Ronaldo winning again-

Ap, Sao Paulo

Four months into his remarkable return to soccer, Ronaldo is getting used to winning titles again.

The veteran striker helped Corinthians clinch the Brazilian Cup on Wednesday, lifting his second trophy in a row since recovering from the third serious knee injury of his career.

Ronaldo already won the traditional Sao Paulo state title with Corinthians in May, and Wednesday's win caps off the striker's successful comeback to competitive soccer.

“I have to be thankful. My return to football has really been fantastic,” Ronaldo said. “I couldn't imagine things would happen like this.”

Although he is yet to reach the form that made him a three-time world player of the year, Ronaldo has been key for Corinthians since debuting with the popular Brazilian club in March.

He has scored 11 goals, including decisive ones in the final of the Sao Paulo state championship and in the first leg of the Brazilian Cup final two weeks ago in Sao Paulo, when Corinthians won 2-0. Ronaldo didn't score Wednesday in the 2-2 draw in Porto Alegre, but set up the team's second goal.

“It was a great final,” Ronaldo said. “This group showed a lot of strength, it deserved this title.”

The victory adds another trophy to Ronaldo's long list of triumphs, which include the 1994 and 2002 World Cups with Brazil. He also was successful at club level in Europe, winning trophies with PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

Wednesday's victory also gave Corinthians a berth in next year's Copa Libertadores, Latin America's most important club competition and the team's main objective for next year. It could end up helping persuade Ronaldo to extend his contract with the club past the end of 2009.

“Lets see how it goes, but the tendency is to stay, I think we are headed that way,” Ronaldo said.

Corinthians president Andre Sanches said it's likely the 32-year-old star will remain at the club for 2010.

“Everything is going as planned,” Sanches said. “So automatically, we are halfway through to adding another year to his contract. Ronaldo is happy to be playing with Corinthians and we are happy to have him here.”

Ronaldo signed with Corinthians in December 2008 despite doubts he would never recover from the knee injury he sustained with AC Milan in February of that year.

Ronaldo and Corinthians will return their focus to the Brazilian league, in which the team is sixth in the 20-team standings with 11 points from eight matches. Corinthians is trying to win its fifth Brazilian league title

Wimbledon Championship 'Serena is like Roddick'

Afp, London

Beaten Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Dementieva on Thursday compared the brutal serving power of Serena Williams to facing Andy Roddick, the fastest server in the men's game.

The Russian fourth seed lost an epic semi-final, the longest in the history of the women's tournament, 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 to the two-time champion and wasted a match point in the 10th game of the decider.

"It's not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion and she served so well that I wasn't sure if I was facing Serena Williams or Andy Roddick out there," said Dementieva, who lost to Venus Williams at the same stage in 2008.

"Her first serve percentage was huge, she was serving around 120mph."

Olympic champion Dementieva, whose best Grand Slam performances remain runners-up spots at the 2004 French and US Opens, said she regretted her choice of shot on match point when she led 5-4 in the final set.

With Williams approaching the net, the Russian went cross-court, rather than down the line, and the American gleefully accepted her opportunity with a simple saving backhand.

"That's my only regret. I should have taken more of a risk by going down the line," said the 27-year-old.

"A passing shot is my favourite shot to make. Maybe it was all too quick. I didn't see that she was moving to cover the cross-court. I should have gone down the line or even used a lob."

Serena, who will now face sister Venus in Saturday's final for the fourth time at Wimbledon and the eighth occasion in Grand Slams, admitted her serve was key to her escaping to victory.

She fired down 20 aces in the match, a statistic which made up for a host of unforced errors on her forehand.

"I owe it all to my serve. I was hitting aces on key points and to serve so well is very exciting," said the 2002 and 2003 champion.

"It was one of my most dramatic victories. I was down for pretty much the whole match so to come through was a great feeling.

"The only problem was my forehand didn't show up. I think she went to Hawaii."

Williams also praised Dementieva whose service game has radically improved in recent seasons.

"She didn't give me an inch. She played at 100 per cent," said the American.

"I have never seen her serve so well in my life. She was serving at 90mph, the low 100s, and to keep it up consistently is not easy."

Wimbledon Championship Federer on the cusp of history

Afp, London

Roger Federer reached a record 20th Grand Slam final and a seventh straight Wimbledon title match with a 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over German veteran Tommy Haas in the semifinals on Friday.

Five-time Wimbledon champion Federer, who is chasing a record 15th Grand Slam crown, now tackles either Britain's Andy Murray or Andy Roddick of the United States in Sunday's final.

Watched by Grand Slam greats Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver, comfortably installed in the Royal Box, the world number two put on a magnificent show of serving against the German 31-year-old, not giving up a single break point.

"Tommy played great so I knew that there was a danger. I'm happy with my performance and it's unbelievable to be in another final," said Federer.

"I have had a lot of pressure over the years but I am looking forward to another great match and a chance to get into the history books."

Federer said he was looking ahead to the challenge of the final.

"I have had great matches with Roddick. You can never underestimate him with that serve," he said.

"Murray's at home. My record against him is not that good. He's shown over the last 18 months that he can be a Grand Slam contender."

The opening set on Friday was dominated by serve, but the Swiss second seed was the strongest in the tiebreak.

He went to three set points when Haas unleashed a loose forehand with the world number two wrapping up the set when the German, stranded behind the baseline, pushed a backhand into the net.

It was the dream start for the five-time champion after the nightmare beginning he suffered against the same opponent at the French Open last month when he had to recover from losing the first two sets in the fourth round.

Former world number two Haas, playing in his first Wimbledon semifinal, had to save a set point, which was also the first break point of the match, at 4-5 in the second set.

But the Swiss broke through in the 12th game for a two-sets lead when another Haas forehand went long.

Haas cracked for the last time in the eighth game of the third set when he netted an easy approach having saved four break points.

Federer then wrapped up the semifinal in just over two hours on his first match point with a spectacular, athletic smash.

In Friday's second semifinal, third seed Murray will be looking to become the first British men's finalist since Bunny Austin in 1938. Fred Perry was the last British men's champion in 1936.

Roddick, the sixth seed and 2003 US Open winner, was runner-up here in 2004 and 2005, losing both finals to Federer.