Nasdaq 100 Open 2006 Miami

[marats]

At what European time is the male's final ?

[Annie]

The final is at 18.00 CET marats

[marats]

Thanks a lot !!!!!

[yse]

Roger Federer vs Ivan Ljubicic 4-3 in a first set

[reese]

Roger won the first set 7-6. Now it´s 4-4 in 2nd

[marats]

Now 5/4 for Ivan !

[marats]

5/5 second set

[marats]

6/5 for Ivan

[marats]

6/6 , another tie-break !

[marats]

Second set for Roger 7/6

[kristen]

whoa!!!! it's a pretty close game so far.....or it's more than close.....hopefully ivan can come through in the next three sets!

[marats]

Roger wins: 7/6 , 7/6 , 7/6 !

[Annie]

Well well well surprise surprise!!!!!!!! Roger wins another Masters tournament LOL

Ivan....it was all in your hands and you blew it man..leading 4:1 in the second set tie-break and throwing it all away.... *sigh* Oh well... Very intense and interesting match to watch though...3 tie-breaks!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D Good game and

CONGRATS ROGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You ARE the King right now (but wait till Marat is back in his shape LOL )

[Annie]

Accurate Swiss Timing - Federer Reigns Again
Published: Sunday, April 2, 2006
Craig Gabriel


What a finish to the final of the NASDAQ-100 Open. It was euphoria for Roger Federer and heartbreak for Ivan Ljubicic. He served to Federer’s backhand. The world number one sliced it back low and the ball clipped the net; it dribbled along the top for a second and then plopped over, almost dying as it hit the court.

There was no way that the Croat could get to the ball – the crowd groaned in agony for Ljubicic but at the same time roared with approval for Federer’s 7-6, 7-6, 7-6 result in two hours, 56 minutes.

"It was tough," said Federer. "I really thought he served way better than he did in Indian Wells and I think that was the big difference why it was so close. He could have pushed me, obviously, way further if he would have maybe played a little better on the big points, like in the tiebreakers.

"I thought it was tough today. I mean, first and second serve, you know, he was going for big serves, great variation and so on. He made me work extremely hard. I sort of expected it, you know, but obviously three tiebreakers is the most extreme."

The victory is Federer’s ninth consecutive in as many Masters Series finals. It is his 48th win in a row in the United States and his fourth title of the season, in which he now has a 28-1 win-loss record.

For Ljubicic, his tremendous efforts this tournament will put him into the world’s top five for the first time.

"The moment like ten seconds after the match, you are mad because you think you were close, but after a week I’m gonna be proud of the way I played and the fact that I was close," said Ljubicic. "I mean it’s still a loss, of course. It’s straight sets, so definitely feels a little rough.

"When you play a tiebreak against him, he never misses. He rarely gives you anything. Of course he comes up with the big shots when it’s really important."

The first set of the final came down to a loose backhand from Ljubicic. The two men played steady tennis throughout. Other than Federer facing two break points in the third game, which he saved, the set passed by without any drama as both players looked reasonably comfortable with their shots.

In the tiebreak Federer had the first mini-break, in the second point, but Ljubicic squared the breaker two points later. Then, on the eleventh point, a wayward backhand from Ljubicic gave Federer another mini-break; this time it was also a set point and the Swiss took the opening set with an ace down the middle, his sixth for the set, in 59 minutes.

Federer broke Ljubicic in the seventh game of the second set, and most thought the Swiss would charge through; but all credit to Ljubicic who broke back immediately. Federer had a break point on the Croat’s next service game but it was saved.

In the tenth game there was a situation that had the crowd scratching their heads at what they saw: Federer was quizzing a lineswoman for her indecision on a call, but he did it in a Federer-like way, polite questioning.

Once again they went to a tiebreak. Ljubicic created a 4-1 lead as Federer was mistake-prone, but then Ljubicic let the world number one back in. The Swiss reeled off six points in a row, winning the set when Ljubicic couldn’t control a forehand he attempted off of a deep Federer forehand.

Ljubicic broke serve at the start of the third after having 0-40 when Federer sent a backhand long. The backhand had not really worked that well for him in the match. But the set was brought back to level terms when Federer crunched his returns and broke to love for 3-3. Ljubicic was starting to slow up with his movement while Federer remained fresh.

Yet again they went to the tiebreak. This time Federer had the early advantage but Ljubicic rallied back and he had a set point which he brought up with a 139 mph serve which ultimately gave him an easy forehand winner.

"I was relaxed in the last tiebreaker. I was not so relaxed in the second one, I guess. In the first one, I was normal," said Federer. "So you go through different stages of feelings. Sometimes, you know, you want it more; sometimes you don't. Sometimes you believe he's gonna make errors, sometimes you believe he's not going to make any.

"All this, you know, builds up inside of yourself and makes you give that -- gives you that feeling."

Federer then produced two service winners to bring up match point. Ljubicic then served to stay in the final but it was not to be with that backhand net-cord return.

"You would wish the match finished in different style," said Ljubicic. "He would also say he would prefer something else, but this is tennis. This is just another way to win a point, so he did it. It was a little bit disappointing in the end for two reasons. One, is that I lost. Second, the way it ended was not really beautiful."

As Ivan said, "it’s tennis." Game, set, NASDAQ-100 Open championship! Federer walked away $533,350 richer.

The women’s doubles title went to Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur, they defeated Liesel Huber and Martina Navratilova 6-4, 7-5.

[Annie]

Mens Winner Roger Federer


Womens doubles winners - Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur


Womens winner Sveta Kuznetsova ;D ;D ;D ;D

It also is a great pleasure to annouce that Max Mirniy and Jonas Bjorkman won the tournament in mens doubles defeating the Bryan brothers 6:4, 6:4 ;D ;D