Net2Nepal

STANFORD, California (AFP) – – Australian Samantha Stosur stunned US top seed Serena Williams 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the 700,000-dollar WTA Bank of the West Classic.

Stosur snapped the 11-time Grand Slam champion’s nine-match win streak and booked a berth Saturday against the winner of a later match between Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic and French eighth seed Marion Bartoli.

Williams, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, had won both prior meetings against Stosur but struggled from the start and was foiled in her comeback bid at the 700,000-dollar hardcourt event.

Russian third seed Elena Dementieva ousted Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-4 to reach a Saturday semi-final against the winner of a later match between US second seed Venus Williams and Russia’s Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova is 3-2 lifetime against Venus, winning most recently at Miami in 2007. Venus took her only wins over Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2007.

Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include five Wimbledon crowns, faces three-time Slam winner Sharapova as the Russian beauty queen is on the rebound from right shoulder surgery.

Source: AFP

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On the Way to a Marathon, Federer Keeps His Footing by winning the wimbledon.

WIMBLEDON, England-The fifth set will always be remembered as an all-time marathon and an exclamation point to the most cherished record in tennis. But the second set was when Roger Federer, on the brink of falling into a two-set hole to Andy Roddick, reminded Pete Sampras that he hadn’t come all the way from Los Angeles to congratulate the first American Wimbledon winner since Sampras won here in 2000.

Yes, you could argue it was Roddick’s own failure to close the deal after holding quadruple set point in the tie breaker. Serving at 6-5, you could accuse him of bad judgment and worse execution on a high backhand volley, on a running Federer forehand that might actually have been on its way out.

You could dwell on that potentially shattering sequence for the man whose serve was unbreakable until the bitter end, but that would be missing the point.

That would be dwelling on Roddick’s moments of frailty Sunday while neglecting the essence of Federer’s tennis immortality. Long before Roddick mis-hit a forehand, finally surrendered, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14, to Federer’s quest for a 15th Grand Slam singles victory after 4 hours 18 minutes, Roddick hit a blistering forehand on the first of those four set points in the second-set tie breaker.

The ball landed deep in the court, at Federer’s feet, on his backhand side. On pure instinct, he flicked at it with his wand of a racket, angled it just enough to direct the ball cross-court, over the net, into open space.

“Come on,” Federer shouted, convincing nobody except himself there was still a way out of the trap.
He believed because he is Federer. Five points later, it was one-all in sets. The match of Federer’s record-setting dreams and — some would say — Roddick’s life was on.

“I thought the second set was obviously key to what came after,” Federer said. “Maybe being down two sets to love, the way Andy was serving, would have always been a difficult situation to be in, you know.”

It was more than the way Roddick was serving; it was how he was holding his own with Federer when the ball was in play. Lighter on his feet after shedding 15 pounds, hitting through the backhand as we have seldom seen him, attacking the net and dropping deft volleys to the other side.

continue reading…

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Roger Federer and Andy Roddick do battle for the Wimbledon championship. Can Federer win his 15th Grand Slam title? Or will Roddick delay the great Swiss’ run to the record? Follow along with our live blog and sound off below.

Roddick leads Federer 6-5
First set
Game 1: Roddick starts with a booming serve to win the first point. He’s served beautifully in this tournament and he’ll need it again today. A painless hold gives him the early lead.

Game 2: Federer follows with an easy hold of his own. These two have played some very close matches over the years, despite Federer’s lopsided 18-2 edge in the head-to-head record.

Game 3: Roddick continues to hit big serves and cruises to a hold at love. Both look sharp early on.

Game 4: And Federer holds at love. No hint of cracking by either player on their serve so far.

Game 5: The baseline groundstroke battles are going to be key today. Federer has the edge on paper and wins a point in this game after a long rally. Roddick wins another on a nice passing shot, then wins the game after handling a tough return and sending a gorgeous backhand winner up the line. This version of Andy Roddick just might be a problem for Federer.
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