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TENNIS

Swiss champ wins first title on home soil

French Open champion Stan Wawrinka clinched his first home-ground title on Saturday with a 6-4, 7-6 (13/11) victory over Marin Cilic in the Geneva clay-court final.

Swiss champ wins first title on home soil
Wawrinka goes into the French Open on strong form. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

It was Wawrinka's third title of 2016 and first on clay just a day before Roland Garros was due to get underway in Paris, where Wawrinka will defend his title.
   
“It's a dream come true to be able to win a title in Switzerland, after all these tournaments,” Wawrinka said.
   
“To be able to do it here in Geneva, in the event's second year, is something special. The fans were great. They made a lot of noise today.”
   
World number four and top seed Wawrinka broke the 11th-ranked Cilic to take a 2-1 lead on his way to the first set.
   
Cilic hit back for a 4-1 advantage in the second set before 31-year-old Wawrinka broke the Croat at 3-5 to get the second set back on serve.
   
In the tie-break, Cilic squandered five set points before Wawrinka took victory on his second match point.
   
“Marin is a great player,” added Wawrinka. “He really ramped up the pressure toward the end, with those set points, so it was nice to be able to finish off the match.”
   
Former US Open champion Cilic was playing his first clay-court tournament of the season and his first event since March because of a right knee injury.
   
“It was an amazing week for me and this was something I was not even expecting,” Cilic said.

“I definitely have great enthusiasm now for Roland Garros.”

Wawrinka will take on Czech Lukas Rosol in his first-round match in Paris on Monday.

Rosol famously defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012 and was involved in a bad-tempered clash with Britain's Andy Murray in Munich last year when the Scot told the Czech that “everyone hates you”.
   
Wawrinka, who shattered Djokovic's latest attempt to complete the career Grand Slam with victory in last year's final,  defeated Rosol as recently as last Friday in the semi-finals in Geneva.
   
Roland Garros organisers will attempt to squeeze 54 singles matches into Monday's programme after heavy rain on Sunday allowed just 10 ties to be completed.
   
However, more bad weather is expected with torrential rain and temperatures hovering again around the 15-degree mark.

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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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