Federer respect for 'true rival' Nadal

Roger Federer could be forgiven for wanting to play anyone but Rafael Nadal in Sunday's final.

Indeed, the last time they met at Roland Garros in 2008, Federer won only four games, but the Swiss described facing his great rival again as "a gift".
The pressure was lifted from Federer's shoulders with his triumph over Robin Soderling two years ago to enable him to finally complete his set of grand slam titles, but he knows beating Nadal on the court he has made his own would be possibly his crowning glory.
Federer certainly has no worries about his form having become the first person to beat Novak Djokovic in 2011 on Friday in a semi-final of supreme quality.
He said: "I'm looking forward to the match with Rafa, who has been my true rival for all those years. This is obviously another big match.
"It always seems to me that Rafa needs to be in a French Open final to make it special, and I got the match I guess I was hoping for. After beating Novak, it's in a way a gift that I get the chance."
The main argument used by those who dispute Federer's status as the best player of all time is his head-to-head record against Nadal, which currently stands at 16-8 in the Spaniard's favour.
Both their matches this year have gone Nadal's way but the 25-year-old was pushed in Madrid last month, while his dominance on clay has been weakened by losses to Djokovic and some shaky form in the early rounds in Paris.
Federer is expecting to see Nadal at his best on Sunday, though, saying: "We played a great match in Madrid and obviously I've got my hands full with him now. Whoever thinks it's going to be a walk in the park is so wrong. Everybody knows how many times he's gotten me here in Paris.
"I'm happy I never had a letdown just because he has beaten me here and that I never stopped believing. That's why I got the Roland Garros title in 2009, which remains one of my most special wins in my career.
"And I have another opportunity to beat Rafa here and get the French Open title. I've got to play some extraordinarily special tennis. I'm aware of that."
Federer had gone five grand slam tournaments without reaching the final before arriving in Paris, losing to Djokovic in the last four in the US and Australian Opens, but his belief never wavered and he is benefiting from a relaxed attitude.
He added: "I was very close in the US Open, Novak played very well and also in Australia. Last year maybe I had a hard time here and at Wimbledon, but it's sometimes difficult to play the perfect match. So that's why you have to accept it and continue to work.
"I feel very good. I think I'm moving very well. I'm never stressed. If there is a ball that you miss, it's just because your opponent played it very well, and not because I made a mistake or I played bad tennis."
Sunday's meeting will be the ninth grand slam final between Federer and Nadal but the first since the Spaniard's win at the Australian Open in 2009.
The world number three probably has not been as under the radar since he first won Wimbledon in 2003 as he was coming into the tournament but Nadal is not one of the people surprised to see Federer in the final again.
The Majorcan, who would equal Bjorn Borg's record of six titles with victory on Sunday, said: "It is no surprise. We all know how good Roger is. Roger is having, in my opinion, a good season. It is impossible to be every week at your best.
"What Roger did in his career is something impossible to repeat for the rest of the players today, I think. He's fantastic and it is always an honour to play against him.
"After yesterday he must feel very confident. It was a fantastic match to watch. It will be nothing new against Roger. I know he's going to play aggressively. I have to try to play long, to play consistently all the time, and try to be aggressive when I have the chance.

Sammy disappointed with slow pitch

The West Indies captain, was unhappy with the nature of the slow, turning Port of Spain track prepared for the one-off Twenty20 against India, and said such pitches would play into the visitors' hands.

"We had the same experience against Pakistan," Sammy said after his side's 16-run defeat. "Even then the pitches supported them. It's a home series but it feels like … the pitches are out of our control. We can only ask what we want but it's up to the groundsman to prepare it."

During the 2010 World T20 West Indies defeated India in Barbados on a bouncy track. They used the short ball well to pin India back then, and Sammy said that they had asked for similar strips for this series as well. "We have requested for bouncy pitches, but as I said we don't prepare the pitches."

Today, though, it wasn't the pitch that defeated them. They had India wobbling at 56 for 4 from 8.4 overs but loosened their grip. It's a trait that West Indies have been guilty of in the recent past as they have rarely controlled games through to the conclusion, and it came back to haunt them again today.

"We stuck at it to start with but I would say we let them get 20 runs too many and in the end that made the difference in the match," Sammy said. "We did some good things today but as we reflect on the match we would all agree that we let a few situations get away from us.

"We have to work harder at winning those crucial situations, which can turn a match, especially in the shortest version of the game. It was a good decision to field first after winning the toss, but we didn't restrict them to the total we wanted."

Their slow batting hurt them further and it's bound to get tougher if they continue playing on these sluggish tracks. Their innings included fifty dot balls and it was a trend Sammy said they will have to change if they are to be more competitive. He admitted that the problem stemmed from their struggles against spin, and said they were trying to improve.

"Desmond Haynes has been working hard with the batsmen," Sammy said. "They are slowly getting better at it and we hope they will translate that hard work in the nets out in the middle. It's about confidence and having belief in yourself against spin. You have to use your feet against the spinners. They are working hard."

Sammy praised the batting efforts efforts of Christopher Barnwell and Danza Hyatt, whose unbeaten sixth-wicket 50-run partnership, gave the hosts a glimmer of hope towards the end of their chase.

"It was great to see how Barnwell played and tried his best to keep us in the hunt. He got some great help from Hyatt there at the end. It was nice to see the guys showing the confidence and self-belief required."

He was optimistic about the ODI series that starts on Monday. "Our bowling attack is looking good and the 50-over format gives more time to the batsmen. We won our last two ODIs and we shall carry that momentum forward.

Sammy said the return of Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo to the one-day squad will aid in West Indies' revival. "It's nice to have those three experienced players back in our side. We have a bit of momentum with our one-day side after that series against Pakistan, so hopefully we can exploit that."

Well-oiled India down Windies

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago: India scored a comfortable 16-run win over the West Indies in their one-off Twenty20 international to begin their Caribbean tour on a resounding note on Saturday.

It was India’s first win over the West Indies in T20 format as they had lost the previous two encounters at Lord’s and Kensington Oval.

After being invited to bat on a tricky Sabina Park Oval strip India recovered from a top-order collapse to post a competitive 159 for six and then restricted the hosts to 143 for five.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy took four quick wickets himself to reduce India to 56 for four in the ninth over. His medium pace removed Shikhar Dhawan (5), Virat Kohli (14), Parthiv Patel (26) and Suresh Raina (2), for figures of four for 16.

But once Sammy’s allocation of four overs was up, his team-mates were unable to match his high standards, and India’s fightback was impressive as they reached 159 for six.

Subramaniam Badrinath found the boundary five times in a 37-ball innings of 43, while Rohit Sharma sped to 26 from 23 balls and both Yusuf Pathan and Harbhajan Singh flung the bat in the closing overs to each finish unbeaten on 15 not out.

India’s late onslaught left the home side needing to score at a rate of eight runs an over, but until it was too late they were plodding on at an average of a run a ball.

Openers Andre Fletcher (11) and Lendl Simmons (9) fell cheaply, to Munaf Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin respectively, yet for a while it appeared Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels were building a decent platform.

Their scoring rate was just not high enough though, and when both men departed as victims of Harbhajan in the 16th over, West Indies had only 92 runs on the board.

Bravo made 41 and Samuels 27, and their departures arguably offered the home team a better chance of piling on late runs.

Sammy’s batting let him down, as he fell for a second-ball duck, and there was too much ground to make up for Danza Hyatt and Christopher Barnwell.

Despite both men hitting out rather impressively in unbeaten innings — Hyatt with 14 from seven balls and Barnwell with three sixes in his 34 from 16 deliveries — the Caribbean side finished adrift on 143 for five.

Score board

West Indies won toss

India

†P A Patel c Samuels b Sammy 26

S Dhawan c Fletcher b Sammy 5

V Kohli c Hyatt b Sammy 14

S Badrinath c Fletcher b Bishoo 43

*S K Raina c Barnwell b Sammy 2

R G Sharma b Barnwell 26

Y K Pathan not out 15

Harbhajan Singh not out 15

Extras (lb 1, w 10, nb 2) 13

Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 159

Did not bat: P Kumar, R Ashwin, M M Patel

Fall: 1-13, 2-48, 3-48, 4-56, 5-127, 6-134

Bowling: Rampaul 4-0-38-0 (1nb, 3w); Russell 2-0-26-0 (1nb); Sammy 4-0-16-4; Nurse 4-0-23-0 (1w); Bishoo 4-0-31-1; Barnwell 2-0-24-1 (2w)

West Indies

†A D S Fletcher b M Patel 11

L M P Simmons c Kohli b Ashwin 9

D M Bravo b Harbhajan 41

M N Samuels c P Patel b Harbhajan 27

D P Hyatt not out 14

*D J G Sammy c Kohli b Kumar 0

C D Barnwell not out 34

Extras (lb 4, w 3) 7

Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 143

Did not bat: A D Russell, A R Nurse, D Bishoo, R Rampaul

Fall: 1-22, 2-22, 3-88, 4-92, 5-93

Bowling: P Kumar 4-1-27-1; Harbhajan 4-0-25-2 (2w); Ashwin 4-0-30-1 (1w); M Patel 4-0-35-1; Pathan 4-0-22-0

Result: India won by 16 runs

Series: India won the one-off match

T20I debuts: S Badrinath, S Dhawan and P A Patel (India)

Man of the Match: S Badrinath (India)

Umpires: N A Malcolm and P J Nero. TV umpire: J S Wilson. Match referee: J J Crowe (New Zealand)

History-maker Li wins French Open for China

PARIS: Li Na made sporting history at the French Open on Saturday when she became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title.

The 29-year-old from Wuhan defeated defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) to take her place in the pantheon of Chinese sports stars.

Li clinched the watershed win with a superb 7-0 tie-break performance in the second set, falling onto her back in the red dirt when Schiavone hit long on match point.

It was a thrilling display of shot-making from the Chinese player who has said she hopes that by winning a Grand Slam title she will act as a catalyst for the growth of tennis in her giant homeland.

For 30-year-old Schiavone it was a bitter pill to swallow one year after she upset the odds to become Italy’s first and so far only Grand Slam women’s champion.

“I was 4-2 up and she tried to come back, but I just had to stand up again and I made it. I think everyone in China will be so excited,” said Li, who has been a pioneer for the sport in her country throughout her career.

“I was nervous but I didn’t want to show my opponent.”

Schiavone said: “She played well. I couldn’t push her from the baseline. Then we were closer. One has to lose, one has to win. She deserved to win.”

In what was the the oldest Grand Slam singles final in 21 years, the combined ages of the two players was 60 years and 79 days.

Schiavone was looking to her claycourt expertise and experience of winning here last year to make the difference, while Li said that having played and lost a Grand Slam final already this year in Australia would help her confidence.

With the final broadcast live on television in China, where interest in her exploits has spiralled, Li had the first break point of the match on a sultry, still afternoon on the Philippe Chatrier centre court but she clattered a forehand long.

A tense, closely-fought start to the final pitted the wiry Schiavone’s vicious top spin and tactical guile against the more powerful flat-hitting of the athletic Li and it was the Chinese seventh seed who drew first blood in the fifth game.

A poorly executed drop shot from Schiavone gave Li two break points and she took the second of these when an under-pressure Schiavone hit a forehand wide.

Li then held serve three consecutive times to take the first set 6-4 in 39 minutes and she looked in total charge of the final going into the second set.

She earned three more break points as Schiavone struggled to contain her weight of shot and the Chinese player let out a shout of triumph as she converted the final one of those.

Schiavone badly needed to find an answer to her opponent’s domination and by throwing in some more variety in the next game she crafted her first break point of the final in the next game.

Li though swatted that aside with a big first serve and then confidently moved out into a 2-0 lead.

Another netted drop shot gave Li a further break point in the fifth game, but with the court wide open the sixth seed blasted a shoulder-high forehand into the net with a 4-1 lead on offer.

Li was proving steady as a rock on her own serve as she comfortably held for 4-2 and she saw another break point against Schiavone go astray in the next game.

The missed opportunities immediately came back to haunt her as she flung in three unforced errors when serving for a 5-3 lead and Schiavone pounced to secure her first service break of the match.

Both players then held serve twice to force the tie-break. Li dominated that from the start, sweeping it 7-0, to gleefully write her name into the record books and open what could be a new era for the sport of tennis in China.

Afridi still hoping to get PCB clearance

LAHORE: Former captain Shahid Afridi has called in the lawyers in a bid to secure permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board to play county cricket in England that was denied amid a public slanging match, an official confirmed on Friday.

“We have received a letter from legal firm Mandviwalla and Zafar Associates on behalf of Afridi and as per the rules we forwarded it to the disciplinary committee,” said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman Nadeem Sarwar.

Sources close to Afridi said the letter was not a legal notice as such but sought permission for him to play county cricket.

The PCB revoked all No-Objection Certificates issued to Afridi to play abroad, stopping him from playing for Hampshire in the Twenty20 league in England.

The PCB also suspended his central contract and salary, asking Afridi to appear before a three-man disciplinary committee on June 8.

Afridi was punished for violating the players’ code of conduct in announcing his retirement from international cricket and levelling allegations of mistreatment at the PCB.

He had been sacked as one-day captain last month after publicly criticising coach Waqar Younis for allegedly inappropriate meddling in team selection.

Afridi has since confessed to breaching the code of conduct and the letter Friday outlined his contributions during his 15-year career.

“The law firm has said that the actions against Afridi were an attempt to tarnish the image of the all-rounder, who is a patriotic, respected and honourable cricketer of Pakistan,” one source said.

“Afridi is a national hero and has been revered throughout his career, which started as a 16-year-old boy.

“It was in recognition of his services that Afridi was made captain of the team last year and he guided Pakistan to the World Cup 2011 semi-final,” said the letter.

“Revoking all his NOCs is an attempt to restrain him from financial gains. Afridi should be allowed to play county cricket,” it added.

Afridi has also received political support from Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sports Minister Shaukatullah Khan promising to help.

Media reports said President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have asked the sports ministry to submit an independent report on the affair.

In the past, during the tenure of PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt, other senior players who were also in dispute with the Board, had also hired lawyers to fight their cases including former captain Younis Khan and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.