Del Potro vs Federer - Amazing Highlights - ATP World Tour Finals 2009
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Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 1.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 2.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 3.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 4.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 5.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 6.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 7.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 8.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 9.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 10.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 11.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 12.wmv
Federer - An Amazing Career (2006) Part 13.wmv
Roger Federer - Basel 2009 (Davidoff Masters)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z32Q4HnHv9s
Federer vs Rochus 2009 Basel R32 HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IgZsO7Otwo
Federer vs Seppi 2009 Basel R16 HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKVyqalvs28
(HD)Federer vs Korolev Basel 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvjjCxbQF_s
Basel 2009: Roger Federer vs Marco Chiudinelli. Last Game Of The Match
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uBCR7mW95w&hd=1
[Federer vs Djokovic] - [Basel 09] [HD]
01.01.10 Capitala World Tennis Championship Other Abu Dhabi (UAE) hard [i]
04.01.10 Qatar ExxonMobil Open 250 Doha (QAT) hard [o]
18.01.10 Australian Open GS Melbourne (AUS) hard [o]
22.02.10 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships 500 Dubai (UAE) hard [o]
08.03.10 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells 1000 Indian Wells (USA) hard [o]
22.03.10 Sony Ericsson Open 1000 Miami (USA) hard [o]
26.04.10 Internazionali BNL d'Italia 1000 Rome (ITA) clay [o]
01.05.10 Estoril Open 250 Estoril (POR) clay [o]
07.05.10 Mutua Madrilena Masters 1000 Madrid (ESP) clay [o]
24.05.10 Roland Garros GS Paris (FRA) clay [o]
07.06.10 Gerry Weber Open 250 Halle (GER) grass [o]
21.06.10 Wimbledon GS Wimbledon (GBR) grass [o]
09.08.10 Rogers Cup 1000 Toronto (CAN) hard [o]
16.08.10 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters 1000 Cincinnati (USA) hard [o]
30.08.10 US Open GS New York (USA) hard [o]
11.10.10 Shanghai 1000 Shanghai (CHN) hard [i]
01.11.10 Davidoff Swiss Indoors 500 Basel (SUI) hard [i]
08.11.10 BNP Paribas Masters 1000 Paris (FRA) hard [i]
20.11.10 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals WTF London (GBR) hard [i]
IS International Series ISG International Series Gold
MS ATP Masters Series GS Grand Slam
DC Davis Cup MC Masters Cup
Other Other J Junior
CH Challenger 250 ATP 250 Series
500 ATP 500 Series 1000 ATP 1000 Series
WTF ATP World Tour Finals [i] indoor
[o] outdoor
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/roger...dule/index.cfm
Federer won the first round match against Igor Andreev in 4 sets. Saw the match in bits and pieces. Andreev gave a good fight :thumbsup:.
Federer lost australian open last year because of poor first serve percentage. He is not showing any improvement on this. Unless he serves well in the critical points he may not win AO. He mainly won wimbledon last year because of excellent service especially during cirtical points. I still have hope for federer express though.
Roger Federer vs V. Hanescu 6-2 6-3 6-2
Evano ingilaandhu raasavaam avan ellam vera vandhirukaan pola annan match paakaradhukku.
Roger had a relatively easy second round match. Loved the post match chat he had with Courier.
he has alreadyy dropped a set in the early round :(.. was the opponent any good ?Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
He is a top 20 player (Russian). Had pushed Roger to five sets in 2008 (4th round I guess) US Open, which eventually Roger won (the only GS of the year).Quote:
Originally Posted by Aalavanthan
He probably has the biggest forehand of current lot.
He was quite good for the better part of first three sets. He had a serve break as well in the 3rd set which he should have capitalized but he didn't. Federer eased through in the 4th though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aalavanthan
3rd round:
Federer won 6-3 6-4 6-4 over Albert Montanes.
Extending the article posted by Sanjeevi. Fantastic one. Thanks for posting it here sanjeevi.
Like Mozart and Michelangelo, Roger Federer’s body of work ranges from exceptional to sublime. The Swiss has set multiple records that will likely stand the test of time. Below we look at 10 of Federer’s most amazing feats and quantify [with totally unscientific methodology!] the chances of the achievements being matched or topped during his lifetime.
1. Winning five consecutive titles at two different Grand Slam tournaments
About The Feat: Since the abolition of the Challenge Round [when the defending champion was automatically placed in the following year’s final] Federer is one of just four players to win the same Grand Slam tournament five consecutive years. [Tilden six at the US Open 1920-25; Emerson five at the Australian Open 1963-67 and Borg five at Wimbledon 1978-81]. But Federer is the only player in history to win two different Grand Slam titles [Wimbledon 2003-07 and US Open 2004-08] for five consecutive years.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 1%
2. Winning 15 Grand Slam titles in the span of 26 majors
About The Feat: After going titleless in his first 16 Grand Slam tournaments, Federer has made up for lost time. Beginning with his 2003 Wimbledon breakthrough, the Swiss has won more than 50 percent of the majors he has contested. In contrast, Pete Sampras won his 14 majors over a span of 45 Grand Slam tournaments.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 2%
3. Reaching 17 of 18 consecutive Grand Slam finals between Wimbledon 2005 and US Open 2009
About The Feat: This record goes beyond consistency. It speaks to Federer’s unrivaled excellence at the pinnacle of the sport – the Grand Slams – and his ability to play his best under pressure and when it counts most. No other player has come even close to a streak of Grand Slam finals appearance like this – and no one likely ever will. Federer will try to make it 18 of 19 at this month’s Australian Open.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 3%
4. Reaching 22 consecutive Grand slam semi-finals (or better) from Wimbledon 2004 to US Open 2009
About The Feat: To put this feat into context, Federer’s ongoing streak of contesting 22 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals is more than double the length of Ivan Lendl’s 10 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals reached – the next best streak. The last time Federer didn’t make the last four at a major was in 2004 at Roland Garros, when he was beaten by three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten in the third round.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 3%
5. Winning 24 consecutive finals
About The Feat: In 2004 and 2005 Federer won 22 consecutive finals in which he appeared [in addition to winning his last two finals of 2003] for a streak of 24 straight finals won. That’s astonishing considering that Federer was going up against the second best player in each of those particular tournaments. In finals, you not only have to play well, you have to play clutch. Federer’s finals streak ended at the last event of 2005, the Tennis Masters Cup. Although he came into the tournament with an ankle injury, Federer led arch rival David Nalbandian two sets to love and later, in the fifth set, was two points from the title on his own serve before Nalbandian rallied to win a fifth-set tie-break. It was all down hill from there for Federer, who in 2006 lost in four finals (all against Rafael Nadal) and only won 12 titles :)
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 4%
6. Reaching all four Grand Slam finals in the same season three times
About The Feat: Only two singles players have ever reached all four Grand Slam finals in the same year: Rod Laver, who did it twice when he completed calendar-year Grand Slams in 1962 and 1968, and Federer, who did it a remarkable three times in the past four years. Considering also that Federer is the only man to reach all four Slam finals in the same year on three different surfaces (hard court, grass and clay), it seems even more unlikely that someone will top that feat in Federer’s lifetime.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 4%
7. Three-year period of dominance
About The Feat: Between 2004-2006 Federer went on a tear that is unlikely to be matched during any future three-year period, compiling a 247-15 match record. His season records during that time were 74-6 (2004), 81-4 (2005) and 92-5 (2006). He won a stunning 34 titles, including eight Grand Slams, nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000s and two Tennis Masters Cup titles. Had he served out the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup final against David Nalbandian [instead of losing in a fifth-set tie-break] Federer’s season record that year would have been 82-3, the same as John McEnroe’s unrivaled match record in 1984.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 5%
8. Holding the No. 1 South African Airways ATP Ranking for 237 consecutive weeks
About The Feat: Federer’s 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings (from 2 February, 2004 to 17 August 2008) is best contextualised by looking at the next best streaks: Jimmy Connors at 160 weeks, Ivan Lendl at 157 weeks and Pete Sampras at 102 weeks. Federer, who has been No. 1 a total of 265 weeks (as of 11 January, 2010), is now within reach of Sampras’ all-time (non-consecutive) record of 286 weeks at No. 1. [Federer has five times finished as ATP World Tour Champion, just one year shy of Sampras’ six finishes as year-end No. 1. But Sampras finished No. 1 six consecutive years - a separate feat that Federer, now 28, is unlikely to ever match.]
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 7%
9. Sixty-five consecutive grass-court match wins
About The Feat: Federer’s 65 straight wins on grass could so easily have ended at 39 when he saved four match points against Olivier Rochus in the Halle quarter-finals in 2006. But history shows that Federer scratched out a win and ultimately extended his record streak to 65 before he lost 9-7 in the fifth set to Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final. With modern-day grass-court tennis no longer favouring a dominant serve-volleyer like a Sampras, Becker or Edberg, it will be more difficult for one player to dominate on the surface and threaten Federer’s streak.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 12%
10. Winning one Grand Slam title a year for seven consecutive years
About The Feat: This is a category in which Federer does not hold the record – yet. The Swiss has won at least one Grand Slam title for seven consecutive years, just shy of Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg, who won at least one major for eight consecutive years. Assuming Federer wins a Grand slam title this year to get a share of the record, what are the chances someone (other than Federer) will extend it? It sounds a tough record to break, but Rafael Nadal is already riding a five-year streak. And despite his lapse at Roland Garros last year, he’s likely to be the leading contender for that title for many years to come, as well as at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, where he is a former champion.
Chance of Feat Being Topped: 25%
af :)
naanum content post panna ninaichen but sombErithanam :lol:
16th Grandslam Title :clap: :thumbsup: :notworthy:
8-) :clap:
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/roger...dule/index.cfm
ROGER'S TOUR SCHEDULE 2010
01.01.10
Capitala World Tennis Championship
Other Abu Dhabi (UAE) hard [o]
04.01.10
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
250 Doha (QAT) hard [o]
18.01.10
Australian Open
GS Melbourne (AUS) hard [o]
22.02.10
Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships
500 Dubai (UAE) hard [o]
08.03.10
BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells
1000 Indian Wells (USA) hard [o]
22.03.10
Sony Ericsson Open
1000 Miami (USA) hard [o]
26.04.10
Internazionali BNL d'Italia
1000 Rome (ITA) clay [o]
01.05.10
Estoril Open
250 Estoril (POR) clay [o]
07.05.10
Mutua Madrilena Masters
1000 Madrid (ESP) clay [o]
24.05.10
Roland Garros
GS Paris (FRA) clay [o]
07.06.10
Gerry Weber Open
250 Halle (GER) grass [o]
21.06.10
Wimbledon
GS Wimbledon (GBR) grass [o]
09.08.10
Rogers Cup
1000 Toronto (CAN) hard [o]
16.08.10
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
1000 Cincinnati (USA) hard [o]
30.08.10
US Open
GS New York (USA) hard [o]
11.10.10
Shanghai
1000 Shanghai (CHN) hard [i]
01.11.10
Davidoff Swiss Indoors
500 Basel (SUI) hard [i]
08.11.10
BNP Paribas Masters
1000 Paris (FRA) hard [i]
20.11.10
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
WTF London (GBR) hard [i]
Federer gets a 3 week rest as his next tournament is in Dubai on Feb 21st.
LM, I quoted your post from Tennis thread here. Please upload them whenever possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by littlemaster1982
[html:aad4acad52]http://i47.tinypic.com/2gslea9.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
[html:aad4acad52]http://i47.tinypic.com/10f1c0x.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
[html:aad4acad52]http://i45.tinypic.com/j5ec6w.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
[html:aad4acad52]http://i46.tinypic.com/16bc17t.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
[html:aad4acad52]http://i45.tinypic.com/m7ggt4.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
[html:aad4acad52]http://i49.tinypic.com/2q0oku8.jpg[/html:aad4acad52]
Thanks LM :).
LM,
I have a big request for you. I have the 62 Titles of Roger Federer in pictures right from his 2002 days. I ask you to upload them whenever possible. Whenever I am done with uploading them in tinypic site I will let you know.
[html:cc72eb47e0]http://i47.tinypic.com/24mi6b6.jpg[/html:cc72eb47e0]
I am not a big admirer of Federer, but I am now for AF .. Great work AF .. Keep it going and LM should be awarded "the official uploader of the hub" :notworthy:
AV. The pleasure is mine :).
Absolutely. Atleast 100 of his posts are my pic requests. lol.
Updated February 01, 2010
Federer's most amazing stat: Durability
FoxSports
Roger Federer's most amazing stat has nothing to do with his racket.
No stranger to jaw-dropping numbers, Roger Federer's most impressive statistic just might be one that doesn't involve hitting a tennis ball. Since he first appeared in a Grand Slam draw at the 1999 Australian Open, the world's best player hasn't missed a single one of tennis' major tournaments.
That's a span of 45 tournaments in 11 years. In a sport that beats up legs, knees, shoulders and minds like few others can, Federer has been a veritable Superman. Most of the rest of us pull a muscle playing for the company softball team. This guy circles the globe inflicting real punishment on his body and never misses a step.
And he's not showing up to these Slams with a limp, either. He has made 23 straight semifinals, an eye-popping stat that defies the laws of consistency in the sport.
Federer's amazing durability is something every other recent tennis star hasn't quite realized. Arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal has missed four Slams since playing his first in 2003. Pete Sampras missed five between 1990 and 1999. Andre Agassi missed 20 -- though most for reasons other than injury -- in the 20 years he competed. All of them have had their share of disappointing results.
We've worried before that Federer was losing his grip on dominance. When he lost to Nadal in 2009's Australian Open final, many writers -- this one included -- wondered if he would ever get to that record-setting 15th Slam title. When he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in last year's U.S. Open final, we were reminded of the coming generation of players that was closing the gap between Federer and the field.
At this year's Australian Open, injuries claimed almost all those would-be challengers. Nadal was forced to retire in the quarterfinals with a knee injury that will keep him out four weeks. Novak Djokovic -- who defeated Federer at the Australian Open in 2008 en route to his only Grand Slam win -- was slowed by breathing issues in a quarterfinal loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Del Potro was battling a wrist injury all tournament long. Andy Roddick -- who pushed Federer so admirably in last year's Wimbledon final -- hurt his shoulder in a quarterfinal loss to Marin Cilic. Even Murray -- who had looked like the most impressive player of the tournament headed into the final -- started feeling pain in his leg toward the end of that match.
In the end, only one man was left standing. In more ways than one.
"I always knew I had it in my hand. The question is do I have it in my mind and in my legs?'' Federer said after beating Murray. "That's something I had to work extremely hard at."
Federer now heads into the spring stretch with a world of confidence. Down a set and a break against Nikolay Davydenko in his quarterfinal match, Federer rebounded to play some of the best tennis we've ever seen from him, closing that set on a 5-0 run and then winning the rest of the eight sets he played in Melbourne. He's the undisputed No. 1 and talk is already bubbling about his chances at winning the calendar year Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, most of the rest of the top 10 is nursing injuries -- typical of the late months of the year, but a very troubling development for Feb. 1.
"Now I feel, like, obviously I'm being pushed a great deal by the new generation coming up," Federer said. "They've made me a better player, because I think this has been one of my finest performances in a long time, or maybe forever.''
His finest performance ever? That new generation had better get healthy ... fast.
Welcome back, Justine
She couldn't quite equal fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters' achievement of winning her first Grand Slam after coming back from retirement, but Henin accomplished something else nearly as important -- she presented a challenger for Serena Williams.
There hasn't truly been one since Henin left the game in May 2008. A few players have cycled through the top spot in the rankings since, but no one has been able to touch Serena when she's focused and at her best.
Henin may not have been ready to take down Serena in Melbourne -- her coach said as much -- but with a few more months of fine-tuning, she should be right back near the top of the rankings. Serena once again has motivation to stay sharp.
With Dinara Safina, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic -- all of whom took turns at No. 1 during Henin's absence -- struggling big time, we need someone to add depth at the top of the women's game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/0...at-durability/
Federer customarily brilliant in dropping Murray for Aussie title
Story Highlights
Roger Federer proved too much for Andy Murray, both physically and mentally
Murray deserves to be criticized for offering up little resistance against Federer
With Federer in rare form, could this be the year that he wins all four majors?
Five things we've learned from tonight's Australian Open men's final:
1. Roger Federer is still the king. Not exactly a news flash. But he was at his numinous, luminous best, beating Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (11) to take major No. 16. Playing a fine opponent in a big match, Federer played with customary brilliance but he also turned in an exceptionally strong performance mentally. He won all the "big points," staved off five set points in the tie-breaker, and, by his own reckoning, played some of his best tennis ever. Just a gem of a performance.
2. Offense wins championships. Last night we saw Justine Henin play excessively attacking tennis. Against Federer, we saw Murray play too passively, seldom taking initiative and reverting to his counterpunching days. He didn't serve particularly well, rarely came to the net and let Federer bully him from the baseline. It was Federer who attacked, punished Murray for short balls and applied constant pressure.
3. Federer got a pretty good grilling here -- and, I gather, on American TV -- for his gamesmanship and "bulletin board material" before the final. Let's deconstruct Federer's "trash talk." A) The first set would be crucial for Murray. B) Murray has beaten him in head-to-heads but there was a difference between tour stops and Grand Slams. C) Murray would bear significant pressure, shouldering the hopes of a nation and knowing he has yet to win a major. When do we get to the part where Federer was wrong?
4. Murray ought to be gutted. The Australian Open has a history of just-happy-to-be-here finalists. This wasn't the case this year. Murray is a top-shelf player with a complete game. He didn't spend much time on the court this tournament -- but when he did, he was gangbusters, especially in his rout of Nadal. He likes the surface, he likes the conditions, and he's had success against Federer. Beating the best player ever is, of course, a tall order. But Murray is likely disappointed for not putting up more resistance.
5. A year ago, Roger Federer had lost for the fourth time in five Slams and was reduced to tears by still another defeat at the hands of his rival, Rafael Nadal. Folks were well within their rights to wonder if he'd catch PeteSampras' record, if he were the greatest of all time after all. Since then? He's won three of four majors -- and probably should have won the fourth. With Nadal in iffy condition, with Federer's mastery of the other contenders in majors, with his game back at such a high level, is it so far-fetched to speculate that this might be the year Federer wins all four majors?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...cherreport.com
ATP - ROGER TIES WITH CONNORS
Roger's 16th grand slam title has secured him some space at the top of the ATP world ranking. Quite a few changes have occurred directly behind him, though: Novak Djokovic (2) and Andy Murray (3) have moved up, Rafael Nadal has fallen to fourth place.
Roger reached 268 weeks as number one of the ATP ranking today and has thus leveled Jimmy Connors' best mark. Ahead of him lie only two further players: Ivan Lendl (270) and Pete Sampras (286). And our champ certainly is on track to breaking these rekords, too!
1. Pete Sampras (USA) : 286
2. Ivan Lendl (CZE/USA) : 270
3. Jimmy Connors (USA) and Roger Federer (SUI) : 268
5. John McEnroe (USA) : 170
6. Björn Borg (SWE) : 109
7. Andre Agassi (USA) : 101
8. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) : 80
9. Stefan Edberg (SWE) : 72
10. Jim Courier (USA) : 58
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/roger...m?uNewsID=1021
oor vambu vetti nyaayam by roger and courier after tsonga match in AO 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytboXFBcvhQ
Regarding the calendar slam for Roger federer , he had his best chance in the year 2004. In that year he lost to gustavo kuerton in 3rd round of french open, I believe. As far as this year Federer will have chance to win french open if only nadal is not at his best. Maybe he has to face nadal in semis itself. Let us see what happens. And federer should have beaten nadal in the year 2006 french open final. He started very well by winning first set 6-1. In the second set he lost a game when he was leading 40-0 in his service game because of some controversial call. From then onwards he never played well.
COVER STORY
An impregnable fortress in the majors
The Calendar Grand Slam is the Holy Grail of tennis, an achievement to end all achievements, a possession to end all possessions. And however improbable its occurrence sounds in 2010, Roger Federer has been responsible for events unlikelier still — do ten consecutive major finals sound impossible enough; or how about 18 finals in the last 19 Grand Slams; or the 237 consecutive weeks spent as number one? By Kunal Diwan.
AP
Were one to access a window that led right into the cranial recesses of Roger Federer, what would one find? Advanced grey matter? Inspirational neuronal cross-chatter? Kryptonite?
No matter what is sighted and evaluated in his head, Federer now appears to have gone beyond the paltry parameters of hand-eye coordination, motivation, or even comparisons with a purported man of steel in red underwear. At exactly the same setting where he had broken down in 2009 — the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne — the Swiss lifted his 16th Grand Slam career title, beating Andy Murray, another pretender to the throne, and going further down a road most thought was humanly impossible to tread in the Open era.
How many would have thought that it will take less than a decade after his retirement for Pete Sampras’ career tally of 14 majors to be overhauled. Then again, how many would have suspected the causative player to be Federer, a 17-year-old hot-head who was bundled out in the first round on Grand Slam debut by Patrick Rafter at Roland Garros in 1999.
For that matter, who would have believed that the Swiss was capable of coming back to rule the majors after Rafael Nadal had publicly burned and brutalised his enigma for almost three years. Even more than this is about Federer returning to his prime perch — perhaps the prime-est perch ever in tennis — it is about what brought it on.
Three years into a relentless retrieve-and-slam routine, Nadal discovered the hard way that the human body wasn’t quite fabricated in a furnace, that tendons rupture, knees buckle and pain endures. The Majorcan found out that the only way to neutralise the phenomenon of Federer was to resort to an extremely physical game, run down impossible balls, and let his defined sinews take care of the subtleties in Federer’ top spin.
All this came to Nadal at the price of his fitness, an issue that Federer, despite his successful longevity, has rarely had a problem with since his game involves more fluid mechanics than earth moving. The 28-year-old Swiss has preserved himself well for the majors — tournaments that Sampras once said were “all that mattered”. Before Nadal came into the picture, Federer’s dominance over his contemporaries — Andy Roddick and Leyton Hewitt — had been emphatic. The two, supposedly the ‘most promising’ youngsters starting the decade, made the best of their chances after the departure of Sampras and Andre Agassi.
But Federer appeared soon enough and snatched the punch bowl before their party began. The American and the Australian won three majors between them, squatting on the number one ranking for a brief while, before Federer took over.
As of now, he leads Andy Roddick 19-2 (4-0 in major finals) and Leyton Hewitt 17-8. And although young turks such as Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic have recorded the occasional win over the Swiss master — Murray, in fact, leads their head-to-head 6-5 — Federer, aside from the Nadal experience (the Swiss trails 7-13 overall, 2-5 in major finals), has been an impregnable fortress when it has come to the majors.
Since his first win at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer has made 22 Grand Slam finals, winning 16. He has reached the semifinals or better in the last 23 majors, won at least two majors in a year on five separate occasions, and racked up a winning percentage in excess of 87 across the four most prestigious tournaments on Tour.
Statistics apart, it has helped that Federer’s game has been the tennis equivalent of a French surrealist filmmaker at work: shots appear out of nowhere and blend into each other like a grand mosaic of the divine answer. His personality and carriage too have been — for want of a better word — unique: Which champion will enter the arena in a spotless white blazer when it’s bad enough worrying oneself sick over the title defence, leave alone the matter of matching cufflinks? Who else but this doting father of twin girls would have had the audacity to come up with comments such as those he let slip before the 2010 final at Melbourne?
“It’s up to me who wins the match, especially against a player that’s not so aggressive,” Federer said, Muhammed Ali-style, to the Swiss press.
What, then, does Federer have to prove now, especially after a career-completing French Open in 2009 and the record-breaking 15th Slam at Wimbledon — his sixth All-England crown — the same year? Maybe, he is gunning for the biologically irrelevant statistic of becoming the first to win however many Grand Slams after fatherhood. Pete Sampras’ 286-week duration as the number one player also lies within an arm’s reach of Federer, who has already clocked 268 weeks on top.
Or just maybe, Federer is competing for the only record that tennis experts are wary to mention, lest the very act of speaking it aloud jeopardises, cosmically, the contestant’s already unlikely shot at attaining it.
Rod Laver did it when tennis still had a resemblance to the endearing, elitist pastime it was. Steffi Graf did it more recently, in 1988, when her only challenge came in the form of the aging pros, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and the ever-preening, sometimes-competitive Gabriela Sabatini.
The Calendar Grand Slam is the Holy Grail of tennis, an achievement to end all achievements, a possession to end all possessions. And however improbable its occurrence sounds in 2010, Roger Federer has been responsible for events unlikelier still — do ten consecutive major finals sound impossible enough; or how about 18 finals in the last 19 Grand Slams; or the 237 consecutive weeks spent as number one?
Having started the year with a fourth Australian Open title, Federer is sure to benefit from the absence of a fully-fit Nadal as also from the presence of a gang of talented youngsters whose best usually falls short of matching the Basle native at his most mediocre. His next target is a title-defence in Paris where, despite endless questions on his prowess on clay, he has reached the last four finals, winning for the first time in 2009. That French Open tally may well have been bigger were it not for the stupendous couple of years that Nadal spent serving as the great man’s Achilles heel.
Asked last year before Federer’s tearful ‘Oh God, this is killing me’ act on the Rod Laver Arena, the legendary Australian indicated that he still considered the Swiss to have the best shot at matching his 1969 feat.
“Roger’s certainly got to be odds-on to pull off all four if he clicks at the right time through the tournaments. It’s very possible for him, but he has to have the desire.”
Bring on the desire then. Buddhism and suffering can wait a year.
http://www.sportstaronnet.com/storie...1500600400.htm
According to book makers odds for federer winning calendar grandslam for 2010 is 10-1. Approximately 10% not very high.
Second Title - Sydney 2002
[html:3213e92a14]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_TXW9tFr0Qyo/S2...ney%202002.jpg[/html:3213e92a14]
07.01.2002 - 14.01.2002
ATP - ADIDAS INTERNATIONAL
Sydney, Australia | International Series | hard [o]
R32 Tommy Robredo ESP 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
R16 Xavier Malisse BEL 6-2 6-4
QF Marcelo Rios CHI 55 6-7(2) 7-6(4) 6-3
SF Andy Roddick USA 7-6(3) 6-4
W Juan Ignacio Chela ARG 36 6-3 6-3
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/roger...cfm?uYear=2002
OFF COURT - AN AUSTRIAN STAMP FOR ROGER
Austria's postal services issues a stamp honouring Roger as the world's best tennis player.
The 65-centime stamp shows Roger winning the French Open 2009 (the photo was taken by Paul Zimmer), accompanied by the text "Best Tennis Player of the World". It has been designed by renowned Austrian stamp artist Renate Gruber.
This limited edition of only 300,000 stamps will be available on February 8th, 2010. The timing could not have been better after Roger's triumph in Australia, winning his 16th Grand-Slam title.
Further honouring Roger, the Austrian Postal Service is launching a silver edition, too. The «Roger Federer-Numiphilum Collection» has a size of 20x26 mm and is 0.1 mm thick. This special edition costs 15.99 Euros, only 2,000 of the stamps are available at selected shops of the Austrian Postal Service.
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/roger...m?uNewsID=1022