Top > Sport > 2007 > January > 2007-01-28

Federer and Williams Triumph in Australia

No one seems surprised anymore, and for a good reason. Roger Federer, the world number one ranked tennis player and, at 25, already assured of a spot at the tennis pantheon, has won his 10th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. In beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday, Federer has completed a major tournament without dropping a single set, a feat unaccomplished since 1980. If records are being mentioned, then Federer has won 36 straight matches, a personal best.

The Grand Slam title brings the Swiss phenomenon closer to Pete Sampras? record 14 titles. "I don`t know how I did it so quickly, in such a short period of time," Federer said. Number 11 could come next in France, where Federer has yet to have won in his career. He is certainly coming in top form, in the finals match against Gonzalez he finished with 45 winners and only 19 unforced errors. He also forced his opponent to commit unforced errors, 28 of them, after committing as little as three in the semi finals against Tommy Haas.

In the women?s finals, American Serena Williams who entered the tournament ranked 81 in the world has won her seventh Grand Slam single title. Many critics doubted her chances to win the title all through her way to the finals, but there, against top-seeded Maria Sharapova, she won 6-1, 6-2. She has recovered from little tennis action in 2005, out with a knee injury, and overcame the death of her sister, Yetunda Price, who was murdered in September 2003 and to whome she dedicated the victory.