Federer to face Murray in Shanghai final

Published>Sat, Oct 16 10 10:56 PM

World number three Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 on Saturday to set up a mouthwatering Shanghai Masters final against a resurgent Andy Murray.

Serbian second seed Djokovic had hoped to secure his second title of the week after winning the China Open on Monday but squandered four break points in the first set against the Swiss.

Federer, 29, has faced Murray twice this year, beating him in the final of the Australian Open but losing out to the Briton for the Toronto Masters title in August.

"The conditions are pretty much the same as in Toronto which is going to make for a very tough and physical match," Federer said of the Shanghai final.

"Andy has much more of a feel when he plays with his slice. He finds a way into the point which is very different from Novak. That creates a different type of attacking plan and the way I need to play," added the third seed.

Murray said he was looking forward to playing Federer again.

"It's a great experience every time," the Scot told reporters after his 6-4 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Monaco.

"When I played him in the Toronto final, I was a lot more aggressive and didn't give him many chances to dictate the points, especially on my serve.

"That's something that I need to do against him if I want to beat him," added Murray, who has recovered from a recent illness and has yet drop a set in the tournament.

Several times he drew Monaco to the net before launching booming backhands or lobs towards the exposed baseline, even breaking his racket strings on one return to foil the stunned Argentine.

Crowd favourite Murray took one hour 25 minutes to see off his former training partner, sealing the match with an ace.

Djokovic will swap places in the world rankings with Federer after his loss, moving down from second to third.

"Roger deserved to win," the Serbian said. "It was a very intense first set and I didn't use the chances that I had. When he got his first or second breakpoint he used it and finished off the set 7-5.

"I lost my focus a little bit and my energy dropped at the start of the second set. In the blink of an eye, I was two breaks down at 4-1 so it was very hard to get back from that situation." (Editing by Alison Wildey and Clare Fallon; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Guerrero ends Mainz's 100 percent record

Sat, Oct 16 10 10:37 PM

Paolo Guerrero scored in the 89th minute to give Hamburg SV a 1-0 win at Mainz 05 and end their opponents' 100 percent record in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Mainz, who had won their first seven games, stayed behind Borussia Dortmund on goal difference. Both teams have 21 points after Borussia won 2-1 at Cologne to go top on Friday.

Much-criticised Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez scored a hat-trick to give the struggling champions a 3-0 win over Hanover 96 and take them to 11 points.

Bayern, where strikers Ivica Olic and Miroslav Klose and captain Mark van Bommel this week joined Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery on the injury list, had scored only five goals in their first seven outings.

Gomez, who scored 10 goals last season and had not previously hit the target this term, had largely been confined to a substitute's role after becoming the Bundesliga's most expensive signing.

However, he suddenly found his touch and headed in Hamit Altintop's free kick in the 21st minute before adding two more in the last quarter of an hour when he thumped home Toni Kroos's lobbed pass and headed in a Thomas Mueller cross.

In the meeting of the teams who started the day in the bottom two places, Schalke 04, last season's runners-up, were held 2-2 by VfB Stuttgart, who fired coach Christian Gross last week and replaced him with Jens Keller.

Stuttgart twice led through Timo Gebhart and Austrian Martin Harnik while Brazilian Edu grabbed Schalke's first and Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar rescued a point by converting an 80th-minute penalty.

Stuttgart stayed bottom while Schalke moved up one place to 16th.

Werder Bremen beat Freiburg 2-1 and promoted St Pauli won a five-goal thriller against Nuremburg to claim their first home win.

Mainz, aiming to set a Bundesliga record by winning their first eight games of the season, had several let-offs against Hamburg in a game where both sides created plenty of chances.

Hamburg's 36-year-old Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto missed an open goal just before halftime, hitting the post after being set up by Ruud van Nistelrooy who had a goal disallowed for a foul on the hour.

Marco Caligiuri hit the post for Mainz while Andre Schuerrle sent a free header straight at Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost and then fired over after bursting through the Hamburg defence.

The visitors were on the ropes for the last few minutes until Ze Roberto burst to the byline and pulled the ball back for Peru forward Guerrero, who side-footed into the roof of the net.

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Federer to face Murray in Shanghai final

Published>Sat, Oct 16 10 09:36 PM

World number three Roger Federer beat Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4 on Saturday to set up a mouthwatering Shanghai Masters final against a resurgent Andy Murray.

Serbian second seed Djokovic had hoped to secure his second title of the week after winning the China Open on Monday but squandered four break points in the first set against the Swiss.

Federer, 29, has faced Murray twice this year, beating him in the final of the Australian Open but losing out to the Briton for the Toronto Masters title in August.

"I do really enjoy playing Roger and wouldn't mind playing him. It's a great experience every time," Murray told reporters after his 6-4 6-1 win over Argentine Juan Monaco.

"When I played him in the Toronto final, I was a lot more aggressive and didn't give him many chances to dictate the points, especially on my serve.

That's something that I need to do against him if I want to beat him," he added.

Murray, recovered from a recent illness, has yet drop a set in the tournament.

Several times, he drew Monaco to the net before launching booming backhands or lobs towards the exposed baseline, even breaking his racket strings after one return to foil the stunned Argentine.

Crowd-favourite Murray took one hour 25 minutes to see off his former training partner, sealing the match with an ace.

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India u-23 loses to Vietnam 1-3

Sat, Oct 16 10 09:06 PM

Cuttack, Oct 16 (PTI) India Under-23 side struck an early goal but later found Vietnam attack to hot to handle as they went down 1-3 in their first international friendly match in the run-up to next month''s Asian Games, here today. Balwant Singh was bang on target in the ninth minute but Vietnam Under-23 side restored parity in the 37th minute through Nguyen Ngoe Bien before scoring two more goals in the second session at the Barabati Stadium. Bien scored another goal in the 56th minute while team-mate Anh Duc took the game away from the Indians'' reach with a goal in the 78th minute. Coach Sukhvinder Singh fielded most of the players who were part of the SAFF Cup-winning squad but failed to start their Asian Games preparation on a winning note.

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Modi questions Chennai Police jurisdiction on complaint

Sat, Oct 16 10 08:52 PM

New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi today questioned the jurisdiction of Chennai Police to entertain the criminal complaint filed by the Cricket Board accusing him of financial irregularities in the running of the Twenty20 League. In a statement issued by his lawyer Mehmood Abdi, Modi said he has not seen a copy of such a complaint and was not in a position to comment on it but went on to question the jurisdiction of Chennai police to register an FIR. "As far as filing of a complaint at Chennai by Mr Srinivasan is concerned, we have not seen a copy of such complaint therefore we are not in a position to comment upon the same except the following: Does the Chennai Police have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain such a complaint and register an FIR and investigate the matter?" Modi has questioned through his lawyer. "If the BCCI General Body on 3rd July 2010, has resolved and authorised President Shashank Manohar to take legal action both civil and criminal only on basis of facts ascertained. Why has Srinivasan rushed and filed a complaint at Chennai especially when in view of following no facts are ascertained as of today: "Disciplinary Committee Order dated 14th October 2010 categorically records that ''No member of the Disciplinary Committee has been consulted or has expressed any opinion on issues which may arise in relation to the present proceedings'' i.e. the proceedings against Mr Lalit Modi," the statement added. It said "the disputes between WSG, Sony and BCCI are still sub judice various forums including proceedings before the Hon''ble Bombay High Court." Abdi also said that "no case has been registered against Modi under Prevention of Money Laundering Act." "We reiterate that we have complete faith in the process of law and we are ready and willing to render all co-operation to any investigating agency whatsoever," he said.

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India still need one fast bowler and one all-rounder: Dhoni

Sat, Oct 16 10 08:50 PM

Kochi, Oct 16 (PTI) Two slots in India''s one-day squad, including a fast bowler and an all-rounder, are still up for grabs ahead of next year''s cricket World Cup, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said here today. World Cup will be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19 to April 2. "Of course, few slots are open. May be a fast bowling slot is there. One or two places, in the team depending on injuries is also available. One batsman slot since we really do not have a world class all-rounder. "It is also up for grabs, which means either it will be an all-rounder or a big hitting batsman who can fit down the order," Dhoni told reporters here ahead of tomorrow''s ODI against Australia. He said the core group of players is settled and the remaining will be picked in the course of the four months left in the flagship event of the ICC. "Top eight or nine players are almost sure as injuries do not bother them. But after them there are quite a few places vacant. Depending on performances of the individuals and as to what criteria the team wants in the side for the day. "It will be open for quite some time now till we decide the team that will participate in the World Cup," said Dhoni. Dhoni reasoned that the resting of some key players was unavoidable so that "niggles do not turn into injuries". "Most of the players got some kind of a niggle or small injury. You have to be safe because they played quite a fair amount of cricket over the last year. It was a jam-packed schedule. Till the World Cup we will be playing the same amount of cricket, which means it is better to rest players before the niggles turn into injuries," he said. "It also gives you an opportunity to test your bench strength. You can say that it is a blessing in disguise and appropriate programme to get the youngsters tested. In the South African series we will try to play with the best XI who are going to be part of the World Cup squad," he said. Dhoni said pacer S Sreesanth will have to be consistent if he wants to be in the World Cup squad. "He is an excellent talent. He is a very good Test match bowler. At the same time, he has to make his place in the side and has to be at his best when an opportunity is given. He has to perform well to get into the ODI squad," Dhoni said. Asked about pacer Vinay Kumar''s chances of making it to the World Cup squad, Dhoni said, "For matches in India, he has very good chances. But you have to see the spot that is available. Because if Praveen Kumar is part of the eleven, generally he will bowl the new ball. He (Praveen) is generally given company by either Zaheer Khan or Ashish Nehra depending on conditions. "This means that Vinay has to fulfill the job of one change seamer. It may be slightly difficult but he has shown that he has talent to mix pace and length of the delivery and come up with a sharp bouncer." PTI RE PDS AT

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Sick of seeing Sachin score so heavily: Clarke

Sat, Oct 16 10 08:16 PM

Kochi, Oct 16 (PTI) The stand-in Australian captain Michael Clarke is relieved that batting stalwart Sachin Tendulkar and the dashing Virender Sehwag will not be a part of the much vaunted Indian batting line-up in the One-day series, starting tomorrow. The Indian Cricket Board has rested Tendulkar while dangerous Virender Sehwag and prolific scorer Gautam Gambhir are not playing due to injury. Tendulkar scored more than 400 runs in the Test series and was adjudged Man-of-the-series and Clarke is happy that his bowlers will not have contend with his class. "I am happy that all those guys (Tendulkar, Sehwag) are not playing. I am sick of seeing Sachin scoring so many runs. But I still think Indian team is very strong. They have a lot of young players who have played T20s and ODIs before and they have a lot of talent," Clarke said on the eve of the series-opener. Australians are also without some big stars and Clarke said, it will be an even contest. "I think the opposition we are playing is very tough, especially in the Indian conditions but I am confident that if we play to our best, we will win the series. As I said earlier this series is going to be fought evenly," he said. The Aussie captain was not sure if pacer Dough Bollinger will be able to make it to the final XI. "Doug is recovering but I am not sure if he is going to be fit to play tomorrow, we will have to wait and see. He hasn''t had a bowl since straining his abdomen, I think we will have to wait and see how he pulls up after a bowl today." Persistent rains have not only denied the two sides some valuable practice but are also threatening to play a spoilsport. Clarke said his team mates are itching to go out. "I think all the boys are sick to be going to the gym. We haven''t done much really to be honest. We are really keen to get outside and play the first ODI. "I think we will step out and do some running around, catch a few balls, get out of the hotel rooms. It''s been good for the body to have no cricket in the last two three days but we are very keen to play tomorrow," he said. On being asked if Australia will field two spinners considering the help Indian pitches offer them, Clarke was not sure. "In all three forms of the game, Nathan Hauritz form has been very good in the last 12 months. He would have liked to perform better in the Test matches no doubt but Hauritz has been a good one-day bowler for a long time. Young Steven Smith is a good all rounder. "I haven''t been to the ground, so I have to look at the conditions and may be who knows both of them might be playing. We will wait and see tomorrow," he said.

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