Federer captures third Aussie Open, 10th Grand Slam title

Jan 28, 2007, 14:25 GMT

Switzerland\'s Roger Federer holds aloft his trophy after winning his Men\'s Finals match against Fernando Gonzalez of Chile at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday 29 January 2007. Federer won 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. EPA/JULIAN SMITH

Melbourne, Australia - Swiss superstar Roger Federer captured his 10th Grand Slam title by beating Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets in the final at the 2007 Australian Open. The amazing Swiss now owns three Aussie Open titles, including two straight.

The top-seeded/world No. 1 Federer topped the 10th-seeded Gonzalez 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4 at Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena. Gonzalez put up a great fight, but the sublime Swiss, as he was for the entire fortnight, was just too much for his Chilean counterpart on Day 14.

Federer, with his typical display of top-notch serving, big groundstrokes and deft volleys, prevailed in 2 hours, 20 minutes, capping the victory with a crisp backhand winner on Sunday night.

'That match point was fantastic,' Federer said. 'I think that was my only backhand winner up the line when he was also at the baseline. To finish it off like this, it was great.'

The Swiss improved to an unstoppable 10-0 lifetime against the 26-year-old Gonzalez, who became only the second Chilean to perform in a Grand Slam final. Former world No. 1 Chilean Marcelo Rios was the Aussie Open runner-up in 1998.

The high-flying Federer is 3-0 against Gonzalez in the Grand Slam events, with the other wins coming at the French Open and Wimbledon, in 2005.

Gonzalez actually had a pair of set points in the first set, but Federer canceled them out and went on to take the opening stanza in an easy tiebreak. The Swiss, who dominated the tiebreak by running out to a 5-0 lead, won a challenge against an incorrect line call to have the first point replayed in the extra session.

Both players had their serve broken once in the first set, but the Chilean was unable to break Federer over the next two sets. As a matter of fact, Gonzalez had only one break-point chance in the entire match, and was fortunate enough to convert on it.

Prior to the start of the second set, Gonzalez received some treatment for his shoulder and appeared to be healthy for the rest of the hard-hitting bout.

In the second set, Federer broke 'Gonzo' for a 4-3 edge and never looked back. The super Swiss went on to claim the stanza, and also broke Gonzalez for a 4-3 advantage in the final set en route to victory. The Chilean slugger staved off several game points in the seventh game of the third, but a determined Federer finally got his break and crossed the finish line shortly thereafter.

Federer dropped only 17 points in 16 service games plus the tiebreak, and lost only two points on serve in the final set.

'It is just wonderful,' Federer said. 'I have had a great run here again this year. I am very proud to be holding this trophy again.'

Federer struck 44 winners, compared to 31 for Gonzalez, and the Swiss broke the Chilean's serve three times to become only the sixth man to win double-digit majors, joining Pete Sampras (14), Roy Emerson (12), Bjorn Borg (11), Laver (11) and Bill Tilden (10).

'I don't know how I did it so quickly, in such a short period of time,' Federer said.

With his tremendous showing here Down Under, Gonzalez has moved up to a career-high No. 5 in the world. He beat the likes of 2005 Aussie Open runner- up Lleyton Hewitt, 2006 Tennis Masters Cup finalist James Blake, reigning two-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and Tommy Haas on his way to the final.

'I have to congratulate again -- again -- Roger,' Gonzalez said. 'He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week -- almost all his life.'

Federer, ranked No. 1 for 156 consecutive weeks, became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 (French Open) to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set and is the first man since Aussie Ken Rosewall in 1972 to capture the Australian Open without losing a set.

And the Basel native is the first man in the Open Era to win three straight majors on two separate occasions.

The reigning Aussie Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist Federer is now 10-1 in his Grand Slam finals, with the only loss coming against Nadal in last year's French Open finale.

Federer's first-place check is worth over $1.2 million, while Gonzalez settled for just over $600,000.

The 25-year-old Federer is also riding a career-best 36-match winning streak and is now 46-13 in his career finals. Gonzalez dropped to 7-9 in his career title bouts.

Federer competed in his seventh straight Grand Slam final, equaling a mark set by Aussie Jack Crawford, who landed in a seventh straight major final, at Wimbledon, way back in 1934. The supreme Swiss bested Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in last year's Melbourne finale and has now won six of the last seven Slams. He is the first man to defend his title in Melbourne since Andre Agassi in 2001.

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