Sunday, June 16, 2013

Roger Federer wins 77th title to equal Johny Mac

Roger Federer wins 77th title
World No. 3 Roger Federer won his first ATP World Tour title of the season, and the 77th of his career, on Sunday as he came from a set down to beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle. His 77 titles see him draw level with John McEnroe in third position in the career titles list.

"I'm very happy. It was a great week for me and my family," said Federer. "I thought I played well from the start and I really had to fight for it, in the semis against Tommy Haas and in the finals against Mikhail Youzhny. I think I did well today and they are exactly the kind of wins I need at this part of the season. I've been preparing well for this part of the season and I'm happy it's paying off. It's obviously important for my confidence looking forward to Wimbledon now."

The Swiss lifted the trophy in Halle for the sixth time, having previously triumphed in 2003-06 and 2008 (d. Kohlschreiber). He also finished runner-up in 2010 (l. to Hewitt) and 2012 (l. to Haas) and has a 43-5 event record.

The 31-year-old Federer clinched his 13th tour-level grass-court title, having also won The Championships at Wimbledon seven times. He will look to complete the Halle-Wimbledon double for the fifth time (2003-06) by retaining the Wimbledon crown he won last year with victory over Andy Murray.

"It's totally different [than 2003]," said Federer. "Ten years ago I went into Wimbledon with so much pressure, even though I had lost in the first round the year before. In terms of needing to prove my point that I was a legitimate Grand Slam contender, I had incredible pressure. Now, ten years later, I know Wimbledon, I know Halle, I know my way around and what I need to do to perform well. I'm going in with pressure because I'm defending my title. There's always pressure because it's a privilege to play at Wimbledon and I want to do so, so well. I feel good right now and I hope I can show it on the tennis court."

Federer improved to a 15-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over Youzhny, dropping a set for only the fourth time against the Russian, whom he beat at both Halle and Wimbledon last year.

The Swiss failed to convert five break points in the first set and paid the prices for 13 unforced errors as Youzhny clinched the opener in 57 minutes. A tidier second set from Federer saw the Basel native cut his unforced error count to just four, and he secured the first service break of the match in the eighth game to level the match. The Swiss then broke Youzhny in the seventh game of the decider to claim victory in just over two hours.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Roger Federer double bagels Zverev in Halle 2013

Roger Federer recorded the second 6-0, 6-0 victory of his career on Friday.

The top seed required just 40 minutes to beat Mischa Zverev at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

“It’s not something that is easy to do. You never anyway go into a match aiming for that score,” Federer said. “Eventually you start feeling that there is an opportunity maybe and even then it’s not what you really want to think about because at the end of the day you just want to win the match and not start thinking too far ahead and then it comes back and gets you. I was very surprised today that it happened, especially on the grass.”

Federer, 31, has played 1,107 tour-level matches (902-205) since turning professional in 1998. He also beat Gaston Gaudio 6-0, 6-0 at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai (now known as the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals).

The Swiss is making his 11th appearance at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tournament in Halle (41-5 record). He has won five titles from seven finals.

Andy Murray Starts heavy favourite for Wimbledon 2013



Andy Should Start Heavy favorite for Wimbledon, he is playing stunning tennis at the moment, might get

His two matches on 1 day was very impressive eventhough one of the matches against Mahut went for a tie breaker.

Murray looks in great shape, well toned with full of rested muscles gearing for a big go, if Murray could avoid Rafa early on then there is every bit of chance for him to go deep for the title.

Murray would ideally love Ferrer on his side of the draw and the top half be packed like Djoko - Federer semi and Djoko -Rafa quarters.

ousted himself in queens early but in 5 sets he will be very difficult to overcome, compare to his other predators like Djokovic and Nadal, Murray is a natural mover on grass, with Federer not at his best and going older Murray with home support might make the British dream of a Wimbledon single title come true.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Andy Murray wins 2 matchs in a single day to advance in Queens

Andy Murray @ Queens 2013
World No. 2 Andy Murray took the court twice at the Aegon Championships on Thursday, completing his second-round match before returning to reach the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club in London.

The top-seeded Murray first avenged his defeat at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court event from a year ago, defeating Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6(2). It was Murray’s first match in nearly a month, having missed four weeks with a back injury.

In the third round, two-time champion Murray dismissed Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-2. Murray converted five of his 10 break point opportunities to seal the first-time meeting in 57 minutes.


“I thought the first match it was pretty high standard of grass court tennis. [Mahut] volleyed extremely well today,” said Murray. “He made a lot of good pickups, and I just managed to come up with some good passing shots at the right time in the tie-break.

“But this afternoon, it was hard to judge. It was so windy out there. You couldn't strike the ball that clean or really go for the lines. You just had to play high percentage tennis.”

For a place in the semi-finals, Murray will face 105th-ranked Benjamin Becker, who knocked out seventh-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6(5), 7-5. Becker improved to 27-18 lifetime in tour-level matches on grass.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

For quite a while we have been saying Djoko not as popular among fans as Rafa is, but sponsors didn't see that way and Djoko's earnings [Prize money and sponsorship] seized ahead of Nadal. We can argue Nadal's prize money for 2012 is way too little as he took more than 1/2 the year in injury time out from the sport but that seemed to have affected his sponsorship as well.

Djoko is at 28 and Nadal is at 30 and no strange Fed sits a top of Tennis players and 2nd only behind Tiger woods for a whopping 70 + million income for last year.


For all those who think Fed should quit the game, think twice he makes 10 times more money in sponsorships just for playing the game, I guess he is doing the right thing by continuing his job, no wonder he wanna play for 5 more years, I am not saying he is money greed and playing for money, but what I am saying is this is his job and he does it to perfection. As long as as he plays the sponsors will still be queued up for him and whats wrong in it?

Roger Federer is No. 2 on Forbes Magazine’s list of World’s Highest-Paid Athletes with estimated earnings of $71 million in 2012, trailing just golfer Tiger Woods, who earned $78 million.

“Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports,” writes Forbes, listing Nike, Rolex, Wilson, Credit Suisse and Moët & Chandon among his 10 sponsors.

“Federer is as bankable as they come,” the magazine explains of the 10-time ATP World Tour Fan Favourite. “He has never faced major injury that sidelined him for months, like many elite players, and over the past decade, he has reached at least the semi-finals in the vast majority of tournaments, which keeps him in front of TV viewers and in the press.”


Novak Djokovic (No. 28) and Rafael Nadal (No. 30) join Federer in the Top 100, along with WTA stars Maria Sharapova (No. 22), Serena Williams (No. 68) and Li Na (No. 85) - the only three women to make the list.

The magazine elaborates on the appeal of tennis for sponsors, calling it “wildly attractive” with its lucrative fan base, 11-month season and international reach.

“The demographics of its fans are strong thanks to high disposable incomes to be spent on tennis apparel, rackets, watches and cars,” Forbes writes. “In addition, the tennis season is almost year-round, keeping Federer in the spotlight… Another plus for tennis is the global nature of the sport, so Nike and Gillette can utilise him in advertising in Asia, Europe and the U.S.”

Rounding out the Top 10 are Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Phil Mickelsen, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

French Open Day 11 - Can Wawrinka Stop Rafa?

What a day we had, finally a French hero rising to the occasion to down a legend, but his work is not over indeed got 2 crucial matches ahead to be considered as a GS champ. Rise of underdogs as been the theme of the day will it continue another day? the biggest question is can Wawrinka somehow outset the off-color Rafa?

Haas has in him to beat Nole, but not sure Wawrinka has in him to take Rafa to even 4 sets let alone a win, but would certainly love a complete underdogs semi.

Schedule of Matches

Court Philippe Chatrier
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [18] vs. Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]


Followed byMen's Singles - Quarterfinals
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs.Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]

Court Suzanne Lenglen
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [12] vs.Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs.Tommy Haas (GER) [12]

Jelena is a surprise semi's in my view, could get toasted at Sharapova's hands, Kirlenko vs Vika could be interesting, Two Maria's can do it.

I would love to see Wawrinka -Nadal match start atleast an hour early, so if miracle happen and Wawrinka upset Rafa I will be fully rooting for Haas, if not I would love to see Nole-Rafa semi's, so either Waw-Haas or Nole-Rafa, no other combination pls.

Tommy Haas got a good 7 odds to win the match, if people buying the hype of underdogs then Tommy's odds are eye catching. Wawrinka gets 10 odds on the other hand, I won't advice this unless somebody is an extreme gambler .

Let the theme "Rise of Underdogs" continue, most tennis fans want to see a new champ, let see whether Haas and Warinka has any say in it.