Rogers Cup is Novak's

In a thrilling three-set final, world number one Roger Federer was unable to defend his title at the Canada Masters Series in Montreal as he lost to Novak Djokovic 6-7(4) 6-2 6-7(2) for the first time in six meetings. Federer simply couldn't capitalize on several set point chances in the first set which he eventually lost in a tiebreak. He bounced back however in the second set as he broke Djokovic's serve twice. The brand new world number three however rediscovered his serve and brilliant groundstrokes in the third set as he fought off Federer and eventually prevailed in another tiebreak, 7-2.

Looking back, had Federer won the first set when he was up 6-5 he would have won the match and the championship outright. It's just too bad. This would have been Federer's 50th career singles title and would have been his first in the Montreal edition of the Rogers Cup. But then the 20-year old from Serbia (and not, ahem, Croatia) was a worthy champion in this tournament having claimed the scalps of the number two and three seeds Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick on his way to a second Masters Series title victory and a fourth title this year.
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Federer celebrates birthday with win

Federer moved on to the third round at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada at his first tournament appearance since winning a historic fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. Federer's opponent in the second round match which didn't produce any break points at all was the Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic who predictably fired at lot of aces (16) but succumbed to Federer's brilliant shot-making in two tie-breaks. The 7-6(2) 7-6(3) victory was Federer's 13th straight match win in Canada, having won the title here in 2004 and 2006 (he skipped the tournament in 2005 due to a sprained ankle), and was an appropriate way to celebrate his 26th birthday.

Federer was apparently serenaded (I fell asleep midway through the match as it was 3:30am here) with "Happy Birthday" in French by the crowd during the match and was eventually presented a birthday cake at the end of the match.
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