Month of February , 2009

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2 to become the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open title on Sunday.

The world number one's thrilling victory denied Federer a chance to equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles.

When a 14-year-old Serena Williams turned professional in 1995, the corridors of tennis echoed with mutterings.

She was too young, the child would burn out, her father Richard was overbearing.

Those early proclamations soon proved unfounded, but were nevertheless swiftly replaced by new criticisms.

She had lost interest, she would not last long, she was not giving it her all, she was distracted by acting.

World number one Rafael Nadal produced another battling display to beat Roger Federer 7-5 3-6 7-6(3) 3-6 6-2 and win his first Australian Open title.

Q. Could we have your thoughts on the match.
ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, I thought it was a good match. But, no, I mean, I think I had, I guess, many chances. You know, I mean, I was up a break in the first twice. Yeah, I mean, I had many chances. I missed them, you know, and they cost me dearly.

It was a tough match. I don't think I served particularly well, unfortunately. And I think that was the key to the match in the end.

Q. Number six Grand Slam. How special is that one for you?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, very special, no, for me. Is a dream win here, one Grand Slam on hard court. I worked very hard the last ?? well, all my life for improve the tennis outside courts, well, outside of clay.

Very happy, no? Very happy for the title. Today was really lot of emotions on court. I was there with the best player I ever saw, like is Roger.

First clay, then grass. Now Rafael Nadal has proven he can win on any surface, entrenching his hold on the No. 1 ranking.

The former crown prince of tennis is now the “King of Australia”—to quote one Spanish newspaper headline—after outlasting Roger Federer in five gritty sets in the Australian Open final Sunday for his sixth Grand Slam title.

Now, Nadal can look ahead to Roland Garros, where he already controls center court.

New world number one Serena Williams has warned rivals she is ready to dominate women's tennis again after her crushing Australian Open win over Dinara Safina—provided she can stay focused.

Bursting with confidence after thrashing Russia's Safina 6-0, 6-3 in Saturday's final to win her fourth Australian title and 10th Grand Slam, Williams said she was capable of winning every tournament she entered.

Rafa Nadal has marked his breakthrough victory at the Australian Open by calling for a reduction in the number of hardcourt tournaments to save top players from injuries and burnout.

Despite having just claimed his first grand slam title on a hardcourt, the world number one said there were too many tournaments played on the surface.

"Hardcourt surface is tougher than grass or clay for the body, and all the time we are playing more on this surface," the Spaniard told reporters on Monday.

World number two Roger Federer lamented what could have been after he lost a thrilling five-set final to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open.

Serena Williams has returned to the top of the WTA rankings after winning her 10th grand slam title at the Australian Open at the weekend.

This is the third time in Williams' career that she has reached the top in women's tennis, having held the position for a total of 61 weeks - 57 weeks from July 2002 to August 2003 and four weeks late last season.

Britain's Laura Robson hopes her efforts in Melbourne over the past two weeks will be enough to get a wildcard entry into the main women's draw at Wimbledon.

The 15-year-old, who won the Wimbledon girls' title last year, lost 6–3, 6–1 to Russia's Ksenia Pervak in the Australian Open junior girls' singles final in the Rod Laver Arena on Saturday.

Tennis has entered the neo-Rafaelite age. It should be marked with a sculpture in bronze featuring Nadal galloping along the baseline at full tilt with his racket wrapped around the ball.

The vanquished Roger Federer will have to sleep with the lights on over the coming nights to keep that hellish vision at bay.

Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis proved too strong for Andrew Anderson and beat the local qualifier 6-4 6-2 in the South African Open on Monday.

The eighth-seed made Anderson pay for a host of unforced errors and overwhelmed the 25-year-old with his more powerful baseline play.

After being sidelined for much of last season with wrist and back injuries, Baghdatis said he was still trying to find his comfort zone.

Fifth-seeded Juan Monaco advanced to the second round at the Movistar Open with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Frenchman Nicolas Devilder on Monday.

The Argentine converted three of eight break points to turn away Devilder in one hour and 23 minutes.

Monaco, who advanced to the tournament final last year, will face Potito Starace. The Italian posted a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Brazilian Marcos Daniel.

No matter where you turn in the women’s game today you’re apt to find a Russian woman ruling the day.

Just take a look at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year. Down to the nitty-gritty of the event, only Serena Williams spoiled the symmetry of an all-Russian semifinal line-up. Williams rebounded from a first-set quarterfinal loss to ship Svetlana Kuznetsova back to Moscow. But the rest of the final four were rounded at by Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.

Spaniard David Ferrer visited the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve, a World Heritage Site, on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Monday, before beginning his preparations as the second seed for the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

Ferrer and his coach, Javier Piles, set off on a 45-minute safari-style drive through the Highveld (bush) of the 1,200 hectare game reserve, which is typical of the Gauteng province. The pair first visited the black lions’ enclosure, but after 25 minutes of hide-and-seek when none of the animals were spotted, it was time to move on.

Top seed Igor Andreev suffered his second first round exit of the 2009 ATP World Tour season at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Tuesday. The Russian, who also lost to Marin Cilic at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in 2006, suffered a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to World No. 425 Ivan Dodig in 75 minutes.

The Fed Cup is bound to take on a new personality in 2009 as four countries debut new captains when first round action gets underway the weekend of Feb 7-8.

World number two Roger Federer will complete his Wimbledon preparations at the Halle Open in Germany from June 8-15.

The five-times Halle champion will be joined by Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, event director Ralf Weber told .Wimbledon starts on June 22.