The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Federer equals Borg's record

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 19, 2006

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Federer equals Borg's record

BERLIN : Wimbledon champion Roger Federer equalled Bjorn Borg's record of 41 consecutive victories on grass with a 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Czech Tomas Berdych in the final of the Halle Open on Sunday.

Sweden's Borg, a five-times Wimbledon champion, set the open era record for consecutive wins on grass from 1976 to 1981.

"This is a top moment for me. Coming straight after the French Open, it was a really tough week for me," Federer said.

Federer's last defeat on grass came against Mario Ancic in the first round at Wimbledon in 2002.

Federer, who was less than convincing in his previous two matches against Olivier Rochus and Tommy Haas, took the first set against fifth seed Berdych in 20 minutes.

However, the Swiss world number one started making unforced errors and although he served for the set at 5-3, Berdych held and went on to take the tiebreak 7-4.

Federer, who lost last week's French Open final to Rafael Nadal, increased the pressure on Berdych and broke for 2-1 and 5-2 to take the match.

Hewitt triumphs

Meanwhile in London, Lleyton Hewitt defeated James Blake 6-4, 6-4 to join Boris Becker and John McEnroe with four titles at Queen's Club. The victory marked the first title for the former world No. 1 in 18 months since he Australian lifted the Sydney crown in January 2005.

Hewitt now stands 7-1 in his career series against the American. Hewitt won his first three Queen's trophies from 2000 to 2002.

The results (all finals):

At Halle (Gerry Weber Open): Roger Federer bt Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-2.

At London (Stella Artois Championships): Lleyton Hewitt bt James Blake 6-4, 6-4.

At Birmingham (DFS Classic): Vera Zvonareva bt Jamea Jackson 7-6(12), 7-6(5).

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