Forums » News and Announcements

• miaowang123 miaowang123

  

  • 474 posts
   

  June 19, 2020 4:18 AM EDT

  NEW YORK -- Right from the start, Roger Federer looked very little like, well, the Roger Federer who routinely reached the final weekend at Grand Slam tournaments. Cheap NFL Jerseys USA . In the opening game of his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, the owner of 17 major titles got passed at the net twice, sailed a backhand long, then missed two forehands to get broken. In the second game, the man who has spent more weeks ranked No. 1 than anyone else dumped a backhand into the net, then shanked two other backhands several feet wide. No longer the dominant presence he once was, Federer lost in the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows for the first time in a decade, surprisingly beaten 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-4 by 19th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain on Monday night. "I kind of self-destructed, which is very disappointing," said Federer, who made 43 unforced errors and managed to convert only 2 of 16 break points. "It was a frustrating performance." Only the latest in a series. This caps a poor-by-his-standards Grand Slam season for Federer, whose record trophy collection includes five from the U.S. Open. He exited in the semifinals at the Australian Open in January, the quarter-finals at the French Open in early June, and the second round of Wimbledon -- against a player ranked 116th, to boot -- in late June. That ended Federers record run of reaching at least the quarter-finals at 36 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. Now, thanks to Robredo, Federer has a new, unwanted streak: Two consecutive losses before the quarter-finals at majors. This is the first season since 2002 that Federer did not reach at least one final at any of the four Grand Slam tournaments. That year also marked the last time Federer was ranked lower than he is now at No. 7. "The story of my life: When I lose, people are shell-shocked to see me play this way," Federer said. Heading into Monday, the buzz at the U.S. Open was all about looking ahead to a potential quarter-final between Federer and his nemesis, Rafael Nadal. Owners of a combined 29 Grand Slam trophies, they have played each other 31 times -- including in eight major finals -- but never in New York. Federers loss means they wont fix that gap in their rivalry this week. When Federers match was ending, the second-seeded Nadal was just getting started in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the Spaniard wound up improving to 19-0 on hard courts in 2013 with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 22nd-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. Nadal, who won the 2010 U.S. Open but missed it last year with a left knee injury, faced only one break point Monday, and Kohlschreiber blew it by putting an overhead smash into the net. Nadal has not lost any of his 56 service game so far through four matches. "I dont want to lie. Happy for that. But I felt at the beginning today, I didnt serve my best," Nadal said. "In the next sets, I am very happy the way that I served. I was able to win a lot of points and ... start a lot of points in a good position." He and Federer have met in four finals at the French Open, three at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open, but theyve never met in any round at the U.S. Open. "Didnt happen. (Doesnt) mean cannot happen in the future. Well see. Hopefully," the 27-year-old Nadal said. "But is true that we are getting older, so the chances are less today than five years ago." At age 32, Federer has struggled with a bad back and experimented with a larger racket head, and all along, hes had far more trouble winning matches than he usually does -- particularly against the sort of players he barely broke a sweat against at his peak. That this defeat came against Robredo made it all the more stunning. Not that Robredo is a slouch. Hes been ranked as high as No. 5, albeit back in 2006, and this is his seventh trip to the quarter-finals at a major. He made it that far at this years French Open by doing something no man had done since 1927, winning three matches in a row after dropping the first two sets of each. But consider these other facts about Robredo and this matchup: Not only was he 0-10 against Federer until Monday, hed managed to win only three of the 27 previous sets theyd played. And before Monday, Robredos record in the fourth round of the U.S. Open was 0-7. Robredo missed time in 2011 and 2012 because of left leg problems that required surgery, and his ranking fell below 400th. "Roger, when he was No. 1, (compared) to the Roger right now," Robredo said, "hes not maybe (playing) with the same confidence, no?" Federer agreed with that assessment, acknowledging that he has doubts about his play these days. He also was asked whether Robredo -- who is 0-6 against Nadal -- tried anything different this time around. "No, he didnt. Pretty simple. No surprises," Federer said. "He didnt serve-and-volley or chip-and-charge. He stood back the way he usually does. He kick-served the way he usually does." Fans tried to get Federer going, singing, "Lets go, Roger, lets go!" or simply chanting his name. He even got support in Spanish, with one fan yelling, "Vamos, Roger! Youre the best!" Heres the way Robredo described the atmosphere: When he walked out onto the court before the match, "it was like 2 per cent of noise," while when Federer arrived at Louis Armstrong Stadium, it sounded "like a concert." Federer originally was supposed to face Robredo in Ashe -- the main, 23,000-capacity court -- but hours of heavy rain in the afternoon muddled the schedule, including prompting the tournament to postpone two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenkas match against 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic until Tuesday. In the three womens matches that were played Monday, No. 10 Roberta Vinci and unseeded Flavia Pennetta set up an all-Italian quarter-final with victories. Vinci beat yet another woman from Italy, 136th-ranked qualifier Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 6-2, while Pennetta defeated No. 21 Simona Halep of Romania 6-2, 7-6 (3). Azarenka or Ivanovic will face Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who got past American wild-card entry Alison Riske, a 23-year-old who grew up in Pittsburgh, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. In mens action, No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain, the runner-up to Nadal at the French Open this year, moved on by beating No. 18 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3). In the quarter-finals, Ferrer will play No. 8 Richard Gasquet, who entered the day 1-15 in fourth-round Grand Slam matches but erased a match point and withstood 39 aces from No. 10 Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., to win 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (9), 7-5 on Court 17. A long line of fans snaked across the grounds when Federer-Robredo was moved from Ashe to much smaller Armstrong, which holds about 10,000 spectators and has a lot less room separating the playing surface from the stands. Federer, accustomed to playing in Ashe, last competed in Armstrong in 2006. He said that was not a factor in Mondays outcome, though. The blame, instead, belonged with his inability to hit his strokes the way he wanted. Federer was particularly ineffective when he had chances on Robredos serve. Time and again, Federer would get an opening, a chance to begin the long climb back into the match. And he kept letting those opportunities slip by. "We all know the way he plays, how easy he can do everything," Robredo said. "But I think the difference today was the break points conversion." Thats true. Robredo went 4 for 7; Federers poor play on break chances included 0 for 12 in the last two sets. Soaked with perspiration, Federer flubbed a backhand to waste the last of five break points he had in the fourth game of what turned out to be the final set. He kicked the offending ball, a rare sign of frustration from the generally unflappable Federer. Well, unflappable against pretty much anyone other than Nadal, that is. "Ive definitely got to go back to work and come back stronger. Get rid of this loss now as quick as I can, forget about it, because thats not how I want to play from here on," Federer said. "I want to play better. I know I can." Cheap Jerseys China .com) - The NBA will be on display overseas Thursday with the New York Knicks taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at O2 Arena in London. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . - The Oakland Athletics have finalized an agreement on a 10-year extension to play at the Coliseum through the 2024 season.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Philip Mack had a try and two conversions in Canadas 33-24 loss to Portugal on Saturday in the semifinal of the Dubai Sevens tournament. The Canadians had started the second day of the tournament with a 22-12 triumph over Spain in the quarter-final, led by John Moonlights two tries. In the semi, the game began poorly for Canada as a mistake from the kickoff led to Portugal crossing via Aderito Esteves wide out. Pedro Leal landed the touchline extras. It looked like Canada would rally when Harry Jones set off on an impressive break-out following Nanyak Dalas evasive work close to his own try-line. However, the ball was turned over and Portugal soon struck when Miguel Lucas went in under the posts. Leal was successful again, making it 14-0. That score was compounded by the loss of Canadian Ciaran Hearn to injury in back play. His replacement, Adam Kleeberger, scored a try soon after to reduce Portugals lead to just seven points. Mack then capitalized on a Portuguese error, racing in and make it 14-12 at the break. Manuel Costa and David Mateus extended the Portugese lead further in the opening exchanges of the second half to make it 26-12 with four minutes remaining. Moonlight and Mike Scholtz responded for Canada, cutting the lead to two points with 20 seconds left to play before Mateus landed the final scoore. Cheap Jerseys Online. Later, Fiji won its first Dubai Sevens rugby title by blitzing last seasons two best teams, New Zealand in the semifinals and South Africa in the final. Fiji gave New Zealand, the World Cup and world series champion and winner of the first leg at Gold Coast, its heaviest defeat in the series 15-year history by 44-0 then proceeded to score four tries in the final before South Africa replied. Fijis sevens talent has been far less of a doubt than their consistency. They have won the series only once, in 2006, and started this series with a quarter-final loss in Gold Coast. But in their first final in five tournaments going back to last season, Benito Masilevu was over 90 seconds in, and again in the eighth minute from a patient pass by Pio Tuwai. A minute later, South Africa had a man sin-binned and Samisoni Viriviri scored from the kickoff. From 19-0 at halftime, it became 24-0 when Osea Kolinisau spoiled South Africa scrum ball and flicked it to his side and Emosi Mulevoro ran in untouched from halfway. While Jona Tuitoga was in the bin, South Africa hit back with tries to Cheslin Kolbe and Sampie Mastriet, but Kolinisau set up replacement Leo Naikasau. Chris Dry finished the scoring for South Africa. South Africa beat England 26-12 in the semifinals, and host the next leg in Port Elizabeth next weekend. ' ' '