Roger Federer, world number one, made short work of Novak Djokovic to earn the twenty first Masters 1000 title of his career. A monument.
Federer, the major fifth
Roger Federer is like good wine, he gets better with age. The Swiss, who is seemingly never satisfied, just sent a message to the tennis world: "I'm still here." Against Novak Djokovic, the current world number one didn't have to push too hard to collect his fifth success at the Cincinnati Masters 1000. Roger clearly enjoys his time in the US; he has won all his finals there. The same cannot be said of Novak Djokovic. On Sunday, the Serb took a slap in the face: 6-0, 7-6[7]. Never, in twenty seven matches until now, had a set between the two players ever ended 6-0. Such is the form of the Swiss who, by the way, also drew level with Rafael Nadal for Masters 1000 victories (21, editor's note), and remained in control as Nolé failed physically. Blame it on an over-crowded schedule. Too bad too, he was on a series of four victories on hard courts against Federer. For the Swiss, the next goal is clear: the US Open. An American Grand Slam where he was beaten by the Serb in the last two years.
Novak, out of time, out of mind
Novak Djokovic just followed the Olympics with two Masters 1000 tournaments in less than ten days and now the Serb is a bit confused. He doesn't know where he lives anymore: “If you don’t keep track of time and places where you are, it happens — sometimes you wake up and say, ‘OK, which time zone am I in right now? It’s the way it is for everybody, mostly for top players. We are aware of the fact that Olympic Games are going to make our schedule more difficult and busier than previous years.» A beautiful story.
Na Li comes back from far away
Beaten in Montreal last week, the Chinese Na Li - winner at Roland Garros in 2011 - has finally found out how to win again in finals after 14 months of misery. However, everything was looking bad for her against the young German, Angelique Kerber. During the first set, Na Li get a look-in and was brushed aside 1-6. Angry, she pulled it back to take the second set 6-3, and appeared to break Kerber’s will. The third set was a walk in the park : 6-1 for Na Li. The German can dry her tears, after a quarter-final at Roland Garros and a semi-final at Wimbledon, the US Open is coming up fast...
The tweet
Varvara Lepchenko is not the most exceptional player with a racquet in hand but, with a smartphone however, she's powerful. The American is a Queen on Twitter. Recently, she took shots of Gilles Simon, in 140 characters, for his comments two months ago on sex equality in tennis. Obviously the number 37 in the WTA rankings holds a grudge…
«
Interesting fact. Observed Simon watching few points on tv of Li Na vs Cirstea. Walking away in a heavy deep thinking #mustbetheprizemoney »
Link :
https://twitter.com/Varunchik1/status/236108789458284544
The quote
“I am very sad to announce that I am still not ready to play and that I have to pull out of the US Open. I am sorry since I always found great crowds and great support, but I have to continue with my recuperation and preparation to be ready to play in the right conditions. Thanks to my fans for their support and specially, the new yorkers”
The communiqué is laconic, nearly cold, and comes from Rafael Nadal, the reigning US Open champion. Still in a tricky situation with his body, the Spaniard has withdrawn from the last Grand Slam of the year. Since his injury in the second round at Wimbledon, the left-handed player hasn't played a single competitive match. It's been a while now. A long while. Too long...
The fun encounter
August 2012, during the ATP Champions Tour in Belgium, a man named John McEnroe played against a nice Swedish man called Björn Borg for an exhibition match, just like the good old days. McEnroe, who has aged better won in straight sets 7-6 6-4. With old school points, classy gestures and laughing with the public, the legendary duo did their job.
The video
First name: Maria. Last name: Sharapova. Distinguishing features : has the body of a goddess. To make good use of it, the celebrated magazine Hamptons decided to put the Russian on the cover of their next edition. So, a photo-shoot was necessary. Luckily for us it was also filmed.
Video :
http://youtu.be/z7EK2M5he6Q
By Mathieu Faure
