Sports NewsCalendar

Mayfield's Mutterings -- Current Posting: WOW!

Sports News Elsewhere (Fresh Daily From the Web)

Monday, October 29, 2007

Federer Is No. 1 for 4th Straight Year     Send a link to a friend

[October 29, 2007]  BASEL, Switzerland (AP) -- Roger Federer beat Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to win his second straight Swiss Indoors and clinch the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive year.

Federer joins Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl as the only men's players to end the season ranked No. 1 four or more times since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973.

Federer, who had failed to win his home tournament six straight times before winning last year, captured a tour-high seventh title of the season.

"It's always emotional at the end," Federer said. "I remember being here as a ball boy myself. I know 50 percent of the people working at the tournament.

"It's nice to win again and go into the next year as No. 1 again," said Federer, who won three Grand Slam titles this year and has 12 overall, two fewer than the record 14 won by Sampras.

Federer broke on a forehand error by Nieminen to lead 2-0, and he closed out the first set with a volley in 27 minutes.

Nieminen, playing his first final of the year, missed a break point to lead the second set 2-0. He won two straight service games to love and had Federer under pressure in the eighth game.

[to top of second column]

But Nieminen served a double-fault in the next game to face a break point, then put a forehand wide to give Federer a decisive 5-4 lead. When Nieminen's return went long, Federer held a match point and closed it out with a backhand volley winner.

Nieminen fell to 0-8 against Federer.

After losing the Madrid Masters final to David Nalbandian last week, Federer dropped a set in his opening match in Basel before winning the next four in straight sets. He is now 7-4 in finals this year and has 52 career titles.

"I had a great week," said Nieminen, who became the first Finn to win an ATP title in 2006 in Auckland. "I was trying too much at the start of the match. I tried to hit too many winners. I started to play better in the second but it wasn't good enough. I had too many unforced errors. Roger is tough when it gets tight."

[The Associated Press; By NESHA STARCEVIC]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

< Sports index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor