Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal: Australian Open 2009 Men's Singles Final

Tennis world is going to face another bone-chilling grand slam final between world no. 1 Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the men’s singles final of Australian Open 2009. The two arch-rivals will go face-to-face on Sunday in their bid to clinch the title of Australian Open 2009. It would be the first ever Australian Open victory for the top seed Nadal, while former no. 1 Federer can win his fourth Australian Open title, leveling Pete Sampras’s record 14 grand slam titles.

The last time Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal faced each other in a grand slam final was at Wimbledon 2008 where the tennis world experienced one of the greatest ever grand slam final which Nadal won in five sets. Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in the first semi final of the tournament, while Nadal was pushed all the way by fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the five-set semi final, but still managed to win it with sheer confidence.

Tennis world is expecting another epic final between Federer and Nadal and there is little doubt that the match is going to be highly competitive with both the players willing to give every bit of effort to win the final. In terms of head to head record between the two, Nadal is ahead of Federer. In fact, Nadal defeated Federer in all four finals they faced last year including the Wimbledon and French Open finals as well as two ATP Masters Series finals. Out of 18 overall meetings, Rafael Nadal won on 12 occasions. Interestingly, Nadal and Federer has not faced each other in Australian Open yet. That means, Sunday’s final would be the first meeting between the two at Australian Open.

A final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer means something special to the tennis world around the world. So, the tennis world is now eagerly waiting for the attractive match between top two male tennis players. Rafael Nadal has been in excellent form following a great last year during which he won French Open and Wimbledon titles, and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing.

For Roger Federer, the year 2008 was not something special. In fact, he lost his domination over the tennis world and lost the no. 1 place to Rafael Nadal. However, his successful title defense in US Open 2008 was a strong answer for the critics who had already started seeing the end of Roger Federer chapter in the tennis world. Now, it is up to Federer if he can rule out all those unexpected rumors concerning his future.

Well, I think, this is going to be a hard-fought clash and I would not be amazed if Federer and Nadal can present the tennis fans with another classic grand slam final in Melbourne on Sunday at the final of Australian Open 2009. What do you think about the match?

Roger Federer Edged Past Andy Roddick to Australian Open 2009 Final

Swiss legend Roger Federer needs one more win to clinch his 14^th Grand slam title at Australian Open 2009 as he pulled off an easy straight set victory over American star Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in the first semi final of the men’s singles on Thursday. World no. 2 Federer would face the winner of the second semi final between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco in the final of the tournament. This will be Federer’s 18^th grand slam final appearance, just one shy of former legend Ivan Lendl’s 19. Roddick went into the game looking to repeat his last year’s success when he defeated Federer in Miami. However, American could not show enough resistance in the first set, but built up some competition in the second and third sets. However, that was not enough to stave off the challenge of Federer as he took the last two sets by 7-5 margin. Tennis fans are expecting another Federer vs Nadal final at a grand slam tournament.

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CNN

Russian Star Dinara Safina Reaches Semi Final at Australian Open 2009

Russian star Dinara Safina ended the hope of Australian fans as she defeated Australian wildcard entry Jelena Dokic in the women’s quarter final of Australian Open 2009. With the three-set thrilling victory 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, Dinara reached the semi final of the tournament. The third seeded Russian did not have many problems to clinch the first set, but she lost her rhythm in the second as she lost it 4-6, making 8 double faults and capitalizing only 2 out of 13 break point chances in the second set. In the deciding set, Safina made 36 unforced errors, giving some chances to Dokic, but in the end, Safina could successfully hold on and make it to the last four.

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AFP

Australian Open 2009: Roger Federer Reaches Third Round

Second seed Roger Federer swept past Russian tennis player Evgeny Korolev 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the ongoing Australian Open 2009. With this straight sets victory the Swiss tennis star reached the third round of the first grand slam of the tournament. Federer was in aggressive mode from the very beginning of the match and dominated his Russian opponent throughout the match, breaking on several occasions.

It was pretty much expected that Federer would go through to the second round as Korolev was not considered to be a big opponent for Federer, but the important thing is the ease with which he progressed to the third round. No doubt, Federer would be more confident now in his bid to win 14^th grand slam title in the tournament.

Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic Reached Second Round of Australian Open 2009

The top seed of women’s singles of Australian Open 2009, Jelena Jankovic progressed to the second round of the tournament as the current world no. 1 defeated Yvonne Meusberger of Australia in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. With this victory, Jankovic started the tournament well. Fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic has also got off to a good start to her Australian Open 2009 campaign. The reigning champion of French Open edged past Germany’s Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-3.

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bloomberg

20 Things You Should Know about Australian Open Tennis 2009

Australian Open 2009 kicks off today at Melbourne with lots of excitement among the tennis fans around the world. It is the first grand slam tournament of the year. So, players as well as fans are very much excited with the tournament. There are many players who are claiming to move the tournament from January to February due to extreme heat in Melbourne in January, but still, tennis players are eagerly waiting to show their best in the first grand slam tournament of the year. It is expected that record number of crowed will experience Australian Open 2009 tournament. Now, it is yet to see if the players can live up to the expectation of the fans. Here, I made a list of 20 things about Australian Open 2009, which may find important. So, let us go through the list:

1. Australian Open 2009 is going to be the 97^th edition of this grand slam tennis tournament.

2. Australian Open 2009 kicks off from 19 January and will continue till 1 February 2009. All the matches of the tournament will be held at the Melbourne Park, Melbourne.

3. Defending champion of women’s singles Maria Sharapova withdrew herself from Australian Open 2009 tournament due to her shoulder injury.

4. Serbian tennis star and the tournament’s 3^rd seed Novak Djokovic is the defending champion of the tournament.

5. Australian youngster Bernard Tomic is one of the attractions of the tournament. The 16-year-old was the Boys’ Singles champion of 2008 Australian Open, and this year, Bernard Tomic is going to take part in the senior event of the tournament as a wildcard entry.

6. Among the currently active female tennis players, only Serena Williams has three Australian Open titles to her credit. Since 2003, Serena Williams has been winning the title of Australian Open after every one year- meaning the former world no. 1 has won the Australian Open titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

7. World no. 2 and tournament’s second seed, Roger Federer, holds three Australian Open titles, becoming the most successful Australian Open player among the currently available male tennis players. Federer won the Australian Open titles in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

8. Swedish tennis star Roger Federer could reach another landmark if he can win the Australian Open 2009 title, leveling Pete Sampras’ record 14 grand slam singles titles. Federer has already bagged 13 grand slam singles tiles to his illustrious career.

9. The interesting fact is that neither Rafael Nadal, the top seed of men’s singles, nor Jelena Jankovic, the top seed of women’s singles, could ever reach the final of Australian Open.

10. Besides current world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic, there are four former world no. 1 players among the top 32 seeds of the women’s singles of Australian Open 2009. They are: Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo.

11. Aside from current world no. 1 Rafael Nadal, three former world no. 1 players have been drawn among the top 32 seeds of men’s singles event of Australian Open 2009. Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Marat Safin are the former world no. 1 players who are taking part in the tournament.

12. Australian Open 2009 tournament will be telecast live on ESPN2 and Star Sports television channel.

13. World no. 5 Nikolay Davydenko has pulled out of Australian Open 2009 because of an injury on his left heel.

14. Three-time grand slam winner Lindsay Davenport is missing the tournament as she is going to give birth to her second child.

15. Slovenian tennis star Katarina Srebotnik and German star Nicolas Kiefer withdrew their names from Australian Open 2009 due to their respective injuries.

16. British tennis fans are hoping that British tennis star Andy Murray, seeded 4^th, would become the first Briton after Fred Perry to win a grand slam tournament by clinching the male’s singles title in Australian Open 2009.

17. Besides Murray, there are four unseeded female tennis players from Britain who are going to take part in women’s singles event in the tournament. British female participants of Australian Open 2009 are: Melanie South, Katie O'Brien, Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha. So, British tennis fans will be hopeful to see some good performances from British female tennis players in the tournament.

18. Chinese tennis star Na Li also pulled herself out of Australian Open 2009, while last year’s surprise package Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth seed, has said that he is fit to take part in the tournament, even though he withdrew from the Sydney International due to back problem.

19 Tickets of the several matches of Australian Open 2009 are now available in internet. So, you can buy your ticket through online too. To buy the tickets online, check out here.

20. Tennis Australia has increased the prize money for Australian Open 2009 tournament. The winners of the singles event will get $2 million each. The overall prize money of the tournament has also been increased by $1.14 million; thus making it $23.14 million.

Novak Djokovic Claiming Change of Date for Australian Open

Defending champion of Australian Open Men’s Singles Novak Djokovic has joined the long line of players who are claiming for a change in the date of Australian Open. A number of top tennis players have already expressed complains about the schedule of Australian Open which is generally taken place in January and they now want the tournament to be moved from January to February. Djokovic is also claiming the same as he thinks that the extreme heat of January is causing problems for the players and that is why many top ranked players are pulling out of the tournament. In fact, defending champion of Australian Open Women’s Singles, Maria Sharapova, has also withdrawn from the upcoming Australian Open 2009 because of her shoulder injury.

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Reuters

Australian Open 2009 Top Seeds: Rafael Nadal, Jelena Jankovic

Men’s world no. 1 Rafael Nadal and women’s world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic have become the top seeds of upcoming Australian Open 2009. Spanish star Nadal had an excellent year back in 2008 as he won French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic Gold medal last year, and thus, replacing Roger Federer atop the ATP ranking. Serbian tennis Jankovic also achieved the no. 1 spot of WTA ranking last year thanks to her excellent consistency on the tour, even though she could not win any grand slam title yet.

Among the 32 top ranked players of ATP ranking, Nikolay Davydenk is missing the tournament due to his injury problem, while defending champion of women’s singles of Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, has also withdrawn herself from the tournament due to her shoulder injury. Chinese tennis star Li Na is also missing the tournament through injury. Defending champion of men’s singles, Novak Djokovic, is the third seed in the tournament with former world no. 1 Roger Federer being the second pick for Australian Open 2009.

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bloomberg

Ana Ivanovic: I Learnt a Lot in 2008

World no. 5 of Women’s tennis Ana Ivanovic recently said that she had learnt a lot last year during which the Serbian star won her first ever grand slam title, but then fall apart towards the end of last year as she was suffering from injury.

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Press Association

Roger Federer Surprised at Andy Murray’s Top Favorite Tag for Australian Open 2009

Andy Murray has been the top favorite for the upcoming Australian Open 2009 tournament among the betters. However, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer expressed his surprise at this news. He admits that Andy Murray has been in excellent form of recent, but he has said that winning a grand slam tournament is a different ball time. Since 2008, Murray has been in consistent form so far and the Briton recently defeated Federer on two occasions.

Well, I think, Murray has enough possibility to win the Australian Open 2009 because he is young and is most probably at the peak of his career. Murray can become the first British after Fred Perry to win a grand slam title. Perry won his last grand slam title way back in 1936 and since then, no British players could achieve this distinction, but Andy Murray went very close to win it when he reached the final of US Open 2008, but lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.

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AFP