Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been named ITF tennis champions for 2009, Federer for the fifth time, Serena for the second time. Roger Federer regained his top seed ranking from Rafael Nadal and he surpassed Pete Sampras’ 15 career Grand Slam titles. Serena Williams won Wimbledon and the Australian Open for a total of 11 wins. She last won the award in 2002. They will receive the awards in Paris in June.
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.
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Roger Federer won an epic match against American Andy Roddick that went to 16-14 in the fifth set. Roddick only lost his service in the final game of the match, which lasted four hours and 16 minutes. The victory broke Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam wins. Sampras was in the Royal Box along with other legends Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, the only male to twice win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year.
