World No. 1 Roger Federer snapped a four-match losing streak against second-ranked Andy Murray on Saturday to book his berth in the Cincinnati Masters final.
Federer downed Murray 6-2, 7-6 (10/8), his first victory against the Scot since his triumph in last year’s US Open final.
Since then, Murray had bested the Swiss superstar four times, including twice this year.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In the final, Federer will face fourth-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic, who swept past Spain’s Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Federer, whose 15 Grand Slam titles include this year’s French Open and Wimbledon crowns, gave Murray little room to maneuver this time, never facing a break point in a match lasting an hour and a half.
“I was happy that I managed to up my game in the second set,” said Murray, who had two chances in the tiebreaker to force a third set.
He couldn’t, however, and Federer claimed the victory when Murray double-faulted on Federer’s second-match point.
Murray had given Federer his first chance to close it out when he challenged rather than playing a Federer serve — and was wrong.
Murray, who sank to his knees right after issuing the challenge, said he knew he had blown the call.
Federer had clinched the opening set with a successful challenge, after giving himself his third set point against Murray’s serve with a textbook overhead smash.
Djokovic, who is last year’s runner-up in this event, cruised through the first set and managed an early break in the second en route to the victory. He is now just 5-14 all-time against the second-seeded Spaniard.
■TORONTO CUP
REUTERS, TORONTO
Russia’s Maria Sharapova took another big step in her comeback at the Toronto Cup on Saturday, reaching her first final in more than year with a gritty 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 over Alisa Kleybanova.
Playing for a title for the first time since Amelia Island in April last year, Sharapova was set for an attempt to confirm her return from shoulder surgery with a victory when she took on compatriot Elena Dementieva in yesterday’s final.
Fourth-seeded Dementieva advanced to her fourth final of the year with a clinical 7-6, 6-1 win over world No. 2 Serena Williams.
Sharapova offered up 12 double faults and was only able to convert 5-of-22 break opportunities against Kleybanova, but made up for those shortcomings with her tenacious competitiveness.
Her 20-year-old opponent also did not lack for grit giving the former world No. 1 all she could handle despite having to recover from a marathon 3 hour, 16 minute, three-set victory over fifth seed Jelena Jankovic on Friday.
Saturday’s match lasted more than two-and-a-half hours.
Williams, who dashed Dementieva’s grand slam dreams on her way to winning this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon titles, was swept off the court by the fourth-seeded Russian.
The match produced little of the drama of their memorable Wimbledon semi-final won by Williams 8-6 in a third set thriller.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB