Injured myself while preparing bath for daughters: Federer

Miami, March 25: Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer has said he suffered a knee injury in January while preparing a bath for his twin daughters.

The 17-time Grand Slam winner needed arthroscopic surgery and has made a return at the Miami Open this week.

"I was going to run a bath for the girls. I made a very simple movement, turned back, heard a click in my knee. I went to the zoo. My leg was swollen," Federer was quoted as saying by BBC on Thursday.

The 34-year-old said he was disappointed that he had to undergo an operation.

"I thought I was going to get through my career without any. It was a big shock and, yeah, disappointing," said the Swiss, who is set to lock horns against Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in Round 2 here.

Sports in brief: Matthews hat trick leads U.S. to world junior hockey semis

U.s. makes world jr. semis

HELSINKI — Auston Matthews had a hat trick to lead the United States to a 7-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the world junior championship.

"Everybody on the ice helped me. My linemates played unbelievably," said Matthews, 18, who plays professionally in Switzerland and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft in June. (See Tom Jones' 10 athletes to watch in 2016, 1C)

The United States faces Russia in the semifinals Monday, and Finland faces Sweden. Russia beat Denmark 4-3 in overtime, Finland edged defending champion Canada 6-5, and Sweden beat Slovakia 6-0.

Nick Schmaltz, Christian Dvorak, Scott Eansor and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the Americans, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for his first shutout of the tournament. Schmaltz plays for North Dakota, Dvorak for London in the Ontario junior league, Eansor for Seattle in the Western junior league, DeBrincat for Erie in the Ontario League, and Nedeljkovic for Niagara in the Ontario League.

"Couldn't ask for a better game," Nedeljkovic said.

soccer

For once, a typical EPL day

Normality was restored in the most unpredictable of Premier League seasons as Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United won to kick off 2016, with two of English football's biggest stars grabbing winners after lean spells.

But victory didn't come easily for the three heavyweights as the hectic holiday schedule closed.

Host Arsenal dispensed with its typically silky football and toughed out a 1-0 win over Newcastle, through a goal from defender Laurent Koscielny, to move into first, two points ahead of Leicester.

Manchester City scored twice in the final eight minutes in coming from behind to beat Watford 2-1 for its first road win since September. Sergio Aguero, last season's top scorer and the most lethal striker in the division, scored the winner with his first goal since Nov. 21.

That was the date Man United last won in the league before a 2-1 win over visiting Swansea, sealed by a moment of brilliance by Wayne Rooney. The England captain flicked in a deft finish for his first United goal in two months, which put him second outright in the all-time scoring lists at United (238) and in the league (188).

"It is amazing," United manager Louis van Gaal said, "and that at the age of 30."

Leicester failed to keep pace with Arsenal after being held to a 0-0 tie at home by 10-man Bournemouth and is now without a win in three games, fulfilling many pundits' predictions that its surprisingly strong start to the season wouldn't last. Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty for Leicester, which is a point ahead of Man City.

United — owned by the Glazer family, which owns the Bucs — stayed in fifth place, two points behind Tottenham, which visits Everton today.

et cetera

Horses: Flexibility dominated the $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, kicking off the New York road for 3-year-olds heading to the Triple Crown. Flexibility earned 10 qualifying points toward a starting berth in the Kentucky Derby. The colt trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. rallied four wide to earn his second win in four starts.

Tennis: The leadup tournaments to Australian Open begin today with the Brisbane International, which includes defending champions Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova. The the Australian Open starts Jan. 18.

Getting over an overblown yr of anti-climaxes

We met 2016 holding sparklers in the garden, trying to get them to light up at the precise moment the clocked ticked twelve and we could say for sure that 2015 was behind us. Over the fence, beside our property near the bay, a man fired two red signal flares used by sailors in distress. They arced upward in a blaze and come back to earth slowly, like burning leafs.

Someone pointed at the sky and said something maudlin about the possibilities of 2016 and where this new air should take us, but nobody was much interested in that. The first hour of the New Year was spent doing what we’d done for most of the year previous, drinking at nighttime and talking about the things that went wrong during the day.

The distress flares worked as a glowing allegory for this new age in which so much is about shooting for greatness, for wellness, and often finding a natural anti-climax. And ours being a sporting bunch, the flares preceded a discussion about the anti-climaxes of 2015 according to the field of dreams.

Of my favourite misfires, the first happened early in the year at the Australian Open. An enthusiastic manager at Rod Laver Arena was informed that Kenny Rogers, the ailing country singer, would be in attendance at Andy Murray’s match. He cued the Gambler to play over the speaker system upon Rogers’ arrival, which coincided with Murray’s bluster, talking into the palm of his hand and wearing the expression of a tired child. He missed a forehand to lose a tight game and it was then, at the change of ends, that Rogers began his journey down the stairs.

The Gambler rang out and the big screen drew our attention to Rogers’ struggle. It was embarrassing for Rogers, who took about two minutes to reach his seat. A few people clapped him but Murray was not among them. He turned to face Rogers with his hands on his hips, letting the old boy know whose show this was. Kenny gave him a little wave but Murray was bouncing a ball on his racquet, far away inside the crazed mind of a tennis star where the universe moves around him and his routine, and the strange etiquettes of his sport.

Someone else nominated the Ashes series, and Michael Clarke’s retirement, which was among the neatest anti-climaxes of 2015. Clarke’s was a rapid descent to the finish line, followed by the tasteless rumours that his presence would not be missed. The English preyed on his late batting fragility, then Clarke resided over two of the more definitive Ashes defeats in memory and retired. Maybe it was a bitter taste of the real world calling him on, his back pain a signal flare for a new era.

Jarryd Hayne’s first moment in the NFL was another beautiful anti-climax. The dropped punt return is among the worst and most visible mistakes a player can make in the NFL. His parade into Americana, the "Hayne Plane", the hash-tagging and the fulltime coverage of his efforts lead, perhaps inexorably, to that outcome – a lost chance in prime time and then a cascade of "Shake it off" references on Twitter.

Then there was Roger Federer at Wimbledon, after all this time, managing again to lose the final after playing some of the most harmonic tennis I’d ever seen against Novak Djokovic. Watching Federer lose on grass is like watching money burn. It had me thinking of the rich boys on a yacht near San Sebastian I’d seen, opening thousand-dollar bottles of Champagne and pouring them into the sea just because they could afford it. What a glorious waste.

Naturally, the AFL Grand Final found its place around the table, but I was there, and I did see something inspiring in Hawthorn’s performance despite the one-sided nature of the game. It was like being shown the inner makings of a Swiss watch, every tiny movement the result of another, equally fine and well measured.

But I think by way of definition, and since he was the highest paid athlete in the world in 2015, Floyd Mayweather’s fight against Manny Pacquiao has to reside near the heart of the topic. The fight was delayed for years, deliberately to maximise the obscene money it generated, and when at last it happened there could only ever be disappointment.

It was one of those peculiar cases in which one felt compelled to watch but somehow repelled at the same time by the trick of paying for it, for contributing to that great wealth, in the way one can feel about watching Star Wars at the cinema.

I cannot say honestly I didn’t enjoy anything about that bout, since Mayweather’s defence and timing was still remarkable at his ripened age. But according to the International Business Times, he made something in the air of $220 million that night, without getting hurt or hurting his opponent. That fight said something to me about the sporting age we’ve entered, the one of extreme business moves, of advertising and exaggeration.

What I anticipate most in 2016 is the athletics at Rio, and the sight of Usain Bolt crouched in the lights, waiting for the gun to send him into the climax of his running life.

Roger Federer downed by John Isner, Rafael Nadal lucky to survive at Paris Masters

A long season took its toll on Roger Federer on Thursday as the Swiss was knocked out of the Paris Masters following a 7-6(3) 3-6 7-6(5) third-round defeat by big serving John Isner.

The third-seeded Swiss held serve throughout but lost two tiebreaks against his American opponent, who will face Spain's David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.

Federer, who won the Basel title last Sunday, seemed to be cruising after breezing through the second set, but Isner pushed him to another tiebreak, using his devastating serve to prevail in the deciders.

Isner, who fired down 27 aces, ended the contest on his fourth match point with a service winner.

"It's tough to get out of the tournament not having lost your serve but that's how it can go against John," the former world number one told reporters.

"At the very end of the season, going two tournaments in a row after playing a lot of tennis in Basel the week before... there's maybe a bit of a letdown after Basel."

Federer's defeat was the first upset at Bercy after world number one Novak Djokovic and second seed Andy Murray were joined by Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

Nadal saved a match point before subduing South African Kevin Anderson 4-6 7-6(6) 6-2.

The seventh seeded Spaniard appeared to be on his way out but a risky forehand winner allowed him to save match point at 5-6 down in the second set tiebreak.

Anderson, who served 20 aces, cracked in the final set as Nadal secured a meeting with fourth seed Stan Wawrinka after the Swiss eased past Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-4 7-5.

Djokovic's serve suffered a second-set malfunction against Gilles Simon but the Serb stayed on course for a third consecutive title on the banks of the River Seine with a 6-3 7-5 victory.

He dropped serve four times in the second set but Simon could not capitalise as Djokovic set up a quarter-final against Tomas Berdych, who defeated local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-4.

Djokovic, however, will need to raise his game if he is to win a fourth title here as his possible final opponent, Murray, looked in ominous form.

The Scot put a marker down for the Davis Cup final when he dismantled Belgium's David Goffin 6-1 6-0 in awe-inspiring fashion to advance into the last eight.

Three weeks before Britain and Belgium face off in the Davis Cup final on clay in Ghent, Murray had just too much pace for the 16th seeded Goffin on the Bercy hard court.

Goffin can only hope the red dust will slow down world number three Murray in the Nov. 27-29 tie after the Scot had the Belgian chasing from corner to corner throughout.

An unforced error gave Murray the opening set and the Olympic champion was relentless in the second, closing it out with a backhand winner down the line having allowed Goffin only eight points on his service games.

Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori retired with an abdominal injury in his third-round match against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, a scare with the ATP World Tour finals 10 days away.

Nishikori was trailing 7-6(3) 4-1 when he threw in the towel against Gasquet.

The Japanese is one of eight players qualified for the World Tour finals, which will be played at the O2 Arena in London from Nov. 15-22. Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Rafa Nadal, Berdych and Ferrer are the others.

Gasquet, who is currently ninth in the ATP Race to London standings, is first reserve.

Arm-wrestling, teen angst and Roger Federer: What you don't know about Malala Yousafzai

A new documentary film, He Named Me Malala, aims to shed light on the life of Malala Yousafzai behind the headlines. Radhika Sanghani sums up her key learnings.

Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman on October 9 for promoting girls' education in Pakistan Photo: AFP

Malala Yousafzai is one of the most famous teenagers in Britain - if not the world. At the age of 18, she has given speeches to presidents, won the Nobel Peace Prize, had a day named after her (Malala Day – 12 July) and co-written a memoir.

Her story is well-known. She was shot in the head by the Taliban aged 15 after blogging about girls’ rights to an education for the BBC. She was taken to the UK to recover and has since become a worldwide activist for women’s rights.

But there’s more to Malala than the face we see on our TV screens, on her book covers and on the UN’s homepage – underneath the politics there is a normal teenage girl growing up in Britain.

This is the side to Malala that millions of people will be able to see in the filmHe Named Me Malala which is out today.

It’s a striking film that explores not just what it’s like to be Malala but what it’s like to be her mother, father and two younger brothers.

Here’s a hint of what it shows us about Malala that we didn’t know before:

1) She has teenage insecurities

It’s hard to remember that Malala is a teenager who has just taken her GCSEs (she’s in a class two years below her age group because of her English) but that’s exactly what she is.

Meeting Barack Obama at the White House in 2013  Photo: GETTY

Though she’s hung out with President Obama and delivered speeches to thousands of people, Malala isn’t immune to insecurities. In the film she talks about how she isn’t comfortable showing her real self to her classmates and how she feels different to them, having spent most of her life in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

2) She fancies Roger Federer

In the documentary Malala is asked whether she would ever ask out a boy. She collapses into giggles but then Googles images of Roger Federer – her celebrity crush (her brother concedes that the tennis star has good hair). She also admits she fancies the cricketer Shane Watson.

3) Her brothers are amazing

Malala has two younger brothers: 15-year-old Khushal, who she calls “the laziest one” and 11-year-old Atal who definitely wins best supporting act in the film for his comedy. He tells the camera the truth about Malala: “She’s a little bit naughty.”

  Photo: GETTY

The film shows her teasing them, and being teased back. She arm wrestles Khushal (her mum’s 'favourite child') and she wins. Naturally.

4) Her name came from a warrior

The film explains Malala’s name. She was named after a warrior called Malalai who is often known as the Afghan Joan of Arc. When the British were attempting to colonise Afghanistan in 1880, Malala rallied the local Pashtun fighters leading to the Afghan victory at the Battle of Maiwand.

It is telling that this is the name Malala’s father chose for his daughter. But she says: “My father only gave me the name Malala, he didn’t make me Malala.”

5) She’s really close to her dad

One of the most touching parts of the film was witnessing Malala’s relationship with her dad. She rests her head on his shoulder in the car, asks him for advice and travels with him across the world.

He says in the film: “We came to depend on each other, like one soul in two different bodies… It was attachment from the very first moment I saw her."

6) Her mum is impressive too

Malala with her mother, Toor Pekai  Photo: GETTY

Though Malala’s mum prefers to stay out of the limelight, the film shows what it was like for her growing up. It was rare for girls to go to school when she was a child but she was sent there aged five. However it was so discouraged that when she sold her books for sweets, no one ever told her to go back. Only now is she having the education she missed out on.

7) Malala is a perfectionist

In her GCSEs she received all As and A*s. It’s unsurprising considering Malala’s strong work ethic. She stresses out over a 61 per cent score in Physics and thinks it’s bad to get between 60-70 per cent at school – though she still tries to avoid homework when she can.

8) Her strength comes from her family

Malala sums up the importance of her parents and family when she says that if it wasn’t for their focus on her education – her father used to teach her in his secret school for children in Pakistan – she’d be an uneducated mother in her home country.

“I’m still an ordinary girl but if I had an ordinary mother and an ordinary father then I would have two children now,” she says.

U.S. Open 2015 live stream, semifinals times, TV: Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic to play

After the U.S. Open tennis women's semifinals were delayed a day Thursday due to rain, Friday shapes up to be a day to remember -- with men's and women's semifinals matches that include Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams.

The U.S. Open tennis semifinal times for today (Friday) includes:

Women's semifinals singles 10 a.m. central/11 a.m. eastern: Flavia Pennetta vs. Simona Haslep, followed by Serena Williams vs. Roberta Vinci.

Men's semifinals singles 4 p.m. central/5 p.m. eastern: Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic, followed by Roger Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka.

TV channel: ESPN.

To watch the U.S. Open tennis semifinals online via live stream, visit Watch ESPN. You will need a cable subscription or access to someone's cable subscription sign in to watch.

Friday semifinals matches preview

More than three years have passed since Roger Federer last won a Grand Slam title.

That's not to say he hasn't played well in the meantime: As he likes to point out, it takes some doing just to make it to the latter stages of a major tournament, and Federer has managed to continue to do that.

His seemingly effortless trip to the U.S. Open semifinals — Federer has won all 15 sets he's played entering Friday, dropping only 44 games along the way — marks his sixth run to that round in the past 11 majors.

And yet when Federer was asked about being two wins away from grabbing another trophy, he noted that there is plenty of work left.

"Hours of work and sleeps and waits and nerves and all that. It's still a long way," Federer said. "I feel like I'm close, of course. You enter now a territory which is very interesting."

On Friday, the No. 2-seeded Federer will face No. 5 Stan Wawrinka in a matchup pitting a pair of pals who won a gold medal for Switzerland in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. That will come after No. 1 Novak Djokovic meets No. 9 Marin Cilic, the defending champion.

They form quite a quartet.

It's the first time since 1995's group of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Boris Becker (who now happens to coach Djokovic) that all of the U.S. Open men's semifinalists have won a Grand Slam title.

Federer, of course, leads the way among this year's foursome with a record 17, including five in New York.

Djokovic has won nine major titles, including at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season, but despite reaching his ninth consecutive semifinal at the U.S. Open, he's only left with a trophy once, in 2011.

Wawrinka is a two-time major champion, including at the French Open in June.

And Cilic's only appearance in a Grand Slam final came at the U.S. Open a year ago.

"These guys that are left in the tournament," Cilic said, "they are very dangerous."

None has looked better, match in and match out, than Federer so far. He has won 67 of his 69 service games, saving 9 of 11 break points. Only one opponent, 29th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round, managed to break Federer.

Only once before, at the 2011 U.S. Open, has he dropped as few as 44 games on the way to a major's semifinals without getting the benefit of a retirement or walkover.

And only once, at the 2007 Australian Open, has Federer won a Grand Slam title without losing a set.

Now he takes on Wawrinka for the 20th time. Federer is 16-3; all of Wawrinka's head-to-head victories came on red clay, including in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros this year.

"I will, for sure, need to play my best tennis," Wawrinka said about facing Federer. "He's playing really well so far. He loves to play. He knows how to play. ... It's going to be a big challenge. I think I'm ready."

At least he's beaten his semifinal opponent. Cilic has lost every match against Djokovic, 13 in all.

"I'm sure he's not going to start coming to the net after every ball, but I'm sure he's going to try to be aggressive, going to try to take his chances. That's how he won last year's U.S. Open," Djokovic said. "I watched him play. He played great. Best tennis of his life. This is where he loves playing."

Here's what else to watch Friday at the U.S. Open:

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS

Serena Williams' bid for tennis' first calendar-year Grand Slam since 1988 resumes Friday, when she plays 43rd-ranked Roberta Vinci of Italy in the semifinals. No. 2 Simona Halep faces No. 26 Flavia Pennetta in the other semifinal. Both matches were originally scheduled for Thursday night, but were postponed hours ahead of time because of rain in the forecast. Showers did eventually arrive, a little more than an hour before Williams and Vinci were supposed to begin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Roger Federer’s new tactic could be difference vs. Stan Wawrinka

If possible, Roger Federer’s tennis is more entertaining now than during his heyday when he won five straight U.S. Opens. In an era when approaching the net is considered passe, here comes the 34-year-old Swiss Maestro, doing it better than ever.

Federer is trying to get back to his first Open final since 2009 and doing it his way — “the SABR’’ one of his inventions that could unlock the door.

Federer faces fifth-seeded Swiss countryman Stan Warwinka in a semifinal moved to smack in the middle of prime time because of the women’s semifinal postponement Thursday. Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, looking for his third major of 2015, will face defending Open champion/afterthought Marin Cilic in the first semifinal at 5 p.m., followed by the All-Swiss affair.

When notching most of his record 17 majors, Federer lessened his net work, letting his baseline game do the damage. He has tried to reinvent himself, going back to his net-loving junior days as he bears down on his first major since 2012.

“I think I’ve worked on my game moving forward, taking the ball earlier,’’ Federer said. “I think I’m volleying better than I have in the last 10 years. I was volleying well coming up on the tour when I was young. Now because my serve is working quite well, you put those two things together and standing in on the [service] return, it has changed the dynamics.’’

Federer came into the Open on a roll and with a new shot — rushing to the service line to take early an opponent’s delivery and following it to the net. His exquisite play in winning in Cincinnati and downing Djokovic, who beat him in the Wimbledon finals, had many predicting a sixth Open title.

Federer already was envisioning a new silver trophy, suggesting to tournament officials the past winners should be engraved on each new chalice.

“I love tennis history and I like to see who has won in the past,’’ Federer said. “I would like to have another one.’’

Federer traces a rebirth to finally mastering the change to a larger racket frame he made more than a year ago. He found himself hitting his backhand more cleanly.

“I think I’m taking the right decisions at the right times,’’ Federer said. “I think the racket is helping me, easier power. Now having played with it for over 1 ½ years, I feel like I’m really finding the zones, where to hit them. I can place it more accurately right now than I ever could.’’

The late-blooming Wawrinka, who has as many major titles as Andy Murray (two), beat Federer at the French Open and knows his buddies’ game well. Wawrinka’s girlfriend, Donna Vekic, in the middle for the Nick Kyrgios controversy, has attended Wawrinka’s matches. But she may not be rooting for a winner, considering Federer’s 16-3 record against her boyfriend.

“It took him a while to figure out exactly what his possibilities are,’’ Federer said. “I don’t think he’s a guy who had enough confidence. He definitely is a big test and big challenge for me. Subconsciously you know [that] he knows what your preferences are.’’

In the undercard, Cilic takes a 12-match Open winning streak into the Djokovic showdown but has never beaten the Serbian (0-13), including a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat in July at Wimbledon. Cilic, from Croatia, is a heavy underdog.

“It’s the toughest matchup,’’ Cilic said. “I had close matches last few years, but I haven’t found the right formula to win.’’

But they haven’t met at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“This is where he loves playing,’’ Djokovic said. “He loves the conditions on Arthur Ashe. I’m going to try to use that advantage and having success against him in the past and to my favor.’’