Rafael Nadal saw off Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Rogers Cup, his fifth straight tournament victory.
Nadal has won a total of 29 consecutive matches and seven tournaments so far—including the French Open and Wimbledon—this year! This was his first win on hard court this season.
“I win on every surface, no? I win on grass, on hard, on indoor, and on clay, too,” Nadal said. “So if I am playing my best tennis I can win on every surface, no?”Kiefer was unseeded and ranks 37th in the world. He has been playing magnificent tennis for the past week beating Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny and Gilles Simon. However his chance to beat Nadal in the final fell short. “I don’t know—I mean, if I would have the solution, I would change it, but so far I didn’t find a little thing,” Kiefer said. When the men’s tennis rankings are updated, Federer will still retain his No. 1 spot, which he has held since February 2004. With the win at Toronto Masters, Nadal is now only 275 points behind Federer, with a chance to claim the top spot next week in Cincinnati.For that to happen, Nadal would have to win and Federer would have to lose before the semifinals, according to the ATP Tour Web site. Whatever happens, it could set up a potentially dramatic showdown at the United States Open in August, right after the Beijing Olympics. (Image by AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)
World no. 1 Roger Federer and two tennis legends, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe has confirmed their participation for the Showdown of Champions 2008, to be be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur on Nov 18.However the fourth player will either be the newly crowned Wimbledon champion and world no. 2, Rafael Nadal, or American hottie James Blake to complete the cast of this 'chance of a lifetime' star-studded show.The reason why Nadal might not be able to make it is due to the clash with the Davis Cup final.“The decision as to who will play in Malaysia will hinge on the outcome of the Davis Cup semi-final clash between Spain and the United States (US) in Madrid on Sept 21,” said Nick Freyer, senior vice-president and head of tennis of IMG Asia, the event organisers, at a news conference, here today.
Freyer said if Spain were to lose, Nadal will travel to Kuala Lumpur but if the US were to lose the clash, Blake, who is currently world no. 8, will make his way here. Personally I don't mind because Nadal will have a chance to grab the Davis Cup for his country and I'll get to see Blake, who is also one of my favourite player.“We will watch the lively battles between the 80’s stars, Borg and McEnroe followed by Federer and the fourth player. Then the final set will be Federer and Borg against McEnroe and the other star,” Freyer said.
Three matches with one ticket, wow, that's worth enough to pay for the best seat.Tickets for the showdown, priced between RM108 and RM498, are on sale at all Ticket Axcess outlets from yesterday or call +603 7711 5000 for enquiries. The official Showdown of Champions website is www.showdownkl2008.com.
These days Roger Federer's luck is running low.Federer, who is in Toronto for Rogers Cup, arrived at Hilton Toronto on July 18, expecting to be given his favourite suite, unofficially known as the 'Federer Suite'.
But to his surprise, he discovered that his suite had been allotted to Bollywood's husband and wife team Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai who were also in Toronto for The Unforgettable Tour.
Abhishek and Aishwarya had checked into Hilton Toronto on July 16. Says a source from Wizcraft International, organiser of The Unforgettable tour,
"The local promoter, Moe Jivani, insisted that Abhishek and Aishwarya be given Roger Federer's suite. Naturally, Hilton Toronto officials told him that it was reserved for Federer. But Jivani insisted and finally the Hilton Toronto officials relented."
Meanwhile, Federer arrived at Hilton Toronto on July 18. He was disappointed to find his suite occupied and tried to argue with the hotel authorities about getting it, but his efforts went in vain. The hotel authorities politely refused to give him his favourite suite.
Aishwarya and Abhishek stayed in Hilton Toronto till July 19. Federer had to stay in another suite until then.
(Image by AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Adrian Wyld)
I wonder why 'tennis greats' like Boris Becker and John McEnroe like to come in between the 'rivalry' of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Recently, Becker and McEnroe have suggested that Nadal is now the unofficial world no. 1 - as he is by a hefty margin in the 2008 ATP Race and of course winning two Grand Slams back-to-back at the French Open and Wimbledon.
However Federer will not hear of that as the world rankings are a moving 12-month window that includes his 2007 US Open triumph.
Roger Federer has denied that Rafael Nadal is the top man, contradicting the view of two former greats. "There is never an unofficial world No1. Of course he has still won two unbelievably difficult tournaments and whoever wins those is supposed to be No1. But I have had a very good end to the past two years. It's hard to snatch the No1 position, he knows that."
On the other hand, I think Nadal is smart as he was playing a psychological game too by saying, "Right now I don't want to be No1. I only want to play a good tournament here (at Rogers Cups)."
Still battling to adapt to the loss of his Wimbledon title after five years, Federer is now trying to gain back his confidence and respect at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada.
However, his hope falls short after losing in the second round to French hottie Gilles Simon 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
"It's a bad start, no doubt. I wish it could have been different. Now I'm going to get some practise in."
Federer obviously not happy with his game but yet gave credit to the Simon, the world no. 22. "As the match went on I struggled a little bit to put the forehands away. He's a good baseliner. We saw that today. He moves well. He's deceiving because he's kind of thin and tall but moves really well for his height, you know."
"He flicks a lot of balls with his backhand as well, so when you come in you can't see where he plays."
Nadal, meanwhile, won in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday over Canadian Jesse Levine to move into the 3rd round.
Should second-ranked Nadal win the Rogers Cup, he would have a chance at next week's Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati to end Federer's 234-week reign as the top- ranked player.
Federer had begun 2008 with a 1,445 point lead over Nadal in the rankings. That advantage had almost halved going into the Toronto event, where 500 points are awarded to the winner.
(Image by AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)
