Roger Federer - Slow Motion Topspin Backhand

NO TRIFLE

One of the biggest truffles found in decades has fetched $330,000 (£165,000) at an auction held simultaneously in Macau, London and Florence.

A Macau casino owner, Stanley Ho, made the record-breaking bid for the white truffle, which weighed 1.5kg (3.3lb).

Luciano Savini and his son found the highly-prized fungus after it was dug up by his truffle dog near Pisa, northern Italy, last week.

He said he was overwhelmed by the high price paid for his discovery.

He said: "I thought we were going to beat the record, but not to really get to this amount.

"The biggest truffle of the century and the most expensive truffle of the century. There are no more words to say - it is all very beautiful."

Mr Ho outbid British artist Damien Hirst and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi to the prize.

US CAPTURES DAVIS CUP

DAVIS CUP FINALS: USA 3 - Russia 0

Bob and Mike Bryan (USA) def. Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-2 Saturday in Portland, Oregon to clinch the 2007 Davis Cup title for the United States 3-0 over the visiting Russian team.

This is the first Davis Cup title for the U.S. since 1995. The last time the U.S. swept the first three matches in a final was in 1990 against Australia.

FOOT BONE CONNECTED TO DA KNEE BONE

Rafael Nadal's foot injury should not keep him from performing at a high level, according to his doctor.

The second-ranked Spaniard was diagnosed in 2004 with a stress fracture in his left foot. The injury has occasionally flared up.

The foot "is not at all a handicap," Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro said in a statement Thursday. "Rafa is in perfect condition to continue developing his professional career at the highest level in future years."

Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, said in a newspaper interview Wednesday the injury was "very serious" and could threaten the player's career.

He later said his comments were misinterpreted, and Nadal issued a statement saying he was "fine."

Another leg problem, that came to Federer's rescue in Wimbledon [altho' no one mentions it], patellar tendonitis was not addressed.

US vs RUSSIA - DAVIS CUP

Russia have omitted top player Nikolay Davydenko from Friday's opening singles in the Davis Cup final against the USA.

Dmitry Tursunov will face Andy Roddick in the first match in Oregon, with Mikhail Youzhny playing James Blake.

World number four Davydenko will team up with Igor Andreev on Saturday to take on brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

"We have four strong players, be it for singles or doubles, so the choice was made for tactical reasons," said Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev.

Despite his high ranking, Davydenko has a dreadful record against Roddick and Blake, having lost all 11 matches against the American pair.

And Davydenko's season has been tainted by an ATP investigation into unusual betting patterns during his unexpected loss to Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina in August.

He has denied any wrongdoing, but in October was fined for not trying hard enough during another defeat in the St Petersburg Open. Earlier this month, the fine was rescinded on appeal.

US team captain Patrick McEnroe said he would not be surprised if the Russians made late changes to their line-ups for Saturday and Sunday.

Russia are the defending champions, having defeated Argentina last year in Moscow.

Last year Tursunov beat Roddick in a five-set thriller to secure Russia's place in the final with a 3-2 win over the USA.

Asked if that epic defeat would provide additional motivation, Roddick said: "I don't need any added hunger."

The United States have won 31 Davis Cup titles but none in the past 12 years.

This weekend's final is taking place on indoor hard courts at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

Friday 30 November - opening singles:
Andy Roddick v Dmitry Tursunov
James Blake v Mikhail Youzhny

Saturday, 1 December - doubles
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan v Igor Andreev/Nikolay Davydenko

Sunday 2 December - reverse singles: Roddick v Youzhny Blake v Tursunov

NADAL - ALL COURTS PLAYER?

Nadal is faced with having to change his type of game to become more effective on surfaces other than clay.
CLICK HERE to see the differences.

GQ

He's beaten one of tennis' toughest clay-court champions and one of the game's greatest grass-court players in the past week and now Roger Federer is once again expanding his horizons in keeping world-class company. You can soon see the Swiss stylist sharing space with former President Bill Clinton, rapper Kanye West, candidate Ron Paul, James Bond and the Flying Tomato.

Federer joins that eclectic group as one GQ Magazine's Men Of The Year in the new December issue of GQ. The magazine recognizes the 12-time Grand Slam champion as "Court King." Clad in a white Armani Exchange t-shirt, a stylish Federer resembles the young Warren Beatty in the black-and-white photo shot by Liz Collins.

SEOUL PLEASING

Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday in Seoul. The match was the first of three Asian exhibitions, with their next meeting Thursday in Kuala Lumpur before a final get together in Macau on Saturday.

If the top-ranked Swiss star expected an easy time against Sampras, he found out early Pistol Pete still has his powerful serve. Sampras brought cheers from the crowd at Seoul's Olympic Tennis Arena with two aces in his first service game. The balding Sampras proceeded to break his opponent's serve and then moved 4-2 ahead courtesy of a drop shot.

"I feel pretty good," Sampras told Korean television after the game. "I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me." Federer was equally happy with the workout a few days after winning his fourth Masters Cup.

"Pete was one of my idols growing up and it's great to play him," Federer said. "It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for him as he's been retired five years.

The 36-year-old Sampras retired in 2002, a year after the only previous meeting between the pair at Wimbledon 2001. Federer won that fourth round match in five sets.

On Tuesday, all the familiar trademark volleys and serves were on display but Sampras, who has won 14 Grand Slams to Federer's 12, was slower around the court than in his 1990s heyday. And he made a number of unforced errors. Federer took advantage to come back and take the first set. Apart from three successive lobs that Federer served up to his opponent in the second game of the second set, the match was a competitive, though lighthearted affair. By that time, Federer was hitting his stride and took the second set with a minimum of fuss.

KING JOHN, THE MAD

JOHN MCENROE

It is almost half past eight on a wet Friday evening when he enters the court for the Legends Cup, but already the demons are swarming like wasps.

He thought they were playing in Brussels – they drove him to Liege!

He thought they’d be staying at a nice hotel beside the tournament venue – they drove him halfway to Luxembourg!

He’s jet-lagged; his back aches; he’s picked up an anger-rash from the press conference and just when he thought his head was going to explode, just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse, they’ve sent him out to play the lovable Frenchman, Henri Leconte.

Leconte with the sweet disposition.

Leconte with the permanent smile. Leconte charming the umpire and throwing water and cola to the crowd. Leconte.

Within four games of the opening set, Mac has had his fill . . .

“FFFUUCCCKKKKKK!” In the fifth, he savages the umpire. In the sixth, he flings his racket to the ground. He loses the set, fights his way back and then loses the match in a tie-break. Boy, is he pissed off.

One watches, waits for the storm to abate.

There’s no handshake. They exchange heated abuse at the net and Mac storms from the court without granting an interview or an autograph.

King John, the triple Wimbledon singles champion.

King John, one of the finest we’ve ever seen.

King John, the outstanding broadcaster.

King John, The Mad.

FEDERER 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Top-ranked Roger Federer won his fourth Masters Cup title in five years Sunday, overwhelming No. 6 David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. It was the third consecutive dominating performance by Federer, who won his 53rd career title - including eight this year - and ran his record against Ferrer to 8-0.

The Spaniard was no match for Federer's blend of spins, power and volleying skills, managing only 10 winners to 38 unforced errors as he was forced to try to do too much with Federer getting everything back. Federer had 30 winners and 29 unforced errors.

Next up is an exhibition in Malaysia against Pete Sampras, who holds the record of 14 Grand Slam titles that Federer is chasing. The Swiss star will begin pursuit of No. 13 at the Australian Open.

DOUBLES CHAMPS

Canada's Daniel Nestor and partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas concluded their decade-plus partnership on a high note Sunday, winning the year-end title at the Masters Cup.

The veterans, who are wrapping up their collaboration after 13 years on court and 40 titles, went out winners in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over US Open-champions Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Austrian Julian Knowle at the Qi Zhong stadium.

The pair of veterans who will play next season with new partners – Belgrade-born Nestor has already earned a trophy this autumn with Serb Nenad Zimonjic – went out in style.

FEDERER AND FERRER IN FINALS

Roger Federer claimed the most lopsided win in his storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal to race into the Tennis Masters Cup final in Shanghai. After holding his nerve in a tense first set, Federer blew open the match by winning 13 consecutive points at the start of the second set before closing out a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Federer produced one of the best serving performances of his career, putting 81 percent of first serves into play and, in the first set, firing four consecutive aces.

He ended up with 26 winners to 16 unforced errors and yielded only 11 points in his nine service games.

The ATP World No. 1 hit with conviction the topspin backhand that has so often let him down against Nadal. He was confident on return, opting for a more aggressive topspin backhand rather than his slice. And he found the time he needed to dance around his backhand and unleash the full force of his mighty forehand.

Now the question is whether Ferrer can continue his hot streak. He has dropped only one set in four matches and was fresh, confident and sharp from the start, while Roddick seemed to be showing the effects of the short 20-hour turnaround from his loss to Federer the night before. Ferrer last played Thursday.

NESTOR-KNOWLES IN FINAL

Playing the final tournament of their celebrated partnership, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor advanced to the Tennis Masters Cup final after beating Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett in the Shanghai semifinals for the second consecutive year. After squandering three match points in the second-set tie-break, Knowles and Nestor took charge early in the match tie-break to win 6-4, 6-7(8), 10-5.

KNOWLES AND NESTOR IN SEMIS

Playing their last tournament together, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor secured their place in the Tennis Masters Cup semifinals despite losing 6-3, 4-6, 11-9 (Match Tie-Break) against Czech duo Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner on Friday. Knowles and Nestor held one match point at 9-8 in the match tie-break but Dlouhy iced their hopes for a perfect 3-0 sweep of the round-robin stage with a big ace down the middle past a diving Knowles.

Two points later the match was over. On his team's first match point, Dlouhy lobbed over Nestor's head. Incoming server Knowles retreated to scramble the ball back, but Dlouhy hit a winning backhand drop volley cross court to seal the victory.

Both teams finished with a 2-1 win-loss record but Knowles and Nestor advanced because their sets win-loss record for the round-robin stage was 5-3 as opposed to the Czech's 4-4 record. Winning the second set was crucial for Knowles and Nestor, who gave back a break at 5-4 but broke straight back to clinch the set.

RAFA AND ROGER MEET IN SEMIS

World No 1 Roger Federer has set up a Masters Cup semi-final showdown with rival Rafael Nadal after defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets in the final round-robin match in Shanghai.

Federer's 6-4, 6-2 victory over American Roddick ensured the defending champion topped the Red Group and booked a last-four contest with world No 2 and Spaniard Nadal. Bring on Nadal: Federer faces world No 2 in semi-final The match will be a repeat of last year's semi-final which saw Federer edge a close contest 6-4, 7-5. Roddick, who has now failed to beat Federer in 11 matches since 2003, will face Gold Group winner David Ferrer in the other semi-final. Federer, who has won the end-of-season tournament three times, had already ensured his passage through to the last four before today's contest with Roddick. The Swiss had progressed courtesy of Nikolay Davydenko's 6-4, 6-3 win over Fernando Gonzalez which was the first match on court. Federer, who had lost his opening round-robin match to Gonzalez, was back to his best against Roddick and breezed past his opponent in just over an hour. He wrapped up the opening set in 33 minutes as Roddick double-faulted to go a break down in the third game. Roddick was then two breaks down in the second before holding serve, but never looked like staging a comeback as Federer completed victory with a stylish forehand on his first match point.

FERRER, NADAL, RODDICK IN SEMIS

Sixth-ranked David Ferrer dominated No. 8 Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 Thursday to reach the Masters Cup semifinals, and helped friend and fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal along with him.

Ferrer's easy 59-minute victory also allowed No. 2-ranked Nadal to advance from the Gold Group of the round-robin phase by eliminating Gasquet. Nadal earlier beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in a match between players tired from a long season. He finished 2-1 in round-robin play.

On Friday, top-ranked Roger Federer will seek a semifinal place when he faces No. 5 Andy Roddick, who already has clinched his semifinals berth. Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko faces No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez in the other Red Group match.

NESTOR AND KNOWLES DOUBLES

Playing their final tournament together, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor took another step towards the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle. The turning point of the match came in the second set at 5-5 30/30, when Knowle missed an overhead to hand two break points to Knowles and Nestor, who converted their second chance.

Knowles and Nestor, who won this year's Roland Garros title, began playing with other partners after the US Open but have reunited for Tennis Masters Cup. With the withdrawal of the Bryan brothers due to injury, Knowles and Nestor are the top seeds at the event.

Despite being 2-0 in round-robin play Knowles and Nestor still are not guaranteed a semifinal place. They play Czech duo Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner in their final group match Friday.

NEXT - FEDERER vs RODDICK

Top-ranked Roger Federer snapped his two-match losing streak, beating No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday and boosting his chances of defending his Masters Cup title.

Federer still has to beat No. 5 Andy Roddick on Friday, though, to have a serious chance of making the semifinals.

Roddick was sharp as he beat No. 7 Fernando Gonzalez 6-1, 6-4 later Wednesday to improve to 2-0 in round-robin play.

He committed only seven unforced errors and never faced a break point.

Both Roddick and Gonzalez won their opening matches, with the Chilean upsetting Federer. It was Federer's second consecutive loss, the first time he had lost twice in a row in 4½ years.

Despite a few glitches along the way, including 39 unforced errors to just 23 winners, Federer looked extremely focused as he improved his round-round record to 1-1.

Davydenko fell to 0-2 and was virtually eliminated, barring injuries to players above the Russian in the Red Group.

Federer, who improved to 11-0 career against Davydenko and leads Roddick 14-1, was happy he got a chance to regain his touch in Shanghai.

FERRER BEATS NADAL

DAVID FERRER outgunned fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal with 23 winners to 10 (from the ground) to claim his second win at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, where he is now favored to reach the semis.

An aggressive Ferrer blunted Nadal's vicious topspin forehand by stepping into the court and nailing flat crosscourt backhands in response. He made Nadal do the bulk of the running and often had the three-time Roland Garros champion scrambling back defensive slice forehands at full stretch. Ferrer also dictated play with his own forehand, hitting frequent winners to both sides of the court. (But it wasn't always smooth sailing. Nadal won Ferrer's first three service games and took the first set.)

FERRER AND BRICKS

In 1999 in his home town of Javea, Ferrer endured many periods of self doubt. Little progress was made, results weren't coming and hard questions about his future abounded. Each morning Ferrer would arrive at practice riding his small motorcycle, but within minutes it was obvious to coach Javier Piles that his interest had waned. Piles, who remains Ferrer's coach, employed drastic measures to motivate his young charge.

"When he didn't want to work I would lock him up in a dark room of two by two meters and I would put a lock on it so he couldn't get out," says Piles.

Upon reflection, the punishment room was a metaphor of Ferrer's potential: Many people knew of his promise, yet no one seemingly could unlock it. Disenchanted, Ferrer hung up his racquets and took a job as a construction worker.

Ferrer spent a week loading bricks into a wheelbarrow and working from sunrise to sunset. He was exhausted and his weekly paycheck was just 30 Euros. That night, Ferrer called Piles to tell him that he would be on court at 9 am sharp the following morning.

Having experienced what working life is like for the masses, Ferrer realized that the life of a tennis professional was a more attractive proposition. He dedicated himself to the game and Piles never again had to lock him in the punishment room.