Federer demolish Stepanek to meet Roddick in ATP Basel semifinal

BASEL, Switzerland - Roger Federer will face Andy Roddick for the first time since their epic 2009 Wimbledon final after both advanced to the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors.
 
The top-seeded Swiss and No. 4 Roddick set up the rematch by sweeping through their quarterfinals in straight sets on Friday. Federer eased past Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and the American rode his big serve in a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Argentina’s David Nalbandian.
 
More than 16 months after a classic, 4-hour, 16-minute encounter ended with Federer taking the fifth set 16-14, Roddick pretended to have forgotten all about it. “What final?” he deadpanned to reporters, before acknowledging he relished the fresh challenge.
 
“I always look forward to playing (Roger),” said Roddick, who hit 11 aces in his win. “You want to play the best if you are an athlete and a competitor. You want to get out there and give it a go.” Federer said his 19-2 career record against Roddick was not a fair reflection of their rivalry.
 
“He is much better than the head-to-head record shows. We’ve had a lot of close matches,” Federer said.

Rafael Nadal got himself injured again

PARIS - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Paris Masters on Friday because of a shoulder injury that will keep him sidelined for at least a week. Nadal said in an e-mail sent out by his management team that he was suffering from “a small case of tendinitis in my left shoulder which came about through forcing my serve too much during training this week.”

“I am very sorry not to be able to play the Paris-Bercy tournament this year,” Nadal said. The Spaniard said the injury wasn’t serious, but he had been advised by doctors that he needed six or seven days rest with intensive rehabilitation treatment.

Nadal is scheduled to play in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London from Nov. 21-28. The ATP tour said Nadal would still make an appearance at the Paris tournament and would discuss his injury further at a news conference Sunday or Monday.

“It’s always a blow for a tournament to lose Nadal,” event director Jean-Francois Caujolle said. “We still have nine of the 10 best players in the world and I don’t think the tournament has been hampered by his withdrawal, even though it would have been better to have him.”

Nadal recently said he was feeling some fatigue from a successful season in which he won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Nadal has not played since a third-round defeat to Jurgen Melzer at the Shanghai Masters on Oct 14.

With Nadal’s withdrawal, Roger Federer has been given the No. 1 seed and will start against the winner between Nicolas Mahut and Richard Gasquet.

Defending Champion Djokovic beat Nieminen in ATP Basel

BASEL, SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 04: Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates at match point after defeating Jarkko Nieminen of Finland (6-4, 7-6) in straight sets during Day Four of the Davidoff Swiss Indoors Tennis in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

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Elena Dementieva announcing her retirement

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, who stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement last week, said starting a family was one of the main reasons for her decision to quit the sport. "It is true that I expect changes in my private life in the near future," the Russian, who ended her playing career at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, was quoted as saying by local media on Wednesday.

"I don't want to give all the details because these are very private, intimate things," the 29-year-old said. "But I have to admit I've made a decision to quit mainly because I want to start a family, have kids."

The Muscovite has always been reluctant to discuss her private life but it has been widely reported that she is engaged to Russian ice hockey player Maxim Afinogenov. Dementieva also ruled out the possibility of one day making a comeback like Belgium's Kim Clijsters, who returned to the game in 2009 after more than two years off to start a family and in her third tournament back won the US Open.

"It was a very difficult and emotional but if I decided to quit that was it. I'm not coming back," Dementieva said