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Tag Roger Federer

Sport

Federer keeps Team Europe ahead in Laver Cup with win over Kyrgios

Tennis
Geneva (Switzerland), Sept. 21, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer maintained his 100 percent Laver Cup record against Nick Kyrgios on Saturday with a thrilling 6-7(5) 7-5 10-7 victory over the Australian to give Team Europe a 5-3 lead.

Playing in front of 17,000 fans in Geneva, home favourite Federer beat Kyrgios for the third time in as many editions of the competition.

It helped to take Europe closer to the 13-point victory target ahead of the night session that features Rafa Nadal.

“It was really close that first set. So, it was tough to lose,” 20-times Grand Slam winner Federer said.

“The crowd could feel it, I could feel it. I needed to get some energy going, but you can’t do that if you don’t play any good shots and Nick was playing very well.

“I was just trying to stay focused. If you can turn the momentum, the crowd gets back into it and I need some earplugs next time, it was just phenomenal.

Earlier, John Isner scored a 6-7(2) 6-4 10-1 victory over German Alexander Zverev to help Team World draw level with Team Europe at three points apiece.

With two points up for grabs for victories on the second day of the tournament in Geneva, Zverev looked on course to extend Europe’s 3-1 lead from Friday.

That was after edging a tight first set in the tiebreak.

However, the towering Isner battled back in the second set and broke to go ahead 5-4 with a lunging volley.

He then dragged the contest into a decider which he dominated.

“I wasn’t making any inroads on his serve at all and he was the better player for 85% of that match,” American Isner said.

“Of course, I got a little lucky at 4-4 but once I got up 5-4, I had a lot of momentum, and I think I showed that in the tiebreaker.”

Nadal faces Milos Raonic in the third singles match before the Spaniard teams up with Stefanos Tsitsipas to take on the Team World pair of Kyrgios and Jack Sock.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

Sport

U.S. Open: Federer crushes Goffin to reach last eight

Federer
New York, Sept. 1, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer destroyed David Goffin 6-2 6-2 6-0 on Sunday in New York to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals and keep his bid for a record-extending 21st Grand Slam title alive.

The Swiss third seed fired 35 winners and 10 aces to see off the outclassed Belgian in a speedy 80 minutes on a sunny day at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

The 38-year-old Federer was at his best when it mattered most, converting nine of his 10 breakpoint opportunities to set up a meeting with Grigor Dimitrov or Alex de Minaur.

The only drama came early when Goffin, seeded 15th, broke Federer to take a 2-1 lead in the first set.

But the Swiss broke back in the next game and cruised to the finish line.

“I’m very happy with the level of play and the atmosphere,” Federer said in an on-court interview.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Tennis: Federer beaten by Russian qualifier Rublev in Cincinnati

Tennis: Federer beaten by Russian qualifier Rublev in Cincinnati

Federer

Cincinnati (U.S., Aug. 15, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) A fearless Andrey Rublev outfoxed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday.

The Russian qualifier broke the third seeded Swiss in his first two service games and won 81 per cent of his first serve points to wrap up the upset in just over an hour.

The 21-year-old shed tears of joy after pulling off the biggest win of his career.

“It is such an amazing feeling when you’re playing a legend like Roger and all these people supporting him until the end,” he said during an on-court interview.

“One day I hope I’m going to feel the same.

“Today I was just trying to do my best and was thinking in my head that I need to play every point until the end, no matter what.”

The win sets up an all Russian quarter-final with ninth seed Daniil Medvedev. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Donald Ugwu

Sport

Djokovic beats Federer in Wimbledon epic to win fifth title

Djokovic
London, July 14, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Novak Djokovic again proved the toughest of nuts for Roger Federer to crack to claim his fifth Wimbledon title on Sunday.

It was the first All England Club final match to be decided by a tiebreaker.

The Serbian repelled everything the Federer could throw at him in am epic final worth every minute.

The defending champion was outshone at times on Centre Court and saved two match points deep into a gripping decider.

But he dredged his tank of mental and physical resilience to claim a thrilling 7-6(5) 1-6 7-6(4) 4-6 13-12(3) win.

Nothing could split the players in an intoxicating final set and the match was already the longest Wimbledon singles final in history.

So, the club’s new rule stipulating a tiebreak at 12-12 in a deciding set was deployed for the first time in singles.

As he had done in the day’s two other tiebreaks, the top-seeded Djokovic showed nerves of steel to crush Federer’s hopes of claiming a ninth title.

The Swiss would have become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era.

Djokovic moved 6-3 ahead and, after the final point had to be replayed following a Hawk-eye challenge, he could celebrate victory when a weary Federer framed a forehand.

Victory took the 32-year-old Serbian level with Bjorn Borg in fourth place on the all-time list of men’s winners at Wimbledon.

It also increased his Grand Slam tally to 16 ——- four behind Federer.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Federer overcomes shaky start to join Grand Slam 100 club

Federer
London, July 10, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer chalked up another monumental milestone to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday, recovering to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 4-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.

The Swiss thus becomes the first man to record a century of singles wins at any Grand Slam.

Number two seed Federer was so poor in the first set that the eighth-seeded Nishikori may have felt the 37-year-old Swiss’s advancing years had finally caught up with him.

Yet the remainder of the contest had just enough flourishes of pure brilliance from the eight-time champion.

It made it a worthy occasion for him to become the sole male member of the Grand Slam 100 club.

Federer’s victory raised the prospect that Wimbledon may once again play host to one of the sport’s greatest rivalries.

That is if Rafa Nadal overcomes big-serving American Sam Querrey to tee up a clash against his old Swiss foe in the semi-finals.

The duo have not met at the All-England Club since their titanic tussle in the 2008 final.

That was when Nadal outlasted Federer over five thrilling sets which finished in the late evening gloom.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Federer downs injured Isner for 101st career title

Tennis
Miami (U.S.), March 31, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer defeated a hobbling John Isner 6-1 6-4 for his 101th career title at the Miami Open on Sunday.

Holder Isner struggled to continue late in the second set, hampered by pain in his left foot.

Federer, who won his fourth Miami title, broke Isner three times in a blazing opening set.

But the American fought back in the second, leveling the set 3-3 and 4-4 before the pain made it difficult to continue.

Federer took the final two games for the victory.

“What a week it’s been for me,” said the Swiss. “I’m just so happy right now. It’s unbelievable. I played here in 1999 for the first time and here I am in 2019. It means a lot to me.”

Only American Jimmy Connors, with 109, has more career singles titles.

Even before the injury slowed Isner down, Federer was the master, tempering Isner’s big serves and winning 32 of 35 points on his own serve.

Federer elected to receive to open the match and the strategy paid off as he broke Isner.

The American held on the third game but Federer took the next four.

Isner played much better in the second set, but in the end the pain became too much for him to mount an effective defence.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Federer, Nadal roll into quarter-finals at Indian Wells

Tennis
Indian Wells (U.S.), March 14, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal remained on course for a mouth-watering semi-final clash at the BNP Paribas Open with straightforward fourth round victories in the California desert on Wednesday.

Neither Federer or Nadal have dropped a set in their three matches at Indian Wells, a tournament Federer has won five times and Nadal three.

In other fourth-round action, hard-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic saved all three of Jan-Lennard Struff’s break point opportunities to down the German 6-4 6-3.

The 13th seed will square off against either France’s Gael Monfils or Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

Federer needed just over an hour to dispatch Briton Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-4 in their first career meeting and reach the quarter-finals on a sunny and breezy day in Indian Wells.

Next up for the 20-times Grand Slam champion is another unknown quantity in Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

He defeated Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 earlier in the day to set up his first career meeting with the Swiss Master.

Nadal, 17 times a Grand Slam winner, ruthlessly put an end to Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic’s run at the tournament, converting three of his four break point opportunities to advance 6-3 6-4.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Federer sets up Tsitsipas final in Dubai to put 100th title within reach

Federer sets up Tsitsipas final in Dubai to put 100th title within reach

Final

Dubai (UAE), March 1, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer took a step closer to his 100th ATP crown on Friday, easing past Borna Coric 6-2 6-2 in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship.

The victory sets the Swiss up for a title clash with Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Federer has been far from his ruthless best in the previous rounds, but appeared to be a different player in the last-four tie.

He broke his Croatian opponent four times and needed only 67 minutes to advance to Saturday’s final at the Aviation Club.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion will now look to avenge his shock defeat by the 20-year-old Tsitsipas in the Australian Open’s fourth round in January.

Victory for the Swiss, a seven-time winner in Dubai, will make him only the second man in the Open Era to win 100 titles after American great Jimmy Connors who has 109.

Earlier, Tsitsipas recovered from a set and 1-3 down to get past Gael Monfils 4-6 7-6(4) 7-6(4) with the result set to propel him to the top 10 for the first time in his career.

“The whole match changed out of nowhere.

“I have improved since last year. Beating the big guys, big players, players that have been in the top 10, it means a lot.

“I wanted to get there at some point myself, and I made it today. I do not know, it is probably a special day for Greece,” Tsitsipas said. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo/Nyisom Dore

Sport

Federer knocked out of Australian Open by Greek wunderkind Tsitsipas

Federer

Melbourne (Australia), Jan. 20, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Roger Federer’s bid for a hat-trick of Australian Open titles was crushed on Sunday as Greek wunderkind Stefanos Tsitsipas rose up to floor the Swiss master.

Tsitsipas thus becomes his nation’s first Grand Slam quarter-finalist.

In a match pitting the oldest and youngest players left in the men’s draw, the 20-year-old Tsitsipas overhauled Federer 6-7(11) 7-6(3) 7-5 7-6(5) under the lights of Rod Laver Arena.

This sparked delirium among Greek fans out in force at Melbourne Park.

Federer will rue his chances, having failed to convert any of the 12 break points he took from Tsitsipas over the course of a riveting clash laden with sparkling shot-making.

Tsitsipas will play 22nd-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the semi-finals. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Ese E. Ekama

 

Sport

Australian Open: Tsitsipas leads “Next Gen’’ charge against Federer

Tsitsipas
Melbourne (Australia), Jan. 19, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Blessed with great athleticism and impeccable technique, Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas will represent the new generation in their challenge to usurp the old guard.

His biggest test will however come on Sunday when he faces Roger Federer at Melbourne.

Next Gen Finals champion Tsitsipas enjoyed a breakthrough 2018 campaign and has surged to a career high ranking of 15.

Federer, making his 20th Melbourne appearance, is expecting a clash of styles against Tsitsipas, who pushed the Swiss maestro to two tiebreaks at the Hopman Cup earlier this month.

“I’m happy I played against him at the Hopman Cup. I think he played really well there. I actually did too. I thought it was really high-quality tennis,” the 37-year-old told reporters.

“This is obviously a different type of match, it being best of five, it being a fourth round of a slam, where we know now how we feel on this court.

“I like how he mixes up his game and also comes to the net — so will I. I think we will see some athletic attacking tennis being played.”

Big-hitting Czech Tomas Berdych, who spent a big chunk of last season on the sidelines with a back injury, will look to renew his rivalry with second seed Rafa Nadal.

Nadal has a 19-4 head-to-head advantage, but Berdych will hope for a repeat of his Melbourne quarter-final win in 2015.

Ashleigh Barty, bidding to become the first home winner of the Australian Open since Chris O’Neill in 1978, will face her biggest test when she takes on a rejuvenated Maria Sharapova.

The Russian displayed her title credentials with a commanding third-round performance to knock out last year’s winner Caroline Wozniacki.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)