FanHouse Roger Federer

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Five-time champion Roger Federer delivered a masterful grass-court performance Friday to beat Tommy Haas in straight sets and reach his seventh straight Wimbledon final, putting him within one win of a record 15th Grand Slam title.

Seeming to get stronger with every match, Federer put on a serving clinic and took advantage of his break-point chances to subdue the 31-year-old German 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-3 in just over two hours.

Federer never faced a break point as he beat Haas for the ninth straight time to reach his record 20th Grand Slam final, pulling out of a tie with Ivan Lendl.

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He may not be willing to lace up his sneakers for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Spanish point guard prodigy Ricky Rubio won't hesistate to become an American pitchman. Via Canis Hoopus, the young Mr. Rubio appears in what would appear to be his first stateside ad campaign, joining the likes of Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer in a spot for Gillette.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Tommy Haas's dream Wimbledon run continued on Wednesday when he unseated fourth seed Novak Djokovic 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in their quarter-final at the All England Club.

The German 24th seed, a first-time quarter-finalist here, broke in game 11 of the opening set and served out to take the lead after 45 minutes.

Djokovic wasted three set points in the second set tiebreak before Haas wrapped it up 8-6 before the Serb mounted a comeback by taking the third.

Revenge. It's the perfect time for the Williams Sisters, particularly for Serena. Who's No. 1? Dinara Safina? Right. So Serena has grumbled about it, saying everyone knows that's she's the real No. 1.

Well, now Venus and Serena are dominating Wimbledon. Venus will beat Safina in the semis on Thursday. And if Serena wins this thing over her sister (I'll take Venus), then the grudge is over. Serena is the champ and
No. 1.

Well, not quite. Safina is going to stay No. 1. But here's the weird thing: No matter what happens, Safina's lead in the computer rankings is going to increase. Does this compute? If Safina loses in the semis, and Serena wins the title, then that will be enough for Safina to pad her lead.

Huh?

Just how hurt is Rafael Nadal, anyway? He's not defending his Wimbledon title because his knees weren't at 100 percent. Now Nadal has been left off of Spain's Davis Cup team for next month's matches.

Spanish coach Albert Costa says Nadal "is not well." This was obvious to anyone who watched his exhibition match with Stanislas Wawrinka, a match which Nadal lost. There is no real shame in losing to Warwrinka, who just gave Andy Murray all he could handle in one of Wimbledon's best matches this year. Nadal, however, is (as of now) the world's No. 1 ranked player and thus isn't supposed to lose to anybody.

Nadal is suffering from tendinitis of the knees. As anyone with tendinitis knows, it's slow to get better, and that's assuming it ever does, said the writer, three seconds before he shook out his aching hand. Will Nadal ever get better? And what if he doesn't?

Over the years, talk of Andy Roddick finally "getting there" has been inaccurate. The top-ranked American has reached the finals at Wimbledon twice, but despite a brief moment in the first set of the finals in 2004, Andy has always seemed a touch short of championship caliber.

Maybe not this year. Roddick took down No. 20 Thomas Berdych 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that was hardly competitive after the first set tiebreaker. Andy rode his 24 aces to easy service games, never even facing a break point, but the comfort he has shown with his ground strokes is what has really stood out in 2009.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Roger Federer found himself in a serving contest Monday at Wimbledon-and won.

The five-time champion hit 23 aces, never lost serve and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating familiar foil Robin Soderling 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).

Federer improved to 11-0 against Soderling, including a victory in the French Open final three weeks ago to complete a career Grand Slam.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon when opponent Ana Ivanovic retired one game into the second set Monday.

Williams, seeking her sixth Wimbledon title, led 6-1, love-1 when Ivanovic called it quits.

Ivanovic took a 10-minute break during the first game of the second set to have her left thigh taped by a trainer. She returned for two more points, but after hitting a service winner to take the game, she began crying as she walked to her chair and told the umpire she was retiring.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- When Roger Federer misfired on an important shot Friday, his knees buckled and he stomped behind the baseline, miffed at his mere mortality.

The moment quickly passed, and Federer advanced to the second week at Wimbledon by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Federer lost a set for first time this week, with two errant forehands costing him the tiebreaker. That merely extended his Centre Court workout by half an hour.

Another day, another big pile of Euros: Roger Federer had little trouble beating Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at Wimbledon on Wednesday, dispatching the Spaniard in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Federer is through to the third round and still well on track to play for a record 15th major title. Federer currently shares the record of 14 majors with Pete Sampras.

Of course, in the internet age, there are always people who can see the cloud behind every silver lining. Reading message boards and article comments, it's clear that more than a few tennis fans feel that Federer should get an asterisk next to his record if he wins out at Wimbledon. Why? Because if he wins and sets the new record, he will not have beaten Rafael Nadal to do so. Since Nadal is the top-ranked player in the world, it would seem that any title which doesn't pass through him is tainted.