100th victory, federer create record in tournament..

Roger Federer fended off an audacious comeback by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the ATP World Tour Finals for a record sixth time in London Sunday.

A pumped up Federer wrapped up a 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over Tsonga in his 100th career final to end 2011 on a conspicuous high note.

Consecutive titles in Basel, Paris, where he also beat Tsonga in the final, and at the season-ending championships have seen the Swiss maestro reclaim the No.3 spot in the world from Britain's Andy Murray.

But he had to withstand a mid-match onslaught from his French opponent, who broke Federer as he served for the match at a set and 5-4 to the good.

Tsonga also saved a match point in the second set tiebreaker before leveling at one set all.

But as in the first set, Federer broke Tsonga again in the eighth game of the decider and made no mistake when he served for the championship for the second time.
"I couldn't be more happy my season ends this way. I'm exhausted, Jo sapped every last energy out of me today," Federer said.

His triumph lifted the Swiss maestro out of a tie with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras for titles at the ATP's end-of-season finale. It was his 70th career crown.

It will also compensate for failing to add to his 16 grand slam crowns this season as Novak Djokovic, who failed to make it out of the round robin group stages in London, dominated with three.

Rafael Nadal, who beat Federer in the final to win the French Open title, was also eliminated at that stage as he lost to Tsonga in a deciding match.

Earlier, third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor beat the Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5 6-3 to win the ATP World Tour Finals doubles title.
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Federer claims record 15th grand slam title

Roger Federer claimed his record 15th grand slam crown and sixth Wimbledon title as he beat Andy Roddick 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14 in an epic final on Sunday.

Federer had been tied for grand slam wins with Pete Sampras, who watched the spellbinding clash on Centre Court.

The second seed was pushed to the very limits by his big-serving opponent, with the climax coming in a marathon 30-game fifth set.

Leading 15-14, Federer forced his first match point against a tiring opponent who mishit a forehand to see his own hopes of victory cruelly ended.

It was the first time that sixth seed Roddick had dropped his service in a match lasting four hours and 18 minutes.

The triumph will see Federer reclaim the world number one spot from Rafael Nadal, who beat him in last year's final but missed this year's championships through injury.

Federer profile: One of the greatest.

Federer, who won his first French Open crown last month, told BBC Sport that he was aiming to win yet more grand slams.

"It's been quite a career and quite a month for me. I don't play tennis to break records and it doesn't mean I'm going to stop playing. I hope to come here and play some good tennis in the future," he said.

Roddick led by a set and had four set points in the second set tiebreaker before the Swiss maestro clawed his way back into the match in the space of a few moments.

Federer saved three set points with gutsy play, but on the fourth Roddick had only to put away a comfortable backhand volley, only to put it well wide.
It proved a crucial mistake as Federer quickly won the next two points to seal the breaker 8-6 and level at a set all.

With both men dominant on their own service, the third set also went to a tiebreak and this time it was Federer who made the running, claiming three set points.

Roddick saved two on his own service, but Federer duly closed out the set on the third.

But the American, who had broken Federer in the 12th game to claim the opening set, repeated the feat in the fourth game of the fourth as he forced him to net a volley.

Secure on his own service, Roddick had no trouble in holding to claim the set 6-3 and make sure the final went the full distance.

Both men were again dominant on their serve in the fifth set and it became a question of who would blink first.

Federer had a break point in the fourth game, while Roddick, who had put out home hope Andy Murray in the semifinals, set up two break points at 8-8.

But Federer decisively saved them both as the marathon headed towards its thrilling climax.

Sampras, who had flown in from California especially for the final, believes Federer is the greatest player in history.

"I think you have to give it to him," said the 14-time grand slam winner.

"The critics say (Rod) Laver, and (Rafael) Nadal's beaten him a few times in majors.

"But he's won all the majors, he's won 15 now, he's going to win a few more. In my book he is (the greatest)."

In the final action of the Wimbledon fortnight, Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld paired up to win the mixed doubles final as they beat top seeds Leander Paes and Cara Black, 7-5, 6-3.
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Source:CNN

Tags: Federer

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Roddick dumps out Murray in epic semifinal

American sixth seed Andy Roddick ended Andy Murray's hopes of winning Wimbledon after beating the British number one in four thrilling sets on Centre Court on Friday.

Third seed Murray was hoping to become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936, but he was eventually out-gunned by an inspired Roddick who went through 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6.

Roddick will now face Roger Federer, who has beaten him in their two previous Wimbledon final meetings -- in 2004 and 2005.

"I had to play my very best tennis to win. I can't say enough good things about Andy, he played so well, but I can play well sometimes too," Roddick told BBC Sport.
"Not many people gave me a chance before the match, but I knew I could win. Throughout my career I have had many shortcomings but trying hard is not one of them.

"In fairness, he had all the pressure on him -- and that probably helped me a bit. I played very very well and it's a dream to reach another grand slam final after a couple of barren years."

Murray was punished for being too passive in the opening set and, although he bounced back in the second, Roddick's bullet serving and consistent all-round game earned him a third Wimbledon final appearance against Federer.

The pressure of the match showed on the British number one: in the third set Murray was warned for bad language.

Murray told a news conference: "You always expect your opponents to play well at this stage of the tournament. I had a few chances in the first tie-break and also had chances early in the third set and I didn't take any of them.

"I thought I played well, but he served really, really well. He was serving at a high pace and at such a high percentage, sometimes there's not a whole lot you can do.

Source:CNN

Tags: Ridduck, Murray, wimbledon, roger federer

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Murray taken to four sets before progressing

Third seed Andy Murray is through to the second round of the Wimbledon men's singles, but he dropped a set to American Robert Kendrick before eventually progressing 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-4.

Murray, who has a realistic chance of becoming the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936, now faces Latvian Ernests Gulbis for a place in the last 32 after a tough match that lasted over two-and-a-half hours.

The Scot got off to an ideal start, breaking his opponent's serve in the opening game and winning the first 11 points on his own to seize an early advantage.

Kendrick levelled things up at 4-4 but Murray broke again to clinch the set in the 12th game of the set.

The second set was dropped on a tie-break but Murray resumed control of the match when the American double faulted twice to concede a 4-2 lead in the third.

Kendrick, world ranked 76th, was broken in the fifth game of the fourth set when Murray zipped a backhand past the American and, from then on, Murray held his serve to secure a hard-fought victory.

Murray told the BBC: "It was a tough match. He served great for three sets. He was very aggresive and I didn't play as well as I would have liked, although I was happy with my serve.

"I didn't hit my groundstrokes well to begin with, but the longer the match went on the better that I got and I'm happy to have gone through," added the British number one.

Meanwhile, Andy Roddick maintained his record of never having lost in the first round at Wimbledon -- but he was far from convincing against France's Jeremy Chardy.
Sixth seed Roddick, twice a beaten finalist here, opened the match with two aces and raced into a 5-0 lead for the loss of just three points in 12 minutes on Centre Court.

But after taking the first set 6-3 and the second on a tie-break, Roddick lost the third set and looked bereft of ideas before a timely 'comfort break' helped the former world number one regain his composure and secure a 6-3 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory.

In other matches, fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro produced the most impressive performance of the day with a crushing straight sets victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement on Court One.

The Argentine raced to a 6-3 6-1 6-2 victory in just 97 minutes to set up an intriguing second-round clash with former champion Lleyton Hewitt -- who eased past American Robby Ginepri in straight sets.

"Clement is a good player. He knows how you play on this surface and reached the quarterfinals last year. I prefer hard courts for sure, but I want to learn how to play on this surface," Del Potro told reporters.

Hewitt, the 2002 champion but unseeded this year, said in a press conference: "It's gonna be a tough match. He is a class player. He was only a couple of points from maybe winning the French Open a couple of weeks ago.
"It's a different surface and he hasn't had the best success but, as I said, he is a class player. He's an all-court player. He's got a big game. It's going to be a good challenge."

There were also first round victories for seeds Nikolay Davydenko (12), Tommy Haas (24), Tomas Berdych (20), Radek Stepanek (23), David Ferrer (16) and Fernando Gonzalez (10).

Source:CNN

Tags: Andy Murray, American, tournament, winning, serve, Victory, France, game, nikolay Davydenko, Tommy haas, tomas berdych, redek stepanek, david ferrer, fernando gonzalez

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