Andy Murray has bought a home that was listed at £5.45 million.  The tennis star will share his new abode with his girlfriend, Kim Sears.  With Murray’s recent success, I’m not surprised at all to learn that he’s ditched his apartment in favor for this estate.  Who wouldn’t?

According to the Telegraph, the massive home features “a large rear lawn with summerhouse, an indoor swimming pool with sauna and jacuzzi, a library and games room.”  Surprisingly, the property does not include a tennis court.  That surprised me since I can’t imagine playing a sport professionally and not having an area to practice in my (several) million dollar home.  He will, however, be installing PlayStation consoles throughout the house…

A lot of people are wondering about the timing of this move since he really should be focusing on competing at Wimbledon next week.  If you’ve ever moved, you will know that it can be very difficult and a move of this magnitude has got to be at least a little distracting.  Who knows, though.  Everyone is different and maybe the transition will have a relaxing effect on him.  Maybe his old neighbors were loud and now he’ll be able to get some sleep.  Whatever the case, I wish him the best!

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After a straight-set victory over America’s James Blake, Scottish tennis player, Andy Murray, took the 2009 Queen’s Club title as well at the $118,000 first prize.  The 7-5, 6-4 victory was Murray’s fourth this year (12th overall) and could be a great boost to his confidence before Wimbledon, although he’s made it clear that he isn’t worrying about the upcoming tournament.

“I’m not planning on getting caught up in the whole hype and the pressure, because I don’t think that that helps if you do” Murray said. “I’m going to try and just concentrate on playing and winning matches. You can let the pressure affect you if you want to. You can let the expectation get to you if you really want to, but I’m just going to play tennis and not worry about the rest of the stuff.”

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The win was also history-making since the last Brit to take the title at the event was Bunny Austin in 1938.  “It’s pretty special,” said Murray. “There have been some great grass-court players from Britain the last 70-odd years. Tim [Henman] and Greg [Rusedski] were both very good grass-court players. The names that are on the trophy, there’s a lot of great, great players. So to be on that trophy is great. Obviously, because it’s not happened that a British player has won for so long, that makes it nicer.”

With 2009 off to such a good start I am really interested in seeing what the rest of the year has in store for Murray.  Before Wimbledon, he will try his look on the grass courts of the All England Club.

German tennis player, Tommy Haas, took home $160,000 today after capturing his twelfth career title at the Gerry Weber Open.  Haas beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the event’s thrilling finale.  It was an amazing 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 upset for Haas, who hasn’t won a title since taking the crown at Memphis in 2007.  After winning on the grass court, he has now won a title on all surfaces (hardcourt, clay and grass).

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“It’s such an incredibly nice feeling to hold up the trophy again and to be in Germany as well, in front of German fans is even more special,” said Haas. “I’ve won on every surface at least once, which is a great accomplishment for myself. It’s a great day.  It was all about just focusing on the match and trying to beat a terrific player, to beat Novak which never happened before for me.  I respect his game a lot and I respect him as a person. So to beat him in the final is even more special, especially with what he’s accomplished in such young years it’s great. So, it’s perfect.”

Hopefully, Hass can carry on this momentum to Wimbledon.  He doesn’t have the greatest record at the London event, having lost to Andy Murray last year and dropping out against Roger Federer the year before (due to an injury).

The 2009 Queen’s Club final matchup is set with top-seeded Andy Murray squaring off against sixth-seeded James Blake. The pairing came after Murray won 6-2, 6-4 over unseeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in 1 hour and 11 minutes.

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Blake’s semifinal match came to an abrupt end when, with the score tied at 4-4, four-time Queen’s Club champion Andy Roddick withdrew from the match after suffering an ankle injury.

Murray is ranked third in the world with just Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ahead of him.  I’m sure he would love to win the event since, after advances to the finals, he will be playing his first title match in his native Great Britain and could become the first Brit to take the title in 71 years (the last local to win was Bunny Austin way back in 1938).

Blake, on the other hand, has never won a title on a non-hard court but, if history is any indicator, he could upset the higher seeded, Murray – they’ve battled just once before and Blake emerged victorious at the 2006 ATP Masters Series.

This year’s 2009 Aegon champion will take home $117,000.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic eliminated Belgian, Olivier Rochus, at the $1 million Gerry Weber Open today with a straight set victory. The second-seeded star won the match 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in 1 hour, 54 minutes.

Djokovic moves on to the event’s finals where he will attempt to secure his third title of 2009 with a win over German wildcard, Tommy Haas, who was the No. 2 player back in 2002 but has failed to win a tournament since 2007 in Memphis.  The pair have battled twice before with Djokovic winning both times. 

The winner of Sunday’s match will collect $160,000.  If Djokovic wins, this will be his first grass-court victory this year.

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Maria Sharapova’s match was delayed earlier this week due to rain (she ended up beating Alexa Glatch when they resumed play yesterday) but that seems far less dramatic than the reason for the disruption to Andy Roddick’s third-round showdown with Lleyton Hewitt.

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The match was halted when a spectator discovered a bomb threat message pinned to a wall.  Instead of panicking, Roddick and Hewitt actually stood at the net and talked during the 20-minute delay while the security officials investigated the situation.  What do you even talk about (with your opponent) as you wait to find out if someone has planted an explosive device in your vicinity?  It just shows how cool and composed these professional athletes are!

When they were given the all clear, play resumed and Roddick emerged the victor, beating Hewitt, a four-time Queen’s Club champion, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4).

Friday’s quarterfinals will feature matches between sixth-seeded James Blake vs 14th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny and Steve Darcis vs former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Roger Federer has completed a career Grand Slam (and his 14th major title) after beating Robin Soderling at the 2009 French Open 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 today.  Federer is now tied with Pete Sampras’ impressive record and is the sixth man to ever win all four Grand Slam championships.

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Getting a French Open title was not an easy task for Federer who has been the runner-up three times before.  The Swiss tennis star seemed to take his victory in stride (even though he clearly feels he deserves some bragging rights).  After the win, Federer said “now the question is: Am I the greatest of all time?  We don’t know, but I definitely have many things going for me because I’ve finally won all four Grand Slams, and I’m particularly happy reaching Pete’s 14.”

He went on to say: “It’s maybe my greatest victory, or certainly the one that removes the most pressure off my shoulders. I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace and no longer hear that I’ve never won Roland Garros.”

The winning moment was awesome (unless, of course, you’re Robin Soderling) as Federer fell to the clay and screamed before burying his hands in his face as the people in the crowd rose to their feet.  He let the tears run free as he stood there listening to the Swiss national anthem.  Tennis great, Andre Agassi, presented him with the trophy!!!  It must have been an incredible feeling.

To Soderling’s credit, he was a true gentleman and a class act.  After being defeated he said: “Roger, really, congrats to you.  You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis today. And to me you’re the greatest player in history. So you really deserved to win this title.”

Sampras, himself, had to weigh in on the victory.  In a telephone interview he said: “I’m obviously happy for Roger.  Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion.”

I think I’m going to have to agree.  Federer is carving a name for himself and has definitely solidified his position among the game’s best – if not THE best.

****UPDATE****

There was a scary moment, however, that slightly marred the big day.  Federer was attacked by a weird fan who managed to get onto the court in an attempt to put a red hat on the tennis star’s head.  After Federer pushed the man away from him, the guy danced in front of him waving a Barcelona soccer team flag.  How crazy!  Watch the video:

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of a pre-Wimbledon event citing a knee injury.  His doctors have advised him to rest and I’m guessing he’s taking it seriously after a shocking exit from the 2009 French Open last weekend.

Nadal will miss the tune-up at the Queen’s Club, which he won last year (followed by his first Wimbledon win).  He had the following to say about this turn of events:  "I am very disappointed to not be able to come this year to Queen’s [and] defend the title I won last year. To play in London has always been special for me, to play at the Queen’s Club is an honor and the fans in the UK are among the best I have ever seen, always supporting me since the first time I played there. 

I have been having some problems in the past months with my knees, that’s no secret, that did not allow me to compete always at 100 percent. I need to work with my team to recover well, work on my physical condition to be at my top form and get ready for the grass to play at Wimbledon. I hope I can be ready to compete by then. I am really sorry and I hope that the people at the tournament will still want me to come next year."

I’m sure he won’t lose his invitation to next year’s even due to his withdrawal – he’s one of the hottest names out on the court right now.  The highly regarded tennis player has won five titles this year and I’m sure after a brief rest, he will be back to his normal self.

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It was a big day for male tennis players today as sixth-seeded Andy Roddick made an early exit from the tournament as Roger Federer rallied from a two set deficit to win his fourth-round match.

Roddick lost his match 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Lenglen to the local favorite, Gael Monfils (11th-seeded).  Meanwhile, Federer dropped those first two sets to Tommy Haas but then fought hard to win 6-7 (4-7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in three hours and seven minutes.

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When asked about the early elimination of Raphael Nadal, Federer didn’t even try to hide his feelings: “It caused a bit of a shock in the locker room.  All the players are a bit relieved. Everybody suddenly sees that things are much more open.”

At 27 years old, Federer needs just one more Grand Slam title to match the record set by Pete Sampras and I’m feeling confident that he can do it.

I have to say that I find it pretty cool that this year’s men’s French Open champion will be a first time winner.  That always makes it a little more exciting!

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are facing each other today (May 2) at the Rome Masters and their match has been halted due to a rain delay. Swiss second seed Federer was leading 6-4 2-1 when the match had to be stopped.

Djokovic’s focus was interrupted when someone in the stands whistled just as he was about to serve a crucial point. I hope they found out who it was and booted that jerk out of there!!

Rafael Nadal will play against Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez later today. If Nadal defeats him, the winner of the Federer/Djokovic match will play Nadal on Sunday in the Rome Masters finals. I am predicting that Federer wins, goes on to play Nadal and Nadal takes yet another title for the year. What are your thoughts?

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