Spain heralds 'legendary' Nadal

The Spanish press heralded Rafael Nadal's Australian Open victory only minutes after the top-ranked player became the first Spaniard to win the season-opening Grand Slam.Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 at the Rod Laver Arena to win his sixth major trophy and third straight Grand Slam final over Federer, who was denied a chance to tie Pete Sampras' record 14 major titles on Sunday."Nadal reaffirms his legend in Australia," the Diario de Mallorca wrote on the front page of its Web site. El Mundo's Web site called the victory "Undeniably Nadal," and AS labeled the 22-year-old from Mallorca the "King of Australia."Nadal has won three of the last four majors after taking a fourth straight French Open and first Wimbledon title in 2008. Nadal replaced Federer at No 1 after a record 237 weeks in August and then won the Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games."He's a great champion, and a great example to all of the young people through the world," said Emilio Sanchez Vicario, Spain's former Davis Cup captain.Nadal has won five of the seven Grand Slam finals he's played against Federer and is 13-6 overall against the Swiss star.Three Spanish players had reached the Australian Open final before Nadal, with Carlos Moya being the last when he lost to Sampras in 1997.
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Thrilled Somdev keeps his feet on the ground - Youngster becomes first indian to reach Chennai open fina

Somdev Dev Varman on Saturday said he would not let himself go overboard after reaching the Chennai Open final, his maiden appearance in an ATP Tour summit clash.

“I don’t want to go ahead of myself. It is one tournament and one performance, not an entire year. I don’t want to think of me as something I am not,” Somdev said after receiving a walkover in the semi-final from world No. 33 Rainer Schuettler of Germany.

“It could have been different. I could have drawn (Marin) Cilic (the third seed and his opponent in the final) or Nikolay Davydenko (world no. 5 and top seed who was out in the second round with an injury). I am still confident and keen to play in the final, but I don’t want to be caught up (by the hype) at this stage.”

Somdev said he would have preferred to make it to the final by winning the semi-final but would not lose focus after Schuettler’s withdrawal due to a wrist injury.

“You never take comfort from a walk-over. It is unfortunate. I was actually looking forward to and excited about playing today in front of the big crowd,” he said.

“There was a day’s break earlier also (when rain washed out play on Wednesday) but I don’t want to get too complicated about these things. I want to keep it simple.

“I want to do the routines as before, eat the right food and sleep on time, and not let these things affect my performance.”

The Chennai Open has issued wild cards to Indians in the past but this is the first time a home favourite has entered the final.

It is the same city where he grew up honing his racquet skills and the fans have flocked the Nungambakkam stadium to show their support for him this week.

Somdev acknowledged the crowd support. “You have helped me every single day and hope you come out and help me tomorrow (when playing the final),” he told the audience on the Centre Court to a huge roar.

“I am disappointed for the crowd … but don’t want to get too emotional. I don’t think of it as a bad thing,” Somdev said later.

“I want to put this behind me, I want to forget about how I got there. What is important for me now is to focus on the right things. Cilic is tough to handle anyway.”

It will be the first time Somdev is playing 20-year-old Cilic who has risen to become the numero uno Croat with a ranking of 22 at the end of 2008.

“I know it’s going to be tough. He is a seasoned pro and has been fantastic this week. I want to be solid on the baseline and probably attack a little more than I normally do,” Somdev said of his gameplan for Sunday’s title contest.