Triumphal Roger Federer Rules In Shanghai - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Roger Federer beat Gilles Simon 7-6 (6) 7-6 (2) to win the Shanghai Rolex Masters in Shanghai, China

Alison Riske beat Belinda Bencic 6-3 6-4 to win the Tianjin Open in Tianjin, China

Samantha Stosur beat Zarina Diyas 7-6 (7) 6-3 to win the Japan Women’s Open Tennis in Osaka, Japan

Karolina Pliskova beat Camila Giorgi 6-7 (4) 6-3 7-6 (4) to win the Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria

Lukas Lacko beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2 6-3 to win the Tashkent Challenge in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Steve Darcis beat Nicolas Mahut 6-2 6-4 to win the Open de Rennes in Rennes, France

Sam Querrey beat John Millman 6-4 6-2 to win the First Republic Bank Tiburon Challenger in Tiburon, California, USA

SAYING

“I feel unbelievable prestige to win this event. Especially putting my hands on the trophy for the first time is a good feeling, I must say. I’m very happy with the way I’m playing.” – Roger Federer, after capturing the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

“It’s just a few points deciding it, and he was always really good on these points. He played some great shots.” – Gilles Simon, after losing to Roger Federer in the Shanghai final.

“It’s another great milestone. This week was full of them for us. To come and get in the title match, have a shot at winning the tournament that’s eluded us, complete the Golden Masters, is amazing.” – Bob Bryan, who with brother Mike won the Shanghai doubles title to complete the Americans’ goal of winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 championships.

“It’s very meaningful to finish the season as the number one team. This is always our top goal beginning the year, and to achieve this for a 10th time seems a little unreal.” – Mike Bryan.

“It could have been a little easier, but I’m still happy I won the title.” – Karolina Pliskova, who rallied from match point down to win the Generali Ladies Linz title.

“There are not that many secrets out there. We’ve played each other too many times at this point.” – Roger Federer, on playing Novak Djokovic.

“I have enjoyed playing this year with Carla and we are both excited about Singapore. Ever since reaching the final in Madrid, we set a goal to qualify for the WTA Finals. It will be an honor to compete against the best eight doubles teams in the world on the best stage in women’s tennis.” – Garbiñe Muguruza, after she and Carla Suárez Navarro qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.

STILL A MASTER

Don’t count “the old man” out just yet. At 33 years old, Roger Federer is going up in the rankings, not down. The Swiss master beat Gilles Simon to garner one of the few titles missing from his trophy room, the Shanghai Rolex Masters. And he had to come from behind in both sets to capture his 23^rd Masters Series title and first in China. When Simon netted a return on match point, the 17-time Grand Slam tournament champion let out a huge roar and pumped both fists into the air. It was Federer’s fourth title of the year and the 81^st of his career. “Well, it just makes me very happy winning here because this tournament means a lot to me,” Federer said. “I’ve always enjoyed coming here. I’ve come close a couple of times, but I’ve always wanted to win it as a Masters 1000.” This is the fifth year the Shanghai tournament has been a Masters event. Federer won in Shanghai in 2006 and 2007 when it was the year-ending Tennis Masters. Simon reached a set point in the first-set tiebreak, only to have Federer hit an unreturnable first serve and later a near-perfect backhand winner down the line to win the breaker 8-6. Federer held serve in the 12^th game of the second set to send it into another tiebreak. This time he grabbed a 6-2 lead – four match points – winning the title on the next point. “He was just more opportunistic,” Simon said. “We had a close match. I had a set point in the first, two in the second. He’s putting a lot of pressure. He’s always showing you that he is ready to be really aggressive on every shot. So he keeps you under pressure.”

The victory moves Federer into the second spot in the world rankings, replacing Rafael Nadal. There is a mathematical chance that he could surpass Novak Djokovic and end the season in first place in the Emirates ATP World Tour Rankings.

STOSUR TRIUMPHANT

For the third time in her career, Samantha Stosur has come away from Osaka with the Japan Open trophy. Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, who was competing in her first WTA final, led 5-3 in the opening set before the top-seeded Australian fought back. Diyas held two set points in the tiebreak before Stosur once again rallied. The 2011 US Open winner, currently ranked 18^th in the world, broke her opponent to start the second set and went on to capture her sixth career title and first of 2014. Stosur also won in Osaka in 2009 and last year. It was the first time the 20-year-old Diyas has reached a WTA semifinal.

SPECIAL SIBLINGS

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan have added another mark to their expansive record book. The Americans have become the first doubles pair to win all nine current ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, adding the Shanghai Rolex Masters by beating Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. As a team, the brothers have now won 31 Masters 1000 titles. “To win here, it’s been a long time coming to Shanghai,” Mike Bryan said. “To finally get across the finish line as the winning team was extra special.” This year they reached 10 finals, winning seven, including their fifth US Open. The US Open win was very special, being their record 100^th team title. Besides Shanghai, the twins won four other ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments: Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Cincinnati.

The Bryan brothers have clinched the year-end number one Emirates ATP Doubles Team Ranking for the sixth consecutive season and a record 10^th time.

SWISS MAGIC

Playing nearly perfect tennis, Roger Federer knocked off top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 in their Shanghai Rolex Masters semifinal, snapping the Serbian’s 28-match win streak in China. Playing in his 52^nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semifinal, Federer raced through the opening set in 48 minutes, needing only one break point to take the lead. He then broke Djokovic’s serve again to start the second set and never trailed. Djokovic saved two match points on his serve in the ninth game before Federer served out the victory in one hour, 35 minutes. The Swiss master faced only one break point in the entire match and never lost his serve as he time and again went to the net and cut off Djokovic’s passing shots with clean volley winners. Federer won 20 of 35 points at the net.

Federer’s toughest match of the week came in the second round when he was almost knocked out of the tournament by Leonardo Mayer. The Swiss star got a little lucky. On Mayer’s first match point at 5-4 in the third, the Argentine aimed a backhand passing shot down the line. But the ball clipped the tape and fell back on his side of the net. Federer staved off four more match points to beat Mayer 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7).

SQUEEKER

In a close contest, Karolina Pliskova beat Camila Giorgi to win the Generali Ladies Linz title. Pliskova lost the first set in a tiebreak after leading 5-3. The big-serving Czech player won the first four games in the second set, which she won 6-3, then took a 5-1 lead in the third. But Giorgi roared back, fiving five games in a row to go up 6-5 and reach match point in the 12^th game. Pliskova finally held and won the ensuing tiebreak 7-4 by taking the final three points. “After I was 5-1 up and she came back and had match point, I was already thinking I would lose and that I would cry afterwards,” Pliskova said. “But she was playing so well in that part of the third set. Before that she was making so many mistakes, but she stopped doing that and calmed down, and she played so much better there.” It was Pliskova’s third WTA title, including Seoul, South Korea, recently. Since the US Open, Pliskova has been one of the hottest players on the WTA tour, winning 16 of 19 matches. She also is the third player to win a title from match point down this year. The only other winner who saved a match point in the final was Alizé Cornet, and that was also against Giorgi.

SECOND-ROUND SHOCKER

Feliciano Lopez beat Rafael Nadal for just the third time in 11 years, ousting the second-seeded in a second-round shocker, 6-3 7-6 (6). The loss for the world former number one came one day after he revealed that he has been diagnosed with the beginnings of appendicitis. “For sure (I don’t feel) perfect,” Nadal said when asked how he felt following the loss. “It’s the same way that I felt before. A little bit more dizzy now. But that’s it. Nothing that I have to worry about. When you lose a match, it is not the moment to talk about obvious things. I lost. Feli played better than me.” The 33-year-old Lopez trailed 3-5 in the second set and saved a set point at 5-6 in the tiebreak before claiming the victory. He slammed 15 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced.

SET FOR SINGAPORE

Both the singles and doubles fields are set for the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Playing singles will be Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Eugenie Bouchard, Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic.

The doubles event was completed when Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro qualified for the elite field. Muguruza and Suárez Navarro didn’t begin playing together until Miami, yet made it into the WTA’s crown jewel event in their first try together. Also earning spots are the teams of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, Cara Black and Sania Mirza, Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears, and Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik.

STARTING POINT

Alison Riske can now call herself a champion. The 24-year-old American won her first WTA title by stopping Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in the Tianjin Open final. “It’s a huge accomplishment for me to win my first WTA title,” Riske said. “I was here by myself, which made it even more special, just to know that I was able to do it by myself.” The 17-year-old Bencic, who reached the US Open quarterfinals last month, is still seeking her first WTA crown.

SICK BAY

A hip injury caused Ana Ivanovic to pull out of the Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria, before her scheduled second-round match against American Madison Brengle. The former world number one received medical treatment during her first-round win over Pauline Parmentier of France. “This injury has been plaguing me the whole summer, and it got worse during the recent tournaments in Asia,” Ivanovic said in a statement. “I am sorry but I can’t play on.” Ivanovic, currently ranked eighth in the world, won the Linz tournament in 2008 and 2010 and reached the final last year. She already has qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.

SEPARATING

For the past two years Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai have been one of the best doubles teams in the world, even taking over the number one ranking. They have never lost in 12 finals and won the WTA Finals a year ago. Yet they are splitting up after they defend their title in this year’s BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Hsieh, a native of Taiwan, will team up next year with India’s Sania Mirza. “I am very excited to make the WTA Finals in Singapore,” said Peng, who became the first native of China to be ranked number one in the world. “The last couple of years in China, tennis has become more and more popular. This is the first time the WTA Finals will be in Asia, and Singapore is a really interesting city. And last year we had a really good tournament.”

SHANGHAI DANCERS

Two ATP World Tour players – Tomas Berdych and John Isner – participated in a traditional Chinese “Dragon Dance” on the Bund in Shanghai’s city center. They received instructions on how to lead the Dragon Team before demonstrating their new skills in front of the assembled media. “I never imagined myself actually doing it,” Isner said. “I’d give myself about a C (grade). I started off pretty horribly, but as it went on I got a lot better. It was a lot of fun. By performing on the Bund, a wide walkway along the river, the players were in front of Shanghai’s famous skyline. “It’s a very signature view of this city,” Berdych said. “It’s like many pictures around the world. You can see this view and we are part of it. We’re here, we’re trying a new thing and had some fun. It’s been a really nice evening.”

SHE’S BACK

Kim Clijsters is returning to tennis, but this time as a tournament director. And also returning to the WTA tour is a Premier-level event in Antwerp, Belgium. “After seven years, world class tennis is coming back to Antwerp,” said Clijsters, a four-time Grand Slam tournament winner and former world number one. “The new BNP Paribas Fortis Diamond Games will not only become a high-level tennis event, but much more than that.” One of the unique traditions of the tournament is also returning. Any player who wins the tournament twice in three years will receive a special racquet made with 5.5 kilograms of gold and 2008 diamonds worth USD $1.5 million. “Believe me, that makes this tournament particularly attractive for the female tennis players,” Clijsters said. When the tournament was held between 2002 and 2009, the special racquet went to any player who won the tournament three times in five years. The only player to take the racquet home was Amélie Mauresmo, who won the event three straight years, 2005-2007. The tournament will be held the week of February 9, 2015.

SOFIA BOUND

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta has been awarded a wild card into the Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions, the season-ending championships for the WTA’s International Series. The six highest-ranked International title winners and two wild card entries who are not competing at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore will comprise the eight-player field at Sofia, Bulgaria. Pennetta won the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA, this year – the biggest WTA title of her career – besides reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the US Open, falling to the eventual champions in both Grand Slam tournaments.

Three other players – Ekaterina Makarova, Dominika Cibulkova and Andrea Petkovic – were the first to qualify for the Sofia tournament, a USD $750,000 even that will be held October 28-November 2. Makarova won her International-level title at Pattaya City; Cibulkova captured Acapulco; and Petkovic won Bad Gastein. All three will be playing the Garanti Koza WTA Tournament of Champions for the first time. Cibulkova was a finalist at the Australian Open, while Makarova reached the US Open semifinals and Petkovic was a semifinalist at Roland Garros.

Jelena Jankovic was to be the first wild card entry into the Sofia tournament, but the Serbian has been sidelined for the remainder of the season by a back injury. “My back injury has been bothering me and it’s not getting better quickly enough, so unfortunately my season has to come to an end after Tianjin,” Jankovic said in a statement. “I was looking forward to seeing my fans in Moscow and Sofia and playing both tournaments, but due to medical advice I must start my rehabilitation now to allow myself to properly heal for next year.”

SWEET CASH

Prize money at the 2015 Australian Open will rise 10 percent from this year’s payout. Because of the retreat of the Australian dollar, the payout will be USD $31.44 million, a rise of slightly more than USD $29 million when Stan Wawrinka and Li Na captured the men’s and women’s singles titles.

The Australian Open now has three covered show courts. The newly renovated Margaret Court Arena has a retractable roof to go along with Rod Laver Arena’s center court and the Hisense Arena. “I think it’s absolutely beautiful,” the 72-year-old Smith said after touring the 7,500-seat arena named for her. “Wouldn’t have minded something to play on like this in my day.” The refurbished arena gives the Australian Open three courts that can be covered in the event of rain or extreme heat.

STRUCTURE NAMED

A new tennis complex at California State Los Angeles University will be named for Rosie Casals and Pancho Gonzalez. Fellow International Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King helped with raising the two-story, USD $5 million structure on the campus of the school King attended. For the last 17 years King has been returning to the university to host clinics and galas, helping raise money to boost the school’s sports facilities and teams. “Love this place,” said King, whose father was a firefighter in nearby Long Beach, California, USA.

SANIA STOPPED

It made no difference that Sania Mirza is India’s top women’s tennis player and a Grand Slam tournament doubles champion. Or that she had recently won a mixed doubles gold medal with Saketh Myneni at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Mirza arrived late so was stopped from taking a tour inside the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. She was in Agra to participate in a function at Jaypee Palace hotel. The following day she returned early enough to the Taj Mahal and toured the 17^th century monument.

SET NEW RULES

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) will utilize the USTA Pro Circuit to award wild cards into next year’s Australian Open. The USTA announced the American man and American woman who earns the most ATP World Tour and WTA ranking points at two of three USTA Pro Circuit hard-court events this fall will earn the main draw wild cards into the first Grand Slam tournament of 2015. Only Americans who did not earn direct entry into the Australian Open are eligible. The USD $50,000 tournaments that will make up the new Australian Open Wild Card Challenge for women will be the Tennis Classic, Macon, Georgia, USA; John Newcombe Women’s Pro Challenge, New Braunfels, Texas, USA; and South Seas Island Resort Women’s Pro Classic, Captiva Island, Florida, USA. The men’s wild card winner will come from the Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Knoxville 2014 Challenger, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; and JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA. The USTA and Tennis Australia have a reciprocal agreement in which wild cards into the 2014 US Open and 2015 Australian Open are exchanged.

SAD NEWS

One of the world’s top tennis teaching professionals, Vic Braden, is dead at the age of 85. He died at his home in Trabuco Canyon, California, USA. After leading Kalamazoo College to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship in each of his four years there, Braden turned pro and eventually joined Jack Kramer’s tour. Among those he played against were Jimmy Evert, father of Hall of Famer Chris Evert, and George Richey, the father of future pros Cliff and Nancy Richey. Braden and Kramer later co-founded the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, California, USA, where future Hall of Famer Tracy Austin learned to play tennis as a child. In 1971, he opened the Vic Braden Tennis College in Coto de Caza, California, USA, an instructional facility for tennis players of every range of ability, from beginners to pros. He became known for his innovative teaching methods and his application of technology to the basics of tennis instruction. Braden wrote several books and articles on tennis instruction and was a licensed psychologist in California. Besides his wife of 43 years, Melody, Braden is survived by his children, Kory Braden-Hittelman, Kristen Paul, Troy Davis and Shawn Davis, as well as four grandchildren. His daughter, Kelly, died 12 years ago.

Rochelle “Shelly” Solomon, who played on the WTA Tour in the early 1980s, fell 15 stories to her death from the top of a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, condominium. An on-site supervisor for a construction company claimed Solomon had jumped off the roof. Born in Washington, DC, Solomon had lived in Florida since she was 11 years old. The sister of former ATP pro Harold Solomon, Shelly – as she was known – was an All-American tennis player when she won both singles and doubles to lead UCLA to a national collegiate title in 1981. She immediately turned pro and in 1982 was runner-up at the Borden Classic in Tokyo, Japan, and a semifinalist at the Wells Fargo Open in San Diego, California, USA. She had career wins over Kathleen Horvath, Pam Casale and Betsy Nagelsen. Solomon served on the WTA Board of Directors in 1983-1985. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science, then graduated Magna Cum Laude from Nova University Law School. After being admitted to the Florida Bar in 1992, she became an assistant state attorney for Broward County. The mother of four children – Lexi, Jake and twins Adam and Ashley – Solomon ran unsuccessfully for Broward County School Board in 2012.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Linz: Raluca Olaru and Anna Tatishvili beat Annika Beck and Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-1

Osaka: Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova beat Lara Arruabarrena and Tatjana Maria 6-1 6-2

Rennes: Tobias Kamke and Philipp Marx beat Frantisek Cermak and Jonathan Erlich 3-6 6-2 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Shanghai: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2 7-6 (3)

Tashkent: Lukas Lacko and Ante Pavic beat Frank Moser and Alexander Satschko 6-3 3-6 13-11 (match tiebreak)

Tianjin: Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova beat Sorana Cirstea and Andreja Klepac 6-7 (6) 6-2 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Tiburon: Bradley Klahn and Adil Shamasdin beat Carsten Ball and Matt Reid 7-5 6-2

SURFING

Moscow: www.kremlincup.ru/

Stockholm: www.stockholmopen.se/

Vienna: www.erstebank-open.com/de/