Roger Federer defeated Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay to clinch the Istanbul Open on Sunday for his 85th career crown and first title on red clay in over a half a decade.
The Swiss world No. 2 and 17-time Grand Slam winner showed imperious form ahead of the French Open, beating world No. 23 Cuevas after a thrilling second set tie-break.
Top seed Federer showed dexterity and power, despite resolute defense from his opponent, who required two injury timeouts for treatment on his wrist, to win through 6-3, 7-6 (13/11) in 1 hour, 36 minutes.
Photo: AP
“It’s been a while since I won a title on clay,” a delighted Federer said. “It’s been a pleasure playing here.”
“I picked up confidence and I picked up another title. I feel really good about my game now. It’s been a fitness test and a mental test,” he said.
The title was Federer’s first on any kind of clay since his victory on the blue clay of Madrid in 2012 and his first on the traditional red clay since his sole French Open win in 2009.
Federer has been given celebrity status in Istanbul over the last week on his first ever appearance in the country with banners around the court reading “Welcome to Turkey, King” and the crowd chanting his name.
In the first set, Federer raced to a 4-1 lead in just 20 minutes, adapting better to the slow conditions on the court after a heavy afternoon shower before the match. He also showed none of the weakness on this first serve that had plagued his game earlier in the week, with an overall first serve percentage of 70 percent and firing down seven aces.
With Federer serving for the first set, Cuevas let out a howl of frustration as he missed the baseline yet again.
Cuevas’ problems mounted in the second set when he called two injury timeouts for treatment from the trainer on his wrist. Federer, on top of his game and thrilling the crowd, broke Cuevas in the seventh game with a well taken forehand volley.
However, Cuevas shrugged off the injury and began to play potently from the baseline, seizing his chance to break back immediately and level at 4-4 and saved three break points on his own serve with some superb baseline play.
The second set went to a tie break with the pair beginning to exchange thrilling rallies. Federer then took his mini-break when Cuevas badly mishit a forehand, but the Uruguayan leveled with attacking play of his own. Showing the tension, Cuevas double-faulted, but Federer missed a chance on match point when he pushed a possible backhand winner into the tramlines. Cuevas then missed an easy forehand volley on set point and Federer saved another set point with an outstanding backhand return winner.
However, with Federer now playing some brilliant attacking tennis, he finally converted a match point to win the tie-break 13/11.
The tie-break was a fitting conclusion to Turkey’s first ever ATP World Tour tournament and Federer expressed satisfaction that the match had such a dramatic conclusion.
“The tie-break was crazy,” he told reporters. “There was a good atmosphere and winning 6-3, 6-3 would not have been the same thrill. It was tough and Pablo played really well. I tried to stay aggressive.”
Federer said his recovery would now be important after the series of testing matches in Istanbul as “you don’t want to roll into the French Open tired.”
He said he would take some days off ahead of the upcoming Madrid Open and would then decide whether to play in Rome the subsequent week.
Cuevas admitted he had struggled to adapt to the slow conditions, with the balls “not as fast as I wanted them to be.”
“It is difficult to face Roger and not get distracted from the game,” he said.
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