European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 2007 stars and stripes Page 33 Champ Federer welcomes rivalry with Nadal Wimbledon spaniard building great Competition by Steven wine the associated press England the Best ten Nis rivalry in years blossomed a Little More in the Wimbledon and even Roger Federer was Happy about he answered the latest Challenge from Nemesis Rafael Nadal Federer matched Bjorn borgs modern record of five consecutive Wimbledon mens titles beating Nadal in the final for the second year in a 76 76 Hes a fantastic and Hes going to be around for so much Federer so in Happy every one i get be fore he takes them Hes improving so Federer continues to reign As the games dominant and not Only on monday Marks his 180th week in a Row atop the extending his but he has struggled against los ing eight of their 13 that includes each of the past three years at the French preventing Federer from completing the career grand slam he so badly and the 2ranked Nadal is clearly gaining ground on for the first time in Federer 34match winning Streak at he was pushed to five it was an epic reminiscent of Borg John Mcenroe or Jimmy fueling the kind of rivalry missing from the mens game since the heydays of Pete Sampras and Andre and Federer said he enjoys the i dont mind he i win my he wins its a Good i Anja Switzerland Roger and Rafael Nadal shake hands after Federer Defeated Nadal to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon championship on weve been at the top for Over 100 weeks it is like building up to one of maybe the great sundays showdown was their most dra Matic Given the and the Federer hit 65 winners and Only 34 unforced Nadal had 50 win ners and just 24 unforced we sometimes Haven lived up to the expectations in the in our matches in majors Federer you cant always play fives match you in Happy it happened i left As the Winner was Nadal was trying to become the first Man to win the French open and Wimble Don Bac Toback since Borg in in Federer became the first Man to win five consecutive Wimbledon titles since Borg in and the second in the past 100 it cannot happen to a nicer no bad Borg said before the Hes an artist on this he can stay he can come no i be Lieve if he continues the Way Hes doing and stays away from injuries and has the Moti hell be the greatest player Ever to play the the women Champion was Venus Williams claimed her fourth Wimbledon title beating Marion Bartoli Federer needs two More Wimbledon titles to match Sampras modern mens record of making the latest championship even sweeter it came against who ended Federer 27match grand slam winning Streak four weeks ago at Roland since the Start of Federer is 57 against 2047 against everyone Treyve met in four of the past six major Federer said Nadal played better sunday than in the Wimbledon final a year which Federer won in four Hes playing phenomenal fed Erer he has definitely improved yet i he had More of a game plan this year than he had last i think last year he came nothing to kind of hit hard but didst know this year he has changed his game a Little plays maybe a bit More a knows the game of grass much that Why i think Hes not Only just a Good Clay Hes a Good Allaround Nadal said the rivalry remains in the formative noting theres no compari sons Between his achievements and those of who at 25 is four years he has 11 grand me Nadal i am i am improving every season and try continuing improving every today was Tough for but at the same its Good to watch me playing one final like this against the Best of the world on playing at similar next week the summer hard court sea son and the rivalry has yet to really take hold on that Federer and Nadal have never met at the but the matchup is a Good possibility for this years when Federer would be seek ing his 12th grand slam he trails Only who won a record 14 major and Roy who won Nasals three major titles have All come at the French but he has shown Hes an Al court and he remains intent on becoming the first Spanish Man to win Wimbledon since Manolo Santana in because he came so close Federer i think he deserves a title Williams Sisters prove they Back among sports elite by Howard Fendrich the associated press England not All that Long the sunup to any grand slam tournament would be filled with talk about whether Venus and Serena will iams would meet in yet another  it was pretty much a Given that at least one if not would be out there on court for the championship smack ing speedy swatting pow Erful ground strokes and racing along the Baseline to reach seemingly unreachable during a seven slam stretch from Wimbledon in 2001 to the australian open in one will iams or the other won every and a Williams was the run Nerup at five of those dont look but those Days could be the Way Venus Williams won Wimbledon on and the Way Serena Williams won the australian open in sends quite a message to the rest of women Tennis one that the older sibling succinctly put into my sixth Venus i want some her six major titles Are tied for second most among Active the Leader her Sis of with when it comes to i do have Venus not ing her 42 Edge on Serena at the All England Venus is now Serena and they were the oldest of the Wimbledon Quarter finalists this a group that included three theres something to be said for experience in tight matches on the sports biggest and no one has As much As the Williams another Factor that could work in their favor As the years Progress neither has As much Wear Andrear As most players their age there Are several one is that their father and Richard didst let them compete a lot when they were limiting them to a tournament or two a season when they were in their Early even once they were established on the pro the Sis ters gained a reputation for pick ing and choosing which tournaments to something that rankled some and in re cent both have missed months at a time with various injun that Why their father spoke during this tournament about Venus playing into her its Why her professional golfer Hank thinks she has plenty of excellence most women in their Are winding it she has awhile to Kuehne As far As i she could be like Roger that might be a bit of an All of that time away from the tour in recent times is what dropped both Sisters Way Down in the nowhere near the 1 spot each once Serena tumbled out of the top and was at 81 entering this years australian Venus was at 31 before Wimbledon and became the tournaments lowest ranked Champi on with her 61 Victory Over Marion Bartoli in the its not necessarily a compete but we motivate each other to get Venus when she sees me win Shes just going to go for when i saw her win in i knew i could do we just love each other and inspire each other like when the new rankings Are is sued Venus Williams will Rise to her first time in the top 20 in exactly a Serena Williams will move up to As players like Maria Sharapov Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic All among the top five As of All losers to Venus Williams at this Wimbledon can the rankings Are still somewhat so no matter what the computer spits put in late dont be surprised if theres at least one Williams playing when the open final comes growing we dreamed of of us being on top of Wom ens of playing slam being ranked 1 and that what we worked Venus so when that its in its for theres no doubt that we can achieve these Howard Fendrich covers Tennis for the associated write to him at  Andrew Venus Williams celebrates with the trophy after defeating Frances Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon final will iams won her fourth Wimbledon title As the lowest ranked Champi on in the tournaments