Apr 24, 2007 from The Times:
Wimbledon will offer the biggest prize fund in tennis this year, with the male and female champion each taking home £700,000 (about $1.4 million). There will be £11,282,710 on offer in all, an increase of 8.7 per cent. Wimbledon announced in February that it would pay men and women the same prize-money for the first time since it began paying players in 1968.
"No tennis tournament has ever offered higher prize-money than Wimbledon in 2007," Tim Phillips, the Wimbledon chairman, said. Roger Federer earned £655,000 for winning last year's tournament, while Amelie Mauresmo took home £625,000 after claiming the ladies' crown.
Apr 22, 2007 from Reuters:
MONTE CARLO - Rafael Nadal won his third Monte Carlo Masters Series in succession when he extended his record winning streak on clay to 67 matches with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of world number one Roger Federer in Sunday's final.
The Spaniard improve his record against Federer to 7-3. The Swiss had won his two previous matches against the world number two but has never beaten him on clay in five meetings.
Nadal broke decisively on his second chance when Federer sent a forehand long in the ninth game after wasting three opportunities to take the Spaniard's serve. Nadal clinched the set with a crosscourt forehand winner in 47 minutes.
The Swiss, who made 13 forehand unforced errors in the first set, dropped his serve in the third game of the second as Nadal managed an impressive passing shot. Federer saved two match points with forehand winners but bowed out on the third, giving Nadal his 19th career title when he sent a backhand long.
"Congratulations to Rafa. What he has achieved is fantastic," said Federer. "I will try again to beat him in Rome, Hamburg and here in Monte Carlo next year."
Apr 21, 2007 from AFP:
MONTE CARLO - Roger Federer applied the power to escape an early 1-3 deficit against two-time winner Juan Carlos Ferrero, defeating the Spaniard 6-3, 6-4 in the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals.
Federer improved to 7-3 against Ferrero, with their only previous clay court meeting coming in the Rome semi-finals four years ago when the Spaniard retired because he was injured. The win was the fifth in a row for the Swiss in the series.
Federer will be playing in his third final of the season after winning the Australian Open and Dubai. He set up his side of a Sunday trophy re-match with Rafael Nadal, who beat tenth seed Tomas Berdych 6-0, 7-5.
Federer began slowly against former number one Ferrero, dropping his serve in the third game of the opening set and facing the possibility of a 4-1 deficit. But saving a pair of Ferrero chances seemed to flick a switch for the Swiss, who proceeded to turn on his trademark domination.
After saving one break point in the fifth game, Federer tried a drop shot on the second and the ball clipped the top of the net before rolling slowly onto Ferrero's side of the court.
Precise passing shots and even the occasional serve-and-volley winner flowed, with Federer claiming seven straight points midway through. He got the break back in the sixth game, broke the Spaniard for 5-3 and fired an ace for a set point a game later.
That was all it took as a frustrated Ferrero returned wide after 38 minutes. Federer consolidated as he started the second set with a break then maintained the edge onwards to wrap up a 76-minute win with a backhand passing shot on his third match point.
"Sometimes when you apply your high level, he still wins,” Ferrero said. "Maybe because he's the best."
Apr 20, 2007 from Masters Series Monte-Carlo:
Roger Federer recorded his 500th career win and surpassed $30 million in career prize money on Friday.
"I am very happy to have done it here. That is a lot of games. I'm glad they are victories," Federer said. "Two incredible numbers. I've come a long way."
Federer made it six straight wins against David Ferrer with a 6-4, 6-0 victory for a place in the semifinals of ATP Masters Series Monte-Carlo. Following two exchanges of breaks, Federer stepped up a gear and broke decisively in the ninth game when Ferrer sent a forehand wide.
The second set was a mere formality for the Swiss, who wrapped up the win in 58 minutes. The top seed will next meet either Juan Carlos Ferrero, the No. 16 seed and two-time former champion, or No. 11 seed Richard Gasquet.
"Ferrero is one of the best clay-court players we still have on the Tour," Federer said. "He's won the French Open, he's won this tournament a couple of times; this is his surface. To play him again after such a long time is always nice because we came through juniors together and he's a really nice guy so I'm happy as well."
Ferrer won only 20 points on serve as Federer converted six of 10 break point opportunities for his 17th victory in 19 matches this year. Only Carlos Moya, with a 516-273 career record, has more wins on the ATP circuit than the 25-year-old from Switzerland. Federer improves to 500-127.
"I'm really happy to have won my 500th [match] here in Monte Carlo," Federer said. "David is a very good player. Beating him 6-4 6-0 on clay is very good for me. I like to play against him: he is a good player and I win. It was a good test."
"Finally, I felt like I was hitting the ball good, which is such an important thing on clay," Federer said. "I mean if you feel bad from the baseline you can usually pack your stuff and go home because it's not going to work because guys are too steady today. Maybe my variety gave me a chance to get through [the early rounds] and I played better against the good players. It's always good to get through quickly."
Apr 19, 2007 from Reuters:
MONTE CARLO - Roger Federer made light work of South Korean Lee Hyung-taik to reach the Monte Carlo Masters Series quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-3 win on Thursday. He now meets David Ferrer after the Spaniard knocked out sixth seed Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-4.
Federer went down an early break at 1-2 in the first set against Lee after missing all five first serves in his second service game. He then steadied, saving five of six break points during the match.
Federer broke decisively in the ninth game of the opening set to take control. After that, the Swiss was never in bother and required just 64 minutes to seal the victory, producing 25 winners and 24 unforced errors.
from Telegraph:
Sources reported that Federer also used the meeting to call for a reduction in the number of mandatory tournaments, which is 18. Federer, who complained of over-playing, put it to De Villiers that the minimum should be cut to 16. De Villiers is hoping to meet the players again during next month's Rome Masters.
Apr 18, 2007 from Masters Series Monte-Carlo:
Novak Djokovic and Thomas Johansson won the highest acclaim at Wednesday night's Player Revue in Monte-Carlo after entertaining imitations of Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal respectively. Yves Allegro also won praise for his send up of countryman and sometimes doubles partner Roger Federer.
Johansson gave audience members – including dozens of players – an up close and hilarious look at Nadal's pre-match routine in the locker room. Allegro played the part of Federer, who was interrupted by mobile phone calls three times during an interview, first by girlfriend Mirka, then Tiger Woods and finally by Allegro. Federer didn't answer the third call as he suspected Allegro would ask him to play doubles again.
Kristof Vliegen impersonated Maria Sharapova and The Times' tennis writer Neil Harman impersonated Serena Williams, who was carrying a dog and checking herself regularly in the mirror before she went out to play.
Federer was seen deep in laughter in the audience during Allegro's performance and later, along with Nadal, joined the performing cast on stage for a curtain call.
Doubles player Jim Thomas, Nikolay Mirnyi (father of Max), Marian Vajda (coach of Djokovic) and Julien Hoferlin (coach of O. Rochus) formed a bellydancing quartet the likes of which has never before been seen (and hopefully never will be again!)
Jonas Bjorkman and doubles team Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram dressed up as the Scissor Sisters in the final act of the night. Bjorkman also impersonated ATP Supervisor Tom Barnes.
Apr 17, 2007 from AFP:
MONACO - Roger Federer overpowered Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6) at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday as he prepared for a meeting with with ATP boss Etienne de Villiers to discuss player grievances.
But the emergency, closed-door session in the principality will surely be the highlight of Federer's day, with de Villiers flying in from London to meet with the Swiss.
On the court, it took one hour, 48 minutes for Federer to go through against the feisty German-speaking Italian from Bolzano. Seppi, ranked 101, saved three set points in the opener on Federer backhand errors as he took the set to a tiebreaker which Federer won on his fourth attempt when Seppi sent a forehand long.
The second set was equally gruelling, the Swiss finally getting home on his third match point when Seppi hit the net. Federer clocked six aces and broke on three of nine occasions as he found his feet on clay in his 2007 debut on the surface.
"It's always difficult to start a claycourt season especially against a qualifier," Federer said in a courtside interview. "I am very happy. The conditions were perfect, it was not too hot, not windy and I am looking forward to my next match."
Roger will be featured on the May/June issue of Men's Vogue (available on newsstands April 24). To see photographs of Roger, including the cover, visit www.mensvogue.com.
Apr 16, 2007 from Roger Federer Official Site:
"It was always clear to me that I would participate in the relegation round. I would also have joined the team in Chile or Brasil," Roger said today. He wants to help Switzerland's Davis Cup squad fight for World Group survival against the Czech Republic, where the teams will meet on September 21 to 23.
The Swiss tennis association confirmed Federer's return for the tie, which will be played away after six in a row at home, in a statement on its official Web site on Monday.
from Masters Series Monte-Carlo:
Today at 10 am, the 7 best players met one after another for interviews on the VIP pavement. The journalists began with Tommy Robredo, then Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Gonzalez…
Most approached players were of course world number one Roger Federer and the double title winner Rafael Nadal. Player Council head Ivan Ljubicic was also asked a lot of question about the future Monte Carlo tournament's downgrading. Nadal and Federer arrived together and gave a brief common interview to give their support to the tournament.
Famous history, prestigious name, beautiful place…this are the most heard words in player's talks. There's no doubt that all the players here appreciate the tournament. All of them want Monte-Carlo to keep his Masters Series' status and discussion will probably take place between players and ATP and ITF in the next weeks.
Apr 15, 2007 from Masters Series Monte-Carlo:
The Monte-Carlo Country Club had the honour Sunday, April 15, to welcome Prince Albert II. The Sovereign Prince of Monaco met Roger Federer to officially open the sponsors' village.
ATP World No. 1 Federer presented Prince Albert with his 2007 Australian Open-winning tennis racket (used to win his 10th Grand Slam title in January), with which to practice on Monte-Carlo's clay courts. Federer was given a present from the royal family. After a brief talk and photo shoot Prince Albert and Federer walked through the village - with a very large crowd following!
Apr 10, 2007
Roger Federer and Swiss Post CEO Ulrich Gygi unveil a giant replica stamp, during the launch of a Swiss postage stamp bearing his portrait at Basel's city hall. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) |
Roger and Gisela "Gigi" Oeri, president of FC Basel. (Photo by Urs Bucher/EQ Images) |
BASEL - Switzerland's postal service has presented a special stamp celebrating Roger Federer. The one Swiss franc stamp — the most commonly used in Switzerland — depicts Federer lifting the Wimbledon trophy over his right shoulder and was unveiled Tuesday at a ceremony in his hometown of Basel.
Swiss Post CEO Ulrich Gygi made the presentation to Federer, who is the first living person to be depicted on a Swiss stamp. The stamp went on sale Tuesday at all post offices in Switzerland and can also be bought online.
Federer was at the ceremony with his parents Lynette and Robert, girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, manager Tony Godsick and Basel tournament director Roger Brennwald.
"It's a great honour for me. It's a big moment in my life. I'm proud to be a symbol like the army knife or the mountains," Federer said.
"Its an incredible honour for my family really. My parents say 'I can't believe that my son is on a stamp' and everything and for me too it's at the same level as a Grand Slam victory, or like a Wimbledon trophy. It's something so surreal. Its hard to explain in words because I am the first person to receive a stamp in Switzerland that is a living person."
"They have never done that before, they put symbolic icon's on stamp's or something totally crazy or something which is cultural - where as a living person has no chance to do that. So, they have changed the rules especially for me which really shows me that I am doing a great job being an ambassador for Switzerland and I hope I can keep the good work up," Federer added.
"If you can come up with any Swiss personality who can equal Roger Federer's prestige, in any domain, I'm ready to follow you," said Gygi.
"Up to now you had to do something big and then die before appearing on a stamp; we made an exception as Roger is truly exceptional," Gygi said, adding that Federer was a fantastic athlete and outstanding ambassador for Switzerland both on and off the court. "His personality, his charisma, his modesty and his influence are worth taking some liberties with customs going back to the 19th century."
Apr 2, 2007 from Reuters:
BARCELONA - Roger Federer was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the third year in a row on Monday. The 25-year-old Swiss became the first sportsman to receive the award on three occasions, making off with it once again for his continued domination of men's tennis in 2006.
Federer, who has finished as world number one in each of the three years he has won the award and chalked up three grand slam titles for the second time in three years, was unable to attend the ceremony. His award was picked up by German former world number one and six times grand slam winner Boris Becker.
Tennis was the big winner at the awards ceremony with Serena Williams taking the comeback of the year award and the breakthrough prize going to fellow tennis player Amelie Mauresmo following her first two grand slam titles.
Russia's record-breaking pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the award for World Sportswoman of the Year, while the team of the year award went to the Italian football side for their World Cup triumph. Barcelona Football Club were given the Spirit of Sport award for their support of UNICEF and Franz Beckenbauer took the lifetime achievement award.
Roger Federer, recipient of the Laureus World Sportman of the Year award, appears on a ginat screen during the awards ceremony at the Laureus Sports Awards at the Palau Sant Jordi on April 2, 2007 in Barcelona, Spain. Laureus World Sports Academy member Boris Becker and former Formula One racing driver Mika Hakkinen take part in the awards ceremony. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for Laureus) |
 
Roger poses with the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award. (Photos by Getty Images for Laureus) |
Boris Becker smiles after collecting on behalf of Roger Federer the award for Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. (Photo by Cesar Rangel/AFP/Getty Images) |
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