The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Roger Federer

  • Djokovic placed as second seed at Wimbledon

    Djokovic placed as second seed at Wimbledon

    Three-times champion Novak Djokovic has been placed as second seed for next week’s Wimbledon tennis championships in spite of slipping to fourth in the ATP world rankings.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that seven-times champion Roger Federer has also benefited from the seedings released by the All England Club on Wednesday.

    They have defending champion Andy Murray number one in the men’s singles, with Germany’s Angelique Kerber the women’s top seed.

    Wimbledon differs from the other grand slams, in the men’s singles at least.

    Previous form on grass in the previous two years come into play to re-order the top 32 in the world rankings.

    It is a system agreed with by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

    Spaniard Rafa Nadal, who won a 10th French Open last month, is second in the ATP rankings but will be seeded fourth at Wimbledon after a mediocre record there in recent years.

    In spite of winning the title twice, the 31-year-old has not been past the fourth round since 2011.

    Favorite Federer, fifth on the ATP rankings, is seeded third which means he will avoid one of his biggest rivals for the title until the semi-finals.

    Fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, runner-up at the French, drops to fifth seed, from his world ranking of three.

    Other beneficiaries of the system include Luxembourg’s grasscourt expert Gilles Muller who is seeded 16th compared to an ATP ranking of 26.

    Muller won the recent Den Bosch tournament and reached the semi-final at Queen’s Club last week.

    Queen’s Club champion Feliciano Lopez, ranked 25, is seeded 19th.

    The women’s seeds stick strictly with the current WTA rankings.

    Romania’s Simon Halep, who could take over the top spot this week if she wins the Eastbourne title, is seeded two.

  • Nadal wins his 5th Madrid Open title

    Nadal wins his 5th Madrid Open title

    Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 on Sunday to win his fifth Madrid Open title and move into the world’s top four.

    The Spaniard has now won three straight titles, after his Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters victories, while his record on clay this year is 15-0.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nadal edged the Austrian in the tie-break of a tense first set that lasted one hour and 18 minutes.

    He broke world number seven Thiem early in the second set to set up the win.

    Nadal will be confirmed as the new world number four, replacing 18-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, when the new rankings come out on Monday.

    That will improve his seeding for the French Open, which starts on May 22 and where Nadal is a nine-time champion.

    Nadal, who beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, has now won his 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, tying the all-time record with Serbia’s Djokovic.

    The former world number one was last inside the world’s top four in October 2016 and struggled with a wrist injury last year.

    The injury forced him to pull out of the French Open and Wimbledon.

    “The truth is I was up against an opponent who, in the next five to 10 years, will be fighting for the most important titles, so I’m very happy to have won.

    “It was a very exciting game.

    “It was a very important final for both of us, for him as it was the first in the Masters 1000, and for me it’s always special to play here in Madrid, in this unique tournament.

    “You never know when it might be the last, so I always try to enjoy it,” Nadal said.

     

  • Rodger Federer wins Miami Open

    Rodger Federer wins Miami Open

    Roger Federer defeated long-standing rival Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 to win the Miami Open on Sunday and continue his outstanding start to the year.

    Since returning from his six month injury lay-off, the 35-year-old Federer has also won the Australian Open and Indian Wells and he heads into the clay season as, once again, the dominant presence on the ATP Tour.

    Federer has beaten Nadal in all of those events this year and has now won his last four meetings between the pair.

    The Spaniard was playing in his fifth Miami final but remains without a win in the Masters series event.

    The first set was a tight affair with both players having their opportunities to break but it was not until the eighth game and 10th break point of the set that one of them was able to get ahead.

    Nadal could only find the net from a Federer backhand and the Swiss grabbed a 5-3 lead and he comfortably held the next game to secure the first set.

    There has always been a marked contrast between Federer and Nadal’s differing styles and with time it has become further accentuated.

    Nadal was working hard in the 83 degrees afternoon heat, thrusting himself into his shots while the elegant Federer’s poise appeared almost casual.

    The second set took an almost identical path, albeit with fewer openings to break for both players until Federer again pounced, to grab a 5-4 lead when Nadal went long returning a fine backhand.

  • Roger Federer wins Australian Open

    Roger Federer  has defeated Rafael Nadal  by 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to win the Australian open.

    Federer  won his 18th major title by Nadal in the 6th game to level the set at 3-all.

    In his speech after the victory, Federer stated: ” I am out of words but I would like to congratulate Nadal on an amzing comeback. I don’t think either of us thought we would be in the finals when we were at your academy five years ago. I would just like to thank my team . Its been a different last six months. I didnt think I was going to make it here. I would also like to thank Nadal’s team, my wife, family and all of you here.”

     

     

  • It’s Federer versus Nadal again!

    It’s Federer versus Nadal again!

     

     

     

    The timewarp effect at the Australian Open is complete after Rafael Nadal dramatically set up a men’s final against Roger Federer on Sunday.

    Nadal, 30, will be the junior partner of the weekend after summoning up a display that saw him draw on his famed determination of old to see off Bulgaria’s courageous and free-flowing Grigor Dimitrov in an epic semi-final.

    The Spaniard needed four hours and 56 minutes to win 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-7 6-4 at 12.44am. He will now play in a championship match between two players who share 31 Grand Slam titles between them.

    Amid uproar he forced two match points which were saved with an overhead and sweeping forehand into the corner before Dimitrov drilled a final backhand long. Nadal lay down at the back of the court before embracing his opponent at the net.

    But his progression may have come at a cost as Nadal will have had 24 hours less to rest after a gruelling contest that required him to dig deep within himself.

    After some running repairs he will look to become the only player in the post 1968 Open era to win each of the big four tournaments twice.

    Meanwhile, the two Williams sisters will face each other in the women’s event on Saturday.

    This is a repeat of the two finals from Wimbledon back in 2008.

    It will be his 35th career meeting against Federer, with the Spaniard leading the series 23-11. They have only met once since last facing off in a Major, in the semi-finals here three years ago, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic having assumed the roles they once held.

    Of Sunday’s final he said: ‘First of all I hope to recover well and then for me it will be a privilege and very special for both of us to have another chance to compete against each other after a couple of years of problems.’

  • Djokovic hits Australian Open final

    Djokovic hits Australian Open final

    Novak Djokovic advanced to his sixth Australian Open final with a 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory over Roger Federer.

    The world number one dominated the first two sets with some superb hitting, but had to hold off a spirited Federer fightback later on, the BBC reports.

    It is the third straight Grand Slam in which Djokovic has beaten the Swiss, prolonging Federer’s wait for an 18th major title.

    Djokovic will face Andy Murray or Canada’s Milos Raonic in the final.

    The Serb has beaten British number one Murray in the final on three previous occasions, including last year’s four-set victory.

    “I played unbelievably in the first two sets, but I needed to because Roger has been playing unbelievably and I knew he would be aggressive,” 10-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic said.

    Before the match, much attention had focused on the first set, with Federer never having beaten Djokovic in a best-of-five match having dropped the opener.

    But it was barely a contest as Djokovic twice broke the world number three in his opening three service games.

    Pummelling Federer with deep groundstrokes and using clever changes of pace to induce 12 unforced errors from his opponent, the Serb wrapped up the set inside 23 minutes.

    And he was no less dominant in the second, decisively breaking to love in the third game as he threatened to hand a rattled Federer one of his worst ever defeats.