Greatest ever debate starts as Nadal beats Federer

PARIS: Rafael Nadal's win over Roger Federer in the French Open final on Sunday will reignite the age-old debate about who is the greatest player of all time.

Spain's Rafael Nadal holds the cup after defeating Switzerland's Roger Federer, right, in the men's final match for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, June 5, 2011, in Paris. PIC/AP

Both men are scathing of any such comparisons, but that will not stop the arguments which are set to escalate as Federer, approaching 30, enters the twilight of his career and 25-year-old Nadal, fitness permitting, enters the prime of his.

The Spaniard's thrilling four sets win at Roland Garros means he now has 10 Grand Slam titles, with six French Opens, two Wimbledons, and one apiece at the US and Australian Opens.

He is now in sixth equal place on the all-time list level with 1920s American star Bill Tilden and just one behind legends Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg.

More pertinently he is now just six Grand Slam titles shy of the record currently held by Federer, who is five years older.

Having proved that he can play well and win on all surfaces, Nadal looks set to at least match Federer's total which would give him a statistical argument to claim he is the best player ever.

Not that it seems to matter much to the player himself.

"When you talk about these statistics, when you try and make these comparisons, really it's not very interesting to me," he said.

"I'm very happy with what I have, with who I am. I'm not the best player in the history of tennis. I think I'm amongst the best. That's true. That's enough for me."

Sentiments echoed by Federer, who long laid siege to Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles which he equalled with his crucial win in the 2009 French Open and then followed up by winning at Wimbledon the same year and at the Australian Open in 2010.

"Who cares where you stand," he said.

"It's when it's over that you can't do anything any longer, that's when you're proud of what you accomplished.

"That's why I'm happy for him (Nadal) that he's won these Grand Slams and these tournaments. He can prove to people that he can play a good type of tennis. This is what counts."

If both men are unwilling to enter the debate, they certainly are acutely aware of the intensity of their rivalry, one of the greatest in the history of any sport.

To date the two have met an incredible 25 times, 14 of these on clay, since a teenage Nadal shocked Federer in straight sets on the Miami hardcourts in early 2004.

The Swiss star grabbed his first win over the Spaniard at the same tournament the following year when he bounced back from two sets to love down to win.

But since then it is Nadal who has dominated their head-to-heads and he now stands at 17-8 with a Grand Slam finals record of 6-2 against his arch-rival.

Despite the arrival of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro at the topmost level of the sport, Nadal and Federer both agree that in any tournament their greatest adversary is the other.

That rivalry will now switch over to London where Nadal will try to defend his Wimbledon crown with six-times former winner Federer desperate to equal the seven titles won by his great idol Sampras.

"That's obviously the huge priority right now, to win Wimbledon in a few weeks' time. That's always, for me, the number one goal in the season," Federer said.

"This is where it all started for me back in 2003; or even with Sampras earlier in '01. So that's why I always really enjoy coming back." — AFP

Nadal into final as Murray crashes

PARIS: Rafael Nadal moved to within one win of equalling Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open titles with a hard-fought yet convincing 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 semi-final win over a battling Andy Murray on Friday.

In pic: A jubilant Rafael Nadal reacts after beating rival Andy Murray in straight sets at Roland Garros Photo: GETTY IMAGES

It was a perfect way to celebrate his 25th birthday for the Spaniard, but he was made to scrap hard by the Scot who shrugged off the effects of an ankle injury to produce his best ever performance on clay.

The win sets up the five-times defending champion and top seed for a mouthwatering final on Sunday against the winner of the other semi-final opposing second seed Novak Djokovic and third seed Roger Federer.

For Murray, seeded four, his feisty performance was a fitting way to end a brave campaign that saw him battle through illness, a twisted ankle and a broken tooth as he continued his quest for a first Grand Slam title.

His only regret could be only converting three of the 18 break points he had on the Nadal serve.

"Andy is a fantastic player. He deserves to win a Grand Slam very soon," said Nadal.

"I saved a lot of break points at important moments. The conditions were not easy with the wind changing a lot.

"I will be playing next against the best player of all time (Federer) or against the best player at the moment (Djokovic), so we shall see."

Nadal went into the match as a strong favourite having taken his record at Roland Garros to 43-1 with an impressive straight sets quarter-final victory over Robin Soderling, the only man to have beaten him here.

Murray was playing his first French Open semi-final in his fifth campaign in Paris and he had lingering doubts over the right ankle he turned in his third round defeat of Michael Berrer.

The first four games were closely fought and took 28 minutes to complete but by the end of them Nadal had taken a 3-1 lead after Murray failed to convert the three break points he had.

More worrying still for the Scot was that he twice winced in pain when turning and twisting on his right ankle and was clearly not fully fit.

Nadal turned the screw to take a 5-1 lead but played an uncustomary sloppy game when serving for the set as Murray got back one of the service breaks.

He had to save two break points two games later, but dug deep to take the opening set 6-4 in 62 minutes, leaving the Herculean task facing Murray looking even tougher.

Still it was Murray who was mostly dominating the rallies going into the second set as he dragged Nadal about from side to side with his angled drives from the baseline.

But the Spaniard typically flung up his peerless defences and it was Murray who ceded serve first with an error-strewn fifth game.

A Nadal double fault gave Murray the break back to level at 3-3, and he rattled the Spaniard further in the following game before double-faulting himself on game point to allow Nadal to break again.

Murray made it four breaks in a row to level at 4-4, but despite some heroic resistance against a rampaging Nadal, he dropped serve again in the 11th game and Nadal served out for a two sets lead.

That seemed to break Murray's spirit and after dropping his serve to open the third set there was no way back for him as Nadal stormed through to his sixth final in seven years at Roland Garros.

Murray said that the gusting wind had made it difficult for both players.

"It was a very close match, there wasn't too much in it," he added.

"I had a lot of break point opportunities, but Rafa played well at those moments. Some of them I didn't play that well.

"I'm happy with the way I played but I still have a ways to go to be as good as him on clay.

"I look forward to that next year, but I now have got to look for ways of beating Roger and Novak an him on grass." — AFP

Sania-Vesnina finish runners up at French Open

Paris: India's Sania Mirza will have to wait some more for a women's doubles Grand Slam title after she, partnering Elena Vesnina, lost 4-6, 3-6 Friday to unheralded Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the French Open here.

Hlavackova and Hradecka are the sixth unseeded team to capture a major in three decades and are the second unseeded French Open finalists in 30 years.

They collect euros 330,000 while Sania and Elena take home euros 165,000.

The win put the two finalists 1-1 head-to-head. They had previously met once in the first round at Indian Wells with Sania and Elena winning in straight sets.

Sania had created history Wednesday when she became the first Indian woman to enter a Grand Slam doubles final. She and Elena upset top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pannetta and then beat fourth seeds American Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond to enter the final.

Sania and Elena, both 24, came together early in 2011 and with titles at Indian Wells and Charleston, were having a good year on the circuit, by holding a 20-4 record.

The two, however, failed to keep their unforced errors under check on a windy Friday to go down in one hour and 22 minutes. They struggled at the net and were found wanting against the two Czechs' powerful groundstrokes.

The Czechs, who had not lost a set in the tournament, also had better first serve percentage of 76 as compared to their opponents' 49.

Hlavackova and Hradecka broke the seventh seeds in the third and the fifth game of the first set for a 5-1 lead and held three set points on Sania's serve before the Indian held.

A few errors from the Czechs helped Sania and Elena to bridge the gap to 5-4 but Hradecka held her service game to go up a set.

The two pairs exchanged early breaks in the second set but Elena dropped her serve in the fifth game to swing the match in the Czechs' favour. They broke Elena again in the ninth game, when the Russian hit a forehand long, to win the set and title and broke into tears of joy.

Elena said it was a great experience reaching the final here and hoped to win a Grand Slam title soon.

"I thank Sania, our team and everyone who supported us. It has been a great two weeks for us. It was a great experience. I am sure we will have more wins on our way and I am hopeful we will make it some day," said Elena.

The Russian was the only one of the four finalists to have earlier played in a Grand Slam women's doubles final, having been runner-up at the 2009 French Open alongside Victoria Azarenka and in 2010 Wimbledon alongside Vera Zvonareva.

Sania had lifted a Grand Slam title, winning the Australian Open mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009 after losing the final the previous year. — IANS

We hold the edge in the final: Sania

Paris: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza says it was a "dream" for her to reach the women's doubles final of the French Open tennis and feels that she and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina hold the edge going into Friday's title clash against unseeded Czechs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

In pic: Sania Mirza eyes the ball as she plays a match in the French Open tennis tournament – AP

Sania Wednesday created history by becoming the first Indian woman to enter a Grand Slam doubles final when she and Elena shocked fourth-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

"We are ecstatic to be in the final. It is a dream for everyone whoever picks up a tennis racquet to be in the final of a slam. We have been playing very well together," Sania said.

"The partnership happened by chance. Elena is a good friend. We are of the same age and know each other from 14 years of age. We just randomly came together this year and and now are up for a slam together," Sania told TV channels.

Sania said they are the favourites in Friday's final.

"To be honest, we have been the surprise package this week. I don't think many people expected us to be in the final. We have defied odds this week and hope we can do it one more time. It will be about holding nerves," she said.

"Elena is an experienced player and has been in couple of finals in French Open here and in Wimbledon. I have also played couple of mixed doubles finals as well, so we have the edge over them. They never played in any slam finals. We have to come out with the goods for one more match."

"But sometimes the unseeded players can be tricky opponents because they have no pressure and nothing to lose."

The Czech pair shocked third-seeded Vania King of the US and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3.

Sania, who lifted a Grand Slam title when she won the mixed doubles with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi at the Australian Open in 2009 after losing the final the previous year, is in the midst of her best year on the Tour.

Sania has not only improved her singles ranking steadily to 72 before she came to Paris but she also made rapid progress in the doubles with Elena. The two women came together at the Qatar Open and quickly established themselves as a potent doubles combination.

Sania and Elena were seeded seventh here. Their win Wednesday was preceded by their stunner against top seeds Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pannetta at Stade Roland Garros.

In the semi-finals, the two were up against experienced doubles players.

The 37-year-old Raymond is a former French Open doubles champion and her partner Huber has won four Grand Slam doubles titles with Zimbabwean Cara Black, but she doesn't have the French Open title to her credit yet.

Sania and Elena played some brilliant tennis to go 4-1 up in the first set and in 30 minutes they were a set up. However, a stream of errors saw them lose the second set. Both the players came back strongly in the decider and Elena served out the set and the match.

"Last night we were very excited. It was a tight match and it came against players who have won grand slams before. So for us it was like believing that we could beat them," Sania said.

Sania and Elena, who won titles at Indian Wells and Charleston, hold a 20-4 record. Until Wednesday, they had not dropped a set in the tournament.

The two finalists have met once before, with Sania and Elena winning in straight sets in the first round at Indian Wells. Elena is the only one of the four finalists to play in a Grand Slam women's doubles final, having been runner-up at the 2009 French Open alongside Victoria Azarenka and in 2010 Wimbledon alongside Vera Zvonareva.

Hlavackova and Hradecka are the second unseeded French Open finalists in 30 years, the others being the 2008 runners-up Casey Dellacqua and Francesca Schiavone. If they win Friday, they would be the sixth unseeded team to capture a major in three decades. —IANS

French Open: Sania-Elena in semis, Bopanna-Qureshi quarters

Paris: India's Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina of Russia shocked top seeds Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy to enter the women's doubles semifinals of the French Open tennis here Monday.

Seventh-seeded Sania and Elena won 6-0, 7-5 in 66 minutes.

They now play the winner of the match between fourth-seeded Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond and fifth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

Earlier, India's Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan stormed into the men's doubles quarterfinals.

The fifth-seeded India-Pakistan pair defeated Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 7-5.

They now play top seeds Mike and Bob Bryan of the US who overcame stiff resistance from Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 7-6(6), 7-5. — IANS

French Open: Sania enters doubles quarters, Bhupathi exits

Paris: India's Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina defeated the Spanish pair of Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1 6-4 to qualify for the women's doubles quarterfinals of the French Open tennis here Sunday.

The Indo-Russian duo will now face top seeds Gisela Dulko of Brazil and Italian Flavia Pennetta, who defeated the Italian pair of Sarra Errani and Roberta Vinci 6-4 6-2 in their third round match.

Another Indian, Mahesh Bhupathi, however, bowed out of the mixed doubles event when he and his Chinese partner Jie Zheng lost 6-4 3-6 7-10 to Australian Rennae Stubbs and Brazilian Marcelo Melo in the second round.

Earlier, Bhupathi and Leander Paes crashed out of the men's doubles in the second round. —IANS

Paes-Bhupathi suffers shocking defeat at French Open

Paris: India's doubles exponents Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi failed to get a measure of Australians Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher and bowed out 6-7(7), 4-6 of the second round of French Open men's doubles here Saturday.

The third-seeded Indians could not break the Australians even once during the 92-minute clash. Huss and Fisher, on the other hand, were nimble-footed and sharp with their groundstrokes. They dominated the frequent net sparring and also served better, double-faulting only once in the entire match while the Indians had four of them.

In the first set, both teams served strong to enforce a tie-breaker. The Indians had two set points but failed to convert. A superb backhand volley by Huss gave the Australians their first set points and they sealed the set when Bhupathi's forehand sailed long.

Huss and Fisher carried the momentum in the second game and broke Paes' serve in the seventh game. They soon served out the set and the match.

The third-seeded Indian pair had been the champions here twice--1999, 2001. They split in 2002. They reunited this year in Chennai Open in their quest to win the only Grand Slam missing from their cabinet, the Australian Open. They reached the final in Melbourne but lost to Bryan brothers.

After their split, Paes won here for the third time with Czech Lukas Dlouhy in 2009. —IANS

French Open: Paes-Bhupathi, Bopanna-Qureshi advance, Somdev exits

Paris: India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the men's doubles second round along with compatriot Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi but it was the end of the road for Somdev Devvarman in the French Open tennis here Thursday.

Third-seeded Paes and Bhupathi overcame a set loss to defeat Germans Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. They now play Australians Ashley Fisher and Stephen Huss.

Bopanna and Qureshi, seeded fifth, defeated Italians Andreas Seppi and Simone Vagnozzi, 6-3, 6-2. The India-Pakistan pair now plays Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina and Kei Nishikori of Japan.

Somdev, who is already out of the singles first round, partnering Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei went down to Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 4-6. — IANS

Sania falters, drops out of French Open singles

Paris: An erratic Sania Mirza failed to seize the opportunities and lost 2-6, 4-6 to 12th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the women's singles second round at the French Open tennis here Thursday.

Though the 72-ranked Indian lost in straight sets it was an evenly fought match with a string of long rallies. It was a windy morning at Roland Garros and both players had difficulty in serving, more so for Sania whose nine double faults did not help her cause.

Sania hit her groundstrokes fluently on either flank, but in an attempt to go for the winners she could not keep a check on the mounting errors (42), and to add to her misery her double faults came at critical junctures.

Radwanska, the World No.13, herself struggled to find the rhythm but she still managed to keep the ball in play.

Sania, who has never gone beyond the second round in the singles here, could not hold her serve in the first set and the two games she won was by breaking Radwanska in the first of the match and the seventh.

She, however, made a spirited start to the second set, taking a 2-0 lead, but let go of the advantage in the fourth game. The two traded breaks again before Radwnanska held her serve, though not before staving off a break point. The Indian had her chances to nose ahead 5-4, but she could not convert a break point. She yet again dropped her next service game to lose the set and the match in 76 minutes.

Sania is still alive in the women's doubles where she, partnering Russian Elena Vesnina, advanced to the second round Wednesday. In the mixed doubles, her partner is compatriot and doubles expert Rohan Bopanna. — IANS

French Open: Paes, Bhupathi in mixed doubles second round

Paris: India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi with their respective partners advanced to the second round of French Open mixed doubles here Wednesday.



The seventh seeded pair of Paes and Czech Iveta Benesova defeated France's Aravane Rezai and Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgria 6-3, 6-1.

They now await the winner of the match between India's Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna and Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei and Marcin Matkowski of Poland.

In contrast, the fifth-seeded pair of Bhupathi and China's Jie Zheng had to dig deep to beat Czech Petra Kvitova and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukrain 6-7(3), 6-0, 10-8.

They now play the winner of the match between Czech Klara Zakopalova and Frantisek Cermak and Rennae Stubbs of Australia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. —IANS

French Open: Somdev loses to Ljubicic after starting well

Paris: An inconsistent Somdev Devvarman failed to consolidate on a solid start and lost 4-6, 3-6, 4-6 to veteran Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the men's singles first round at the French Open tennis here Tuesday.

In pic: Somdev Devvarman in action

Somdev, who has had a decent run on the Tour this year, looked good to take the Croat a fair distance after the way he started. After an early break all he needed was to hold his serve to take the first set. He lost his way and once Ljubcic snatched the first set, the Indian could not gather himself for a fight.

The start for the Indian was too good. He played fluently to go 4-2 up in the first set and was 40-15 on his serve in the eighth game, but dropped it and soon the set as the 32-year-old Croat won four games on the trot. The Indian, thereafter, was good only in patches and bowed out after battling it out for two hours.

The 26-year-old Indian, who made only his second appearance at Roland Garros, is yet to win a match here. He, however, is in contention in the doubles where he is partnering Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei. They open against Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez.

Somdev dictated the rallies in the first few games of the match, producing some stunning groundstrokes from the backcourt off the backhand. So solid was he from the basline that he forced Ljubicic to charge the net to cut off the rallies.

It was Somdev's forhand that let him down when he was serving 40-15 in the eighth game. Ljubicic, semifinalist here in 2006, swiftly grabbed the opportunity and breaking the Indian a second time in the tenth game, he went a set up.

From then on, Ljubicic's serve was spotless, he didn't commit a single double fault in the entire match and didn't drop his serve in the remaining two sets. It took him just 29 minutes to pocket the second set, breaking Somdev in the eighth game.

In the decider, the Indian did well to hang on in the marathon first game that went for six deuces, but a forehand error undid all his hard work of 14 minutes.

A break up, Ljubcic only stepped on the gas and the hapless Indian simply went through the motions.

The Croat now plays the winner of the match between 24th seed Sam Querrey of the US and Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber. —IANS

French Open: Paes-Bhupathi seeded 3rd, Bopanna-Qureshi 5th

Paris: India's Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have been seeded third in the French Open tennis men's doubles and face Germany's Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner in the first round.


Mahesh Bhupathi (left) and Leander Paes

India's Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Quereshi have got the fifth seeding. They take on Italians Andreas Seppi and Simone Vagnozzi.

Also in the fray is Somdev Devvarman, who is partnering Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei. They open against Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Feliciano Lopez.

In the women's doubles, India's Sania Mirza and Russia's Elena Vesnina are seventh-seeded and they begin their campaign against Russians Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova. —IANS

French Open: Sania enters second round with convincing win

Paris: Sania Mirza hardly broke sweat during her 6-3, 6-3 first round victory over Germany's Kristina Barrois in the French Open women's singles here Monday.

Sania Mirza in action

The 72nd-ranked Indian, in her four singles appearance here, had only once crossed the first hurdle in 2007.

She was in a sublime touch against her World No.73 opponent. The 24-year-old Indian was strong on both the flanks and her groundstrokes had the punch to leave Barrois scurrying to corners.

Sania also had a better first serve percentage of 77 as compared to Barrois' 57. The Indian's seven double faults were the only blip in her otherwise convincing performance.

She raced away with the first set in 34 minutes, breaking the German in the fourth and the eighth game.

The Indian carried the momentum in the second round and with a superb forehand down the line broke Barrois in the third game. She, however, squandered the advantage in the sixth game but broke back immediately to nose ahead.

A backhand error by Barrois in the ninth game gave Sania two match points and she sealed the set and the match with a backhand down the line.

Sania will next play the winner of the match between Austria's Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. —IANS