Federer in top form at the US Open - Photo Rob Loud/US Open
(GenevaLunch.com) – Swiss tennis players Roger Federer and Patty Schnyder have reached the third round at the US Open.
Federer won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 over Andreas Beck of Germany. He will now play Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.
“It’s the perfect start, sure. I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I’m completely in the tournament,” Federer said.
On the women’s side, Patty Schnyder, now ranked 51, won over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez from Spain 7-6, 6-4.
Schnyder’s reached quarterfinals at the US Open only twice in 1998 and 2008.
Two other Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli play on 3 September.
International sports, tennis
Roger Federer in Ethiopia, 2010 (photo, ©2010 Roger Federer Foundation)
Update 17:25 Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal will play each other in a charity match 21 December at the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Proceeds from “The Match for Africa” will go to the Roger Federer Foundation. Tickets go on sale 1 September.
The RFF supports education, sports and leisure activities in places with little or no funding at all. It has as its slogan the words of 15-year-old Nolonwabo Batini from Port Elizabeth, South Africa: “I am tomorrow’s future.” The foundation works “to permit a maximum of children to make the slogan become reality in their lives and help them actively shape their future.
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International sports, tennis
Cincinnati, USA (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 7-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Masters. Two of his main rivals lost. Andy Murray was unable to fight the heat, fatigue and a solid Mardy Fish. He lost in three sets 6-7, 6-1, 7-6. Fish will now face fellow American Andy Roddick. Rafael Nadal, the ATP top ranked player, lost to unseeded Cypriot Marcus Baghdatis 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Baghdatis played an aggressive game and was helped by the many errors from Nadal. The Cypriot, ranked 20th in the world will next face Federer in a re-run of the 2006 Australian Open final.
Serena Williams, the top seed, has pulled out of the US Open with foot injury problems.
Links to other sites: Cincytennis.com, NY Times
Toronto, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer is back in the game and in top shape. Federer beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 7-6(7), 6-3 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Federer, currently the world’s number three, became the all-time leader at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000. Andre Agassi had held the record from 1990 to 2006 with a 209-73 mark.
“I felt like I had to win the game three times” said Federer who considers normal being a bit “rusty.” This was his first game after a month-long break. “It was a bit of a dog fight,” he added.
International sports, tennis: Swiss star takes Annacone for trial period
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – Swiss tennis star Roger Federer will work with US coach Paul Annacone on a trial basis, Federer announced Tuesday 27 July.
Annacone, who has coached Pete Sampras and Tim Henman in the past, is currently head coach of Britain’s Lawn Tennis Association and Britain’s Davis Cup team, but in May he announced he would be leaving both in November 2010.
Federer is now in third place in the ATP rankings, behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the first time since 2003 that the Swiss has not been one of the world’s top two tennis players, officially.
Annacone is a former ATP tour player who made the Wimbledon semi-finals in 1984, but whose winning record was stronger for doubles than singles.
Links to other sites: ATP rankings, Swissinfo, Times, UK, Wikipedia
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch.com) - Rafael Nadal won his second Wimbledon title Sunday 4 July, outplaying Tomas Berdych 6-3 7-5 6-4. The sets all went the same way as the Czech matched Nadal for a few games and then could not keep pace as the Spanish top seed accelerated at key points. Nadal now looks set to keep his top ATP ranking for some time. Novak Djokovic has moved into second place as Roger Federer slipped back to third.
Serena Williams took her fourth Wimbledon title as she crushed Vera Zvonareva with a brutal exhibition of power tennis.
International sports, Wimbledon tennis
Wimbledon, England (GenevaLunch.com) – Roger Federer is out of Wimbledon, after losing to Czech player Tomas Berdych 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 Wednesday. The six-time Wimbledon winner did not make it to the semi-finals, just as he missed them at Roland Garros in Paris earlier in the season. Wimbledon, where he has made it to the final each of the last seven years and won six of those matches, has been seen as Federer territory until today.
Links to other sites: Guardian blog, UK, TSR (Fre), Wimbledon
International sports, tennis
Roland Garros, Paris (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer was eliminated by Robin Soderling 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 in a revenge match dating back to the final of the French Open last year. The Swiss star started well to take the first set but immediately lost his service game in the second and was unable to break back against the big serving Swede. Federer’s loss put an end to his sequence of 23 successive semi-finals in Grand Slam events. Soderling deserved the victory as he dominated a strangely lacklustre Federer and handled the rain breaks better.
Links to other sites: Roland Garros, BBC
International sports, tennis
Roland Garros, Paris (GenevaLunch) -Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer swept past his friend and doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 7-6 6-2 to move into the quarter-final of the French Open Sunday 30 May. He will meet Robin Soderling in the next match. The Swedish player beat Rafael Nadal last year before falling to Federer in the final. In other matches Andy Murray was knocked out 6-4 7-5 6-3 by Tomas Berdych while home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsongas retired injured against Mikhail Youzhny, meaning there are no French players left in the singles.
Justine Henin won her match against Maria Sharapova 6-2 3-6 6-3. Another ex-number one, Venus Williams, was eliminated by Russian Nadia Petrova.
Links to other sites: Roland Garros, BBC
International sports, tennis
Roland Garros, Paris (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer, the top player on the ATP rankings, strolled through his opening match of the French Open with a 6-4 6-1 6-2 win over Australian Peter Luczak. Andy Murray made harder work of his match against Richard Gasquet, losing the first two sets against the Frenchman. The Scot then fought back against the tiring Gasquet to win in five sets, 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 6-1.
The other Swiss star, Stanislas Wawrinka, had an easy 6-1 6.3 6-3 win over Jan Hajek.
In the women’s draw the toop seeds all came through the fist round. Venus Williams crushed a disappointing Patty Schnyder 6-3 6-3.
Links to other sites: French Open, Guardian
International sports, Madrid Masters, tennis
Madrid, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Spain’s “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to take a record 18th ATP Masters title, 16 May. Andre Agassi has 17 titles, Federer has 16.
In the women’s final Iranian French player Aravane Rezai scored a shock win over Venus Williams.
Links to other sites: Madrid Masters, NZ Herald
International sports, tennis
Madrid (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer beat David Ferrer in three sets, 7-5 3-6 6-3, to reach the final of the ATP Masters Madrid Open. Ferrer had earlier beaten Andy Murray. Federer will now face Rafa Nadal in the final, renewing a long standing rivalry between the top two players of this era. Nadal beat another Spanish player, Nicolas Almagra 4-6 6-2 6-2. Nadal and Andre Agassi hold the record of 17 ATP titles while Federer is on 16.
Links to other sites: ATP Masters, BBC
International sports, tennis
Madrid, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer loked like he was back in top form as he eased past Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 6-1 despite losing his opening service game in their match at the ATP Madrid Open, 13 May. The ATP number 1 disposed of his Beijing Olympics doubles partner in just 69 minutes to set up a quarter-final encounter with Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who beat him at the Rome Masters.
In the other matches Rafa Nadal beat John Isner 7-5 6-4, while Andy Murray thrashed Victor Hanescu 6-2, 6-1. Nadal plays Gael Monfils next, Murray plays David Ferrer.
Links to other sites: ATP World Tour, Telegraph
Estoril, Portugal (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer, the top seed, had another bad day at the office as he lost 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to Albert Montanes, the Spanish holder of the Estoril Open title, 8 May. The Swiss star, still top of the ATP rankings, was hoping to improve his form on clay before the French Open.
Rome, Italy (GenevaLunch) – Rafa Nadal won his fifth Rome Masters tournament, and his 17th ATP World Tour Masters tournament, matching Andre Agassi’s record for ATP Masters wins, at only age 23. Agassi wa 34 when he became the record-holder. Nadal defeated David Ferrer 7-5 6-2 Sunday 2 May in a rain-soaked tournament with numerous rain delays. Nadal looked in good form, giving the impression that his injuries of recent months are behind him.
Links to other sites: ATP World Tour, Nadal’s home page
Stanislas Wawrinka (photo, courtesy Stanislas Wawrinka's webpage)
(GenevaLunch) – Swiss top seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 23rd in the ATP ranking, has claimed his second career title after beating Victor Hanescu from Romania in a 6-2, 6-3 final in Morocco.
Wawrinka beat Hanescu to claim the ATP Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca.
“I’m very happy with my win today,” said Wawrinka. ”I’ve lost five finals in a row and now finally I have the trophy in my hands. I felt great during the whole match and never allowed Victor to get into the game. I think this was my best match of the week.”
Wawrinka becomes the first Swiss to win the Grand Prix Hassan.
Miami, Florida (GenevaLunch) - Andy Roddick beat giant-killer Tomas Berdych 7-5 6-4 in the final of the Sony Ericsson Miami Masters, Sunday 4 April. The big-serving American ended the Czech’s run of scalps that included Roger Federer, Fernando Verdasco and Robin Soderling. Roddick beat Rafa Nadal in the semi-final.
In the women’s final on Saturday Kim Clijsters crushed an inept Venus Williams 6-2 6-1 in less than an hour. In the semi-finals Clijsters won an epic match against her fellow Belgian come-back queen Justine Henin.
Link: Sony Ericsson Open
Miami, Florida (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer, the Swiss number one in the ATP world tennis rankings, was knocked out of the Miami Masters by Czech Tomas Berdych. It was a tight match with Berdych winning the first set and coming within two points of winning the second before losing in the tie-break. The final set also went to tie-break and featured the unusual sight of Federer failing to win after having a match-point on his serve. Overall, Federer has not been pleased with his form in the US, and now returns to Europe to prepare for the clay court season leading up to the French Open.
In other matches Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling and Andy Roddick came through.
Link: Sony Ericsson Open
Indian Wells, California, USA (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer won’t be starring at Indian Wells this year, after a defeat, 5-7 7-5 7-6 (7/4), at the hands of Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament.
Scot Andy Murray beat US player Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5 to move on in the tournament.
Links to other sites: AFP/Sydney Morning Herald, Lawn Tennis Association
Title: Zurich tennis open
Location: Zurich
Link out: Click here
Description: At the BNP Paribas Zurich Open, two generations of players will compete in the same tournament for the first time. Former ATP champions John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg and six other top players, will face off ITF young talent on the court.
Start Date: 2010-03-09
End Date: 2010-03-13
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Swiss world number one tennis player Roger Federer added a fourth Australian Open to his collection, and a record 16th Grand Slam singles title to his trophy cabinet as he crushed Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11.) Federer quickly took control as he broke Murray’s first service game but the Scot battled back to win the next three games.
The Swiss star then gave a masterful demonstration to take the first two sets. The third set was tightly contested as Murray took advantage of a few weak points to break Federer’s serve and lead 5-2 but he handed back the break and the set went to a tie-break. A tiring Murray failed to convert four set points and eventually lost the tie-break 13-11 to end the match.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Serena Williams quashed Justine Henin’s hopes of turning her tennis comeback into a Grand Slam title in Melbourne, winning the Australian Women’s Open, 6-4 3-6 6-2. Henin briefly looked like she could turn the tide in her favour when she took the second set, but Williams maintained the title she won in 2009. This is Williams fifth Australian Open title.
Links to other sites: Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Swiss tennis star Roger Federer cruised past Swiss resident (canton Vaud) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-2 6-3 6-2 to reach the finals of the Australian Open. Federer and British player Andy Murray face off Sunday for the title.
Links to other sites: Australian Open, TSR (Fre)
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - The big surprise in the womens’ draw for the 2010 Australian Open has been the performance of Chinese players Li Na and Zheng Jie but they failed to make it through to the final. Serena Williams powered her way past Li Na 7-6, 7-6 in a closely fought match. Justine Henin thrashed Zheng Jie 6-1, 6-0, winning 12 games in succession. The final showdown between Serena Williams and Justine Henin should be a fascinating match. The Williams sisters moved into the final of the womens’ doubles where they will face Zimbabwean Cara Black and Liesel Huber of the USA.
Andy Murray started his semi-final match against Marin Cilic nervously, losing the first set 6-3 but then the British player picked up to break the Croatian’s serve and take the second set 6-4. He then went on to take the next two sets against a tiring Cilic to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. He will play either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.
Links to other sites: Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer escaped a tough first hour of play to suddenly take over his match with Nicolay Davydenko to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5. Federer now moves into the semi-finals of the Australian Open, setting another record, for playing in more Grand Slam semi-finals than any player in tennis history. The win also assures him his number one place, which had been under threat from Novak Djokovic.
Melbourne, Australia (GenevaLunch) - Scotland’s Andy Murray moved into the semi-finals of the Australian Open when last year’s champion Rafael Nadal withdrew in the third set suffering from a recurrence of an injury to his right knee. Murray was already leading the match 6-3, 7-6, 3-0 and looked in awesome form. He will face the Croatian giant Marin Cilic, who beat Andy Roddick in five sets.
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.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Roger Federer was behind the idea to add an exhibition game to the Australian Open, in order to raise funds for Haiti, and the event was a giant success, says the Open’s organizers. The event raised $200,000 in aid for Haiti, with 15,000 tickets sold, a full house, for Aus$10 each. More money was raised in the stands during the exhibition games. Another 5,000 fans who could not get into the stadium watched on the giant screens outside.
Federer’s team lost 6-7 to Rafael Nadal’s team in a doubles competition.
Team Federer: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, Samantha Stosur
Team Nadal: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters
Links to other sites: Guardian, Roger Federer, TSR (Fre)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - French tennis player Richard Gasquet was exonerated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport Thursday 17 December from any fault or negligence over cocaine in his system, which he says was from kissing in a nightclub. The CAS agreed his assertion is the most likely explanation for the minute amount of the drug found in his system 28 March during the ATP tournament in Miami, Florida, USA.
The amount was so small that it did not reflect social use of the drug, but rather incidental contamination, the court says. “It was also established that the player was clearly not a regular cocaine user, even in very small amounts.”
Barcelona, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Spain confirmed its place at the top of the tennis world with a 3-0 victory over the Czech Republic in the final of the Davis Cup on the clay courts of Barcelona. Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer won the singles on Friday to give the Spanish a 2-0 lead and their doubles team of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco finished the task on Saturday.
Links to other sites: Davis Cup, Eurosport/Yahoo
