World number one outplayed in Dubai !!!

Andy Murray produced one of the best performances of his career to beat world number one Roger Federer in Dubai.

The young Scot had been handed a daunting first-round draw, but he beat the reigning champion 6-7 6-3 6-4 in a little under two hours.

Of 27 previous matches at this event, Federer had won 25, taking the title four times in the last five years.

But after he edged the first set 8-6 in a tense tie-break, mistakes began to creep into Federer's game as Murray turned up the heat.

The British number one did not face a break point in the entire match, while it was he who claimed the decisive breaks of serve in the fifth game of the second and third sets.

Federer was back in action after taking a month-long break since his surprise defeat to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Murray, meanwhile, was appearing in his fifth event of the season having alternated between winning titles and suffering first-round exits in the previous four.

In order to prolong that sequence he would have to condemn Federer to back-to-back defeats for the first time in almost five years.

The early stages suggested it could be an epic struggle, but Federer's lack of match practice began to show as his game became increasingly erratic.

Murray's defensive play was outstanding throughout and when he went for his shots he showed much greater consistency than the champion.

After winning the first break point of the match for a 3-2 lead in the second set, Murray followed it up with a love service game and suddenly he was in the ascendancy.

He served out the set in comfort before missing two break points in the opening game of the third set.

Murray did not have too much longer to wait for his match-winning opportunity, however, as Federer crumbled in the fifth game, losing it to love.

A disputed line-call could have affected Murray's concentration as Federer correctly challenged what would have been a double fault at 0-40, but the Scot retained his focus to force another error from his opponent and forge ahead.

Another confident service game consolidated the break and although Federer won his next two games on serve to make Murray serve for the match, the 20-year-old never appeared under pressure.

At 5-4 Murray came up with another superb service game, holding to love to earn a second win in three career meetings with Federer and book a second-round date with Fernando Verdasco.

Sania all set for Sunfeast Open …

High on confidence after a successful US hard court season, Sania Mirza says she is keen to prove herself in front of home fans in the upcoming Sunfeast Open.

Sania said her improved fitness was a key factor in her recent success and that she was eager to give her best at the $ 170,000 WTA Tour event without any fear of "winning or losing".

"Right now, I am focusing on my fitness and I will be happy if I continue the same level of fitness in the Sunfeast Open. Winning or losing doesn't matter to me," she said.

Sania said her five wins against top-20 players and getting the better of former world number one Martina Hingis were her best moments during the remarkable run in the US.

"One of the most satisfying things has been defeating Hingis. Winning against the top-20 players has been a high point as well," Sania said on her return from the US.

The 20-year-old Indian had a stupendous two-month sojourn, rising to 26th in world rankings as she reached the semifinals in Cincinnati and her maiden final of a $ 600,000 event in Stanford.

"It has been a fabulous hard court tour for me. I am happy with the progress I have made. It feels great to be in the top-30," the Hyderabadi girl said.

Asked what was her next target, Sania said, "I am taking it as it comes." On hiring a full-time coach, Sania said she was gaining a lot from the present arrangement of former men's player Gabriel Urpi advising her during important events while her father Imran Mirza donned the role of the coach

Sania to partner Bhupathi in US Open ...

Sania Mirza continued to move up in world rankings reaching a new career-high of 28th position in the latest WTA Tour chart released today.

The 20-year-old Indian, who was placed at 29 last week, gained one spot despite being off the courts.
Meanwhile, the Hyderabadi girl will partner multiple Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi in mixed doubles at the US Open starting on August 27 in New York.

The duo had come together on tennis biggest stage at Wimbledon - where they lost in the second round - earlier this year.

Sania has entered the $ 600,000 Pilot Pen championships in New Haven, Connecticut, this week. She was to play Anabel Medina Garrigues in the singles first round of the final tune-up event for the US Open.

Sania has paired with Mara Santangelo of Italy in doubles although she will partner Bethanie Mattek at Flushing Meadows. Sania and Mattek had a combined ranking of 83 which was too close to the cut-off mark of 85. But the cut-off at US Open would be much lower since the draw size is 32 whereas it is 16 in Connecticut.

In men's rankings, Rohan Bopanna (223) and Prakash Amritraj (270) held their positions to be the top Indian singles players while Karan Rastogi slipped one rung to 340. Bopanna, who triumphed with Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the $ 50,000 Challenger event in Bronx, New York, moved up five places to 84 in doubles rankings.

Leander Paes, who reached the semi-finals with Czech Republic's Martin Damm in Cincinnati last week, gained one spot to be eighth while Mahesh Bhupathi slid one place to 20th.

Federer clinches his fifth Wimbledon title ..

Roger Federer retained his crown as king of Wimbledon, beating young Spanish prince Rafael Nadal to secure his fifth consecutive title, matching the legendary reign of the watching Bjorn Borg, the king of this court in a previous era.
The 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-2 victory he achieved followed a feast of tennis fit for any king. At three hours and 45 minutes, it was the third longest men's single final in Wimbledon's history and the most thrilling climax to the Championships since Goran Ivanisevic's dramatic victory in front of a raucous third Monday Centre Court crowd in 2001.

Federer was at his very best, and he certainly needed to be to hold at bay the tigerish challenge of the Spanish 21-year-old. Last year Nadal lost here in four sets, this time he took the master of grass court tennis the full distance. And next year? In a breathtaking fifth set Nadal, who had undergone treatment to his right knee towards the end of the previous set, twice held two break points. If he had cashed in on either occasion surely he would have toppled the champion. But twice Federer rose magnificently to the challenge, fighting off the danger before he broke Nadal for what proved to be a crucial 4-2 lead.

Yet at the start it had seemed Federer would be in for a straightforward coronation. He broke for a 2-0 lead in the opening set, only for Nadal to pull level and push it into a tie-break. Here a Federer trademark forehand and one of the 24 aces he struck in the match left him with three set points, only for the bounding Nadal to fight off all three and resist a fourth set point before Federer finally clinched it, by nine points to seven with a cross-court backhand volley, sparking a triumphant pirouette.

Was Nadal downhearted? Never. He set about clawing back Federer's advantage, and did not need long to do so. Three aces got the Swiss out of trouble in the sixth game of the second set but, with a 5-4 lead, Nadal conjured an incredible backhand winner while in a seated position on the baseline. The startled Federer sent a forehand wide on the next rally to offer the challenger two set points, but he needed only one, levelling the match with a glorious backhand passing shot.

As it has done to so many of his opponents, Nadal's relentless play seemed to be getting to Federer, but his ability to produce aces and spectacular winners kept him in front in the third set. As it moved towards another tie-break, Federer became involved in his longest match at this year's Wimbledon, though he took the tiebreak more easily this time, by seven points to three.

Any thought that it might be simple from there on for Federer lasted as long as the opening game of the fourth set, Nadal breaking with a forehand service return which trapped the champion coming in.
Another service break put Nadal in command at 3-0 but only after he had issued a Hawk-Eye challenge on a forehand called out. The system decided it was in by a whisker, provoking an eruption by the normally calm Federer. "How in the world was that ball in?" he asked umpire Carlos Ramos. "It [Hawk-Eye] is killing me today."
There was hope for Federer in this otherwise bleak part of the match when Nadal called for treatment to his right knee, after which he was unable to jump off so effectively on his serve, but he held on to take the set and again level things after three hours seven minutes.

Then followed the high drama of the deciding set. At 1-1 two Nadal errors saved Federer at 15-40. Then at 2-2 the champion again fell 15-40 behind but battled clear thanks to a Nadal error, followed by a crunching service winner. It provided the all-important breakthrough as Nadal then dropped serve to another of Federer's forehand specials

With reason, the Swiss exulted. Federer sealed his initiative with three aces in the next game and Nadal, for once, had nothing left. He saved one match point on his own serve before, on the second, Federer hammered home an overhead smash and fell forward onto his face. Flat out maybe, but Wimbledon's winner for the fifth time.Admiring it all from the Royal Box was Bjorn Borg, who was crowned here every year from 1976 until 1980. The two men are now level in the Wimbledon record books but next year will it be King Roger VI?

Venus beats youngster Bartoli to clinch title ..

Venus Williams and the Venus Rosewater Dish were reunited on Centre Court today when the 27-year-old collected her fourth Championship with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over France's Marion Bartoli that was harder earned than the score would indicate.

Never before in Wimbledon's modern era had the women's final been contested by players so lowly-ranked. Williams, ranked 31 after an injury-hit year of little activity, was awarded the 23rd seeding on the strength of her previous record here, while Bartoli was seeded 18th.
Williams collected £700,000 for her one hour and 30 minutes victory, the first year of equal pay for men and women at Wimbledon, but her delight at the end showed that the money meant little to this millionairess whose prospects of another title here had been largely discounted.

Venus had proved, and how, that she is still a grand slam contender, despite having arrived at Wimbledon with just seven tournaments this year and one victory, at Memphis in February.
The 22-year-old Bartoli's high moment had come in the semi-finals on Friday evening, when her rocketing ground strokes pole-axed the world number one and top seed, Justine Henin. Today those were less effective because of Venus's longer reach and speed around the court.
The way the Centre Court crowd got behind Bartoli was clear indication that they feared a one-sided contest. That this did not happen was due to a combination of Bartoli's dogged determination to give no ground to such famous opposition and to the fact that Venus had one of her less accurate days.

She certainly started impressively enough, breaking Bartoli in the second game thanks to a double-fault from the Frenchwoman. That was elevated to 3-0 before the fightback began, although Venus had a point for a 4-0 lead (on another double-fault).

Then Bartoli settled, buoyed by the crowd's support, stretching Williams from side to side with her flat, raking groundstrokes from her double-fisted grip.

She broke Williams when Venus sent a wild forehand sailing over the baseline and then levelled the match at 3-3, courtesy of two more poor Williams backhands. Could this become another thriller, like the Henin match?

As it turned out, no. Bartoli, gallantly though she played, always looked the inferior performer against such classy opposition and when her fifth double-fault of the match presented Venus with two set points Bartoli was able to fight off only one of them before Williams stroked away a sweet backhand volley. The set had lasted 45 minutes.

The second set followed a similar course, with Williams breaking serve in the second game and going 3-0 up, at which Bartoli took time out for treatment to her left foot. Williams then also asked for treatment to her left leg, leading to a stoppage in all of 11 minutes.

When play resumed, Bartoli won the first game to love but that was effectively the end of her resistance. Venus sailed through the next three games, ending with a thunderous serve.
Bartoli, clearly delighted with having reached this stage of the tournament, congratulated Williams, calling her "the best player on grass in the world." Today she proved that.