Federer, Hewitt, Zvonareva Win Titles; Federer Ties Borg

In the doubles final No. 4 seeds Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett edged No. 2 seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi in a match tiebreak for their fourth title of the year.

Federer Ties Borg Record with Halle Title

In typical dramatic fashion after an exhausting French Open runner-up effort, world No. 1 Roger Federer won his fourth straight three-setter of the week, defeating Czech Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-2 to win his fourth consecutive Gerry Weber Open title Sunday at Halle.

"To lose a game where you serve two aces, don't make any double faults, it's kind of tough to lose that game," said Federer who lost the game when serving for the match before regrouping in the third. "I was very disappointed to be broken at that stage...You have to be careful not to get too down. Losing the tiebreak really hurts and you think 'Am I going to lose the match too?' And he's jumping around on the other side of the net and before he was walking with his head down. So, it was a pity. But as disappointed as I was, I got up and said 'Let's show that this 6-0 in the first was because I played excellent tennis."

In addition to appearing in his 15th consecutive final, Federer won his 41st straight match on grass, tying the streak of Bjorn Borg, whose grasscourt wins all came at Wimbledon between 1976-81.

It was Federer's fifth title of the year in nine finals, improving to a career 38-13 in finals.

"I'm surprised myself that I came so far. I really thought the draw was exceptionally tough for his kind of a tournament," Federer said. "I know how lucky I got in a couple of matches. I really fought my heart off, and it paid off with the tournament victory and equaling Borg's record."

In the doubles final No. 2 seeds Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic beat German wildcards Michael Kohlmann and Rainer Schuettler 6-0, 6-4 to win their second title of the year.

Zvonareva Beats Jackson in All-Unseeded Birmingham Final

Russian Vera Zvonareva took a step toward reclaiming her former top-player status Sunday at the WTA grasscourt stop in Birminghman, with the 21-year-stopping giant-killing American Jamea Jackson 7-6(12), 7-6(5) in the final to win her first title of the year.

"She came back very strong and started going for her shots in the second set," said Zvonareva who led 4-0 in the second. "It was really tough, but I took my chances. I really enjoyed today. It means so much to win here as we had such a great fight out there."

The Russian raised her mark to 4-4 in finals, also finishing runner-up earlier this January in Auckland.

Jackson beat three seeds en route to the final, including former Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova.

"My last match with Maria definitely took a lot out of me today," Jackson said. "In the first set tiebreak I tightened up and I wasn't as aggressive as I should have been. I really fought out there for every point though and was able to get more aggressive and that helped me come back in the second set."

Jelena Jankovic and Li Na won the doubles title, defeating Liezel Huber and Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-4 for their first title of the year as a team.

Three Top 10ers This Week at ATP Ordina Open

Three Top 10 players attempt to find some last-minute grasscourt feel with seven days before the start of Wimbledon this week at the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

Top 10ers Nikolay Davydenko, Tommy Robredo and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic are joined among the seeds by Tomas Berdych, Robby Ginepri, Marcos Baghdatis, former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and Novak Djokovic.

Ginepri faces a tough opener against Frenchman Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, while the top-seeded Daydenko has a likewise tough task against underrated German Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Robredo starts against a qualifier.

Ancic is the defending champion, last year straight-setting Frenchman Michael Llodra in the final.

Winners Sunday in opening-day play were (6) Marcos Baghdatis (d. Minar from a set down for his career-first grasscourt win), (7) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Haase in three), (8) Novak Djokovic (d. Waske in three breakers), and Austrian Jurgen Melzer (d. Muller).

Scheduled for Monday play at 's-Hertogenbosch are (WC) Sluiter vs. Vik, (3) Ancic vs. (Q) Qureshi, Benneteau vs. (Q) Sirianni, Clement vs. H.-T. Lee, and Hernych vs. (Q) Ledovskikh.

Johansson Headlines, Gasquet Defends at Nottingham

Swede Thomas Johansson leads a starless field as the ATP's top players play 's-Hertogenbosch, take a week of rest or collect exhibition money this week, with the remainder at the Red Letter day Open in Nottingham, England.

The ATP Nottingham stop competes with the ATP event in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, and the Boodles Challenge exhibition in Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire that features Andre Agassi among others.

Joining Johansson among the seeds at Nottingham are Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, Dmitry Tursunov, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichapahn, and claycout breakout star Nicolas Almagro.

Wildcards for the event went to Brits Andy Murray, Alex Bogdanovic and Richard Bloomfield.

In last year's final No. 4-seeded Richard Gasquet defeated No. 8 Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 6-2, 6-3. Both Gasquet and The Beast are unseeded in this year's field.

Former champions in the field are Gasquet (2005), Srichaphan (2004), Jonas Bjorkman (2002,'98), and Johansson (2001).

On court Monday on the lawns are (1) T.Johansson vs. (LL) Vacek, (Q) Udomchoke vs. (7) Srichaphan, (WC) Murray/Murray vs Gimelstob/Wawrinka, Wang vs. (2) Hrbaty, (WC) Bloomfield vs. (Q) Tipsarevic, Wawrinka vs. Seppi, and (Q) Kunitsyn vs. Simon.

Five Slam Winners Headline Lawn Play at WTA Eastbourne

Five Grand Slam winners headline the Hastings Direct International Championships this week in Eastbourne, England on the lawns the week before Wimbledon in current No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, former No. 1s Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova and French Open champ Anastasia Myskina.

Other seeds are Italy's Francesca Schiavone, German Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.

In last year's final the No. 7-seeded Clijsters rolled Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina 7-5, 6-0.

On court Monday in Eastbourne are Sugiyama vs. Srebotnik, Hantuchova vs. Likhovtseva, Dechy vs. Peer, Schiavone vs. O'Brien, and Ruutel vs. Morigami.

Mirza Loses, Schultz-McCarty Wins at WTA Ordina Open

Dutch 35-year-old Brenda Schultz-McCarthy won her first tour-level match of the year Sunday on the opening day at the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, with the former Top 10er defeating American Laura Granville 7-5, 6-3.

Other winners Sunday were (5) Ana Ivanovic (d. (WC) Molik in three), Croat Jelena Kostanic (d. Takao), and Czech Iveta Benesova (d. Mirza in three).

Mirza now enters Wimbledon with a 2-2 record on grass in 2006 after last week at Birmingham losing to American qualifier Meilen Tu in the third round.

Russians Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina are the top two seeds this week, joined by fellow seeds Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Russian Maria Kirilenko, the Serb Ivanovic, Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, Argentine Gisela Dulko and Serb Jelena Jankovic.

On court Monday are (7) Dulko vs. Qualifier, (3) Pennetta vs. Krajicek, Dominguez Lino vs. Camerin, Suarez vs. (4) Kirilenko, Schruff vs. Vesnina, Zheng vs. Daniilidou, and (6) Medina Garrigues vs. Domachowska.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARB
The update on Justin Gimelstob from Charlie Bricker writing for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Flat on his face in the sand. That was Justin Gimelstob's posture after his most recent volatile back spasm. Four weeks ago, he was running along the beach near the Santa Monica home he shares with women's pro Corina Morariu, throwing in a few jumps in order to increase his leg power, when the back went out once again. "In mid-air. I felt flat on my face," he recalled last month at the French Open. He dragged himself into the Pacific Ocean, which was probably about 55 to 60 degrees, as a desperate substitute for ice, and stayed there until he could move well enough again to get out of there and back home. "I'm getting therapy most every day now," he said. "The back acts up quite a bit. I'm recovering better, but I'm also having four or five bad episodes a year. And when it goes out, I literally can't move." Nagging injuries to shoulders, knees, ankles, elbows and wrists are constant companions to professional tennis players. But Gimelstob is way beyond nagging injuries. He's into a vicious cycle in which he can't practice because he has to rest or go to therapy for his back, then enters tournaments almost cold turkey, where he's usually beaten early because he hasn't had much practice."...From the Charlotte Observer on Wimbledon's new Polo deal: "Rob McCowen, Wimbledon's marketing director, said it was time the current uniforms got a "smartening up and a refreshening" -- but drew the line at anything too drastic. "The very English and timeless look of Ralph Lauren fits very well," he said. "They are not a company that is aggressive like a sports company, wanting their name plastered all over the fabric of the shirt." The deal, worth just under $10 million, will give Ralph Lauren's polo logo a visible presence on court at Wimbledon when the Grand Slam event begins June 26. While the players must stick to the club's all-white rule, the 570 umpires, ball girls and ball boys will sport Polo Ralph Lauren shorts, skirts, pants and blazers in navy blue with both Wimbledon's logo -- two crossed tennis rackets -- on the shirt sleeve and Polo's pony on the breast pocket."...Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi surpassed the Bryan brothers for the No. 1 doubles team ranking...Roger Federer is the first player to win four consecutive titles (Halle) since Yevgeny Kafelnikov won Moscow from 1997-2001 (five times)...Roger Federer has not lost a grasscourt match in four years, and is 5-4 in finals in 2006 with all his losses to Rafael Nadal...James Blake is 5-6 in career finals, 0-2 on grass, and 2-2 this year.

Also see:
Why Rafael Can Win Wimbledon before Roger Wins the French
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2006-06-18/62.php