Federer Again Shows Off His Mastery Over Roddick

When Roger Federer reaches a tournament final, he doesn’t lose. Nobody knows that better than Andy Roddick.

The unflappable Federer won his 22nd consecutive final Sunday, defeating the exasperated American, 6-3, 7-5, for the Cincinnati Masters championship at Mason, Ohio, and his ninth title this season.

Federer improved to 10-1 against Roddick, who tried a variety of tactics but came up short. The Swiss has won the last six times they’ve met, including the last two Wimbledon finals.

The world’s top-ranked player for the last 81 weeks, Federer appears fit and relaxed as he heads into the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29.

“Today I got the feeling occasionally that this is great tennis again,” said Federer, who had taken time off after winning his third consecutive Wimbledon title.

Roddick has a new worry with only one week left before the Open.

His right foot started bothering him late in the final set, and he needed a timeout before the last game to get treatment. Roddick winced, groaned and covered his face with a towel while a trainer stretched and rubbed the bottom of the foot.

He returned and moved gingerly, getting only two points while Federer broke his serve to close it out. Federer earned $400,000 for the win. Roddick got $200,000 for second.

Roddick wasn’t sure whether the foot would be a lingering problem.

“It’s still too early,” Roddick said. “I’m probably going to take a couple of days off. The thing that makes me a little optimistic is it didn’t happen on one movement. I didn’t hear anything click, I didn’t hear anything snap.”

Federer has a 64-3 match record this season, a 138-9 mark the last two years, 28 consecutive victories on hard courts, an 18-match winning streak and the seventh-longest uninterrupted stay atop the ATP list.

“I haven’t had an amazing serving day against him,” said Roddick, who had 11 aces and made a subpar 56% of his first serves. “I’ve played well against Roger from the baseline before, but I haven’t had that monster serving day. That’s what I’m looking for.”

In the doubles final, Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi produced a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett, who won the Australian Open.

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Seventh-seeded Kim Clijsters got a boost heading into the U.S. Open, defeating fourth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne, 7-5, 6-1, in an all-Belgian final at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Clijsters, who has not won a Grand Slam tournament, took her WTA-leading sixth title in 2005. Five of her championships have come on hard courts, the surface for the U.S. Open.

In the doubles final, 48-year-old Martina Navratilova and Anna-Lena Groenefeld rallied past Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. It was Navratilova’s first doubles title since teaming with Lisa Raymond to win in Vienna in May 2004.

In the singles, Henin-Hardenne struggled with her serve, spraying balls long, wide and even into the crowd. Henin-Hardenne didn’t hit a winner until the seventh game of the first set when she broke Clijsters to tie it, 4-4. Clijsters soon broke back. In the second set, Henin-Hardenne double-faulted on break point to give Clijsters a 3-1 lead.

Said Henin-Hardenne: “I think Kim played pretty solid, very consistent. But the conditions were difficult. It was real windy, and I never found a good rhythm. And also I was a little bit tired.

“I wasn’t fresh enough to compete with her today.”

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Thierry Ascione defeated Brian Vahaly, 6-2, 6-3, to win the GHI Bronx Classic at New York. Sybille Bammer won her first title in the U.S., defeating Camille Pin, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in 2 hours 30 minutes.

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John McEnroe rallied for a 1-6, 6-3 (10-6) victory over Aaron Krickstein in the final of the Champions Trophy at Amagansett, N.Y. McEnroe clinched the win in the 10-point pro-set.

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Patty Schnyder advanced to the second round of the Pilot Pen tournament, defeating wild-card entry Lisa Raymond, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, at New Haven, Conn. Unseeded Gisela Dulko upset Alicia Molik, 6-2, 6-4.

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Miscellany

Boston College’s Craig Smith scored 16 points and Duke’s Shelden Williams had 15 points and 14 rebounds, leading the U.S. past Ukraine, 85-70, for the basketball gold medal in the University Games at Izmir, Turkey.

The U.S. men finished with an 8-0 record and won their 13th basketball gold at the University Games since 1965, but first since 1999.

With the U.S. women defeating Serbia and Montenegro for the gold medal Friday, the U.S. recorded its first basketball double at the event since 1997.

Also scoring in double figures for the Americans were Chris Hernandez of Stanford, Randy Foye of Villanova, Vincent Grier of Minnesota and Gerry McNamara of Syracuse.

“What we are most proud of is these young guys really wanted to be part of the U.S. basketball team,” Coach Jay Wright said. “They didn’t care who was the leading scorer. That’s unique these days.”

Justin Gatlin and Allyson Felix won the 200-meter races, and Kim Collins and Veronica Campbell won the 100s in the British Grand Prix track and field at Sheffield, England.

Felix comfortably won her race in 22.54 seconds, but Gatlin had to make up ground on Tyson Gay to edge his U.S. teammate at the line in 20.04.

Collins, the 2003 world champion in the 100 from St. Kitts and Nevis, finished in 10.01 seconds, beating Leonard Scott, who ran 10.10. Campbell, from Jamaica, won the women’s sprint in 10.89 seconds, beating Olympic champion Yuliya Nesterenko, who ran 11.09 for second. Muna Lee was third in 11.22.

Defending champion Chelsea got a lucky goal from Didier Drogba in the 73rd minute to beat Arsenal, 1-0, in an English Premier League soccer match.

Drogba scored despite failing to control the ball in front of the goal. Instead, the ball bounced off his shin and rolled past Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.