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TENNIS

Andy Murray confident ahead of Madrid open

Andy Murray arrived in the Spanish capital at the start of the Madrid Masters on Tuesday buoyed by his first clay court title in Munich.

Andy Murray confident ahead of Madrid open
Andy Murray beat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in Munich on May 4th. Photo: Christof Stache

The British Wimbledon champion was working to acclamatize to Madrid, heading quickly to the practise courts for an acclimatising hit-out on the Madrid clay.

"Conditions last week were very different to what they are here. Obviously I think a little bit more altitude here. But it's been very warm. Last week it was very cold a lot of the days and raining.

"It's going to be a tricky turnaround."

In first-round play, tenth seed Grigor Dimitrov advanced when Donald Young retired trailing 6-4, 3-0.

The seeded French pair of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils advanced comfortably, with number 12 Tsonga beating Lukas Rosol 7-5, 6-3 and 13th-seeded Gael Monfils crushing Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-0.

Estoril finalist Nick Kyrgios beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-3 to set up a match with top seed Roger Federer.

In women's matches at the ATP-WTA tournament, holder Maria Sharapova beat Mariana Duque 6-1, 6-2 and began moving into position for a possible return to the number two rankings she lost through a second-round Stuttgart exit last month.

The Russian needs to reach the Madrid final to replace Simon Halep on second after the Romanian was sent out in the first round at the weekend.

But five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova is not concerned with the details.

"I face the ranking questions every single week obviously because ranking is a big part of the sport. It's not my main purpose and my main goal.

"If I'm not ready to beat someone towards the later stage of a tournament, then I'm not ready to beat them from the very beginning. My goal is to win championships."

Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion and fourth seed, advanced to the third round over American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Victoria Azarenka, losing finalist to the Czech here four years ago, beat Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3.

That victory moved the former number one into a confrontation with top seed Serena Williams, with the challenger having won two of their last five matches dating to early 2013.

Ana Ivanovic, seeded seventh, beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4 while 14th seed Karolina Pliskova and number 15 Sara Errani both lost.

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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.

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