MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer had some special fans
in the audience to watch him capture his seventh Grand Slam singles
title.
Current coach Tony Roche and the family of his late coach Peter
Carter were at Rod Laver Arena Sunday to witness his 5-7, 7-5, 6-0,
6-2 victory over Marcos Baghdatis.
Peter Carter, coach of the Swiss Davis Cup team, was killed in a
car accident in South Africa in 2002.
"It's always very emotional, winning here, because of Peter,
then Tony," said Federer, who broke down during the trophy
presentations.
Both coaches are from Australia.
"It's very nice to share the moment with them," he said of
Carter's family. "I'm very happy that they still enjoy watching
tennis after how much he was into tennis. They could just walk away
from the game and say 'Look, we'd rather not face it anymore,'
because of how much he loved the sport."
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^ROD ON ROGER@: Rod Laver thinks Roger Federer can eclipse Pete
Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.
The top-ranked Federer earned his seventh Grand Slam title in a
four-set win over Marcos Baghdatis in the Australian Open final on
Sunday.
Laver, the only man to twice win all four Grand Slam tournaments
in a single year -- in 1962 and 1969 -- said Federer's relaxed
approach allows him to handle the pressure.
"It's certainly amazing how well he plays in the finals,"
Laver said. "The main thing is that he looks like he's enjoying
the game, and it's not pressure.
"He finds a way to win. But if you have to grind out all the
matches all the time, mentally you're going to get drained and the
desire starts to ebb."
Laver likes Federer's combination of even temperament, on-court
savvy and solid strokes. The Swiss star's anticipation allows him
to get on top of opponents when they make a mistake, he said.
"As soon as they make a mistake, he sits on top of them and
he's got a wide-open court because he's not back very far," Laver
said.
The 67-year-old Laver holds 11 Grand Slam singles titles. His
favorite and last came at the U.S. Open in 1969. He beat fellow
Australian Tony Roche -- Federer's current coach -- in four sets to
complete his second career Grand Slam.
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WHERE TO FROM HERE?@: So what's next for Martina Hingis?
She's fresh off her Australian Open mixed doubles title after
reaching the quarterfinals in singles. Those feats came in her
first Grand Slam appearance after a three-year retirement.
Hingis said she hasn't decided her schedule beyond next week's
Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. That's where she'll catch up with her
mother and former coach, Melanie Molitor.
"I enjoy being back," Hingis said. "Just every tournament is
a new one, and right now I really am happy to be playing and at
that level again."
She teamed with Mahesh Bhupathi of India to defeat Daniel Nestor
and Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 6-3 Sunday in the mixed doubles final.
Hingis, a winner of five Grand Slam singles and nine doubles
titles, won her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title.
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^TOP DRAW@: Alexandre Sidorenko of France won the Australian
Open juniors title after needing a special exemption into the draw.
He beat Australian Nick Lindahl 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the boys final
Sunday.
The 17-year-old Sidorenko said he got the exemption after
winning a doubles semifinal at a junior tournament held in
Melbourne the week before the Open. He said the referee had offered
it to him if he and his partner won that match.
Sidorenko, ranked around 130th, struggled with the heat and
needed a medical time-out for cramps in the second set.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia beat top-seeded Caroline
Wozniacki of Denmark 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 for the girls title.
She teamed with Sharon Fichman of Canada to win the doubles,
defeating Alize Cornet of France and Corinna Dentoni of Italy 6-2,
6-2.