Federer Renews Reign In Indian Wells

Roger Federer equaled Rafael Nadal’s record of 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles after defeating American John Isner 7-6(7), 6-3 on Sunday in Indian Wells. He became the first player to claim four BNP Paribas Open titles, adding to the three straight he won from 2004-06. "When it all pays off after a bit of a scare early on in the week and you get the title and the emotions are going, it's a wonderful feeling," he said. "I remember the days when I won three years in a row here, and I enjoyed myself over here. "It's been a long time since I have been this successful here, even though I have had some really good matches here in the past, but it's nice taking it all the way and getting victories. I was just really happy and not relieved because I was just extremely proud of my performance this week." Federer was the first to come under pressure in the final, needing to fight off two break points early on. After waiting out a 12-minute rain delay following the fifth game, both players easily held until Federer earned his first set point on Isner’s serve at 6-5. Isner held to force a tie-break, and fought off two more set points at 6-5 and 7-6 before he put a volley into the net on Federer’s fourth opportunity. The Swiss stepped up his play an extra notch in the final set. He lost just one point on serve and won the final four games to close the door on the 6’9” Isner after one hour and 21 minutes. The title was Federer’s third straight on the ATP World Tour, following his triumphs at the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai, and extended his winning streak to 15 straight matches. Since a loss in the US Open semi-finals, Federer has won 39 of his past 41 matches. He avenged his two losses - to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semi-finals and to Isner in Davis Cup action - this weekend. Federer had admitted he was not completely healthy at the start of the week, and needed to overcome Milos Raonic and Thomaz Bellucci in three-set matches before decisively defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals. "I played with an attitude maybe of, well, I can only win here," he said. "I don't favor myself because I have not felt great. It would be a surprise to come through. That's how it feels now. I was able to come through, and so convincingly at the end is amazing. I've really played amazing these last three matches in particular. I couldn't be more happy. They were really great wins." Isner had reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final by outlasting World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. The victory guaranteed that the 26-year-old North Carolina native would break into the Top 10 for the first time on Monday. "It was a great experience for me," he said. "The whole week was a lot of fun. Felt like right from the get go I was going to have a good week, but I didn't want to overthink it. I definitely took it one match at a time. I certainly played well all week, and obviously today it did not go my way. "I don't really feel like necessarily I played my best, but that's what Roger does. If I have any shot to beat him I'm gonna have to play my best. That wasn't the case today. He was too strong. All the credit goes to him."

Players Want Rules Enforced: Fan Reaction By Brad Boeker

Article by Brad Boeker

http://sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news?slug=ycn-11085006

Players Want Rules Enforced: Fan ReactionSeveral professional tennis players this year have commented publicly about rules on tour being enforced. Or more to the point, they have been making comments about rules not being enforced. The two most common complaints come from the time players take between points (men) and the shrieks players emit when playing (women).Last week, speaking at the BNP Paribas Open, Roger Federer commented on the slow pace of play of Rafael Nadal. Chris Chase, who writes the Busted Racquet tennis blog on Yahoo! Sports, took some shots at Federer's comments. Chase likes to poke fun at the regal way the Fed tries to criticize without seeming to criticize.

But is Federer wrong? After all, he is calling for nothing more radical than for the existing rules to be enforced. Currently players are allowed 20 seconds between points while playing in Grand Slam events, but they are allowed 25 points in regular ATP tournaments. Unscientific estimates have predicted that the epic, nearly six-hour Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (two of the most notorious perpetrators of slow play) could have been cut by an hour if the players had followed a pace of play prescribed by the rules.On the women's side we (still!) hear complaints about the grunts, yells, and shrieks players issue when playing. During the Australian Open in January Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (currently ranked #5) complained to the press about Maria Sharapova's noise levels while playing. Last fall then-#1 Caroline Wozniacki went further, claiming that players were actually making noise to gain an advantage. Still, like the ATP and pace of play, the WTA does little to address the noise issue.One of the negative public perceptions of tennis is that, as an individual sport, it's filled with prima donnas surrounded by of enablers who refuse to try to get the players into line. Sadly, there is lots of evidence to support this. Just watch SportsCenter during a Grand Slam and it won't be too long before you'll be treated to footage of a player smashing a racquet (or several). Or watch this video.Fans of all sports want the rules enforced consistently and fairly. Football fans want the Super Bowl champion Giants treated the same as the team in last place. Tennis fans should want the same. The notion that top players "have earned" a certain amount of latitude that the #167-ranked player doesn't get really doesn't do the sport any favors. I really enjoy following the career of Rafael Nadal. Not only is he one of the all-time greats, but everything about him tells me he is an individual of class and integrity. I simply wish he would stop taking an eternity between points.Now that the players themselves are speaking out about these problems, maybe the tours will be forced to act. The first step seems easy enough. Tell the referees to enforce the rules. Then be ready to back them up when the players complain.Brad Boeker has been a fan of professional tennis for over 30 years. He coaches high school tennis in Illinois.

Llodra fined $2,500 for racial taunting

Frenchman Michael Llodra has been fined $2,500 for racially taunting a spectator during his first-round win over Ernests Gulbis at Indian Wells. The ATP confirmed the fine for "verbal abuse."Canadian journalist Tom Tebbutt, who was at the match, reported that Llodra hit a ball out of court, threw his racket, and called fan Daniel Lee and his sister "f--king Chinese." L’Equipe will report on Tuesday that Llodra said he thought the fine was too high and that what he said should not have been considered worse than swearing.Llodra allegedly said he would call the Lees by 2 PM on Sunday, but Daniel Lee told TENNIS.com that they had not been contacted by 8 PM.Llodra withdrew from his second-round match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday because of a knee injury when trailing 4-1.

Tsonga Targets First Grass Court Title at Queens Club

Jo Wilfried Tsonga will try to go one step further than last year by winning his first grass court title at the AEGON Championships, 11-17 June, 2012. Tsonga, the World No.6, thrilled the crowds at The Queen’s Club last year with his big serve, diving volleys and extravagant celebrations, and narrowly lost out to Andy Murray in a pulsating three-set, Monday final. After agreeing to play at the AEGON Championships again, he said that the event last year was a turning point for him. He went on to reach the semifinals at The Championships, Wimbledon and reached the final of the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of the year.“I had an incredible year in 2011, and it all started there (at the AEGON Championships),” said Tsonga. “For me it is really nice, the organizers are very friendly with me, I like the crowd, and it was a really good atmosphere in the final. I beat Lleyton Hewitt there in 2007 to get into the Top 100 for the first time and that’s where I started to do my celebration like this (he demonstrates his jumping celebration with two thumbs pointing to his back).”Can he go all the way at the AEGON Championships this time, and also at Wimbledon two weeks later?“I know that I can beat everybody on grass, so why not?” he said. “I know on grass that I am a good player. I go to the net and I serve well.”Murray, who fought back to beat Tsonga 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in last year’s final and has already confirmed his participation at the AEGON Championships this year, paid tribute to the Frenchman shortly after defeating him in the final. "Jo was playing a different sport to me in the first two sets, I have never seen anyone dive so much," said Murray. "He is so much fun to watch but not much fun to play against!”.

Experience Leads Federer Past Raonic

Experience won over youth on Tuesday night in Indian Wells, with 30-year-old Roger Federer coming back to defeat 21-year-old Milos Raonic 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 for a place in the BNP Paribas Open fourth round.

“I guess my experience helped me to stay calm and just weather the storm,” said Federer. “Maybe if I would be younger I'd be more panicky about him hitting aces left and right and making me feel uncomfortable. I have been there so many times before against some of the all time great servers that it was obviously not going to happen tonight. I just hoped to stay calm.”

Raonic gained the upper hand in the first meeting between the pair, going up a mini-break 5-3 and holding his serve to clinch the tie-break, but Federer came back strong in the second set. The World No. 3 broke in the opening game and a second time to go up 4-1. “I felt at the beginning maybe I just went for a little too much, didn't play within myself,” said Raonic. “I think I caught on to that pretty early and calmed down and did the right things. I think it just came down to a few poorly executed plays as well. I think I hit the ball well. I just was picking the wrong shot, and this is what makes the difference, but with experience hopefully I catch on to that.”

Federer lost only five points on serve in the decisive set, and converted on the only break point chance with a winner past Raonic in the seventh game, going on to clinch the victory after two hours and seven minutes. “Even though I was down a set, I don't think I was playing poorly,” said Federer. “I might have missed one running forehand in the breaker, and that was about it. That cost me the set. That's just how it goes sometimes. I think my experience in this regard helped me a bit, but overall I think I just played a good match. My confidence got me through as well playing so many matches as of late. I think that was maybe the difference tonight.” Both players had entered the year’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament with two titles to their names in 2012, Federer winning in Rotterdam and Dubai and Raonic in Chennai and San Jose. Federer has now 11 straight matches, and 35 of his last 37 since a loss in the US Open semi-finals. He will attempt to extend his streak when he next meets unseeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. The World No. 50 secured safe passage when former World No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko retired due to illness. Bellucci, 24, has reached the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament once previously, posting upset wins over Top 10 players Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych en route to the Madrid semi-finals last year (l. to Djokovic). “Obviously it's a quick turn of events to go from night session to day session, from a righty to a lefty, from a big server to a baseliner,” assessed Federer. “I'm looking forward to that kind of a challenge. It's different. I hope to feel better again tomorrow so I will be able to last through long rallies.”