Tennis ace Federer above rivals in 2006

LONDON – His cream Wimbledon blazer got the fashionistas buzzing and an unexpected flood of tears showed his humility.

Yet it was a streak as hard as diamond running through him that made Roger Federer almost invincible for the third season in succession. Such was the world number one’s dominance in 2006 he reached the final in all but one of the 17 tournaments he contested and only two men beat the Swiss.Amelie Mauresmo shed the tag of being the ‘most talented player never to have won a grand slam’ when she triumphed at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.Like Federer, Justine Henin-Hardenne charged into all four grand slam finals.While Federer wielded his racket to devastating effect to walk away with three of the majors, the Belgian had to make do with a solitary success at the French Open.The only notable trophy to slip through Federer’s fingers was at Roland Garros.His old foe Rafael Nadal flexed his bulging biceps to defend his crown and deny Federer a Grand Slam.Having at last reached the final in Paris, however, Federer believes he can complete his collection.”Being so dominant in all the other slams, I know I can win the French.Nadal or not, I know I could beat him too because I was so close,” said the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open champion.In Melbourne Federer predictably began the year by clinching his seventh slam with victory over surprise Cypriot finalist Marcos Baghdatis.Despite being touted as arguably the best player ever to have picked up a racket, the sight of Federer, overcome with emotion, crying uncontrollably during the presentation ceremony was unexpected, however.GRASS COURT SEASON Nadal proved to be a thorn in his side as the Spaniard won all four of their encounters – in the finals at Dubai, Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros – during the first six months of 2006.Three of those meetings were on the Spaniard’s favoured clay, giving the world number two a 6-1 advantage in their head-to-heads and raised a few murmurings over Federer’s legitimacy as the world’s best player.Federer knew the grasscourt season would allow him to redress the balance of power.With no one able to match his sheer brilliance on grass, Federer’s stroll to a fourth successive Wimbledon crown was a foregone conclusion.What was not on the cards, however, was that he would use the occasion to make a fashion statement.Federer walked on court for his matches wearing a stylish cream blazer which bore a crest to signify his hat-trick of Wimbledon victories from 2003-05.Although it proved to be hot topic during the opening days of Wimbledon, the Swiss let his racket do the talking when he avenged his string of defeats by Nadal in the final.Nadal’s startling run to the second Sunday signalled that a genuine rivalry was growing but the Spaniard’s Wimbledon heroics appeared to take the fight out of him and he failed to reach another final.Britain’s Andy Murray was the only other man to halt Federer, in the Cincinnati Masters second round.It was to be Federer’s last defeat as he captured 12 titles and posted a 92-5 win-loss record for the season.He became the first player to pocket more than $8 million in prize money in one season and stood head-and-shoulders above his rivals as he accumulated an unprecedented 8,370 ranking points.Such is the nine-times grand slam champion’s dominance that even if he puts his feet up until the end of February, he has hoarded enough points to break Jimmy Connors’s record of 160 consecutive weeks as world number one.AGASSI FAREWELL After a controversial start to 2006 with the doping cases of Mariano Puerta and Sesil Karatantcheva, one fan at the Masters Cup summed up the importance of having such an exemplary figure at the top of the sport with a banner proclaiming “Thank God for giving us Roger!” Aged 36, Andre Agassi listened to his creaking bones and bid an emotional farewell at the US Open.With eight grand slams to his name, his retirement signalled the end of the greatest generation of American men’s tennis.Martina Navratilova also waved goodbye in New York after earning a 59th grand slam title – in mixed doubles with Bob Bryan – a month shy of her 50th birthday.Her retirement coincided with the woeful state of American women’s tennis.For the first time since the inception of rankings there was no US representative in the WTA Top 20.With no American woman reaching the semi-finals of the grand slams, Mauresmo led the European charge.The Frenchwoman won her first major silverware in Melbourne but was denied the chance of engineering the winning shot when Henin-Hardenne retired midway through the final.Mauresmo knew she still had a point to prove about her suspect nerves and silenced her critics in July when she again defeated the Belgian to claim her second slam at Wimbledon.”I don’t want anybody to talk about my nerves any more,” she said.Henin-Hardenne also came off second best to Maria Sharapova in the US Open final but was rewarded for her consistency when she won a three-way tussle with the Russian and Mauresmo for the year-end number one spot.Henin-Hardenne was forced to quit midway through another final in September, the Fed Cup doubles, which handed the women’s team title to Italy.Marat Safin led Russia to victory over Argentina in the Davis Cup final.Tennis fans witnessed the first major innovation in the sport since tiebreaks were implemented in the 1970s.The introduction of Instant Replay – where players can challenge calls using electronic line-calling – proved a hit.Nampa-ReutersSuch was the world number one’s dominance in 2006 he reached the final in all but one of the 17 tournaments he contested and only two men beat the Swiss.Amelie Mauresmo shed the tag of being the ‘most talented player never to have won a grand slam’ when she triumphed at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.Like Federer, Justine Henin-Hardenne charged into all four grand slam finals.While Federer wielded his racket to devastating effect to walk away with three of the majors, the Belgian had to make do with a solitary success at the French Open.The only notable trophy to slip through Federer’s fingers was at Roland Garros.His old foe Rafael Nadal flexed his bulging biceps to defend his crown and deny Federer a Grand Slam.Having at last reached the final in Paris, however, Federer believes he can complete his collection.”Being so dominant in all the other slams, I know I can win the French.Nadal or not, I know I could beat him too because I was so close,” said the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open champion.In Melbourne Federer predictably began the year by clinching his seventh slam with victory over surprise Cypriot finalist Marcos Baghdatis.Despite being touted as arguably the best player ever to have picked up a racket, the sight of Federer, overcome with emotion, crying uncontrollably during the presentation ceremony was unexpected, however.GRASS COURT SEASON Nadal proved to be a thorn in his side as the Spaniard won all four of their encounters – in the finals at Dubai, Monte Carlo, Rome and Roland Garros – during the first six months of 2006.Three of those meetings were on the Spaniard’s favoured clay, giving the world number two a 6-1 advantage in their head-to-heads and raised a few murmurings over Federer’s legitimacy as the world’s best player.Federer knew the grasscourt season would allow him to redress the balance of power.With no one able to match his sheer brilliance on grass, Federer’s stroll to a fourth successive Wimbledon crown was a foregone conclusion.What was not on the cards, however, was that he would use the occasion to make a fashion statement.Federer walked on court for his matches wearing a stylish cream blazer which bore a crest to signify his hat-trick of Wimbledon victories from 2003-05.Although it proved to be hot topic during the opening days of Wimbledon, the Swiss let his racket do the talking when he avenged his string of defeats by Nadal in the final.Nadal’s startling run to the second Sunday signalled that a genuine rivalry was growing but the Spaniard’s Wimbledon heroics appeared to take the fight out of him and he failed to reach another final.Britain
‘s Andy Murray was the only other man to halt Federer, in the Cincinnati Masters second round.It was to be Federer’s last defeat as he captured 12 titles and posted a 92-5 win-loss record for the season.He became the first player to pocket more than $8 million in prize money in one season and stood head-and-shoulders above his rivals as he accumulated an unprecedented 8,370 ranking points.Such is the nine-times grand slam champion’s dominance that even if he puts his feet up until the end of February, he has hoarded enough points to break Jimmy Connors’s record of 160 consecutive weeks as world number one.AGASSI FAREWELL After a controversial start to 2006 with the doping cases of Mariano Puerta and Sesil Karatantcheva, one fan at the Masters Cup summed up the importance of having such an exemplary figure at the top of the sport with a banner proclaiming “Thank God for giving us Roger!” Aged 36, Andre Agassi listened to his creaking bones and bid an emotional farewell at the US Open.With eight grand slams to his name, his retirement signalled the end of the greatest generation of American men’s tennis.Martina Navratilova also waved goodbye in New York after earning a 59th grand slam title – in mixed doubles with Bob Bryan – a month shy of her 50th birthday.Her retirement coincided with the woeful state of American women’s tennis.For the first time since the inception of rankings there was no US representative in the WTA Top 20.With no American woman reaching the semi-finals of the grand slams, Mauresmo led the European charge.The Frenchwoman won her first major silverware in Melbourne but was denied the chance of engineering the winning shot when Henin-Hardenne retired midway through the final.Mauresmo knew she still had a point to prove about her suspect nerves and silenced her critics in July when she again defeated the Belgian to claim her second slam at Wimbledon.”I don’t want anybody to talk about my nerves any more,” she said.Henin-Hardenne also came off second best to Maria Sharapova in the US Open final but was rewarded for her consistency when she won a three-way tussle with the Russian and Mauresmo for the year-end number one spot.Henin-Hardenne was forced to quit midway through another final in September, the Fed Cup doubles, which handed the women’s team title to Italy.Marat Safin led Russia to victory over Argentina in the Davis Cup final.Tennis fans witnessed the first major innovation in the sport since tiebreaks were implemented in the 1970s.The introduction of Instant Replay – where players can challenge calls using electronic line-calling – proved a hit.Nampa-Reuters