FEDERER HEADS HOME

Roger Federer has been defeated by Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in the semi final of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday. Berdych won the match by 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4.

This was the 17^th clash between these two players. Out of the previous 16 matches, Berdych had won 10, while, Federer had won 6.

At one point of time, Federer was on the verge of winning the match. In the tie breaker of the second set, he had the match points, but the Swiss superstar lost the plot from that stage and eventually got defeated.

Federer looked disappointed while talking to the reporters after the match. He said, “It really hurts when you lose in this manner. I had match points and I should have won the match, but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

On the other hand, Berdych was ecstatic after securing victory over Federer. He said, “I was really nervous in the tie breaker, but, somehow, I pulled that off. Winning the second set gave me a lot of confidence and then, I think I played at my best in the third set. A couple of poor shots by me in the tie breaker could have secured Roger’s victory. But, fortunately, I managed to turn things around.”

Federer had a fine start in the match. He didn’t drop his serve even once in the opening set and with a breakthrough in the eighth game; he won the first set by 6-3. At this point my bonus bet on a Federer straight set win was looking good, and Unibet must have been shaking in their boots. Sadly it didn’t quite come to pass.

Roger Federer Defeats Andy Murray, Ties Pete Sampras with 7th Wimbledon Championship

Gods of Tennis Movie Ranking: five / five

Great match Pete Sampras vs Roger Federer Wimbledon 2001

Gods of Tennis Movie Rating: five / five

Federer should Call Time on his Career

With Roger Federer winning his 7^th title at Wimbledon at the age of 30 years, the catcalls and comments about his age and his ability to perform at the same top level that he did for so many years might have stopped temporarily, but tennis is known to become extremely difficult as soon as one gets to 28 or 29 years of age and expecting the Swiss Master to turn back the clock once again and be the all conquering juggernaut that he once was might be farfetched.

But this 7^th title for Federer has given him the scope for introspection, whether to continue playing or quit when the racket is still firing. In today’s tennis, hardly any player depends on skill and elegance with almost everyone becoming an exponent of power tennis – even the three main competitors for Roger, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray depend more on their muscles than the subtlety of an elegant drop shot. This might have contributed in Federer being able to play longer at a very high level when the likes of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi failed to maintain their high tempo after hitting 30 years of age. Read more »

FEDERER: A TENNIS LEGEND

Many pundits and experts have mentioned Roger Federer as the greatest tennis player, of not only the Open Era but throughout its history as well and I, for one, have no reason to argue with them. Over the years, we are so used to the fact that Federer ending an event with the winner’s trophy in his hands that it was almost in disbelief that I turned to the screen to see him lose his world number one crown. But that hasn’t changed anything for the Swiss Mister. He still remains his calm and collective self when he steps onto the court to the time when he gets out of it.

The consistency in his play is gone, say the haters but the fact that he has reached the Quarter Finals stages of the Majors a total of 30 times speaks volumes about his career. This translates to the fact that over the last eight years, he has remained as one of the last eight men standing in a Major tournament. Some feat, I say by the great Roger Federer.

His competitors and the top two ranked players in the world at the moment, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have fallen victims to their injury woes, which have not allowed them to maintain such a record but the fact that Federer manages to remain so fit for so long in this day of modern tennis is quite remarkable indeed.

Just to justify that he is indeed the greatest player of all time, stating that he won 24 consecutive finals at a stretch will be enough in my opinion and when you add to that the fact that Roger Federer has won an unprecedented 16 Grand Slam titles goes to show that he is indeed the greatest ever, a legend of the game.

ROGER Federer Defeats PETE Sampras- WIMBLEDON 2001

Gods of Tennis Video clip Rating: 5 / five