Federer can become oldest World No.1 in Rotterdam

Melbourne: 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is on verge to become the oldest player to claim world number one spot in the men's tennis history after he accepted the late wildcard to play in next week's ATP event in Rotterdam.

Federer, who has agreed to play in the Dutch hardcourt event for the first time since 2015, currently sits on the second spot in the world rankings.

He is just 155 points behind old-rival Rafael Nadal, with 180 points up for grabs if he makes it to the semi-finals in the Netherlands.

Nadal, on the other hand, is currently recovering from a thigh injury he sustained during the Australian Open and is not slated to make a return to the tennis court until the Mexican Open in late February.

Talking about his participation in the tournament, Federer said, "The tournament is special for me. I remember playing for the first time in 1999 as it was one of the first events where I got the chance to play at the highest level."

Meanwhile, tournament director Richard Krajicek said that it is tremendous to have Federer playing in Rotterdam, especially after he won a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title last month with a five-set victory over Marin Cilic.

"After his fantastic result at the Australian Open, it is tremendous news that he will be joining us in Rotterdam. It is crowns to the celebration of the history of our tournament.The last 12 months have shown his tremendous drive. It makes perfect sense that he wants to capitalise on his current form," news.com.au quoted Krajicek, as saying.

It should be noted that USA's Andre Agassi has held the record as the oldest world number one in the men's player history since achieving the feat aged 33 years and 131 days in 2003.


source: news agency

Roger Federer into Australian Open final as Chung retires injured

MELBOURNE: Defending champion Roger Federer strolled into the Australian Open final in a bitter-sweet win after Chung Hyeon's retired injured in their semi-final on Friday.

The Swiss star was leading 6-1, 5-2 when the South Korean called it quits with foot blisters and will now face Marin Cilic in Sunday's final.

Chung, the first South Korean man or woman to play in a Grand Slam semi-final, was treated in a medical timeout for the left foot problem two games earlier.

But it came as a big surprise when the 21-year-old walked to the net at 30-30 and trailing 2-5 after 1hr 02mins in the second set to concede defeat.

It put Federer into his seventh Australian final as he chases his sixth Melbourne title and 20th Grand Slam victory.

Federer leads 2014 US Open champion Cilic 8-1 in their meetings.

The Swiss maestro now has a 30-13 win-loss record in Grand Slam semi-finals and has yet to drop a set in this year's Australian Open.

"You couldn't tell until the end," he said of Chung's injury problems. "That's probably why a lot of people are stunned (he retired).

"I could tell something was wrong before he took the injury timeout, but he has a great composure.

"I think he is already a great player, but we are talking next level excellence and I think he will achieve that.

"We will see much more of him. Top 10 for sure. The rest we will see."

It was a muted semi-final with the Rod Laver Arena retractable roof closed for rain further improving Federer's chances given his indoor record.

He broke Chung's opening service and twice more to romp away with the first set in just 33 minutes as the Korean made a flurry of errors.

It got no better in the second set with Federer again breaking in the fourth game before the trainer was called on to the court to treat Chung for his foot blisters.

Chung only lasted a bit more than two games before pulling out to a stunned silence.

"In the second set I felt he was starting to get a bit slower, fighting with a blister," Federer said.

"I've played with blisters in the past a lot, and it hurts a lot, and at one point it is just too much and you can't take it anymore.

"That's when you realise there is no way you can come back and you make things really worse, it is better to stop. That's why this feels bitter-sweet.

Source: News Agency

Stan Wawrinka feared for career during long layoff

MELBOURNE: Stan Wawrinka feared his debilitating knee injury might be the end of a glittering tennis career boasting three grand slam titles and said he had only been cleared to play the Australian Open two days before the tournament.

The 32-year-old Swiss also spoke on Saturday of his former coach Magnus Norman’s decision to end their partnership while he was injured, another sting in the tail during his battle through rehab.

The 2014 champion will bid for his second title at Melbourne Park but goes in with low expectations, having only decided he was fit enough to play after training on Saturday.

While not taking pain-killing injections, he said the knee was still painful and admitted he was far from his best level of tennis ahead of his first round match against unseeded Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis on Tuesday.

Stan Wawrinka

However, being cleared to play still felt like a “victory”, said Wawrinka, given personal doubts about his future following his knee surgery.

“For sure I was worrying a lot because I had eight weeks on crutches,” Wawrinka told reporters at Melbourne Park.

”I started my first fitness by just walking. The thing is, it’s always complicated when you’re like at that level before, you get (an) injury, you can get through pain mentally also, (you‘re) feeling lonely, not feeling good.

”It’s tough to explain because some people will always

think, ‘C‘mon, you have an amazing life, why do you

complain, why do you complain about feeling not great?'”

His former mentor Norman, who helped transform Wawrinka into a grand slam-winning force, ended their four-year partnership in October, citing personal reasons in another major blow.

“For sure, it was already a tough, tough, tough moment for myself, to be out, to get surgery, to know that it will take at least six months to be back at a place where I can play tennis again,” said Wawrinka, who has not played a competitive match since being knocked out of the first round at Wimbledon.

”When you are in a tough place like that as an athlete, you want the people who know you the best to stay around you, to stick with you.

”You want your team, your family to be here.

“For me, Magnus, he was my coach, but he was a friend, even closer than a friend. It was tough to know that he will not be here to start again with me. I was more sad than angry at him.”

Wawrinka, seeded ninth in Melbourne, said he had practised for more hours in the week leading into the grand slam than he had in months but still needed to be “careful” about his knee.

“I practised with Rafa (Nadal), I practised with Novak (Djokovic), with (Tomas) Berdych, with (Gael) Monfils, with (Grigor) Dimitrov,” he said.

Source: News Agency

Federer still the man to beat at Melbourne Park

MELBOURNE : It might be argued that 36-year-old fathers of four have no business winning grand slam titles but try telling that to Roger Federer as the evergreen Swiss bids to claim a record-equalling sixth Australian Open crown in two weeks’ time.

Federer will saddle up for a 19th time in the main draw at Melbourne Park, looking to frustrate ‘Generation Next’ once again and defend the title he won last year during a stunning comeback from knee surgery.

No such queries hang over his fitness this year and if bookmakers are to be believed the other 127 men in the draw will be fighting for the scraps from Federer’s plate.

On immediate form, few could argue.

Federer, seeded second, arrives for a first round match against mid-ranked Slovenian Aljaz Bedene after cruising through an undefeated run at the Hopman Cup.

His major rivals, meanwhile, are either carrying injuries or returning from them, or in the case of ‘Big Four’ cohort Andy Murray, ruled out because of them.

A magical 20th slam might seem a formality for a player who did it all in last year’s tournament with the shortest of run-ups, but on closer inspection, Federer’s path through the draw is far from straightforward.

Danger lurks at almost every corner, with former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and a resurgent Juan Martin Del Potro, the man who beat Federer for the 2009 U.S. Open title, looming as threats before the quarter-finals.

Yet few would be surprised if the tournament ends in a repeat of last year’s final with Federer up against his great Spanish rival and top seed Rafa Nadal.

The pair split the four grand slam trophies between them last year, with Nadal, at 31, finishing the season as the ATP rankings’ oldest world number one.

Like Federer, Nadal has pared back his playing schedule to prolong his career but the strain still showed when he pulled out of the ATP Tour Finals in November with a knee problem after losing his opening match.

He missed warmup events in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane but appeared untroubled in an exhibition match win over Austrian world number five Dominic Thiem at Melbourne Park on Friday.

If fit and firing, 2009 champion Nadal will be hard to beat but needs to bring something new to the court if he ends up facing Federer, who won all four of their matches last year.

The Melbourne crowds will throw their support behind the two grand slam titans but the younger generation of players probably wish they would just go away.

Year after year the bright sparks and ‘Next Big Things’ have been denied by the ‘Big Four’ at the slams.

Even with Murray and Novak Djokovic out of the frame for much of 2017 due to injury, ‘Gen Next’ once again failed to make inroads at the four tournaments that really count.

Most bookmakers see third seed Grigor Dimitrov as the best chance among them to make a breakthrough in Melbourne, but still rate the Bulgarian lower than Djokovic, who brings a major query over his serving elbow, is seeded 14th and has barely swung a racquet in six months.

While Melbourne Park maestro Djokovic will bid for a record seventh Australian Open title, those fans hoping for a shake-up of the establishment may look to 20-year-old Alexander Zverev after his stellar 2017.

Like 22-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, fourth seed Zverev possesses a majestic game capable of toppling the very best but also has a propensity to crumble on the biggest stages.

Source: News Agency

Federer to open Australia Open against Bedene

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer will open his Australian Open title defence against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene next week, while top seed Rafa Nadal, the losing finalist last year, was paired with Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos at the draw on Thursday.

Women’s top seed Simona Halep of Romania faces Australian wildcard Destanee Aiava in the first round, with second seed Caroline Wozniacki starting out against Halep’s compatriot Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Serena Williams will not defend the women’s title having had her first child last year but 2008 champion Maria Sharapova, who failed a drugs test at the tournament in 2016, is back unseeded after a ban and will face Germany’s Tatjana Maria.

Williams’s sister Venus, who lost to her sibling in the final last year, is seeded fourth and the 37-year-old was handed a tricky first encounter against Swiss former world number seven Belinda Bencic, who is 17 years her junior.

Men’s third seed Grigor Dimitrov will face a qualifier, with Alexander Zverev, ranked fourth, playing Italian Thomas Fabbiano but with 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, returning after surgery, in his section of the draw.

Young gun Zverev had little luck in his first Australian Open draw as a top five seed with either Wawrinka, who plays Ricardas Berankis, or Novak Djokovic potentially standing in his path in the quarter-finals.

Six-times Melbourne Park champion Djokovic, seeded 14th after missing the back end of last season with an elbow injury, will take on American lefthander Donald Young in his first match with mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils looming in round two.

Federer also has Milos Raonic, Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin and Tomas Berdych in his quarter of the draw, while Nadal would appear to have the easier section, although former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic looms as a last-eight opponent.

If the draw goes to seeding, Dimitrov would face American Jack Sock in the last eight, with ailing world number five Dominic Thiem, who withdrew from Kooyong because of illness on Thursday, taking on Zverev.

Britain’s Andy Murray and Japan’s Kei Nishikori have already withdrawn from the championships and women’s world number three Garbine Muguruza has twice pulled out of tournaments over the last two weeks due to leg cramps and a thigh problem.

The Wimbledon champion is scheduled take on France’s Jessika Ponchet in the first round, while French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was paired with veteran Francesca Schiavone and U.S Open champion Sloane Stephens will take on China’s Zhang Shuai.

Australia’s sole men’s seed, Nick Kyrgios, takes on Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva and local women’s 18th seed Ashleigh Barty takes on Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.

Source: News Agency

Evergreen Federer is clear Australian Open favourite

Roger Federer is the “clear favourite” to retain his Australian Open title over an injury-riddled field when the first grand slam of the season starts next week in Melbourne, tennis analysts said.

Federer’s bid for a 20th grand slam title will be aided by the absences of Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori, as well as lingering injuries to top players who are still expected to play like Rafa Nadal and Stan Wawrinka.

But more so than the competition, it is the 36-year-old Federer’s dominant play at this month’s Hopman Cup, where he won all four of his singles matches and led Switzerland to a third title, that gives him the edge.

“He looks younger than ever,” ESPN tennis analyst and former professional Patrick McEnroe told reporters on a call on Wednesday.

“He’s moving as beautifully as ever. He’s hitting the ball brilliantly. Wins four or five matches at the Hopman Cup against high-level competition. To me, he’s the clear favourite.”

Bookmakers are also expecting the world number two to successfully defend his title.

Federer ($2.75 AUD) is the favourite to win the tournament, according to Australian Gambling, with world number one and last year’s Australian Open runner-up Nadal ($5.50) trailing him.

“He could always get picked off early,” McEnroe said.

“But based on what I’ve seen so far... I don’t think there’s anybody else that you could say is a favourite other than Roger at the moment.”

ESPN analyst and former world number one Chris Evert said his experience and smooth style of play, which has left him relatively injury-free, set him apart from the field.

“This is a guy who is so relaxed... I think that affects him mentally as well as physically,” she said.

“Mentally and emotionally, having kids, having a family, he gets away from the game. He knows how to compartmentalise really well.”

“He lets the losses roll off his back, there’s no tension there. I think he has a real joy for the game,” she said.

“That’s what makes Federer, Federer.”

The Australian Open runs from Jan. 15-28.

Source: News Agencies