domingo, agosto 26, 2007

Federer lives up to billing (Cincinnati Enquirer)

«Imagine if Roger Federer had to dust off all his tennis trophies.
Wisely, the world's No. 1 player protects them in the office-sized trophy room of his residence in Oberwil, Switzerland. "I got that problem solved by having them behind glass," Federer said, "so you don't have to dust them off all the time."
Federer collected a 50th ATP trophy to put behind glass Sunday in a 6-1, 6-4 victory against James Blake that took all of 66 minutes to complete the finals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
The match displayed the pinnacle of a transformation Federer underwent here in five matches at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Federer used up a lot of breath in post-match interviews this week, telling reporters how difficult of a time he was having "reading" the court. Anyone could beat him here, Federer asserted. Lleyton Hewitt, Blake, Nicolas Almagro - they all had Federer shaking in his Nike tennis shoes.
"Look," Federer said Thursday afternoon following a two-set victory, "there's many good players in there who I feel I can lose to at any time."»

Sampras' slam record Roger's next target

«If you believe Roger Federer, his pursuit of Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles happened almost by accident. This was not a kid who grew up dreaming of tennis stardom: Fascinated by basketball, Federer says, he decorated his bedroom with posters of Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal.

If you believe Federer, he is not "too obsessed" with getting the better of Rafael Nadal, no matter what it takes. Federer did, after all, give his on-court nemesis a ride on a private jet from last week's tournament in Montreal to this week's tournament in Ohio after learning that Nadal was having trouble finding a suitable commercial flight. Yep, there they were, thousands of feet above the earth, Roger and Rafa, chatting with their girlfriends over a sushi lunch, like any pair of wealthy pals. Would McEnroe have done that for Connors? Would Woods for Mickelson?»