Pacquiao enters history books after he defeats Diaz

LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines connects with a right against a bloodied WBC Lightweight titleholder David Diaz of the United States at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao made history by becoming the first Asian to hold four titles at different weight divisions and the first Filipino to hold the Lightweight crown. AFP PHOTO
-------------------------------------------------

Jot down Manny Pacquiao's name in the pages of boxing's history book.

The Filipino ring icon, effectively controlling the match with his right jab, ended David Diaz's reign with a crisp left shot to win the WBC lightweight belt via an astounding knockout at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao snapped Diaz's head with a mean right jab, moved in closer to his opponent and unleashed a 1-2 capped by his powerful left that sent the Mexican-American down.

Referee Vic Drakulich waved the fight off at the 2:24 mark of the round.

Leading on the scorecards by a mile (Inquirer had the new champion up, 78-64, entering the ninth), Pacquiao decided to put the pressure on Diaz, who surprised the Filipino with a granite chin that took a lot of beating.

"I gave a lot of power shots and he's still standing," an amazed Pacquiao told a television interviewer. "I [was] very surprised that Diaz was so tough. He's the toughest opponent [I've faced]."

Even more amazed was Diaz, who was hoping to stretch the match into the late rounds, where he is more comfortable fighting.

"I was saying 'he doesn't hit that hard' and all of a sudden I was on the floor and what the heck," a gracious Diaz said.

"He was f****ng fast," Diaz said. "I didn't see [the left hand] coming."

But the left hand was just part of the whole package.

In a brilliant show of boxing skills all night, Pacquiao controlled the match effectively with solid, head-snapping right jabs that kept Diaz at bay.

Pacquiao got the surprise of his life after the match when the NBA champions Boston Celtics visited him at the dugout. Pacquiao had predicted the Celtics to win in six games and the world champions repaid that faith by watching the match and cheering for him.

"I'm his No. 1 fan," Kevin Garnett, standing beside Pacquiao, said.

With Garnett were Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, two members of the Big Three, and the likes of Rajon Rondo and Sam Cassell.

Pacquiao went to work early, controlling the first three rounds behind the jab before the left started to find its mark starting the fifth.

Diaz was in trouble in the eighth as Pacquiao twice had him reeling against the ropes. The Chicago-raised boxer kept bleeding out of his right eyebrow, but said the cut never bothered him.

"I kept telling the doctors that I could see perfectly," Diaz said. "At the end of the day, he caught me with a good shot and you just have to say that he was the better man."

Pacquiao's lightweight conquest comes after wresting the WBC super featherweight crown from Juan Manuel Marquez last March.(Roy Luarca; INQ.net)

Pacquiao up against a big hitter

LAS VEGAS—Never underestimate David Diaz’s punching power.

This was the stern warning issued by Jim Strickland on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) after Diaz, the World Boxing Council lightweight titlist, and Manny Pacquiao did the traditional walk-in at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino here.


The 78-year-old Strickland, who’s worked with the likes of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and middleweight king Mike Mcallum, said that early in his amateur career Diaz’s reputation was that of a big hitter.

Strickland said he saw the former Golden Gloves champion bowl over several opponents although their paths didn’t cross until Diaz’s 13th pro fight.

They’ve been together ever since and Strickland never regretted his decision to take in the fighter who once quit boxing to attend to his ailing mother and a brother, who eventually died of AIDS.

“On a scale of one to 10, I’ll give him a 9 as far as work ethic is concerned,” said Strickland. “There’s a lot of fighters who work hard, but he’s right there among super champions who work harder most consistently.”

Describing Diaz as a blue-collar fighter, Strickland said his ward feels he can beat anybody, Pacquiao included, in the ring.

“He’s never intimidated. He’s most calm when fighting big-name opponents,” said Strickland.

Diaz promised in a separate interview to do what it takes to retain his crown.

“If my trainer wants me to go through a wall, I’ll go through it. If it’s a big wall, I’ll chip away.”

Strickland knows that Pacquiao is a big wall and has given Diaz explicit orders.

“Try to match him (Pacquiao) whatever he does from the first round on. Engage him blow by blow.”

But if needed, Strickland has fallback instructions for Diaz “to box if we needed to.”

Diaz, with a lone loss to Kendal Holt and a lone draw in 35 fights, said “the best-conditioned fighter will win and it will boil down to a good old traditional fight.”
(Roy Luarca; INQ.net)

Diaz fight plan: Mirror Pacquiao style

SANTA MONICA—If David Diaz is to be believed, the relentless barrage with which Manny Pacquiao normally overwhelms foes to submission is exactly what the Filipino will have a taste of during their World Boxing Council lightweight duel on June 28 (June 29, Sunday in Manila).

“Pressure,” Diaz said, reiterating a game plan based on the belief that Pacquiao normally takes pauses after unloading punches with his blinding hand speed. “(I plan to) just go out there and apply more pressure.”

The 32-year-old Diaz believes that those Pacquiao pauses will give him the chance to let the Filipino champion have a taste of his own medicine, citing the fact that he feels he is in better shape than the reigning WBC super featherweight king.

Diaz, in fact, has lost count of the rounds of sparring he completed against four partners in Chicago’s JABB Gym.

“Maybe a thousand,” Diaz said in jest. “But I did 6, 10, 12 rounds at least three times a week.”
Meanwhile, promoter Bob Arum has joined the list of people who believe the “Pacman” is going to be stronger as a lightweight than as a super featherweight.

Arum cited as an example Miguel Cotto, who became a more effective fighter after bulking up to 147 and joining the welterweight ranks.

Arum, chief of Top Rank which is putting together the “Lethal Combination” card, said Pacquiao has been struggling to make the 130 lb in his past two fights.

And the weight struggles, Arum believes, may have been the reason why both fights—although victories—failed to produce a knockout.

“He depletes himself” trying to make the weight, Arum said.

Arum, though, believes Diaz stands a chance as long as he sticks to his game plan. Diaz is a 4-1 underdog in the fight. (Roy Luarca; INQ.net)

Cautious Pacquiao will try to KO Diaz

HOLLYWOOD—There’s no guarantee of a knockout.

The most Manny Pacquiao can assure his fans is he’ll go for it when he tangles with defending champion David Diaz for the World Boxing Council lightweight crown on June 28 in Las Vegas.
“All boxers want to win by knockout, and both of us will try to do that. But it’s hard to tell what will happen,” Pacquiao told Manila-based sportswriters in Filipino at his unit at the gated Palazzo apartments here.

“I will try to win by KO to give the fans their money’s worth.”
Pacquiao promised plenty of action, though, in the bout dubbed “Lethal Combination” at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

His hair newly cut and his moustache trimmed, Pacquiao said he’s not worried in his first outing in the 135-pound division.

“I have big sparmates and I’m heavier than that (135) when I fight,” he said.
After weighing in at 129 lb, Pacquiao ballooned to 145 when he wrested the WBC super featherweight crown from Juan Manuel Marquez on March 15.

Though he’s not thinking of losing, Pacquiao said he won’t make any excuses in the event of such an upset.

Oddsmakers have installed the Filipino superstar a 4-1 favorite to beat Diaz and become the only Asian to win four world titles in different divisions.

The 29-year-old Pacquiao also held the WBC flyweight title in 1998 and the International Boxing Federation super bantam belt in 2001.

Pacquiao also dismissed the notion that Diaz will be an easy conquest based on the way he beat Ramon Montano, a sparmate of Pacquiao, by decision in the undercard of Pacquiao-Marquez II.
“I’m sure he’ll be in better shape this time,” said Pacquiao. “He just didn’t take Montano seriously. But I’ll be ready for him. Fighting is my business and I want to be in the best shape each time I fight.”

With his weight in check at 139 and feeling fine, Pacquiao—given the go-signal by chief trainer Freddie Roach to take a break—opted to jog around the La Brea park before hearing mass at the Christ the King church.

After eating lunch, Pacquiao rested for three hours and then whiled the time away playing a friendly card game and darts.

Feeling hungry at around 6 p.m., he finished a sandwich before hobnobbing with visitors.
It will be a busy Monday for Pacquiao. After winding up his training at the Wild Card Gym with four rounds of sparring, he proceeds to Santa Monica pier for a joint press luncheon conference with Diaz.

From there, Team Pacquiao will take the four-hour drive to Las Vegas, arriving just before sunset in the city of lights.

Sharapova and Ivanovic looking good for Wimbledon

LONDON (AFP) - Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova are determined to prove that their ruthless tennis packs just as much power as their supermodel looks at this year's Wimbledon.

The two pin-ups of the women's tour, with four Grand Slam titles between them and lengthy multi-million dollar endorsement lists, are seeded to meet in what, for sponsors, fans and the British tabloids, would be the dream final, a battle of the babes.

But Ivanovic, the new world number one and French Open champion, and Sharapova, the 2004 winner here, insist they will not get carried away by the hype over the next two weeks at the All England Club.

Both are focussed on graft, not glamour.

"Just because my game suits grass or just because I feel comfortable on it doesn't mean that a win is going to come easy," said Sharapova.

"There are a lot of big competitors in the draw, different types of players."

Ivanovic, who deposed Sharapova as the world's top player at Roland Garros, believes she also has the game to thrive.

"Grass is a very specific surface. Everything is happening much faster. You have to be much more alert," said the 20-year-old Serbian, who lost to eventual champion Venus Williams in the semi-finals in 2007.

"I think I have very powerful shot, but there are some things I have to improve. I'm trying to come forward more, play some volleys, which is very helpful here."

Whoever triumphs will find their bank balance swelling even further.

Ivanovic has earned just over five million dollars in her career so far, a figure dwarfed by the Russian's 12 million.

But a victory here on July 5 will surely boost the army of corporate callers desperate for an endorsement from the dusky Serbian with the girl-next-door charm.

When Sharapova won Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2004, her bank account swelled virtually overnight and, with an estimated 23 million dollars in off-court earnings alone, she is comfortably the world's richest sportswoman.

A Sharapova-Ivanovic final would also provide a fascinating contrast in personalities between Ivanovic, with her permanently sunny optimism, and Sharapova's steely determination.

Both have an ingrained competitive streak forged from the harshness of their childhoods.

Sharapova famously left her mother behind in Russia to make the grade in Florida while Ivanovic practised tennis in an abandoned swimming pool during lulls in the NATO bombing of Belgrade before leaving for Germany.

Sharapova, who beat Ivanovic in the Australian Open final in January for her third Grand Slam title, has not returned to a Wimbledon final since her 2004 triumph over Serena Williams.

She was a semi-finalist in 2005 and 2006 and a fourth round loser to eventual champion Venus Williams last year.

The Russian starts with a first round clash against France's Stephanie Foretz while Ivanovic faces Rossana De los Rios of Paraguary.

Ivanovic's fellow Serbian, Jelena Jankovic, is now the world number two but has never got beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon while Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, a former US Open champion, can only boast a quarter-final place.

That leaves the intimidating presence of the Williams sisters one of whom at least has featured in seven of the last eight finals.

In 2007, Venus surprised many observers, and probably herself, by winning a fourth singles title and making history as the lowest seeded player (23) to take the trophy.

Little sister Serena has won the title twice although the most recent was 2003.

Three of Venus Williams's four Wimbledon wins have been achieved in the immediate aftermath of a demoralising first week setback at the French Open.

After losing in third round in Paris to Italy's Flavia Pennetta this season, the 27-year-old believes she can again turn the disappointment to her advantage at the All England Club.

"I get extremely upset about the result, and then I work even harder," said Williams.

"Whenever I lose a match, I definitely think about what I need to do better. I think if my opponent can make a shot I can make a shot too."

Pacquiao: "I’m stronger than Diaz"

He may no longer be as light as a super feather, but Manny Pacquiao believes he has become stronger as he climbs boxing’s weight ladder.


Though World Boxing Council lightweight champion David Diaz is naturally bigger, Pacquiao insists he’s inherently stronger and will come out on top of their title showdown on June 28 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

“I don’t believe that Diaz is stronger than me,” said Pacquiao in a teleconference call on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila). “I believe I am stronger. Moving up in weight is not a problem for me because I will maintain my speed and power.”

To make sure that his edge in speed will remain, Pacquiao said his training at the Wild Card Gym here is geared toward that direction.

“A lot of people feel (the move up in weight) will be difficult, but I believe I will be stronger at 135 pounds… I work in the training camp to maintain my speed.”

Pacquiao said he feels at ease at 135 lb as he can afford to eat more.

One of his main concerns in his bout against Diaz, according to Pacquiao, is possible headbutts that usually occur in clashes between southpaws like them.(Roy Luarca, INQ.net)

Celtics wins 17th NBA title with 131-92 rout of Lakers

AP - Jun 17, 8:58 pm EDT 1 of 60 NBA Gallery BOSTON (AP)—

With Russell and Havlicek sitting courtside, and Red surely lighting up a victory cigar somewhere, these Boston Celtics returned to glory like the great teams before them.


Dominant in every way.
On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners hung in the rafters two decades back, the Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one—at last — for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen—their Big Three for a new generation.

After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.
Lifted by ear-splitting chants of “Beat L.A.” early and cries of “Seven-teen” in the closing seconds by their adoring crowd, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night.

“It means so much more because these are the guys, the Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the Cousys,” Pierce said. “These guys started what’s going on with those banners. They don’t hang up any other banners but championship ones.

With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.

Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP who shook off a sprained right knee sustained in Game 1, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first title since 1986.

Rajon Rondo had 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals as the Celtics, who built a 23-point halftime lead and obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals.

They didn’t stand a chance.

Boston’s 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals.

In the final minute, Pierce doused Celtics coach Doc Rivers with red Gatorade. Owner Wyc Grousbeck, who named his group Banner 17 to leave no doubt about his goal, put an unlit cigar in his mouth—a tribute to Auerbach, the patriarch who had a hand in the franchise’s first 16 titles.

Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court and then found Russell, the Hall of Famer who taught him the Celtic way, for a long embrace.

“I got my own. I got my own,” Garnett said. “I hope we made you proud.”

“You sure did,” Russell said.

Rivers pulled Pierce, Garnett and Allen with 4:01 left and they shared a group hug with their coach, who was nearly run out of town last season. Rivers lost his father at the beginning of this remarkable run, a season no one expected.

By the time Rivers was handed the Larry O’Brien Trophy, it was June 18—his late father’s birthday.

When the game clock reached zeros, Rivers reflected on his dad.

“My first thought was what would my dad say,” Rivers said, “and honestly I started laughing because I thought he would probably say, if you knew my dad, `It’s about time. What have you been waiting for?”’

It’s was Boston’s first title since the passing of Auerbach, whose presence was the only thing missing on this night. Even Auerbach, who died in 2006, got some satisfaction. Led by Rivers, Auerbach’s beloved team denied Lakers coach Phil Jackson from overtaking him with a 10th championship.

The Boston-Los Angeles rivalry, nothing more than black-and-white footage from the 60s and TV highlights of players wearing short shorts in the 80s to young hoops fans, remains tilted toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Celtics are 9-2 against the Lakers in the finals.

Boston missed its first crack at closing out the series in Game 5, but the Celtics didn’t miss on their second swing, running the Lakers out of the gym.

Bryant, the regular season MVP, finished with 22 points on 7-of-22 shooting.

He started 4-of-5 from the field and seemed intent on forcing a Game 7. But he missed seven shots in a row and everywhere he went, L.A.’s No. 24 ran smack into a wall of Boston defense as high as the Green Monster.

“They were definitely the best defense I’ve seen the entire playoffs,” Bryant said. “I’ve seen some pretty stiff ones and this was right up there with them. The goal was to win a championship, it wasn’t to win MVP or anything like that, it was to win a championship.”

Garnett and Allen were All-Stars in other cities, stuck in Minnesota and Seattle, respectively, on teams going nowhere. But brought together in trades last summer by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, a member of the ‘86 Celtics champions, they joined Pierce and formed an unbreakable bond, a trio as tight as the club’s lucky shamrock logo.

They resisted being called The Big Three, a nickname given to Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish two decades ago.

“This is the reason we came here,” Garnett said. “This is the reason we got together, and Danny made it go down. This is it right now.”

With Garnett scoring 17 points and Pierce adding 10, Boston built a 58-35 halftime lead, and unlike Game 2 when they let the Lakers trim a 24-point lead to two in the fourth quarter before recovering, the Celtics never stopped.

They pushed their lead to 31 in the third, and with Boston still up by 29 after three, plastic sheets started going up in the Celtics’ locker room in preparation for a champagne celebration.

No team had to work harder for a championship than these Celtics, who were playing in their record 26th postseason game after being pushed to seven games by Atlanta and Cleveland before taking care of Detroit in six to win the Eastern Conference title.

They entered Game 6 slowed by injuries as Pierce, Kendrick Perkins (shoulder) and Rondo (ankle) were less than 100 percent. There was also uncertainty surrounding Allen, who stayed behind in Los Angeles following Game 5 after his youngest son became ill and was diagnosed with diabetes. The Celtics needed three planes to get back from L.A. and didn’t get home until late Monday night.

But there were no excuses, and just as they had while winning 66 games during the regular season, the Celtics got plenty of help from their bench as P.J. Brown, James Posey, Leon Powe and rookie Glen “Big Baby” Davis came in and contributed.

It was a group effort by this gang in green, which bonded behind Rivers, who borrowed an African word ubuntu (pronounced Ooh-BOON-too) and roughly means “I am, because we are” in English, as the Celtics’ unifying team motto.

The Celtics gave the Lakers a 12-minute crash course of ubuntu in the second quarter.

Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-19, getting 11 field goals on 11 assists. The Celtics toyed with the Lakers, outworking the Western Conference’s best inside and out and showing the same kind of heart that made Boston the center of pro basketball’s universe in the ’60s.

House and Posey made 3-pointers to put the Celtics ahead by 12 points and baskets by Pierce, Garnett and Rondo put Boston ahead by 18.

In the final minute, Garnett floated in the lane, banked in a one-handed runner and was fouled. His free throw made it 56-35, and after Perkins scored, the Celtics ran to the locker room leading by 23.

On his way off the floor, Garnett screamed, “That’s that.”

And so it was.

Notes

The Lakers had won their previous eight straight Game 6s in the finals. … Since the finals began in 1947, 16 have gone seven games, the most recent in 2005 when San Antonio had to go the distance to beat Detroit. … It was the second biggest margin in finals history behind Chicago’s 96-54 win over Utah in 1998. … The Celtics went 48-7 at home, including 13-1 in the postseason.

Pacquiao claims pound-for-pound No. 1

When Manny Pacquiao fights David Diaz on June 28, he will carry with him the awesome reputation as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

Formerly ranked No. 2 by FightFan.com, the Filipino ring icon was elevated to the top on Sunday following the retirement of former topnotcher Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday.
The Filipino ring superstar also used to hold Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound honor.
Pacquiao, the reigning World Boxing Council titlist, is seeking Diaz’s WBC lightweight belt at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

A victory over Diaz will make the GenSan superstar the first Asian to hold four crowns in different divisions and the first Filipino to rule the 135-pound category.

The 29-year-old Pacquiao, also acclaimed as the world’s best fighter in 2006, made his professional debut at 106 lb in 1995 and has been fighting top boxers since 2003.

Among Pacquiao’s prominent victims are Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera, whom he beat twice, and Eric Morales, whom he defeated twice in their fight trilogy.

Pacquiao beat World Boxing Organization British super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe for the honor.

Another Mexican, Juan Manuel Marquez, from whom Pacquiao wrested the super featherweight crown in March 15 also in Las Vegas, was rated No. 3.

Mexican WBC super bantam champion Israel Vasquez came in fourth, followed by unbeaten Puerto Ricans Miguel Cotto, the WBA welterweight champion, and Ivan Calderon, respectively.
Ranked from seventh to 10th were Bernard Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik, Winky Wright and Rafael Marquez.

Meanwhile, Diaz turned 32 on Sunday in his hometown in Chicago, where he has been in training at the JABB gym since last month.

Nadal beats Federrer for 3rd time in French Open Finals

PARIS -- Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the French Open final for the third year running on Sunday and joined Swedish legend Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four straight titles at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard scored a stunning 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 triumph over the world No.1, taking the last nine games of the match, in stark contrast to the two four-set battles he edged to see off Federer in the two previous finals.

Federer was powerless to stop the barrage of heavy top spin fired at him as he slumped to a demoralizing hiding. If he was a rapier, Nadal was a sledgehammer and in that match-up there was only ever going to be one winner.

Nadal has now won all 28 matches he has played at Roland Garros and having just turned 22, he is well on his way to replacing Borg as the greatest claycourt player of all time. He did not drop a set all fortnight.

"Sorry for Roger, but to win here is incredible and especially to win this tournament four times," he said after receiving the trophy from the hands of six-times winner Borg.

"I didn't expect a match like this, but I played an almost perfect match and Roger made more mistakes than usually.

"But I am still the number two and closer to the number three than the number one."
For 26-year-old Federer it was another dark day in the City of Light.

He came into Paris looking to join the history-makers as just the sixth man to have won all four Grand Slam titles. He leaves with the sorry record of being the only player in Grand Slam history to lose to the same player in three consecutive finals.

"I would like to have won more than four games but Rafa has played an incredible tournament and he fully deserves to win," he said. "But I'll be back to try again next year and I am looking forward to the rest of this year."

Perfect playing conditions greeted the start of the match but clear crowd favorite Federer got off to the worst of possible openings when he dropped his serve and then squandered two break points in the following game.

He saved two break points to open his account in the third game, but muscleman Nadal stepped on the accelerator reeling off four games in a row with two more service breaks to take the set 6-1.

Nadal, wearing the lime-green shirt he has favored throughout the fortnight, opened the second set with a love service game and then promptly broke Federer for the third time in a row as the world No.1's famed forehand badly misfired.

There was then a brief moment of hope for Federer's many fans as he nailed his first service break of the final and leveled at 2-2.

Attacking the net with more regularity, Federer got the crowd going when he had a break point on the Nadal serve to lead 4-3, but failed to take it when he ran down a deft drop shot but could only net the return.

He paid a heavy price in the following game when he let slip a 30-0 lead and Nadal gleefully grabbed a vital break on his fourth break point. The Spaniard comfortably served out for a two sets to love lead.

There was no respite for Federer from the pounding and he promptly dropped his serve to open the third set trudging off disconsolately for the changeover.

Nadal was in total command bludgeoning Federer with his groundstrokes when he stayed back and rifling his passing shots beyond him when he came into the net.

A sixth break of serve in the third game and Nadal was home and dry at 4-0 ahead having won seven games in a row against a demoralized opponent.

The end to Federer's misery came two games later when the Swiss star hit long under pressure from another powerful Nadal forehand.

It was the second-most lopsided French Open final ever after that of 1977 when Brian Gottfried won just three games off Guillermo Vilas.

Both players will now head for the grass of Wimbledon where Federer can turn the tables on Nadal by beating him in the final for the third straight year, if the seeding is proved to be accurate.

"I am going to look forward to grass and hopefully the second half of the season will be better than the first," he said. "Losing this way today will not have a big negative effect on me."

Ivanovic beats Safina in straight sets to win French Open

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Tennis Writer Jun 7, 2008

PARIS (AP)—At last, Ana Ivanovic overcame her stage fright.

In two previous major finals, Ivanovic was so overwhelmed by the setting, so shaken by the stakes, that her focus fell apart and her shots went awry.

Not on this day.

Already assured of rising to No. 1 in the rankings for the first time, Ivanovic collected Grand Slam title No. 1 by beating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 in the French Open final Saturday.

Rather than erasing the memories of those lopsided losses in championship matches against Justine Henin at Roland Garros a year ago and against Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in January, Ivanovic used the bitterness to help her.

“Many, many people ask me, ‘Oh, you want to forget last year’s final?’ But I don’t, because it was a great learning experience,” said Ivanovic, a 20-year-old from Serbia.

She won only three games against Henin, then eight against Sharapova, and said of the latter defeat: “I had a few sleepless nights after that.”

But in the months since, Ivanovic realized this: Part of her difficulty in those matches rested with either looking ahead—“Hey, maybe I can actually win this thing,” she was thinking against Henin—or looking behind—failing to put a few key points out of her mind against Sharapova.
Ivanovic lost two consecutive matches on clay before coming to Paris, and she knew she had to change something. She credits her strength and conditioning coach, Scott Byrnes, with helping find what she called a “tool” to make sure she stays focused on the court.

And it couldn’t be simpler: Take the time to pause and breathe.

“My personality is I tend too much to think about what will be, and try to think too much in advance, which is definitely not too good,” Ivanovic said. “So I found that breathing helps me to go back in a moment and just enjoy that very moment.”

That’s what carried her through the tightest of times against the 13th-seeded Safina, the younger sister of two-time major champion Marat Safin.

In the men’s final Sunday, No. 1 Roger Federer will meet No. 2 Rafael Nadal in their third consecutive title match at Roland Garros. Nadal seeks a fourth French Open championship, and Federer is hoping to complete a career Grand Slam.

Ivanovic was a point from taking a 5-1 lead in the first set when Safina showed some spark, using a running forehand winner and a swinging volley winner to get to break point. Ivanovic then dumped a forehand into the net, and 10 minutes later, when Safina smacked a backhand winner down the line, suddenly the score was 4-all.

“It was tough, because a lot of emotions build up inside,” said Ivanovic, who was seeded No. 2 behind Sharapova at the French Open but will pass her in Monday’s rankings. “All of a sudden, you’re equal again. So to keep my composure at that point—it was huge for me.”

In the very next game, Ivanovic broke back with a backhand winner of her own, then pumped her fist and let out one of her many yelps of “Hajde!” (sounds like “HIGH-deh!”)—Serbian for “Come on!”

There were more tests to come.

Trying to serve out the first set, Ivanovic faced two break points, and squandered a set point, before closing it out with her signature shot, a forehand. That was part of a run in which Ivanovic took five of six games to go ahead 3-1 in the second set.

Peru's Luis Horna, left,and Ur… AP - Jun 7, 1:21 pm EDT

The final instance in which nerves might have come into play was in the seventh game of the second set, a 20-point tussle in which Ivanovic wasted two break points and Safina blew five game points. Adding to the tension, Safina kept backing out of her serving motion because the sobs of a child crying in the upper deck could be heard throughout the stadium. Eventually, Safina held to cut Ivanovic’s lead to 4-3.

Potentially uplifting for Safina. Potentially deja vu for Ivanovic.

“Mental games out there today,” Ivanovic said.

She remembered to stop and breathe and played with aplomb down the stretch, winning eight of the next nine points to end the match.

“Once you are on the court—it’s much easier said than done—but you have to be a killer,” Ivanovic said through a wide smile. “You have to put them under pressure and show your presence and stuff.”

It might have helped Saturday that the recently retired Henin was in the front row in a red jacket, not on the court wielding a racket.

Peru's Luis Horna, right, and … AP - Jun 7, 1:20 pm EDT

Safina sure can wallop the ball, but she’s hardly as complete a player as four-time French Open champion Henin, and never made it past the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament until this one.

Nonetheless, Safina was trying to become the first woman to win a major title after having saved a match point against two opponents. Against both Sharapova in the fourth round, and No. 7 Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals, Safina trailed by a set and 5-2 in the second set, then was a point from losing at 5-3, before coming all the way back to complete the upsets.

Those were part of a 12-match winning streak Safina carried into Saturday, including six victories over top-10 opponents.

“This time? I tried,” Safina said, “but I didn’t have any more of that fire.”

When it was over, Ivanovic stood on a line judge’s chair to climb into the stands for hugs and kisses with her parents, her brother and other supporters.

She spoke afterward about the days when she rode her bicycle to practice, thinking of being a champion one day. Those dreams might have seemed far away when, growing up in a war-torn land, Ivanovic honed her tennis skills in the winter by practicing on the floor of a drained indoor swimming pool.

This is the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament with a champion from her nation of 7.5 million people. Novak Djokovic won the men’s title at the Australian Open.

“I said, ‘Come on, he could do it—I could do it, too.’ So it’s something that for sure motivates,” Ivanovic said, “and I hope also many young kids will get inspired from us.”