Australian Open

[Oyabun]

THE MENS AUSTRALIAN OPEN WINNER OF 2007 IS..

FEDERER once again scores:
R. Federer Rod Laver 7 6 6
F. Gonzalez Complete 6 4 4

[Saurgrist]

Federer won the entire thing without losing a set... that is amazing.

I'm also somewhat surprised that Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova, but I heard that she was having foot problems which definitely gave Serena the edge.

[Oyabun]

Yes federer has been very impressive and his trying to beat one of the tennis playerss records i think it was 10 grand slams in a row.
I'm suprised serena pulled out and won when she hasn't played for a while very interesting that.

Story on Williams

Unseeded and lacking match practice before the tournament, Serena Williams signalled her return to the top echelons of women's tennis with a stunning 6-1 6-2 victory over world No.1 Maria Sharapova to claim her third Australian Open crown on Day 13.

Heading into the year's first Grand Slam ranked No.81 in the world and considered an outside chance even to make it through to the quarterfinals, the American former world No.1 stunned her harshest critics to once more raise the championship trophy.

After a forgettable 2006 season where she played only four tournaments, Williams came into the Australian Open on the back of a third-round exit at the Moorilla Hobart International in early January.

However, running completely against the form guide and on the back of some inspirational tennis in the final, she returned to the winners' circle to notch up her eighth career Grand Slam title.

Speaking after wresting the Australian Open title from the clutches of Sharapova, Williams highlighted this year's win as up there with the best of her career victories.

"This one is right up there with the top. Even I didn't expect to come in and win it all," she admitted. "I never expected to lose. But, you know, you just always stay so positive. You always go in.”

"You always think, I'm going to win, I'm going to win. When it really happens, I still can't believe the tournaments over. I feel like there's another match to be played or there's something else. You know, it's an awesome feeling."

Surpassing even her own expectations, the unseeded champion also conceded there was a time during her injury-ravaged 2006 season when she felt she would never win another tournament.

"There are always times out there where you think, you know, 'am I ever going to be looking at another trophy'?" she said. "Especially since I hadn't won a tournament, let alone a Grand Slam, I hadn't won a tournament in a long time.”

"You know, you're thinking about, Wow, will there be another time?"

After hitting a sizzling winner to complete a comeback for the ages, Williams threw her racquet into the air before crumpling to the ground in celebration.

Then, in her post-match address to the crowd on Rod Laver Arena, she dedicated the triumph to her sister Yetunde Price, who was killed in 2003.

"Every day I write notes, you know, from my match. Not every day, but every match I wrote notes. Today my note was just Yetunde. That was all my notes. That's it,"
Williams added.

"Usually I write, 'look at the ball, move forward, do this, do that'. Today I just had one word. Every changeover I looked at it and I just thought about how happy she would have been, you know, how much she always supported me.”

"I just thought about what an amazing sister she was to me. I just said, 'Serena, this has to be motivating. This has to be more than enough to motivate me', and I think it was."

When asked whether she was surprised at how easily Sharapova succumbed in the final, Williams said her experience on the big stage had helped her shine when it mattered most.

"I just went out there, I was focused. You know, I was really focused. I knew what I wanted to do," she added. "I still think there are things I could have done even better. I knew what I wanted to do when I went out there.”

"My game plan was to play my game and to stay relaxed. I think if I can do that and if I'm playing good, it's hard for anyone, it doesn't matter what they're ranked as long as they're on the women's tour, doesn't matter who they are, it's tough for them to beat me."

As a result of her Australian Open triumph at Melbourne Park, Williams will now be ranked No.14 in the world when the rankings are released later in the week.

Heres a picture of Serena just after her finals match

[Oyabun]

No stopping the fed express

Roger Federer has claimed his third Australian Open crown, sweeping aside No.10 seed Fernando Gonzalez in three outstanding sets on Rod Laver Arena.

Against a white-hot Gonzalez, Federer might have had cause to be worried about his title defence. He was forced to produce his very best tennis, but in his typical ice cool manner, made it look all too easy, claiming his third Norman Brookes Challenge Cup 7-6(2) 6-4 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes.

Neither man was at his dazzling best in the first set, which saw them test each other out for much of the first few games. The unforced errors, which were so scarce from both men in the semifinals, mounted up, with Federer in particular, looking vulnerable. Gonzalez took his first chance to break the Swiss in the ninth game, but Federer saved two set points at 40-15 on Gonzalez's serve and then levelled it at 5-5 with some powerful tennis in the next game.

The tempo, and the quality, of the match, lifted decisively at the business end of the set. Federer willed his way to four set points in Gonzalez's next service game, but wasted them, as the Chilean pushed the set into a tiebreaker with an outstanding winner. But that determination went missing, as Federer won the first five points en route to wrapping up a one-set lead with a forehand winner which completely wrong-footed his opponent.

The second set looked to be headed down a similar path to the first, with both players growing increasingly confident on their serve. Ominously for the Chilean, Federer's service game was close to impenetrable, and he would only drop two points on serve for the set. That meant when Federer broke in the seventh game, the set followed soon after, and Gonzalez, who outside that break, had only conceded three points on his serve for the set, faced a mountain to climb.

Federer's hold on the match only strengthened, as he took Gonzalez to deuce in three out of his first four service games. It took three break points before a determined Gonzalez relented, conceding the seventh game, and giving Federer the match on his racquet. It was an advantage Federer was never going to squander, and he wrapped it up with successive outstanding winners.

Pictures of federer and gozalez


Picture of Federer after his finals match