The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- FedEx eyes record win at Wimbledon
- Brazilian Massa looking ahead to team’s revival
- V Shem-Khim Wah face tough opener in Singapore Open
| FedEx eyes record win at Wimbledon Posted: 18 Jun 2013 04:33 PM PDT PARIS: Ten years after Roger Federer made his Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon, the 17-time major winner returns to the All England Club next week as defending champion, but with the clock ticking. The Swiss put his growing army of critics firmly in their place in 2012 when, after back-to-back quarter-final defeats, he captured his seventh Wimbledon title, equalling the record of Pete Sampras. Federer, meanwhile, ended a 10-month title drought at the weekend when he won the Halle grasscourt tournament for the sixth time – it was his first piece of silverware since Cincinnati on the eve of the 2012 US Open. That would have spiced up his confidence ahead of Wimbledon, but there are huge doubts over whether or not he can carry that spring in his elegant step onto the famous lawns of south-west London and be the first man to win Wimbledon eight times. Age is a factor. Federer will be 32 in August while Sampras won the last of his Wimbledon titles as a 28-year-old in 2000. An eighth victory for Federer next month would make him the second oldest champion at Wimbledon in the Open era, just behind Arthur Ashe who was six days short of his 32nd birthday when he triumphed in 1975. Then there will be the all-important seedings which will be announced today where two-time champion Rafael Nadal, fresh from a record-breaking eighth French Open victory, is likely to be seeded five. That could see Federer facing his old rival as early as the quarter-finals while Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the runner-up last year, are potential semi-final opponents. It's a far cry from 2003 when Federer won his first Wimbledon, two years after beating his great hero Sampras in the fourth round and 12 months after a reality-checking first round howler against Mario Ancic. Back then, his quarter-final opponent was Sjeng Schalken while Andy Roddick, who he went on to beat in three finals, was overcome in the semi-finals before a straight sets win over Mark Philippousis, ranked 48, in the title match. But Federer insists his mind is free of clutter ahead of Wimbledon, buoyed by the omens of Halle – he has completed the Halle-Wimbledon double four times already, between 2003 and 2006. "It's totally different (than 2003)," he said. "Ten years ago I went into Wimbledon with so much pressure, even though I had lost in the first round the year before. "In terms of needing to prove my point that I was a legitimate Grand Slam contender, I had incredible pressure. Now, ten years later, I know Wimbledon, I know Halle, I know my way around and what I need to do to perform well. "I'm going in with pressure because I'm defending my title. There's always pressure because it's a privilege to play at Wimbledon and I want to do so well. I feel good right now and I hope I can show it on the court." Federer has confronted doubts on many occasions in his career and faced them down with his trademark, cool self-confidence. It's a rock-solid self-belief often interpreted as arrogance, a trait which has even spawned a parody Twitter account, @PseudoFed, which has over 20,000 followers. On the site, he is lampooned as a man who employs lackeys to carry out routine jobs such as rolling his eyes for him. The real Federer, who will be playing Wimbledon for a 15th time, was happy to roll his own eyes when more doubts were raised over his staying power in the aftermath of his French Open quarter-final defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is used to fielding the questions and giving his answers on court. In the Roland Garros final in 2008, Nadal allowed him just four games in his worst Grand Slam humbling. But he recovered from what could have been a shattering loss to win the 2008 US Open, 2009 French Open, 2009 Wimbledon, the Australian Open in 2010 and Wimbledon again last year. — AFP |
| Brazilian Massa looking ahead to team’s revival Posted: 18 Jun 2013 05:07 PM PDT LONDON: Brazilian driver Felipe Massa is looking forward to Formula One's upcoming return to traditional high-speed circuits as a boost for himself and Ferrari. The 32-year-old, who has suffered a series of crashes in the races in Monaco and Canada, said he believed that tracks like Silverstone and the Nurburgring would help Ferrari close in on leaders Red Bull in the constructors' championship. "I think Silverstone can be a bit better for us," explained Massa. "The car was very strong in Barcelona and in China. Montreal was a completely different track compared to where next we are going – to Silverstone and Nurburgring, where you have a lot of lateral corners. "There are a lot of medium and high-speed corners, so we will see. I think will be better on normal tracks." Massa rejected the idea that Ferrari had fallen behind Red Bull in the season-long development war that now characterises modern Formula One. The Italian outfit are on 145 points, 56 points behind Red Bull, whose German world champion Sebastian Vettel heads the overall drivers championship. Instead, he said he felt that the last two races in Monaco and Canada were merely "blips" in their progress because of the nature of the circuits. "I'm not very happy for what's happened to me recently – in Bahrain for the tyre, Monaco for the two crashes and in Canada with qualifying," he added. "So, definitely I want to get to the next race with a lot of luck – good luck! – and show our potential every time in qualifying and in the race. "I know we have the pace and that is important. We have to go and do it." The British Grand Prix takes place at Silverstone on June 30 while the German GP is at the Nurburgring on July 7. — AFP |
| V Shem-Khim Wah face tough opener in Singapore Open Posted: 18 Jun 2013 04:33 PM PDT PETALING JAYA: It's probably the worst time to take on Indonesian's Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan but world No. 11 Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah are prepared for the challenge when the pair meet in the first round of the Singapore Open today. Ahsan-Setiawan are Indonesia's doubles pair of the future. They are already ranked No. 13 in the world after coming together since October. The duo are currently high on form having won the Indonesian Open last week and were All England semi-finalists back in March. Ahsan-Setiawan are also one of the few pairs who have been the stumbling blocks to the explosive South Korean combination of Ko Sung-hyun-Lee Yong-dae, having beaten them twice — in the finals of the Malaysian Open back in January and last week's Indonesian meet. But V Shem-Khim Wah are not short of confidence either, having won the Malaysian Open GP Gold last month, and performed admirably during the Sudirman Cup in which they defeated Germany's Ingo Kindervater-Johannes Schoettler. "Ahsan-Setiawan are playing really well and will be extra confident after they won the Indonesian Open," said V Shem. "But we're not afraid of them and we're looking forward to playing them in the first round today. Hopefully we'll bring out our top game and pull off an upset over the more experienced Indonesians," added V Shem. If V Shem-Khim Wah, who are seeded eighth in Singapore, can defeat Ahsan-Setiawan, they will face either Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata of Japan or Lee Sheng Mu-Tsia Chia Hsin of Taiwan in the second round. If they can maintain their recent good form and reach the last eight, they will probably face second seeds Kenichi Hayakawa-Hiroyuki Endo of Japan, a pair whom they beat in the second round of the Korean Open in January. Beside V Shem-Khim Wah, the other Malaysian pairs in the fray are Gan Teik Chai-Ong Soon Hock and the World Championship-bound Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari. A fourth pair, backup shuttlers Ong Jian Guo-Teo Kok Siang, will join their compatriots in the main draw after surviving two tough qualifying matches. They first overcame Singapore's Huang Chao-Derek Wong before beating another home pair Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Terry Yeo 18-21, 21-13, 21-14 in the qualifiers. In women's doubles, the challenge will rest on the shoulders of top pair Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei, who are up against Thailand's Puttita Supajirakul-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the first round. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Star Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan