TennisToday

Roger Federer Breaks Record for Most Weeks at #1

Today Roger Federer break his tie with Pete Sampras for most weeks at #1.

Make it 287 at the top of the pile. That's about 5 1/2 years.

He enjoyed his 1st week at #1 way back in February 2, 2004.

At 31, Rog becomes the 2nd oldest man to hold the top spot: Andre Agassi.

Roger, after he tied the record:

I never stopped believing...it all worked out. I got great momentum...

Great confidence and it all came together. It's a magical moment for me.

I was so close to the record two years ago and...

It is really amazing to be No. 1 again.

I played and won a lot of tournaments since the US Openlast year...

I’m happy that all the hard work I have been putting in has paid off.

***

Roger is only 75 points ahead of Novak Djokovic.

They both have the Olympics as their next tournament.

With no points to defend the race for #1 is on again in London.

Can Roger make it a SW19 double?

And then Samperer (or Fedpras?) take in a Laker Game

The Roger Federer & Pete Sampras bromance continues...

With floor seats. Kobe Bryant. No wives. It's all too much.

Shouldn't one of them be feeding the other one popcorn?

Just kidding folks... Calm down.

Roger Federer & Pete Sampras Practice Together Today in Los Angeles

You're looking at a whopping 30 Grand Slam titles right there.

In fact, Rog & Pete combined have won 13 of the last 18 Wimbledon titles.

They played once on the ATP tour - Rog won: 4th Round at Wimby in 2001.

Of course Roger is in Southern California heading to Indian Wells next week.

Roger will be seeded #2 and is a 3-time champ in the desert: '04-'06.

Since his last title run he has a 9-4 record, including 2 Sf runs.

Last season he lost in the 3rd R to Marcos Baghdatis - 7-6(4) in the 3rd set.

Meaning - Roger is in a great position to add some ranking points in IW.

But should he faulter Novak is in position to steal his #2 ranking.

Fun for fans: The #2 battle will heat up this month in IW and Miami.

Photos: I got it from the ATP Twitter page

Pete Sampras Played an Exo in San Jose Last Night

To kick off opening night at the ATP 250 event in San Jose Pete Sampras played Frenchman Gael Monfils, currently ranked #12. And played him pretty close: 76(4) 64. Not bad for the 39-year-old former '96 & '97 champ.

After the match Pete said, "I played a little better than I did last year and held my own, but physically that's the most I've served and volley in combination of the last seven years. Not easy."

Gael tweeted: It was a great experience tonight to play with Pete Sampras.

Other players were also very excited to meet Pete, including up-and-comer Milos Raonic (below) who tweeted: Just met my idol Sampras, its really something special getting to meet the person u grew up idolizing. Lifetime memory.

Davis Cup Semifinal Day Five Results

France defeats Argentina 5-0

4. Gilles Simon d Eduardo Schwank - 76(5) 67(6) 63

5. Arnaud Clement d Horacio Zeballos - 75 61

The weekend didn't just belong to Llodra - Clement won two matches too.

The French team will now be going to their 10th DC title - in France.

Their last title came in 2001 defeating Australia at Melbourne Park.

Common denominator: Arnaud Clement was part of that '01 team.

***

Serbia defeated Czech Republic 3-2

4. Novak Djokovic d Tomas Berdych - 46 63 62 64

5. Janko Tipsaveric d Radek Stepanek - 60 76(6) 64

Nice come from behind win for Serbia - dinner at Novak's!

This would be a great way to cap Novak's year - with a DC title.

I do love this photo of him:

***

USA defeated Colombia 3-1

4 Mardy Fish d Santiago Giraldo - 36 63 75 46 86

This keeps the US in the World Group for the Cup in 2011.

It also allows Patrick McEnroe to step down with a win.

Mardy is the first USplayer to win 3 matches since Pete Sampras in '95.

Not surprising -the Bryan Bros kept Roddick & Blake to singles for 10 years.

Photos: AP/Getty Images/Reuters

Roger Federer Wins ATP Title in Cincinnati

Cincinnati ATP Masters 1000 Winner

3 Roger Federer d Mardy Fish - 67(5) 76(1) 64

This match boiled down to a single break - of the last Fish service game.

With the win Roger gets his 2nd title of '10.

It's the latest in a season he's bagged a 2nd title since '01 when he only won 1.

This is Roger's 2nd straight & 4th overall title in Cincy - tying Mats Wilander.

It's also his 17th Masters title - equalling Agassi & 1 behind leader Nadal.

This ties him at #5 on the title leader list with Bjorn Borg with 63 titles.

He is 1 behind Pete Sampras who has 64.

Roger now heads to the US Open as the #2 seed & brimming with confidence.

Knew it: I wrote 2 weeks ago that Roger would turn up the heat this Summer.

***

Gotta feel for Fish tho. This might have been his best chance...

A few months ago the guy was ranked in the 100's. Tomorrow: the 20's.

Easily the most improved player of the year.

Photo: Getty Images

So Pete Sampras & Andre Agassi have a really weird moment at the Hit for Haiti event in Indian Wells

I thought this was a charity thing. Play nice boys.

'Hit for Haiti' Relief Benefit in Indian Wells - March 12th

I just got an exciting email from the fine folks who run the Masters Series 1000 in Indian Wells. Former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will take the court in a doubles match to raise money in a 'Hit for Haiti' exhibition.

It'll be a night match and tickets are still available: HERE.

The event is designed to raise at least a million dollars for the American Red Cross and will feature Roger Federer & Pete Sampras against Andre Agassi & Rafael Nadal.

Lopsided pairing, no? That's 30 Slam singles titles on one side of the net going up against only 14 on the other. More amazingly, it represents a whopping 15 Wimbledon titles - 15 of the last 18 actually, going back to Agassi's victory in 1992.

I may need to rearrange some plans and get out there a day earlier... if not, it'll be aired live on the Tennis Channel.