Andy Murray Wins 30th Title; WTA, Players Condemn Russian Tennis Head For “Sexist, Racist” Remarks - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Marin Cilic beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4 to win the men’s singles at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow in Moscow, Russia

Tomas Berdych beat Grigor Dimitrov 5-7 6-4 6-4 to win the If Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden

Andy Murray beat David Ferrer 5-7 6-2 7-5 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4 5-7 6-1 to win the Kremlin Cup women’s singles in Moscow, Russia

Annika Beck beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 6-1 to win the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open in Luxembourg

SENIOR TOUR

Goran Ivanisevic beat Ivan Lendl 6-4 6-4 to win the Grand Sfida in Milan, Italy

SAYING

“It’s just the best possible way to end the season. It was a really tough match. I just couldn’t have lost at home.” – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, following her victory in the Kremlin Cup title match in Moscow.

“It’s an amazing feeling to win my first WTA title. I played the final last year and I said I’d do anything to win the title this year, and it’s an unbelievable feeling to actually do it.” – Annika Beck, after winning her first WTA title at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.

“I’m sad today, but overall it was a great, great week. … I had my chances today. Unfortunately I couldn’t take them, but this is sport.” – Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, after losing in the Luxembourg Open final.

“I’m going to be motivated to do well. I’ve been winning a lot of matches indoors, which is for sure one of my favorite surfaces to play.” – Marin Cilic, after qualifying for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

“Andy Murray, in the important moments, he played better than me. He has one of the best returns of the tour.” – David Ferrer, following his loss to Murray in the Vienna final.

“It’s different today to what happened 14 years ago. I’m a different person now, a reformed character. I don’t throw my racquets anymore. But still, I wasn’t expecting to have to beg someone from the crowd to borrow their racquet.” – Goran Ivanisevic, who beat John McEnroe in a senior event after borrowing a racquet from a spectator after breaking strings in both of his own racquets.

“I don’t know where to start. I got totally outplayed. I’m disappointed because the crowd were really into it. I mean the guy didn’t really have his own racquet. I didn’t want to give him my racquet because he would have definitely beaten me badly with it and that would have looked really bad. So I pretended that I didn’t have any extra racquets. The whole situation was pretty embarrassing, but I suppose I’ve been in worse situations.” – John McEnroe, on losing to Goran Ivanisevic.

“It’s hard for me to talk about it. … The time has come. I have my whole life to live and I officially announce my retirement from professional tennis.” – Nikolay Davydenko.

“It’s been a while since I played here in Moscow. I think the last time was 2000 or 2002. Coming back here and playing with Flavia is great, and winning the title is the cherry on the cake.” – Martina Hingis, after teaming with Flavia Pennetta to win the doubles in Moscow.

“Every match is so tough that we try to win point by point and game by game. This is the result. We have to take it step by step.” – Frantisek Cermak, after he teamed with Jiri Vesely to win the Kremlin Cup doubles.

“Winning this title at home in Vienna is something very special that means a lot to me.” – Jurgen Melzer, who partnered with Philipp Petzschner to win the Erste Bank Open.

SINGAPORE QUOTES

“I don’t care who I play, to be perfectly honest with you. You can put me against anybody at this point, I’m ready.” – Serena Williams, concerning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

“I never looked too much at the rankings, but I totally stopped looking when I went down to number 18. I was like, ‘This is depressing. I don’t want to be down here.’ I just told myself, ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re number one or number 18, at the end of the day you have to compete with the same players.’” – Caroline Wozniacki.

“I’m very fortunate to be doing what I love. But also, it’s not something that’s going to last forever. Tennis has opened up so many doors and so many possibilities for myself. … Everyone has different dreams, but tennis is still my main focus right now.” – Ana Ivanovic.

“I’m much more relaxed on the court these days. I have a little bit more confidence, probably. From Wimbledon I showed that I can play great tennis again, and that’s really what I was missing for three years.” – Petra Kvitova.

SISTERS CALLED “BROTHERS”

After the head of the Russian Tennis Federation referred to sisters Serena and Venus Williams as “brothers,” the world’s top-ranked player said the remarks were bullying, sexist and racist. During a Russian talk show former Olympic singles champion Elena Dementieva was asked what it was like playing against the Williams sisters. Shamil Tarpischev, sitting alongside Dementieva, interjected and called the American sisters the “Williams brothers.” He also said that “it’s scary when you really look at them.” Asked later if he regretted his comments, Tarpischev said the program on which he spoke was “a humorous show.” The WTA disagreed, suspending Tarpischev for one year and fining him USD $25,000. “I think the WTA did a great job of taking (the) initiative and taking immediate action to his comments,” Serena Williams said. “I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time. I thought they were in a way bullying.” The WTA said it would also seek Tarpischev’s removal as chairman of the Kremlin Cup tournament, Russia’s only WTA event. The tournament also is part of the ATP World Tour. Tarpischev is also a member of the International Olympic Committee and, during the 1990s, was the personal tennis coach to Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Tarpischev later apologized, claiming his words had been misinterpreted. “Serena and Venus are without doubts outstanding athletes,” he said in a statement released by the Russian tennis federation. “They both perform tennis of top class and embody strength and persistence.” Tarpischev claimed his remarks were made in a joking fashion. “I’m sorry that the joke which was taken out of context and attracted so much attention,” he said. “I think this story does not deserve the attention it is receiving. Everything that I said on TV was said without a malicious intent.” Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who is ranked second in the world behind Serena Williams, criticized Tarpischev for his remarks. “I think they were disrespectful and uncalled for, and I’m glad that many people have up, including the WTA,” Sharapova said. “It was very inappropriate, especially in his position and all the responsibilities that he has, not just in sport but being part of the Olympic committee. It was just really irresponsible on his side.”

SEEKING LONDON BERTH

Having found the winning touch again, Andy Murray is making a bid for a spot in the season-ending Barclays ATP World Cup Finals. Murray rallied to defeat David Ferrer and capture the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria, his 30^th career title. It was his second tournament title in two months after a 14-month title drought. He became only the fifth active player to win 30 or more titles, joining Roger Federer (81), Rafael Nadal (64), Novak Djokovic (46) and Lleyton Hewitt (30). “I am proud of winning 30 tournaments, it’s nice,” Murray said. “When you start, that’s not something you really thing about. I won my first one when I was 18. I know how difficult it is to win tournaments, so I don’t take anything for granted.” The Scot dropped his first service game in the deciding set and was 5-3 down when he won the final four games, punctuating the end of the match with his ninth ace of the day. “It always feels god to win a tournament,” Murray said. “The third set, especially, was very back and forth, so mentally it was quite a tough match.”

The victory moved Murray into the eight sport in the race to the ATP World Tour Finals. “Whoever qualifies for the finals will deserve it,” said Murray, who is seeking to qualify for the season-ending event for the seventh straight year. Murray missed last season when he pulled out of the tournament following back surgery. Both Ferrer and Murray accepted a late invitation to the Vienna event in order to qualify for the Finals. Vienna was the first time two wild-card entries met for the title since 2004. In defeat, Ferrer moved ahead of Milos Raonic in the qualifying race, and said he is still confident of making it to London. “Of course I have a chance, sure,” Ferrer said. “There are two weeks more which are important to me.”

STEPS TO FOLLOW

Marin Cilic is following in the footsteps of his coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Cilic became the first man from Croatia since Ivanisevic to win a Grand Slam tournament when he captured the US Open last month. He now is the first Croatian man to win the Kremlin Cup in Moscow since Ivanisevic beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1996. In the final, Cilic beat a close friend, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. It was the first time the two veterans had played competitively since an under-14 tournament 12 years ago. Cilic broke Bautista Agut once in each set, and that was enough. “I wasn’t able to hit big bombs,” Cilic said, noting his huge serve was missing. “I was today playing more in combinations and I was playing bit better from the baseline. It was many difficult physical rallies.”

SPURTS TO VICTORY

Playing at home definitely helped, but Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova saved her best tennis for last. After splitting the first two sets, the Russian rushed out to a 5-0 lead in the third set and finished her victory in two hours, 29 minutes. “After the second set I knew I had to be more energetic and intense out there,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I knew I had to play my aggressive game and just do something, otherwise she’d be too good. She was playing so well the whole week. The surface really fit her game. I just needed to stop thinking about the score and go for it.” And in the end, Irina-Camelia Begu couldn’t hold off the offensive push from her opponent. It still was a great week for the Romanian, however. Until this tournament, she had never been to the quarterfinals of a WTA Premier event. And she had never beaten multiple Top-20 players at the same event until this week, who eliminated Ekaterina Makarova in the second round and Lucie Safarova in the semifinals. Pavlyuchenkova is the four Russian woman in the tournament’s history to win the Kremlin Cup. Anastasia Myskina won it in 2003 and 2004, Anna Chakvetadze in 2006 and Elena Dementieva in 2007.

Absent from the trophy presentation was Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev, who was banned for a year by the WTA on Friday over derogatory comments about the Williams sisters. Tarpischev did, however, attend the presentation for the men’s final, which was under the auspices of the ATP.

SKIMPS ON RACQUETS

Goran Ivanisevic should know by now that he needs to bring more racquets to a match. In 2000, eight months before he won Wimbledon, the big-serving left-hander became the first player to retire from a match due to what chair umpire Gerry Armstrong called “lack of appropriate equipment.” In other words, Ivanisevic smashed his third and final racquet in his bag while trailing Korea’s Hyung-taik Lee in the third set. It happened again in Genoa, Italy, in an ATP Champions Tour match. The Croatian again only had a couple racquets in his bag. This time he ran out of “equipment” when he suffered broken strings on both during his match against John McEnroe at the Grand Sfida, a new event on the senior tour. Unlike 2000, Ivanisevic borrowed a racquet from someone in the crowd and completed a 6-2 7-6 victory over McEnroe. “Never in the nine years I’ve played on the Champions Tour have I broken a racquet, and tonight I broke two,” Ivanisevic said. “The strings just went. And then I found myself in an awkward situation. I asked John if I could borrow one of his racquets, but he said ‘no,’ so then a lovely gentleman from the crowd gave me a racquet. As it happens it is the same racquet I played with 20 years ago, my old Head Prestige. And actually I didn’t play badly. And that annoyed John even more.”

STRAIGHT SHOT

Germany’s Annika Beck was perfect in capturing her first WTA title, stopping fourth-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the Luxembourg final. The first-time champion didn’t drop a set all week, but it wasn’t easy. She was down double set point in the first set tiebreak of her 7-6 (6) 6-3 first-round victory over Timea Bacsinszky and was down another set point in her 7-5 6-0 second-round win over Roberta Vinci. But once Beck got the idea, she rolled easily to victory over that dropping just seven games in her last three matches, including 6-2 6-1 over Zahlavova Strycova. “I just tried to stay focused on myself and kept fighting, because Barbora was fighting all the time,” Beck said. “She3’s a really good player with an aggressive game. She likes coming to the net a lot, so I had to watch out for that throughout the match. But I got a good start and managed to keep going.”

SECURED SPOT IN LONDON

US Open champion Marin Cilic has a spot in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be played in London, Great Britain, November 9-16. Cilic will be making his debut this year when he joins Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka in the elite eight-man field. He is the first Croatian to play in the season finale since Ivan Ljubicic qualified for the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

With two weeks remaining in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the three players who are currently in the top eight include Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and Murray. David Ferrer is ninth, followed by Milos Raonic of Canada in 10^th and Grigor Dimitrov in 11^th. “We are still all in the same train and moving forward to London,” said Berdych, who is seeking to qualify for a fifth straight year. “Some of us will stay just as close. I’m trying to play well, and that’s the best feeling.”

SOLD MATCHES?

Italian media claim that intercepted Internet conversations reportedly show that two Italian players – Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace – sold matches. According to the reports, a July 2007 conversation on Skype alleges that Bracciali discussed with an accountant arranging a match in Newport, Rhode Island, against American Scoville Jenkins, a match Jenkins won 6-2 6-1. The accountant was arrested in 2011. Also in 2011, an owner of a betting parlor who was later arrested is heard saying that Starace agreed to sell the final of a tournament in Casablanca. Pablo Andujar of Spain won the final 6-1 6-2. Prosecutor Roberto Di Martino has confirmed the authenticity of the conversations and said non-Italian tennis players might also be involved. Neither Bracciali nor Starace are officially under investigation. Five Italians – including Bracciali and Starace – were suspended by the ATP World Tour ranging from six weeks to nine months for betting. The other three were Alessio Di Mauro, Giorgio Galimberti and Federico Luzzi. In other cases of match-fixing in tennis, Daniel Koellerer of Austria and David Savic of Serbia have been banned for life. Earlier this year, Andrey Kumantsov of Russia was banned for life by the Tennis Integrity Unit, which was formed by the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee.

SHE’S BACK

Jurgen Melzer is living his dream, winning the doubles title in his hometown. In a way, so is Philipp Petzschner. The two teamed up to win their first ATP World Tour-level doubles title in more than three years, capturing the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria. The Austrian-German duo improved to a 6-1 record together in championship matches, with this being their first title since capturing the US Open crown in September 2011. “This is like a new beginning,” Petzschner said. “My breakthrough came here in Vienna six years ago. To be back here after one and a half years away from the tour feels like a revival. Winning a trophy again together with my best friend really is like a dream. I also want to thank tournament director Herwig Straka, who gave us the wild card. We wouldn’t be here without it.”

SO CLOSE

How close did Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta get to qualifying for the season-ending WTA Championships in Singapore? Winning one more match. The Swiss-Italian duo finished 64 points behind Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova for the eighth and final spot in the doubles competition. Hingis and Pennetta would have been ahead of the Russian-Australian pair had they won just one more match at five of the six tournaments they played together and didn’t win the title. Or they would have had more points if in all five of those losses they had gone to a third set or match tiebreak. “We’re happy to finish our season like this,” Hingis said after she and Pennetta won the Kremlin Open title in Moscow.

SWEET CZECH MATE

Winning the Kremlin Cup doubles is getting to be old hat for Frantisek Cermak. He captured the crown for the third time in four years when he teamed this year with fellow Czech Jiri Vesely. “It is true we were playing for the first time together,” Vesely said. “We are the only two Czechs in the tournament and I have known Frantisek for a long time. I have been watching him since I was a small id. I really wanted to play well with him and I think the biggest reason why we were successful was because we were aggressive and serving well.”

SAYONARA

Nikolay Davydenko has called it quits. Once ranked as high as third in the world, the Russian announced his retirement at the age of 33. Davydenko won the ATP World Tour Finals title in 2009 and helped Russia win the Davis Cup in 2006. He said injuries had forced him to end his 15-year career. “I had a lot of injuries over the last few years,” Davydenko said. “They are still causing me discomfort.” Davydenko’s best year was in 2006 when he won five titles and reached the semifinals of the US Open. He also was a US Open semifinalist in 2007 and at Roland Garros in both 2005 and 2007. During his career, he won 21 titles and played in three Olympic Games – in 2004 in Athens, Greece; 2008 in Beijing, China; and 2012 in London, Great Britain.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Luxembourg: Timea Bacsinszky and Kristina Barrois beat Lucie Hradecka and Barbora Krejcikova 3-6 6-4 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Moscow (men): Frantisek Cermak and Jiri Vesely beat Sam Groth and Chris Guccione 7-6 (2) 7-5

Moscow (women): Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta beat Caroline Garcia and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3 7-5

Stockholm: Eric Butorac and raven Klaasen beat Treat Huey and Jack Sock 6-4 6-3

Vienna: Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner beat Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle 7-6 (6) 4-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Valencia: www.valenciaopen500.com/

Basel: www.swissindoorsbasel.ch/de-de/

Singapore: www.wtafinals.com/

Paris: http://bnpparibasmasters.billetterie.fft.fr/

Sofia: http://sofia-tennis.bg/en/home