Federer inches closer to another Sampras record
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer neatly defeated Scotland’s Andy Murray in three sets, 3-6 6-3 6-1 at the ATP World Tour in London’s o2 arena. The Swiss player thus ensures that he will keep his ranking as the world’s top player for the rest of 2009. He finishes the year at the ATP World Tour Champion: “With five year-end number 1 finishes, Federer ties Jimmy Connors’ mark and now stands just one back of Pete Sampras on the list of all-time ATP World Tour Champions. Sampras finished as the No. 1 player six straight years, from 1993-98,” the tennis association notes on its site.
Federer held the top slot in world tennis for 237 straight weeks from 2 February 2004 to 17 August 2008.
London, England (GenevaLunch) - Andy Murray started strongly in the end of year ATP Masters, beating Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, the winner of the US Open, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Scot looked in fine form in the first set, quickly going to a 5-0 lead. Del Potro suffered from an inability to maintain a rally, and a nosebleed. He came back in the second set, winning it 6-3, but quickly fell behind in the third. The match ended 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The other match in the O2 arena saw world number one Roger Federer take on Fernando Verdasco.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer missed out on the chance to win his fourth successive title at his Swiss hometown tournament. He played without his customary power and precision to let Novak Djokovic take the title.
Andy Murray will not be playing in the Shanghai Open, he announced 8 October. The British tennis player is recovering from a strained wrist and, although it is nearly healed, he is likely to not play again until Valencia, Spain 2 November. His withdrawal leaves Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro leading the pack at the Shanghai tournament.
Links to other sites: ATP World Tour, Andy Murray homepage, Times Online,
Genoa, Italy (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer overcame jetlag, slow clay courts and rain, not to mention Potito Storace, to give Switzerland a winning position in their World Group play-off against Italy. He won 6-3 6-0 6-4 to add to the two Swiss singles victories on Friday, which were followed by a loss in the doubles as Federer was rested.
Flushing Meadows, New York (GenevaLunch) – Third seed Rafael Nadal showed he was in good form yesterday in the fourth round of the US open by beating Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-3, despite a reported intestinal problem, and after coming back from serious knee injuries earlier this year.
In the other matches 8 September at Flushing Meadows, Long Island, Croatia’s Marin Cilic beat Briton Andy Murray 7-5 6-2 6-2 to qualify for the quarter-finals; Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from France 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-4, and Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro trounced Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-3 6-3. BBC Sports, US Open site
Flushing Meadows, New York (GenevaLunch) - Kim Clijsters showed what tennis been missing as she continued her run with a 6-0 0-6 6-4 win over third seed Venus Williams. The chunky Belgian powered her way past the gangly American in the first set but then started to miss and quickly lost the second. The third set was more even but Williams could not recover from an early loss of serve. Clijsters could face Serena Williams in the semi-finals but first needs to get past Chinese player Li Na.
Men’ tennis
Cincinnati, USA (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer showed why he is number one and put Andy Murray in his place with a superb display of tennis, taking the first set 6-2 with ease and then winning the second in the tie-break to end a four-match losing run against the Scot.
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer eased past Leyton Hewitt 6-3 6-4 as the Australian struggled with an injured knee in the Cincinnati Masters, the final ATP tournament before the US Open. Andy Murray had a tougher time as he struggled past Julien Bennetteau 4-6 6-3 6-1. The Scot’s superior fitness paid off in the second set as he won a marathon 53 shot rally when 0-2 down and then pulled ahead as the Frenchman ran out of steam.
The other semi will be Rafa Nadal against Novak Djokovic, which means the top four players in the ATP rankings will face off.
Cincinnati, USA (GenevaLunch) – Spectators at the ATP tournament in Cincinnati were treated to a marathon feast of tennis as the top four men in the world played their second round matches. Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all won. Number 5, Andy Roddick, lost to fellow American Sam Querry.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray confirmed his position as number 2 in the new ATP rankings by winning the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. He beat Argentinian Juan del Potro 6-7 7-6 6-1 in a match that was captivating for two sets but then fizzled out as the del Potro tired. Murray is 605 points ahead of Rafael Nadal but still 1,890 behind Roger Federer. The rankings record the points won in the previous 52 weeks.
Details: Rogers Cup
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) - Andy Murray beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a resident of La Rippe in canton Vaud. The 6-4, 7-6 victory also pushes Murray past Rafael Nadal to number 2 in the new ATP rankings. This is the highest ranking for a British player since the rankings started in 1973: Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski reached number 4.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer was ambushed by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Quebec at the Rogers Cup, losing 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (3).
In his press conference after the match the disappointed Swiss player said “It’s obviously disappointing but you know, that’s what Jo does. He doesn’t make a return for an hour and then he puts in a few and than all of a sudden he’s back in the match. I should never have allowed it but it happened, so it’s a pity.”
Rafael Nadal’s comeback was stopped when he went down 7-6 6-1 to Argentinian Juan del Potro.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) – The top eight players in the world all reached the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal: it is the first time this has happened since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973. The current top eight in order are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikolay Davydenko.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Rafael Nadal had an easy time in his comeback match after a 10-week break to recover from injured knees. His opponent, fellow Spaniard David Ferrer retired hurt after only 36 minutes of the first set. Ferrer started with one knee strapped and twice called for the trainer before retiring while trailing 3-4. Andy Roddick, the fifth seed, beat Russian Igor Andreev 6-1 7-6 but was not happy with the slow courts and the change in the brand of balls used for the Rogers Cup.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Rafael Nadal, currently number 2 in the ATP rankings, survived his first test when he partnered his assistant coach Francis Roig to a 7-5, 6-4 doubles victory over Serbian pairing Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic. He will face sterner tests in the singles matches of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. He is in danger of losing his second place ranking to Scottish star Andy Murray the only Brit in the top 200.
If Murray wins the Rogers Cup he will overtake Nadal in the rankings, and will also do so if he makes the semi-finals but Nadal does not make it past the third round. This would mean Murray entering the US Open as second seed, avoiding a showdown with Roger Federer until the final.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) - The two women’s semi-finals were totally different but ended with the same result: Williams beats Russia. Serena fought back from a set down, and match-point down, to battle past Elena Dementieva 6-7 7-5 8-6 in the best match of the women’s tournament. Dementieva took the first set in the tie-break with precise ground strokes and an improved service. She then lost her first service game but came back to lead the set before Serena came back to take the set. The third set was hard fought with both players rising to the occasion until Serena finally won the longest ever women’s semi, at two hours 49 minutes.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Roger Federer gave a lesson in how to deal with a big serving giant when he swept past Croation Ivo Karlovic in straight sets, 6-3 7-5 7-6, breaking serve twice with some superb returns of service and barely dropping a point when on serve himself.
Tommy Haas pulled off the shock of the day with a rarely seen display of serve and volley tennis that proved too much for fourth seed Novak Djokovic. His prize will be an encounter with Federerer.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) - Andy Murray fought his way past Swiss number two Stanislav Wawrinski in a five-set thriller that lasted more than four hours, taking advantage of the new retractable roof that allowed play to continue until the finish at 22:39.
Wimbledon, UK (GenevaLunch) - Wimbledon had a day off for the “middle Sunday” and has not yet had to test the new roof after an unusual absence of rain. In the mens’ draw the dream final of Roger Federer, in search of a record 15th Grand Slam title, against Andy Murray in search of his first, is looking likely.
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray became the first British player since Bunny Austin in 1938 to win at the Queen’s club championship tournament in London. The tournament is one of the traditional warm-up tournaments before Wimbledon, allowing players to make the transition from the clay courts of Paris to grass. Murray has been in excellent form all week, not losing a single set and disposed of James Blake 7-5 6-4.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – Sweden’s surprise star of this year’s Roland Garros tournament, Robin Soderling, continued his way by demolishing Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 6-1 6-3 6-1. Andy Murray was overpowered by Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-4.
On Wednesday 3 June the big match will be Swiss star Roger Federer against Frenchman Gael Monfils. Federer is the only one of the top seeds still in the tournament and has seen three of the players with the best records against him knocked out (Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray).
Update 1 June 10:55 Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - Rafael Nadal had his first-ever loss at Roland Garros when Swedish 23rd seed Robin Soderling powered past him to win 6-2 6-7 6-4 7-6. The Swede dominated the match from the start, especially with his forehand and made few unforced errors. He avoided any double faults and seemed completely in control despite Nadal’s amazing record on clay.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - Last year’s women’s champion, Serbian Ana Ivanovic, overcame Italian Sara Errani to win her first round match 7-6 6-3, but she was not at her best, having problems with her service. Geneva resident French national Amelie Mauresmo lost to German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-4 6-3.
In the men’s matches Scot Andy Murray was in great form as he brushed aside Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-2 6-1.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7983446.stm
Miami, Florida, USA (GenevaLunch) – World number four Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic 6-2 7-5 to take the Miami Masters tournament and step up the pressure on the top three.
Rotterdam, The Netherlands (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray took full advantage of an injury to Rafael Nadal’s right knee to win the final 6-3 4-6 6-0.
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/index.html
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Scottish pre-tournament favourite and fourth seed Andy Murray was knocked out of the Australian Open by the 14th seed, Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
Qatar (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray looks like being the first British favourite to win a Grand Slam event since the 1930s.
Abu Dhabi, UAE (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray made the perfect start to the year with victories over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to take the tile at the Abu Dhabi exhibition. The matches did not count for ATP points but there was a $250,000 prize in the winner takes all tournament. Details, The Sun, UK
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) – Novak Djokovic played magnificent tennis to beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-5 in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
