NBey6's Blog

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Cards working on McGwire appearance

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ESPN.com news services

The St. Louis Cardinals are still figuring out how hitting coach Mark McGwire will eventually meet with the media and whether he will end his long silence on questions about his alleged connection to performance-enhancing drugs.

 

General manager John Mozeliak said the team is still in the planning stages of working out how it will formally re-introduce McGwire to Cardinals fans and the media. McGwire did not attend a news conference to announce his hiring late last month.

 

“ It's not something we're ignoring or hoping will go away. ” -- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak

 

"There is going to be a wide range of what people are hoping to hear. For me personally, we're not there yet as far as what it's going to look like," Mozeliak told reporters. "Hopefully in the next week or so we can work through that."

 

McGwire has remained out of the public eye since a 2005 congressional hearing on steroids, at which he famously refused to answer questions about steroid use, saying he wasn't there to talk about the past. Former Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco claimed McGwire had used steroids in his book "Juiced," and former federal investigators who led the Operation Equine probe have said they had information linking McGwire to steroids.

 

The Cardinals know the issue is there and that it won't disappear on its own, Mozeliak said, according to the report. "Clearly my energy is focused on players and looking at how to improve our 2010 team. Understanding that, the McGwire situation has to be recognized," Mozeliak said. "I don't have a timetable yet on when we're going to do things or how we're going to do them. But it's not something we're ignoring or hoping will go away."

 

The Cardinals hired McGwire as hitting coach last month, as manager Tony La Russa finally convinced the ex-slugger to end his self-imposed exile from organized baseball. While McGwire had privately worked with major-league hitters including Matt Holliday during the offseason, he had declined previous invites from La Russa to attend spring training as a hitting instructor.

 

Mozeliak said he has not approached McGwire about a media appearance, but hopes to do so with cooperation from La Russa. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there is some desire within the organization that McGwire make himself available before the holidays to try and put the issue to rest.

 

A number of commentators, noting how stars including Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte met with the media after their connections to performance-enhancing drugs became public, have suggested that McGwire would be welcomed back -- and make major strides in restoring his image -- if he followed a similar path of public acknowledgement and apology.

 

"I think it does matter" that McGwire make himself available, Mozeliak said. "I just don't want to paint myself in the corner today on this topic. There are still some things I'm trying to learn and to understand."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Sosa: Cream has bleached skin

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By Enrique Rojas
ESPNDeportes.com

 

ORLANDO -- Sammy Sosa says he is not trying to look like the late Michael Jackson, nor is he suffering from a skin infection. He also says the change in the color of his skin is not a byproduct of his alleged steroid use.

 

Speaking publicly for the first time since photos of him from a recent musical award ceremony were published on the Internet, Sosa said that the skin lightening is the result of the use of a facial cosmetic cream.

 

"It's a bleaching cream that I apply before going to bed and whitens my skin some," said the former slugger during the "Primer Impacto" program at the Univision Spanish network.

 

"It's a cream that I have, that I use to soften [my skin], but has bleached me some. I'm not a racist, I live my life happily," said a smiling Sosa during the interview.

 

The photo that has caused such turmoil was taken during the Grammy Latino Awards ceremony held last week at Las Vegas. It showed an extremely pale, smiling Sosa accompanied by his wife Sonia.

 

The photo, distributed very quickly throughout Spanish- and English-language Web sites, caused speculation that Sosa was sick and quickly found its way to gossip-related sites.

 

 

Some wondered if Sosa had undergone surgery to whiten and soften his facial expressions, and others thought it was a result of his alleged steroid use.

 

Rebecca Polihronis, a former Chicago Cubs employee who keeps in touch with Sosa, said in a Chicago Tribune interview that Sosa had undergone a skin rejuvenation treatment, something very common among women.

 

"What happened was that I had been using the cream for a long time and that, combined with the bright TV lights, made my face look whiter than it really is. I don't think I look like Michael Jackson," Sosa said.

 

"I'm going to market it, I'm a businessman," Sosa joked about the mysterious cream, about which he revealed only that it was bought in Europe.

 

Sosa plans to celebrate his 41st birthday with a big party next week in Miami.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Safin: Agassi should relinquish titles

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Associated Press

PARIS -- Former No. 1-ranked Marat Safin believes that Andre Agassi should give his tennis titles back after confessing he tested positive for a banned substance during his career and lied about it to the ATP.

 

If he is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end. You know, the ATP has a bank account and he can give the money back if he wants.

 

Agassi admitted in his autobiography "Open" that he used crystal meth in 1997 and failed a drug test, a result he says was thrown out after he lied by saying he "unwittingly" took the substance.

 

Safin, who plans to retire this month, said in an interview with L'Equipe newspaper on Tuesday that Agassi should "give his titles, his money and his Grand Slam titles" back.

 

"I'm not defending the ATP, but what he said put it in a delicate position," Safin said. "The ATP allowed him to win a lot of tournaments, a lot of money. It kept his secret. Why does he need to be so cruel with it?"

 

Agassi, who retired in 2006, won 60 titles, including eight Grand Slams, during his career. He recently told The Associated Press that he had to speak about his lies because he couldn't live with it anymore.

 

"If he is as fair play as he says he is, he has to go to the end," Safin said. "You know, the ATP has a bank account and he can give the money back if he wants."

 

Safin, who will retire after this week's Paris Masters, won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open. The 29-year-old Russian said he isn't going to write his autobiography when his career will be over.

 

"Me, I don't need money," he said. "The question is: Why did he do this? What is done is done. Does he hope to sell more books? It's absolutely stupid."

Brazil blackouts hit up to 60M, spur Olympic fears

By BRADLEY BROOKS, Associated Press Writer

43 mins ago

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil emerged Wednesday from a widespread power outage that plunged as many as 60 million people into darkness for hours, prompting security fears and concern from residents about another black eye for a country hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.

Power went out for more than two hours in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and several other major cities after transmission problems knocked one of the world's biggest hydroelectric dams offline. Airport operations were hindered and subways ground to a halt.

A group of muggers took advantage of the darkness to rob people en masse near Rio's Maracana stadium, which will host the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies. But overall, police said, crime did not rise in Rio and fell in Sao Paulo during the outage.

All of neighboring Paraguay also went dark, but for less than a half hour. A spokesman at Brazil's Energy Ministry said up to 60 million people — nearly a third of the nation's population — were affected by the blackout. He spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Brazilian authorities blamed storms that took down power lines and towers, causing a domino effect that rippled across the region.

Lights twinkled back on along Rio's Copacabana beach, in South America's largest city of Sao Paulo and in Paraguay's sleepy capital of Asuncion. But some traffic lights were still out in both Rio and Sao Paulo and traffic officials were expecting drivers to face difficulties the rest of the day, according to local media.

In Rio, Governor Sergio Cabral sent an elite police unit into the streets early Wednesday to help maintain calm in a city known for its crime. The mayor dispatched 300 extra unarmed civil guards to help control traffic.

The city saw a series of robberies around the Maracana football stadium — where the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics will be held, along with the 2014 World Cup final. A police spokesman said a band of roughly a dozen criminals worked the area together, robbing people en masse — a crime phenomenon so routine it is known as a "big sweep."

A Rio police statement said there was no increase in crime, though it did not give figures. In Sao Paulo, military police said they handled fewer incidents than usual.

Questions remained about what happened and what the fallout would be in Brazil, a nation seen as an ascending economic and political power.

"The image of Brazil, of Rio, is bad enough with all the violence," said 35-year-old graphic designer Paulo Viera, as he sat in a restaurant a block from the sandy arc of Copacabana.

Standing in an open-air restaurant where patrons were drinking quickly warming beer, Viera said he worried about how the outage might look for a city that last month was picked to host the Olympics and will be the showcase city for soccer's World Cup in 2014. "We don't need this to happen. I don't know how it could get worse."

The blackout comes on the heels of a wave of gang fighting in Rio's slums that led to violence fears ahead of the games.

"It's sad to see such a beautiful city with such a precarious infrastructure," 22-year-old law student Igor Fernandes said. "This shouldn't happen in a city that is going to host the Olympic Games."

The outage occurred when the huge Itaipu dam straddling the Brazilian-Paraguay border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said. His ministry said in a statement that outages hit 18 of the 27 states in this country of more than 190 million people. No power outages happened in Brasilia, the national capital.

Jorge Miguel Samek, the head of Itaipu Binacional, the agency in charge of the dam, said there was a "99 percent chance the blackout happened because of a storm."

"There was no problem with generating electricity, but a problem with "lightning or a storm that took down some towers," he said.

In a Wednesday statement, the agency said that despite the fact it never stopped functioning, "there was no possibility of transmitting energy because the transmission lines that connect Itaipu to the Brazilian system were disconnected."

Lobao also said the hydro plant at the dam itself was working, but there were problems with the power lines that carry electricity across Brazil. Brazil uses almost all the energy produced by the dam, and Paraguay consumes the rest. About 80 percent of Brazil's energy comes from hydroelectric power.

In Paraguay, the national energy agency blamed the blackout on a short-circuit at an electrical station near Sao Paulo, saying that failure shut down the entire power grid supplied by Itaipu. All of Paraguay went dark for about 20 minutes, ABC Color newspaper reported.

The blackouts came two days after CBS's "60 Minutes" news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by computer hackers. Brazilian officials had played down the report before the latest outages, and Lobao did not mention it.

Brazil's official Agencia Brasil news agency said Tuesday's outage started about 10:20 p.m. (1220 GMT; 7:20 a.m. EDT), turning Rio's normally chaotic traffic riotous.

Cars, taxis and buses sped through dark intersections, honking to make their presence known. Pedestrians scampered across avenues, and tourists scurried back to a handful of luxury beach hotels, the only buildings with light.

The Itaipu dam is the world's second biggest hydroelectric producer, supplying 20 percent of Brazil's electricity. China's Three Gorges dam is the largest.

Silent DC sniper mastermind Muhammad executed

By Dena Potter, Associated Press Writer

27 mins ago

  JARRATT, Va. – Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed, taking to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.

The 48-year-old died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched from behind glass, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond.

Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

He never testified or explained why he masterminded the shootings with the help of a teenage accomplice. That left questions unanswered about why he methodically hunted people going about their daily chores, why he chose his victims, including a middle schooler on his way to class, and how many victims there were.

Muhammad stepped into Virginia's death chamber and within seconds was lying on a gurney, tapping his left foot, his arms spread wide with a needle dug into each.

"Mr. Muhammad, do you have any last words?" the warden asked. Muhammad, looking calm and stoic, said nothing.

Meyers' brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and "surreal." He said other witnesses expressed a range of feelings, including some who were overcome with emotion.

"I would have liked him at some point in the process to take responsibility, to show remorse," Meyers said. "We didn't get any of that tonight."

After the first of the three-drug lethal tail was administered, Muhammad blinked repeatedly and took about seven deep breaths. Within a minute, he was motionless.

Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad.

"I feel better. I think I can breathe better," he said. "I'm glad he's gone because he's not going to hurt anyone else."

J. Wyndal Gordon, one of Muhammad's attorneys, described his client in his final hours as fearless and still insisting he was innocent.

"He will die with dignity — dignity to the point of defiance," Gordon said before going inside to watch the execution.

The terror ended on Oct. 24, 2002, when police captured Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo while they slept at a Maryland rest stop in a car they had outfitted for a shooter to perch in its trunk without being detected.

Malvo, who was 17 when carrying out the attacks, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing Linda Franklin, a 47-year-old FBI analyst who was shot as she and her husband loaded supplies at a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va.

The men also were suspected of fatal shootings in other states, including Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Muhammad's final appeal Monday, and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied clemency Tuesday.

Muhammad's attorneys had asked Kaine to commute his sentence to life in prison because they said Muhammad was severely mentally ill.

"I think crimes that are this horrible, you just can't understand them, you can't explain them," said Kaine, a Democrat known for carefully considering death penalty cases.

A small group of death penalty opponents gathered on a grassy area near the prison and had a sign reading, "We remember the victims, but not with more killing."

Muhammad was born John Allen Williams and changed his name after converting to Islam. He had been in and out of the military since he graduated from high school in Louisiana and entered the National Guard. He joined the Army in 1985. He did not take special sniper training but earned an expert rating in the M-16 rifle — the military cousin of the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the D.C.-area shootings.

The motive for the attacks remains murky. Malvo said Muhammad wanted to extort $10 million from the government to set up a camp in Canada where homeless children would be trained as terrorists. Muhammad's ex-wife said she believes they were a smoke screen for his plan to kill her and regain custody of their three children.

Sonia Hollingsworth-Wills, the mother of Conrad Johnson, the last man slain that October, sat in the back seat of a car outside the prison before the execution, which she chose not to witness. But she said she wanted to be there and was counting the minutes until Muhammad's death.

"It was the most horrifying day of my life," she said. "I'll never get complete closure but at least I can put this behind me."

Cheryll Witz, who's father, Jerry Taylor, was fatally shot on a Tucson, Ariz., golf course in March 2002, said she was unhappy that Muhammad didn't say anything before he died. But she said his execution begins a new chapter in her life.

"I've waited seven long years for this," she said. "My life is totally beginning now. I have all my closure, and my justice and my peace."

Midday 11-11-09 Evening

** until 11-14-09 **

016  025  029  034  038  047  056  079  124  128  137  146  169  178  236  245  259  268  349  358  367  389  457  479  569  578  002  007  011  115  119  223  227  133  335  344  448  155  556  466  668  277  677  088  488  889  299  799

Midday 11-11-09 Evening

** until 11-14-09 **

750, 751, 752, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, 758, 759

300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309

960, 961, 962, 963, 964, 965, 966, 967, 968, 969

600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607, 608, 609

Midday 11-11-09 Evening

** until 11-14-09 **

430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439

970, 971, 972, 973, 974, 975, 976, 977, 978, 979

000, 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007, 008, 009

"How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world."

- William Shakespeare -

Chiefs release troubled running back Larry Johnson

• By DOUG TUCKER, AP Sports Writer 
•   1 hr 26 mins ago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Given good blocking and a fresh start, Larry Johnson might still be the power-running Pro Bowler who had back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons for Kansas City. Are you listening, Seattle? What do you think, Indianapolis? Or he might be a declining malcontent who'll only cost money and cause trouble.

To that, every coach and general manager in the NFL is listening. The Chiefs released the controversy-plagued Johnson on Monday, the day he was due back from his second suspension in the past 12 months.

On his Twitter account two weeks ago, Johnson had questioned coach Todd Haley's competence, insulted followers and used a gay slur. He repeated the gay slur the next day to reporters and was suspended for two weeks.

In spite of Johnson's baggage and his age — he turns 30 on Nov. 19 — any team with a faltering running game might be tempted to take a chance. The Seahawks' running game ranks 30th and lead back Julius Jones has been sputtering. Just last week, they released backup Edgerrin James.

The Colts' running game has also stalled. But Indianapolis might be more interested in filling holes in the secondary, and the Colts have Donald Brown, a rookie running back they feel will be capable of big things.

Johnson was only 75 yards away from breaking Priest Holmes' team rushing record, and his agent said he greeted his release with mixed feelings.

"A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful," Peter Schaffer told The Associated Press. "There's a lot of feelings going on right now. It's analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens."

If anyone figures he can recapture the power, quickness and durability that made him one of the best backs in the league in 2005 and '06, Johnson is sure to be snapped up. But since rushing for a team-record 1,789 yards on an NFL-record 416 carries in 2006, he's never been quite the same.

Running behind a poor line for the Chiefs (1-7), he has averaged only 2.7 yards a carry this season.

"He's a very good back," said running back Kolby Smith, one of Johnson's closest friends on the Chiefs. "He's a two-time Pro Bowler and he was only 75 yards rushing away from holding the all-time record here. I know teams will look at that. They've seen what he's done in the past and I think someone will pick him up."

If they do, they'll embrace a player who has been suspended twice and issued two public apologies in the past year.

In 2008, then-coach Herm Edwards benched him for three straight games for violating team rules. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him a fourth game for violating the league's player conduct policy.

Johnson was later sentenced to two years' probation after pleading guilty to two counts of disturbing the peace. One woman accused him of throwing a drink on her and another said he had pushed her head at a Kansas City night spot.

A judge suspended the sentence and said he would remove the guilty plea from the public record if Johnson has no further legal problems during probation.

After his huge year in 2006, Johnson stayed away from training camp, demanding more money and he got it, a six-year deal worth $45 million, including $19 million guaranteed.

But not in shape and hampered by a foot injury, he wound up with only 559 yards and three touchdowns. In 2008, he ran for 874 yards as the Chiefs sank to 2-14 and fired Edwards and general manager Carl Peterson.

Getting benched for three games last year and suspended by the league for one cost him big. And this year he lost another $315,000 for the gay slurs and tweeting. Last week, an online fan petition was started asking the Chiefs not to let Johnson become the team's all-time leading rusher — a record Smith said Johnson had been looking forward to.

"He wanted to get the record, I know that," he said. "Whenever someone has a chance to break a record, it means a lot to them."

Johnson winds up his Chiefs career with 5,996 yards rushing and 55 touchdowns. He also caught 151 passes for 1,369 yards and six TDs.

"Public opinion in this country is everything."

- Abraham Lincoln -

Monday 11-9-09

462, 183, 836, 118, 380, 687, 633, 038

196, 579, 271, 277, 315, 956, 312, 460

718, 642, 173, 820, 310, 482, 260, 966

145, 702, 801, 576, 605, 774, 526, 531

8226, 5773, 6252, 7252, 6253

New career beckons Zenyatta Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form   11/8/2009

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Zenyatta looked bright and alert Sunday morning here at Hollywood Park, one day after her popular victory in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic across town at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting. "It's like she's saying, 'Want to run again? Let's do it,'" said her trainer, John Shirreffs. The Classic, though, was likely her last race, which Jerry Moss, who owns Zenyatta with his wife, Ann, alluded to at a post-race press conference Saturday night. "Where else do you go?" Shirreffs said Sunday. "Fourteen for fourteen and top it off with a win in the Breeders' Cup Classic. On the biggest stage in the world, she performs. Isn't it amazing that a horse with her running style is 14 for 14? She's always stepped up." Zenyatta, 5, returned to her base at Hollywood Park Saturday night, a few hours after her last-to-first rush in the Classic. On Sunday morning, Zenyatta walked the shed row with groom Mario Espinoza for one hour, then was taken outside in order to graze on a small patch of grass adjacent to Shirreffs's barn. "She's not tired," Shirreffs said. "I'm pretty numb. It was an emotional roller-coaster. Adrenaline can carry you a long time." Shirreffs said Zenyatta would remain at his barn for several weeks before going to Kentucky to be bred. "She needs to be let down," he said. He said her sweet disposition would make her "a great mother." "But I feel sorry for the foal," he said. "How's he going to keep up with her?" No decision has been made as to which stallion Zenyatta will be bred. Shirreffs said Zenyatta's retirement is more than a big hole in his barn. "It's a big hole for racing, not just my barn," he said. "You saw the crowd." Indeed, the crowd was squarely behind Zenyatta even before the race, but especially so after witnessing her dramatic rally under jockey Mike Smith. "She plays to the crowd and she just loves winning," Shirreffs said. "She walks with her neck out, stretches. Wasn't that crowd amazing? In so many different situations: When she came into the paddock, when she came out of the tunnel. Mike stopped her at the three-sixteenths pole during the post parade, and I could hear the people yelling down there. "There are so many people that really love her and celebrate her," he said. "It was just an exciting moment. I'm just glad I was Zenyatta's trainer."

Life Is Sweet comes into her own Jay Privman, Daily Racing Form   11/6/2009

ARCADIA, Calif. - Life Is Sweet had raced in the long shadow cast by her stablemate Zenyatta, for much of 2009. Zenyatta had won the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic last year, but the decision to run Zenyatta on Saturday against males in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic allowed Life Is Sweet to emerge from that shadow. She rallied from last in the field of eight to win the Ladies' Classic, which capped the first of two days of racing for the 26th Breeders' Cup before a crowd of 37,651 on Friday at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting. Life Is Sweet ($18.20) was given a patient ride by Garrett Gomez, who paid no attention to the wicked fractions set by front-runner Careless Jewel, the 9-5 favorite. Life Is Sweet swooped the field while widest coming off the turn, and drew off to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Mushka finished second, one length in front of third-place Music Note. Proviso, Rainbow View, Cocoa Beach, Lethal Heat, and Careless Jewel completed the order of finish. Careless Jewel faded to last - beaten by 18 1/2 lengths - after setting fractions of 23.50 seconds for the opening quarter-mile, 45.78 for a half-mile, and 1:09.74 for six furlongs. She was quite agitated coming on the track for the post parade, which has been a habit in the past. Life Is Sweet completed 1 1/8 miles on Pro-Ride in 1:48.58. "She's a very good filly, and I'm glad everybody got to see that today," said John Shirreffs, who trains Life Is Sweet and Zenyatta. Life Is Sweet, 4, was bred and is owned by Marty and Pam Wygod. The Wygods also bred and owned Life Is Sweet's full sister, Sweet Catomine, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2004 at Lone Star Park. Both are by Storm Cat and are out of the Kris S. mare Sweet Life. Life Is Sweet was winning for the sixth time in 15 starts. She has been particulary effective at Santa Anita. She is 4 for 5 here, her only loss coming when she ran fourth to Zenyatta in last month's Lady's Secret Stakes. Life Is Sweet was turned over to Shirreffs toward the end of last year after first racing on the East Coast with trainer Bill Mott. She began this year with three straight victories in stakes races at Santa Anita: the El Encino, La Canada, and Santa Margarita. But then Life Is Sweet lost her next four starts, three when meeting Zenyatta, the other when facing males in the Hollywood Gold Cup, in which she finished a good third. Asked if the victory by Life Is Sweet bode well for Zenyatta in the Classic, Shirreffs refused to compare the two, putting Zenyatta on her own pedestal. "Zenyatta," he said, "is Zenyatta."

Sunday, November 8, 2009
Federer denied 4th Basel title in row

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Associated Press

BASEL, Switzerland -- Top-ranked Roger Federer lost his hometown tournament on Sunday, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to Novak Djokovic in the Swiss Indoors final.

 

Djokovic earned his fourth title of the season with a victory that ended Federer's run of three straight titles at the tournament where he was once a ballboy.

 

"It's disappointing to lose at home in the finals, no doubt," Federer said. "I thought I missed plenty of opportunities. I'm not looking for excuses. He played tough and he played well when he had to, and saved a ton of break points that were crucial."

 

Djokovic improved to 3-2 this year against Federer, and said the top-ranked Swiss pushed him to his limits.

 

"I have to produce something special to win," Djokovic said at sold-out St. Jakobshalle.

 

The second-seeded Serb clinched the first set by saving five break points in a game that lasted 24 minutes.

 

 

"It may be the longest I have ever played in my life," Djokovic said. "It was maybe the turning point in the whole match. I was fortunate to keep my nerves."

 

Federer fought back from a break down to win the second set and rouse his partisan fans, but Djokovic raced to a 4-0 lead in the decider and closed out the victory after Federer wasted three break points in the sixth game.

 

It was a tour-leading 71st win this year for Djokovic, who improved to 4-5 in finals in 2009. His other title wins were at Dubai, his home event at Belgrade, and Beijing last month.

 

Federer is 59-9 this year after losing only his third match since May.

 

The first set went with serve, until Federer was broken for the first time in the tournament to trail 5-4. Then came that tense, error-strewn game that featured 11 deuces before Djokovic took his seventh set-point chance.

 

Federer dropped serve again to open the second set, sending another forehand into the net. But he won his next service game, then broke his opponent for the first time when a drop shot grazed the net cord before falling in play.

 

He broke Djokovic's serve again to win the set when the 22-year-old Serb sent a forehand into the net. Djokovic rallied immediately in the decider, Federer dropping two straight service games for the second time in the match.

 

Trailing 4-1, Federer held three break points at 0-40 but was let down again by his groundstrokes as Djokovic reeled off five straight points. Djokovic needed just one match point to clinch, as Federer mistimed a backhand from the baseline.