.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714881/federer.vs.nalbandian.paris.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714869/federer.vs.kiefer.madrid.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714847/federer.vs.roddick.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714820/gasquet.vs.murray.paris.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714768/ivanovic.vs.sharapova.french.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714721/federer.vs.stepanek.montreal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714712/federer.vs.nadal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714708/federer.vs.lopez.madrid.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714705/federer.vs.roddick.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84714699/hewitt.vs.gasquet.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707543/federer.vs.hewitt.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707532/federer.vs.ferrer.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707491/federer.vs.karlovic.basel.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707483/federer.vs.djokovic.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707481/federer.vs.hewitt.montreal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707430/federer.vs.gasquet.wimbledon.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707419/federer.vs.davydenko.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707407/federer.vs.blake.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707398/federer.vs.baghdatis.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707379/federer.vs.almagro.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84707229/federer.vs.canas.madrid.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701454/federer.vs.srichaphan.basel.2006.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701451/djokovic.vs.santoro.paris.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701431/federer.vs.baghdatis.ao.2006.final.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701359/hingis.vs.sharapova.tokyo.2006.semi.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701333/federer.vs.haas.key.biscayne.2006.round.3.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701328/federer.vs.kiefer.ao.2006.semi.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701326/federer.vs.blake.key.biscayne.2006.quarters.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701318/sharapova.vs.henin.us.open.2006.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701292/federer.vs.gasquet.indian.wells.2006.4th.round.highlights.xvid.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/84701228/borg.vs.nastase.wimbledon.1977.quarters.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer Highlight 2007 Best Shots

2008-01-18T16:20:00.000+08:00

http://rapidshare.com/files/84700865/federer.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Justine Henin - Video

2008-01-18T14:56:00.001+08:00

NoStrings

http://rapidshare.com/files/84687681/2007-05-13-TTC-NoStrings-Justine.mkv

BBC Interview

http://rapidshare.com/files/84687596/2007-11-19_20BBC1_20Interview_20Inside_20Sport_20Justine.mkv

Women tennis

2008-01-18T12:35:00.000+08:00

Henin vs. Serena RG 2007 highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84676297/henin.vs.serena.french.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

women's final (Henin vs. Mauresmo) Eastbourne 2007

http://rapidshare.com/files/84676987/henin.vs.mauresmo.eastbourne.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Henin vs. Vesnina Wimbledon 2007 Highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84676060/henin.vs.vesnina.wimbledon.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Henin vs. Golovin Stuttgart 2007

http://rapidshare.com/files/84690398/henin.vs.golovin.stuttgart.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Other men tennis matches

2008-01-18T11:37:00.000+08:00

Federer-Gonzalez Madrid final

http://rapidshare.com/files/84669546/federer.vs.gonzalez.madrid.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Haas-Safin 2006 Paris-Bercy highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84669835/haas.vs.safin.paris.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Santoro-Benneteau 2006 Paris-Bercy highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84670430/santoro.vs.benneteau.paris.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Nalbandian-Federer 2005 Shanghai highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84671292/federer.vs.nalbandian.shanghai.2005.5th.set.highlights.xvid.avi

Blake-Davydenko RR Shanghai 2006 highlights

http://rapidshare.com/files/84671568/blake.vs.davydenko.shanghai.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Vilas - Connors Final 1977

The best moment for the 4th set, which Vilas defeat Connors 6-0 and become the first and unique lathinamerican to win the USOPEN

http://rapidshare.com/files/84675902/Vilas-Connors_Final_USOPEN_1977.wmv.html

Agassi vs Courier 1991 French Open

http://rapidshare.com/files/84676657/agassi.vs.courier.french.open.1991.highlights.xvid.avi

sampras vs agassi 2001 Us Open

http://rapidshare.com/files/84685409/agassi.vs.sampras.us.open.2001.highlights.xvid.avi

sampras vs. agassi 2002 US Open

http://rapidshare.com/files/84685371/agassi.vs.sampras.us.open.2002.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs. Sampras Wimbledon 2001

http://rapidshare.com/files/84686235/federer.vs.sampras.wimbledon.2001.4th.round.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Hewitt Cincinatti 2007

http://rapidshare.com/files/84690998/federer.vs.hewitt.cincinatti.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

James Blake vs Tommy Haas, 5th set tiebreak, US Open 2007

http://rapidshare.com/files/84698510/US_20Open_202007_20-_20Tommy_20Haas_20vs._20James_20Blake_20-_20Tie-Break.avi

Federer vs. Rios Madrid 2002

http://rapidshare.com/files/84699585/marcelo_20rios_20vs_20roger_20federer_20_5B_20madrid_202002_5D.wmv

Federer - US Open 2007

2008-01-07T21:16:00.000+08:00

federer vs lopez

http://rapidshare.com/files/81589874/federer.vs.lopez.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Davydenko

http://rapidshare.com/files/81589503/federer.vs.davydenko.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

federer vs roddick

http://rapidshare.com/files/81589689/federer.vs.roddick.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer-Djokovic (US Open Final 2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/81586228/federer.vs.djokovic.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi
or
http://rapidshare.com/files/81589493/federer.vs.djokovic.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer - US Open Finals

2008-01-07T21:14:00.000+08:00

Hi everybody here are the 2004, 2005,2006 and 2007 us open finals highlights:

Federer-Agassi (US Open Final 2005)
http://rapidshare.com/files/81584679/federer-agassi.avi

Federer-Roddick (US Open Final 2006)
http://rapidshare.com/files/81586012/federer.vs.roddick.us.open.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer-Djokovic (US Open Final 2007)
http://rapidshare.com/files/81586228/federer.vs.djokovic.us.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer - Shanghai 2006- Masters Cup

2008-01-07T21:11:00.000+08:00

Federer - Blake

http://rapidshare.com/files/81586237/federer.vs.blake.shanghai.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer - Nadal

http://rapidshare.com/files/81584493/federer.vs.nadal.shanghai.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer-Ljubicic
http://rapidshare.com/files/81585314/federer.vs.ljubicic.shanghai.2006.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer-Nalbandian
http://rapidshare.com/files/81587611/federer.vs.nalbandian.shanghai.2005.5th.set.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer - Shanghai 2007

2008-01-07T21:09:00.000+08:00

Federer vs Davydenko

http://rapidshare.com/files/81585283/federer.vs.davydenko.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Roddick

http://rapidshare.com/files/81584274/federer.vs.roddick.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

federer vs nadal

http://rapidshare.com/files/81584301/federer.vs.nadal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Ferrer

http://rapidshare.com/files/81585978/federer.vs.ferrer.shanghai.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer - Other

2008-01-07T21:07:00.000+08:00

Federer vs Karlovic (Basel 2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/81584137/federer.vs.karlovic.basel.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Nalbandian (Paris 2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/81584224/federer.vs.nalbandian.paris.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Stepanek (Montreal 2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/81589299/federer.vs.stepanek.montreal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Hewitt (Montreal 2007)

http://rapidshare.com/files/81589676/federer.vs.hewitt.montreal.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Roger Federer - Wimbledon 2007

2008-01-07T21:06:00.000+08:00

Federer vs. Del Potro

http://rapidshare.com/files/81575238/federer.vs.del.potro.wimbledon.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs. Gabashvili

http://rapidshare.com/files/81573137/federer.vs.gabashvili.wimbledon.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs. Safin

http://rapidshare.com/files/81574462/federer.vs.safin.wimbledon.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Roger Federer - French Open 2007

2008-01-07T21:01:00.000+08:00

Federer vs Russell

http://rapidshare.com/files/81572604/federer.vs.russell.french.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Federer vs Starace

http://rapidshare.com/files/81573374/federer.vs.starace.french.open.2007.highlights.xvid.avi

Wrist Movement

2007-10-07T10:31:00.000+08:00

On a forehand the wrist is locked into a laid-back position at the end of the backswing and remains in that locked position until the end of the followthrough, at which point the muscles of the arm and shoulder relax and the wrist returns to its natural position. This occurs long after the ball has crossed the net.

Topspin and Slice

2007-10-07T10:18:00.000+08:00

With groundstrokes, your spin options are topspin and slice.

With topspin, the ball dips to the ground quicker and bounces higher than you'd expect from a ball with no spin. It allows you to hit harder - and higher over the net - with less risk of hitting long. It also allows you to dip balls at the feet of an incoming volleyer. Use it as your stock rally ball, but flatten it out a bit to go for winners. Topspin is a player's insurance policy and you shouldn't be allowed to drive without it!

With slice (or backspin), the ball floats through the air longer and bounces lower than you'd expect from a ball with no spin. It allows you to hit deeper and lower, forcing your opponent to hit up on the ball - very desirable if your opponent has an extreme "closed" grip or you're approaching the net for a volley or an overhead. Use it as an approach shot and use it for defence when you've been stretched out of position, because the ball will travel slowly and buy you time to recover for your next shot.

ATP Master Cup 2006 Shang Hai

2007-05-08T08:19:00.000+08:00

See more here

http://www.shareapic.net/content.php?gid=65232&owner=deadzoners

ATP Ends Round Robin Experiment

2007-03-24T10:29:00.001+08:00

The ATP Board has voted to end the experimentation with round robin formats on the ATP tour, it was announced today. The remaining events who had initially volunteered for the round robin format will now revert to the original knock out competition.

The ATP had begun testing several versions of the format at lower level events this year following initial research that indicated it could be a measure to provide significant growth to the game.

The research showed it was popular among casual fans because it gave them more opportunity to see their local and favorite players than in a traditional knockout format. The format also had the added benefit of allowing tournaments to showcase their marquee players deeper into the tournament week and made TV scheduling of matches easier and more promotable.

However, the carefully monitored testing at the five test case events this year raised a number of concerns and weaknesses that were not apparent from desk research. Firstly, the 32 hybrid format caused confusion; second, resolving who would progress from the round robin stage with 3 men groups was often complicated; and third, sections of the media had difficulty in reporting round robin and consequently fans not at the event had difficultly in following early results. Finally, and significantly, no format or rule could address the overwhelming player concern that their destiny was not in their own hands as a result of dead matches or withdrawals.

The ATP Board considered all the research and analysis gathered during the experiment both from outside research agencies and tournament volunteers and concluded while there was a considerable amount of encouraging data, in the end the negatives outweighed the positives.

“The ATP is determined to be fact based, and not opinion led. We’re committed to a philosophy of ‘do it, try it, fix it or lose it,’ with initiatives that could grow our sport,” said ATP Chairman and President Etienne de Villiers. “We take all stakeholders into account, especially our players and tournaments, when we make decisions but will always have a fan focus.”

“It was a good experiment and we learned a lot from it. Some experiments will work and others won’t, but we will keep trying to find new and better ways of growing the appeal of men’s professional tennis,” de Villiers said.

More info

ATP Masters-Cup Shanghai 2006 Clips

2006-11-29T01:55:00.000+08:00

I have just uploaded some video clips of this year's event in Shanghai. Enjoy!!!

http://rapidshare.com/files/5190535/Shanghai06_feature_Photoshoot.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5190321/Shanghai06_feature_opening.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5188789/Shanghai06_Interview_Federer.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5187930/Shanghai06_Interview_Blake.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5187081/Shanghai06_Tournament_Summary.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5186078/Shanghai06_Highlights_FederervBlake.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/5183722/Shanghai06_Ancic_lockerroom.rar

Other photos

2006-11-15T03:51:00.000+08:00

Undisputable no. 1

2006-11-15T03:41:00.000+08:00

Shanghai 2002

Houston 2003

Shanghai 2006

8 contestants of Masters-Cup 2006

2006-11-15T03:37:00.000+08:00

Shanghai Masters-Cup ceremoney

2006-11-15T03:33:00.000+08:00

Berdych and Ancic were there, attending the ceremoney.

Even Roger Federer met RM's stars

2006-11-15T03:28:00.000+08:00

WTA year-end championship, 8 participants

2006-11-15T02:18:00.000+08:00

Sharapova @ Madrid

2006-11-15T02:16:00.000+08:00

On attending her WTA year-end tour, she visited Real Madrid football club, and took some photos with famous players.

McEnroe Analyzes Masters Cup

2006-11-13T09:36:00.000+08:00

McEnroe, Drysdale,Carillo By Richard Pagliaro
11/10/2006

The Tennis Masters Cup's $3.7 million prize purse makes it one of the most lucrative tournaments on the ATP Tour, but ESPN2 analyst Patrick McEnroe believes the currency carried on court by top-ranked Roger Federer may be even more valuable in determining who cashes the champion's check at the conclusion of the season-ending championships.

Federer delivers a reality check that puts many opponents in deep psychological debt to the nine-time Grand Slam champion before he even strikes a shot and Federer's ability to reel off winners faster than an ATM machine spits out $20 bills makes him the favorite to regain the Tennis Masters Cup crown he held in 2004-2005.

"I think (opponents) go in facing the reality, which is the guy has been utterly dominant for three years and clearly the guy is up a break before he comes out of the locker room against most players and the guy he doesn't have that edge against is Nadal and even at Wimbledon Nadal got down after that first set and still fought back," McEnroe told Tennis Week. "Yes, I think Federer has the intimidation factor, but I think he's earned it. But guys know if they can't throw something very different at Federer at times, then there's the feeling that they have to play the perfect match against him. I think you have to go in saying "I have to play a great match and I have to hope that Roger is a little bit off" and if you get a break point or 30-all point then you've got to step in and take your best shot and just go for it."

The Tennis Masters Cup starts in style on Sunday in Shanghai as Federer faces defending champion David Nalbandian in a rematch of the 2005 final, which Nalbandian won 6-7(4), 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(3).

ESPN2 is planning 29 total hours of coverage from Shanghai, starting on Sunday, November 12 at 11 p.m. Eastern time. Monday, November 13 through Friday, November 17, ESPN2 will offer live daily coverage from 6-8 a.m. and again 3-5 p.m. on tape delay.

ESPN2 Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai

Sunday, November 12: 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Monday, November 13: 6–8 a.m. round robin play (live); 3-5 p.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Tuesday, November 14: 6–8 a.m. round robin play (live); 3-5 p.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Wednesday, November 15: 6–8 a.m. round robin play (live); 3-5 p.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Thursday, November 16: 6–8 a.m. round robin play (live); 3-5 p.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Friday, November 17: 6–8 a.m. round robin play (live); 3-5 p.m. round robin play (tape delay)
Saturday, November 18: 10 p.m. –2 a.m. semifinals (tape delay)
Sunday, November 19: 12:30–3:30 p.m. (tape delay)
McEnroe, who became a first-time father in April when wife Melissa Errico gave birth to the couple's daughter, flies to Shanghai today, the day after his long-time ESPN2 broadcast partner Cliff Drysdale departed.

Tennis Week caught up with the U.S. Davis Cup captain on Wednesday afternoon shortly after his daughter's afternoon feeding and before he settled in to watch former ESPN2 colleague Martina Hingis take the court against Nadia Petrova in Madrid. In this interview, McEnroe dissects the Shanghai draw, discusses the need to revise the Davis Cup format and offers his view of the current state of tennis on television.

Tennis Week: The Federer-Nalbandian match that opens the Tennis Masters Cup on Sunday is a rematch of the 2005 final. The Red Group featuring Federer, Nalbandian, Ljubicic and Roddick is the tougher group because you've got three guys playing off for one spot assuming Federer plays to the level he has all year. How do you assess this group and what do you expect from the Federer-Nalbandian match?

Patrick McEnroe: I think that Federer will be pretty locked in from the start. He's had a week off, he hasn't lost a match since he lost to Murray in Cincinnati last summer. He got to Shanghai early to practice and I've read his comments where he says he feels healthy and fit and usually when he says that the rest of the field is in trouble. He's had such a phenomenal year he would look at (winning the Tennis Masters Cup) as a nice way to finish this off. Clearly, he is a massive favorite. I'm interested to see how the court is playing and if it's similar to last year then it will be slow and kind of low bouncing. Nalbandian comes in with a few more question marks than Federer and he's not playing with the confidence he had last year. I would say that Federer is the heavy favorite, but that's definitely the tougher of the two round-robin groups with Federer, Roddick, Nalbandian and Ljubicic.

Tennis Week: I realize Roddick had the ankle issue in Madrid, but it was surprising he didn't play more indoor tournaments with his serve. Are you surprised Roddick didn't play Paris and will Connors accompany Roddick to Shanghai?

Patrick McEnroe: Indoors is not really his favorite surface, he actually prefers outdoors. I wasn't that surprised to see him pull out of Paris. I don't think he likes that long trip in the fall. I think he's going in there relatively fresh; Andy hasn't played that much in the fall. He's been working with Connors. I am assuming Connors is going, but I don't know that for a fact. I spoke to Andy briefly and he said he was leaving for Shanghai yesterday and Blake was leaving today. I think Connors will be there and that would be good. Roddick's definitely in the tougher group and Ljubicic certainly has better results indoors and all those guys in that group are capable. That's clearly the tougher group. That first match is key for both Roddick and Ljubicic — it will be asking a lot for both guys to come off a loss in that match and then go 2-0 against Federer and Nalbandian. Obviously, you have to look at Federer making it through that group so then the battle for second is pretty tight between Roddick, Ljubicic and Nalbandian.

Tennis Week: When people in tennis analyze the Federer-Nadal match, the conventional wisdom is that Nadal's ability to hit the heavy topspin, particularly off his forehand, to Federer's one-handed backhand, as well as his great court coverage, creates problems Federer has struggled to solve. What do you think about Nadal's mentality against Federer — the fact that he steps on court believing he can win and is not intimidated? How important is that and additionally, do you think the guys in Federer's group really go into these matches believing they can win or if they get down early is it "Oh, no Federer's going to take over again" sort of thinking? My question is: how do these guys approach playing Federer and how should they approach playing Federer?

Patrick McEnroe: I think they go in facing the reality, which is the guy has been utterly dominant for three years and clearly the guy is up a break before he comes out of the locker room against most players and the guy he doesn't have that edge against is Nadal and even at Wimbledon Nadal got down after that first set and still fought back. Yes, I think Federer has the intimidation factor, but I think he's earned it. But guys know if they can't throw something very different at Federer at times, then there's the feeling that they have to play the perfect match against him. I think you have to go in saying "I have to play a great match and I have to hope that Roger is a little bit off" and if you get a break point or 30-all point then you've got to step in and take your best shot and just go for it.

Tennis Week: Isn't there a tendency among some players to overplay against Federer? Because he covers the court so quickly, he can defend so well when he has to that sometimes it looks like he almost prods guys into going for too much because it's so tough to get a ball by him on a hard court.

Patrick McEnroe: Yes, and obviously to some extent that's playing into Federer's hands. Federer has become the ultimate match player. He's always had the shots and he's always had the ability, but years back he liked to try to hit the spectacular winner. Now, if it takes waiting for the other guy to miss, he's perfectly happy to do that. What he's most concerned with is winning and he's perfectly happy to take it if it means him running down balls and playing longer rallies or hitting winners if the opportunity is there. The Federer of four years ago was always looking to hit the great shot. Now, he'll take the style points when he can get them, but if he's not feeling it in a given match, then he's perfectly happy to do whatever it takes to win. His defensive skills have gotten so much better so even when he's not feeling it offensively he's able to use his defensive skills very effectively.

Tennis Week: Speaking of defensive skills, the Gold Group, you've got three very effective counter punchers and skilled defensive players in Nadal, Davydenko, who comes in as one of the hottest players on tour, and Robredo. To me, Blake is the best offensive player, on hard court, of that group and for that reason I think Blake has a good shot to advance to the semis. I realize it's his first time playing the Masters Cup and he didn't perform particularly well in Madrid or Paris, but how do you view Blake's chances of making the final four.

Patrick McEnroe: I think he could part of it, but the big question is how the courts are playing. If it's a very slow hard court, then he's playing three guys who are sort of counter punchers and very effective playing that style. So if James is feeling he's got to press a little bit and he starts to try to hit bigger shots then the court will allow him to do consistently, it could be a concern. You'd have to put Davydenko as the favorite to advance from that group. Davydenko has earned everything he's gotten and after last year, I think some people may have thought "This guy Davydenko had a fluke of a year or maybe he's another Rainer Schuettler", but Davydenko has truly earned his way back to Shanghai.

Tennis Week: Sure, he's second to Federer for most wins on the season. I think the fact that he plays so many tournaments, he's not a big guy and his legs are so important to his success that perhaps some questioned if his stamina would hold up?

Patrick McEnroe: I think at Davis Cup was where he got a little burned out and he didn't play there, but then he sort of re found his energy and he looked very good in winning Paris. Look, this guy plays well indoors he probably has some of the best footwork in the world. Davydenko's not exactly the flashiest guy in the world to watch, but if you're someone who appreciates technique, footwork, balance and seeing a guy who sets up so well then he's guy you can learn a lot from.

Tennis Week: Getting back to your prior point that if the court is playing slow, Blake has to show some restraint in shot selection. Agreed, but don't you think Blake's best shot of getting through round-robin is to take it to all three of those guys and because he has such explosive offensive skills on hard court couldn't you argue that at least he will have the say in how those round-robin matches are played out? Blake plays Nadal in his first match, how does he need to play that match?

Patrick McEnroe: If you're James Blake, you have to take it to and yet not go for too much. James has had a very good year and it would be a big accomplishment for James to have a big tournament. What's he's lacked is making a huge run at a big tournament so for him to get to the semis would be a break through. He's got a good shot — all those round-robin matches are matches he'll have more say. I'm interested to see how he'll do and it's been a long road for James to reach Shanghai. He sort of snuck in through the back door to get in and I'm really excited to see how he's going to handle it and if he really believes he can take the next step then this is a good opportunity to do it.

Tennis Week: When do you actually leave for Shanghai and a question I've often wanted to ask you and Cliff is: how does consideration for the viewing audience impact the way you call a match? For instance, if you're calling the U.S. Open on a network like CBS I would think you've got to be a bit more broad because the audience for the Open is going to include casual tennis fans who don't watch the sport regularly, whereas viewers who get up at 6 a.m. next week to watch Shanghai are almost surely going to be a die-hard fan. So do you consider your audience when you analyze a match and how does that consideration affect your commentary?

Patrick McEnroe: Cliff is leaving for Shanghai today (Wednesday) and I'm leaving Thursday. I think in general, I would say in a big U.S. Open match or a big Wimbledon match or an Australian Open final there are going to be people watching who are not gung-ho tennis fans, so yes you take that into account. I take it for granted, you take it for granted and your readers may take it for granted that we know everything about Tommy Robredo because we follow the sport closely, but people flicking around the channels who come across the Tennis Masters Cup next week maybe don't know anything about Tommy Robredo so you have to consider that. I think that annoys some die-hard tennis fans because they feel like we sometimes state the obvious, but some of that is due to the fact that when you draw people who are flicking through the channels, they might be new to the tennis audience and they might know an Andy Roddick or a James Blake, but they may not know anything about Tommy Robredo. So in those cases you might state things some diehard fans view as obvious, but once the match gets going, you get into the nuts and bolts of the match and you call it just like you call any match.

Tennis Week: Hawk-Eye has been a great innovation for both players and viewers, we have one of the most gifted players in the history of the game in Federer, a real rivalry with Federer-Nadal and Sharapova has stepped up on the women's side. These are all great signs for the game, yet at the same time, ESPN2 did not renew its Roland Garros rights, Agassi has retired, American success, outside of Roddick and Blake, is waning, a few television executives tell us the tennis industry itself does not step up and support televised tournament tennis adequately enough and we're again plagued with the problem of player pull outs at the end of the season. My question is: how do you view the state of tennis on television right now and looking ahead to the short-term future?

Patrick McEnroe: I'm encouraged. I was very much in favor of the instant reply, I thought that was great for tennis and I think that proved to be the case for the U.S. Open and I think both the casual fans and die-hard fans have really responded to it. I think continuing to tinker with things like that is important for tennis, but it is still a challenge because tennis is very traditional and because you're dealing with just two players. Think about it: in every other sport, except boxing, you have more than two players. So in baseball, for instance, you can cut to the manager or the guy warming up in the bullpen or the outfielders, you can do a lot in those sports because there are more people involved. You may have a phenomenal tennis match, but if people don't really recognize the players then it's hard to get the viewers. I think we're trying to do more with the instant replay rule, with on-court interviews that can be heard in the stadium, interviewing coaches and I think there's a lot more we can be doing and there's a lot more the players can be doing out there. We've talked about this for years and the stuff they do at the U.S. Open with the on-court interviews and pre-match interviews is positive for tennis and has helped TV sell the sport, but at the end of the day it's about having superstars and marketable personalities and, at least in this country, we need some Americans to play well. You need characters in the game and obviously we have some great characters in Marat Safin, Nadal, Andy Murray, Baghdatis, who is so much fun to watch and there are talented young players like Gasquet and Djokovic. These are all interesting young guys who are talents, but the challenge always for us in America is being able to sell them to audiences particularly if they're not American. You can do everything you can to make the game more attractive on television and you can do it incredibly well and it still comes down to the sport needs superstars and personalities and rivalries and in this country Americans do want to see American players.

Tennis Week: Over the years, we've talked about the Davis Cup format and you've always been very vocal about the need to modify it. Last year, you told me you felt the only way the ITF would consider changing the format would be for an entire nation to pull out of Davis Cup. Yet, the other day Federer, who is traditionally a loyal Davis Cup player, announced he will not play Switzerland's home tie in February against Spain and Nadal may not play as well. We've seen dedicated Davis Cup players like Agassi and Henman simply not able to continue to play as they got older because of schedule demands. ATP Chairman Etienne de Villiers has been adamant in saying the schedule must be revised and now we're hearing the ITF may finally be willing to at least consider revising the Davis Cup format? What are you hearing about this? And do you think the ITF, which has been so stubborn in its refusal to modify the Davis Cup schedule will finally seriously consider it, particularly with the top two players in the world probably not playing the first round?

Patrick McEnroe: Let me answer that question this way: During the course of the last month I was following all the events and I remember reading online about Federer playing in his hometown tournament in Basel. Federer played against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round and there were 9,200 people there to watch a second-round match in Basel. A few weeks earlier, Serbia and Montenegro played Switzerland in Davis Cup in Switzerland and they had trouble filling a 4,000-seat stadium. And that was not only with Federer playing three matches, but with Djokovic, who is a talented young player also playing. So you look at that and you tell me there's not a problem with the Davis Cup format. I'm so sick and tired of hearing the ITF say "It's an American problem" when it comes to the Davis Cup schedule; they (the ITF) say "Only in America is it an issue." To me, it's a much bigger issue. I would love to see the format tinkered with and (Tennis Week writer) Richard Evans (in his Roving Eye column) and others have made some good proposals of how to improve the format. Whether it is going to happen, I don't know. My job is to field our best team and try to win the Cup. I still love Davis Cup, but I'm sick of hearing them say it's an American problem. It's not. Federer is not going to play the first round and Nadal is probably not going to play and that's the reality of it. The world we live in, sports needs major media coverage and when the Davis Cup happens so frequently and is spread out so much (at different sites) it's hard for people to grasp this is a major event. I think there's an opportunity there to make changes and improve the format and attract more exposure, but obviously the ITF is control of it. Davis Cup is a great competition and has a great tradition in tennis, but at the same time it could be so much greater and make such a larger impact on our sport, but that's not going to happen unless they make changes.

Tennis Week: Would you agree that with both the ATP and WTA publicly promising to make scheduling changes that this is the ideal time for the ITF to get on board with the concept of improving the Davis Cup format? I mean, now is the time to do it?

Patrick McEnroe: It is an ideal time because the Chairman of the ATP and CEO of the WTA realize it and the ITF should realize it is an ideal time to change Davis Cup and make it even bigger and better than it is, but tennis is often slow to change. My point is just because it's always been one way doesn't mean you should always keep it that way. It is the ideal time to make a change, whether the ITF will make a change, I don't know.

Tennis Week: How do you feel about on-court coaching and the ATP's experimenting with round-robin play at tournaments next season?

Patrick McEnroe: I'm sort of down on on-court coaching. I think the round-robin format is a worthwhile exercise. I think we should take chances for certain events. I think it's a good idea because they can experiment with it at smaller events that maybe don't have as many top players in the field so the fans are assured of seeing those players. Isn't this about serving the customers and the tennis fans? At the end of the day, we sometimes forget that. That's the business we're in and we need to consider our fans who buy tickets and sponsors who pay to advertise. And when it's hard to sell sponsors to tennis events on television, which it is hard to do, and maybe a sponsor knows we're going to get Andy Roddick for a few matches then maybe that's one way to give back to the fans and the sponsors. At least it's worth trying.

Tennis Week: What's the story with the new Patrick McEnroe Tennis Center in Miami? It's your new home court, will you be moving to Miami as well?

Patrick McEnroe: I am definitely not moving. It's a luxury boutique hotel, the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa, it's a great facility and I'm excited about it. I'll be there a few times a year and we'll have a very good staff there running the programs. My input is in what types of programs, tournament and clinics are conducted and things like that. These guys have a very good track record and it's a great facility.

Tennis Week: Is this something you want to pursue in the future as Cliff Drysdale has done?

Patrick McEnroe: Definitely. I figure I've learned so much from Cliff about television I can learn a lot from him here too.

Tennis Week: I know from watching him for years Cliff has a real fondness and fascination with Mallorca so perhaps the two of you could partner and pursue creating your own tennis facility in Mallorca.

Patrick McEnroe: (laughs). There's a good idea. The "men from Mallorca" — that's who we'll be.

Courtesy of Tennis Week

Federer Overcomes Defending Champion Nalbandian

2006-11-13T07:20:00.000+08:00

ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer beat defending champion David Nalbandian 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the opening match of the red group to avenge his loss to the Argentine in last year’s Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai final.

Nalbandian, currenly ranked No. 7 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, broke the Federer serve in the first set before the Swiss regained his composure.

"I had to make him hit some errors - he wasn't doing that at the beginning," Federer said. "A couple of years ago I wouldn't have known what to do."

Nalbandian blamed a weak first serve for his loss but said of Federer: "He has all the shots. I mean, he can make any shot from anywhere."

Federer won 15 straight points in the third set cruising to a 5-0 lead before Nalbandian finally held serve.

The Swiss, who captured the Tennis Masters Cup title in Houston in 2003 and 2004, has now won eight of the pair’s last nine meetings.

They contested the opening round robin match at Shanghai in 2005, which Federer won in three sets before losing a dramatic five-set final against Nalbandian.

(ATP Tennis)

Official Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai 2006 Player Portraits

2006-11-13T07:12:00.000+08:00

Click the links below for the high resolution images of the Official Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai Player Portraits. Media may use these images free of charge, courtesy of ATP. Please credit Quentin Shih.

Link

Justine Rises To Challenge, Wins Season-Ending Honors

2006-11-13T07:03:00.000+08:00

MADRID, Spain - Eight women arrived in Madrid in a fight for season-ending honor. Justine Henin-Hardenne was arguably the least-prepared, having missed the entire fall Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season with a right knee injury; but she stayed true to her reputation as one of the grittiest competitors in the history of the game and rose above the all-star field, clinching her return to No.1 with a semifinal triumph over Maria Sharapova on Saturday, then capturing her first Sony Ericsson Championships title with a resonant 64 63 victory over Amélie Mauresmo, whom she had lost to in the round robin, on Sunday.

Henin-Hardenne was by and large the aggressor against Mauresmo, crushing her big groundstrokes and serves into the corners and, in particular, dominating play on her opponent's serve. She won over half the points on the Frenchwoman's delivery and had break points in eight of those 10 games, converting six times. A double fault on match point handed the Belgian her first season-ending title.

"I was close to winning our match two days ago, but it wasn't good enough at the end of the second set," said Henin-Hardenne, who lost 46 76(3) 62 to Mauresmo in the round robin. "So from the first point to the end today I decided to put more pressure. I played amazing at the end. I had a lot of motivation and that's what I missed in my last match against Amélie on Friday. So that was the difference."

"No excuses; she just played better than me today," Mauresmo said. "She took the opportunities when she had them, and I felt I didn't serve so well, and wasn't so effective on the forehand side when I was going to the net. But that's just the way it is. And, as I said throughout the week, I didn't expect to be here today, and maybe with the energy I gave every match, today I didn't have enough."

Henin-Hardenne was 2-1 in the round robin portion of the event, beginning with a 62 67(5) 61 win over Martina Hingis (a match that went to three sets despite her having led 5-2 in the second) and a 64 64 victory over Nadia Petrova, before the aforementioned loss to Mauresmo. In the semis she continued to blossom into top form, holding off a late charge from Sharapova to reach the final, 62 76(5).

The win over Sharapova secured for her a return to the No.1 ranking, a place she held for 45 non-consecutive weeks between 2003 and 2004. This year will be her second time finishing No.1, after 2003.

"I've been very consistent, very solid," said Henin-Hardenne of her year. "I can only be happy. I can look back and say in my Wimbledon and US Open finals, I was not at my best but I'm not going to think too much about that. I'm just going to keep everything that went well, and say it's been the best year of my career.

"I can't say I was 100 percent this week but it was amazing what happened for me in the last few days."

Mauresmo, semifinalists look back at their seasons

Despite the dismay of surrendering her season-ending title and the No.1 ranking, Mauresmo still has a lot to be proud of when looking back at her 2006 season.

"It's tough, because the disappointment is here right after the match. But, later on, I'm sure I'll look back on my season thinking I would have signed for it any time if somebody would have told me, before January, that I was going to get two Grand Slam titles and be in the final here again. That's why you play tennis, to have these big matches, even if sometimes you lose; but it makes you stronger.

"What I look forward to now is resting a bit and getting ready for '07 - because once you've tasted these emotions, these big moments, you want to have more."

Others who left lasting impressions in Madrid were Sharapova, the only woman who was 3-0 in round robin play going into the semis; Kim Clijsters, who went 2-1 in the round robin portion before dropping a three set semifinal to Mauresmo; Nadia Petrova, who notched a win over Mauresmo in the round robin; and, last but certainly not least, Martina Hingis, who pushed both eventual finalists to three sets in round robin play, narrowly missing out on a semifinal berth.

Sharapova was part an historic three-woman race for year-end No.1, alongside Mauresmo and Henin-Hardenne, but needed to win the title and have the Belgian fall before the final. The Russian finishes with her highest year-ending ranking of No.2, and also extended her win streak to 19 before seeing it end in the semis.

"I've had an amazing year. When you lose it's always disappointing, but at the end of the day I have a month and a half off. I'm happy with the way I've been playing lately, and I hope I can improve and take that into next year."

Clijsters was in her second week back from injury, having hurt her wrist during her opening round in Montréal. She was forced to miss her US Open title defense.

"I've had a really good week here. I'll take the positives with me to Australia. It's always nice to end the year when you're playing well I guess. But it's been frustrating. There've been times where I wanted to stop but especially after the injury in Montréal. I didn't know how much I had left of trying to get back."

But the week truly belonged to Henin-Hardenne, who silenced all nay-sayers with her return from injury and profound victories over several of her closest rivals.

"I didn't know if I'd be healthy to play the whole tournament, play five matches at this level in six days; it was a challenge, I didn't know what to expect, and then I come, I win. I finish No.1. What more can I ask for? I'm just so happy right now.

"I don't want to think about next year. I want to enjoy the moment. Life goes by too fast, and if I start thinking about what's going to happen next year I think I'll miss very important emotions right now."

SonyEricsson WTA Tour

2006 ATP Singles Money Leaders

2006-11-09T09:37:00.000+08:00

** 2006 ATP Singles Money Leaders ***
(Complete Through Sunday, November 5)

From The Sports Network

1. Federer, Roger $6,783,025
2. Nadal, Rafael 3,396,690
3. Davydenko, Nikolay 1,785,065
4. Roddick, Andy 1,483,855
5. Ljubicic, Ivan 1,361,475
6. Robredo, Tommy 1,214,680
7. Nalbandian, David 1,168,025
8. Blake, James 1,153,775
9. Baghdatis, Marcos 1,127,565
10. Ancic, Mario 1,036,525
11. Gonzalez, Fernando 1,025,947
12. Haas, Tommy 941,760
13. Nieminen, Jarkko 822,640
14. Berdych, Tomas 812,090
15. Ferrer, David 809,975
16. Stepanek, Radek 788,645
17. Gasquet, Richard 731,537
18. Hrbaty, Dominik 650,605
19. Youzhny, Mikhail 627,117
20. Murray, Andy 625,210
21. Tursunov, Dmitry 619,850
22. Djokovic, Novak 612,542
23. Ferrero, Juan Carlos 578,910
24. Safin, Marat 524,790
25. Hewitt, Lleyton 522,520
26. Srichaphan, Paradorn 492,537
27. Verdasco, Fernando 485,380
28. Rochus, Olivier 478,885
29. Bjorkman, Jonas 478,542
30. Chela, Juan Ignacio 475,900
31. Grosjean, Sebastien 475,155
32. Acasuso, Jose 474,147
33. Gaudio, Gaston 461,955
34. Calleri, Agustin 460,612
35. Soderling, Robin 460,355
36. Monfils, Gael 455,605
37. Wawrinka, Stanislas 455,595
38. Massu, Nicolas 445,967
39. Benneteau, Julien 441,615
40. Malisse, Xavier 438,245
41. Henman, Tim 433,717
42. Vliegen, Kristof 432,210
43. Moya, Carlos 427,322
44. Volandri, Filippo 422,967
45. Santoro, Fabrice 418,630
46. Clement, Arnaud 414,822
47. Mirnyi, Max 404,675
48. Mathieu, Paul-Henri 393,660
49. Ginepri, Robby 389,625
50. Kiefer, Nicolas 388,465
51. Almagro, Nicolas 382,342
52. Melzer, Jurgen 363,352
53. Rochus, Christophe 358,517
54. Horna, Luis 350,295
55. Serra, Florent 347,567
56. Simon, Gilles 339,390
57. Lopez, Feliciano 337,590
58. Bracciali, Daniele 324,505
59. Martin, Alberto 304,380
60. Kohlschreiber, Philipp 302,295
61. Johansson, Thomas 297,750
62. Mayer, Florian 288,890
63. Phau, Bjorn 285,670
64. Ramirez Hidalgo, Ruben 283,966
65. Fish, Mardy 282,480
66. Seppi, Andreas 278,992
67. Spadea, Vincent 263,192
68. Gicquel, Marc 254,510
69. Hernych, Jan 253,705
70. Monaco, Juan 251,165
71. Sanguinetti, Davide 249,715
72. Schuettler, Rainer 236,992
73. Vik, Robin 232,237
74. Moodie, Wesley 229,385
75. Goldstein, Paul 229,075
76. Garcia-Lopez, Guillermo 228,725
77. Pavel, Andrei 228,595
78. Andreev, Igor 223,925
79. Gimelstob, Justin 223,507
80. Mahut, Nicolas 221,205
81. Dlouhy, Lukas 214,287
82. Lee, Hyung-Taik 212,042
83. Novak, Jiri 208,125
84. Karlovic, Ivo 204,052
85. Starace, Potito 201,632
86. Pashanski, Boris 199,010
87. Montanes, Albert 197,957
88. Kunitsyn, Igor 197,335
89. Coria, Guillermo 196,605
90. Muller, Gilles 192,824
91. Kim, Kevin 180,290
92. Sluiter, Raemon 178,220
93. Vanek, Jiri 177,487
94. Tipsarevic, Janko 171,735
95. Becker, Benjamin 171,535
96. Rusedski, Greg 165,395
97. Marach, Oliver 165,242
98. Greul, Simon 163,925
99. Waske, Alexander 159,627
100. Di Mauro, Alessio 158,195

Sharapova 2007 SwimSuit Calendar

2006-11-04T00:25:00.001+08:00

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Fed's all about the record book

2006-11-03T16:59:00.000+08:00

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - In case you haven't already noticed, the sublime Swiss that is Roger Federer is turning into a walking tennis record book.
When Federer titled at the Madrid Masters two weeks ago, he locked up his 10th championship of the year. And In the process, he became the first player in the Open Era to capture at least 10 titles in three straight seasons. In his case, the steady Swiss has won 11 titles in each of the last three years.
Read more here

Masters Cup Berth Showdown Culminates in Paris

2006-11-03T16:52:00.000+08:00

Russian Nikolay Davydenko fifth singles player to qualify for Shanghai
Seven players, including defending Paris champion Berdych, vie for final three spots.
The tightly contested Race to the Tennis Masters Cup comes down to the wire this week at the BNP Paribas Masters, the ninth ATP Masters Series event of the season. Paris provides the sole stage for three more players to earn a spot in the prestigious circuit finale in Shanghai.
Russian Nikolay Davydenko, No. 5 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, secured his second consecutive qualification in the Tennis Masters Cup on Sunday. Davydenko is assured of his circuit finale berth as four players cannot surpass him in the Race standings at the BNP Paribas Masters. This week’s winner will add 100 Race points to his 2006 total ahead of the Tennis Masters Cup to be held at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium from November 12-19.
The 25-year-old Davydenko reached the semifinals in his Tennis Masters Cup debut last year, going a perfect 3-0 in round robin action before falling to eventual champion David Nalbandian, who currently stands at No. 6 in the Race standings with 439 points. Davydenko joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic and Andy Roddick as players who have already qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup.
Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and Croat Mario Ancic, respectively No. 9 and No. 10 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, take their heated Tennis Masters Cup pursuit to Paris this week, and are seeded to face off in a third round meeting that will end one contender’s Shanghai bid. The two have split their previous four encounters, with Ancic claiming the last two.Gonzalez moved to within eight points of No. 8 Tommy Robredo in the Race standings and nine points of No. 7 James Blake following his appearance in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel final on Sunday, his third consecutive runner-up finish. The Chilean has added 122 Race points to his season total over the past three weeks, putting him within reach of his second appearance in Shanghai. Last year, Gonzalez went 1-1 in round robin action as an alternate.
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Ancic moved ahead of Marcos Baghdatis (out of Paris with an injury, and therefore out of contention for a Tennis Masters Cup berth) to No. 10 in the Race standings and closed the gap on the final Shanghai spot to 23 points by winning the St. Petersburg Open title. Ancic will earn 25 points should he advance to the Paris quarterfinals. He said: "I am still in the race to qualify for Shanghai's Masters Cup, and next week it is all going to be decided. I am sure it will be an exciting week."

Red-hot Federer beats Gonzalez for 11th title of '06

2006-10-30T08:52:00.000+08:00

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Roger Federer beat Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3) Sunday to win his fourth straight title and 11th of the year at the Swiss Indoors.
The top-ranked Federer hit a forehand return for a winner on the first point of the third-set tiebreaker and cruised from there to win his hometown tournament for the first time in seven attempts.
Federer overpowered the defending champion, hitting 14 aces and breaking Gonzalez's serve three times.
"It is indeed magnificent," Federer said the event he used to work as a ball boy. "Different countries, different titles, they all have a different meaning. Winning Basel, my home tournament, it's one of those moments I'll never forget."
The final was a rematch of last week's Madrid Masters final, also won by Federer in three sets.

Federer had twice previously reached the final in Basel, but lost to Thomas Enqvist in 2000 and to Tim Henman a year later. He did not play the last two years because of injuries.
Federer said he would decide Monday whether he felt ready to compete in next week's Paris Masters. If he skips that event, he would not play until next month's Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Gasquet Grabs Third ATP Title of Season

2006-10-30T08:45:00.000+08:00

Fourth seed Richard Gasquet dropped just six points on serve in a crushing 6-3, 6-1 victory over unseeded fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel in the Lyon final Sunday. It was the first all-French final since 2004 in Metz, when Gasquet fell to Jerome Haehnel.
Gasquet saved the lone break point he faced while converting four of 10 break point opportunities on Gicquel's serve.
En route to the final Gasquet had to rally from a set down in both the quartefinals and semifinals, first defeating fifth seed Robin Soderling 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and then 2000 Lyon champion Arnaud Clement 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1.
The 20-year-old finished the week with a 33-21 match record in 2006, surpassing his 31-11 season in 2005. Gasquet has put together a strong 26-8 run since mid-June, rebounding from a 7-13 start. However, despite today's win he is not in contention to qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
Gasquet's other titles in 2006 came at Nottingham in June (d. Bjorkman) and Gstaad in July (d. Lopez). Additionally, he was runner-up to Federer at the ATP Masters Series event in Toronto in August. Gasquet and Federer are the only ATP players to have reached finals on all four surfaces this year: hard courts, clay, grass and indoor carpet.
Gicquel, 29, was playing in the first final of his career. He is the oldest first-time finalist this year. Gicquel is having the best year of his career by far, with a record of 17-11. Before 2006 he had a career ATP mark of 5

Federer Sets Up Repeat Of Madrid Final

2006-10-29T11:16:00.000+08:00

Basel-born ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer survived a test against Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand, with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) victory, to reach his third final in seven visits to the Davidoff Swiss Indoors.
Federer, who was runner-up in 2000 (l. to Enqvist) and 2001 (l. to Henman), will look to extend his perfect 8-0 career record against defending champion Fernando Gonzalez on Sunday.

Last week Federer beat Gonzalez in the final of Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid.
Gonzalez, who knocked out Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals, now stands just eight points behind No. 8 Tommy Robredo in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race.

The Chilean could jump to No. 7 with the Basel title, to further his chances of claiming one of the four remaining berths available for Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai next month.
Gonzalez has won 24 of his last 30 matches. The 26-year-old advances to his third straight final (also Vienna, Madrid) in as many weeks. He has a 49-20 ATP match record in 2006.

Federer’s fourth career win over Srichaphan helped extend his ATP match record to 86-5 this season. The 25-year-old Swiss is also riding a 23-match winning streak.

Ancic to Play Defending Champion Johansson in Final

2006-10-29T11:09:00.000+08:00

Third-seeded Croat Mario Ancic will meet defending champion and 1997 winner Thomas Johansson of Sweden (pictured) in the final of the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday. Ancic has previously beaten Johansson in the 2004 Milan semifinals
Ancic knocked out 18-year-old Latvian wild card Ernest Gulbis 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes. Ancic hit five aces and three double faults, winning 31 of 41 points on first serve. He saved all six break points he faced.
This week, Gulbis became the first player in 65 ATP tournaments this year to reach the semifinals in his very first event.Ancic adds 13 points to his INDESIT ATP 2006 Race total, to join Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis with 372 points. However, Baghdatis remains at No. 10 as a result of earning more mandatory ATP points this year.

ATP Outlines Round Robin Format Trials for 2007

2006-10-26T11:22:00.000+08:00

* Thirteen ATP tournaments selected for round robin testing

* Three formats to be monitored to determine benefits for fans, broadcasters, others

* Sunday Starts also will be featured at several of the selected tournaments

The ATP announced today that it will test three different round robin formats at select circuit events in 2007. Round robin format is one of a series of on-court enhancements for 2007 outlined during the US Open to improve the tournament experience for players, tennis fans, broadcasters and event promoters.

Round robin—where players are placed into groups or pools, and the top player in each group then moves on to the knockout phase of the tournament—increases spectators’ chances of seeing their favorite stars, as one loss in a round-robin pool does not automatically eliminate a player, and also improves scheduling for broadcasters and tournament promotion. Round robin has been a staple of the Tennis Masters Cup circuit finale and ARAG ATP World Team Championship but not utilized at any other ATP tournament. The 13 tournaments chosen subject to final approval by the ATP will be held on different surfaces in different countries throughout the 2007 season, starting the first week in Adelaide, Australia.

“Our research with fans, tournaments and media indicate a preference for round robin,” said Etienne de Villiers, ATP Executive Chairman & President. “We are committed to grow the appeal of the sport and get more fans to sample and enjoy. We are going to test different formats and see which ones we will introduce and into what type of event for 2008. It is the 'do it, try it, fix it' approach. I recognise some players and media are opposed or indifferent. But we will diligently build our research based on the results and do what's best for the fans. You live or die by your what your consumer does, not by what critics say or feel.”

ATP World No. 2 Rafael Nadal said: “I have said it at our meetings with Etienne, I think this is a great idea. Finally we really move forward and we do something really good for our sport. This will be good for our tournaments, for us the players and especially for fans and television since they will be able to have and see their favorite players more than once for sure.”

The ATP will conduct its one-year trial testing the three following formats:

· A 24-player round robin draw consisting of 8 groups of 3 players. Each player will then play two guaranteed matches in the round robin stage. The winner from each group will advance to the knockout round (quarterfinals), and then will play out the tournament per a traditional single-elimination format.

· A 32-player round robin draw consisting of a 16-player “play-off” with the 8 winners joining 16 other players to make up the 8 groups of 3 players. Each player will then play two guaranteed matches in the round robin stage. The winner from each group will advance to the knockout round (quarterfinals), and then will play out the tournament per a traditional single-elimination format.

· A 48-player round robin draw consisting of 16 groups of 3 players. Each player will then play two guaranteed matches in the round robin stage. The winner from each group will advance to the knockout round (round of 16), and then will play out the tournament per a traditional single-elimination format.

Many of the tournaments will be held over eight days and will begin not on the traditional Monday but on Sunday, when ATP tournaments will feature singles and doubles matches, pro-ams, charity events and family activities as part of the ATP’s plan to transform men’s professional tennis into an integrated entertainment business based on what makes sense to fans, players, tournaments and media.

Additionally, two ATP Masters Series tournaments have been chosen to utilize a Sunday Start program in 2007 (though ATP Masters Series will not test the round robin format). Those two Masters events are the Masters Series Monte-Carlo (April 15-22, 2007) and Rogers Masters in Montreal (August 5-12, 2007).

The 13 tournaments testing round robin in 2007, subject to final ATP and tournament agreement, will be (listed chronologically):

· Next Generation Adelaide International; Adelaide, Australia; 32-player round robin; hard court outdoors
· Movistar Open; Viña del Mar, Chile; 24-player round robin; clay court outdoors
· Delray Beach International Tennis Championships; Delray Beach, Florida; 32-player round robin; hard court outdoors
· Copa Telmex; Buenos Aires, Argentina; 32-player round robin; clay court outdoors
· Tennis Channel Open; Las Vegas, Nevada; 32-player round robin; hard court outdoors
· Estoril Open; Estoril, Portugal; 32-player round robin; clay court outdoors
· The Stella Artois Championships; London, United Kingdom; 48-player round robin; grass court outdoors
· Catella Swedish Open; Båstad, Sweden; 32-player round robin; clay court outdoors
· Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships; Newport, Rhode Island; 24-player round robin; grass court outdoors
· RCA Championships; Indianapolis, Indiana; 32-player round robin; hard court outdoors
· ATP Studena Croatia Open, Umag, Croatia; 32-player round robin; clay court outdoors
· Legg Mason Tennis Classic; Washington, D.C.; 48-player round robin; hard court outdoors
· If Stockholm Open; Stockholm, Sweden; 32-player round robin; hard court indoors

"This is a great day for tennis," said Mark Baron, tournament director of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. "It's exciting for Delray Beach to open the 2007 tennis season in the United States by rolling out this new round robin format. We have been discussing creative ways to make our sport even more exciting and this format delivers a chance to test some of those ideas. Our fans are the big winners because they'll have the opportunity to see our marquee players at least twice. The round robin portion of the tournament will be exciting to follow as players jockey for positions into the quarterfinals."

Original news

Nadal Blames Fatigue for Bad Performance

2006-10-25T10:39:00.000+08:00

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 24, 2006

For Rafael Nadal, the explanation is clear: fatigue and a heavy schedule.

The second-ranked Spaniard has not reached the semifinals of a tournament since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final three months ago.

''I had a lot of matches in the first half of the season and my muscles were very tired,'' Nadal said Tuesday during a conference call leading to next week's Paris Masters. ''Mentally, too ... it was a big effort. I am playing better now.''

Nadal has won five titles this year, including a victory over Federer in the French Open final in June. A month later, the top-ranked Swiss won his fourth straight Wimbledon title by beating Nadal in the final.

Nadal also said he has recovered from foot and ankle injuries -- he skipped the Australian Open in January because of an ailing left foot.

''This is my first year after an important injury so you have to be careful,'' Nadal said. ''I feel fine now, but when you have an injury like I had last year it stays in your mind, so you have to be wary.''

Nadal also has to be wary of Federer, who won his 10th title of year on Sunday at the Madrid Masters.

''I think he is playing his best tennis now,'' Nadal said. ''He is the best for sure right now. ... He is playing unbelievable.''

At the Paris Masters, which starts Monday, Nadal may get another chance to face Tomas Berdych, who is the defending champion.

The Czech, ranked 10th, beat Nadal in the quarterfinals at Madrid last week. When he was jeered by the Spanish crowd, he put a finger to his lips to try and silence them. Nadal told Berdych he shouldn't have done it and was ''a bad person.'' Spanish fans then badgered Berdych during his semifinal loss to Fernando Gonzalez.

''It is better we don't speak about that. Better to speak about Paris and the next tournament,'' Nadal said. ''Something happened on court, but let's forget it. I don't want to think about Berdych.''

Looking toward next year, Nadal predicted that young players will make their mark.

''There are so many coming through, like Berdych, (Richard) Gasquet, (Novak) Djokovic and (Andrew) Murray,'' Nadal said. ''They will expect to finish in the top 25 this year, and a lot of them will be in the top 10 next year.''

Original news

Clijsters bruises tailbone after falling over her dog

2006-10-25T10:20:00.001+08:00

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Kim Clijsters bruised her tailbone after stumbling over her dog while playing soccer.

Despite the injury, Clijsters said Tuesday she was still on course to return to the WTA Tour next week.

Clijsters was forced to stop training for two days because of the accident but said she will play at the Gaz de France Stars, which starts Monday in Hasselt.

The sixth-ranked Belgian was kicking a soccer ball in the garden with her boyfriend and her dogs when she collided with one of her pets.

"I stumbled over Diesel and fell badly," she said on her Web site. "Very stupid. ... Fortunately it was nothing serious but it was bad enough to have to take two days of rest."

Clijsters has been sidelined with a wrist injury for more than two months. She still expects to qualify for the season-ending WTA Championship in Madrid, Spain.

Clijsters wore a brace for a month after falling on her surgically repaired wrist during a tournament in Montreal in August. She was unable to defend her U.S. Open title and missed the Fed Cup final, which Belgium lost to Italy. Clijsters also missed most of the 2004 season because of the injury.

The 23-year-old Clijsters has dealt with assorted ankle, knee and back ailments and plans to retire next year.

Press Conference Roger Federer (vs Nalbandian)

2006-10-22T01:26:00.000+08:00

Madrid, 21th October

Q. Very bad match today. You lost your serve once. What happened?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, what happened? It was great. I knew it was going to be tough. Nalbandian, look at the record between him and myself. I lost to him many times in the beginning. We've had some close ones recently in Rome and Shanghai and also at the French Open before he retired. I'm really pleased with the way I played. I could really play aggressive, play my game. I served pretty well. He's obviously the best return player I've played all week. It was an excellent match for a semi finals. That's for sure.

Q. What did you do better today than the other days against him?
ROGER FEDERER: You're just talking about David now?

Q. Yes, David.
ROGER FEDERER: I always feel like it has to do also with him, how he plays. Sometimes he just returns way better, and sometimes he just doesn't read it very well. That was what I could do well today, served well in the beginning and then always mix it up well. That's what happened also in the first round in Shanghai, and it didn't happen in the finals. He picked all the serves. He definitely made more errors today, but I think I forced him to by playing aggressive. It depends on how well I play and how he plays. And today it all went my way, which is good.

Q. Did you also feel that you were able to move and hit more freely after winning the first set?
ROGER FEDERER: You always kind of tend to feel better obviously because the other guy is more under pressure. He makes one more mistake and the match is kind of running away from him. I definitely try to put the pressure on in the beginning. It doesn't mean I'm hitting freely. It means I'm trying to play solid, make the other player work hard. Hopefully, when I have the chance to play aggressive, then I do, and play well. The second set was phenomenal and I thought this is when I could start to hit freely, hit the returns more, take more chances. It all worked out. It was great.

Q. The second set, can you describe for us ‑‑ we are human beings, you are not. But what was the feeling in the second set when you were able to hit everywhere, every shot? What were you feeling?
ROGER FEDERER: It's a great feeling. At 3‑love you start to feel like this is his last chance he has. If he plays another average game, it's not going to be enough because by now I feel great. Then you also feel the spectators start to wonder is this going to be over in two minutes or is it going to be over in one hour. They're all hoping for more. It's just more and more good shots coming from my end. It was actually great fun for me of course, because I make them kind of feel that they're living through something special maybe. I don't know. In the end I told myself I might as well go for it. And then it all worked out. It's really a feeling you don't get very often. It's like what I explained. He was tired and everything. It was good.

Q. You played three tie breaks, four matches in straight sets. Is that the ideal way with which to go into the final?
ROGER FEDERER: It wouldn't matter really how to get to the finals as long as you get there. I feel I'm tough enough physically to handle all these matches no matter if they all go three hours. Don't forget the seeds only need five matches to win instead of six. So that helps us, obviously. I think it's been a very solid and good tournament so far. This was by far my best match. And I hope that with the best of five match tomorrow I can have a good start and hopefully roll away. It's going to be difficult. They're dangerous players, both of them. We'll see what happened.

Q. You played great on the second set. I still have a question for you. On your shots, which shots do you think has the most margin to be perfected?
ROGER FEDERER: I play with what I've got. And I know my strengths and a bit of my weaknesses. And I know what works better for me and what doesn't work so well. And I think I know when to go for shots and when I should play it a bit more safe. I feel I have my biggest margin on my forehand just because it's always been my shot I attacked with. It keeps me in the rally. It saves me and everything. My back hand has really improved in defense. It used to be on the attack was a slice, and then I started to stay more back and my back hand I had to be more steady. That was what I was struggling with in the past. I have gotten steady. I have got the variation of the slice and the back spin. I definitely feel I can improve the return on the drive, I play with what I have, and I try to improve bit by bit. Practicing a lot with Tony. We're going to work on that again at the end of the year, and hopefully I'm a bit better again next year.

Q. You were Junior World Champion, and for a while you didn't get your game on top. I saw you lose the first round in Challenger to John Barcells. Can you point out one thing that got to you the pro level, to maybe jump to another level?
ROGER FEDERER: I think the juniors always have a struggle eventually. You can't come out of juniors and win four Grand Slams. Obviously you're going to be told you still need more time. It's obvious. We're playing grown men who have beards and who have been around. We're just coming along. It's kind of tough. I thought I made the jump actually pretty quickly. The last year of juniors I was already playing seniors as well. I finished 300 to No. 1 in the world, after I was 65. The tournament that helped me most was Marseille when I beat Moya when he was 4 in the world and I was 200 or something. I played quarter finals in Rotterdam as well and within two months I went from 300 to 120. Then I had to struggle for a few months, but then I finished 65. I always had a consistent improvement until I became No. 1. Since I've stayed at No. 1.

Q. Do you watch your matches? Do you tape your matches and watch them regularly?
ROGER FEDERER: The ATP gives the matches to me, but I have very little time to sit down and watch my matches anymore. I used to do that coming up. I just have no time anymore.

Q. There's a chance you will play with Fernando tomorrow. What do you think about him?
ROGER FEDERER: He's been on a good run. He played in the finals of Vienna. I know he can play very well indoors. He just qualified for the Masters last year and should have won to play against me, but ended up losing. So I played Gaston. I've had some good matches with Fernando, even though I beat him every time. I think he's improved over the last few years. He's become more steady. His forehand is still as dangerous as always. I think the indoor takes away that sun and wind and everything factor. So he hits the ball even better. It's a difficult match if it were Gonzalez. But the same for Berdych. Indoors we can see what he can do. He won Bercy and beat Nadal again yesterday. It will be a tough final.

Q. David Nalbandian had no coach at the beginning of the season. Did you have at some stage in the match today of playing against somebody without guidance, without game plan?
ROGER FEDERER: No. No. I didn't even know he didn't have a coach. He has two guys travelling with him. That is like a team as well. And I always said that a player needs to decide for himself if he has only his girlfriend with him or he travels alone or he has a coach or a condition trainer or physio or whatever it is. He needs to know what his game needs. If he thinks no coach, I think that's the right decision. For me it worked out in '04. I'm here this week also having no coach. I only have friends and my girlfriend. It also seems to work out.

Q. Is to have a coach less important than in the Connors, McEnroe, Villas era?
ROGER FEDERER: They didn't have coaches before that era. Then the coaches came. Now sometimes they go again. That's a normal way of going at things. It's just a coincidence that there's times when many of the top players are looking for coaches because maybe they've been together for a long time or something didn't work out. But the coaching was definitely a trend for about 10‑20 years, where I think today players realize that it's maybe not always what they need.

Q. Any thoughts when Nalbandian challenged the last point in the first set?
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah. Might as well.

Q. Sorry?
ROGER FEDERER: Why not.

Q. But because you're opposed to Hawk‑Eye, did you find that funny as well? You said you found that funny in the past when you have to wait. Well, this time the set was decided on a review?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's obviously awkward. They're not looking at you. They're looking at the big screen. So it's okay.

Q. On the court you said you are not surprised that Berdych beat Nadal on that surface. Can you explain why he's so dangerous on such a surface, Berdych.
ROGER FEDERER: Not only on this surface. I played him at the French Open. I played him at Wimbleton. I played him elsewhere as well on clay in Hamburg, other places ‑‑ in the Olympics obviously. I've played him basically on all surfaces. He's got one of the biggest games out there. If he plays well he can basically beat anybody. He's kind of a Safin type. He's just got the big shots. It seems like his game really matches up well with Rafa. That's why I knew it was going to be a really difficult match for Rafa.

Q. I was taught that a forehand drop shot would be the biggest weapon to compliment your thundering forehand against Nadal. I've heard some mixed feelings for the use of the drop shot. You told me once it would be great to use that as to have a forehand drop shot. Then I've also read somewhere that you had mixed feelings against the use of the drop shot.
ROGER FEDERER: No. What I meant is I don't need drop shots to win a match. Because I feel in any situation I can always hit a winner with my fore hand, so why hit a drop shot. I can open up the court so well with my forehand, that I never really used it or needed it. It's just because other players played it, and sometimes it does work. Then you feel like you've almost got to do it yourself as well. I just use it for variation. Sometimes I use my back hand because there I can disguise it more because I don't know if I can play the slice long or short. On the forehand side I will pretty much always use the classic forehand. All right.

Press Conference Rafa Nadal

2006-10-22T01:25:00.000+08:00

Madrid, 20th October

Q. Rafa, what did you say to Berdych at the end of the game? He said that you told him that he was a bad guy, he was very bad. Is that correct?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. Correct.

Q. What do you mean by that?
RAFAEL NADAL: Huh?

Q. What do you mean when you say he's very bad? In what ways is he very bad?
RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe he'. The question was if I had said to Berdych that he was very bad. That was the question. Okay? And the answer is that I've told him that, yes. With my emotions because I'm very ‑‑ I get cold when I lose. But I think he's a player that week after week shows he's one of the top players in the world. He's very close to being in the Top‑10. Next year he'll probably reach the Top‑10 because he has a very high tennis level. But I said that because in Toronto I didn't say anything, but he was constantly giving bad looks and nasty looks to the opponent. At that time it was not good. And today during the match it happened again constantly. He looked, and he looked at me with not a very friendly face. During the match I'm focused on my game. I wasn't about to say anything during the match. But maybe the last thing he did with his finger was out of place. The crowd was supporting me. It has been excellent. But nothing against him. The crowd supports a Spanish player. I've also played in the Czech Republic, and I want to thank the crowd. It has been an incredible atmosphere. And for me it's been an honor to play here again. Even though I'm leaving in the quarter finals, my feelings are great. Well, he did that at the end with his finger. I won the fifth point in Czech Republic, which I think is more important than quarter finals here, and the crowd was not supporting me that time either. And I didn't do anything with my fingers or my face or my attitude there. In my opinion that's what he should have been doing here. For the rest, nothing else to say. You need to analyze the match itself and not what happens afterwards, the consequences of everything. What you need to analyze is the match. For the rest we will go ‑‑ he'll go his way, I'll go mine, and we will meet or not. We'll see.

Q. You almost won the second set.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. I played a good set. The set point, I could have been doing much better. But he was doing, Berdych was doing great with his shots and his backhand and was putting pressure on me. My second serve was a bit forced maybe. Oh well, that's how things are. I think my level has been very high, but he has won me. With playing a bad match anyway. His level was high as well. My level was high, too.

Q. Last year Federer and you won almost everything. Berdych only won Paris, Bercy. Does it make you feel better towards Shanghai?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, not at all. Because for me Madrid is one of the most important tournaments of the year. After the four Grand Slams. Well, Masters, Shanghai. Madrid is there for me, to play at home is very special, in the Masters Series, it's more special. I don't think it has been good for Shanghai. What's been good here is to keep playing at my high level. I'm in a good way, and this is a good experience. I think I am training hard and with enthusiasm for a long time. And right now I'm achieving to become a more comprehensive player, better serve. My drive is working well now. Back hand is usually good. I'm at a very good stage of my career. For me that's very very important, and I've worked hard to be here.

Q. I need to go back to the subject that we talked about before. Don't you think you may have made a slight error when you shook hands with him and on TV you said he was an asshole?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I didn't say that. Maybe you heard me wrong. I said he was stupid. That's a little bit less disrespectful. No, in my opinion it hasn't been an error. In you're saying it's been an error, I respect you.

Q. No, I'm not here to give my opinion.
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, you've given your opinion. You're going to have yours, and I'm going to have mine. An interviewer can have their opinion. In my opinion he's a player that has an irate attitude. It's not an irate attitude that I have. He's not a bad person. He's said I said it in a cold tone of voice. End of story. You saw he left the stadium with the whistles of the crowd.

Q. You've played all around the world, and you've known many crowds, many different republics. Do you think the crowd here in Madrid has behaved correctly?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes. It's been a great crowd.

Q. Last detail about the subject. He said you said, "You're very bad at the net." According to him he said, "Yes, but I won against you three times." Very few players have beaten you three times. That's something I heard somewhere.
RAFAEL NADAL: Has he said that? I didn't listen to that point.

Q. It was logical for the press that you would play the final?
RAFAEL NADAL: Logical for you, press, for you. I've been saying here every day it was not logical. For me it was a match I could lose, and I lost it. But I got a good image on every point. It's been lost. It's a match that I lost against a great player. He won Roddick yesterday. He defeated him in two sets. That's something to take into account. He is at a high level, and you cannot stop him sometimes. And that's it. If he said he won me three times, he's right.

Q. The other day when the first round match ended, when you were signing autographs a girl asked you if you were going to play the final, and you said very seriously, "No, I'm sorry, but I won't." Why? Why did you do that? It was in the tunnel.
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know. I said, "I'm sorry, but, no", but I didn't say no like ‑‑ it was a no like, well, it's tough. I knew it was going to be difficult. It's a surface that suits me, but it is tough. And you need to take that into account. It's a final in the Masters Series. It's not a bad result where I've reached against a great player. I'm not leaving the tournament with a poor feeling of myself. I'm satisfied. I don't want to go into excuses. Even though we had this thing at the end, this incident, I wouldn't want the press conference to be focused on that, to see that in the press tomorrow. The match is won with the racket. The rest is only something which can dirty the image of tennis. It hasn't been that serious. It's something that he could have not done, and that's it. For the rest, I accept it.

Q. Are you going to stay and watch Real Madrid?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. What do the real supporters think? Do you want me to watch the final match or not? Because they say I am jinxed. I am not jinxed. Maybe I stay, yes, and watch it. I don't know.

Q. Could I ask you one last question about the crowd. Berdych said what he didn't like was the fact that the crowd ‑‑ he understood that the crowd supported you, but he didn't like the way the crowd was cheering his mistakes. And in particular when he served a double fault. What did you feel about the crowd's behavior at that point?
RAFAEL NADAL: I feel one thing. I feel when I was playing in Czech Republic in Davis Cup, when I had a double fault and the public supported him a lot and said, "Rafael", because I remember the public. I don't remember he don't say, "Please stop, stop, that's not correct." So now is the same.

Q. What he said though is that he expects that in the Davis Cup, but he would not expect it in another tournament.
RAFAEL NADAL: That's not true, because I play a lot of tournaments. And if you play against any local player, that's normal. That's good for tennis. Everything, the public support one player, the local player. Maybe for me the public of today was not bad with him. The public supported me a lot, and that's very nice. Last week I played against players in Stockholm, and the public supported them a lot and supported when I made a double fault, when I made one mistake. So when I go to the press conference, I don't say nothing. So I say the public was very good, because that's good for the tennis. That's good for tennis. And in football, 1,000 people support his team, and the other team is normal. If you play in your house at home, it's normal that the public supports their player or their team.

Q. Different styles match up in different ways. Is there something about his style which matches up bad for you?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. He plays very aggressive. He has very good shots, very tough shots. He drives the ball very hard. He plays very long. It's difficult. I am trying to sometimes returning inside the court. I am trying to sometimes go from the back for a return. I'm trying to play a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more defensive. I'm trying all the time to find a way. But it was very difficult. He was playing very good. I find a way, because I played a very good second set. I had my chances, and I didn't have good luck in those moments. For me it was a nice match with different styles. He was good. He was playing very, very good. I was playing good, too. The tennis is two points sometimes. Today I had a chance with myself in the 6‑5 and after in the 6‑6. It was his ball and he had the passing shot, with the back hand, passing shot. At that moment the match changed a lot in one point. That's it. But the match for me was a very nice match, a very good level with different styleBBoth styles were good. His worked a little bit better, but I am trying for next year. I'll work harder for playing next year. And I want to win this match next year for sure. Thank you.

Press Conference Roger Federer (Madrid, QF)

2006-10-22T01:15:00.001+08:00

Madrid, 20th October

Q. You've won your 80th victory this year. Two years in a row you won 80 matches. What does it mean for you, such consistency?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, it's obviously to great to win. It always is a sign of the hard work paying off somewhere. And the best way that it pays off is in wins. So you can imagine, I've walked off the court 80 times as a winner this season, only five times as a loser. That's a great record for me. I'm really proud of those last two years now. I've only lost a small number. The 80 is not more special than 70 or 90, but it's a great number to reach that's for sure.

Q. You've played three tie breaks in Madrid. Is that a concern for you, is that an issue for you?
ROGER FEDERER: No. I'm winning them, so it's okay.

Q. It's not a surprise because you usually win all the matches, and here in Madrid you seem to be having a little bit of trouble.
ROGER FEDERER: The results always look very easy, but when you're here in person and see you see difficult the matches are, it actually shows how close every match is. This surface here is a bit faster. It's hard to break. So obviously you're going to play tie breakers. But it's no reason to become nervous. The tie breaker belongs to tennis as well. It's important that you have a good record and you can win them. So far for me there has been no reason to panic at all, no.

Q. One more Hawk‑Eye question. What happened with Mohammed during the match in talking about the Hawk‑Eye?
ROGER FEDERER: The thing was ‑‑ well, the ball wasn't called, and Ginepri was going to challenge. Then Mohammed overruled pretty late. So by him overruling, he's making me challenge the call instead of Ginepri, who was sure he was going challenge it. So I said I'm not going challenge it because I though that Robbie is right and I also felt the ball was out. And he understood I challenged the call. So after that I lost the call. And after my second call basically I lost, I told him, you know, "I have one more call left, right?" Because I didn't challenge the first one. And he misunderstood, and they already told. So then they decided to not let me have any more challenges. It was just more an issue of clearing things up, because he decided too quickly to challenge because I didn't want it to be challenged. It was just a misunderstanding between him and me. There's no problem.

Q. The game tomorrow with Nalbandian, is it kind of special for you, you played 12 times with him, 6‑6?
ROGER FEDERER: Of course. We've played some great matches. Played many times, Grand Slams, Australian Open, French Open, U.S. Open, Masters Cups, every. The big scenes. We've helped each other in some ways in our career, we've killed each other in some ways in our careers. I think it's always interesting when we play each other. We've always had good matches. He's had a really tough time getting so far, but he's always a good player and tough to beat. So I'm excited to play him again. I hope I can keep the winning record against him I've had lately against him.

Q. Did you see him play this week?
ROGER FEDERER: Just today.

Q. What do you think about his game, his level, because he's always recovering at the end of the match?
ROGER FEDERER: He definitely got unlucky/lucky. He should have won in two sets and then should have lost. But ended up winning. He fought well and played really well when he had to. So in the end I guess he deserves it. He was awfully close. That's maybe his problem, he makes too many close matches. That's why he occasionally loses once in a while. I thought he played well today.

Q. Going back to the Hawk‑Eye challenge. Don't you think if the system is there, why not take full advantage of it? Wouldn't you feel more comfortable knowing that every single close call would be cleared up? What is your take on that?
ROGER FEDERER: If it's there, it's there to be used. If it's not there, that's how it usually is, you know. I don't feel like I need this guaranty of knowing if I'm right or wrong or if I'm getting a bad call or not. Because I feel there's still going to be bad calls. Soderling missed also two or three serves which were on the line, but he didn't challenge them because he didn't feel like they were in or whatever. There's still missed calls out there. That's why for me it's not relevant, the system.

Q. Don't you think it takes the responsibility out of the umpire? Because him knowing that you can challenge if you want ‑‑
ROGER FEDERER: It's definitely easier for the umpire now. He can sit back and relax and once in a while, only when he's 100 percent sure, he can make a call. Otherwise it's between us and the system.

Q. Another thing, you're playing on consecutive weeks. Are you going to play Basel?
ROGER FEDERER: Mm‑hmm.

Q. And then Bercy?
ROGER FEDERER: Mm‑hmm.

Q. You seldom do that.
ROGER FEDERER: Mm‑hmm. What's the reason?

Q. Sorry?
ROGER FEDERER: What's the reason why I do that?

Q. To play in your home town, right?
ROGER FEDERER: Exactly.

Q. Of course. My question is do you have special preparation when you're going to play three weeks in a row including two Masters Series events?
ROGER FEDERER: No. I can't prepare especially for this. Preparations go more on Grand Slams and the entire season. I used to sometimes play five tournaments in a row. So now I feel like I'm fit enough to play three in a row. I don't think it should be a problem. It's the end of the season. I think that's the difficult part, because you always have to be a bit careful with injuries. That's the problem I've had in the last couple of years. My goal is really to try to play the three tournaments and then play Shanghai. Because the last couple of years I've never played indoors, and I'd love to win Madrid. I'd love to win Basel and Paris. There's tournaments that I have not been able to win yet, so I'm trying to give myself the best chance this year.

Q. The last time you played against David on such a surface was in Shanghai. If you had to compare your physical shape here and in Shanghai with numbers, what would you say you were?
ROGER FEDERER: Well, obviously I feel way better now. I was struggling in Shanghai all the way through, but I beat him in the first round robin match. People don't remember. And then eventually I ended up losing against him in the finals. This surface is quite different than the one in Shanghai because it's a rubber court there. Here it's on wood. I always think it favors me because he's beaten me in Basel as well on that surface before. I hope I can use this surface which is my favorite surface indoors to beat him tomorrow.

Berdych upholds mastery over Nadal in third straight win

2006-10-21T23:40:00.000+08:00

Tomas Berdych wiped out the chance of a Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer final by beating the Spanish second seed Nadal 6- 3, 7-6 (8-6) Friday to reach the semifinals of the Madrid Masters.

(dpa) Berdych had to deal with a rabid public intent on Nadal's success in the wake of his title a year ago.

The pair exited after exchanging words, with Nadal explaining that home players will always get massive support.

"I played last week in Stockholm and lost to (Joachim Jonasson). The crowd also supported him but I didn't say anything," he said. "When you play against any local player it happens, that's good for tennis."

Berdych, who has now beaten the world number 2 on three straight occasions, saw it differently.

"I can understand that they want for him to win the match and win the tournament," said the Czech 11th seed. "He's second in the world, he's a great player.

"They have to understand that there are many, many other players that can beat him. And then when he tells me that (I'm very bad), it's nice that a very bad player can beat him three times."

Nadal admitted that he exchanged harsh words with the winner.

"In Toronto (where Berdych won) I didn't say anything. He was constantly giving bad looks and nasty looks to the opponent," Nadal said. "Today during the match it happened again constantly. He looked, and he looked at me with not a very friendly face."

Berdych will face off Saturday against Chile's 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez, who beat Serb Novak Djokovic 7-5, 5-7, 7-5.

Roger Federer and David Nalbandian will contest a rerun of last year's season title match in Shanghai as both reached the final four.

World number 1 Federer improved to 80-5 on the season as he put out American Robby Ginepri 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Nalbandian, seeded fourth, edged closer to a possible return to the Masters Cup in Shanghai in three weeks as he won only his second match against Marat Safin, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-2).

The Argentine came into the match with a 1-6 record against the Russian, a clear crowd favourite.

Nalbandian also failed to put to rest a controversy bubbling over from his ill-tempered win against Tim Henman in the previous round, in which he called the Briton's reputation for fair play "the biggest rubbish ever."

The spat blew up late in the match, when Henman refused to give his opponent another first serve on a disputed point.

"He questioned my sportsmanship, but if we go down that road there is only going to be one winner," said the man known as "Gentleman Tim."

Nalbandian didn't back down Friday: "So he's not the sportsman that he looks like or he wants to sell that image. I don't know."

Federer lost to Nalbandian's fifth-set fightback in the final in Shanghai in November, but twice beat the South American on clay last spring.

"It will be a very tough match," said Nalbandian. "Every time we play each other, it's very close."

Nalbandian's win over Safin in nearly three hours nudged the Argentine up two places to sixth in the chase for one of the places in the eight-man season final.

Nalbandian is desperate to again reach Shanghai after passing fallen fellow contenders Tommy Robredo and James Blake onto sixth in the provisional standings. "I passed two players, I'm in very good shape for Shanghai."

Safin nearly overcame a performance that was riddled with 74 unforced errors, but helped by 21 aces.

"I'm actually more happy than frustrated because it's already my fifth week," Safin said after a possible preview of December's Russia- Argentina Davis Cup final in Moscow.

"I've been playing some great matches, a lot of three-set matches. I'm pretty happy. My situation was much worse months ago. I was 104, now I am fighting into the Top 30."

Safin was looking for his first Masters Series final four since winning Madrid and Paris back-to-back two years ago. A knee injury which kept him out for more than six months prevented him from playing last year.

Masters Cup Spotlight: Crucial Week in Race to Masters Cup

2006-10-20T22:32:00.000+08:00

This week's Madrid Masters is crucial for Tennis Masters Cup contenders. There are six singles berths up for grabs in the final three weeks of the year and, because it is an ATP Masters Series event, all results this week count. Whether a player suffers a first-round loss or wins the tournament, his result will count towards his INDESIT ATP 2006 Race total.

With the 16 seeds having byes, it is critical for a player to win his first match. Victory in that first match means the difference between earning one point and 15 points (for reaching the third round).

Cup contenders Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake, Nikolay Davydenko, Marcos Baghdatis and Mario Ancic all missed opportunities to push their claims for a Shanghai berth after losses Wednesday.

David Nalbandian, who plays Marat Safin in the quarterfinals on Friday, would be certain to move to No. 5 from No.8 if he reaches the final. He would finish no lower than No. 4 if he wins the title.

Andy Roddick remains at 16 points behind Ljubicic at No. 4, following his third round loss to Tomas Berdych on Thursday. Tommy Robredo stands one point behind Blake at No. 7.

Madrid Masters update, Thursday

2006-10-20T22:25:00.000+08:00

ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer edged past Robin Soderling of Sweden 7-6(5), 7-6(3) for a place in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid on Thursday.

Federer extends his winning streak to 16 matches, that includes titles at the US Open last month (d. Roddick) and Tokyo two weeks ago (d. Henman). He also has a 13-match winning streak against Swedes, dating back to March 2002 when he lost in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells to Thomas Enqvist.

The Swiss is only one win away from reaching 80 this year (79-5). This would be his second straight year at 80 or above, as he went 81-4 in 2005. The last player to win 80 matches two years in a row was Ivan Lendl, who went 96-14 in 1981 and 106-9 in 1982.

Federer, who has won nine titles this year, four more than Rafael Nadal (pictured) and James Blake, will meet American Robby Ginepri in the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Nadal beat No. 13 seed Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes for a place in the last eight during the evening session. Nadal had previously won their only other career meeting at an ATP Masters Series event in Cincinnati this summer.

Nadal won 27 of 30 of points on first serve and broke Haas three times to extend his hard-court record this year to 23-7, which includes one ATP title at Dubai in March (d. Federer). He is 57-9 overall in 2006.

The ATP World No. 2 will play Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Berdych won their last career meeting at ATP Masters Series Canada in three sets.

Serb Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to defeat fellow young rising star Andy Murray 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and advance to his first Masters Series quarterfinal of the year.

Navratilova Turns 50

2006-10-18T21:05:00.000+08:00

One of the all-time legends of women's professional tennis, Martina Navratilova, marked her 50th birthday on Wednesday, October 18, 2006, having amazingly only just completely closed the curtain on her career just a month ago with her last Grand Slam title. After capturing the US Open mixed doubles championship with compatriot Bob Bryan on September 9, 2006, Martina Navratilova announced at her post-match press conference that it was definitely the final match of her illustrious, 32-year professional career.

Navratilova's ultimate season on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, playing exclusively in doubles, was a successful one punctuated in Grand Slam style. She claimed her 176th and 177th career doubles titles at the Internationaux de Strasbourg (with South Africa's Liezel Huber) and Rogers Cup in Montréal (with Russia's Nadia Petrova).

"The body of work is what I'm proud of, and the passion that I brought to this sport, trying to figure out how to be the best player that I could possibly be with the limitations that I have," said Navratilova at her final press conference, on the second Sunday of the US Open fortnight. "Personally, I'm proud of being true to myself, speaking my truth and living it."

In addition to compiling arguably the most remarkable resume in tennis history, Navratilova has also been involved in a distinctive array of off-court endeavors. Among those that are tennis-related, she has served as president of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Players Association (1979-80, 1983-84, 1994-95) and led the United States Fed Cup team (1997). Having fled Czechoslovakia to become an American citizen in 1981, she has also supported non-profit groups and charitable causes, including the Women's Sports Foundation, Planned Parenthood and PETA.

Highlights and milestones that stand out in the naturalized American's legendary career include:

- Winning 167 singles titles, the most of any male or female professional player, 18 of those being Grand Slam singles titles, fourth among all female players (behind Court, Graf and Wills Moody, and tied with Evert); nine at Wimbledon
- Winning 177 doubles titles, including two this year (Strasbourg w/Huber, Montréal w/Petrova) and 79 with Pam Shriver (21 of which were Grand Slams)
- Sweeping singles and doubles at the same event 84 times, leading all players
- Winning 10 major mixed doubles titles, including one this year (US Open)
- Holding the No.1 singles ranking for a total of 331 non-consecutive weeks (second to Graf's 377), finishing seven years at No.1 (second to Graf's eight)
- Finishing every year of full-time singles ranked inside Top 10 for 20 consecutive years (from turning pro in 1975 to retiring from full-time singles in 1994)
- Upon winning the mixed doubles title at the 2003 Australian Open (w/Paes), becoming the third woman (after Court and Hart) to win singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at all four Grand Slams (was the first in the Open Era to do so), also became the oldest player at 46 years, three months to win a major
- Tied with King for the all-time record of 20 Wimbledon titles
- Owns records for most singles match wins of all time (1442; Evert is next with 1304), best ever annual singles win-loss record (was 86-1 in 1983, a .989 winning percentage), and longest match win streak in Open Era (74 in 1984; Graf is next with 66 in 1989-90)

To keep up with Martina's many endeavours as she steps away from professional tennis, visit her official Web site at www.martinanavratilova.com.

Roddick into 3rd round

2006-10-18T20:48:00.000+08:00

"That's all I can do - and hopefully just play well." Andy Roddick clocked his eighth consecutive career victory over France's Sebastien Grosjean winning 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to earn a place in the third round.

Roddick, seeded sixth, fired over the last of his nine aces to clinch the win in 87 minutes with 34 winners. He never faced a break point.

The American said he was feeling his body as a long season nears the end.

"My knees are hurting a bit, it's just a bit of tendinitis, nothing serious," Roddick said. "At the end of the year after a long schedule, you have your good days and your bad days. I don't know that today was great."

Watching from the box was Roddick's coach Jimmy Connors, keen to help his man into next month's season-ending Masters Cup event in Shanghai.

Roddick needs to win the Madrid event in order to qualify for Shanghai, a tall order in a crowded field of top ten players.

Roddick improved his modest Madrid record to 2-3. He came to Spain after reaching the Vienna semi-finals last weekend.

Federer makes up for lost time in Madrid return win

2006-10-18T20:23:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer won his 15th match in a row Tuesday as he made a return to the Madrid Masters after three years away, defeating Nicolas Massu 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match.

The stylish Swiss took the first step towards a possible tenth trophy of the season, though he could be set for a final against local hero and defending champion Rafael Nadal.

"I played the big points better than he did, made it easier for myself," said Federer, 78-5 this season. "The match could have turned out much harder, but this is the perfect results for the first round."

Federer last played indoors on the ATP when he lost the Shanghai Masters Cup final to David Nalbandian last November, playing on a recovering ankle which caused him to miss Madrid in 2005.

The world number 1 tapped wood as he said he has basically been injury-free during this season of three Grand Slam titles, with the ankle requiring only moderate precautions.

"I'm just being very careful at the end of the year, trying to be really professional by warming up a lot and taping," Federer said.

Current ATP 2006 Race (updated on Friday, 13th October, 2006)

2006-10-13T23:33:00.000+08:00

1st Federer, R. 1374
2nd Nadal, R. 825
3rd Ljubicic, I. 436
4th Roddick, A. 434
5th Davydenko, N. 418
6th Blake, J. 396
7th Robredo, T. 395
8th Nalbandian, D. 370
9th Baghdatis, M. 369
10th Ancic, M. 348

Nalbandian, Roddick Boost Tennis Masters Cup Hopes

2006-10-13T23:19:00.000+08:00

Defending Tennis Masters Cup champion David Nalbandian moved to within striking distance of No. 7 Tommy Robredo and No. 6 James Blake in the race for Shanghai berths by reaching the quarterfinals of Vienna on Thursday. Playing his first tournament since the US Open, Nalbandian defeated Oliver Marach 6-2, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal showdown with fellow South American Fernando Gonzalez.
Should Nalbandian win that match and advance to the semifinals, the Argentine will move to within three points of Robredo and four points of Blake in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race. The top eight players in the race will qualify for Tennis Masters Cup.
Nalbandian, who currently sits in eighth spot in the Race, will be able to count all points he earns this week towards his points total. Blake, who has a 'best fifth' result of 31 points, can only add to his total if he wins the Stockholm title. Blake would add 14 points to his total (45 winner's points less his 'best fifth' result of 31 points) by winning his fifth title of the season. Nalbandian, who has not yet played five International Series events in 2006, would add 50 points by winning the Vienna title. Robredo is not playing this week.
For the second consecutive match Andy Roddick (pictured) did not face a break point in his 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The US Open finalist won 87 percent of points on his first serve and served eight aces in his first meeting with Gasquet.
Roddick, currently No. 4 in the INDESIT ATP Race, will move ahead of No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic if he wins one more round than the Croat this week. (If both players lose their quarterfinal matches No. 5 Davydenko could move to No. 3 by winning the Moscow title.)
Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis raced through the first set of his match with Stefan Koubek but the Austrian rebounded to claim an upset 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 win over the fourth seed. Baghdatis began the week just one point behind No. 8 David Nalbandian in the INDESIT ATP Race, but will now lose ground to the Argentine in the battle for the eighth spot in the race to Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka upset eighth seed and last week's Metz champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3. Wawrinka, 21, who also defeated Djokovic to win his first ATP title in Umag in July, improved to 29-21 on the year and is now just one win away from his fourth semifinal of the year.
Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who lost to Djokovic in the Metz final, defeated Polish qualifier Lukas Kubot 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Sharapova, Petrova Through; Kuznetsova Ousted

2006-10-13T00:45:00.000+08:00

MOSCOW, Russia - Russia's Top 3 took the court at the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday, but only two survived. Svetlana Kuznetsova, one of this season's hottest players, was the biggest surprise of the day, falling quietly to one of the many other Russians in the draw, Vera Zvonareva. Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova managed to advance in straight sets.
Kuznetsova, seeded No.3 this week, had been playing arguably the best tennis of the fall season, claiming consecutive titles at Bali and Beijing and reaching the semis last week at Stuttgart. But not only did she look uncomfortable on the brand new Kremlin Cup court surface, she was also up against inspired former Top 10 player Zvonareva, who has had an impressive year herself. Zvonareva went for her shots from start to finish, and never faced a break point during the 61 63 dismantling.
"It was an advantage for me to play a match already, as she had a first round bye," said Zvonareva, who was 2-7 lifetime against Kuznetsova coming in. "The court is a bit sticky but I was already used to it. The score may make the match look like it was easy, but to play someone like Svetlana is never easy. We have always had tough matches. I kept going for my shots, and today it worked."
Zvonareva's victory over the No.4-ranked Kuznetsova represents the sixth Top 10 victory of her career and first in nearly two years. It is just her second Top 5 victory, having beaten a No.3-ranked Venus Williams at Roland Garros in 2003. The Russian, who has been as high as No.9 herself, is now through to her third Kremlin Cup quarterfinal.
Playing for the first time since capturing her second Grand Slam title at the US Open, Sharapova was also a little bit out of sorts, but still managed to advance in two sets, 64 75, over qualifier Ekaterina Bychkova. The Russian teenager won a routine first set but ran into some problems with her aggressive opponent in the second, fighting back from a 5-3 deficit and saving a set point en route to the win.
"Considering this was my first match in four weeks, it was a good performance," Sharapova said. "I got a bit sloppy in the second set, but I stepped it up when I needed to. It was great to have the support of the crowd. When you play a fellow Russian, you have to expect the fan support to be even, but the atmosphere was great tonight."
"I didn't want to think about winning the set," Bychkova said. "I've seen others get her into the same situation where they have set point against her and I didn't want to think about it, just play each point then see what happens. I didn't play so well against her serve, and my serve was not too good today, but it was a good experience to play against Maria, especially here in Moscow."
Sharapova and Zvonareva were contesting the first two second round matches of the week.
Petrova, who came into her home event fresh off a fifth title of the season in Stuttgart, cruised in one of three first round matches on the Wednesday schedule, ousting Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 62 62. The No.5-seeded Russian was in complete control from start to finish, particularly on her serve; she smacked eight aces and never even faced a break point in eight service games. She won in 54 minutes.
In the other two first round matches played, Samantha Stosur fought past Swiss qualifier Emmanuelle Gagliardi, 46 63 62, and No.6 seed Patty Schnyder blitzed an injury-returned Chanda Rubin, 63 60. It was the third consecutive early round encounter between Schnyder and Rubin, the Swiss also winning in the second round of Luxembourg two weeks ago and in the first round of Stuttgart last week.
Twelve players will battle for the six remaining quarterfinal spots Thursday. Top seed Amélie Mauresmo makes her first appearance of the week against Elena Vesnina, who pulled off a miraculous first round victory over Li Na on Tuesday. No.4 seed Elena Dementieva also plays her first match of the week, taking on Israel's Shahar Peer.
Two seeded doubles teams were in action Wednesday, but only one managed to survive. No.3 seeds Kveta Peschke and Francesca Schiavone won their first round match easily, but No.2 seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs were given an early dismissal by veterans Janette Husarova and Elena Likhovtseva, 64 46 63.

Nadal Out; Blake, Nieminen Progress in Stockholm

2006-10-13T00:28:00.000+08:00

© Getty Images
Top seed Rafael Nadal crashed out of the If Stockholm Open today, losing to home favorite, Joachim Johansson.
The 20-year-old Spaniard faced 17 aces from the 24-year-old, who was playing only his third ATP tournament match of 2006. Johansson also saved 86% of break points that he faced against the World No.2.
The loss was Nadal's ninth of the year, and only the third straight sets loss he has suffered so far in 2006. Johansson, who obtained a wild card into the event, will next face Kristof Vliegen, who defeated Canadian Frank Dancevic in a three-set match, which lasted 103 minutes. The Belgian's 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win was the 28th win of his 2006 campaign.
The No. 2 seed James Blake needed just under an hour to defeat Swede Thomas Johansson in Stockholm Wednesday. Blake's 6-3, 6-2 victory was the 51st of his 2006 campaign.
The American is currently placed at number 6 in the INDESIT ATP Race, and the victory improves his chances of qualifying for Shanghai. Blake now faces German Simon Greul in the second round. Greul beat Swedish wild card Ervin Eleskovic 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the day.
Fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen defeated Michael Llodra of France 6-4, 6-4 to post his 49th win of the season.
The Finn, who is still in the hunt for a Tennis Masters Cup berth, trailed No.8 Nalbandian by 125 points entering Stockholm.
Nieminen won his first ATP title in Auckland in January and reached a career-best INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 13 in July. He has a career record of 6-6 here, finishing as runner-up in 2001 (l. to Schalken).
Olivier Rochus, the sixth seed, justified his seeding by progressing in three sets against Paradorn Srichaphan. The Belgian comfortably won the first set 6-2, but then surrendered the next set 7-6(5), before prevailing 6-2 in the decider.
Rochus saved an impressive 88% of the break points he faced (14 out of 16). The victory improved the 25-year-old's 2006 record to 31-17, and means he will face either second seed James Blake, or Simon Greul in the next round.
In an all-Swedish contest, Robin Soderling was too strong for Jonas Bjorkman, as he won with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 scoreline. Bjorkman, who was a Wimbledon semifinalist this year, only won 4% of Soderling's first service points. Soderling, now 22, took only 49 minutes to advance to the last eight, where he will either face the third seed Tomas Berdych, or another Swede, the wild card Andreas Vinciguerra.

Federer Downs Henman for His Ninth Title of Year

2006-10-08T20:04:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer won his ninth title of the year and the 42nd of his career with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Tim Henman.
With his sixth straight win over Henman, Federer took the lead in their career meetings 7-6. Federer improved his 2006 record to 77-5, while Henman slipped to 28-18.
The Race for Shanghai continues to heat up, with the top eight finishers in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race making it to the Tennis Masters Cup there in November. Federer already has set a new points record for the race with 1,371, breaking the mark of 1,345 he set last year. Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal already have clinched spots in Shanghai.
Federer, 25, continues to amaze. He is 49-2 on hard courts this year, after going 50-1 last year. Since the beginning of 2004 he has compiled a 232-15 record, with 31 titles in 46 tournaments. This summer he won titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open for the third straight year, a feat no one else has accomplished.
He is 39-2 since the beginning of Roland Garros May 29, with his only two losses coming in the final of Roland Garros to Nadal and the second round of Cincinnati in August to Murray.
Federer has played in 13 finals this year. That’s a career high for him after 12 last year and 11 in 2004. For his whole career, Federer has won 42 of the 55 finals in which he has played for a winning percentage of 76.4. That compares to 72.7 percent for the great Pete Sampras (64/88), 71.3 percent for hall-of-famer John McEnroe (77/108) and 70.5 percent for hall-of-famer Bjorn Borg (62-88).
Henman, 32, was playing in the 28th final of his ATP career and fell to 11-17 in those matches. He hasn't captured a crown since the ATP Masters Series event at Paris in 2003 (d. Pavel). That was the biggest tournament he ever won.
Henman is on pace for his 11th straight year with a winning percentage of at least 56, currently standing at 60.9 percent (28/46). He also has a chance for his 12th straight year finishing ranked in the top 40, as he was No. 55 coming into Tokyo and will move up thanks to his performance there. Henman has a career record of 8-4 in Tokyo.

Golvin knocks off Schnyder, will face Petrova

2006-10-08T09:36:00.000+08:00

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Tatiana Golvin, the 18-year-old French phenom, knocked off fifth-seeded Patty Schnyder in three sets to reach the final at the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Golvin's 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 victory vaulted her into the final against fourth- seeded Nadia Petrova. The Russian posted a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over second- seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The teenager dominated the first set, with Schnyder rarely converting her opportunities and lacking power against the youthful, hard-hitting Frenchwoman.
Schnyder changed the pace of the match, putting more topspin on the ball and slipping through the second set. The Swiss broke to lead 3-2 in the third, but then lost her serve at love.
Golvin broke at 6-5 to take the match when the southpaw dumped a backhand into the net.
In the other semifinal, Petrova snapped Kuznetsova's 10-match win streak. Kuznetsova had won 10 in a row, including back-to-back titles in Beijing and Bali. Her last loss came at the hands of Jelana Jankovic, her quarterfinal victim here, in last month's U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Melzer meets Djokovic in final

2006-10-08T09:29:00.000+08:00

Austria's No.1 Jurgen Melzer posted his 10th consecutive win to book a spot in the final of the Open de Moselle in Metz.
Melzer needed one hour and 24 minutes to dismiss French wild card Macq Gicquel 7-6(3), 6-3 and notch his 110th career win.
The 25-year-old is on quite a roll, winning the first tournament of his seven-year ATP career three weeks ago in Bucharest (d. Volandri). He is riding a 10-match winning streak. After a dismal 1-8 start to the year, Melzer has gone 30-15 for an overall record of 31-23.
For the title, Melzer will take on third-seeded Novak Djokovic, who defeated local favorite Sebastien Grosjean 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3 in two hours and 44 minutes.
Djokovic, 19, won his first career title at Amersfoort in July (d. Massu) and was runner-up at Umag a week later (l. to Wawrinka). He also reached the semis at Zagreb in February (l. to Ljubicic). He has won 17 of his last 21 matches after starting the year 16-11.
Djokovic has won more matches this year (33) than anyone else on the ATP circuit who is still a teenager.
The Serbian, who is still in the run for a berth in the prestigious circuit-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, started the week at the No.20 spot in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, but now stands at No.19 with 235 points (135 points behind No.8 David Nalbandian).

Federer's blog: Saturday, October 7, 2006

2006-10-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

Konnichiwa,
Earlier on this week, I told you guys how beautiful the trees were around the lake in the Imperial Palace where I played tennis with the Crown Prince of Japan. Yesterday evening after my match, I went and had a quick look around the shops and came across a nice bonsai tree. The bonsai has always been one of my favourites, so I thought I would take picture for you guys to see. It is just amazing how meticulous and harmonious the Japanese are in everything they do.
After yesterday's typhoon, we were greeted with beautiful weather today, so I practiced outside before my match which helped my preparation. We played with an open roof and once again the stadium was packed. The fans have been really great here all week.
I was very happy with the way my semifinal match went and I am really excited to be playing in my first final in Japan tomorrow. I arrived here five days before my first match and was really hoping for a good result, now I am only one win away from claiming my first title in Japan in what I am sure will be a tough match.
I think the trip has been really worthwhile as I am getting to see and know many people and places but before recapping what has been happening here this week, I would like to let you know about my plans for the rest of the season.
I am going to play the ATP Masters Series event in Madrid, then Basel, my hometown event, and then the ATP Masters Series Paris tournament, before going to Shanghai to play in the Tennis Masters Cup. Everything is going according to the schedule and I really hope that the indoor season will bring me as much success as at the beginning of my year. Unfortunately I was injured the last two years and had to miss those events so I am very motivated to play there again.
After the Tennis Masters Cup it is the off season for the players, except for those in the Davis Cup final. While the final is on, I will be off for my annual vacation which I am really looking forward to because the season has been long and tough and I definitely need a break at the end of the year to rest and relax.
Before I left for the match yesterday, I was in the room on the computer and I was surfing the internet for nice vacation spots. I was wondering where to go. As you fans are from a lot of different cities and countries around the world, I am sure you might have a personal experience or some more advice for me as to where I could spend a relaxing time with Mirka. Although this season has been great, I must admit, that come November, I will be in need for a serious break.
After my vacation I will be getting ready for next season by working on my fitness and playing tennis with Tony Roche for about two weeks. Then it is off to defend my Australian Open title.
Sayonara and speak to you after the final tomorrow.
RogPlease check out my web site: rogerfederer.com

Federer Battles Henman in Tokyo Final

2006-10-07T23:10:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer will be looking to claim his 42nd career title Sunday at the AIG Japan Open Tennis when he takes on Brit Tim Henman.
ATP World No.1 Federer posted a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany's Benjamin Becker, while Henman defeated Hyung Taik Lee 6-4, 7-6(5) to book a spot in the final of an ATP event for the first time since Indian Wells in 2004 (l. Federer).
Federer and Henman will be going head-to-head for the 13th time in their careers. Although the series is tied at 6-6, Federer has defeated Henman in their last five clashes without dropping a set.

Federer Sets New INDESIT ATP Race Record

2006-10-07T09:59:00.000+08:00

Roger Federer has broken his own INDESIT ATP Race record that he set last year as a result of reaching the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships semifinals on Friday.

The ATP World No. 1 completed a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) victory over Japanese wild card Takao Suzuki to add 22 points to his current INDESIT ATP 2006 Race tally for 1,346 points.
Last year, Federer finished the season with 1,345 points breaking his 2004 record of 1,267 points.

Suzuki, who is currently No. 1078 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, injured his shoulder in the Australian Open qualifying competition in January and only returned to the ATP circuit this week.

Federer improved his season match record to 75-5 in a little over two hours and will play No. 14 seed Benjamin Becker, who will contest his first career semifinal. Becker, currently No. 72 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, upset fifth-seeded Benjamin Becker 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4.

Second-seeded Tommy Robredo was knocked out by No. 9 seed Hyung-Taik Lee, recording his first win over the Spaniard in four career meetings.

Lee triumphed 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-1 for a place in his second ATP semifinal of the season. The result means Tommy Robredo remains at No. 7 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race, just one point behind No. 6 James Blake.

Lee goes on to meet No. 10 seed Tim Henman, who beat third-seeded Mario Ancic 6-2, 6-2 for the first time in three meetings. Ancic is No. 10 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race.

It was the Henman and Ancic's second match of the day, as rain forced matches at the Ariake Colosseum to be played under a closed roof on Centre Court for a second consecutive day.

Henman had kicked off the day's play at 9am recovering from a 4-1 first set deficit to beat Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6(3), 6-3, while Ancic overcame Rainer Schuettler 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in third round clashes.Previously, the latest time a match finished was at 3.21 a.m. In that match at Philadelphia in 1990, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier lost a doubles match 6-4, 6-2 to Paul Chamberlin and Tim Wilkison.

Kuznetsova Qualifies For Madrid

2006-10-07T01:15:00.000+08:00

Recent China Open Champion qualifies for crown-jewel season-ending $3-million event

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open Champion and winner of three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles in 2006, has joined Justine Henin-Hardenne, Amélie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova in qualifying for the singles event at the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, set to take place at Madrid Arena in the Spanish capital, November 7-12.
The Russian star, winner of titles in Miami, the China Open in Beijing and the Wismilak International in Bali, is currently in fourth place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships with 2433 points. During the course of her four-year professional career, Kuznetsova has claimed eight singles titles, including the 2004 US Open, is currently at a career high equalling Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Ranking of No.4 and has won more than $5.8 million in official prize money.

"Svetlana Kuznetsova has had an incredible year, winning three Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles and reaching the Roland Garros final. She has come back impressively from her injury problems of 2005 and her qualification for the Sony Ericsson Championships is testament to her tenacity and determination to be a great player once again," said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. "The singles field for the Championships is already looking formidable and we can all expect to see the very best of women's tennis come November."

The Sony Ericsson Championships will gather the Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams from the regular 2006 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season as they battle it out for the season-ending titles and a share of the $3-million prize purse. The defending champions are Mauresmo (singles) and Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur (doubles).

Gicquel Moves Into First ATP SF

2006-10-07T01:08:00.000+08:00

French wild card Marc Gicquel moved into his first career ATP semifinal when he defeated countryman Florent Serra (pictured) 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 25 minutes at the Open de Moselle in Metz Friday.

Gicquel, a 28-year-old Paris resident, reached a career-high INDESIT ATP Ranking of No.60 last month following an impressive run at the US Open in which he defeated Christophe Rochus, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Gaston Gaudio before falling to eventual champion Roger Federer.

For a spot in the final he will take on in-form Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who posted his ninth consecutive win by overcoming Mardy Fish 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in two hours and three minutes.
After a first round loss at the US Open, Melzer captured his first career ATP title in Bucharest (d.Volandri). In the following week he sailed past Miguel Gallardo in Austria's win over Mexico in the Davis Cup play-offs.
The No.1 Austrian now holds a 30-23 record and stands No.44 in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race.
Melzer and Gicquel have never faced each other in ATP-level events.

Roger's blog: Friday, October 6, 2006

2006-10-07T00:58:00.000+08:00

Konnichiwa
Last night we went to dinner at a nice French restaurant in the hotel, but I only had a little white wine, no Sake. Mirka and I had the tasting menu which was excellent, it was good to change the food up a little bit, but I am definitely going Japanese again tonight.
As many of you know, in Japan they call their currency YEN. Maybe I was a bit tired last night but when the waiter brought the check after dinner and it said 17,000 I freaked for a second. I thought how was it possible that my dinner cost $17,000....did I order the most expensive glass of wine in the world? Did I eat some rare delicacy in the tasting menu? Then I realized the price was in Yen and I relaxed.

I had to get up early again this morning as I was scheduled third match from 9am. Many of you might know that I am not an early riser. If I had my way, I could defiantly sleep all day.
Because of the rain yesterday the tournament had to move some matches to this morning, which meant that play started at 9am. Last night the last match finished at 3.24am, which is an all-time record for lateness for a singles match, and to be honest I was very happy to be into my third hour of sleep at that point.

We left the hotel and drove over to the tennis centre in pouring rain and strong winds because we have this typhoon hanging over Tokyo at the moment. So there was obviously no chance to play outside, which meant that there was no chance to warm up on the outside courts, this makes it a bit tricky to prepare for a match. That's why we had a longer warm up before the game today, normally we get five minutes to warm-up, but today we had 10 minutes which we both agreed on before the match started.

The match itself was played at a very high-standard, the serving from both sides I thought was amazing. I think I got a little bit lucky in the second set to get the break to take it 7-5 and then take it to the third. Having to play a tie-break in the final set was an obvious result because of our great serving [and poor returning ;)].

Every day it seems to get more special playing inside the Ariake Colosseum. It was more obvious playing today against a Japanese player but the fans remained very fair, which I always think is great and I am looking forward to tomorrow's match after today's hard fought battle.
Thanks to everyone for being worried about my leg. It's still swollen and there is a little cut, but you know tough guys don't cry. Yesterday I told you I thought I had the dream because of the Sake bomber, but I seriously doubt it was the Sake bomber, I am pretty sure now after reconsidering that it was because of Mirka keeping me on my toes trying to seek her revenge on Captain Wasabi. I have heard rumblings of many players (and fans) giving Mirka ideas of how to pay me back. I realize that no matter what happens in the remaining matches, I will be leaving Japan soon, so Captain Wasabi has put his defences on high alert and I will now pay more attention to what I eat. One of the fans tipped me off that perhaps she was going to try and mix a lot of wasabi into a scoop of green tea ice cream...I will now make her taste it first if we order it for dessert.

Apparently there was a famous Japanese samurai called Benke who killed a lot of warrior's during his battles. They say that his downfall was a weakness in his shin. Hopefully, my shin will continue to get better and not pose a problem for the remainder of the event. Since I have been in Tokyo, I have been looking to buy a rare Samurai sword to take home with me as I really think they are cool and I have always been intrigued by the Samurais. But I don't think that they will let me carry it on to the plane. Actually I am not even sure they will let me through customs with it so I will probably wait until another trip.

Today I scared Sanji Arisawa, the tournament director, for the second time. Not only did I win 7-6 in the third in almost losing to Suzuki, after my match while I was getting stretched in the training room, Sanji came in and just as he walked in, I yelled out "ouch my back" and he said "good try you cant scare me twice in one day".

As you probably noticed, I am playing again with a collared-shirt, which I am happy about, as it's nice to change it up once in a while. I had been wearing t-shirts for some time but now but both Nike and I thought we should change it up a bit. I have had many fans write me about a t-shirt I wore during practice the other day. It was blue t-shirt Nike made for the US Open and they borrowed the theme of James Bond and instead of the "Man with the Golden Gun", they wrote that "Roger Federer is the Man with the Golden Racquet." You can see my shadow and the text in the shirt. Nike made it in different colours and I think it looks really great. I have always been a James Bond junkie....tell me how cool that guy is????

I am very psyched as next Friday I will be flying to Barcelona before the Madrid tournament to film a Nike commercial. Like a true James Bond mission, I can't tell you the theme of the commercial as it is top secret, but it will feature a few Nike athletes in a campaign that will be exclusive to the Asia-Pacific region, so all my fans in Japan and throughout Asia should get a chance to see it at the beginning of 2007.

Tomorrow I am playing my semi-final and I will write again after my match.
Sayonara
RF
Please check out my web site: rogerfederer.com

Petrova, Schnyder advance in Stuttgart

2006-10-06T11:18:00.000+08:00

Stuttgart, Germany (Sports Network) - Fourth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova and fifth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder were a pair of second-round winners on Thursday, while top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo withdrew from the $650,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix because of a right shoulder injury.
The world No. 1 Mauresmo was scheduled to meet Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek in a second-round affair on Day 4, but the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion pulled out of the draw, opening up a spot for American lucky- loser Lisa Raymond.
The French Mauresmo lost to American Lindsay Davenport in the last two finals at this event.
On the courts at Porsche Arena, Petrova handled German favorite Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-4, while Schnyder held off Israeli Shahar Peer 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-4.
An upset came when Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova humbled sixth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2.
Eighth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic came from behind to defeat Tszvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to advance.
In other second-round play, Krajicek leveled Raymond 6-4, 6-2 and France's Tatiana Golovin erased Czech Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-3.

Clement sneaks into Metz quarters as Safin loses

2006-10-06T11:12:00.001+08:00

Metz, France (Sports Network) - Veteran Frenchman Arnaud Clement upended his fifth-seeded countryman Richard Gasquet in Thursday's second-round action at Open de Moselle tennis event.
The 28-year-old Clement cut down the 20-year-old Gasquet in come-from-behind fashion, as he posted a 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 decision in just under three hours at Les Arenes de Metz. Clement won this event in 2003, while Gasquet was the runner-up here in 2004.
The Russian Marat Safin lost to Jurgen Melzer of Austria, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
Third-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic avoided an upset by leveling Italian Daniele Bracciali 6-0, 6-4 on Day 4.
Other second-round winners were American Mardy Fish, German Tobias Clemens and French favorite Sebastien Grosjean. Fish got past Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-3, 6-3, while Clemens outlasted the Frenchman and fellow qualifier Cyril Saulnier 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5) and Grosjean grounded his compatriot Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-1.
Friday's quarterfinals will pit Djokovic against the upstart Clemens, Clement versus Grosjean and Florent Serra against his fellow Frenchman Marc Gicquel.

Spotlight: This Week's Tennis Masters Cup Battle

2006-10-06T11:01:00.000+08:00

This Week: Tokyo & Metz

October 5 Update - No. 7 Tommy Robredo moved to within one point of reclaiming the No. 6 spot from James Blake by reaching the Tokyo quarterfinals Thursday. The Spaniard could move as high as No. 5. Fifty points await the winner of the Tokyo title. Should Robredo win the tournament, he would add 47 points to his Race total (50 points less his 'best fifth' result of three points for a second-round loss in Adelaide.)

No. 10 Mario Ancic also is in action in Tokyo. With a 'best fifth' of eight points (for last week's quarterfinal showing in Mumbai), Ancic would add 42 points to his Race total by winning the title. That would lift him into eighth position, leapfrogging David Nalbandian and Marcos Baghdatis, who are not playing this week. Andy Murray, No. 18, lost his first match in Tokyo.

In Metz, No. 12 David Ferrer did not improve his INDESIT ATP Race position after losing in the first round. No. 17 Jarkko Nieminen has a 'best fifth' result of 15 points, so he must reach the semifinals (which awards 22 points) or better to improve his Race total. Novak Djokovic began the week at No. 20 with a 'best fifth' of just three points but moved to No. 19 Thursday by reaching the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals award eight points. Djokovic's Race total improved by five points (eight points less his 'best fifth' of three points.)

Federer's blog: Thursday, October 5, 2006

2006-10-06T00:11:00.000+08:00

Konnichiwa

I am happy to be back online writing to all of you after a not so funny experience last night...

But let's start with dinner, which was very good as usual. Together with Mirka and two friends we went back to the shabu-shabu restaurant where we had dinner with Mr Morita the other night. Everything went fine we had a very nice and relaxing evening.

The trouble started when I woke up in the middle of the night, I must have had a nightmare. I jumped out of bed and stood up screaming in a state of shock, I did not know where I was and I ran back and hit the corner of the bed which is solid wood and sharp. Luckily Mirka was there, she woke up because of all the noise that I made, turned on the light on, grabbed me and told me to relax. Apparently I screamed out loud the same thing as I said on court against Tursunov in Toronto (a four letter word that someone might associate with doing on a Toto toilet). I have a big bruise on my tibia now. I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't been there. It was pretty scary for a moment, it's never happened to me before and hope it will never happen again. Mirka thinks I have been playing too much tennis this year and that is why it might have happened, but I think it might have been the Saki bomber I had during the shabu-shabu dinner.

Once I calmed down and went back to bed I realized I was in pain and that maybe I should ice my leg. But it was 4AM and I was too tired...I went back to sleep then woke up again (no drama this time...) and had my normal game day breakfast: vinegar shot, orange juice, cappuccino, water, waffles with raspberry syrup, passion fruit and corn flakes with milk.

I came to the site around 11AM as I was scheduled third match on Centre Court but I had to wait a long time as both women's matches before mine went to the three sets...I was really impatient to go on court. I was actually lucky to be scheduled on Centre Court as they have a roof here. It's been raining since this morning and a lot of other players are hanging around in the locker room waiting for their match. We're having some fun in the locker room listening to music, gossiping and checking out some funny stuff on the internet. By the way, I made an improvement from the other day as this time I did not forget to leave my rackets to get strung.
I have been online the last couple of days checking the fans' reaction to my blog and I'm happy to see that it's been positive. I am doing this for my fans and it's good that they are enjoying it. We have about 85,000 registered users on RogerFederer.com and would like to reach the 100,000 bar before the end of the year. Please sign up! They have also told me that my blog has had 200,000 hits on ATPtennis.com. That's impressive! Keep reading my blog.

I have also been busy this week selecting the photos for my 2007 calendar. It will be ready very soon. No, it is not a swimsuit calendar, but we will have a broad range of both on court and off court photos and I hope it will make a great Christmas gift. More importantly it will be for a good cause as all proceeds from sales will go to my foundation.

The hotel where I stay in Tokyo is excellent. The hotel standards in Japan seem to be very high. They pay a lot of attention to details here and besides the space ship I sit on in the morning, I particularly like the wood (unless you kick the sharp edge with your tibia...) and stone combination, which gives a very warm atmosphere. I am interested in interior designing and have been impressed by what we have seen in Japan. It's given us a lot of ideas for our place.

Today's match against Wesley Moodie went easier than I expected, especially since he won this event last year and also because of the long wait to go on court. However, after his first service game where he hit three bombs (meaning aces) in a row, I got a little worried that it was going to be a long day. However, I played really well, there were even more spectators today, the stadium was packed and it was a fantastic atmosphere with the roof closed. I look forward to maintaining this standard for the rest of the tournament and can't tell you enough how special the reception from the Japanese fans has been....I love playing here.

Off to dinner now where I can guarantee you I will not have another shot of Saki!

Talk with you again tomorrow,
Sayonara
Rog

Federer Beats Defending Champion Moodie

2006-10-05T23:59:00.000+08:00

ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer improved his hard-court record this year to 46-2 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over No. 13 seed and defending champion Wesley Moodie under a closed roof at the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships on Thursday.
Federer needed just 52 minutes to improve his 2006 match record to 74-5.
The Swiss will next play Japanese wild card Takao Suzuki, who saved five match points for a 6-7(4), 7-6(10), 6-1 win over Alexander Waske of Germany.
Should Federer beat Suzuki to reach the semifinals on Friday, he will break his INDESIT ATP Race record of 1,345 points that he set last year. The 25-year-old currently has 1,324 points.
Federer has won eight titles (ATP Masters Series Canada, ATP Masters Series Indian Wells, ATP Masters Series Miami, Australian Open, Doha, Halle, US Open, Wimbledon) from 12 finals this season.
The 25-year-old Swiss has compiled a 229-15 record, with 30 titles in 45 tournaments, since the beginning of the 2004 season.
Meanwhile second-seeded Tommy Robredo, who is in contention to join Federer and Rafael Nadal at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai next month, will play No. 9 seed Hyung-Taik Lee in the quarterfinals.
Robredo stands just one point away from reclaiming the No. 6 spot in the INDESIT ATP 2006 Race from James Blake, following a 6-4, 7-6(9) win over No. 15 seed Vince Spadea.
Lee stopped Dmitry Tursunov, who collected his maiden ATP title in a rain-delayed final in Mumbai on Monday. The Korean improved his match record for the season to 22-14 with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win.
Heavy rain in Tokyo has forced third-seed Mario Ancic's third round match against Rainer Schuettler and No. 10 seed Tim Henman's clash against 18-year-old Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro to be postponed until Friday.

Clijsters Announces Early Comeback Hope

2006-10-05T16:03:00.000+08:00

Kim Clijsters, who still holds firm to her plan to retire from professional tennis next year at the age of 24, says her injured wrist is healing faster than expected.

Clijsters missed both the US Open and the Fed Cup final after falling on her surgically-repaired wrist in August at Montreal."I have been to see the doctor again today and again only good news," said the Belgian former No. 1 on her website. "The fluids have gone from the wrist and I should be able to start playing again, cautiously, in 10 days."

Clijsters is currently in the running for one of the four remaining spots in the eight-woman field at the year-end WTA Tour championships. The Belgian had originally planned to return to competitive play during the week of Oct. 30 at her home-city event at the Gaz de France event in Hasselt, Belgium, but may now be back a week earlier in Linz, Austria. "We will have to wait and see how my first ball contact goes," Clijsters said.

Clijsters also missed most of the 2004 season with a wrist injury, and her early retirement is an effort to avoid further wear and tear on her body, according to the Belgian.

Guga Reunites With Former Coach Larri Passos

2006-10-05T13:00:00.000+08:00

Three-time Roland Garros champion Gustavo Kuerten announced that he is reuniting a successful partnership with former coach Larri Passos.
"We are starting our journey again, this long time partnership. I felt the need to have the best option to get me back to the top level and the person who knows me better, whom I trust the most and who always made me play tennis happily is Larri," Kuerten said.
Guga, who worked with Larri for 15 years, from 1989 to 2005, has played only in two events this season: at Costa do Sauipe and the Davis Cup doubles rubber against Sweden.
"For me it is a very happy moment to be back with Larri. I am back with him because I want to overcome myself," Kuerten said. "I always went after my goals and I learnt it from Larri. (I am) obstinate and this means the moment of great fight and effort I am going through.”
For the past 18 months Guga, who has claimed 20 ATP titles including the circuit-ending Tennis Masters Cup Lisbon in 2000, worked with former ATP player Hernan Gumy.
"It was good working with Hernan. He was important for me at that time, but I was most of the time injured and I felt the need to change, to get my motivation back," he said.
Despite two hip surgeries, Guga, who hasn’t set a date to get back in the circuit, doesn’t have any plans to retire from tennis. “My utmost goal is to play the way I used to, to practice the way I used to and get ready go to the tour and face the top players. I have not set a date. My body will let me know when I am ready. I believe and I have the right to believe in this inner force that there is inside of me. We are all together here trying to find a way to have this result, to be successful the same way as before. I have to be calm, patient and believe in our work," he said.

Federer, Nadal May Clash in 2007 Davis Cup

2006-10-05T12:41:00.000+08:00

ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, No. 2 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, could clash in the Davis Cup first round between February 9-11, 2007, as Switzerland were handed a home tie to Spain at the draw ceremony in Rome on Thursday.
Switzerland has been drawn at home. The two nations have met in the international men’s team competition four times and Spain holds a 3-1 lead.
Argentina, who will play in their second Davis Cup final against Russia in December, has been drawn to play Austria away. Since Argentina returned to the World Group in 2002 the nation has reached at least the quarterfinals or better.
Russia, who won the Davis Cup title over France in Paris in 2002, has a tough draw with a trip to Chile.
The United States, who won its 31st and last Davis Cup title in Moscow in 1995, has been drawn against the Czech Republic. Last year’s champion’s Croatia will travel to Germany.
World Group First Round Ties February 9-11, 2007
Host Nation Listed First
Chile v Russia Austria v ArgentinaGermany v Croatia Switzerland v Spain Belgium v Australia Czech Republic v United States France v Romania Belarus v Sweden

Federer's blog: Wednesday, October 4, 2006

2006-10-05T12:04:00.003+08:00

Konnichiwa

Last night we had the sponsor reception and welcome party at the official hotel here in Tokyo. Together with other players I went on stage to break a barrel of sake, which is supposed to bring good luck. I thought of giving it such a hard wack that I would destroy the barrel but at the very last moment I thought to myself ‘Roger maybe you shouldn’t be doing this’ and I behaved appropriately by giving it the right force.
After the party I went for dinner with Tim Henman and Stefan Koubek who are two of my friends on the tour. We went to a teppanyaki restaurant where they cook in front of you. Tim had a funny idea and decided to exchange his chopsticks with the chef’s utensils and took over from him. Actually he was pretty good, I mean he’s a father after all, but I got too worried about my beef and I requested a change of chef. The dinner was delicious.

I got back to the room, went to sleep and already got into match rhythm. I woke up, went for breakfast with Mirka and Tony, got my stuff ready, just making sure that I have enough shirts, shoes, etc. This time I actually had a problem with my rackets. Last night I was rushing so bad to get to the player welcome party after my practice that I forgot to get my rackets strung for today’s match. But the tournament helped out to get the rackets from the hotel to the tennis courts before me so they could be ready. I was glad that everything worked out in the end.
I got the stadium and when I walked out on Centre Court for my first match I felt the place buzzing. There were a lot of fans out there today and that made me feel really happy and excited to play. It went very well for a first match as I didn’t know my opponent at all before going on court and that always makes it pretty difficult. As you know I won in two tough tiebreak sets. After the match I had to do press, doping test, stretch and massage, the usual looooong routine.
After the match I always like to get in touch with friends and family but here in Japan my ‘stone age’ mobile phone doesn’t work. They are so advanced here with the modern technologies that I really need to try and get the latest stuff from here before I go back.
I will be funnier again tomorrow as I am quite tired from the match and Dmitry is looking over my shoulder and making me very nervous…
Sayonara
Rog
Please check out my web site: rogerfederer.com

Federer's blog: Tuesday, October 3, 2006

2006-10-05T12:04:00.001+08:00

Konnichiwa,
I am a bit late with my second blog. I still felt a little bit jet-lagged last night and this morning I slept until 11:30…I feel much better now.
Like probably everyone else, the first place where I go after getting up is the bathroom. This is quite an experience here in Japan as they have the best toilets in the world. You could sit on the toilet for hours! The seat is warm, there is a water spray…Toto, the makers of this special toilet seat, are geniuses. The toilet in my bathroom is like a space shuttle, there are so many buttons that I am always afraid to press the wrong one. I definitely want to buy one for my apartment!
Last night for dinner I had sushi in Ginza, one of the nicest neighbourhood in Tokyo. My favourite sushi is tuna but I cannot eat squid. They served me squid last night and that made me feel like wanting to become a vegetarian again! People maybe don’t know but I wasn’t eating either meat or fish until 10 years ago but now I eat everything. Mirka did not come to dinner last night so I brought her back some take away sushi. She was afraid to eat it as she thought ‘Captain Wasabi’ would hit again but I never play the same joke twice. And she hasn’t had her revenge yet, so I need to watch out…
Before dinner I had a reception in town as I was presented with the Baccarat Athlete of the Year award for 2006. The other two winners were Annabelle Bond, mountain climber, and the Japanese sports heroine Shizuka Arakawa who won a gold medal in figure skating at the Turin Winter Olympics this year. Annabelle climbed seven peaks including Mount Everest last year. Shizuka accomplished something that I have not done YET, an Olympic gold medal. That is my goal for Beijing 2008 …or London 2012!
I did quite a few interviews at the Baccarat event. What strikes me here is that the Japanese media are always so well prepared for the interviews. They must have read everything about me and they ask interesting and funny questions. I also did a photo shoot for the cover of the AERA magazine, which is like the Time or Newsweek in Japan. I like doing photo shoots, sometimes they are long, but I love interacting with the photo artists and see their preparation work.
I also went to a mall yesterday and stopped by one of the largest gaming rooms, they have thousands here in Tokyo and it was funny to see my Sega tennis game there. I was thinking of playing against the volley master (a.k.a. Tim Henman) for a second but then I had to go to the hotel for a work out session.
My driver here in Tokyo, Mr Iwaono, always wears a Swiss Tennis pin and I thought he did it for me but he actually was the driver of the Swiss Fed Cup team that played against Japan here at the Ariake Colosseum in April. He’s a very nice man who speaks fluent English. He has been the source of the best information on Tokyo.
Today I practiced from five to six before the Official Welcome Party of the AIG Japan Open. They put me to practice on court five away from the crowd but since there were so many fans there I moved to court seven so that they could be closer to me. At the end of the practice I invited one of the young kids in the crowd to join me on court for a short hit. The kid is only seven and turned out to be very talented. We played a few points from the baseline and then on the last point he hit a winning drop volley! His name is Kaito and maybe my agent Tony already has a contract ready for him to sign. You know what these agents from IMG are like...
I’m off to dinner with Tim Henman and Stefan Koubek at the teppanyaki. Tim is paying tonight so I will make a double order of Kobe beef!!!
It is back to business for me tomorrow. I am playing the fourth match at the Ariake Colosseum. I will blog again after that.
Sayonara
R