Federer wins Toronto Masters

Toronto:

Roger Federer won his eighth title of the season on Sunday, beating Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Toronto Masters Series in Canada. Federer was looking for his seventh win in eight matches against Roddick, who he beat in this year's Wimbledon final. The tournament top seed was also hoping to celebrate the Swiss national holiday by clinching his eight title of the season in front of 12,000 spectators at the sold out Rexall Centre. Roddick had defeated Federer at the semi-final stage of the Toronto Masters Series in 2003 before going on to win the title, and his precision ground strokes made life difficult for Federer this time around. However, number two seed Roddick couldn't dictate play against the world number one - Federer hitting measured passing shots on the way to taking the first set 7-5 with a break of serve in the 12th game. It was only the second time in this year's tournament that Roddick had conceded a break. Federer then led 2-1 on serve in the second set before Roddick received treatment to his lower back. Defending champion Roddick seemed to raise his game after this short break though and held serve for 2-2. But the American could to nothing to stop his opponent from gaining a crucial break in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead, and Federer was four points away from his eighth title of the season. Roddick may well be his nearest rival in terms of results, but Federer is clearly the best player in the world at the moment and he looked in top form on the way to a 7-5, 6-3 victory. The win was Federer's 23rd in a row and he holds the longest winning streak since Pete Sampras won 24 consecutive matches in 1999. "Well, it was very good, but Andy had his chances and he didn't take them. I came up with some good shots at the right time and I guess that was a good part about my game today. I had a gameplan, which worked out perfect and I'm very pleased," said Federer. The straight sets win makes Federer the first player since Bjorn Borg to win three successive titles on three different surfaces. (AP)