Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Robin Soderling 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 Friday and reach the final of the World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi. Federer, who lost to the fifth-ranked Swede in the exhibition tournament last year, struggled with his serve in the first set and had to save several break points early on.
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki says she deserves to hold the top spot in women’s tennis despite failing to win a major tournament. The 20-year-old Dane, who is in Thailand to play Kim Clijsters Saturday in an exhibition match, finished the year as the top-ranked player — but her best result in a major has been a runner-up finish at the 2009 US Open.
Howdy, come on in, pull up a chair. Would you like a glass of wine, or something a little stronger. Say, a pomegranite and leechi nut martini or my own holiday favorite, a quadruple Dewar’s on the rocks? I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, or a happy holiday of your choice. It’s the great lull before New Year’s Eve, a good time to gather to chat about just about anything.
We just pulled into the farm in game-rich Andes a few hours ago, after having spent Christmas in Easton, Md. and Washington, D.C. They were predicting a paralyzing snow event the day after Christmas, which would have made our lives a little tougher than expected, because we were traveling from my in-laws to my friends Paul and Ingrid in D.C. that day. But the snow never happened. The only drama materialized when I almost had an eye put out by a nasty salt nugget fired from the back of a D.C. salt/plow truck preparing for the blizzard that never came.
Our dog, Buck, had a fine time with Paul’s blue-eyed sled dog, Angie. And we all saw True Grit, which comes as close to cinematic perfection as I can imagine, topically as well as execution-wise. Some of it was a bit graphic for my 8-year old, Luke, but he can handle it – I’m definitely of the school that doesn’t believe in overly sheltering children from certain realities, while protecting them from others. I heartily recommend the movie, especially for those of you who are besotted with the romance and larger-than-life realities that shaped the American west.
When we returned to New York, the city was still digging out. I love it when it snows in New York, for all sorts of reasons. But one of the most practical if not most romantic is knowing that my four-wheel drive truck is built to handle the conditions in a way typical city sedans are not. I can just barge into parking places others can’t risk trying, and I can get out without ever having to swing a shovel or recruiting passers-by to push. Glory!
Well, it’s 4 pm, so I’d better post this. . . I’ll be around most of the afternoon and evening if you feel like saying hi.
– Pete
Read More Tennis’s News from:
at 
Rafael Nadal comes into the new season having taken only a few days off at the end of the year.
“I have no rest this year,” he said at the exhibition event in Abu Dhabi. “There is no time for that. I finished in London, after that I rest just three, four days… I had to do promotions for the sponsors.
“After that I have don’t have time for me this December. Still, I spent some time with the family during Christmas. And that’s the most important time I had.”
Roger Federer appears to have squeezed in a little more time off, though both played the last match in the London ATP finals and then returned to the courts in December to contest exhibition matches against each other to raise money for their foundations.
“The off-season has been short,” said Federer. “I went on vacation after London was over because I really played a lot towards the end of the season. I think I played five out of seven weeks at the end, so I was really tired and just needed some rest and some good time with my family.
“After that I started practising again and went to play my two exhibitions with Rafa in Zurich and Madrid. It was a great success and a lot of fun to do. In the Christmas season, it was nice to do such a great thing, to raise money for kids who need it much more than we do. From there on I came back to Dubai and spend Christmas here with my family.”
Read More Tennis’s News from:
Ana Ivanovic is keeping her targets narrow as she tries to continue her climb back up the rankings, saying her focus is on winning her first few matches at the Australian Open.
Ivanovic has not made it to the second week of a major since winning the 2008 French Open.
“That’s my goal, to get into the second week,” she said. “I feel good about my game and my fitness at the moment but I just don’t want to get too excited about the possibility of how far I can get, and it’s very important to just set realistic goals and, you know, aim for the second week and then take it day by day.”
But the former No. 1 also has broader ambitions in the longer term. “I want to get back into the top 10 and win another Slam,” she said.
Read More Tennis’s News from:
Lleyton Hewitt says he is enjoying a rare injury-free period and has taken advantage by putting in extra training time during the offseason.
The former No. 1, who underwent a second hip surgery shortly after this year’s Australian Open, reports he has been working “at least six days a week, some seven days, going as hard as I can.”
There’ve been no interruptions this year,” he said. “When you train extremely hard, as I have this year, sometimes you get little niggles throughout and you have to have a couple of days off here and there… there’s been none of that.”
Hewitt hopes the preparation will pay dividends as he targets his stated goal of returning to the top 10. “If I feel confident and know I’ve done all the hard work, I can go out there and hopefully execute what I’ve been working on,” he said.
Read More Tennis’s News from:
Bernard Tomic has been awarded the final wildcard into Brisbane. Tomic’s entry into the main draw was in doubt because of controversy over his decision to pull out of the Australian Open wildcard playoffs—Tomic cited illness as the reason for his withdrawal, but was reportedly seen practicing shortly after.
But with fellow Australian hopeful Jason Kubler sidelined by injury, officials announced that the 18-year-old would receive a wildcard for next week’s event.
Tomic is still waiting to see if he will receive a wildcard into the Australian Open.
Fellow teen Sally Peers was awarded the final Brisbane women’s wildcard.
Bernard Tomic has been awarded the final wildcard into Brisbane. Tomic’s entry into the main draw was in doubt because of controversy over his decision to pull out of the Australian Open wildcard playoffs—Tomic cited illness as the reason for his withdrawal, but was reportedly seen practicing shortly after.
But with fellow Australian hopeful Jason Kubler sidelined by injury, officials announced that the 18-year-old would receive a wildcard for next week’s event.
Tomic is still waiting to see if he will receive a wildcard into the Australian Open.
Fellow teen Sally Peers was awarded the final Brisbane women’s wildcard.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP)—Tomas Berdych defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 Thursday to set up a semifinal with top-ranked Rafael Nadal at the World Tennis Championships.
Robin Soderling stopped Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 and will face No. 2 Roger Federer. Nadal and Federer received byes into the semifinals of the exhibition.
“It is the just the perfect start by playing matches like this one and then the next day to play the No. 1 player in the world,” said the sixth-ranked Berdych.
Berdych got off to a strong start against the error-prone Baghdatis, moving out to a 3-1 lead on his way to winning the first set. The 20th-ranked Cypriot rallied in the second set, mixing in drop shots with a potent serve that produced several aces to even the match.
Berdych appeared to be coasting in the third, breaking Baghdatis in the sixth game and taking a 5-2 lead. But erratic play by Berdych allowed Baghdatis back into the match. He tied it 5-5 with an ace before hitting a drop shot into the net to give Berdych a 6-5 lead on his way took to the win.
Baghdatis said he was satisfied with his performance despite the loss.
“This is my first match in two months and to play a top player is not easy,” he said. “But I am pretty happy with my performance, playing good tennis, moving well on court. There were some moments in the match that I played well.”
The fifth-ranked Soderling took a 3-1 lead in the first set thanks to a powerful serve.
Tsonga found his rhythm in the second set, serving an ace to go up 4-3 and two more to go ahead 6-5 before rallying to win the tiebreaker.
Soderling took a 3-0 lead in the third set and cruised the rest of the way.
Watch More Videos from:
at 
