image: Zuma Press

Although, it was later revealed that Roddick had suffered an injury during the match, it was clearly a historic day for tennis since Federer became the great men’s champion ever by capturing his 15th Grand Slam title (edging out Pete Sampras who sat in the stands cheering him on).

If you missed it, or you just want to watch it over and over again, you can pick up the Wimbledon 2009 Mens Final – Federer vs Roddick DVD of the full match which includes BBC TV commentary.  It’s a great purchase for tennis lovers, as well as fans of Federer and Roddick!

Post from: EveryJoe

Wimbledon 2009 Mens Final on DVD

image: Zuma Press

He hasn’t mentioned whether he will compete in the Swiss Indoors in his hometown (Basel) on November 2, 2009 but his website still has it listed so, for now, I guess we can assume he’s planning to be back on the court by then.

Honestly, I think it’s great that he’s taking some time off.  He is the top-ranked player right now.  He beat Pete Sampras’ record by capturing his 15th career Grand Slam title.  Of course, he also became a first-time father after his wife, Mirka, gave birth to twin girls this past July.

Rest up, Roger!  You deserve to take a break and enjoy some family time!

Post from: EveryJoe

Federer Pulls Out of Tokyo and Shanghai

image: Zuma Press

Federer doesn’t normally play in the event whereas Nadal prefers to represent his country when he can.  Spain won the title last year and beat Israel 4-1 last weekend during the semifinals but they did it without their star player who is currently battling an abdominal injury.

Meanwhile, the United States will face Serbia which means that a match-up between Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick is very possible.

“It’s certainly a huge match, and certainly Djokovic playing in his home country will be tough,” United States Tennis Association coach and former Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson said. “But Roddick actually had some very good success against him this year and hopefully that’ll continue into the first round of Davis Cup next year.”

Here are the other first-round pairings:

• Belgium vs. Czech Republic
• Germany vs. France
• Argentina vs. Sweden
• Russia vs. India
• Ecuador vs. Croatia
• Chile vs Israel

The United States will have to travel to Serbia to compete and, while it’s true that it’s less fun to play away from home, the Americans have won a record 32 Davis Cup titless.

The Americans have used Roddick and 24th-ranked James Blake as their two singles players for several years, but 25th-ranked Sam Querrey is now another option for captain Patrick McEnroe.

“He’s a rising young American star and he would certainly be competing for the No. 2 spot,” Gullikson said. “Blake didn’t have the best year this year, up to his standards, but I think we’ll still be a very formidable team.”

I’m really looking forward to the Davis Cup.  Even though Federer often opts out of the event, I think it’s possible that he will want to compete if it means going head-to-head with Nadal.

Post from: EveryJoe

Spain vs. Switzerland at 2010 Davis Cup

image: TSN

The young Argentine stunned the Swiss star in five sets in his first-ever Grand Slam final with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.  Del Potro took home some amazing prizes – $1.6 million for winning, $250,000 for finishing third in the U.S. Open Series and a Lexus IS convertible.   Federer took home $800,000 but I’m sure he’ll still be able to survive off of the zillions of dollars he makes in endorsements and from his other wins.

Del Potro is the first Argentine to win the U.S. Open since Guillermo Vilas’ victory back in 1977.  “It’s amazing for South America and especially for me,” said del Potro. “I think this has been in my mind, forever in my life. I don’t have words to explain it.  I had two dreams with this U.S. Open. This is one of them.  The other one is to play like Roger. One is done, but I need to improve a lot.” How flattering!

Of the loss, Federer said: “Of course I would have loved to win, but I had an unbelievable run here.  I would have never thought, five or six years ago I would have won 40 matches in a row here. It’s been an amazing run for me.”

Congratulations to del Potro!  This must be an incredible moment for him!

Post from: EveryJoe

Del Potro, Not Federer, Wins U.S. Open

image: TSN

Federer made the first two sets look easy but then Soderling came roaring back and challenged the Swiss tennis star in the following four sets.  Federer ended up walking away with a 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6) victory and now boasts a U.S. Open winning streak of 39 straight matches.  Unbelievable.

“It feels great. It was so close towards the end,” said Federer. “It’s a great relief to come through because Robin played better and better as the match went on.  The beginning was a bit too easy. Then all of a sudden he found his way into the match. He showed what a great player he really is.”

As was the case in 2007 and 2008, Federer will face Novak Djok ovic in the semis.

Post from: EveryJoe

Federer in U.S. Open Semifinals

image: Zuma Press

While Isner celebrated upsetting Roddick, his ride came to an end when he was beaten by Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.  This is big news because this is the first time in U.S. Open history that an American man failed to make the quarterfinals. Verdasco will next battle against Novak Djokovic.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal continued to make progress after celebrating a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Nicolas Almagro.  The match took two hours and 39 minutes to be decided and even Nadal had to concede that it wasn’t his easiest win.  “I didn’t serve very well,” Nadal said. “So he had more chances to attack me on the return. But, anyway, he was playing very hard, very aggressive. [It] was difficult for me to have the control of the point.”  Nadal’s next opponent will be Gael Monfils.

Andy Murray also advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and a half.  “He doesn’t miss. He really doesn’t miss,” Dent said of Murray. “I don’t think that I served, you know, great tonight, but I don’t think I served poorly either. I think I served, you know, probably below average for me, but he made it look and feel like I served…underhanded out there at times.”

Murray played against Federer in the U.S. Open final last year but ultimately lost to the Swedish five-time tournament champion.

Post from: EveryJoe

Federer, Nadal Advance at U.S. Open

Federer, who has won this event five years in a row, needed just 88 minutes to cruise past Devin Britton with a final score of 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.  Britton made the victory pretty easy since he committed 40 unforced errors.  This was Federer’s 35th straight win at the U.S. Open.

The Swiss star was a gentleman about the win saying: “He did play I think really well. He had some very good spells, and I had to make sure from my side that I stayed with him and came back, because I was down a break in the second and in the third. So it was good to still get through in three sets.”

Federer will face Germany’s Simon Gruel in the second round.

In other men’s results, American Andy Roddick easily eliminated Germany’s Bjorn Phau, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.  The match ended at 12:25am but that didn’t seem to faze Roddick who said: “The later the better.  These are hard core fans.”

American James Blake defeated Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 and the following seeded players advanced to the next round: Nikolay Davydenko, Robin Soderling, Tommy Robredo, Radek Stepanek, Tommy Haas, James Blake, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Lleyton Hewitt.

Meanwhile, on the women’s court, Serena Williams scored an easy 6-4, 6-1 win over fellow American Alexa Glatch.  I know she was nervous after playing so inconsistently recently but she shook off the nerves and played quite well.  “Ten years ago I definitely wasn’t a favorite,” said Serena. “I felt like I had nothing to lose, and that’s kind of how I like that attitude. When you play with that attitude, then you can go a really far way. That’s kind of how I would like to even approach it this year.”

Other seeded winners included Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams, Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka, Flavia Pennetta, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and Amelie Mauresmo.

Venus had a tough time pulling out a win against Vera Dushevina but she managed to win and stay in the competition.  “She was playing very well,” said Venus. “She put everything in the court, tried to move the ball around, she was serving well. I had a challenge on my hands today. But I wanted to win. And, each good shot and each not so good shot I put behind me and looked forward to the next one. Most of all, I just enjoyed the moment.”

The first round concludes on Tuesday.

images: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

Federer, Williams Win First US Open Matches

In the men’s tournament, I don’t see anyone but Roger Federer taking this title.  He’s currently enjoying a hot streak and he is the only man to ever win the U.S. Open five times in a row (Jimmy Connors and Pete  Sampras also won the event five times but it wasn’t in succession like Federer).  It would definitely secure his place as the dominator of the event if he could win it for a record six years in a row but how hard he has to fight for it will depend on who he faces and what shape they are in.

I am concerned for Rafael Nadal.  He has been trying to come back from a knee injury but something tells me he’s not quite ready yet.  I know he needs to be playing to build back up to top form but I don’t think he’s in good enough condition to win this event.  I could be wrong, of course.

I’d like to see Andy Roddick face Federer again.  Roddick turned 27 yesterday and what better way to celebrate than to take home a U.S. Open title as a belated birthday gift?

Serena Williams will be working hard to keep her title and after her disappointing play recently, I’m sure  she feels like she’s got something to prove and you know how Serena gets when she’s determined!  Serena has three U.S. Open titles (1999, 2002, 2008) and was the runner-up to her sister, Venus, in 2001.

I don’t see Dinara Safina advancing to the final despite ranking No. 1 but I do think that Elena Dementieva could be a possible opponent for Williams.  Dementieva won the U.S. Open in 2004 and beat Williams just last weekend in Toronto.

I also don’t anticipate a repeat of the 2001 showdown between the Williams sisters.  Venus hasn’t done well at this event since being the runner-up in 2002 and her play, of late, isn’t inspiring me to believe that this year will be any different.

images: Zuma Press

Post from: EveryJoe

2009 U.S. Open Predictions

Nike also unveiled the looks Federer, Nadal and Williams will be sporting at the 2009 U.S. Open which begins next Monday, August 31, 2009.  I always love the vibrant colors that Nadal wears, especially since he’s always got on that headband.   Click on the images to get a closer look.

images used with permission

Post from: EveryJoe

Federer, Williams, & Nadal Play Fans in NYC

His first championship win after the arrival of his daughters seems to be especially important to him:  “that’s the special part, especially winning for the first time as a dad,” Federer said. “It gets me going emotionally a little bit, because I know it’s been a wonderful summer.”

image: Zuma Press

After spending weeks going back and forth from practice to the hospital to see his wife and baby daughters, even he was surprised by how quickly he was able to get back in top form.  “I felt like my game was already pretty well in place in practice, so knew coming over here it was not just to show up,” he said. “That it paid off so quickly, I’m a little bit surprised, you know?”

This is great momentum going forward for Federer with the U.S. Open beginning on August 31, 2009.

Post from: EveryJoe

Roger Federer Wins Cincinnati Open