Federer back to his best with Cincinnati win

Roger Federer sent out an ominous message to his rivals by claiming the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati with a straight sets demolition of Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday. Federer was playing his second tournament since returning to the ATP Tour circuit after becoming the father of twin girls and was back to his peerless best ahead of the U.S.

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Federer and Djokovic through in Cincinnati

World number one Roger Federer held off the challenge of Argentine Jose Acasuso to reach the second round of the Cincinnati Masters — where he will be joined by fourth seed Novak Djokovic. The top-seeded Swiss went through 6-3 7-5 in one hour and 10 minutes to earn a clash with David Ferrer. Acasuso was broken in the eighth game, with Federer then serving out to take the opening set.

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Federer powers on as Djokovic crashes out

Five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer is through to his 21st grand slam semifinal in a row after crushing big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in straight sets on another scorching afternoon on Centre Court on Wednesday. The second-seeded Swiss, who is attempting to win a record 15th major title, will now face unseeded Tommy Haas for a place in Sunday’s final, after the German repeated his Halle final victory over Novak Djokovic by ousting the fourth-seeded Serb in four sets. “It’s difficult against Karlovic because there aren’t many baseline rallies on his serve or mine,” Federer told the BBC after going through 6-3 7-5 7-6 in just one hour and 42 minutes

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Federer reaches last 16 despite dropping set

Second seed Roger Federer is through to the last 16 of the men’s singles at Wimbledon, despite dropping a set on his way to a Centre Court victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. The Swiss, bidding for his sixth success at the grass-court grand slam, set-up a fourth round clash with Sweden’s Robin Soderling — his victim in last month’s French Open final — with a 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-1 win over the 27th seed.

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Federer makes confident start at Wimbledon

Roger Federer began his quest for a sixth Wimbledon title and record 15th grand slam with a straight sets win over Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan. The Swiss maestro survived going a break down in the opening set to win 7-5 6-3 6-2 in one hour 44 minutes on Monday.

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French Open disaster for Djokovic

Novak Djokovic’s hopes of matching Rafael Nadal on clay were dashed by unheralded German Philipp Kohlschreiber at the French Open on Saturday. The fourth-ranked Serbian became the highest-profile casualty of the men’s draw so far as he crashed out in straight sets in the third-round match on Court One at Roland Garros

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Can Federer finally flourish at the French Open?

World tennis number two Roger Federer has given his fans some hope that this year could be the year he finally conquers all at Roland Garros. The 27-year-old from Switzerland has won 13 Grand Slam titles, but never the clay court-contested French Open. Federer’s nemesis, Rafael Nadal, has already claimed the Australian Open in a strong start to 2009, and his preparations towards a fifth consecutive French Open title seemed to be all in order until the Swiss player struck at the Madrid Open this week

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