The Hindu : Sport : Federer captures 55th title

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Federer captures 55th title

Paes-Dlouhy falter at the final hurdle; Nadal king at Queen’s

— PHOTO: AFP

RUNNING HOT: Roger Federer stretched his unbeaten run on grass to 59 matches while winning the Gerry Weber Open.

HALLE (Germany): Roger Federer kept alive his grass-winning streak and captured his 55th title on Sunday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Gerry Weber Open.

Federer, who sailed through the Wimbledon warm-up without a dropped set, ran his record unbeaten run on grass to 59 matches.

The 40th-ranked German netted a backhand after a long rally to end the match.

“I never lost my serve in this tournament, that had never happened to me,” Federer said. “That was very special.”

The top-ranked Swiss restored some confidence after one of his worst defeats — a rout in the French Open final at the hands of rival Rafael Nadal. He took just four games.

Federer, who raised his record to 10-0 in grass finals, won Halle for the fifth time. The previous four were followed by Wimbledon triumphs three weeks later.

Federer didn’t face a top 10 player, but had an easier time than his last appearance at the event in 2006. He was pushed to three sets in four of his five matches that year.

Federer won Halle for the first time in 2003 — before going on to win his first Wimbledon title — and now has won 24 straight at the tournament, a streak dating back to that year.

Meanwhile, Leander Paes missed the chance to register his first doubles win of the season after losing the summit clash of the Gerry Weber Open along with Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy. The fourth-seeded Indo-Czech pair lost the final match 6-3, 4-6, 3-10 to unseeded duo of Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Mischa Zverev of Germany.

Ending a 36-year wait

Rafael Nadal displayed his grass court credentials by winning his first Queen’s Club Trophy with a 7-6(6), 7-5 victory over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in London on Sunday.

The top seed became the first Spanishman to win a title on grass since Andres Gimeno walked away with the Eastbourne Trophy in 1972.

After recovering from a terrible start, when he trailed 0-3 in the opening set, Nadal rebounded in spectacular style and wrapped up victory with a thumping smash.

Davydenko wins title

At Warsaw, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko captured his third ATP Tour title of the year, beating second-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Warsaw Open.

Davydenko, who also won the clay-court tournament in 2006, broke the defending champion three times in the first set, while giving up his serve once. He needed just one break in the second, saving five breakpoints en route to clinching the victory.

Davydenko, who conceded just one set on his way to the final, also won the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and the Hypo Group International in Poertschach, Austria, this year.

Kirilenko triumphs

At Barcelona, second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the WTA Barcelona-Kla championship with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory over Spanish wild card Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the final.

The title was Kirilenko’s second of the year, following her win at Estoril, Portugal, in April.

The results:

At London: ATP Artois championships: Final: Rafael Nadal bt Novak Djokovic 7-6(6), 7-5; Semifinal: Novak Djokovic bt David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-0.

At Warsaw: ATP Orange Warsaw Open: Final: Nikolay Davydenko bt Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-3.

At Halle: ATP Gerry Weber Open: Singles final: Roger Federer bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4.

Doubles final: Mikhail Youzhny & Mischa Zverev bt Leander Paes & Lukas Dlouhy 3-6, 6-4, 10-3.

At Birmingham: WTA DFS Classic: Final: Kateryna Bondarenko bt Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-6(4). Semifinal: Kateryna bt Marina Erakovic 6-3, 6-2.

At Barcelona: WTA Barcelona-Kla championship: Final: Maria Kirilenko bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-0, 6-2. Semifinal: Kirilenko bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 7-5, 6-3. — Agencies

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