The Whole Delivery

From RolandGarros.org In arguably his most satisfying Grand Slam semifinal win ever, Roger Federer has impressively defeated Novak Djokovic in four amazing sets, ending the Serbian's remarkable 43 match winning streak here in Paris. It was quite the performance from a man desperate to show people that he can be the best again in tennis, despite both his growing age and dealing with the likes of Rafael Nadal and Djokovic standing in his way. All facets of his game, from his deadly forehand to his pinpoint serve, were clicking at optimum levels today for the 16 time Grand Slam champion. And those shots were just too much for even the inform, seemingly impenetrable Djokovic to make the win streak reach an amazing 44. Federer fittingly backed up his world class serving with an ace on match point as darkness beset on Court Chartier. And he made sure to remind anyone who he was exactly again, just in case they forgot. His name is Roger Federer, and he is a legend. From RolandGar...

At the days' beginning, disappointment would have been on most tennis fans' faces if the dream final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer somehow did not happen. At days end, that disappointment could possibly be made easier, if not be wiped away completely . In a remarkable effort, Novak Djokovic has played the role of ultimate spoiler, fighting off two match points to defeat Federer 5-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the final against Nadal tomorrow. Nothing short of "terrific" could be the adjective to describe this second semifinal, the total opposite of Nadal's romp over Mikhail Youzhny in the preceding match. Djokovic delivered his best tennis arguably in two years with this display today, hitting his backhand and forehand with the conviction that garnered him the 2008 Australian Open title. No more was that assurance in his strokes more evident than the two match points at 4-5 in the final set he saved, as Djokovic hit two back to back forehand...

Andy Murray has defended his title at the Rogers Cup, becoming the first player since Andre Agassi to win Montreal and Toronto back to back, in a satisfying 7-5, 7-5 win over Big 4 nemesis Roger Federer. It was an aggressive Murray just like his previous two matches against David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal. That along with his usual defensive skills and, most importantly, staying the course mentally when Federer got back into the match, gave the Scot a massive win to propel his confidence into believing that he can finally go all the way at a Grand Slam. Despite the loss, Federer's week in Toronto did see an important gain for him, as he returns to the #2 spot in the rankings heading into Cincinnati.

Last year, Roger Federer was on the end crying in despair for whole world to see. Today, he was the reason why Andy Murray shed tears of pain. Just like his 360 degree reversal between Wimbledon 2008 and 2009, Federer turned around his 12 month disheartening misfortunate in Melbourne into satisfying redemption by defeating Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) to capture his 4th Australian Open and record 16th Grand Slam title. And in the process, he passed the bug of sullen anguish toward the Scot, denied a second time by the legendary Swiss at ending Grand Slam anguish for himself and for Great Britain. "I can cry as well as Roger, shame I can't play as well as Roger" uttered the dejected Scot in full lachrymose mode in the post-match speeches. And that inability to play as well as Roger was thanks to a serve that was lacking and an inability to be effectively aggressive when he had to be nothing short of that. Murray waited too late to crush his backhand and forehand, ...

But he had every right to be angry at the umpire for two things: For the linesman to give del Potro all the time in the world to challenge the call, and for then the linesman for telling Federer to be quiet. Now there are some comparing this to Serena Williams antics on Saturday , and how people aren't slamming the Swiss Master for his comments. Truly ridiculous that false equivalency is. Serena lost match point thanks to her diatribe, and her actions were indeed extreme. Federer, though clearly apoplectic there (and to be honest, in the heat of battle, Federer is known to be an intense competitor who will say things like that) , was no where near as outrageous as Serena was. Yet, you may here that argument being raised, no matter how dumb it is.

For the sixth consecutive year, Roger Federer is in the United States Open Final. And for the sixth consecutive year, he faces a different opponent. Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray have all fallen at the mercy and hands of the meticulous masterclass that the Swiss Masters has bestowed to them on Arthur Ashe in his final five titles. Will Juan Martin del Potro be next? That question brings a definitive "Yes" from most, despite the 6'6 20 year old Argentine playing the best tennis of his young career, and being arguably the best player on the hard court in the summer. His record of being 0 for 6 in his matches against Federer don't facilitate his chances. And if you saw that quarterfinals woodshed beating del Potro took at the hands of the world number one at the Australian Open in January, you would figure that this will be an easy 16th Grand Slam title for Federer. But Juan Martin del Potro is arguably coming into this match...

Yes, that is the case. You can't question the heart and desire of Andy Roddick. But he is in trouble here at the early stages of the fifth set. He says break point, but we'll see what happens.

Federer is up one set on Haas right as I type this. It won't be serious updating as it was yesterday unless something major goes down. And I think Roddick won't win a set today against Murray. And I still believe Murray will win this title. And......I still believe NBC hates the tennis fans of the world at the end of the day. Heck, even the NY Times agrees with me ....even though they don't say the "hate" word of course. Update : And by the way, Venus and Serena are delivering a major beatdown to the number one Cara Black and Liezel Huber. THE NUMBER ONE DOUBLES TEAM IN THE WORLD ladies and gentlemen. Oh ho hum. 9: 40 AM Two sets to love to the Swiss. Haas has played so well, but once again, Federer is taking his heart out again. 10:11 AM And there it is, he closest it out in style with a Samprasian smash. 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-3.......Roger Federer defeats Tommy Haas to advance to his stunning 7th consecutive Wimbledon final. Great stuff indeed, and of course, he'l...

Here's the venerable Bud Collins talking to David Lloyd yesterday on ESPN What Collins says here is exactly right about Roger Federer not being the greatest player yet because of his record against Rafael Nadal. In order to truly have that claim, Fed and everyone else with at least decent tennis knowledge knows that he will help his G.O.A.T credentials if he somehow gets his duels with Nadal back to even levels. But in an interview later in the day on ESPNews, Collins then says that Pete Sampras had a tougher era than Federer. Despite my admiration for Collins, he couldn't be more wrong. Yes, the top 5 in Sampras prime included the likes of Agassi, Courier, Chang, and a few others while Pete was truly in his prime. And they have of course won more Grand Slams than say, the Andy Roddicks, Marat Safins and David Nalbandians of the world. But the game has been immensely harder as the years progressed, and the depth in the men's game, especially around the year 2000 when the Ma...

From tennis.com Fitting. That's the one word that is needed to describe what transpired today in Roland Garros on Court Philippe Chartier, a court whose name today felt like it didn't have its usual name. Because it was an unusual day during an unusual fortnight on the Parisian red clay. Sometimes, the unusual presents despair, confusion, and even an encumbrance because it alters the normal rhythm of usual events. But there was nothing unwanted about Roger Federer's unusual moment today. Because it was fitting. Fitting that Andre Agassi was there to present him with the trophy. Fitting that a rainy day, not seen before in the previous three years he played on Finals Sunday on Chartier, was the forecast that the weather validated. Fitting that Bill Gates was in the crowd (and throw Tony Parker and Eva Longeria in there as well). Fitting that Bjorn Borg witnessed it, and fitting that, well, the unusual Robin Soderling was the unusual opponent for this at the time, 13 time gra...

And And to remind you again, Liz Cheney is a "Great Guest!" Enjoy the posts below, and the rest. I'm outie for the next few.

Photo from AFP/Getty Images Amazing, just amazing. But Roger Federer's run to the Finals of the French Open, as well as the fact that both NBC and ESPN continue to royally screw the tennis fans in America with the most disgraceful coverage arguably in all of sports history. No one in the United States, unless they had an online streaming of the match, was able to see in real time how Federer was able to comeback from two sets to one down and defeat a confident Juan Martin del Potro just a few minutes ago, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. It was terrific display of heart and desire from the man looking for that elusive French Open title (he'll take on Robin Soderling who had a terrific five set win himself), and an abominable display, yet again though, from the two networks covering this tournament in the United States. To say in the very least, NBC and ESPN once again betrayed the tennis fans of this nation. And if the Dinara Safina-Svetlana Kuznetsova match goes past the alloted ...

Photo by Clive Bruskill & Ryan Pierse/Getty Images Coming into this tournament, there was no question who was the number one player on the men's side, while the same question on the women's side was up for open and honest debate. Now, heading into the semifinal stages of this year's French Open, the debate has potentially led to the answer of the number one question flipping flopping on both gender's slides. The dominating straight set win Roger Federer had today, and the difficult defeat Serena Williams suffered earlier in the day has lead to that scenario happening. First, on Serena's defeat. I always though that she would crash out of the tournament at this stage, because the quarterfinal stage is always the telling stage to whether a Williams sister is ready to claim a Grand Slam or not, and most importantly, the person on the other side of the net was Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-5 today by the Russian was the revenge she needed for blowing the ...

If you can't see them above, which you should be able to, here are today's TWD headlines: And disturbingly, And for you Federer fans! And you can click on the photos to read about them. Peace

(Photo from FFT) Gael Monfils, as usual, pumped up the fans in his win today over at Andy Roddick French Open Day 9 Review: Serena Williams is the last standing American on the singles side at Roland Garros, as Andy Roddick was no match today for the talented 22 year old Gael Monfils. From the second game on, outside of some gritty efforts by the number one American, the match was totally dominated by the last year's French Open semifinalist. Despite caring tendinitis in one of his knees that placed his participation in this tournament a serious doubt, Monfils has recovered nicely. His massive advantage in foot speed, athleticism, and comfortability on clay was evident, as it rendered any confidence Roddick had coming into his first appearance in the second week of the Parisian Grand Slam. The 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win propels Monfils into the quaterfinals to take on the gentleman who vanquished him 12 months ago, Roger Federer. Federer came from two sets to none down against former nemesi...

Photo from Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images French Open Report: Novak Djokovic was headed to a possible collision course with Roger Federer in the semifinals. And with the form he showed all throughout the spring, a possible match with Rafael Nadal in the final. Instead, the world number four collided into Philipp Kohlschreiber today, and crashed out of Roland Garros in stunning fashion. A 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 laydown by the Serbian at the hands of the solid but far from spectacular German, unless you are talking about today. From the get go, Kohlschreiber was locked in for the upset, serving proficiently and using his terrific one handed backhand to full success. But Djokovic looked sluggish and had the wear and tear of a long clay court season spell his demise. 38 unforced errors from the 2008 Australian Open champion, and he summed up how dejected he was with the shocking result . "What is disappointing was that I couldn't find the rhythm throughout the whole match. This is what...

Photo from Hassan Ammar Critics of Andy Murray are finding it very difficult to label concern and questions on him these days. The world number four continued his assault towards the elite of the tennis game, scoring another win over Roger Federer to advance to the Qatar Final final against the other "Andy" on tour, Andy Roddick. Murray's 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 13 time Grand Slam champion is his fourth straight win against Federer (or third if you don't want to include his exhibition win over Federer in Abu Dhabi last week). And the win moved him into the bookmakers favorite to win the Australian Open. For the casual fan who doesn't know that much about the sport, that would be Murray's first Grand Slam title if he were to win in Melbourne. (And hopefully in the next few days, The Deft Volleys , a webblog dedicated to just the sports of tennis and soccer, will be released, where you can find more stories like this on that website.)

Photo by Imaginechina via AP Images After losing to Andy Murray in his first match, Andy Roddick had to defeat nemesis (though not for this year however) Roger Federer in order to stay alive at the ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai. Instead, he had to pull out : Andy Roddick has withdrawn from the Masters Cup after spraining his right ankle during practice—an injury that he said did not appear to be serious. Roddick made the announcement Wednesday, hours before he was to play Roger Federer in a Red Group match. He was replaced in the tournament by 26th-ranked Radek Stepanek, the first alternate here. It's funny how Stepanek, the 26th ranked player in the world, is the alternate. But that is what happens when David Nalbandian never wants to show up and be the actual alternate like he would have been this year, as well as last year. And speaking of Murray, he's through to the semifinals with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 win over Giles Simon , who beat Federer in their opening match. Murra...

(Photo from BBC.com)Andy Murray celebrates another massive Master Series title. First ever sports thread dedicated to tennis, so let's get right to it. Rafael Nadal will be number one at year's end thanks to Andy Murray knocking off Roger Federer at the Madrid Masters semifinals, the victory before the Brit won his second Masters-Series title of the year by handling the game Frenchman Giles Simon in the final in straights. While in Zurich, Venus Williams won that tournament's last ever title. The 5 time Wimbledon champion starved off a terrific performance from Ana Ivanovic in the semifinal (who finally played well for a change), and defeated Flavia Pennetta of Italy in straights. In one game, Venus hits four aces in a row, the first time she has ever done that, and she obviously was thrilled with that display of sheer brilliance. Here is the video: And here's the trophy celebration: Holla at ya tomorrow, peace.