Tennis

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The last player to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon has a law degree, wrote a thesis about the men’s tour and cracked the top 10 two years ago at age 22.

Among his achievements, however, Mario Ancic is best known for his upset victory over Federer in 2002.

“Since then he hasn’t lost on grass,” Ancic said. “Unbelievable.”

They meet again in the quarterfinals Wednesday, with the top-ranked Federer three wins from a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. Since the loss to Ancic in the first round six years ago, Federer has won 63 consecutive grass-court matches, including 38 at the All England Club.

“I can sit here and talk stories about the great win and how I beat Roger Federer,” Ancic said. “But actually it wasn’t Roger Federer as we know him today.”

Federer and his nemesis, No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal, were the only top-10 players to reach the men’s quarterfinals, keeping them on course to meet in the final for the third year in a row.

Nadal said he feared being forced to quit after he stumbled and hurt his right leg Monday in the second game of a victory over Mikhail Youzhny. After being treated and taped by a trainer, Nadal went on to an easy win.

“I really thought at that moment that I injured myself,” Nadal said in a posting on his blog Tuesday. “I even thought about the ligament, since I heard a crack. I was very scared, believe me.”

Nadal said he was relieved to be given medical clearance when he was examined by a doctor after the match, and he was seen bounding happily down a stairway at the club Tuesday.

His quarterfinal opponent will be No. 12-seeded Andy Murray, trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinals against the winner of the match with the improbable pairing of No. 94-ranked Rainer Schuettler and No. 145-ranked Arnaud Clement.

The 32-year-old Schuettler is playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in five years, and Clement last reached the final eight at a major event in 2001.

Two-time major champion Marat Safin will play in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since winning the Australian Open in 2005. His opponent will be No. 31-seeded Feliciano Lopez, with the winner to face the Federer-Ancic winner.

All eight Wimbledon quarterfinalists are from Europe, the first time that has occurred at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

Ancic (pronounced an-CHICH) is mounting a comeback after being sidelined more than six months by glandular fever, a stomach illness and a right shoulder injury. He dropped to No. 136, his lowest ranking in more than five years, but since late January he has climbed back to 43rd.

During the enforced layoff, the Croatian became a full-time student and completed his studies at the University of Split law school.

“It just helped me to stay mentally strong,” Ancic said. “It would be much tougher if I didn’t have it, so I would sit the whole day at home and hit my head through the wall all day—you know, nothing to do. Watch tennis, and you get even more crazy.

“This was really something that, `OK, now I don’t have tennis, but I have something else equally maybe as important in my life.”’

Now his focus is again on tennis—and the world’s top-ranked player.

Federer’s last loss at the All England Club came the year after his upset win at Wimbledon against seven-time champion Pete Sampras. Federer had yet to win a major championship but was No. 7-seeded and touted as a title contender, while Ancic was an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 154th and playing his first Grand Slam match.

“What a shocker that one was,” Federer said. “I was just really disappointed when I lost to him.”

With the upset, Ancic earned the nickname Super Mario. Federer said he underestimated the 6-foot-5 Croatian with the big serve and allowed him to take control of the net.

“I just thought, `I’ll play a little bit of serve and volley.’ I expected him to stay back,” Federer said. “And it was the opposite. I couldn’t serve and volley, because I thought conditions were slow. He serve and volleyed first and second serves. I got completely surprised.”

Federer said the match cured his habit of taking some opponents lightly.

“When guys maybe didn’t have the proper technique or were new on tour, I would sometimes not give them the respect maybe they deserved,” he said.

That no longer happens, which is one reason Federer has won 12 major championships. This week he can become the first man to win six successive Wimbledon titles since William Renshaw in 1881-86.

During his Wimbledon reign, Federer has lost only eight of 122 sets, sweeping all 12 this year. He has won the opening set in 37 of his 38 victories, the lone exception being the 2004 final against Andy Roddick. He has beaten 31 players, including six Grand Slam champions—Nadal, Safin, Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Thomas Johansson and Juan Carlos Ferrero—as well as Ancic in a 2006 rematch.

Federer also beat Ancic a month ago in the third round at the French Open. Since losing to Ancic in their first meeting, Federer is 5-0 against the Croatian, sweeping all 14 sets.

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One prematch glance Tuesday at the data displayed on those fancy, new digital scoreboards at staid, old Wimbledon provided a pretty persuasive case for why Venus Williams might be considered the woman to beat.

The entry under career record at the grass-court Grand Slam: “55-7.” The listing of her best result: “WINNER 2007, 2005, 2001, 2000.”

Yet another reason to like the American’s chances: The way she served during the ensuing 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Tamarine Tanasugarn—smacking eight aces, saving nine of the 10 break points, tying her Wimbledon record with a 127 mph delivery.

That extended Williams’ winning streak at the All England Club to 12 matches, including 19 sets in a row. Nonetheless, at least one person who knows a thing or two about tennis and a thing or two about Venus Williams flatly rejected the notion that she’s the favorite: Serena Williams.

Asked after her own impressive quarterfinal victory—6-4, 6-0 against 11th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska—whether her older sister should be considered the likeliest champion, Serena shot back: “I would never sit here and say she’s the favorite when I’m still in the draw. What are you on?”

Rather than a sibling rivalry, that response perhaps reflects nothing more than the sort of competitive drive that helped the younger Williams win eight Grand Slam singles titles. That haul includes the 2002 and 2003 Wimbledon championships, each time concluded by beating her sister.

One more win apiece, and they’ll reprise the all-in-the-family final tradition Saturday. In Thursday’s semifinals, Serena will face 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie, who became the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals at a major tournament by upsetting 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Venus next plays the highest-seeded remaining woman, No. 5 Elena Dementieva, who beat No. 21 Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-3.

Zheng is the first wild-card entrant to reach the women’s semifinals at Wimbledon; only one woman ranked lower has made the semifinals at any Grand Slam.

“I just try my best to keep going,” Zheng said.

“China has quite a lot of sports in which it is a world leader,” she said through a translator. “Unfortunately, tennis is not one of them.”

Like Zheng, Radwanska and Tanasugarn were playing in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time. Unlike her, they were forced to deal with a Williams on Tuesday.

More specifically, they were forced to deal with those Williams serves, developed by Dad all those years ago on the courts in Compton, Calif.

“We’re different,” Venus said. “I serve big almost every time. She goes for a little more placement.”

Against Radwanska, Serena hit 11 aces, including four in one game while pulling even at 3-3 in the first set. On the last of those, Radwanska lunged and whiffed, then grimaced at her racket.

“It’s too much, you know,” Radwanska said.

She isn’t exactly a nobody, having won the Wimbledon junior title in 2005 and pulled off an upset of defending champion Maria Sharapova at last year’s U.S. Open. But Serena made her look absolutely ordinary, if that, taking 28 of the last 37 points.

While Serena mixed in flat 120 mph serves with spinning, kicking changeups, Venus stuck with the hard stuff against Tanasugarn.

“I have a lot of power, so it helps,” Venus said. “Definitely, the power helps.”

She produced some of her best stuff when she needed to, particularly in the match’s sixth game.

Tanasugarn earned six break points, and the first five vanished thanks to, in order, a 107 mph service winner, a 102 mph service winner, a 115 mph service winner, a 94 mph service winner and a 122 mph ace.

“I’m really blessed to be able to have a serve to get me out of those issues,” Venus said.

On break point No. 6, Tanasugarn managed to put her return in play but then slapped a forehand into the net.

That’s when she turned her back to the court and motioned toward the players’ guest box with her hand, raising one finger at a time to count out those missed opportunities: 1-2-3-4-5-6.

“She served very well during the break points,” Tanasugarn said. “So what can I do?”

A few moments later, she did come up with a possible solution. A tad envious of her statuesque opponent—the 6-foot-1 Williams has 8 inches on her— Tanasugarn said, “Next life, I want to be tall as her. Please.”

Neither Williams has dropped a set during the tournament, and their seedings — Serena is No. 6, Venus No. 7—certainly seem to have been miscalculated. It’s the first time at any Grand Slam in the 40-year Open era that none of the four top-seeded women reached the quarterfinals, making the path even smoother for the siblings.

Hard to believe, but there hasn’t been a Williams vs. Williams final at a tournament since 2003 at the All England Club.

And what if they do meet again for the title, in what would be their seventh matchup in a Grand Slam final? What would breakfast be like Saturday morning at the place they’re sharing here?

“I’m going to sabotage her and eat all the breakfast,” Serena said. “I’ll eat all the Wheaties so she doesn’t have any chance.”

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Less than two months after her sudden retirement, Justine Henin isn’t completely ruling out a return to tennis.

“I can never say for sure that I’ll never be back because I hate to say never,” Henin said. “But for me, and the people who know me, they know that when I do something, I do it 200 percent—and when I decide it’s over, it’s over and I go to the next step.”

The 26-year-old Belgian announced her retirement 10 days before the start of the French Open in May, saying she had lost her hunger for the game after a nine-year career that included seven Grand Slam titles.

“Being a professional athlete is quite difficult and you make a lot of sacrifices,” Henin said on laureus.com, the Web site of the Laureus World Sports Academy. “You need to eat tennis, sleep tennis and live tennis and give 300 percent all the time. I’ve been doing that for 20 years.

“You know one day it’s going to be over and I always said that it would never be an injury that pushed me to stop and that it was going to be my choice. I had the freedom to get my choice.”

Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam that Henin never managed to win.

“It has been the biggest disappointment of my career,” said Henin, who is establishing a tennis academy in Belgium. “It has a great tradition, I love it but my game wasn’t quite good enough and I probably wasn’t confident enough to win on grass.”

She predicts defending champion and four-time winner Venus Williams will win again.

“I keep thinking that Venus is the best player on grass,” she said. “She’s so big and tall, so, for me, she’s the favorite.”

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Lest anyone forget that Roger Federer has, indeed, lost at Wimbledon, the BBC filled time during a rain delay Wednesday by rolling tape of his 2002 first-round exit against Mario Ancic.

That, of course, was the last time Federer stepped on a court at the All England Club—or anywhere on grass, for that matter—and walked away without winning.

Once Wednesday’s weather cleared up, Federer faced off against Ancic on Centre Court once more, only this time they were playing in the 2008 quarterfinals, and it was no contest whatsoever. The top-ranked Federer dismissed Ancic 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to extend all manner of streaks: 39 consecutive wins at Wimbledon, 64 consecutive wins on grass, and 17 consecutive semifinal appearances at Grand Slam tournaments.

There were other numbers at which to marvel, not the least of which was this: Federer won 61 of 71 points on his serve.

Asked afterward if he could pick one match over his career that stands out from the rest in terms of quality, Federer replied, “Thankfully, I get those moments quite often, actually.”

So there.

If anyone wondered whether the thumping he took from Rafael Nadal in last month’s French Open final might have a lasting effect on Federer, it sure doesn’t sound as though there’s anything wrong with his confidence— particularly here.

“I’ll have a chance to win this tournament for the next five or 10 years,” said Federer, whose semifinal opponent Friday is the resurgent Marat Safin, a former No. 1 player who owns two Grand Slam titles.

“My game’s made for grass,” Federer continued. “There will always be tough opponents, dangerous opponents. That has been the case for the last years, as well. But I found a way to win always. Of course, my dream is to not only win this year, but many more years to come.”

He is trying to become the first man since 1886 to win Wimbledon six years in a row. Pete Sampras never did it. Neither did Bjorn Borg. The only man who did? Willie Renshaw, and he only needed to win one match in each of his five title defenses, because back then the reigning champion got a bye into the final.

Federer is forced to navigate a tougher path, and the expectation this year has been that he will face his nemesis Nadal in a third straight Wimbledon championship match. The second-ranked Nadal moved closer to that by overwhelming 12th-seeded Andy Murray of Britain 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 for his 22nd consecutive victory overall.

Just like Federer did against Ancic, Nadal avoided facing a single break point against Murray, who was in his first major quarterfinal.

“I feel like the return is normally a strong part of my game. I had no chance at all really on his serve, which was a shame,” Murray said. “He’s improved his game a lot on the grass in the last couple of years. Definitely, he’s the second-best grass-court player behind Federer. He’s definitely closer to him this year than he was.”

Nadal agreed with that assessment.

He’s trying to make a little history of his own: No man has won the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Borg in 1980.

“I am doing a lot of things better than last year,” Nadal said. “Slice better. The position on court, in my opinion, I felt like this is better. Playing more aggressive with the forehand all the time, and the backhand is feeling well, too.”

The four-time French Open champion knows he’ll be facing an unseeded player next, but he doesn’t know which one. The quarterfinal between 94th-ranked Rainer Schuettler and 145th-ranked Arnaud Clement was suspended because of darkness at one set apiece.

They’re slated to resume play Thursday, when the forecast calls for showers, and whatever the outcome, Nadal would be an overwhelming favorite.

Safin acknowledges Federer should be looked upon that way in their matchup.

“I’m playing semifinals, but that doesn’t mean that I have a chance there, because the guy has won how many times already here?” Safin said after beating No. 31 Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-3. “To beat Federer you need to be Nadal and run around like a rabbit and hit winners from all over the place. … It’s just a little bit too difficult for me to beat him.”

Especially if Federer plays the way he did Wednesday.

He served brilliantly, including 15 aces—one on each of the final three points. He returned just as well, handling Ancic’s 130 mph serves and limiting him to nine aces, half of what the Croat was averaging in the tournament.

Federer broke Ancic four times, and even when he didn’t, made him work. The third set’s opening game, for example, took 16 minutes, with 10 deuces and four break points, before Ancic finally held. It lasted 26 points, and Federer won 12 — or, put another way, two more than Ancic took off Federer’s serve all match.

“There’s not one point you get for free,” said Ancic, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2005.

The All England Club was the only Grand Slam site where Safin hadn’t reached the final four. He came to Wimbledon with a 10-13 record this season, a ranking of 75th and a well-documented distaste for the place, from the grass to the weather to the high price of strawberries and cream.

But he’s played fantastically, beating No. 3 Novak Djokovic and three other seeded players. Federer knows how talented the 6-foot-4 Russian is.

“I never looked at Marat like No. 80 or 90 in the world. I mean, that’s ridiculous. He knows that himself,” Federer said. “He’s finally showing again what he can do. It’s just quite surprising he does it here at Wimbledon.”

One of Federer’s two losses in 10 matches against Safin came in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, 9-7 in the fifth set.

“Marat knows how to beat me,” Federer noted. “That was a hard one. I’m going to try to get him back for that one.”

As Ancic knows all too well, Federer can follow through on such thoughts.

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When Serena Williams sits in the stands watching big sister Venus play, she’s not just cheering for her sibling.

With both in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Serena also looks for some kind of edge in case the two meet for the third time in the final Saturday at the All England Club.

“She’s an opponent,” Serena said. “You scout your opponents.”

Before playing in the final, Serena will have to get past Zheng Jie of China, and defending champion Venus will have to beat Elena Dementieva of Russia in Thursday’s semifinals. If both Americans win, they’ll play in the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2003, when Serena beat Venus in the championship match for the second straight year.

“She won last year,” eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena said of Venus. “But I’m not going to sit here and say she’s the favorite when I’m still in the tournament. That’s not me.”

Serena is 8-7 against her sister overall, but a dominant 5-1 in Grand Slam finals.

“We’re extremely motivated by each other, win or loss, on or off the court,” said Venus, a four-time Wimbledon champion.

On Wednesday, the sisters beat Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek 6-4, 6-3 in the women’s doubles quarterfinals, whispering tactics to each other on occasion but otherwise keeping calm despite trailing 3-0 in the second set.

“I think the doubles gets us really amped for the singles, and the next day we’re all tuned and ready to go,” said Venus, who has won six Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister.

Dementieva, Venus’ next opponent, struggled for long periods before beating Nadia Petrova in three sets in the quarterfinals. But she’s not worried about her next match.

“She’s the defending champion. It’s all pressure on her,” Dementieva said of Venus, who is 6-0 in Wimbledon semifinal matches and 56-7 overall at the grass-court tournament. “I really have nothing to lose.”

Zheng, ranked 133rd, is this year’s surprise in the women’s draw, reaching the last four with a run that includes a third-round win over top-seeded Ana Ivanovic, the French Open champion.

By beating Nicole Vaidisova, Zheng became the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament, and is also the first wild-card entrant to reach the women’s semis at Wimbledon and second at any major tournament.

“I never think I can (reach) the semifinal,” said Zheng, who is playing at Wimbledon for only the third time and is 0-1 against Serena in her career after a first-round loss at the All England Club in 2004.

“I hope I can do better when I’m playing her,” Zheng later said through a translator. “And, of course, I also wish to win. But for now I just want to simply keep my hope as simple as possible.”

Serena won’t be taking the 24-year-old Chinese player lightly.

“I’ve been watching her play,” Serena said. “I think she’s doing a fabulous job and I don’t think it’s luck.”

Serena and Venus have won six of the last eight Wimbledon titles. Neither has dropped a set at Wimbledon so far, and their power games have set them apart from the rest of the women’s field.

“I’ve been working really hard lately. I’m just waiting on the results to come,” Serena said. “I deserve this, because I don’t think anyone’s been working harder than me, except for maybe Venus. I mean, that girl works even harder than I do.”

If they both advance and set up yet another all-in-the-family final on Saturday, they’ll get right back to supporting each other once the final point is played.

“We leave everything on the court,” Serena said. “We’re sisters the moment we shake hands.”

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When Venus Williams won her second match point of the day at Wimbledon, even little sister Serena could celebrate.

About 3 1/2 hours after Venus beat Serena to win the women’s singles title, the Americans paired up Saturday to win their seventh Grand Slam doubles title, beating Lisa Raymond of the United States and Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-2.

The victory improved Venus and Serena to 7-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals, and gave them their third doubles title at All England Club on the same day they played each other in their third all-in-the-family Wimbledon singles final.

“We’ve both worked really hard this year, and I think the results showed here, both in the singles and the doubles,” Venus said after winning the Wimbledon singles title for the fifth time.

The sisters last won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 2002, the first of two straight years in which Serena beat Venus in the singles final. On Saturday, Venus beat Serena 7-5, 6-4 on Centre Court before the pair returned to the same stadium for yet another victorious Grand Slam final.

In the doubles match, Venus and Serena broke their opponents twice in each set, showing little emotion throughout and only whispering tactics to each other with their hands covering their mouths. Venus, with tape near her right knee, served out to win each set.

When Venus’ backhand lob sailed high into the darkening sky in the final game, both Stosur and Raymond watched the ball land on the baseline for the final point of the match.

Serena, standing near the net with her racket at the ready, didn’t even know if the ball landed in. Once she realized she, too, claimed a Grand Slam title on the second-to-last-day of the 2008 tournament, she raised her arms in celebration and hugged her older sister.

The pair declined to speak to reporters after the doubles match.

The Williams sisters have entered 34 tournaments as a team and won 11 titles, including the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Venus first won both singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2000, and Serena matched that in 2002.

Including the prize money awarded to the singles champion and runner-up, along with what they earned for the doubles championship, the Williams family netted more than $2.5 million Saturday.

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After moving within a victory of his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title, Roger Federer found time to catch only a few games of Rafael Nadal’s semifinal.

Federer does have a DVD of Nadal’s match, but he wasn’t exactly rushing to use it for scouting purposes before they meet for the Wimbledon championship Sunday.

“I know plenty already,” Federer said. “I’ll watch more if I think I have to, but at the moment, I think I know everything that I need to.”

He certainly should. After all, Sunday’s encounter will be the sixth Grand Slam title match between the No. 1-ranked Federer and No. 2 Nadal, more than for any other pair of men in the 40-year Open era.

“I think it’s quite incredible, myself,” Federer said, “that we’ve played each other so many times on so many big occasions.”

While he isn’t exactly sure where their rivalry stands in tennis annals, when discussing it Saturday, Federer did toss around names such as Borg, Connors, McEnroe, Lendl, Becker, Edberg, Agassi and Sampras.

“I don’t know how it will be looked at in many years’ time, because at the moment, you are right in it, and you try to win the matches that come along against your main rival. It’s hard,” Federer said. “I know it’s something special what we’re going through at the moment.”

They met in the past three French Open finals, with Nadal winning each time.

And now they will meet in their third consecutive Wimbledon final, with Federer holding a 2-0 edge, part of his record-tying streak of five titles in a row at the All England Club.

Some significant milestones are at stake Sunday.

Federer, who tied Bjorn Borg’s modern mark of five Wimbledon titles last year, is trying to become the first man since the 1880s to win six consecutive Wimbledon championships. When Willie Renshaw collected six successive titles from 1881-86, though, he had to play only one match during each of his defenses because the reigning champion was given a bye to the final then.

Nadal, for his part, is aiming to become the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.

“Both Federer and Nadal are hungry. Nadal for the last two years has lost in the final and I know he wants to win this one very badly. Roger wants to win it six in a row, but he is not satisfied. He wants to win more Wimbledons, more grand slams,” Borg said. “They push each other, each time they play … to the limits.”

Nadal leads the head-to-head series 11-6, though away from clay, Federer leads 5-2. It will be the 14th Federer-Nadal matchup in a tournament final, putting the pair fourth in Open era history, behind only Ivan Lendl vs. John McEnroe (20); Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras (16); Boris Becker vs. Stefan Edberg (16); and Jimmy Connors vs. McEnroe (15).

Given that Federer is only 26 years old, and Nadal 22, they could be adding to their total for some time.

Consider, also, just how much better Federer and Nadal have been than their contemporaries. Federer is in his record 231st straight week atop the rankings, while Nadal is in his record 154th straight week right behind him.

“Sure, it is a nice rivalry because we are No. 1 and No. 2. That’s the main rivalry because if someone is No. 1 and the other one is No. 5 doesn’t matter, no?” Nadal said. “But for the last years we did well, and I hope (it continues) like this for a lot of years.”

They might not be the best of pals, but they do have a good relationship. Last year, when Nadal was having trouble arranging a commercial flight from a tournament in Montreal to another in Ohio, Federer gave him a lift on a private jet.

When they run into each other in the locker room, they’ll chat, often about soccer. Nadal once asked Federer, years ago, to play doubles with him, although it hasn’t happened.

And there clearly is mutual respect.

Both speak in glowing terms about the other’s game, even if Federer is not a huge fan of how much time Nadal takes between points.

Said Federer about Nadal: “He’s definitely made me more tough.”

Said Nadal about Federer: “He plays specially, very nice all the time, very easy. Sometimes you (get distracted) watching his game.”

In the 2006 Wimbledon final, Federer beat Nadal in four sets. Last year, they went five sets, and Nadal came close to breaking through, earning four break points in the fifth set—two apiece at 1-1 and 2-2—but failing to convert any.

If Nadal appears to be getting closer to Federer on grass, the gap seems to be widening on clay. In last month’s French Open final, Nadal dropped only four games while handing Federer his worst loss in a Grand Slam match.

“Beating me or beating Rafa in a Grand Slam final, you can really say the guy deserved to win,” Federer said. “Beating your main rival is always a big thrill.”

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Thrilled as she was to win her fifth Wimbledon singles championship, Venus Williams dialed down her celebration.

No hopping in place and skipping to the net after match point, the way she’s done so often on that Centre Court lawn. No giddy laughter and whoops of joy, as she’s let out in the past.

This title was different from her previous successes at the grass-court Grand Slam.

This title came at the expense of her younger sibling, Serena.

Reprising their Sister Slam Show in the Wimbledon final after a five-year hiatus, Venus and Serena Williams smacked big serves, hit hard strokes from all angles and chased down seemingly unreachable balls, like no one else does. Overcoming an early deficit, Venus beat Serena 7-5, 6-4 Saturday for her second consecutive title at the All England Club and seventh major championship overall.

“I’m definitely more in tune with my sister’s feelings because one of us has to win and one of us has to lose,” the No. 7-seeded Venus said. “You could never detract from winning a Wimbledon, so of course it doesn’t detract from that. But I’m definitely thinking about how my sister’s feeling.”

No. 6 Serena, meanwhile, was sullen as could be afterward, as though she had just finished losing to a stranger. Which, it turns out, was the way she tried to view Venus. That the champion’s trophy stayed in the family did not ease the pain of defeat.

“It’s definitely not any easier,” Serena said. “I just look at her as another opponent at the end of the day.”

Said their mother and coach, Oracene Price: “Well, you know, she’s going to have to learn how to suck things up. Say, ‘OK, I’m not going to win everything.”’

About 3 1/2 hours after the singles final ended, Price’s daughters returned to the same court, except now they were playing on the same side of the net, and they beat Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2 to win the women’s doubles title.

A day that began with a meal together at the nearby house they’re sharing, ended with the sisters’ seventh Grand Slam doubles championship—and a total family payday of more than $2.5 million.

Saturday’s earlier encounter was the seventh all-Williams Grand Slam singles final; only one other pair of sisters faced off in a major tournament title match, and that was all the way back at the very first Wimbledon, in 1884.

Williams vs. Williams finals became routine for a bit, when they met in six of eight Grand Slam title matches from the U.S. Open in 2001 through Wimbledon in 2003. Serena went 5-1 in those, including beating Venus at the All England Club in 2002 and 2003.

But big sister got some payback Saturday.

“I didn’t want the same trend to keep happening,” Venus said. “So I climbed a tiny little notch up. It’s 2-5. Still behind, but I’m working on it.”

Venus is 28 and Serena 26, and both have been ranked No. 1. But injuries slowed both, and that 2003 Wimbledon final was the last time they met to decide a championship.

Things were still a tad awkward after all these years—for the sisters themselves, of course, but also for the 15,000 or so fans, who couldn’t seem to get into picking someone to support, leading to a subdued atmosphere; for chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who occasionally forgot to add the necessary first name when announcing, “Advantage, Miss Williams”; and, perhaps most of all, for the relatives sitting in the players’ guest box.

When Venus capped a run in which she claimed five of six games to erase an early 4-2 hole and take the first set, for example, Price simply stayed put, her face expressionless, her hands in her lap.

You’ve just seen one of your daughters win the first set of the Wimbledon final, and you don’t jump and applaud? Well, not if you’ve also just seen one of your daughters lose the first set of the Wimbledon final.

“That was a difficult one to watch,” Price said. “You feel happy that the one won it, but you feel so bad because there has to be a loser, too.”

Venus entered the tournament in the midst of an uneven season, with a 14-7 record and without so much as one title of any sort. As long has been the case, however, the grass brought out her best, and she didn’t drop a set all fortnight — not even against the woman she considers her toughest foe.

“I have the ultimate respect for her game and I have a lot of respect for her serve,” said Venus, who also won Wimbledon in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007. “If I was playing anyone else, I wouldn’t have to face what I had to face today.”

The same could be said by Serena.

No other top woman consistently serves as powerfully as the sisters do, and Venus broke her Wimbledon record with a 129 mph delivery Saturday. Repeatedly, precisely the way she’s done all tournament, Venus pounded serves directly at Serena’s body.

“I’m glad she did it,” Serena said, “because next time, I know what to expect.”

No other top woman consistently pounds groundstrokes the way the sisters do, either, and they produced fantastic points, even if a swirling wind played havoc with some shots and led Venus to catch her service toss countless times.

Neither held back, and the tone was set in the third game, when Venus came to the net, and Serena sent a stinging passing attempt right at her sister’s face. Venus managed to hit a reflex volley winner.

Then again, at 4-4 in the opening set, Serena conceded a point to Venus after the chair umpire called a let when Serena shouted “No!” as she hit a shot she thought was headed out.

Serena, who still leads Venus 8-7 in major titles, actually compiled more aces, 9-4, more total winners, 32-27, and fewer unforced errors, 11-13. But there was one key difference that tilted the other way: Venus was 4-for-7 converting break points, while Serena was 2-for-13.

One of those two conversions came early in the second set, when Serena wasted six break chances before converting the seventh as Venus slipped on the worn baseline at the end of a 10-stroke exchange.

That break put Serena ahead 2-1, but she failed to hold in the very next game, when a deep forehand by Venus forced an error to make it 2-2.

They stayed on serve until Venus was ahead 5-4, and she broke there to end it. On the first match point, her sister swatted a 100 mph ace—“classic Serena Williams,” as Venus put it.

But on the next point, Serena sailed a backhand wide. When they met beside the net, the sisters wrapped their arms around each other. The embrace after their doubles victory appeared far warmer.

Now both were champions.

[Rasputin]

Rafael Nadal held off an incredible fightback from Roger Federer to win his first Wimbledon title and end the Swiss star's reign at the All England Club.

The Spaniard missed two championship points in the fourth set but recovered to win a dramatic rain-interrupted match 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7.

The final shot was struck in near darkness on Centre Court at 2115 BST.

Nadal, 22, is the the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win back-to-back the French Open and Wimbledon titles.

Asked about the moment of victory, Nadal told BBC Sport: "It's impossible to explain what I felt in that moment but I'm very, very happy.

"It is a dream to play on this court, my favourite tournament, but to win I never imagined."

Federer, who made just one of 14 break points, said: "I tried everything, got a little late, but look, Rafa is a deserving champion, he just played fantastic.

"The rain didn't make it easier but you have to expect the worst and he's the worst opponent on the best court. It's a pity I couldn't win it but I'll be back next year."

Federer, 26, had been trying to become only the second man to win six consecutive Wimbledon titles, and so surpass Borg to match Willie Renshaw, who played in the 1880s.

The defeat brought to an end his unbeaten run of 65 matches on grass, and arguably his reign as the undisputed king of tennis.

On sealing victory, a tearful Nadal climbed through the stands to celebrate with his family and supporters before heading to the royal box to speak to members of the Spanish royal family.

Federer, meanwhile, suffered the unpleasant experience of watching, dejected, from his chair as he came to terms with finishing runner-up for the first time.

It may be little consolation but he played his part in one of the great finals.

The pre-match billing had it down as tennis's version of a world heavyweight title fight and it lived up to the hype, Nadal finally winning the longest Wimbledon men's singles final after four hours, 48 minutes.

He now adds the Wimbledon crown to the four French Open titles he has won, while Federer will look to defend his one remaining Grand Slam title at the US Open next month.

Nadal went into the match as the favourite in some people's eyes, having thrashed Federer in last month's Roland Garros final and with an 11-6 head-to-head record against the Swiss.

After a half-hour delay to the start because of rain, the Majorcan made the better start with a break in game three, saving three break points on his way to the first set.

The momentum shifted at the start of the second as Federer raced to a 4-1 lead, whipping a vicious cross-court forehand for a winner to finally convert a break point in game two, but Nadal came roaring back with five straight games for a two-set lead.

With dark clouds gathering overhead, Federer looked ready to be put out of his misery at 3-3, 0-40, in the third but the champion roused himself superbly, reeling off five straight points and holding serve to lead 5-4 when rain stopped play after two hours and 14 minutes.

Play resumed following a break of 80 minutes and when it came down to a tie-break, rejuvenated Federer dominated with some huge forehands and unstoppable serving, sealing it with an ace.

The fourth set saw the two players inspired and by the closing stages the enthralled Centre Court crowd were chanting the names of both men. Another tie-break was required to separate the pair - and it was an all-time classic.

Federer recovered from 5-2 down only to miss a set point with a wayward forehand.

Nadal then lost his first championship point at 7-6 when Federer hit a winning serve, and the Swiss saved a second match point with an outrageous backhand winner.

The match was destined for a fifth set, and Federer obliged with a service winner to the delight of an enraptured 15,000 spectators.

When the rain returned at 1933 BST with the score at 2-2 in the decider it seemed likely that everyone would be back on Monday, but the shower passed after 50 minutes and battle was rejoined.

Despite the gathering gloom, the final set was simply breathtaking.

Federer earned a break point in game eight, Nadal two in game 11, but both players remained rock solid under the pressure until they were locked at 7-7.

Three more break points were saved by Federer but the champion was rocking, and Nadal finally landed the knockout blow when the world number one was forced into a forehand error.

All that remained was for Nadal to serve out for the title and, after Federer saved championship point number three with a rasping backhand, the Spaniard sealed it when the Swiss netted a forehand.

Wached by his parents, and coach and uncle, Toni, the 22-year-old fell to the floor before beginning his journey through the stands to celebrate.

[Rasputin]

رافائل نادال با قهرمانی در تورنمنت تنیس ویمبلدون، برای اولین بار جام قدیمی*ترین تورنمنت تنیس جهان را بالای سر برد و تنیس باز شماره یک جهان را از کسب یک موفقیت تاریخی باز داشت.
این تنیس باز 22 ساله اسپانیایی که در رده بندی جهانی تنیس بازان مرد جهان در مکان دوم قرار دارد، در فینال مسابقات انفرادی مردان، راجر فدرر را در نبردی بسیار طولانی در پنج ست و با نتایج 6-4، 6-4، 7-6، 7-6، و 9-7 شکست داد.

نادال که تاکنون بجز در گرند اسلم تنیس آزاد فرانسه، در هیچکدام از سه گرند اسلم دیگر قهرمان نشده بود، به این ترتیب موفق شد برای اولین بار از سال 1980 که بیورن بورگ، تنیس باز سوئدی توانسته بود در یک سال در هر دو گرند اسلم تنیس فرانسه و ویمبلدون پیروز شود، به چنین افتخاری دست یابد.

همچنین او موفق شد فدرر را از کسب ششمین قهرمانی پیاپی در ویمبلدون و شکستن رکورد مشترک خود و بیورن بورگ باز دارد.

فدرر پیش از این در 65 مسابقه پیاپی در زمین چمن پیروز شده بود و پیروزی نادال مقابل فدرر، عملا جایگاه فدرر بعنوان بهترین تنیس باز جهان را متزلزل ساخت.

نادال کابوس فدرر

نادال که سال گذشته در فینال ویمبلدون مغلوب فدرر شده بود، این بار در شرایطی که به اعتقاد کارشناسان از چندین نظر و به ویژه در سرویس ها پیشرفت داشته، طوفانی آغاز کرد.


نادال به رسم همیشگی خود، جام قهرمانی را با دندان آزمایش کرد!
هر چند فدرر گیم اول مسابقه را برد، اما نادال در گیم سوم سرویس فدرر را شکست و پس از پیروزی در گیم بعد که خود سرویس را در اختیار داشت (3-1) عملا تکلیف ست اول را مشخص کرد تا در نهایت در این ست با همین اختلاف 6-4 پیروز شود.

در ست دوم شرایط برای فدرر بدتر شد.

فدرر در شبی بسیار پر اشتباه (52 اشتباه در برابر 27 اشتباه نادال) در ست دوم 3-0 از نادال عقب افتاد و هرچند کار را به 4-4 کشاند، اما نادال دو ست بعد را با قاطعیت برد تا امید به حضور قهرمانی تازه در ویمبلدون قوت بگیرد.

فدرر کابوس نادال

انتظار نمی رفت کسی که در 12 گرند اسلم قهرمان شده براحتی میدان را به رقیبی جوان تر واگذار کند.

در ست سوم، فدرر با وجود ادامه اشتباهات، 4-5 از نادال پیش بود که باران لندن، بازی را متوقف کرد.

پس از آن فدرر با اشتباهات کمتر و سلاحی جدید به میدان آمد: سرویس.

هرچند نادال بازی را تا 6-6 به تساوی کشاند، اما در تای برک نتوانست مقابل فدرر مقاومت کند و در نهایت با یک سرویس سهمگین از رقیب 27 ساله خود نتیجه ست سوم را واگذار کرد.

در ست چهارم بازی مجددا تا تای برک کاملا پایای پیش رفت اما در تای برک شرایط با ست قبل بسیار متفاوت بود.

نادال: استاد هدر دادن موقعیت

نادال در تای برک ست چهارم 5-2 از فدرر پیش افتاد و تنها به پیروزی در دو رالی احتیاج داشت تا به جام قهرمانی دست یابد.

اما با وجود آنکه نادال سرویس را در اختیار داشت، یک بار مرتکب خطای پیاپی شد و سپس بک*هنذد او به تور خورد تا بازی دوباره به تساوی کشیده شود (5-5).

نادال دو بار دیگر در امتیاز های 7-6 و 8-7 در یک قدمی قهرمانی قرار داشت، اما فدرر هر دو بار موقعیت پیروزی را از او گرفت و در نهایت 8-10 در تای برک پیروز شد تا بازی 2-2 شود و به ست حساس پنجم کشیده شود.

در ست پنجم رقابت به شدت بالا گرفت و تا نتیجه 7-7 هیچکدام از دو تنیس باز نتوانستند در گیمی که حریف سرویس می زد پیروز شوند، هر چند نادال دو بار دیگر موقعیت هایی مناسب برای تغییر جریان بازی را از دست داد.


نادال پس از پیروزی به سمت جایگاه سلطنتی رفت و با اعضاء خانواده سلطنتی اسپانیا دست داد
اما در نهایت هر چند فدرر با دقت بسیار بالاتر از نادال توپ را روانه گوشه های خالی زمین می کرد و در سرویس عملا غیر قابل دفاع بود (25 سرویس ایس در برابر تنها 6 سرویس نادال) در گیم پانزدهم این ست، نادال میلیمتری سرویس فدرر را شکست و و در گیم بعد هم که سرویس را در اختیار داشت، بالاخره از چهارمین موقعیت سرویس خود برای کسب قهرمانی به خوبی استفاده کرد و با بازگشت ضربه فدرر به تور، نادال از خوشحالی پس از 4 ساعت و 48 دقیقه مبارزه نزدیک، در ساعت 9 و 15 شب به وقت لندن، نقش زمین شد.

نادال پس از قهرمانی به میان تماشاچیان رفت و پس از حضور در جمع اعضاء خانواده اش، با اعضاء خانواده سلطنتی اسپانیا نیز که در زمین مرکزی ویمبلدون حضور داشتند، دست داد.

نادال اولین تنیس باز اسپانیایی است که در ویمبلدون قهرمان می شود.

قهرمانی متوالی در دو تورنمنت فرانسه و ویمبلدون از آن جهت اهمیت دارد که این دو تورنمنت بر روی زمینهایی متفاوت برگزار می شوند (فرانسه بر روی زمین خاک رس و ویمبلدون بر روی چمن) و عملا پیروزی در هر کدام به تکنیکی متفاوت از دیگری نیاز دارد.

[Rasputin]

[abadani69]

No one ever seems to run Rafael Nadal ragged, and yet Andy Murray did just that in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Murray finished a stunning, rain-interrupted 6-2, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 victory Sunday at Flushing Meadows to reach his first Grand Slam final and stop the No. 1-ranked Nadal’s 19-match winning streak at major tournaments.

Trying to become the first British man to win a major tennis championship since Fred Perry at the 1936 U.S. Open, Murray will face four-time defending champion Roger Federer in the final Monday night.

“He’s got loads of experience in these situations,” Murray said, “and it’s something new to me.”

The sixth-seeded Murray won the first two sets against Nadal and was down a break at 3-2 in the third in Louis Armstrong Stadium when play was suspended Saturday because of Tropical Storm Hanna. As should surprise no one, the generally indefatigable Nadal made a stand Sunday, when they resumed things in Arthur Ashe Stadium, taking the third set and going ahead 3-1 in the fourth.

“It was almost slipping away,” Murray said.

But he took five of the last six games, breaking Nadal twice and ending the Spaniard’s bid to make his first final at the U.S. Open.

“I wasn’t very fresh,” Nadal said.

Murray never before made it past the quarterfinals at a major and never had defeated Nadal in five previous tries. Nadal, meanwhile, won 54 of his preceding 56 matches and took the titles at the French Open, Wimbledon and Beijing Olympics.

But Murray, the 2004 U.S. Open junior champion, was up to the task this time. He wound up with more than twice as many winners as Nadal, 65-32.

“I had my chances,” Nadal said. “He beat me because he was better than me.”

Murray won a 22-stroke point with a volley winner to get to match point, leaving Nadal bending over behind the baseline, chest heaving. Then Murray completed the service break to end the match, easily chasing down Nadal’s drop shot and smacking a winner.

“I just had to keep my head down and watch the ball—and that was that,” Murray said. “I didn’t feel particularly nervous.”

Murray immediately turned to his private box, closed his eyes and leaned backward. With the crowd cheering, he threw his two wristbands and white baseball cap into the stands.

During an on-court interview afterward, Murray described himself as “very relieved” to have won and to have reached the title match at his “favorite tournament”—which might draw some winces in the land of Wimbledon.

He explained, though, that he was thrilled to have seen his favorite comedic actor, Will Ferrell, in the stands Sunday, and was also excited to have spotted members of the cast of the TV show “Entourage” at the tournament.

“That’s awesome,” the 21-year-old Murray said. “You don’t get that back home.”

Others might be star-struck staring across the net at Federer, who will be attempting to win his 13th Grand Slam title while Murray chases his first.

But get this: Murray owns a 2-1 career mark against Federer.

“He’s probably the greatest player ever, so to get the chance to play against him in a Slam final is an honor,” Murray said. “But I’ve played well against him in the past and hopefully … I’ll do that again tomorrow.”

Serena Williams was to face Jelena Jankovic on Sunday night in the women’s final, postponed a day because of rain. Williams was seeking her third U.S. Open title and ninth major title overall.

Nadal, meanwhile, was hoping to become only the fourth man in the 40-year Open era to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer. But Nadal has never had as much success on the hard courts of the U.S. Open as on the clay of Roland Garros or the grass of the All England Club.

He beat Federer in the finals at both of those places this year and surpassed him atop the rankings last month.

On Saturday and Sunday, though, Murray exhibited precisely the sort of winner-evaporating defense that Nadal usually employs to wear down opponents.

Murray also stood waaaaaaay back to return serves, sometimes 10 feet behind the baseline, in order to better adjust to the heavy spins Nadal uses.

It was the mix of strokes and smarts that have allowed Murray to progress so quickly and guarantee that he’ll reach a career-high ranking of No. 4 after the U.S. Open. One sign of his growth: He had won only two of 14 sets he and Nadal had played as professionals, then matched that total Saturday.

Murray faced some real tests of nerves in the fourth set, including a break point in the first game that he saved with one of his 21 aces.

Another gut-check moment came in the next game, when Murray accumulated seven break points—and let all go to waste, part of a span in which he went 0-for-15 on such chances. It was a 22-point, 15-minute novella of a game, filled with highs and lows, physical and mental, for both men.

Murray might have folded there and, indeed, his downward spiral continued when he made four unforced errors and was broken at love to fall behind 2-1.

“The momentum was kind of with him a little bit,” Murray said. “I just had to stay aggressive, stay focused.”

He did just that.

Trailing 3-1, Murray fell behind love-30 in his next service game. But the Scotsman took advantage as Nadal sailed two forehands long around a missed drop volley try, and Murray broke to get even at 3-3.

The crowd was supporting Nadal, something Murray understood completely.

“If I was a spectator,” Murray said, “I would have rather watched more tennis as well.”

Now he’ll have as good a view as possible of Federer.

“I played well enough to beat the No. 1 player in the world over two days, and I’ve beaten Roger in the past,” Murray said. “I have the tennis to compete with those guys.”

[abadani69]

[abadani69]

On the very first point of the match, Serena Williams hit a backhand so hard that her earring flew off.

Turns out she was just getting warmed up.

Williams kept pounding away, her shots and shouts getting louder with every stroke. And when she finished off Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 7-5 Sunday night for the U.S. Open championship and a ninth Grand Slam title, Williams really went wild.

She flung her racket high into the sky, hollering and hopping in a celebration that even she thought might’ve been over the top.

“I’m sorry I got so excited,” she told Jankovic when they met at the net.

Williams’ father, Richard, jumped to his feet after the final point. He didn’t seem to expect his daughter to do the same.

“I never knew Serena to be very, very excited. I knew Serena to be very, very mean,” he said after it was over. “I describe her as being a combination of a pit bull dog, a young Mike Tyson and an alligator.”

The fourth-seeded Williams beat sister Venus in the quarterfinals and barreled through this tournament without losing a set. This win did more than earn Serena her third silver trophy at Flushing Meadows—it assured she will return to No. 1 in the rankings for the time since August 2003, the longest gap at the top for a woman.

Pretty good for someone whose ranking once plummeted to No. 139.

“It’s been so long,” she said.

Given the way Roger Federer has played lately, it seems like it’s been a while since he’s been on top, too.

Federer will try for his first Grand Slam win this season—and fifth straight U.S. Open championship—on Monday against Andy Murray, who beat No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 Sunday in the completion of a match interrupted by rain.

The second-seeded Federer is aiming for his 13th major title, which would put him one shy of Pete Sampras’ record. Murray, hoping to become the first British man to win a major tennis title since Fred Perry at the 1936 U.S. Open, is making his first appearance in a Grand Slam final.

“He’s got loads of experience in these situations, and it’s something new for me,” Murray said. “I know I’m going to have to play great to have a chance of winning, but I’ve played well the last couple of weeks.”

Plus this: Murray is 2-1 lifetime against Federer.

Williams calmed down in time for the on-court trophy presentation, and smiled when she received the winner’s check for $1.5 million. Still full of personality, Jankovic wondered aloud, “How much did I get?”

Jankovic earned $750,000 for her first showing in a Grand Slam final.

This was the 13th straight time that the women’s championship at the U.S. Open was decided in straight sets. The second-seeded Jankovic certainly had her chances—up 5-3 in the second set, she led 40-0 with Williams serving.

“I felt I had her. I had her, because she was really tired at the end of the second set,” Jankovic said. “Who knows what would have happened if I had got into a third set? I probably would have had the upper hand. But who knows?”

Jankovic won over fans with more than her determined play and her penchant for doing the splits to reach shots. She’s a crowd favorite, often talking to people in the stands and frequently watching herself on the giant video boards high above Arthur Ashe Stadium.

At one point, she saw herself on the screen and promptly fixed her hair.

“They should turn it off, because I keep looking,” she said. “You see your big face up there and you can’t help but look up.”

Venus Williams got ample air time, too. Sitting in the guest box, she cheered on the sister she teamed up with to win the Olympics doubles title.

Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam championship since the 2007 Australian Open, and took over the No. 1 ranking Jankovic held last month for exactly one week.

“I feel so young and I feel so energized,” Williams said. “Sometimes, I’d wake up at 6 in the morning to go practice and it was too dark.”

Williams and Jankovic originally were scheduled to play Saturday night, but rain from Tropical Storm Hanna delayed their match.

The sixth-seeded Murray beat Nadal in the first two sets and was down 3-2 in the third when they were postponed Saturday afternoon.

Nadal came out strong when they resumed, winning the third set and then going ahead 3-1. But Murray regained his momentum and nerve, and had Nadal on the run by the end.

“He beat me because he was better than me,” Nadal said. “When he’s playing aggressive, he can beat everybody.”

Nadal won at Wimbledon, the French Open and the Olympics, but seemed drained by his 84th match of the year. He’d won 19 straight matches in majors, though he’d never reached the final at Flushing Meadows.

Murray beat Nadal for the first time in six career matches. Even when the 21-year-old Scotsman slipped toward the danger zone, he felt confident.

“I go on the court now without feeling like I have anything to worry about, because I’ve worked hard and practiced hard and given myself the best opportunity to play well,” he said. “All I’ve got to do is play tennis, which is one of the few things that I’m good at.”

[abadani69]