Paris, May 20: Rafael Nadal is poised to become the first man to claim five successive French Open titles and once again crush Roger Federer's fading, lifetime ambition of securing a career Grand Slam.
The 22-year-old world number one may have seen his latest, marathon claycourt winning streak halted at 33 by Federer in Madrid.
But the Swiss star's hopes of that victory - which came a day after Nadal spent over four hours beating Novak Djokovic in his semi-final - heralding a new dawn seem certain only to usher in another dark chapter at Roland Garros where he has lost the last three finals to his great Spanish rival.
Two years ago, Federer ended Nadal's 81-match streak on clay at Hamburg to instill fresh confidence of finally cracking the French code, but he was to be denied once they resumed hostilities in Paris.
On the evidence of the 2008 tournament here, where Federer won just four games in a brutally one-sided final, the 13-time Grand Slam title winner looks doomed.
Adding to the odds stacked against him is Nadal's record of having won all 28 matches he's played in the French capital. Furthermore, in 2008, the Spaniard swept the title without dropping a set.
But Federer refuses to concede defeat, believing that his win in Madrid, which was his 58th career title, but first of 2009, could represent another launchpad.
"He has never lost in Paris so obviously his confidence is very high, but I think we have seen that if you play Rafa the right way there are chances," said the 27-year-old world number two.
"I know his game inside out. It's not like he changes many things, he is just rock solid like when Leyton Hewitt was number one and all those other guys who were dominating from the baseline."
"He is the best mover on this surface. He is just an excellent competitor and that is what makes him so difficult to beat."
Nadal poised to claim French Open history
The 22-year-old world number one may have seen his latest, marathon claycourt winning streak halted at 33 by Federer in Madrid.Sania Mirza back into the World Top 100
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Sania Mirza, India's highest ranked women's tennis player has now fought her way back into the top 100
of the singles WTA rankings
After her great showing at the Pattaya Open, where she lost in the finals on Sunday, to world number 5 Vera Zvonereva, the Indian star has jumped 39 places in the latest WTA rankings that refreshed on Monday.
She is now ranked 87th in the world. Do remember that the Sania is making a comeback to the sport after a wrist injury that forced her out for the majority of 2008.
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Sania enters Pattaya Open final
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza reacts during her semi-final against Magdalena Rybarikova at the PTT Pattaya Women's Open tennis tournament on February 14, 2009. (Reuters Photo)
inals of the $220,000 Pattaya Open on Saturday.
The unseeded Indian, ranked 126th in WTA charts, defeated her eighth seeded Slovakian opponent 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in a two-hour long contest.
The last time Sania reached the singles final of a WTA event was in 2007 when she made the summit clash of the Stanford classic.
This is for the fourth time in her career that Sania has reached the singles final of a WTA tour event.
She had become the first Indian player to win a WTA title when she won the Hyderabad Open in 2005. In the same year, she had reached the finals of the Forest Hill event in United States.
Sania broke Rybarikova in the fourth game of the deciding third set to give herself a 3-1 lead. She converted first of the three breakpoints, which she earned after the Slovakian double faulted.
Sania consolidated the lead after holding her serve in the next game before breaking Rybarikova to make it 5-1. The Indian then served out the match, converting her third match point.
Sania storms into Pattaya Open semis
Unseeded Indian Sania Mirza stormed into the semi-finals of Pattaya Open, overpowering sixth-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 7-5, 6-4 on Friday.
Sania beat world No.41 Tamarine in an hour and 45 minutes to set-up a semi-final clash with eighth seed Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who upset second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-4, 6-1.
This will be Sania's first singles semi-final appearance since her return to the international circuit last month after a wrist surgery. Sania won the Australia Open mixed-doubles partnering compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi.
Sania, whose ranking has fallen to 126 as she was out of the circuit with the injury for most part of 2008, had earlier got the better of Tamarine here in 2006. With the victory she improved the overall head-to-head record with the Thai to 2-1.
Sania had an early control of the first set with a break of serve in the sixth game when she led 4-2. Tamarine, however, fought her way back to win three games in a row to nose ahead 5-4. The Indian then stepped up her game to take the next three games.
In the evenly fought second set, Sania converted two break points to Tamarine's one to win the match.
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Sania Mirza reaches Pattaya Open Semi finals
Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Mara Santangelo sailed past Russians Elena Bovina and Ksenia Pervak in straight sets to enter the doubles semifinals of the
WTA Pattaya Open on Wednesday.
The third seeded Indo-Italian duo, who got a first-round bye, defeated the unseeded Russians 6-4 6-3 in one hour and nine minutes in quarterfinals of USD 220,000 hard-court event.
Sania and Santangelo will next meet winners of the other quarterfinal between Thai wildcards Nungnadda Wannasuk and Varatchaya Wongteanchai and the second-seeded Kazakh-Thai pairing of Yaroslava Shvedova and Tamarine Tanasugarn.
Sania and Santangelo broke their rivals in the second game itself, racing to a 4-1 lead but the Russians broke back to reduce the deficit to 4-5.
But the recovery came too late and the Indo-Italian duo wrapped up the first set in little over 30 minutes.
The second set did not start well for Sania and Santangelo who lost their serve in the first game itself. But the third seeds earned a couple of break points to win the very next game.
Sania and Santangelo broke their rivals in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead before sealing the match. Sania is through to second round of the singles as well.
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NADAL WINS AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in five sets to win the Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal held off Roger Federer in another five-set Grand Slam final, keeping Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles intact for now.
Nadal became the first Spanish man to win the Australian Open, beating Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 in a momentum-swinging, 4-hour, 22-minute final that finished just after midnight on Sunday.
Federer, trying to equal Sampras' record, sobbed at the trophy presentation.
"Maybe I'll try later. God, it's killing me," Federer said, crying. He returned to congratulate Nadal within minutes, saying: "You deserved it. You played a fantastic final."
Top-ranked Nadal, who has won five of the seven Grand Slam finals they've contested, now has a major on hard courts to go with his titles on clay and grass.
He's the only man capable of a Grand Slam this season, 40 years after Australian great Rod Laver last won all four majors in one season.
"Roger, sorry for today. I really know how you feel right now," Nadal said. "Remember, you're a great champion, you're one of the best in history. You're going to improve on the 14 of Sampras."
Nadal collected the trophy from Laver, on the court that was named in the great Australian's honor, and put his arm around Federer.
"To receive this trophy from Rod Laver is a dream for me," he said. "Rod, thanks very much. It was an amazing two weeks for me."
Nadal advanced to the final after holding off fellow Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco on Friday in 5 hours, 14 minutes - the longest match in the tournament's history.
Federer had a straight-sets win over Andy Roddick the previous night, but said the difference in preparation had no influence on the final.
He said the fact he'd missed the Sampras record at a tournament he's won three times didn't make the loss any worse or easier to take.
"Honestly, no," he said. "I mean, it's more like, in the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad, you know, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you.
"The problem is you can't go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You're stuck out there. It's the worst feeling. ... it's rough."
Federer, so dominant when he won three of the four majors in 2006 and 2007, has now lost finals on three different surfaces to Nadal.
He hasn't given up hope of beating the 22-year-old Spaniard.
"For sure," he said. "I didn't spend 4 1/4 hours out there (not) believing it."
Nadal has four consecutive titles on clay at Roland Garros and beat Federer on grass in a five-set epic at Wimbledon last year.
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Nadal wants a shorter 2009 Tennis Season
New Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal on Monday called for a shorter tennis season and less hard court tournaments,
saying players needed more time off to avoid injury.
The Spanish world number one, who won the title on Sunday in five sets over Roger Federer, saw his spectacular 2008 campaign end prematurely when he retired from the Paris Masters with knee tendinitis in October.
"I worry about the tour more than I worry about myself because life after tennis continues," Nadal said one day after winning his first hard court Grand Slam.
The 22-year-old Spaniard said hard courts were "tougher than grass or clay for the body, and all the time we are playing more on this surface."
"In my humble opinion, we have to change that a bit more," he said, refuting suggestions that he was complaining because he is known as more of a clay court specialist.
"When I say this, I think about the best for the players and for the future. It's not possible to have a lot of injuries on tour like this. So we have to try to change something."
Nadal, whose win on Sunday was his sixth major title in just 20 Grand Slam appearances, said he wanted to play fewer tournaments on the ATP Tour.
"To play with this aggression and with this rhythm all the time from the 1st of January to the 31st of December is impossible," he said.
Nadal is now the holder of three of the sport's four Grand Slam trophies, after adding the Australian Open title to his French Open and Wimbledon successes of last season. Federer won the US Open last year.
The Spaniard also won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008 and finished the season with a tour-best 46-10 record on hard courts.
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Yuki's next challenge - The Davis Cup!
The first Indian to win a junior Australian Open singles' title, teen tennis sensation Yuki Bhambri has now set his sights on earning a
Davis Cup cap.
"Every player who picks up the racquet dreams of becoming a part of the Indian team. I am no different. Definitely I want to wear that shirt with India written on the back," Yuki said on Monday.
"I don't know when that time will come. Perhaps it will take one or one-and-a-half years. It's up to the selectors. I will keep improving and doing all the hard work," he added.
The 16-year-old returned home after giving India its fourth junior grand slam title and was overwhelmed by the reception at the Delhi Airport. Going into the tournament as top seed and world number two player, Yuki was confidence personified.
The Delhi teen sensation says playing against better and stronger players on the senior circuit gave him the confidence to realise his dream of winning a Grand Slam crown.
"This is quite an achievement. For the last two months I have been doing well. Playing with top players gave me the confidence. Before going to Australia I had played on the senior circuit.
"That was the best way to prepare as a lot of juniors are even better than many lower ranked seniors. So, to beat the competition I chose to play a few senior tournaments and it paid off," Yuki said.
"I know if I can perform well here (senior circuit), I will have a chance to win in Australia. And the reception was really unexpected. I did not expect that so many people would be there to receive me," he added.
Yuki is making a gradual transition from junior to senior level and he would be concentrating entirely on the senior circuit henceforth.
"Definitely, the focus will be on senior circuit now," he declared.
Talking about his Australian Open journey, Yuki said, "I was nervous in the first round. That was a tough match also but once I crossed that, I became more comfortable and confident. In a way, I knew this (title) is coming. I had prepared well."
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Sania-Bhupathi win mixed doubles title
Thus, Sania Mirza has become first Indian woman to win a senior grand slam tournament.
Mahesh Bhupathi has made his seventh mixed doubles Grand Slam titles under his belt with different partners.
His last mixed doubles Grand Slam was incidentally the Australian Open in 2006 when he had partnered Swiss Martina Hingis.
In the semi-final, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi overcame a sluggish start to sail into the final for the second consecutive year as they beat Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy in straight sets on Friday.
It's a Nadal Vs Federer Final at the Aus Open
Rafael Nadal set up a showdown with Roger Federer in the Australian Open final after a thrilling victory over
Fernando Verdasco.
The Spanish rivals battled it out in a nerve-wracking five-setter in Melbourne. World No1 Nadal nicked it in the end after five hours and 14 minutes of epic tennis.
It was the longest match in the history of the Australian Open - and Nadal now faces a fight to recover ahead of Sunday's final.
He eventually overcame Verdasco 6-7 6-4 7-6 6-7 6-4 at the Rod Laver Arena. But Federer will be thanking Verdasco for making Nadal work so hard for his win in a match that had everything.
The pair exchanged blistering ground strokes, delicate drop shots, smashes, bullet-like serving and even the odd volley.
In the end, Nadal prevailed but he will be aware of how close he came to crashing out in Melbourne.
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Delhi teenager wins Junior Aus Open
Delhi boy Yuki Bhambri on Saturday created history by becoming the first Indian to win the junior Australian Open title, beating
Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas of Germany 6-3, 6-1 in the final.
Yuki follows in the footsteps of Indian tennis greats Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes to win a junior Grand Slam.
Ramanathan Krishnan won the Wimbledon junior title in 1954, the first Asian player to achieve the feat. His son Ramesh carried on the legacy to win the junior titles at French Open and Wimbledon in 1979.
Paes was the last Indian to win a junior Grand Slam when he won the Wimbledon Boy's title in 1990 and the US Open in 1991 as a 17-year-old.
Sixteen-year-old Yuki came into the Australian Open as the top seed, having reached the semi-final here last year.
Yuki has been performing exceptionally in the international circuit. His best show so far has been the title win at the Orange Bowl in Key Biscayne in the US, considered to be the fifth Grand Slam, besides the Osaka Mayor's Cup in October. It catapulted him to No. 2 in World junior rankings.
However, Yuki's doubles campaign ended in semi-final after he and his Taipei partner Liang Chi-Huang lost 3-6, 1-6 to Russia's Mikhal Biryukov and Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama on Friday.
Yuki honed his skills at the famous Nick Bolletieri Tennis Academy in the USA. He is coached by Aditya Sachdeva, who accompanied him to Melbourne.
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Sania-Bhupati reach Aus Open Final!
The Indian hopes at the Australian Open were given a boost as the dynamic pair of Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi
stormed in the mixed doubles final.
Mirza and Bhupathi marched ahead with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Czechs Iveta Benesova and Lukas Dlouhy.
The Indians, who were the runner-up pair at the Melbourne Park last year, trailed 1-3 in the opening set before storming back to seal the issue in 54 minutes.
In the summit clash, they will take on the unseeded French-Israeli combine of Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram, who stunned seventh seeded Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues and Tommy Robredo 7-6 (9/7) 6-4.
It was hardly the kind of start Sania and Bhupathi, who have dropped just one set en route to the semis, would have wanted as Benesova and Dlouhy broke them in the opening game to race to a 1-3 lead.
However, the Indians got their act together soon after and broke back twice to take the first set in 32 minutes.
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Davenport enters Australian Open, say organisers
Melbourne, Dec 11: Lindsay Davenport has indicated she intends continuing playing on the WTA Tour by officially entering next month's Australian Open, organisers said on Thursday.
The former world number one and 2000 Australian Open champion has not played since the US Open last August and there was speculation that she may retire from competitive tennis. But Australian Open officials said the 32-year-old American mum intends to return to Melbourne Park to play in the year's opening Grand Slam tournament from January 19 to February 1.
"We are really excited that she has entered," tournament director Craig Tiley said. "She is a world class player and a great ambassador for our sport." Davenport was knocked out of the US Open in the third round by French 12th seed Marion Bartoli and said at the time that she was not prepared then to make a decision on her WTA future.
She has won events in Auckland and Florida this year and is still ranked 35 in the world. As well as her Australian Open singles title, Davenport also won Wimbledon in 1999 and the 1998 US Open. Tiley said entries for the 2009 Australian Open had closed and the top 100 men's and women's players were all on the list for the main draw.
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