Robby Ginepri was left with the task of saving the reputation of American men’s tennis on Wednesday after eight out of nine compatriots crashed out in the French Open first round. Former world number one Andy Roddick, the third seed, and James Blake, seeded eight, led the retreat from Paris.
Roger Federer next week launches his ninth attempt to crack the French Open riddle, which has continued to confound his dream of being crowned the greatest player of all time. The 26-year-old Swiss has made a habit of monopolising the other three Grand Slam tournaments on the calendar.
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/ 12 February 2007
Lleyton Hewitt’s Davis Cup heroics were not enough to save Australia, the 28-time champions, from crashing out of the 2007 tournament on Sunday when they slumped to a 3-2 defeat against Belgium. Hewitt won a marathon five-set, opening reverse singles against Olivier Rochus 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 3-6, 6-1 to leave the World Group first-round tie finely poised at 2-2 on the Liege indoor clay.
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/ 29 December 2006
Tennis embraces major changes in 2007 but Roger Federer’s paramount New Year resolution remains the same — to win the French Open. The Swiss superstar racked up another record-smashing year in 2006 with 12 titles, a 92-5 match record in which he won back his Australian Open title and defended his Wimbledon and US Open crowns.
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/ 20 November 2006
English giants Manchester United and Arsenal, who saw their high-speed Champions League campaigns hit the buffers last time out, aim to get back on track on Tuesday. Premiership leaders United travel to Celtic still smarting from a humbling 1-0 defeat at FC Copenhagen, which shattered their 100% start.
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/ 31 October 2006
Roger Federer blew a gaping hole in the credibility of the Paris Masters on Monday when the world number one joined Rafael Nadal in pulling out of the â,¬2-million tournament. The Swiss top seed cited fatigue for his no-show, the third year in succession he has opted out of the penultimate event of the season.
Roger Federer demolished Croatian danger man Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to move just two wins away from a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.
The world number one shrugged off two lengthy rain delays to rack up his 46th win in a row on grass against the man who was the last player to beat him here in 2002.
China and Russia rubbed salt into the United States’ Wimbledon wounds on Monday by underlining their status as the emerging superpowers in women’s tennis. Li Na became the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam while Russia saw three women make up the last eight with wins for Maria Sharapova, Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina.
Roger Federer was left with a clear run to a fourth successive Wimbledon final on Friday when danger men David Nalbandian and James Blake both crashed out in the third round. Argentinian fourth seed Nalbandian, one of just four men to have beaten Federer since the start of 2005, was dismissed by Spanish 28th seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (11/9), 6-2.
Ruthless Roger Federer crushed Tim Henman’s Wimbledon dream for another year on Wednesday while Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams were so merciless that they seriously undermined their equal prize money campaign. Federer, bidding for a fourth successive title, destroyed Henman 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 in just 84 minutes to notch up his 43rd consecutive grass court win.