‘In 2 years, I’m sure I can beat Federer’

… says the talented young player, Gasquet. He also talks in this atricle about the pressure he had to deal with and his performance this year.

Mumbai: He is been a star ever since he was nine — when he was featured of the cover of the French Tennis Magazine.

Life has never been the same for Richard Gasquet. One accolade has followed the other. Sample some. He was a top ranked player in the junior circuit. In 2002, at 15 years, 10 months, he became the youngest player in almost 14 years to win an ATP Tour match when he beat Argentine Franco Squillari in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The same year he became only the second youngest player ever to play a major when he competed in the main draw of the French Open. And a commentator called him “naturally more talented than Federer.”

But life hasn’t been all rosy for Gasquet, now 21. Success has come to him but not in the manner either he or his supporters could have expected.

His wins have been sporadic, to mention the right word. And big time success is still eluding him.

Gasquet doesn’t deny the same.

“At nine, I was really young and since a lot of people knew me, it was very difficult for me. The pressure affected my performance,” he says.

“But now I am 21, still under a lot of pressure but with a lot of experience.

I can’t complain now nor do I have a problem with it.” With four titles on three surfaces — besides the outdoor hard — Gasquet is under a certain amount of pressure in this tournament, where he happens to be the top seed.

“It will be tough for me. I’ll be under a lot of pressure from good players like Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis but I’d definitely want to win this. Besides I’ve never won on hardcourt,” he says. This year has been difficult for the young Frenchman vis-à-vis the last year, but Gasquet also self-admittedly, had his best moment of his career this fall.

“My semi-final in Wimbledon this year. I beat Roddick and played Federer in the Centre Court and that is my best memory,” he says.

On Federer, whom he managed to beat in their maiden meeting and lost the next six, he said: “It is definitely difficult to play Roger. I beat him two years ago in Monte Carlo. But I know I have to progress a lot,” he says. “In two years I’m sure I can beat Federer,” Gasquet signs off.

Full article at,

http://sports.indiainfo.com/2007/09/21/0709211116_federer-gasquet.html

Gonzalez wins Beijing

Fena won his eighth career ATP tiltle. It ended his title drought;this is his only title in the last 2 years. And, he is also able to end his finals losing streak. Before this he lost 5 consecutive finals. Now, he can fight for a spot in Shanghai.

Beijing (dpa) – Second seed Fernando Gonzalez nudged his season back on track on Sunday, defeating Spain’s Tommy Robredo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to lift the Beijing Open title.

The 27-year-old Chilean who last claimed a trophy in November, 2005, indoors in Basel, put himself firmly into the chase for a spot at November’s season-wrapup Masters Cup in Shanghai.

“It’s great to finally win a title,” said Gonzalez, playing in his third final of 2007. “I can still improve my game but I’m so happy to returning to my best.”

The race for Shanghai is tightening, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and US Open finalist Novak Djokovic already securing their spots in the eight-man field.

Gonzalez moved up to seventh in the points race while Robredo stands 11th.

Third-seeded Spaniard Robredo came to China with a ranking outside of the Top 10 (11th) for the first time since May of last year.

His lone title this season came two months ago at Sopot, Poland, on clay after losing the that Auckland final in January to compatriot David Ferrer.

Gonzalez earned a win after losing finals to Federer at the Australian Open and Nadal on clay in Rome.

The Chilean now stands 8-10 lifetime in ATP finals, winning his second trophy on hardcourt after Auckland two-and-a-half years ago.

Five of his trophies have come on clay courts and one, at 2005 Basel, came on indoor carpet.

Gonzalez now leads Robredo 3-2 in their career series, reversing a run of Robredo victories in their last two meetings several seasons ago.

Full article at,

http://www.bangkokpost.com/sportsplus/sportsplus.php?id=121722

Who is GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) Tennis Player?

Tennis-week magazine did a thorough and interesting analysis to find out who the greatest of them all is. The basic approach is…. not only the grand-slams, but all other factors such as titles, wins, percentages are considered for the calculation. It’s a long read, but its worth the time.

Here is the final list:

1. Laver – 126
2. Tilden, Borg – 118
4. Federer – 110
5. Gonzalez – 104
6. Rosewall – 100
7. Budge – 98
8. Connors, Lendl – 84
10. Sampras – 81
11. McEnroe – 79
12. Vines – 76
13. Kramer – 75
14. Perry – 72

Full table at,

http://www.sportsmediainc.com/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=17412

Full article at,

http://www.sportsmediainc.net/tennisweek/index.cfm?func=showarticle&newsid=17405

King Safin to climb “Cho Oyu” Mountain in the Himalayas

Marat Safin is about to start climbing the 8000+ metre mountain in the Himalayas. Perhaps he is trying to find his lost form

Russia’s will bid to scale the world’s sixth highest mountain, giving the former world number one a fresh challenge which looks set to rule him out of this month’s Davis Cup semi-final against Germany.

Safin is part of an eight-member Russian expedition which is due to leave Nepal on Friday to climb Cho Oyu, the 8,201-metre (26,906 ft) mountain on the Nepal-Tibet border, a Nepalese hiking official told Reuters.

“This is an interesting climb but he has (had) very good physical exercise,” Ang Tshering Sherpa, chief of the Nepal Mountaineering Association said on Thursday.

“He is young and energetic although the climb is challenging. I’m hopeful he will succeed,” said the official, who also heads Asian Trekking, the agency providing logistic support to the expedition.

He said the expedition was expected to last over a month, which is also likely to rule Safin out of the Mumbai Open starting on September 24, a day after the Davis Cup tie.

Expedition leader Alexander Abramov said a successful attempt would add to the stature of the two-time grand slam winner.

“Hopefully to his many victories in tennis, Marat will add one more victory on the sixth highest mountain in the world,” Abramov was quoted as saying on a mountaineering Web site.

Safin, who won the Australian Open title in 2005, has struggled with form and injuries since that triumph and his last match was a second round loss at this year’s U.S. Open.

Full article at,

 http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=reu-safinmountaineeringdc&prov=reuters&type=lgns

The Last Time… with Roger Federer

When was the last time Darth Federer played a match that no-one watched? When was the last time he played a practical joke in locker room? Excerpt from DUECE magazine article,

DEUCE Magazine questioned the ATP World No. 1 during the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati about being Roger Federer. So, when was the last time…

I hired a tennis court?
Probably in Switzerland somewhere. I always call and say ‘is it okay if I play’ and sometimes it happens they say ‘the court is taken at this time.’ So I had to come at a different time. But I don’t have to pay there anymore. Generally we struggle in Switzerland to get free practice courts but they gave me a special arrangement.

I played a match that no-one watched?
For a tournament match you’d probably have to go back to the juniors. It was only a practice set, but when I played Pete Sampras [at his house, before the Pacific Life Open in March] there were probably only three people watching.

I had to show my credential badge at a tournament?
It happens all the time because they want to scan your badge. They go after plastic, not faces.

I had a really unusual fan request?
I had a guy write to me asking for $10 million. He had some sort of story but it didn’t make a lot of sense.

I changed the home page on my computer?
When we launched rogerfederer.com – of course!

I went somewhere and wasn’t recognized?
I’m not sure about that one. It’s been a while.

I played a competitive sport other than tennis?
Honestly, I’m very careful these days to avoid injury. I stopped playing soccer matches. I don’t ski anymore. I try to save my energy.

I broke a string?
During practice in Dubai. In a match? It hasn’t happened very often. I think it may have happened once last year when I hit the knot, but I can’t remember at which tournament.

I visited a country for the first time?
India last year in December for UNICEF. (Read story)

I played a practical joke in the locker room?
Basically everyday with everybody. In Cincinnati we had a fight in the locker room with Dmitry Tursunov. There were probably six people involved, including three or four players, throwing about 50 balls at each other for 15 minutes. I won! [Editor's note: Towards the end of the fight, the Penn ball mascot chose the wrong time to return to the locker room and was mercilessly pummeled.]

I asked someone for their autograph?
Probably Tiger for a friend of mine and Thierry Henry for a friend. That was this year.

I exchanged a text message with Tiger?
After he won the PGA Championships. I had style. I just wrote ‘congratulations’ and a little bit more. But it didn’t have anything to do with 11 to 13 or anything.

I missed meeting a celebrity I wanted to meet?
Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller during Wimbledon. [Vogue editor-in-chief] Anna Wintour invited us over. But I said “Can’t do it. Gotta stay in Wimbledon and stay serious.” So I didn’t go.

I flew economy?
[Long pause] Yeah, it’s been a few years now.

Ferrero… The Entrepreneur

Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero has become an entreprener. He invetsed 7 million euros in a hotel venture. Nice artice from latest DUECE magazine.

The front door of the old cottage opens onto the feet of the Mariola Mountain; the sun lights the sky blue of the exterior. It is an ideal place to find peace, away from the hubbub of modern life.

Most people would keep the location a secret, for fear it would become a tourist trap upon their next visit. But its owner is different.

Juan Carlos Ferrero first visited the cottage with his coach Antonio Martinez in the summer of 2002 and eventually bought the property and land totaling 120,000 square meters in the Valencia municipal of Bocairente four years ago.

“My coach and I were thinking of doing something important after tennis so we started to think about hotels,” Ferrero explained. “We wanted something close to the [Juan Carlos Ferrero] academy. We looked for a long time and finally found an old house about 15 minutes away from the academy. It was perfect.”

Credit for the find must go to Martinez, his coach since the age of 10, who “pushed” Ferrero into buying it.

Martinez said: “I spotted the cottage between Onteniente and Villena and always admired the house. I’d driven past it regularly for 25 years! Juan Carlos bought the property, but it took him about two years to become enthusiastic about it.”

Both were 100 per cent involved through every stage of the renovation.

Ferrero employed Luis Sendra, a local architect and friend, to give the Masia Can Giner a new life while protecting the original structure. Sendra had previously helped build a modern house in the Equelite-Juan Carlos Ferrero Tennis Academy in Villena, where Ferrero moved to train at the age of 14.

“We started building the new structure three years ago,” said Ferrero. “But if often had to stop for three or four months to make new rooms, as the planning permission for the re-building made the process very slow, very slow.”

While the Spaniard flew around the world, from tournament to tournament, Sendra took care of the construction and Carlos Sierra’s Estudio M de I shaped the interior with elaborate designs and decoration.

“It was impossible to use my experiences of staying in a lot of hotels during my tennis career,” said Ferrero. “It is a small hotel, but there were thousands of things to decorate. I decided on some things of course… little things!”

After three years of work and seven million euros of expenditure, Hotel Ferrero was opened to the public in early July 2007. Both Ferrero and Martinez were ecstatic. “We are really satisfied, it was beyond our expectations,” said Martinez.

Situated 50 minutes from Valencia, the hotel boasts 12 luxury suites of which six have a terrace and private Jacuzzi. Wood and stone materials complement the individual coloring of each suite that house plasma television screens in the bed and bathrooms.

Natural light seeps into the library in one of the hotel’s towers, while guests can also enjoy the swimming pool, spa and fitness room. In the evening two restaurants: El Gavarra and El Goku offer guests the opportunity to taste a variety of cuisine.

The hotel provides a perfect vista, whether it is from the well-kept gardens to the tennis or paddle courts. Prices vary from 250 to 990 euros per night, for the 90 square-meter Suite 24 that also includes a dressing room, fire place and a bath tub at the feet of the bed.It can also cater for up to 500-people events and in the near future Ferrero is thinking about holding a tennis exhibition.

He’d also like to link up with his other business interests, such as the Open de Tenis de la Comunidad Valenciana – an ATP tournament that kick-starts the start of the European clay-court season each April.

Of course Ferrero is still a fearsome competitor on the court. At 27 years of age he has no plans to hang up his racquets just yet, but he remains excited about his new business venture and possible future career path. For now though, Ferrero is keeping his cards close to his chest over his next project.

“I think the career of a tennis player is very short and of course we have to think in the future,” he wisely commented. “I don’t know what is next. My tournament in Valencia is very important to me – that is where I was born – and is also one of the important businesses I want to develop in the future.

“We are thinking of new projects, new business. Just thinking. Maybe we’ll plan for a big gym in Valencia, but we’ll see.”

Full article at,

http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/deuce/summer2007/ferrero.asp

12 year old Rafa

This is a video of refa playing tennis when he was 12…

Federer posing with USO Cup in Times-Square

 

 

 

 

 

 

Federer and Sampras to play exhibition match in NewYork

Federer and Sampras are set to play exhibition matches this year end in Asia and March next year in New York. This is what federer said about the matches…

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, well, we gonna play XOs obviously in Seoul, Korea, Kuala Lumpur, and also Macau at the end of the year after Shanghai, three of them in a row.

The idea came along obviously to do it in the States as well. We’re going to play March 10 at Madison Square Garden here. I’m really looking forward to that. We’ll first see how the first three matches go. Hopefully I don’t have to come from behind, huh (smiling)?

Source: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2007-09-09/200709091189387326218.html 

Federer’s win in numbers…

What more is there to say about Roger Federer, who continues to rewrite the record books with every Grand Slam title he captures. He might not win as many matches or titles as he did the past couple of seasons, but Federer’s win over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final only reinforced his reign over the rest of the field.

Here’s our Top 10 list (and change) of Federer’s accomplishments resulting from his 12th career Grand Slam title.

0 — No one has beaten Federer in a Grand Slam final that wasn’t played at Roland Garros.

1 — First player in the Open era (i.e., since 1968) to win the U.S. Open in four consecutive years. Before 1968, Bill Tilden was the last player to win the U.S. Championships at least four years in a row, taking the title from 1920 through 1925.

2 — Number of players in the Open era who have won four consecutive Grand Slam titles at two events. (Bjorn Borg)

2.4 — Million dollars he earned for winning the U.S. Open. Prize money for winning the U.S. Open is $1.4 million, but because Federer won the U.S. Open Series, he earns an extra million.

3 — Times Federer has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in the same year (2004, 2006, 2007)

4 — Number of players Federer has lost to in 2007: Guillermo Canas and Rafael Nadal, twice; Djokovic and Filippo Volandri, once each.

5 — Career wins against Djokovic, including three in 2007.

6 — Titles Federer has won in 2007, tied with Nadal for the most this season.

7 — Set points Federer saved in the first two sets. Federer staved off five in the first set and two more in the second before winning both in tiebreaks.

8 — Number of players who have won at least four U.S. Open titles. Richard Sears, Bill Larned and Tilden won the most (7). In the Open era, the only players with more U.S. Open titles than Federer are Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras, each with five.

9 — Grand Slam sets Federer has lost in 2007: zero at the Australian, four at the French Open, three at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open.

10 — Consecutive Grand Slam final appearances. You have to go back to the 2005 French Open to find the last time Federer did not make it to the final of a Slam.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/ten…ory?id=3011976