Tennis

Tennis will bid farewell to one of the greatest stars of the game's recent history this week when Russian former world number one Marat Safin takes his final bow at the ATP Paris Masters. The 29-year-old has decided to call time on a glittering career in which he won the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open while inspiring his country to Davis Cup glory in 2002 and 2006. "It's beautiful what people see on TV, when you're on the court, and there are all those people in the stadium," said the charismatic Safin, whose younger sister Dinara Safina is the women's world ... Read Full Story

Roger Federer tamed childhood Basel school friend Marco Chiudinelli 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 Saturday, winning his 19th straight match at the pair's home Swiss Indoors to set up a final with Novak Djokovic. Federer will be bidding for a fourth consecutive title here when he faces the second-seeded Serb, who rallied from the brink, saving three match points in spectacular fashion to win a dramatic semi-final over Radek Stepanek 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-2. World number one Federer leads Djokovic 9-4 in their career series, standing 2-2 his season with his rival. Federer last lost in Basel in 2003 to Ivan Ljubicic, then returned in 2006 ... Read Full Story

Belgian star Kim Clijsters on Saturday slammed the "extremely harsh" sanctions imposed on compatriots Xavier Malisse and Yanina Wickmayer for missing drug tests. US Open semi-finalist Wickmayer and Malisse were on Thursday handed one-year bans by the Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) for falling foul of doping regulations. Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended for failing to fulfill the controversial "whereabouts rule" while Malisse was also punished for missing a drug test. "To receive a one-year ban because of this seems extremely harsh and is potentially career-ending for both of them," US Open champion Clijsters said on her Twitter message system. "While they may ... Read Full Story

Novak Djokovic rallied from the brink on Saturday, saving three match points in spectacular fashion to win a dramatic semi-final at the Swiss Indoors over Radek Stepanek 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-2. The world ranked number four Serb will await an opponent from three-time champion Roger Federer and former Basel schoolmate Marco Chiudinelli. Djokovic, winner of three titles in 2009, moved to his ninth final of the year as he stays the leader in ATP matches won in 2009 on 70. Djokovic looked to be on the brink of a loss, trailing a set and 4-5 after Stepanek had taken the lead with his sixth ... Read Full Story

BASEL (Reuters) - World number three Novak Djokovic saved three match points before bouncing back to beat Radek Stepanek 6-7 7-5 6-2 on Saturday and reach the final of the Swiss Indoors. The Serbian second seed will face either world number one Roger Federer or unseeded Marco Chiudinelli in Sunday's final. "I served quite badly throughout the match and on this surface its crucial to serve well," Djokovic told reporters. "It was a very difficult match." Neither player managed a break in the first set before Czech Stepanek went 5-2 up in the tiebreak. Although Djokovic managed to pull two points back, he then ... Read Full Story