SHARE
COPY LINK

TENNIS

Nalbandian claims Stockholm Open title

Argentinian tennis star David Nalbandian overcame home favourite Robin Söderling on Sunday to claim a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory in the Stockholm Open.

The Argentine number 7, playing for the first time at the event, held off a fightback from Robin Söderling, who had been seeking to give home fans their first local champion since Thomas Johansson in 2004.

Nalbandian has started his autumn indoor season on the best possible note, which he believes bodes well for Madrid after the confidence-boosting victory.

A year ago, Nalbandian dominated the autumn European campaign, winning Madrid and Paris Bercy back-to-back with two victories each over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

“I’m going with confidence, I’ve won my first indoor event of the season, so it’s a great start for me,” said the Argentine whose only other trophy in 2008 came on clay in Buenos Aires in February.

“I hope to defend my trophy. Madrid has some altitude, maybe 5-600 metres.

“But I’ll have a few days to get used to it. There is no extra pressure on me, I’ll just try and play my game 100 percent when I’m on the court.”

Nalbandian fired 13 aces and broke five times in the Swedish final while Söderling put in 18 untouchable serves.

Nalbandian is thick in the race for the season-ending, eight-man Masters Cup in Shanghai in less than a month.

But the 26-year-old is unlikely to make the trip to China, with his focus on the key Davis Cup final against Spain at Mar del Plata in his homeland.

Nalbandian ran away with the opening set in just over 20 minutes, breaking his 35th-ranked opponent twice.

But after getting up an early break in the second, Söderling clawed it back for 4-all, securing the set with a break of the Argentine in the final game.

The third ran with serve until Nalbandian took a 4-3 lead after Söderling had salvaged three break points. Nalbandian then polished off victory in 1hour 37min on his first match point.

Söderling was playing at the Kungliga Hallen for the sixth time and now stands 13-6 at the tournament. Nalbandian stands 34-13 for the season.

Söderling had come to the court without once dropping serve all week, winning 37 straight service games.

Nalbandian heads on Monday to Madrid, starting in the second round against either Rainer Schüttler or Tomas Berdych.

ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

SHOW COMMENTS