Federer!

[united4lyf]

never thought these days would come

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Roger Federer's grip on his status as world number one slipped further on Thursday night when he suffered a shock defeat to Ivo Karlovic in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters.

Federer's lead in the rankings has been shrinking by the week and if Rafael Nadal wins on Sunday he will take over as officially the best player in the world, ending the Swiss star's four-and-a-half year reign.

Karlovic, seeded 16, proved a difficult nut to crack on the fast courts in Ohio as the big-serving Croat edged the first set 8-6 in a tie-break.

Federer did manage to level with the only break of serve in the match in the fifth game of the second set, but once again Karlovic took the decider to a tie-break, and for once the top seed failed to raise his game on the big points, going down 6-7 6-4 6-7.

"It's disappointing, losing without getting broken, but it's not the first player it has happened to, especially to a guy like Ivo," Federer said. "He served really well, so it was always going to be a hard match. There's always danger in tough matches against Ivo. I knew that from the start.

"I guess I'll analyze and assess my game after the US Open. For the moment it's just all a blur. I mean, it's so many tournaments in a row, big tournaments in a row, it's hard.
"It's a tough trip we've got up in front of us now, going back to China and coming back to the US Open.

"I'm looking forward for the next two tournaments. Those are really the ones that can make this season from a good one to a great one again.

"I hope I can manage to pull off something in the next couple of weeks."

skysports.com

[kokka78]

It would have been impossible for him keep playing at the same level for so long.
I never liked him but he's a real champion.

[united4lyf]

He was never one of my favourites but i really admire him because he's just so outstanding. But i can see Nadal also taking no.1 for quite a few years too.

[kokka78]

I must say Nadal now is really scaring....awww well he0s not my fav so i don't care ;D

[johnboy14]

if he does drop the no 1 spot, it would be on the back of the greatest 4 years in the history of professional tennis. You have to admire federer for what he has achieved in the sport and I'm sure when he gets back fit after the off season he'll be back to get his titles back.

[kokka78]

i never liked but i admire him and all the effort he put when he plays to achive trophies.

[20lskjaer]

Yeah, never liked him but he's easily one of, if not the best tennis player of all time. It's certainly going to be a rivalry with Nadal that's gonna go on for a long time. I hope Nadal comes out on top though. He seems down to earth where as Federer seems like he's up his own arse. With his name on his cardys!

[kokka78]

No one is like Marat Safin even better than Federer but with a huge difference,his biggest rival has always been his lack of concetrantion and never really wanted to gave up his life for Tennis.

Federer always did the right thing at the right time like a robot.
But Marat god there's no words too describe him.

I know in matters of Tophies Federer is the best but its always the same story.....what if.....Im sure the real rivalry would have been Federer/Safin that in terms of tennis its something too good to watch.

[Pooja]

Never liked him , but you have to admit he is one of the best player mens tennis has ever seen. Last few years there was virtually no really challenging for the No.1 spot ,glad that now Nadal is getting there.

[united4lyf]

Well he's done it.. well done!

Rafa win confirms top spot

Spaniard surges to top of ATP rankings

Rafael Nadal has ended Roger Federer's 235-week reign at the top of the world rankings after the Spaniard defeated Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters.

By reaching the semi-finals, Nadal will become number one on August 18 and he is guaranteed to move to the top of the rankings on August 11 by finishing as the runner-up.
Nadal has won his last five tournaments and if the 22-year manages to claim the Cincinnati championship he will immediately overtake Federer as the number one player in the world.

Nadal, who is an ATP-best 64-7 this season and is on a 32-match winning streak, connected on 67 percent of his first serves and saved all three break points in an entertaining last eight clash.

Lapentti has made a habit of knocking out seeded Spaniards in this tournament, with consecutive upsets of No. 5 David Ferrer and No. 10 Fernando Verdasco en route to the quarters.

Improved
However, Nadal was simply too strong for the South American, and after clinching the first set 7-3 on a tie-break, he moved through the gears to power through the second set 6-1.

Speaking to Sky Sports Xtra after the match, Nadal said: "I'm very happy, especially to be number one but also because I have improved to my best run at Cincinnati - I am in the semi-finals for the first time in my career.

"For sure, to be number one is always a goal. I have fought a lot over the last few years getting a lot of good results and finally I am mumber one."

Nadal will meet third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a semi-final clash after the third seeded Serbian downed Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 6-3 6-4 in the quarters.

"I thought that I was serving much better, and day after day I'm getting stronger in the segment of my game, which is really important coming up to the final stages of the tournament," said Djokovic.

skysports.com

[mufc2911]

federer while a magnificent player, has never been a favourite of mine. i admit i thought tennis was getting a bit boring because he was pretty much a shoo-in to win every grand slam except the french.

i really like nadal, he plays fabulous tennis, and the way he's progressed over the last 3 or 4 years, he deserves the number one spot. hopefully the US open final will be a repeat of the wimbledon final.

[johnboy14]

everyone on here dislikes the man for some reason, why? I don't know about you but I admire sporting genius, Nadal is invading tennis with just raw power and athleticism what does nadal bring to tennis that we haven't seen before.