Federer beats Gonzalez for 10th Grand Slam title

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Roger Federer captured his 10th Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set, finishing a dominating run through the Australian Open by beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's final.\nFederer improved his winning streak to a career-best 36 matches, became the first man in the Open era to twice win three straight majors, and has won six of the last seven Grand Slam titles -- his only loss was in the French Open final to Rafael Nadal.\nIt also was the first time that a champion went through a major without dropping a set since the 1980 French Open, when Bjorn Borg did it for the third time. Ken Rosewall, who was sitting in the stands, was the last man to accomplish the feat at the Australian Open in 1971.\nBy reaching the final, Federer already had tied Jack Crawford's record of playing in seven consecutive finals at the majors, set in 1934.\nThe 25-year-old Federer now is within four of Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam titles.\n"I don't know how I did it so quickly, in such a short period of time," Federer said.\nNext up is the French Open, the only major he hasn't won.\n"That's such a tough Grand Slam to win," Federer said. "I am improving year by year on clay and maybe one year (Nadal) won't be in the final. If he is, maybe I can beat him."\nWhile Federer made his two-week blitz look easy, he said a lot of work went into it.\n"It all works out in the end. It is just wonderful. I have had a great run here again this year," he told a crowd that included his parents, who sat courtside after flying in to watch him for the first time in Australia. "I am very proud to be holding this trophy again."\nGonzalez, who fell to 0-10 against Federer, said the Swiss star was simply too good.\n"I have to congratulate again -- again -- Roger," the 26-year-old Chilean said. "He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week -- almost all his life."\nFederer said he had thought about a different strategy against Gonzalez, then recalled his past success.\n"In the end I said, you know what, I've beaten him nine times, so just take it easy and play your game, and hopefully it is going to work out," he said. "It did."\nGonzalez, seeded 10th and in his first Grand Slam final, kept Federer under pressure with his big forehand, but could not quite match the all-around game of the player who has been ranked No. 1 for 156 consecutive weeks.