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09/08/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Swiss superstar Roger Federer defeated Scotland's Andy Murray in Monday's men's final at the U.S. Open to become the first man in the Open Era to capture the event five straight years.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 Federer straight-setted the sixth-seeded Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 on Day 15 on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The final was pushed from Sunday into Monday after inclement weather from Tropical Storm Hanna wreaked havoc on Saturday's schedule here.
Federer cruised in an uneventful first set, as the super Swiss broke the Brit for a 4-2 lead and broke him once again to close out the stanza in routine 6-2 fashion.
In the second set, Federer broke for a 2-0 lead, only to see Murray break right back and then hold for a 2-2 deadlock. Murray appeared to break Federer once again for a possible 3-2 lead, but a Federer shot that sailed long was called in, Murray did not challenge the call, played it and wound up losing the crucial point. Federer would go on to win the game for a 3-2 edge.
Federer closed out the second set at 7-5 by striking a running forehand winner, his fourth winner of that game.
In set number three, Federer broke Murray for a 2-0 lead, broke again for a 4-0 advantage and then held his serve for a commanding 5-0 lead.
Murray broke Federer, who was serving for the match, to pull within 2-5, but it was all over in the next game, as the Swiss broke the Brit once again by converting on his second championship point when the Scot netted one final forehand after 1 hour, 51 minutes of tennis at a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"This is a very special moment in my career," Federer said during the on-court trophy presentation. "To take this one home is incredible. It means the world to me."
Federer struck 20 more winners (36-16) than Murray, who had his serve broken a whopping seven times by the mighty Swiss. Murray could manage only two breaks over three sets.
The 21-year-old Murray, who is now up to No. 4 in the world rankings, was playing in his first-ever Grand Slam final. He was trying to give Britain its first U.S. Open titlist since Fred Perry way back in 1936.
"I've got a lot of improving to do if I want to win one of these tournaments," Murray said after the setback.
Federer is now 2-2 lifetime against Murray, including 1-1 this year. The Brit upset the Swiss on a hardcourt in Dubai for a second straight win earlier this season.
The 27-year-old Federer now owns 13 career major titles, leaving him just one shy of Pete Sampras' record haul of 14. Federer beat reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic in last year's final here and also topped the Serb in this year's semifinals two days ago.
Federer has won 34 straight matches here in Flushing.
The last man to win five straight U.S. Open titles was the legendary "Big" Bill Tilden, who tallied six in a row from 1920-25.
Federer is also the first man ever to win five straight championships at two different majors. He was the Wimbledon champ from 2003-07.
Only two other men have won five U.S. Open titles in the Open Era (since 1968) -- Jimmy Connors and Sampras.
The Basel native Federer, this year's Wimbledon and French Open runner-up to Rafael Nadal, has won at least one major title in the last six years. A weary world No. 1 Nadal lost to the surging Murray here on Sunday.
Federer is now 13-4 in his major finals, with all four losses coming against Nadal. He's beaten five different men in the last five U.S. Open finales.
The amazing Federer halted a three-major winless drought, his longest such drought since the middle of 2003.
Federer is now 56-21 in his overall career finals, including 3-4 this year, with all four losses coming against Nadal. Surprisingly, this marked his first hardcourt title of the year.
Murray dropped to 6-5 in his career finals, including 3-1 this season.
The Olympic doubles gold medalist Federer pocketed $1.5 million and was awarded a Lexus automobile, while Murray settled for $1 million. Federer's career prize money is now up over $43 million. Sampras is the only other player to reach $43 million in prize money.
Only five men reached the four major finals this year -- Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Aussie Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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