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World number one Roger Federer believes younger players like Andy Murray are bringing the best out of him.

The 28-year-old lifted his 16th Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open after a straight-sets win over world number four Murray.

“Guys like Murray have made me a better player,” he said after a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (13-11) win on Sunday.

“I think this has been one of my finest performances in a long time, you know, or maybe forever.”

Federer’s win makes him the fifth man in history to win four titles in Melbourne.

The Swiss has also won Wimbledon six times, the US Open five times and the French Open once.

With the first major of the year under his belt, the calendar Grand Slam is now within his reach, but Federer claims it is not a target.

“I try to give my best everywhere I go to, because I think there’s not only the Grand Slams,” he said.

“I won’t just put the entire season just around trying to win the calendar Grand Slam. I mean, it’s something if it happens, if it does, it’s great; but it’s not something that’s like my number one goal. Not at all.

“It’s the same as I haven’t put a number on how many Grand Slams I want to try to win. Whatever happens, happens.

“I really want to try to enjoy the end to my career, because I’ve reached already so many goals I thought were never possible. I really want to just enjoy the tour, and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”

Federer ended last year’s final in tears after an agonising five-set defeat by Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final that left him stranded on 13 Grand Slam titles, one short of Peter Sampras’ all-time record.

However, with Nadal injured, Federer secured an emotional first win at the French Open to draw level with Sampras before he broke the record at Wimbledon.

Federer’s win in Melbourne underlined his dominance of the men’s game, and the 28-year-old has not yet started to consider retirement.

“I know this is an incredible trip I’m on,” he said on Sunday. “We’ll see where it ends. I hope not any time soon.

“My game is not as taxing as other players’ games. I also think I have a very relaxed mind when it comes to the game of tennis.

“Off the court, it’s a matter of relaxing and enjoying it, seeing friends and family. There’s more important things than tennis after all.

“I think that’s something I’ve always had a clear vision of how my life is. I think that’s also helped me to go through tougher phases.”

Australia completed a 5-0 series sweep over Pakistan with a nail-biting two-wicket victory in the final one-dayer at the WACA in Perth.

Michael Hussey hit an unbeaten 40 the help the hosts reach their target of 213 with four balls to spare in the final over of a low-scoring thriller.

Skipper Ricky Ponting contributed 55 but a much-changed Australia team were pegged back by the dual spin threat of Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik.

Pakistan’s bowlers wouldn’t have had much to bowl at had it not been for contrasting half-centuries from Umar Akmal and Fawid Alam.
Having chosen to bat first, the tourists crumbled to 16-3 in the first powerplay, openers Salman Butt and Khalid Latif both failing to trouble the scorers while former skipper Younus Khan managed to make just three.

However Akmal led the recovery mission, his patient innings of 67, which included two fours and a six, coming off 102 balls.

He shared a stand of 60 with Shoaib Malik, who was run out by the returning Mitchell Johnson for 36, before Alam helped pick up the pace during an 82-run alliance for the fifth wicket.

Stand-in skipper Afridi managed just a single before falling to the in-form Ryan Harris (3-44), though Clint Mackay was the pick of the home attack with excellent figures of 4-35.

The Victorian seamer dismissed Iftikhar Anjum (16 off eight deliveries) and then Alam with successive balls in the 50th over - the latter the final wicket to fall - having made a sparkling 63 from 70 deliveries.

Attempting to chase down a modest total, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals to make sure the game remained in the balance.
Ponting top-scored with a half-century before becoming one of two wickets to fall to the off-spin of Malik, the other being that of Adam Voges for 24.

Afridi played his part with the ball too, bowling the dangerous Cameron White for 13 and then getting James Hopes caught out for six as the tension grew.

Hussey, though, proved to the thorn in Pakistan’s side. The left-hander took few risks during his 46-ball knock, though he relied on some help from the tail.

Mitchell Johnson chipped in with 13 while Nathan Hauritz hit 18 before number 10 Harris came out in the final over to help see Australia over the line, the winning run coming courtesy of a hip-high no-ball from seamer Iftikhar Anjum.

As if another defeat Down Under wasn’t bad enough for Pakistan, though, Afridi could find himself in hot water after television cameras pictured the all-rounder appearing to bite the ball whilst in the field.

The third umpire reported the incident to the on-field officials, who immediately ordered the ball be replaced.

There was further controversy later on when a spectator ran onto the field and rugby tackled Latif, who was not hurt in the incident, near the boundary’s edge.
Sky Sports

Serena Williams ended Justine Henin’s fairytale run in Melbourne as she claimed a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win to successfully defend her Australian Open title.

The world number one was pushed all the way by the unseeded Belgian who was playing in just her 12th competitive match following her return from an 18-month retirement.

A see-saw encounter looked to be turning Henin’s way as she hit a purple patch to take the second set, but Williams responded in characteristic style.

The American proved just too powerful in the decider as she raised her level and closed out victory to claim a fifth win at the tournament.

The triumph means Williams has now notched up 12 Grand Slam titles, drawing level with the great Billie-Jean King.

Both players made a rather nervy start to the contest, but Williams fought off a couple of break points to hold serve after an error-strewn opening game that featured four deuces.

It was to end up proving a familiar story for Henin who converted only five of 16 break points in the match, ultimately costing her dear.

Williams survived break points in her next two service games, but in between broke her opponent to love to forge into a 4-1 lead.

But cheered on by the crowd, Henin fought her way back into the encounter and a flashing forehand winner finally saw her break the Williams serve to get back to 4-3.
Having held to love the Belgian looked to be getting up a head of steam, only for Williams to then reassume control.

At 5-4, she went on to force a break point on Henin’s delivery at 30-40 and, while she survived that one, Henin came up with two errors, the second a back-hand that clipped the net and dropped wide, to gift her opponent the set.

But it was the Belgian who made the first move in the second set, the 27-year-old breaking to love with a running back-hand winner to edge 2-1 ahead.

She could not confirm the break, though, and dumped a forehand into the net to allow Williams back on terms.

At 3-3 on Williams’ serve, Henin fought back from 30-0 down and clinched another break after a deuce and that signalled her best period of the match.

She went on to reel off 15 unanswered points to clinch the set with a second break and, having held to love in the opening game of the decider, appeared to cut the more composed figure.

But having stopped the rot and levelled at 1-1, Williams found new reserves and earned herself a break to pull 2-1 ahead as Henin netted a volley.

The topsy-turvy encounter quickly swung again as three inexplicable errors from the American allowed Henin another chance to break, which she did after pouncing on a weak second serve with a booming forehand.

However, that was as good as things got for Henin and after firing a forehand wide in her next service game to fall behind again, she quickly found herself 5-2 down as Williams came on strong to force a double-break.

With that insurance in hand, the number one seed crossed the finishing line in some style, racing 40-0 up with some powerful serves before ending the contest on her second match point with a raking cross-court backhand winner.
Sky Sports

KARACHI: With just over a year to go before the start of World Cup 2011, Pakistan’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim must have experienced that sinking feeling after watching his team getting hammered by Australia in the current one-day series.

Pakistan are fancying their chances of winning a second world title next year but their current form suggests that the Greenshirts have a long way to go before they are treated as serious contenders for the World Cup to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Iqbal Qasim, the man who has been entrusted with the job to find a dependable pool of players for the World Cup, admits that his is an uphill task.

“It will certainly need a lot of effort, lot of hard work for us to put our team on the right track for the World Cup,” Iqbal told ‘The News’ in an interview on Friday. “Preparing for the World Cup is definitely our biggest task and hopefully with a combined effort, we will send a strong team for the tournament,” he added.

Pakistan have suffered huge blows in their ongoing one-day series against Australia. They have lost all four games so far with the latest defeat coming in Perth where Pakistan crashed to a 135-run loss.

Before the series against the Aussies, Pakistan suffered a disappointing 1-2 series defeat against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi last November. That shock came after the Kiwis stunned Pakistan in the Champions Trophy semifinals in South Africa.

This losing streak is quite surprising for Iqbal, who believes that he and fellow selectors had picked quite a formidable one-day squad for those assignments.

“I still believe that we have a very good one-day team,” said Iqbal, a former Pakistan Test spinner. “It seems that the problem is that they haven’t played to their potential.”

On paper, Pakistan do appear to be a strong side with top performers like Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Kamran Akmal in their side.

Iqbal stressed that Pakistan will need to carry out a comprehensive postmortem soon after the conclusion of the tour of Australia before resuming what he described as a “rebuilding stage” ahead of the World Cup.

“A Postmortem is needed because we have to find out the causes behind such a pathetic performance of our team in Australia,” said Iqbal.

“The reports from the team manager and coach will be very important. Then we will have to sit down with the captain and listen to his views. That will help us find what really went wrong in Australia.”

Pakistan’s immediate task is to get ready for a title defense in the ICC World Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean this May but Iqbal is confident about that assignment, saying that Pakistan are pretty clear about their Twenty20 picture.

“Our Twenty20 team is pretty much in order,” he said adding that he and fellow selectors will sit down with Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain, to decide the line-up for the tournament.

“But the World Cup (2011) is a different matter. It won’t be that easy to prepare a good team for it.”

Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan coach, has stressed the need for the infusion of young blood in the team. He told ‘The News’ in Sydney last Sunday that Pakistan can do well in the World Cup but only by bringing in a few more fresh faces in their team.

In response, Iqbal said that the national selection committee is open to all options. “The idea is to have a team that is capable of doing well in the World Cup and we will take all possible steps to make such a team.”
Geo Super

LINCOLN: Pakistan colts in a hard-fought final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup were beaten by 25 runs against Australia boys with 20 balls remaining here on Saturday.

Both teams were running to win the title for the third time in the history of Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

Chasing a moderate target of 208 runs, Pakistan batsmen batted well against sea winds and accurate Aussie bowlers but could make182 runs in 46.4 overs.

Captain Azeem Ghumman was the top-scorer with 41. He batted with calm and caution hitting only one four in 90 balls.

However, Hammad Azam, the most prolific scorer who has been unbeaten throughout the tournament could not maintain his record and was dismissed for a nought, caught behind by Triffitt off Hazlewood. His early ouster made a panic in the Pakistan team’s dressing room.

Earlier, Pakistan winning the toss decided to send Kangaroos first and kept their grip tight over the match.

Sarmad Bhatti grabbed three wickets and Fayyaz Butt claimed two as the Aussies were 207-9 in 50 overs in the final counter of tournament.

Though Pakistani pacers successfully claiming wickets on regular intervals but they failed in keeping run rate down while the Aussies persistently collected ones, twos, three and certain times boundaries and out of the park.

The leading run scorers from Australian side were JS Floros (35), TJ Armstrong (37) and KW Richardson (44).
Geo Super

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is considering whether to appeal against the increase to his ban for violent conduct.

The 31-year-old lost his original appeal against a three-match suspension for an altercation with Craig Fagan during Saturday’s 4-0 win over Hull.

The Football Association labelled the appeal “frivolous” and increased his ban to four games.

United have until Monday to contest the additional one-game suspension.

The FA told BBC Sport that Manchester United can appeal against the increase but have yet to hear from the reigning Premier League champions.

United were unavailable to confirm to BBC Sport what their next move would be, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed his displeasure with the disciplinary processes being used by the game’s governing body.

“We have to decide whether to appeal because there are conflicting ways in how these decisions are being viewed,” he said.

“I watched the game between Leyton Orient and Charlton on Monday and there was an elbow on the Charlton player three times as he was running with the ball.
“Ferdinand got what he deserved - an extended ban of 4 matches for a frivolous appeal”
“But nothing has happened with that. There is a lot of confusion there, although we accept that for (Saturday), Rio is banned.”

Ferdinand only returned to action at Old Trafford at the weekend for the first time in three months after recovering from a calf injury.

But after appearing to swing an arm at Hull striker Fagan, the England centre-half picked up a three-match ban, which was then extended to four after the Football Association rejected the defender’s appeal as “frivolous”.

Because of the appeal, Ferdinand, who has made only 10 appearances for his club so far this season, was able to play in Wednesday’s Carling Cup win over Manchester City, but he faces a further suspension if he fails to overturn the ban on the fourth game.

While he is definitely banned for the next three games, at Arsenal on Sunday and then the following Premier League matches against Portsmouth and Aston Villa, the Red Devils could succeed in having their centre-half available at Everton on 20 February.

If Ferdinand received a five-match suspension on the back of another appeal, he would be ruled out of the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa on 28 February at Wembley.
BBC News

Serena Williams warmed up for her Australian Open final against Justine Henin by claiming the women’s doubles title with sister Venus.

The Williams sisters secured their fourth title in Melbourne - and their 11th Grand Slam crown overall - with a 6-4 6-3 over top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

The victory means that Serena and Venus are now the third best women’s doubles pairing of the Open era - trailing Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver (21 Grand Slam titles) and Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva (14).

And Serena admitted she now wishes that she had teamed up with her older sister more on the doubles circuit.

“We were talking today about how we wished we had have played more when we were younger,” she said.

“We still feel like we have so much we can win and just stay focused. We just love being out there and we love the competition.

“More than anything, we really have fun, we smile and we enjoy it.”
Sky sports

Defending champion Serena Williams closed in on back-to-back Australian Open titles after a 7-6 7-6 victory over Li Na.

Williams, an 11-time Grand Slam winner, was pushed all the way by the Chinese 16th seed - however she had the class when it mattered most to reach the final in Melbourne.

Li had proved that she was a force to be reckoned with after coming from behind to beat Williams’ older sister Venus in the last eight.

However despite another battling display she was just edged out by the American top seed.

Williams was guilty of missing chances to seal an early victory as she served for both the first set and then the match - only for Li to break her on both occasions.

“I had so many match points and I blew it,” a relieved Williams said after securing her 50th win at Melbourne Park.

“I knew on serve (in the tie-break) I had the chance to close it out and I did. I had to because she is an amazing fighter.”
Williams will now face Justine Henin in the final - with the 28-year-old hoping to equal the 12 Grand Slams won by Billy-Jean King.

“That’s the goal,” Williams said. “I have a long career to keep trying to do it, but if it doesn’t happen this year then I’ll keep trying.”

Williams had broken Li in the opening game of the semi-final - and then looked so dominant on her own serve as she held to love each time to lead 5-4.

However Li struck back at the right time as she levelled the match and then held on to force the tie-break.

Williams, though, kept her nerve to edge the tie-break 7-4 to open up a one-set lead.

The second set mirrored the first with Williams serving for the match after breaking to move into a 5-4 lead - only for Li again to hit back.

The tie-break, though, was a one-sided affair as Williams stormed clear to book her place in the final.
Sky Sports

Andy Murray booked his place in a second grand slam final with a powerful four-set victory over Marin Cilic in the Australian Open semi-finals in Melbourne.

Big Croatian Cilic took the first set, but a heavy workload that had included three five-setters in his last five matches took its toll as Murray proved far too strong as the semi-final wore on.

Fifth-seeded Murray hit back in the second set and then took total control as he walked away with a 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory that sealed his place in Sunday’s final, where he will play either Roger Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Despite a nervy start, Murray settled in the second set and soon had the measure of a tired-looking Cilic, with the British number one’s superior speed and strength making it a routine victory in the end.

Such a display will give Murray huge confidence as he prepares for his second grand slam final on Sunday, following his US Open final appearance in 2008.
A hesitant Murray looked a little below par in the opening set, and Cilic capitalised on the lack of conviction in the Scot’s shots by grabbing two breaks of serve to take the lead - with his form suggesting it could be a long night for Murray.

A frustrated Murray was screaming at himself for not getting his game together, but a brilliantly played point from the British number one sparked him into life in the fifth game of the second set.

His customary athleticism got Murray to a net cord from Cilic and, when the Croatian lobbed, Murray turned instantly and scampered back before producing a passing forehand on the turn that whistled past a stunned CIlic to give him the break.

Some big Cilic serves saved two set points and prevented another break, but Murray was not to be denied and he served out safely enough to level the match.

14th seed Cilic was starting to slow down noticeably at the start of the third set as he struggled under the relentless pace set by Murray, and the Scot showed no mercy to break in the third game.
The Croatian 21-year-old produced a stunning forehand winner to answer right back, but he was still on the back foot as Murray ran him around the court, and a break came in the seventh game enabling Murray to serve out for a 2-1 lead.

With Murray getting stronger and stronger, Cilic was deflating fast, as he demonstrated with a tired-looking double fault in the third game of the fourth set that put the Scot right in the driving seat.

A double break then put Murray 4-1 up and in total control, but at least Cilic showed enough desire to hold serve for 5-2 and make Murray serve for a place in the final.

Just to add extra gloss to the occasion, Murray produced a stunning low forehand around the side of the net post from way out wide during the game, which resulted in him serving out for a place in the final.

Murray will be the first Briton to take part in the Australian Open final since John Lloyd in 1977, and is in impressive form as he looks for a maiden grand slam title
Sky Sports

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has described team-mate Wayne Rooney as an ‘awesome’ talent.

Rooney scored United’s winner against Manchester City in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night, having netted all four in the demolition of Hull City last weekend.

His late header against City took his season’s tally to a remarkable 21 goals, making up for the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo last summer.

Rooney has been a talisman for the Red Devils so far this term, and Carrick has lavished praise on his United and England team-mate.

“Wayne is awesome,” he said. “He just keeps improving.

“When I first came to the club I thought he was a great player. Three years on he is even better.

“He just improves each season.

“You have to give him a lot of credit because this season especially he has taken on a lot more responsibility.

“He is getting goals and creating them for others.

“He is doing everything you could possibly ask. Let’s hope it continues until May.”
It was another late goal for United in what has been a campaign full of crucial strikes in the dying minutes.

City have twice been on the receiving end of injury-time defeats, and Carrick admits late goals have played a big part in his team’s success.

“They didn’t tell me about these finishes when I signed for the club but I learned about them pretty quickly,” he added.

“We were talking in the dressing room before the game about the amount of times we have scored late goals in big matches.

“It would be nice to win games earlier and be a bit more comfortable but I have to admit when it does happen like that it is a great feeling.”
Sky Sports