Federer takes 16th Grand Slam title
Mindy Nelson, Staff Writer
photo: Photo courtesy www.rte.ie
The great Swiss tennis player is at it again. Roger Federer won his 16th Grand Slam title in his 12-year career by defeating Andy Murray in the Australian Open on Jan. 31, which is a record for the men's single division. Federer won the match in only three sets, with a score of 6-3, 6-4 and 7-6.
A Grand Slam win is one that occurs at one of the four major tennis tournaments during the year: the French Open, the Australian Open, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Federer has a Career Grand Slam, which means that he has won in all of the major tournaments at least once.
Federer has won the Wimbledon six times, the U.S. Open five times and the French Open once. This Grand Slam title gave him his fourth at the Australian Open, tying him with Andre Agassi for the most victories in that tournament.
The 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal went out in the quarterfinals when he retired in the third set of his match against Andy Murray due to a knee injury. Nadal is one of Federer's main on-court rivals. Nadal currently leads the series 13–7, having won the last five Grand Slam finals in which Federer was his opponent.
A win against Murray would have set up his eighth career Grand Slam final, but Muray defeated Nadal convincingly before a knee injury forced Nadal to quit. However, it is unlikely that Federer and Nadal would have faced each other in the finals.
Murray won the match in three sets, going 6-3, 7-6 and 3-0. Unfortunately, Murray was unable to continue his success against Federer. Had Murray been able to defeat Federer it would have ended a 74-year drought for British men in Grand Slam tournaments. Instead, with Nadal injured, Federer secured his spot as the no. 1 tennis player in the world.
The 29-year-old athlete claimed his first Grand Slam title in 2003, becoming the first Swiss man to hold the title. He was ranked no. 1 three years in a row from 2005-2007 and received the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award all three years.
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