MEMORABLE DAY

Yesterday was a memorable day for the tennis legend Roger Federer. Not because he won something big and created history, it’s because the Swiss football club FC Basel pulled off a big upset as they got better of Chelsea in a Champions League encounter at Stamford Bridge.

Now, if you are thinking what the relationship between Federer and FC Basel is, let me tell you he is one of the most passionate fans of this football club. He hardly misses any game that Basel plays and yesterday was really a special day for him. He expressed his delight on Twitter after Basel’s victory.

The Swiss maestro wrote on his Twitter account, “It was a great day for all the FC Basel Fans. I am feeling glad.”

Chelsea was the hot favourite to win this game and their start was up to the expectations. They were the ones who took the lead and they maintained that lead till the 70th minute, but, they seemed to have taken it a bit too easy towards the end and ended up conceding 2 goals in the last 20 minutes which secured Basel’s win.

When Chelsea had faced Basel at St. Jakob Park in the first leg of the Europa League semi final last season, Federer had predicted the outcome of the game. He had said that it would be a tight game, but, Basel would pull it off by 2-1. That prediction proved to be wrong at that time, but, it eventually proved to be true after a gap of 5 months.

The stand-out performers for Basel in yesterday’s game were Marco Streller and Mohamed Salah. Both these players scored one goal each.

FC Basel’s next Champions League game is against Schalke 04 on 1st of October.

SWEDISH OPEN WIN

Serena Williams has won the Swedish Open by getting better of the local girl Johanna Larsson in the final match on Sunday. Serena won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-1.

Serena was struggling a lot at the start against Larsson. She got trailed a couple of times in the first set, but, she settled into her groove as the match went on and then, took his opponent apart.

Talking to the reporters after winning the title, Serena said, “In the beginning, I played a lot of bad shots and put myself under a bit of pressure. But, thankfully, I managed to bounce back.”

“I didn’t want to be making the same mistakes that I had made at Wimbledon. I want to go all the way in the tournament here in Sweden.”

Serena was not off to a great start in the opening set. Her serve was broken a couple of times in the first 7 games and she was trailing by 3-4 when the 7th game got over.

But, after that, she lifted the standard of her game and with the help of two successive breakthroughs (in the 8th and the 10th game), she won the next 3 games in a row to seal the set.

In the second set, Serena was in her zone. She absolutely demolished the Swedish youngster. With a flurry of winners, she bagged 6 out of the first 7 games and finished off the set in no time to win the title.

This was the third time that Larsson was making appearance in a WTA final. On all the three occasions, she has lost.

In the post match interview, Larsson said, “I am gutted to have ended up on the losing side in another final. I didn’t manage to be consistent throughout the match.”

WILLIAMS FALLS

Serena Williams has been defeated by Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the 4th round of the Wimbledon Championships. Lisicki won the match by 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

This was a huge upset. Serena was the defending champion and nobody had expected her to be knocked out this early. But, she got completely outsmarted by Lisicki.

In the post match interview, Serena said, “I think I committed mistakes during crucial moments. I could have done much better. I am absolutely gutted at the moment.”

Serena was on a winning streak of 34 matches before coming into this match. She was considered as top favourite, but, she looked clumsy and her performance was ordinary for most parts of the match.

On the other hand, Lisicki was at her best. She made a few mistakes in the second set, but, barring that, she was fantastic. The confidence with which she took on a champion player like Serena was incredible.

In the post match interview, Lisicki said, “I knew that it would be a big challenge, but, I was positive. I just went out there and tried to do the basics right. It came off well.”

In the first set, Lisicki was at the top of her game. She held her entire serves and sneaked a couple of breakthroughs (in the 5th and the 7th game) to grab the opener by 6-2.

In the second set, Serena went absolutely ballistic. The first couple of games went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1 when the second game got over. After that, Lisicki couldn’t win even a single game in the set. Her serve was broken thrice consecutively and she lost the set by 1-6.

Serena carried on the momentum in the decider as well and with a breakthrough in the 2nd game, she was off to a lead of 3-0.

Lisicki pulled things back with a serve hold in the 4th game and a breakthrough in the 5th game, but, she lost her serve again in the 6th game and got trailed by 2-4.

However, the German player kept her cool and played brilliant tennis at that crucial juncture. With two consecutive breakthroughs, she won the next 4 games in a row and sealed the set by 6-4 to win the match.