Rafael Nadal Planing To Reclaim French Open Title from Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal Planing To Reclaim French Open Title from Roger Federer

Everyone anticipates how the “The King of Clay,” Rafael Nadal, who remains to be undefeated this season (12-0) will beat his opponents at the French Open.

Being on top is never new to Nadal for he was World’s No. 1 from August 18, 2008 to July 5, 2009 but fell behind Swiss tennis player Roger Federer soon after. Since after becoming one of the top 50 players as a 17 year old, Nadal had been riveting the courts taking 31 consecutive match wins in the French Open from 2005 to 2009 and Grand Slams on clay in the Australian Open tying up with Roger Federer.

Wimbledon Tennis Championships appoints official poet‎

The grand old dame of Grand Slam tennis now has its very own poet laureate.

Wimbledon, in collaboration with The Poetry Trust in Britain, has appointed its first "Championships Poet" to capture the flavour and fervour of the oldest of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments and the only one played on grass.

Tennis ace Jankovic downs compatriot Ivanovic

Jelena Jankovic said she took little notice of compatriot Ana Ivanovic across the net Wednesday, emerging with a scratchy 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win in a Serbian struggle to reach the third round of the Madrid Masters.
"I treated it as just another match," said the seventh seed who played the Rome final last weekend. "Over the years you play so many matches and go through so many things.
"Maybe at the start of our careers it was important, Now you just want to play your tennis. You try your best and try to win."
2008 Roland Garros champion Ivanovic led the series 6-2 going into the contest after making a move back to form last week in Rome with a semi-final which improved her ranking to 42nd on the WTA.
But the one-time number one was bedevilled on serve with a dozen double-faults which did not help her cause in the struggle lasting just over an hour and three-quarters.
Jankovic probably didn't even notice. "It doesn't matter if it's a Serb or anyone else. I just played my tennis.

Venus Cruises into Rome Third Tennis Round

Williams sisters Venus and Serena had few problems between them as they cruised into the third round of the WTA Rome Open at the Foro Italico here on Tuesday after straight sets victories.
World number one Serena, the reigning Australian Open champion, overcame a tough first set to beat Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.
Before that, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus breezed to a 6-2, 6-2 dismantling of another Swiss, Patty Schnyder.
Serena was playing for the first time since winning in Melbourne and she certainly took her time to adjust.
In the first set she quickly found herself two breaks down at 1-4 but broke back straight away to love with a drop-shot winner on game point.

Federer embarks on clay campaign still happy to bow to Nadal

Federer embarks on clay campaign still happy to bow to Nadal as slow-court king

Despite victory in last year's French Open, World No 1 believes 'tearaway' Spaniard remains the one to beat

He is the world No 1, holds three of the four Grand Slam titles and is the French Open champion, but when Roger Federer goes to Roland Garros next month he believes the favourite to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires will be a rival who has just won his first tournament for 11 months. Federer has always held Rafael Nadal in the highest respect and believes the Spaniard is rapidly putting his recent difficulties behind him.

Tennis Star Andy Murray looking to make a comeback in the Rome Masters

Out of form tennis player Andy Murray is upbeat about his chances at the Rome Masters.

After two back-to-back defeats in major tournaments, the former world no.2 slipped to no.5. Undaunted by his poor performances, the Scottish tennis player is looking ahead. He has been training around the clock for his match with world no.47, Italian Andreas Seppi.

"My confidence isn't as high as it was at the start of the year but I've just had two bad tournaments, that's all it is.” The Sun quoted Murray as saying.

The tennis star is completely focussed on his upcoming match "Getting through my first match is my goal here in Rome and we'll take it from there." says Murray.

2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament: Live

The 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions is a singles-only tennis tournament that will be played on indoor hard courts. Watch the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions at the Bali International Convention Centre in Bali, Indonesia from November 4 through November 8, 2009.

The field has been set for the inaugural Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, a season-ending event featuring top ten highest-ranked players who have won an International tournament during the 2009 season but who are not competing at the Sony Ericsson Championships, which features the top eight singles players of the season.

LIST OF THE PLAYERS PARTICIPATING IN BALI

Direct Entrants

RANK (as of 10/26/09) / PLAYER / INTERNATIONAL TITLE/S WON

No.12 Marion Bartoli (Monterrey)

No.13 Samantha Stosur (Osaka)

No.19 Yanina Wickmayer (Estoril, Linz)

No.27 Anabel Medina Garrigues (Fes)

No.31 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Bogota, Bastad)

No.32 Shahar Peer (Guangzhou, Tashkent)

No.39 Melinda Czink (Quebec City)

No.42 Agnes Szavay (Budapest)

No.44 Aravane Rezai (Strasbourg)

No.46 Magdalena Rybarikova (Birmingham)

Wildcards

No.25 Sabine Lisicki

No.100 Kimiko Date Krumm

The $600,000 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions will take place November 4-8, 2009, and will feature an innovative 12-woman round robin singles format (four groups of three players).

Venus Williams and Serena Williams are ready for retirement?

Venus Williams and her sister, Serena Williams, will be participating at the WTA Championships in Doha where they said in an interview that retirement is not an option.

Venus and Serena not only made it into the championships in singles but also in doubles.

“Singles is something which I usually expect at the end of the year to be here. But doubles, that’s not something I expect. So it’s definitely exciting,” said Venus.

“It was kind of a secret goal of Serena and I to get to the doubles here.”

“Serena and I are playing at a level that would keep us here for quite a few years longer. This is very good news for us,” added Venus.

“At the end of the year, I’m feeling like I’m ending on a high note.

“I’m at the point in my career where I’ve been very successful at every tournament just about, almost on every surface. For me it’s about obviously playing great tennis, adding to my repertoire, my game, continuing to get better, to enjoy the challenge while being on top.” she said.

Serena said she is feeling very determined to keep playing, an ambition fuelled by reaching world number ranking again.

“I’m feeling good. I actually feel way more energized than I did last year, so that’s a good thing,” said Serena.

“I think as I get older, my priorities change more towards tennis. I want to play more. I want to enter more tournaments. I want to play more doubles. I think my career has been really more focused onto tennis.”

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Federer better than Sampras, Wimbledon Champion Debate Settled

In Grand Slam history, World No.1 Roger Federer has already won 15 Grand Slam titles making him the most successful tennis player.

Roger Federer and Pete Sampras have won 13 of the last 17 Wimbledon titles between themselves. Get tennis betting tips and much more about roger federer's debate here.

In the 2001 Wimbledon 4th Round Match, the first and the last time they met and produced among the greatest match ever to be played on grass with Federer coming out trumps.

Roger Federer defeated his idol 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.

But, on July 5th, as Roger Federer moved past Sampras' record and chose his favorite surface to reach the milestone, tennis pundits as well as former players have started debating - who is better?

"Roger's a friend, he's a great player, and he is a good guy. He's got 15 now; he can get 17 or 18 majors. If he just keeps it going and stays healthy, he could go to 18, 19, actually," Sampras said after Federer won his sixth Wimbledon men's singles title.

Though Roger Federer is still one short of Sampras' seven Wimbledon titles, most believe, with age on his side and his passion and fitness still very much there it would just be a matter of time before he makes that stat his own as well.

"It's a thrill for yourself to get out there and play and you know that's the one thing that Roger has that I think is admirable for tennis. It's great that tennis has someone like Roger," Rod Laver had said before Sunday’s final about a 15th Grand Slam for Federer.

So, is Roger Federer the greatest of all time? Is he better than Sampras on grass? It is impossible to judge and to compare eras. Sampras though heaps wholesome praise on his heir to greatness.

Sampras said, "He moves very well, don’t seem to be in any hurry,"

The case for Roger Federer is now almost closed and even Sampras vouches for that.

Nadal Pays Off For His Backers, 2009 Men’s French Open

Betting on Andy Murray can be exhilarating at times and heartbreaking at times. This past week gave tennis punters a bit of both. Murray looked good making his way to the semi-final in Monte Carlo, but he ran into Rafael Nadal when he arrived in that semi match…and the Monte Carlo tournament is played on clay court…which isn’t a good thing for anyone playing Nadal.

Have a look at 2009 Men’s French Open. Nadal beat Murray, crushing the hopes and knocking up the bankroll of all the Murray bettors which there were many. Murray put up a valiant fight, but was dispatched after losing in a tie-break set.

Nadal then moved on to the finals where he beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6 and 6-1. It was Nadal’s fifth consecutive Monte Carlo title.

Spain's number one tennis player looked great in the first set before Djokovic took advantage of uncharacteristic errors to win the second set 6-2. However, the clay court master struck back in the third set, breezing to a 6-1 set and match victory.

After this performance there is little doubt he will be the odds-on favorite for the upcoming Roland Garros tournament. Punters will still lay the big odds and back him in the Open, as his clay court play is the best in the world.

For Murray fans, it was nice to hear Nadal sing his praises after their match, saying the young Brit has the game to win Major tournaments, starting with the French Open. Odds will be favorable for the tennis betting public on Murray at Roland Garros.

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