Federer secures Masters Cup slot

Number one-ranked Federer has once again secured a slot in the end-of-season Masters Cup tournament. This will be his fourth appearance in Shanghai and sixth time overall.

His nemesis and world number two Rafael Nadal , who actually leads the ATP 2007 Race with 886 points--85 points ahead of Roger--likewise qualified for the eight-player tournament.

If I recall correctly, this is probably the earliest in a season that anyone has qualified for the Masters Cup. Way to go Roger and Rafa!

The talented young Serb Novak Djokovic who is currently third in the ATP Race 240 points behind Roger should be next in line to qualify.

Pete Sampras on Federer

Another past tennis great had something to say about Federer. Before he was inducted into the tennis Hall of Fame, 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras said this of his meeting with Roger before the AMS tournament at Indian Wells earlier this year :

He came by, and we hit for two days, and it was a lot of fun to not only hit with Roger, but to get to know him a little bit.We talked for two hours after one hit. He's a great guy; he's a funny guy. He's a young kid in a lot of ways.

When he breaks my record, he's the type of person I'd like to see break it. In my opinion, he's what sports is all about.

I was amused--though not surprised--when Sampras remarked that Roger was a "young kid in a lot of ways". Roger certainly seems serious on court but haven't we heard of Roger playing pranks on other players in the locker room? And even more interesting is that Sampras used the word "when" and not "if" when he talked of Federer breaking his record of 14 grand slam titles. Like Borg with Wimbledon, it seems he's accepted the fact that Federer may overtake him in the all-time grand slam winners list.

Federer and Borg

There was an appropriate epilogue to Federer's latest victory at Wimbledon as he was met after the match by the very man whose Wimbledon record he equaled. The great Bjorn Borg and the current Wimbledon men's champion briefly exchanged words after sharing a "Swedish hug" (whatever that means) as they stood before the board listing men's singles winners in the tournament's entire history. If both Tiger Woods and Federer are the only active athletes who know what it is like to dominate a sport, it is clear that only these two tennis greats know what it feels like to win at Wimbledon five years in a row.

"You were under a lot of pressure," Borg told him.

"You know how it feels," Federer replied.

Borg was quoted to have said after that meeting:

I'm so pleased Roger has equaled my record. He is a great player and he deserves to have achieved this. And I'm happy to have been here to see it.

We could share the feeling of that moment of relief at winning Wimbledon. For both of us, it is one of our favourite places, where we have played so many great matches.

Roger has both feet on the ground and no weaknesses. If he stays away from injuries and still has the motivation, he will be the greatest player ever. It would be nice if he wins it six, seven, eight times.

And as if it wasn't enough that Federer has matched Borg, there are some who went so far as to put the two players head-to-head.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Federer's furously fights for fabulous fifth in five

History was made at another Grand Slam final and this time around it was the one Federer--and we Federer fans--dreamed of.

The great Swiss won a record-equaling fifth straight title at Wimbledon after battling with archrival Rafael Nadal in an intense nerve-wracking five-set final, 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(2) 2-6 6-2.

The match began fittingly with an ace from Federer who went on to pull ahead with a 3-0 lead as a nervous Nadal was broken in his very first service game. However, Nadal stepped up to break back and send the first set into a tiebreak. That tiebreak, won by Federer 9-7, effectually became a preview of the great battle to come.

Both players held serve during the next set before a couple of errors from Federer and a sharply hit passing backhand by Nadal enabled the latter to clinch the set 6-4 on a break of serve and level the match at one set all.

The struggle for supremacy continued into third set and Federer seemed to have gained the upperhand when he won it via another tie-break.

The hope of a four-set victory was erased however come the fourth set when Federer's serve in the opening game was promptly broken. Two games later, a break point earned by Nadal via a HawkEye challenge virtually handed him that set as the visibly irritated four-time defending champion fell behind 0-4. Nadal clearly could smell blood as he managed to close out the set at 6-2 despite an apparent knee injury.

In the deciding set, the end of his glorious reign on grass seemed nigh when Federer straight away fell behind 15-40 on his second service game. He managed to fight back to hold serve only to fall behind once again 15-40 on his next service game. This time, the King of Grass' accurate serve came to the rescue as he served two aces to hold serve once again. Then suddenly without warning, he swiftly struck a stunning blow to Nadal in the next game when he broke the Spaniard's serve to go up 4-2 in the final set with a passing forehand that threw up white chalk from the sideline. A visibly stunned Nadal could only basically watch helplessly as another series of unreturnable serves enabled a more confident Federer to easily hold serve for a 5-2 lead. Following that brilliant performance from the top seed, the end to the challenger's attempt to usurp the throne at Wimbledon came in a matter of minutes as Federer went for the jugular. In Nadal's next service game to stay in the match, Federer hit two formidable crosscourt forehands and fired a final smash at the net at his second championship point before crumpling to the ground in a mixture of ecstasy and relief.

On hand to applaud that thrilling and fitting end to a very damp fortnight of tennis was the legendary Swede, Bjorn Borg, whose grand total of 11 grand slam titles was likewise equaled by Federer with this latest victory. Federer also now has won 54 straight matches on grass which includes 34 straight in Wimbledon.

Federer is now within sight of Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon singles titles and total of 14 grand slam titles.

Time to update that Nike advertisement, Tiger!
Photo credits: TOP: Chris Young/AFP/Getty Images; RIGHT: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Tiger urges Federer on

Here's a new Nike advertisement which starts off with beautiful flashbacks of the tennis champion's career and ends with a cheeky message from the golf champion to his good friend. After all, isn't that what friends are for?

Federer to match Borg's Wimbledon record

Federer won his 53rd straight match on grass with relative ease to make it to the finals at the Wimbledon tennis championships for the fifth straight year. He needed only three sets and one hour and three quarters to defeat a match-worn 12th seed Richard Gasquet, 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4. The young but talented Frenchman managed to hold off the four-time champion in the first set until he lost his serve in the 12th game. That crucial break of serve put away all hopes of upsetting the king of grass so that consequently he could no longer keep up the pace with a bad ankle niggling him as Federer wrapped up the match just a little more than an hour later.

Federer now looks to match Bjorn Borg's record of five straight titles at the All England club as he meets last year's finalist Rafael Nadal in what is essentially a rematch of last year's final. Nadal got into his second straight Wimbledon final when an exhausted and injured Novak Djokovic retired from their semifinals match while behind 1-4 in the third set. Djokovic had grabbed the first set 6-3 but like Gasquet struggled after that with an injury (badly blistered little toe in the left foot) that caused him to lose the second set 6-1.

Federer has clearly spent less time on court than Nadal who endured two five-set matches during the tournament. While that will mean he will be fully rested for tomorrow's finals, I hope that the lack of matchplay and the lack of any real challengers in his half of the draw (a great match with either Andy Roddick or Tommy Haas could have provided Federer with ample opportunities to test his game) will not leave him ill-prepared to face a player of Nadal's caliber. But then again Federer is known to step up his game whenever he views the man across the net as a threat.

Federer finally fends off Ferrero

After waiting overnight to continue yet another rain-delayed match at this year's damp Wimbledon, Federer pulled-off a four set victory (7-6(2) 3-6 6-1 6-3) over Spanish former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals.

Federer shook off any rustiness due to his five-day holiday with an ace on his way to hold serve as the two continued their match which was suspended due to rain the day before with the Swiss serving at 40-40, 5-all in the first set. Then although he managed to secure that set via a tiebreak, he lost the second with a series of uncharacteristic errors--no thanks to swirling winds in Centre Court--in the eighth game. But the loss of a set for the very first time in this grand slam tournament this year appeared to have jolted Federer from his holiday hangover as he went on to completely dominate in the third set to take it in just 20 minutes. He refused to let down his guard after that to secure a place in semi-finals for the fifth straight year.

He now faces first-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet from France who pulled a thrilling five-set upset over third seed Andy Roddick in the other quarterfinal match in the top half of the mens' singles draw.

At last, a Federer sighting!

The world mens' tennis number one was finally sighted on Wimbledon when he made an all-too-brief and tentative appearance in the All England Club's hallowed Centre Court. Fresh from a five-day forced rest, Roger Federer made an emphatic start in his quarterfinals match against former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero when he broke the Spaniard's serve at the very first opportunity to lead 2-0 in the first set. Within a few games after that however, there were signs that Federer's long holiday (courtesy of Tommy Haas' withdrawal from their fourth round match ) had eaten away into his match preparedness when his serve was broken to love as he was serving for the set at 5-3. After Ferrero hung tough in the next game to consolidate the break, Federer was struggling to hold serve at deuce when rain halted play once again at the tournament. Thus after just 37 minutes of play, Federer was seen no more on the tournament's tenth day as play was suspended for rest of the day.
Photo credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Haas says bye to Wimby, gives bye to Federer

Federer got a free ticket to the quarter-finals of this year's Wimbledon Championships when his fourth round opponent Tommy Haas withdrew due to a torn abdominal muscle (ouch!). This will allow Federer some rest at least before the quarters which are scheduled (by my reckoning) to be played on Monday or Tuesday. Just hope that lack of matchplay won't make him rusty.