Roger Federer, Men's Tennis | featured news

The Big Four in men’s tennis came to New York minus Rafael Nadal, and for stretches of Saturday afternoon it looked as if the three present might be reduced to two.

Andy Murray stood with the Union Jack draped over his shoulders, an Olympic gold medal around his neck, flanked by the man he had just beaten, Roger Federer, and basking in the roar of the Centre Court crowd.

Both Wimbledon champions on Friday moved into gold medal matches in the London Olympics on the hallowed grass of the same All-England club where they took titles last month.

Once the Centre Court roof was closed, nothing could stop Roger Federer from winning his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title. The 30-year-old Federer finally equaled Pete Sampras' record at the All England Club, and won his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 Sunday.

Roger Federer on Friday became the first man in history to make eight Wimbledon finals. The 30-year-old from Switzerland, who is already the all-time leader in major tournament wins with 16, upset first-seeded and defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

On a day judged as much by elapsed time as games won, Rafael Nadal came out looking the freshest. Nadal and Andy Murray won Friday to set up a semifinal matchup at the U.S. Open. They'll be back on the court Saturday - their third straight day of tennis at a tournament that has been forced into some drastic scheduling changes after losing two days to the rain.

Rafael Nadal overcomes Roger Federer in four bruising sets to equal Bjorn Borg's record of six French Open crowns and retain his number one world ranking.