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Written by Howard Fendrich, Canadian Press
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Roger Federer covered his face with both hands, no doubt wishing he were doing anything at that moment other than dissecting his latest earlier-than-expected Grand Slam exit.
And this one came at Wimbledon, no less — the tournament he loves more than any other, the tournament he ruled for so long.
After all the victories, all the championships, all the records, Federer now must deal with a new, unenviable sort of streak: The owner of 16 major championships, the man widely considered the best player in tennis history, has lost two consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals in the span of a month, both against opponents who have yet to win a single such trophy.
Federer arrived at the All England Club aiming to reach the final for the eighth year in a row and win a record-tying seventh title. Instead, he leaves before the semifinals, beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday by No. 12 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
On June 1, Federer lost in the French Open quarterfinals as the defending champion there, too, putting an end to his unprecedented 23 consecutive appearances in major semifinals.
"God, I can't wait for Paris and Wimbledon to come around next year again, that's for sure, because they've been frustrating tournaments for me, even though it wasn't too bad. Quarters is a decent result," Federer said, as if trying to convince himself right along with everyone else.
"Obviously people think quarters is shocking, but people would die to play in quarter-final stages of Grand Slam play," he added, fidgeting during his news conference. "It's not something I'm used to doing — losing in quarter-finals — because it's not something I've done in the last six years."
Indeed, he used to make everything look so easy at Grand Slam tournaments. There was that semifinal streak, which dated to 2004. Starting 12 months later, he participated in 18 of 19 major finals. His dominance at Wimbledon, specifically, is even more pronounced: Until Wednesday, Federer was 51-1 at the tournament since the start of the 2003 edition.
Thanks to Berdych, that is now 51-2, although Federer placed at least some of the blame on two previously undisclosed health issues: a bothersome back and right thigh.
"I couldn't play the way I wanted to play," said Federer, whose defeat guarantees he will drop to No. 3 in the rankings for the first time since November 2003, according to the ATP. "You just don't feel as comfortable. You can't concentrate on each and every point, because you do feel the pain sometimes."
He said his leg and back have bothered him since the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, where Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final a week before Wimbledon started. Before that match, Federer had won 76 of his last 77 matches on grass. Now he's lost 2 of 6.
Against Berdych, Federer whiffed on a forehand in the fourth game, but otherwise gave no obvious indication he was troubled. His comments about how he felt were relayed to Berdych, who didn't notice anything wrong.
"I mean, I don't know if he just (is) looking for some excuses after the match or something like that," Berdych said.
Cue all the questions about the 28-year-old Federer's future.
Not surprisingly, he quickly dismissed a query about whether he believes he can return to dominance, saying: "Yeah, I do think that. That's why I'm here."
Similar chatter arose when Federer went through three Grand Slam tournaments in 2008 without taking a title, losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals and Rafael Nadal in the French Open and Wimbledon finals. But Federer won the U.S. Open that year, won his first French Open title in 2009 to complete a career Grand Slam and tie Pete Sampras' mark of 14 major titles, then a month later, regained his Wimbledon championship to surpass it.
"When you get older and you've accomplished what Roger has, at some point — the guy's a human being — he's going to have to sort of face the fact that he's not going to win these things and that he may never win another thing. So everyone's sort of waiting, and predicting, when that's going to happen," said seven-time major title winner John McEnroe, a TV analyst for NBC. "(But) let's not forget, that was a couple of years ago, when he lost to Nadal in the final here: It was over. He was done. He's a bum."
Berdych never had been past the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam until Paris. If he's going to reach his first major final, he'll need to eliminate No. 3 Djokovic on Friday.
Robin Soderling knocked off Federer in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, and there is a common thread through the Swiss star's three most recent losses at major tournaments, including to Juan Martin del Potro in the U.S. Open final in September.
Berdych, Soderling and Del Potro are all imposing guys who absolutely pound the ball on serves and drive flat forehands through the court. At six foot five, Berdych is an inch taller than Soderling, an inch shorter than del Potro — and four inches taller than Federer.
"If I'm healthy, I can handle those guys, you know," Federer said.
Perhaps. Still, the 24-year-old Berdych deserves credit for sticking to his high-risk, high-reward style, for staying focused when the going go tough, and for delivering more winners than Federer, 51-44.
"You can say that he was unlucky," Berdych said, repeating a word Federer used, "or you can say that maybe the opponent was a little bit better, and he just won the big points."
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Written by Canadian Press
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Ubaldo Jimenez held San Diego hitless into the sixth inning and Miguel Olivo, Carlos Gonzalez and Ryan Spilborghs each hit a two-run homer in the Colorado Rockies' 10-6 win over the Padres on Monday night.
Seth Smith hit a solo homer for the Rockies, who have won five of seven.
Jimenez (14-1), the major league wins leader who threw a no-hitter April 17 at Atlanta, lost his bid for another no-no in the sixth when he allowed four runs on four hits, including Scott Hairston's three-run homer off the facade of the second deck in left field.
The right-hander, who was perfect through three innings, won his eighth straight decision, tying North Delta, B.C., native Jeff Francis' team record set in 2007. His ERA rose from 1.60 to 1.83, tying him with Florida's Josh Johnson for best in the big leagues.
Trailing 8-0, the NL West-leading Padres finally figured out Jimenez in the sixth. Tony Gwynn Jr. drew a leadoff walk before David Eckstein got San Diego's first hit, a single to left past diving shortstop Clint Barmes. Adrian Gonzalez struck out and Chase Headley singled in Gwynn before Hairston hit a 2-1 pitch for his eighth homer.
Jimenez left after six innings. He struck out seven and walked four.
He retired the first nine Padres batters on 30 pitches, including five strikeouts.
Jimenez struggled in the fourth, walking Gwynn to open the inning and Gonzalez with one out before retiring Headley and Hairston. Jimenez walked Will Venable leading off the fifth before retiring the next three batters.
Jimenez was coming off his worst start of the season, a no-decision against Boston in which he allowed six runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings.
The Padres added two more runs against the Rockies' bullpen in the seventh. Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-out RBI single and Hairston hit an RBI double off the top of the fence in left, missing a three-run homer by inches. Venable was intentionally walked to load the bases before Nick Hundley grounded out.
Hairston had four RBIs.
Olivo, Jimenez's batterymate, also hit a two-run double and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
San Diego's Kevin Correia (5-6) had a rough night. He allowed Gonzalez's two-run homer to right in the first, Olivo's two-run double in the third and Olivo's two-run homer in the fifth that landed in the balcony on the third level of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner. They were the 11th for both Gonzalez and Olivo.
Correia walked Melvin Mora ahead of Gonzalez's homer. The right-hander allowed six runs and seven hits in five innings, walked six and struck out three.
Spilborghs hit a two-run homer to left off Sean Gallagher with two outs in the sixth, his eighth, for an 8-0 lead. Smith had a solo shot off Edward Mujica leading off the ninth, his 11th.
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Written by AFP
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Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal enter Wednesday's Wimbledon quarter-finals in top form, while Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are looking just as hungry in their bid for a first title here.
The top four men's seeds have all made it through to the last eight, and now face much stiffer opposition as the tournament reaches the business end.
Defending champion Federer, who is gunning for his seventh Wimbledon crown, faces Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych.
Meanwhile Spanish world number one Nadal, the 2008 winner who missed the chance to defend his title last year due to knee injuries which are still plaguing him, takes on Swedish sixth seed Robin Soderling, in a re-run of this year's French Open final earlier this month.
British home favourite Murray faces French 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic faces a surprise package in Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun.
After a slow start to his favourite grand slam, world number two Federer, the top seed here, is starting to hit his stride in time for the business end of the tournament.
The sight of Federer unloading a barrage of winners from all angles in his last two matches looks ominous for his rivals, and even the possibility of an injury slowing his progress was quickly dismissed by the Swiss star.
"My thigh was hurting a little bit after the first match and it in the final in Halle it was hurting me as well. But honestly now I have no more problems, no more strapping. I'm happy I recovered," he said.
With Federer fighting fit, Nadal cannot afford to be less than 100 percent if the pair meet, as seeded, in the final on July 4.
Nadal has been struggling with a knee problem throughout the tournament but he insisted he is willing to play through the pain barrier.
"I take anti-inflammatories. I did a lot of treatment with the physio and the doctor," he said.
"On Monday I didn't feel pain. It's there, but it wasn't a problem. Hopefully it's going to be fine."
Nadal will have to be at his best to beat Soderling, who reckons he has the measure of the Spaniard, having knocked him out of the French Open last year and downed him again in the World Tour Finals in December.
"It's definitely easier to play him on any surface other than clay," the Swede said.
"You have to do everything well to beat him. He's such a great player and he moves so well and has a great offensive game and also a great defensive game."
The pair have never got along well on court after Soderling mimicked Nadal's on-court habits, but the Spaniard got revenge at the French Open recently when he defeated the Swede in the final to claim his fifth Roland Garros crown.
"I had a little bit of a problem (with him) in a tournament few year ago. After that I never had any problems with him," Nadal said.
"He is probably one of the more difficult opponents that you can play on all surfaces, but especially here. He's playing with big confidence and a big serve."
Meanwhile, Tsonga, playing his first Wimbledon quarter-final, will have to subdue the Wimbledon crowd as well as Murray when he takes on the British star.
Murray has yet to drop a set at the Championships but, although the odds are stacked against him, Tsonga said he was entering the contest in a positive mood.
"I know Andy likes grass. He plays well on this surface. He is at home. He will give everything," he said.
"But I will be the outsider. Maybe the pressure will be on his shoulders because for me I have nothing to lose. I have everything to win in this match."
The other last eight tie sees Djokovic take on giant-killer Lu, who stunned Andy Roddick, last year's Wimbledon runner-up, in the fourth round.
Lu has produced Taiwan's greatest-ever performance in a Grand Slam by reaching the quarter-finals.
He is the only unseeded player to have made it through and he said: "I don't know how far I can go. But I can tell you I will fight to the end."
Djokovic added: "I'm really happy with my performances so far. I'm playing a better game than I did in the last few months."
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