SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – It took only three minutes for Switzerland to finish off Australian Davis Cup hopes in a match interupted by bad light, 19 August. The match was suspended with Stanislas Wawrinka just one game from an historic win against Leyton Hewitt, with the overall match tied at 2-2 after Roger Federer won the first of the reverse singles. The Swiss beat Hewitt on Friday but Wawrinka lost to Bernard Tomic and the Swiss, Olympic champions in Beijing, also slipped up in the doubles on Saturday. The win means that Switzerland will compete in the World Group in 2012, while Australia will be in in the Asia/Oceania regional competition. It was also a bad weekend for Australian rugby as Ireland beat them in the World Cup.
The Davis Cup final will feature Spain travelling to Argentina. Spain swept past France 4-1 while Argentina pulled off a surprise 2-3 victory over Serbia. Novak Djokovic was forced to retire with back pain in his match against Juan Martin Del Potro.
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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.
Flushing Meadows, New York (GenevaLunch) - World number one Roger Federer beat Leyton Hewitt for the 14th time in a row, but dropped a set before he managed to pull away from the Australian 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4. Another Swiss, Marco Chiudinelli, lost to 8th seed Nikolay Davydenko. Novak Djokovic came through in four sets, beating Jesse Witten 6-7 6-3 7-6 6-4. Andy Roddick, who reached the Wimbledon final was the shock loser in the men’s draw, going out to 55th-ranked John Isner who has played most of his tennis for the University of Georgia.
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.
Montreal, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Swiss and world number 1 Roger Federer made a successful return to tennis after taking off a month to be with his wife and twin baby girls. He won 7-6, 6-4 against Quebec player Frédéric Niemeyer without dropping a serve. Andy Murray, the third seed, looked impressive as he beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-2.
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.
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Wimbledon Champion Rafa Nadal announced that he will not be defending his title because of tendinitis in both knees. The decision was made after he lost two warm-up matches against Leyton Hewitt and Stanislav Wawrinka, and was clearly suffering against both players.
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.
