Fatherhood breathes new life into Murray's career

LONDON - Rather than being distracted by the sleepless nights or the regular nappy changing duties that have fallen his way, the arrival of baby daughter Sophia in February has breathed new life into Andy Murray's career.

Whereas top players used to once put off having families till their careers were in decline or over so that they did not lose focus, on Sunday, Murray joined the likes of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic by becoming the latest father to win a grand slam title when he beat Milos Raonic 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2) to capture a second Wimbledon title.

"Having a child has given me a little bit of extra motivation to work hard, train hard, and do all of the right things to give myself a chance to win these events," the 29-year-old Scot said after ending a three-year barren run at the slams.

"A lot of people have said, like, when Roger had kids, he started playing some of his best tennis. Novak, the same thing. But the reality is you still have to put the work in. You still have to have the drive and the dedication to train hard.

"I feel more motivated than ever just now."

Following the birth of his son Stefan in October 2014, Djokovic turned into an indestructible force, winning five of the next seven grand slam events.

That winning mentality also seems to have rubbed off on Murray as he has now contested the final of his last five tournaments, winning in Rome and Queen's Club before landing the one that really counted at the All England Club.

"The last three months have been some of the best I've played in terms of consistency," said Murray, who celebrated Sunday's triumph by hugging the pineapple-topped Challenge Cup while taking a dip in an ice bath in the players' locker room.

"I made the finals of the last five tournaments, here, Queen's, French (Open), Madrid and Rome. I don't think I'd done that before in my career.

"I had my best claycourt season. I was fairly close there," added Murray, whose hopes of becoming the first British man to win the Roland Garros title since Fred Perry in 1935 were thwarted by Djokovic.

"The last few months have been some of the best in my career, for sure."

NO FEAR OF FAILURE

The reason he is able to put himself into these situations is because he no longer fears failure.

Whereas in 2010 and 2011 his form and results went into freefall after he lost the Australian Open finals to Roger Federer and Djokovic respectively, he now knows how to compartmentalise these disappointments so that he is able to switch focus to the next target more quickly.

"I don't mind failing. Failing's okay, providing that you've given your best and put everything into it," said Murray, who was also beaten by Djokovic in January's Australian Open final.

"Failing's not terrible. I put myself in a position all of the time in these events to win them. I've lost a lot of close ones against great players most of the time.

"I'm not afraid of failing. I'm learning from all of my losses."

Playing in an era when Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal have captured 43 grand slam titles between them, three-times major winner Murray knows that he has his work cut out if he wants to add to his haul.

Before Sunday, every one of Murray's previous 10 slam finals had been against Federer or Djokovic.

While this fortnight's Wimbledon offered him a rare reprieve as Nadal was out injured, Djokovic was knocked out in the third round and Federer fell by the wayside in the semis, Murray knows that such occurrences are not likely to occur too often.

"If I want to add to three slams, I'm going to have to find ways to win against them," said Murray.

"It's very rare that you get through a slam without playing Novak, Roger or Rafa. But I still feel like my best tennis is ahead of me, that I have an opportunity to win more."

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Rex Gowar)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Time waits for no man, not even Federer

LONDON - When Roger Federer lay sprawled face down on his beloved Wimbledon turf on Friday as a flying forehand winner from Milos Raonic whizzed past, it looked like the "old guy" of tennis had nothing left in the tank.

In the midst of contesting his 10th tension-filled set in three days, it was clear time had finally caught up with the aching and ageing limbs of the 34-year-old Swiss supremo.

However, in a year when "one stupid move" sparked a chain of bad luck -- which included left knee surgery in February and then sitting out the French Open with a back injury -- Friday's fall in the semi-final could not have come at a worse time.

Instead of heading for the baseline after getting back on his feet in the fourth game of the fifth set, Federer slumped into his chair and started to rub down both legs with a towel.

The crowd started to chuckle, wondering if he was staging a sit-down protest as his dreams of winning an eighth Wimbledon title, and 18th major overall, started to slip away from him.

But for Federer it was no laughing matter.

The man who until 2016 had a body that seemed bullet-proof against the aches and injuries endured by most top athletes, waited to get the all clear to continue from the trainer as he had landed heavily on his left knee after rolling his ankle.

FEDERER FALLS

"I was insecure coming into Wimbledon," said Federer, who surged back from two sets and three match points down in the previous round before beating Marin Cilic.

"(But) the 10 sets I played the last two matches really gives me the belief that I'm tougher physically than I thought I was, he added after his 6-3 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5 6-3 defeat by Raonic.

"I just hope with the slip I had in the fifth, I'm going to be fine tomorrow and beyond. I hope I didn't hurt myself.

"Is it (the pain) a three-day thing, is it a 24-hour thing or is it more? I don't know at this point.

"I was able to finish. But I don't slip a lot. I don't ever fall down.

"With the body that's been playing up this year, I just hope I'm going to be fine. I believe I am, but I'll know more tomorrow when I wake up."

The only thing that is certain when he wakes up on Saturday is that he will not be contesting a record-extending 11th Wimbledon final -- and 28th overall.

Instead, he will have to digest the disappointment of losing a Wimbledon semi-final for the first time in his career.

Whereas outside Wimbledon the Swiss had a 17-12 win-loss semi-final record at the slams, at the home of grasscourt tennis he had a perfect 10-0 record -- until Friday's heartache.

MISSED CHANCE

What was particularly painful for Federer, though, is that he missed chance, after chance, after chance -- converting only one of nine break points that he fought so hard to earn.

Despite leading by two-sets-to-one and holding two break points in the fifth game, Federer's body simply let him down.

"Just don't remind me of everything," the third seed pleaded in his news conference.

"I had a break point, I don't know how many. It's something I want to forget about. Getting broken at 6-5, I can't believe I served a double-fault twice. Unexplainable for me really.

"Very sad about that and angry at myself because never should I allow him to get out of that set that easily.

"Then getting broken again at 2-1, having the slip. Very disappointing half an hour there for me.

"This one clearly hurts, because I could have had it. I was so, so, close," added Federer, who for the first time since 2000 has failed to win a title going into the second half of the year.

A month shy of his 35th birthday, Federer knows time is not on his side if he wants to triumph at Wimbledon again, but he was adamant his goals stretched beyond the world's most famous Centre Court.

"It's a dream to win my eighth," said Federer, who applauded the fans and gave a thumbs up as he left his favourite arena.

"(But) it's not my only reason why I play tennis... otherwise I'll go in a freeze box now and come out before Wimbledon next year." (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Djokovic crashes at Wimbledon ending Slam dream

LONDON -- Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic was sent crashing out of Wimbledon by big-serving Sam Querrey on Saturday, shattering his dreams of securing the first calendar Grand Slam in 47 years.

The world number one, bidding for a fourth Wimbledon title and 13th major, suffered his earliest loss at a Slam since the 2009 French Open.

The 7-6 (8/6), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) third round defeat also ended Djokovic's Open era record run of 30 successive wins at the majors and his streak of having reached 28 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals.

"Sam played a great match. His game was brutal and I was overpowered," said the Serb, who added that he "wasn't 100 percent healthy".

Djokovic, who completed a career Grand Slam at the French Open, refused to dwell on failing to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win a calendar Grand Slam having won in Melbourne and Paris already this year.

"I managed to win four Grand Slams in a row. I want to try to focus on that rather than on failure," he added.

"Coming into Wimbledon, I knew that mentally it's not going to be easy to kind of remotivate myself."

Djokovic added that he would not be playing in the Davis Cup quarter-final against Andy Murray's Great Britain in Belgrade in two weeks' time.

- Fate sealed -

America's Querrey, the world number 41, built only his second win in 10 meetings with Djokovic on an epic-serving performance over two days after the tie had been suspended with him two sets to the good on Friday.

The 28-year-old sent down 31 aces -- 15 in the fourth set alone -- and saved 14 of 17 break points while unleashing 56 winners.

His reward is a last-16 clash with 34-year-old Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.

"It's incredible, especially to do it here at Wimbledon. I'm so ecstatic right now and so happy," said Querrey.

Rain had saved 29-year-old Djokovic on Friday. On the resumption Saturday, the US, Australian and French Open champion took the third set 6-3.

In the fourth, he squandered 11 break points before finally breaking through at the 12th time of asking for a 5-4 lead.

But he couldn't convert with the American hitting straight back for 5-5 and holding for 6-5 when the rain returned to cause a second suspension of the day on Court One.

Djokovic served to take the set into the tiebreak and was ahead at 2/0 and 4/3 but Querrey clawed his way to two match points.

The top seed saved the first, but ballooned a forehand wide and his fate was sealed.

- Murray cruises through -

Djokovic's defeat was good news for second seed Murray who lost to his long-time rival in the Australian and French Open finals this year.

The 2013 champion responded by making the last-16 with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Australia's John Millman under the Centre Court roof.

"What Novak's done in the last 18 months, I don't think we'll see again for a long time. The level of consistency he's had is amazing, but it's impossible to win every match," said Murray.

Murray will play Australian 15th seed Nick Kyrgios or Spain's Feliciano Lopez for a place in the quarter-finals.

That tie was suspended due to bad light at one set apiece.

Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori beat Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 to set up a last-16 clash with Marin Cilic, the Croatian ninth seed who eased past Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

That will be a repeat of the 2014 US Open final won by Cilic.

In-form American Steve Johnson reached the fourth round of a major for the first time by defeating former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-2.

The world number 29 faces seven-time champion Roger Federer for a place in the last-eight.

Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, a 2014 finalist, defeated America's Jack Sock 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) and next faces Belgium's David Goffin.

Due to the rain-hit first week, two-time champion Petra Kvitova only finished her second round match at 5:30pm (1630 GMT).

The Czech 10th seed, with 43 unforced errors, lost 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) to Russia's Ekaterina Makarova.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 runner-up, enjoyed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Katerina Siniakova and next plays Dominika Cibulkova, the 19th seed from Slovakia.

German fourth seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber also reached the last-16 with a 7-6 (13/11), 6-1 win over compatriot Carian Witthoeft.

A semi-finalist in 2012, Kerber will next face Japan's Misaki Doi.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com