LONDON, ENGLAND – It took one hour, 28 minutes and it was a tough match, but Swiss Roger Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 2-6 6-4 Sunday 20 November for the opening match of the ATP World Tour Finals. The two faced off just a week ago when Federer beat Tsonga in the final of the ATP Masters tournament at Paris-Bercy.
Federer played a better first set and then Tsonga powered past him in the second set, breaking service twice.
The match was even in the third set until Tsonga fell apart in the final game.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It was a fine weekend for sports fans, with the best and the brightest putting on good shows:
Football – Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3-1 in a master class performance, with the Man United team and coach graciously afterwards that Barcelona is simply the best team in Europe. Details, The Guardian
Tennis – Roger Federer smoothly sailed past fellow Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. He now has his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final place. Details, Roland Garros
Formula 1 – Sebastian Vettel won in Monte Carlo, with Fernando Alonso second and Jenson Button in third. Details, Formula 1 de Monaco
Sweet on Lindt, sweet on Roger, USA ad
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer defeated Radek Septanek Saturday 26 in just 62 minutes, 6-3, 6-3. It was Federer’s 762nd win, which ties him with his friend and tennis great Pete Sampras, for seventh place on the list of career wins.
His sweet victory over Septanek in the second round of the Miami Sony Ericsson Open was a nice gift for one of his main sponsors, Lindt Chocolates, who last week became a new Miami tournament sponsor.
Federer has worked with the Zurich company since October 2009. They have made several TV commercials together that have been a popular success. Lindt is handing out samples of its Lindor Truffles during the Miami tournament.
Federer next faces 32nd-seed Juan Monaco of Argentina at 14:00 Miami time Monday 28 March.
An unwell Andy Roddick, Miami’s defending champion, was ousted by Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Roddick has been suffering from a bronchial infection that he’s had trouble shaking.
Links to other sites: ATP, Miami Herald, Tennis magazine
International sports, tennis
Abu Dhabi, UAE (GenevaLunch) - Rafa Nadal defeated Roger Federer 7-6(4) 7-6(3) 1 January in a tightly fought match. The two played each other for the third time in two weeks when they met in the final of the Mubadala tournament in Abu Dhabi. All three were exhibition games but the first two were for the two players’ charitable foundations while the Abu Dhabi match is a prestigious and well-rewarded exhibition tournament with a prize of $250,000 for the winner. Federer reached the final with a three set win over Robin Soderling, 6-7 6-3 6-3 while Nadal had an easier time beating Tomas Berdych 6-4 6-4.
Links to other sites: CNN, Mubadala WTC, Eurosport
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer was in fine form as he brushed aside the local favourite Leyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to enter the quarter-finals of the Australian Open Monday 25 January. Federer was in complete control throughout, dropping serve only once, in the third set, and then coming back immedately to beat Hewitt for the 15th time in succession.
Federer will next face Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Fernando Verdasco in a tough five-setter 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7, 6-3. Davydenko beat Federer in their last two matches, after a long string of losses against the Swiss star.
O2 Arena, London, England (GenevaLunch) - The final tennis matches of the A Group of the ATP Masters had the audience consulting their calculators to see who were the real winners. Roger Federer lost to Argentinia’s Juan Martin del Potro in three sets, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 but it was just enough to ensure that Federer topped the group. Del Potro edged out Andy Murray by a single game in the final calculation, based on the difference in number of games won and lost in the three matches. Andy Murray won his match against Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 but the close nature of the match later cost him a place in the semi- finals.
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.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - First there was one (actually two), and then there were three: Swiss tennis star Stanislas Wawrinka, from canton Vaud, has annouced that he and his long-time companion Ilham Vuilloud are expecting a baby in February 2010. The announcement by Wawrinka, 24 and Vuilloud, 35 comes shortly after fellow Swiss tennisman Roger Federer and his wife Mirka had twin girls.
Madrid, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer has finally broken Rafa Nadal’s run of 33 successive wins on clay, and has gone some way in denting the Spaniard’s aura of invincibility.
Updated 09:30 Rome, Italy (GenevaLunch) - Rafa Nadal won the Italian Open for the fourth time when he beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 6-2 in the final. Djokovic beat Roger Federer in the semi. Andy Murray will now take third place in the rankings, ahead of Djokovic and closing in on Federer at number two. Details, Guardian, UK
Monte Carlo (TSR, Fre) – Roger Federer has been knocked out of Monte Carlo early in the tournament, but equally surprising is that he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 7-5 in one hour 50 minutes. Wawrinka, from canton Vaud, is the first Swiss to win against Federer since Marc Rosset in 2000. The Vaud player dominated the game, with more power and precision than Federer.
Miami, Florida (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Roger Federer made headlines by throwing his racket and breaking it for the first time in several years, but the bigger news was the reason behind it: his loss to Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Miami, under windy conditions. The Serb now faces British player Andy Murray in the final Sunday of the Miami ATP Masters. Details, ATP Tour
Miami, Florida, USA (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer’s power was back in Miami where the home crowd noisily cheered on their favourite, American Andy Roddick. Swiss player Federer won his 17th match out of 19 with the American, 6-3 4-6 6-4. Federer will face Serbian Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open. Details, Reuters
Indian Wells, California, USA (GenevaLunch) – Andy Murray confirmed his current dominance over Roger Federer with a 6-3 4-6 6-1 victory in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters event.
Indian Wells, California, USA (TSR, Fre) – British tennis star Andy Murray and Switzerland’s Roger Federer will face off Saturday in the semi-finals at Indian Wells. The other match will see Rafael Nadal playing Novak Djokovic.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Rafael Nadal justified his number one ranking and ended, at least for a while, Roger Federer’s dream of matching Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam victories. Despite his epic five-hour semi-final match two days earlier Nadal ended looking fresher and fitter than Federer at the end of another five-set thriller.
Updated 1 Feb 08:45 Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer (TSR interview, Fre) and Rafael Nadal face each other in the finals Sunday morning at 09:30 (Swiss time) after Nadal beat number 15 Fernando Verdasco in a very tough five-set match that many sports reporters worldwide are calling “epic”: 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4. Meanwhile, in the women’s final Serena Williams crushed Dinara Safina 6-0 6-3 in one of the shortest and most one-sided finals for decades. The win meant that Serena moved to first place in the world rankings.
Updated 15:00 Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick smoothly, 6-2 7-5 7-5. Serena Williams and Dinara Safina will play in the women’s final in Australia. Rafael Nadal and Ferdinand Verdasco move up to the semi-finals. Australian Open site
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Tuesday’s smooth 6-3 6-0 6-0 win by Roger Federer over Juan Martin Del Potro was a sharp contrast to Federer’s tough fight against Berdych Monday. Austalian Open site pages on Federer
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer survived his fourth round despite losing the first two sets to Tomas Berdych. The tall Czech overpowered Federer but the Swiss star dug deep and fought hard for every point as the Czech started to tire.
Switzerland (Bilan, TSR) – Roger Federer is the newcomer, Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad possibly has the most stable fortune and the Latsis family has lost CHF4 billion, Thomas Schmidheiny is down by CHF3b. When the tallies are done, the assets of the wealthiest 300 people in Switzerland, at CHF459 billion, come to nearly as much as the country’s GDP (gross domestic product, CHF512b.
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) – Top seed Roger Federer lost his opening match against rising French star Gilles Simon who took the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Andy Murray beat Andy Roddick in the other match Monday.
Shanghai, China (GenevaLunch) – Novak Djokovic, world number 3, made a good start by beating Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first Masters tournament when he beat David Nalbandian of Argentina, 6-3 4-6 6-4, in the final of the Paris Masters.
Paris, France (TSR, Fre) – Roger Federer dominated Marin Cilic in the Paris Masters, winning in 70 minutes 6-3 6-4.
Madrid, Spain (TSR, Fre) – Roger Federer easily defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-1 in Madrid, saying that is happy with the way he is playing.
Lausanne, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Vaud’s Stanislas Wawrinka will open play Friday afternoon at the Davis Cup, at the Malley ice rink in Lausanne, playing Belgian Steve Darcis. The game will be followed by Roger Federer playing Kristof Vliegen.
Basel, Switzerland (20min, Fre) – Olympic gold medalists Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Fabian Cancellara were warmly greeted by thousands of fans cheering the only Swiss athletes to receive gold in the Beijing Olympics.
Flushing Meadows, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Roger Federer was once again the unstoppable man on the court, defeating Britain’s Andy Murray 6-2 7-5 6-2 to win the US Open in a game where he gave Murray little chance. It was Federer’s fifth Read more…
Flushing Meadows, NY, USA (GenevaLunch, by Nick Bates) – Men’s tennis has just become more exciting, and Rafael Nadal is likely finding that being number one is not an easy job. Roger Federer looked to be back in form as he outplayed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the US Open. In the other Read more…
