Roger Federer & Dinara Safina win at Madrid Open

Roger Federer finally got his confidence boost ahead of the French Open, beating clay favourite Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 yesterday to win his first title of the season at the Madrid Open.

This is Roger second victory against Nadal on clay, with the other coming at the Hamburg final two years ago.

The win also ended Federer’s five-match losing streak to Nadal, a stretch that included losses in the finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Australia.

Federer called his first win over Nadal since the 2007 Masters Cup “very satisfying".

Federer and Nadal were chatty and joked after receiving their trophies in a scene that contrasted with the one in Melbourne when Federer was in tears after losing to Nadal in the Australian Open final.

Earlier, WTA world no.1 Dinara Safina won her second straight title on clay by beating Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s final.

“Since I became no. 1 I’m playing better and better,” the 23-year-old said.

Wozniacki will become the first Dane to crack the top-10 in next week’s rankings after reaching her third final of the season.

Safina is 14-1 on clay this season and will go into Roland Garros with the hope to earn her first Grand Slam.

In the men's doubles final, Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor clinched their fifth ATP World Tour title of the season with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Simon Aspelin and Wesley Moodie.

The women's doubles final was won by Cara Black and Liezel Huber who beat Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

Here are more photos at the Madrid finals.

What rivalry? The top two players in the world are chatty and happy.

Not no.1 in the world but first title this season.

What is Hilary Swank doing in Madrid Open?

Safina is admiring the no.1 player in the world because others don't.

Real Madrid stars like Raul and Arjen Robben appreciate tennis too.

I would like to file an official complaint against Madrid Open because of the lack of hot ball girls compare to previous years.

(Via AP; Images by Predo Armestre/Jasper Juinen/Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Nadal-Federer rivalry and Nadal-Djokovic rivalry - Which is better?

Rafael Nadal saved three match points before beating Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) in the longest three-set match in Masters Series history of 4 hours and 3 minutes yesterday to reach the Madrid Open final.

Nadal now reached an incredible seventh final this season after a 33rd straight win on clay!

This was his fifth straight win over Djokovic who had also lost to Nadal at the Olympics, the Davis Cup, and finals at Monte Carlo and Rome.

Nadal will now face his biggest rival Roger Federer for the championship.

Federer has lost his last five matches against Nadal, including the finals at the French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open earlier this year, when the former world no.1 was in tears after the defeat.

"What's important for me is to get past that semifinal hurdle that I haven't been able to get past in the last couple of months," Federer said ahead of their 16th meeting in a final.

"I feel like playing him anywhere is a challenge. The extra flair here is that it's in Spain."

Could Nadal and Federer pull off another epic here at the Magic Box after an awesome match between Nadal and Djokovic last nite?

Let's see who's the second best clay court player in the world.

For those who don't get to see the live coverage on TV, you can check out TennisTV.com or atdhe.

(Via AP; Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Stop whining and earn your respect

“I guess they’re jealous that I’m so young and no. 1."

~ Dinara Safina on being the most under-appreciated no. 1 in women’s tennis.

Frankly speaking, like it or not, people do measure a pro tennis player's success by the number of Grand Slams won especially if you're a no.1 player in the world.

Instead of taking those criticism in such a negative way, Safina should stop whining about it and start working towards her goal to prove everyone's wrong.

She has a chance to prove it at the Roland Garros.

But before that she has to beat rising star Caroline Wozniacki at the final match of the Madrid Open.

(Images by Pierre Philippe Marcou/Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images)

Rain or shine, Maria Sharapova is determined to make a comeback

Maria Sharapova was seen practising under the rain in Warsaw, Poland yesterday.

The tennis star will play her first competitive singles match in nearly 10 months at this week's Warsaw Open, which begins tomorrow, since being sidelined by shoulder surgery.

Hopefully we'll see Sharapova on court on permanent basis.


(Images via WTA Women's Tennis)