US Open Day 15 Wrap-up: Federer loses a grand slam final to somebody who isn't Nadal

I admit the title of this post isn't from me... I took it from ToniTennis via Menstennisforums.com.

It was an unexpected win by Juan Martin del Potro, no?

Even del Potro himself can't believe he had won, pouring cold water all over his head to ensure he wasn't dreaming.

The victory made him the first South American man to triumph in New York since Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

However, the match was spoiled by Federer's uncharacteristic display, after he launched a tirade at the American chair umpire during a changeover.

Federer complained that del Potro had been given too much time to challenge a line call.

"No, it's too late," an angry Federer said.

"I wasn't even able to challenge after two seconds and he takes 10 seconds every time. Do you have any rules in there?"

Federer then continued, "I don't give a shit what he said. Don't fucking tell me the rules."

Federer's nagging were picked up by CBS microphones and broadcasted live.

Earlier in the women's doubles final, Serena and Venus Williams won the US Open title, defeating top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-2, 6-2.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Venus Williams wins season-ending WTA Championship; Cara Black & Liezel Huber win dubs

Venus Williams wins the WTA’s Sony Ericsson Championships for the first time, defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Sunday at the season-ending event.

“I’m so excited,” Williams said. “That was a hard-fought match, every point, right down to the end.”

Williams won $1.34 million at the event, which for the first time offered the same prize money as the men at the ATP’s season-ending Masters Cup.

The first lady of Qatar, a conservative Muslim sheikdom, presented the trophy to Williams, shaking her hand and kissing her on both cheeks. Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned wore a traditional black head scarf and robe.

“Thanks to your Royal Highness for coming. Wow!” Williams said.

Such a public appearance by a ruler’s wife is unusual in the region. Mozah might be one of several wives; many emirs and kings in the Gulf have multiple wives—up to the four permitted by Islam.

Billie Jean King sat with Mozah and other dignitaries during the match and joined Williams on the court for the awards ceremony.

The trophy is named for King. Williams’ ranking will improve to no. 6 from no. 8, while the 9th-ranked Zvonareva also will move up two spots.

The two were the lowest-ranked players at the event, which featured the top eight players in the world.

“I know I can go higher” in the rankings, said the 28-year-old Williams, a former No. 1 who defeated top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals.

Williams qualified for the championships for the eighth time since 1998.

She had reached the semifinals twice and withdrew five times because of injuries and illness.

“It was missing, this one,” Williams said of the WTA Championships title.

She has won 39 tour singles titles, including five Wimbledon and two U.S. Open crowns.

Williams’ career earnings rose to $21.9 million.

In doubles, Cara Black and Liezel Huber defeated Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs 6-1, 7-5.

(Via AP, Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Venus Williams wins at Zurich Open; Cara Black & Liezel Huber lift dubs title

Venus Williams won the Zurich Open on Sunday for her second singles title of the season.

Williams beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (1), 6-2 to take the tournament she last won as a teenager in 1999.

The win should seal the 28-year-old American’s place at the season-ending WTA Tour Championship in Doha next month.

“I love the pressure,” Williams said.

“I need it in my life."

“It is great to come here and play my best tennis of the week in the final against someone who is playing as well as she is.”

Venus is being congratulated by her Dad and her dog, Herald.

Flavia Pennetta (far left), winner Venus Williams, Elmar Ledergerber the Mayor of Zurich, and tournament director Beat Ritschard (far right) pose after the Final Singles match at the Zurich Open tennis tournament.

Pennetta had upset top-ranked Jelena Jankovic in the second round and went in with a 3-1 career record against Williams after beating her in Moscow last week.

“She just played unbelievable today,” the 17th-ranked Pennetta said.

“It is tough to play against someone who serves like she did today. I didn’t have any chance to make any breaks.”

Williams said she would return to Florida before the Nov. 4-9 Tour finale in Qatar.

“I will go home and rest a little bit and continue to prepare and get ready for Doha,” she said.

Williams is expected to climb one place to No. 8 when the new WTA rankings are published Monday; Pennetta hopes to rise three spots to a career-best 14th.

Liezel Huber (left) and Cara Black collected their 9th doubles title of the year and
their first career Zurich trophy.

In the doubles final, Cara Black and Liezel Huber quickly bounced back to their title-winning ways when they clinched the Zurich Open yesterday.

Exactly a week after losing in the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Russia, top seeds Black and Huber were smiling again yesterday after beating home favourite Patty Schnyder and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany in straight sets 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) in the final of the US$600 000 Tier II indoor tournament, according to reports from the Swiss capital.

This was Black and Huber’s ninth doubles title of the year.

For beating the wildcard pairing of Schnyder and Groenefeld in the final of this year’s Zurich Open, Black and Huber, will split US$30,000 which was at stake for the winners of the doubles title.

They are currently leading the Tour with 5 060 points, with more than 1 800 points over the third player (Katarina Srebotnik with 3 200 points) and with the level of tennis they have been playing these past two years, the domination of the African born duo is most likely to continue for quite some time.

(Via AP, herald.co.zw, Images via Yahoo! Sport, WTA official website)

Igor Kunitsyn and Jelena Jankovic capture Kremlin Cup titles

Igor Kunitsin, right, still appear to be shocked after his win against Marat Safin.

World no. 71, Igor Kunitsyn who played his first ATP final, upset former world number one Marat Safin 7-6 6-7 6-3 in an all-Russian Kremlin Cup final to clinch his maiden title on Sunday.

Earlier, world number one Jelena Jankovic overpowered Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-4 in the women’s final to win her third title in a row.

“This is beyond my wildest dreams,” Kunitsyn told reporters.

“I’d never have expected to beat Marat in the final in Moscow,” added the 27-year-old from Vladivostok, who took home $171,000 in winnings to more than double his earnings for the year.

Safin, seeded 7th and bidding to claim his first title in almost four years, reached the final without hitting a ball when his semi-final opponent, German Mischa Zverev, withdrew with illness on Saturday.

The big Russian has not tasted success since winning the Australian Open in January 2005.

“I have only myself to blame,” said Safin, who also lost to compatriot Nikolay Davydenko in the 2006 final in Moscow.

“If I had won the first set, it would have been a different story but he gained confidence as the match went on, played well in the end and deserved his victory.”

Love strucked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, left, and Vera Zvonareva of Russia pose
with their trophies after a final match.

In the women's singles, Jankovic, making her debut in Moscow, broke Zvonareva twice to take the first set in just over half an hour.

“I’ve played her twice in the last two weeks so I really knew what to expect and was focused right from the start,” said Jankovic, who pocketed $196,900 for her efforts.

“I dominated in the first set but in the second my concentration slipped a little bit but I was able to get myself together in the end.”

The 23-year-old has been playing almost non-stop in the last couple of months and must keep going for another week before taking a well-deserved rest.

“I’ve worked really hard in the last three weeks, winning three titles in a row. It’s not easy,” she told reporters.

“But I still have my commitments to play next week in Zurich. Then I’ll take a two-week rest before playing (next month’s season-ending WTA Championships) in Doha.

“I’ve had a tough season, overcoming a number of injuries but I’m quite close to finishing the year ranked number one and I’m really proud of it,” she added.

Zvonareva, who reached her first Kremlin Cup final on her eighth appearance in Moscow, said she could do little to stop Jankovic.

“It seems she had an answer for everything I tried,” the 24-year-old Muscovite told a news conference.

Ross Hutchins, left, and Stephen Huss, middle, pose with their runner-up trophies beside
Sergiy Stakhovsky, right, with his winners trophy (without his partner Potito Starace),
after the doubles final.

In the men's doubles final, first-time pairing of Sergiy Stakhovsky and Potito Starace captured their first ATP doubles title with a 7-6(4), 2-6, 10-6 victory over Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins.

The 22-year-old Stakhovsky, currently no. 167 in the Stanford ATP Doubles Rankings, was appearing in his first ATP doubles final. Earlier in the season he captured his maiden ATP singles title in his first final at Zagreb.

The 27-year-old Starace has now won three titles in four finals. He captured two titles in 2007 at Kitzbuhel and Acapulco and was runner-up at Acapulco in 2006.

“We played unbelievable doubles. We only signed up at the last moment and we can play maybe the next tournament then we’ll see," said Starace.

Nadia Petrova, left, and Katerina Srebotnik, 2nd left, pose with their trophies after winning the doubles against Cara Black, 2nd right, and Liezel Huber, right.

In the women's doubles final, top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber took on no.4 seeds Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik.

Petrova and Srebotnik pulled off the upset in straight sets, 6-4 6-4, for their first title as a team.

It was Petrova's 15th career Tour doubles title and Srebotnik's 19th.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

Cara Black and Liezel Huber win US Open women’s doubles title

Cara Black and Liezel Huber beat Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur a 6-3, 7-6 (6) Sunday to win their first U.S. Open women’s doubles championship.

It’s the fourth Grand Slam tournament title, and 20th title overall, as a team for the top-seeded Black and Huber. They also won Wimbledon in 2005 and 2007, and the Australian Open in 2007.

They didn’t drop a single set at Flushing Meadows.

Black also won this year’s U.S. Open mixed doubles title, pairing with Leander Paes to beat Huber and Jamie Murray.

When the women's doubles match ended, Black and Huber dropped their rackets, shrieked and hopped into each other’s arms for a hug.

The 10th-seeded Raymond and Stosur, the 2005 U.S. Open champions, also were the runners-up at Wimbledon this year, losing to Venus and Serena Williams in that final. The Williams sisters didn’t enter the U.S. Open doubles event.

(Image by AFP/Getty Images/Matthew Stockman)

Cara Black and Leander Paes win US Open mixed doubles title

Leander Paes, fresh from winning the U.S. Open, looks fresh as if he's just out from the shower.

Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Leander Paes of India won their first U.S. Open mixed doubles title by beating Liezel Huber of the United States and Jamie Murray of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 in the final yesterday.

Paes has won four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, and Black has won three— but this was the first for each at Flushing Meadows and the first for them as a team.

They were seeded fifth at the U.S. Open. Huber and Murray were unseeded.

(Image by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)