It is official. Roger is now the world number one. He has taken the rankings back from Nadal after 46 weeks.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx
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It is official. Roger is now the world number one. He has taken the rankings back from Nadal after 46 weeks.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Wimbledon win returns Federer to No. 1
Last Updated: Monday, July 6, 2009 | 9:58 AM ET
CBC Sports
Roger Federer became the first man to win 15 Grand Slam titles with his Wimbledon victory on Sunday. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)Roger Federer regained his status as the men's No. 1 tennis player on the APT rankings on Monday.
Federer supplanted Rafael Nadal after defeating American Andy Roddick in an epic five-set match during the Wimbledon final Sunday.
The match included a 16-14 marathon fifth set — the longest in Grand Slam history.
The Swiss great became the only man to with 15 Grand Slam titles, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Pete Sampras.
"It's fantastic, because definitely, when you lose No. 1, you never know if you're ever going to return to it," Federer said Monday at the All England Club. "I always thought it was easier staying No. 1 than getting there."
Nadal, who falls to No. 2 in the rankings, defeated Federer in another Wimbledon classic last year, and officially overtook him as the No. 1 player in August 2008.
He also snapped Federer's record of 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1, a streak that began with a victory at the Australian Open in 2004.
"Once I was No. 1, everything just clicked, and everything was easy," Federer said. "I beat all the other Top 10 guys, I won every final I played, and so I hope that's going to return again, that I'm able also to dominate my fellow rivals again and go from there. I'm delighted, of course, I'm No. 1 again."
Nadal couldn't defend his Wimbledon crown, pulling out prior to the start of the tournament because of sore knees.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2009/...r-ranking.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...bledon-ratings
More than 11 million watch Roger Federer win Wimbledon final on BBCClimax of five-set epic is a draw for armchair tennis fans
Roger Federer: won the Wimbledon final after a four-hour marathon against Andy Roddick. Photograph: Hugo Philpott/EPA
Roger Federer's epic Wimbledon men's singles victory attracted a peak audience of just over 11 million viewers to BBC1 at about 6.30pm yesterday, Sunday 5 July.
BBC1's live coverage of Federer's five-set win over Andy Roddick, stretching over almost four and a half hours, attracted an average of 7.5 million viewers and a 50% share between 2pm and 6.30pm.
Viewing peaked in the quarter-hour from 6.15pm as Federer finally sealed victory, with 11.1 million viewers watching then.
The BBC1 Wimbledon audience grew steadily throughout the afternoon, starting at 4.3 million viewers at 2pm and averaging 10.6 million in the hour from 5.45pm for the climax of the match and the presentations that followed on Centre Court.
Overall, the coverage attracted 7.1 million viewers and a 49% share between 1.30pm and 7pm. This was BBC1's best share for a Wimbledon men's singles final since 2001.
BBC1's Wimbledon coverage was due to finish at 5.40pm yesterday and the channel switched its early evening news and Antiques Roadshow to BBC2 to stay with the men's final, in which Federer won his sixth Wimbledon singles title.
Normal programming resumed at 7pm, with Countryfile attracting 5.1 million viewers and a 26% share against ITV1's The Royal, which had 4.3 million and 22%.
BBC2's Top Gear again won the 8pm hour with 5.7 million viewers and a 25% share.
On BBC1, Alex Kingston drama Hope Springs was beaten into third place by ITV1's The Secret Caribbean with Trevor McDonald, which attracted 3.8 million viewers and a 17% share. Hope Springs was left trailing with 3.4 million viewers and a 15% share.
ITV1 also prevailed in the 9pm hour, with Stephen Fry drama Kingdom picking up 4.6 million viewers and a 20% share.
Casualty 1909 on BBC1 had 3.3 million viewers, a 14% share; while the second episode of BBC2's Ben Fogle South Pole expedition series On Thin Ice drew 2.8 million and 12%.
Channel 4's Big Brother was watched by 1.9 million viewers and attracted an 8% share. A further 200,000 watched an hour later on Channel 4 +1.
Alan Carr: Chatty Man had 1.5 million viewers over 50 minutes from 10pm, also an 8% share. Carr's chatshow drew another 100,000 viewers on Channel 4 +1.
Channel Five's movie repeat The Long Kiss Goodnight attracted 1.6 million viewers and a 9% share between 9pm and 11.20pm.
Federer makes history after winning thriller
July 6, 2009 - 5:48AM
Roger Federer wins the longest final set in Wimbledon history, and a record 15th grand slam title.
In one of the most gripping matches of his storied career, Roger Federer finally created history by surviving the longest fifth set in a Wimbledon final, and an astonishing serving performance by American Andy Roddick, to win a record 15th grand slam title.
Federer's 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 victory in four hours and 18 minutes came 12 months after he had suffered a heartbreaking defeat here in another epic five-set battle with Rafael Nadal.
This time, however, with a collection of the game's all-time greats looking over his shoulder from the royal box anticipating the Swiss would win the unprecedented 15th major title, Federer finally endured, breaking Roddick's serve for the only time in the match on the American's 38th service game to seize victory.
Clearly exhausted by his toil, and perhaps stunned by the opposition he had been forced to endure from an opponent over whom he had held a 18-2 career record, the often emotional Federer was more relieved than elated as he received the Wimbledon trophy for the sixth time.
"It's a crazy match, my head is still spinning," Federer told the crowd.
Pete Sampras, who had flown in for the match at the last minute to see Federer move ahead of him on the all-time grand slam winners list, paid the Swiss the ultimate accolade saying he considered him the greatest player of all time.
"I have to give it to him," said Sampras. "The critics say Laver, and Nadal's beaten him a few times ... in my book he is."
If Federer's victory was not as comprehensive as most had expected, the nature of the struggle made his 15th title one of the most satisfying.
A sixth Wimbledon crown puts Federer behind only Sampras and William Renshaw, who have both won seven, on the All-England Club honours roll. Federer also regained the world No.1 ranking that he had lost to his recent nemesis Rafael Nadal in August last year after 237 consecutive weeks at the top.
"It's staggering that I've been able to play so well for so many years now and stay injury free," said Federer of the 15th title.
"Of course there is a certain routine that's started to happen the last few years since I sort of became No. 1 in the world. I knew what it took to win the big ones. Obviously a lot of experience that comes with it, being there and giving myself chances.
"But, you know, it's crazy that I've been able to win so many in such a short period of time, I think."
While the final was a on a knife-edge throughout, the one hour and 35 minute fifth set was a minor epic in itself with both Federer and Roddick serving relentlessly.
Roddick had a chance to seize the initiative when he held two break points at 8-8, but the Swiss snuffed those out with big serves. It was not until the American served at 14-15 that the breakthrough came, Roddick framing a forehand well over the baseline to give up his serve and the title.
It was a shattering defeat for Roddick who slumped into his chair, head bowed, after the match.
Almost as much as Roddick will regret losing the final game, he will rue missing a golden chance to go up two sets to love when he had four set points at 6-2 in the second set tie-break. After Federer saved the first two with big serves, Roddick had a straightforward backhand volley which he struck well wide.
But, if it seemed likely Roddick would buckle after that disappointintment, his serve remained unrelenting.
"At that point, there are two options," said Roddick. "You lay down or you keep going. The second option seemed better to me."
While a couple of sloppy shots in the third set tie-break proved costly for Roddick, he broke Federer at 1-2 in the fourth set and forced the match into what proved to be a nail-biting conclusion.
Roddick's vast contribution to a gripping match was acknowledged by the crowd who chanted his name as he sat disconsolate in his chair and cheered him even more loudly than the winner at the presentation.
"It showed that they appreciated what we did out there today," said Roddick who said defeat had felt worse than his back-to-back finals losses to Federer in 2004-05. "It was definitely a nice and appreciated gesture by them."
If Federer's sheer brilliance has long been appreciated, as he has faced greater challenges in recent times his durability and ability to dig deep is also being revealed.
Roddick said Federer had, for the first time, been unable to read his serve.
"But you didn't even get a sense that he was even really frustrated by it," said Roddick.
"He kind of stayed the course and just toughed it out. He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out. He doesn't get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the times. But he definitely stuck in there today."
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...05.html?page=2
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/ten...avi&id=4307178
Originally Published: July 5, 2009
Federer-Roddick another instant classic
By Ravi Ubha
Special to ESPN.com
WIMBLEDON, England -- Start buying your tickets for next year's Wimbledon final.
For two years in a row, tennis's most famous tournament produced a final for the ages. Though Roger Federer's win over Andy Roddick on Sunday perhaps fell short of last year's epic between Federer and Rafael Nadal, it was pretty darn close.
Nadal and Federer battled for nearly five hours, braving the conditions and each other, before the Spaniard finally ended the Swiss' reign at the All England Club. John McEnroe, a three-time Wimbledon champ, proclaimed it the best tennis tussle he had ever seen.
Here are the six most memorable Wimbledon finals in the Open era:
1. Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer, 2008. Nadal wins 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7.
Before we talk about the actual tennis, let's throw some intangibles in there. The match began 20 minutes late because of rain, and two more interruptions ensued -- one arguably helping Federer and the other favoring Nadal. Had they been on court much longer, surely bad light would have sent a third interruption to Monday.
In any case, at four hours, 48 minutes, it turned out to be the longest men's singles final in Wimbledon history.
The two gladiators delivered a combined 149 winners, almost double the unforced error tally, and Federer served huge when he needed to, especially in the third and fourth sets, and early in the fifth.
Nadal, though, proved how tough he is mentally. Blowing two match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker surely would have sent others downhill, but the Spaniard persevered and was impregnable on his own serve in the fifth, facing just one break point.
He held serve from early in the second set onward.
Nadal ended Federer's five-year hold on the trophy and his 65-match winning streak on grass. He probably silenced detractors, too, finally claiming a major on a surface other than clay.
"Probably later on in life, I'll go, 'That was a great match,'" Federer said.
And he would be right.
2. Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe, 1980. Borg wins 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16), 8-6.
Getting over two match points is one thing, but recovering to win after squandering five in a tiebreaker -- perhaps the greatest in Wimbledon history -- is quite another.
Bjorn Borg, the stoic and super-fit Swede, achieved the feat in 1980, downing brash upstart John McEnroe. Chasing a fifth consecutive Wimbledon crown, Borg held set points on five separate occasions in the fourth-set breaker before McEnroe converted on his eighth set point to make it 18-16 and send the tussle to a fifth. To make matters worse, Borg had held two match points earlier in the fourth.
The tiebreaker lasted 22 minutes, and Borg would later admit that he thought he had no chance of taking the fifth set.
"I have never been so disappointed on a tennis court as when I lost that fourth set," Borg said afterward. "Seven match points, and I failed to do it. Every time I had another match point, John came up with a great shot."
Borg kept it together in the fifth, dropping only one point in his final six service games. McEnroe gained his revenge by beating Borg in 1981, ending his reign at the All England Club.
3. Roger Federer versus Andy Roddick, 2009. Federer wins 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14.
Roger Federer and Andy Roddick played the longest-ever fifth set in a Grand Slam final.
No one expected this to be tight. Well, at least not the British bookies.
Roddick was a 9-1 underdog in some quarters, a reflection of his 2-18 record, and 0-6 in Grand Slams, against Federer.
But with a refined game thanks to coach Larry Stefanki, Roddick made Federer work hard for his record 15th major. The quick-witted Texan will have nightmares about the second-set tiebreaker. Up 6-2, then 6-5, Roddick fluffed a tough, though makeable, high backhand volley. Had he won the second set, he probably would have won a first Wimbledon title.
Most probably thought the next two sets would go by in a flash. Nope.
Roddick fought back gamely, ripping the backhand like he's never done before and forced the fifth.
Too bad fitness settled matters. Roddick shed 15 pounds in the offseason, though it wasn't enough. He visibly wilted in front of an enthralled Centre Court crowd. When Roddick mishit a forehand on match point, it capped the longest fifth set, in games, in Grand Slam singles final history. Roddick was broken for the only time.
Federer produced an astounding 107 winners in total, coupled with a career-high 50 aces. Roddick wasn't too shabby, either, contributing 74 winners.
Here's what it meant: Federer reclaimed the Wimbledon trophy; got to celebrate in front of Pete Sampras, whose Grand Slam record he surpassed; made it six titles at the All England Club; and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking.
4. Goran Ivanisevic versus Patrick Rafter, 2001. Ivanisevic wins 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7.
Rain wreaked havoc with Wimbledon seven years ago -- should we say, more so than usual? -- and it ultimately led to one of the most memorable occasions in Grand Slam history. The men's final began on a Monday because of the precipitation, the first time that happened at Wimbledon since 1922. As a result, 10,000 tickets went on sale 2 1/2 hours before the match, meaning a younger, more boisterous crowd was in attendance. And who to root for, the popular Ivanisevic, or, uh, the popular Rafter?
Ivanisevic prevailed in what was the longest fifth set of a men's singles final at Wimbledon, in terms of games, at the time. In the process, he became the first men's wild card to capture a major.
Getting there was the fun part.
Ivanisevic, ranked outside the top 100 and a loser in three previous Wimbledon finals, cried, kissed the ball and jolted his left -- and serving -- arm as he tried to serve out the encounter. A service winner finally did the trick, and Ivanisevic could hardly believe his Wimbledon misery was over.
"I think I'm dreaming," Ivanisevic said at the time. "Somebody is going to wake me up and tell me, 'Man, you didn't win.'"
5. Venus Williams versus Lindsay Davenport, 2005. Williams wins 4-6, 7-6 (4), 9-7.
Venus Williams has five Wimbledon trophies, but her marathon final versus Lindsay Davenport will go down as the most memorable.
The elder of the tennis-playing sisters became the first female finalist at Wimbledon to save a match point, then go on to win, since Helen Wills Moody in 1935. Staring at defeat at 4-5, 30-40 in the third set, Venus Williams crunched a backhand that left Lindsay Davenport, who hasn't claimed a major since 2000, with no answer.
Williams had to rally once more in the third, trailing 2-4, and the two-hour, 45-minute thriller was the longest Wimbledon women's final in history.
Adding to the drama, Davenport carried on despite struggling with a back injury that surfaced in the deciding set.
"Every time the chips were down for Venus, she played unbelievably," Davenport said.
6. Steffi Graf versus Gabriela Sabatini, 1991. Graf wins 6-4, 3-6, 8-6.
Graf had something to prove, coming off a humiliating 6-0, 6-2 loss to Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the semifinal of the French Open weeks earlier and not having won a Grand Slam since the 1990 Australian Open, an age for her.
The final wasn't pretty -- Graf and fan favorite Sabatini were broken a combined 12 times in the second and third sets. However, there was plenty of drama.
Sabatini, who had claimed her lone Grand Slam title by downing Graf at the U.S. Open 10 months earlier, turned things around by moving forward.
Twice she failed to serve out the encounter deep in the third set: At 6-5, 30-all, Sabatini hit a backhand volley that looked like a winner, but Graf chased it down and sent a winning reply, then broke and didn't lose another game.
It was the third of Graf's seven Wimbledon titles.
Ravi Ubha is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com.
Federer: In a league of his ownJuly 6, 2009 - 4:47PM
Record battle... Andy Roddick and Roger Federer after their epic battle.
.From his front row seat in the Royal Box, Pete Sampras watched as Roger Federer broke his record for most Grand Slam singles titles in men's tennis history.
After Federer overcame Andy Roddick in a marathon, five-set serving duel Sunday for his sixth Wimbledon title and 15th Grand Slam championship, Sampras was left with no doubt about who is the greatest male player of all time.
"I have to give it to him," said Sampras, a seven-time Wimbledon champion who never thought his record of 14 major titles would be surpassed so soon.
"He's won all the majors. He's won 15 now. He's going to win a few more here. So in my book he is (the greatest)."
The issue will always generate debate and argument, especially in trying to compare players of different generations, such as Rod Laver and Bill Tilden.
But there is no denying that Federer has firmly cemented himself as the finest player of the generation and, at age 27, the favorite for other major titles to come.
"It's not really one of those goals you set as a little boy, but, man, it's been quite a career and quite a month," said Federer, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open a month ago. "It feels amazing, but this is not why I'm playing tennis to break all sort of different records. But it's definitely one of the greatest ones to have."
It took 4 hour, 16 minutes, five sets and 77 games for Federer to secure the record Sunday in another epic Wimbledon final. Federer served a career-high 50 aces and overcame the resilient Roddick 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 16-14 - the longest match and longest fifth set in Grand Slam final history in terms of games.
And all after he saved four set points in the second set tiebreaker, when he was so close to falling two sets behind.
After going 0-6 on break points, Federer finally broke the American in the 30th game of the fifth set - with Roddick shanking a forehand on the first match point.
"It's staggering that I've been able to play so well for so many years now and stay injury-free," said Federer, who won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003.
"I'm happy I broke the record here because this is always the tournament that meant the most to me. It definitely feels like coming full circle, starting it here and ending it here."
Sampras flew in from California on Sunday, making his first appearance at the All England Club since playing this tournament for the last time in 2002.
He arrived in the Royal Box after the third game of the match. Accompanied by his wife, Bridgette Wilson, he sat next to Spanish great Manolo Santana and a few seats from Laver and Bjorn Borg.
When Federer walked from his changeover chair to the service line, he gestured to Sampras in greeting.
"In a way, I still feel like we share (the record) because he was such a wonderful champion," Federer said. "He still has one up against me here at Wimbledon. It's nice that he shows appreciation for what I'm doing."
Federer is the third player to win six Wimbledon championships - Sampras and William Renshaw each won seven.
"He's a stud," Sampras said. "He's only 27. He'll contend here for many years, and the U.S. Open, and all the majors. If he just keeps it going and stays healthy, he could go to 18, 19, potentially. The guy, he's a legend. Now he's an icon."
It's been quite a turnaround for Federer from a year ago, when his run of five consecutive Wimbledon titles was snapped - along with his aura of invincibility - by Spaniard Rafael Nadal in a classic final that ended in near darkness at 9-7 in the fifth set.
With Sunday's triumph, Federer reclaimed the No. 1 ranking he surrendered last August to Nadal, who missed this year's tournament because of knee problems.
"Of course, I would have loved to play him again," Federer said. "You never know how he would have played. He had the injury. I'm happy at least I became No. 1 in the world by winning the tournament, not just by him not playing at all. It's supposed to be that you win big matches, big tournaments. That's how you get back to (No. 1)."
Some people were writing off Federer after he lost to Nadal in the Australian Open final in January and broke down in tears. Federer continued to struggle early in the season before winning the French Open. Now he's the third man in 40 years to win the French and Wimbledon in the same year, joining Borg and Nadal.
"This year is crazy," Federer said. "Things didn't look so good when I lost in the final of the Australian Open, which was still just an unbelievable result. But to come through and battle back and win Paris and now Wimbledon back-to-back, something Bjorn did a couple of times, it's amazing."
Playing in his record 20th Grand Slam final and sixth in a row, Federer beat Roddick for the third time in the Wimbledon championship match, adding to his victories in 2004 and '05. He extended his overall mastery over the American to 19-2, including 8-0 at Grand Slams.
"He's a true champion," said Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open winner. "He deserves everything he gets."
Turning to Sampras, he said, "Sorry, Pete. I tried to hold him off."
The statistics were astounding: Federer's 50 aces were one short of the Wimbledon match record held by Ivo Karlovic. Federer had a total of 107 winners, compared with 38 unforced errors. Roddick had 27 aces, 74 winners and 33 unforced mistakes.
The match started to turn Federer's way when he saved four break points in the second-set tiebreaker. Down 2-6, he ran off six straight points to level the match. Roddick missed a relatively easy high backhand volley on the fourth break point. But even after dropping the third set, Roddick didn't let up. He broke once in the fourth set to even the match.
The fifth set went back-and-forth with the players slugging huge serves at each other, offering few chances to break. Finally, serving in the 30th game with Federer ahead 15-14, Roddick blinked. He misplayed a forehand to set up match point. After a contest featuring so many brilliant shots, Roddick missed badly on another forehand to end it.
"This match was different from last year's final with Nadal," Federer said. "I just said to myself, 'I'm exactly where I want to be at 13-13 in the fifth set. You're a few minutes from winning.' I saw it in a positive way. I believed right to the end."
AP
http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/fede...9.html?page=-1
Left this post alone a couple of weeks only to answer it now.
With Federer claiming the World number one title back he has still another uphill task of beating Sampras record of 286 weeks as number one of which Federer is short by 50 weeks, i.e ALMOST a year.
Roger is scheduled to play atleast 4 Master's 1000 and 2 Master's 500 and WTF at London this year. Thanks to his poor form in these events last year Federer has only very less points to defend and more to amass this year, Federer can gain as many as he can before this year ends. For starters refer this link here for the amount of points to be defended. It is only as less as 410 to be defended against 3000 to be amassed. Mind you Shangai is a new master's 1000 event and it is only gain for Roger, or for that matter to any player.
Go roger :smokesmirk:
Quote:
Originally Posted by m_23_bayarea
And yes i left out US Open because no matter what he has to win it again to have a solid grip in his ranking.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_X3Fcs2gAaUY/Sl...c_b_martin.jpg
PR, can you post this image here, yes right in this page and post here.
Disagree with the argument on Nadal.
Fed-nadal rivalry was 8-6 in favor of Nadal before 2008. For all his tennis brilliance Roger has/had a certain weakness(Don't know what it is or how to say it may be a mental weakness). The fact that Nadal was able to stop Federer for 4 consecutive FO Finals is itself a testimony to Nadal's never say die attitude of winning matches. Nadal won 4 matches in 2008 and one in 2009(AO final) which again was sheer brilliance from Nadal. So that makes the rivalry to 13-7 in favor of Nadal again.
And vastly Roger was never been a big server before again I am disagreeing with you that he bought that facet of his play only when needed which is again not true because he was never able to do that in the past and he has developed that only in the present just before the clay court season start this year as far as my diagnosis of his play is right. He can use this segment of play against Nadal in big matches from now on.
Saying all that rivalry will be kickstarted again with a pressure free Federer taking on a wounded spain singam from this Fall. He has won botH FO and broke sampras record so he has nothing more to prove from now on. I wish that there are more Nadal-Fed matches from now on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Plum