Mondays with Bob Greene
SAYING
“When you go through hard times, you find out who your true friends are, and Serena Williams was one of the first people to be there for me when my engagement unraveled last spring. She didn’t have to support me – she has her own life, her own problems and her own career to worry about – but she was there when I needed someone to lean on the most.” – Caroline Wozniacki, writing why she believes Serena Williams should be selected Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
“It was my fault because I’ve yelled and said some bad words to him. I was irresponsible after all the sacrifices he made for me. I admit that I was scared in that moment he hit me, but I know he regrets what he did and he loves me as much as I love him. He maybe exaggerated a little, but he didn’t deserve to be arrested. I’m worried for him. I want to continue this journey in tennis with the support of the whole family. When I read that he is described as a “criminal” and a “beast,” I feel like I want to scream. I feel guilty for what is happening.” – Iona Andrada Surdeanu, who was slapped by her father after she lost a quarterfinal match in an ITF tournament in Israel.
SHE’S CANCER FREE
Vicky Duval is cancer-free after undergoing chemotherapy treatments. “Everything is good, the 19-year-old said. “It seems to be all gone. I’m going to have follow-up in January. It’s three months the first year and then every six months after that. But so far I’m in the clear.” Duval had reached a career-high 87th in the world when she learned she had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. That came in June while she was playing at Wimbledon. After being diagnosed, she continued to play, beating 29th-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the opening round before falling to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. Then she returned to the United States to undergo treatment. She currently is training in Bradenton, Florida, USA, where she has lived for several years, and plans on returning to competition at smaller tournaments close to home. “I’m thinking about doing a few challengers in the states,” she said. “I know there are a few toward the end of January, so maybe start with that and go from there.”
SEEKS “SUPERCOACH”
Agnieszka Radwanska has a new coach, but is not saying who it is. Radwanska told the Polish media that she will be working with a former Grand Slam tournament champion who has previous coaching experience. The new coach will be a consultant who will work with Radwanska for parts of the season while she continues to have Tomasz Wiktorowski as her regular coach. The new team member is expected to be announced in January.
SELECTED FOR HONOR
Three times Andy Roddick reached the Wimbledon final, where the winner is automatically made an honorary member of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. All three times Roddick lost to Roger Federer. Now, according to Tim Henman, Roddick has been made an honorary member by the All England Club. The American was in London to participate in a senior event. “I was able to take him to Wimbledon a couple of days ago because he’s being made an honorary member, which he was so excited about, having been a three-time finalist,” Henman said. “If you win the tournament, you become a member automatically, but I think with his impact in that event and his rapport with the British crowd, it was felt that it would be a really nice gesture. … It’s very rare to be made an honorary member when you haven’t won the singles title there. I think Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde are the only ones I can think of, and they won the doubles 87 or so times. They’re a rare breed, but in Roddick’s case, it’s thoroughly well deserved.”
SPLITTSVILLE
Australian Open organizers have listened to the players. The year’s first Grand Slam tournament in 2015 will find a new extreme heat policy. Tournament director Craig Tiley said the new policy will be applied when the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and the Wet Bulb Global Temperature – a measurement that accounts for humidity, wind direction and the temperature – exceeds a reading of 32.5. “We’ve consulted the playing group and this is seen as the fairest way to implement the policy by many of the top players,” Tiley said. The tournament referee will has the absolute discretion on whether or not to apply the extreme heat policy. In another change, when the extreme heat policy is invoked, matches in progress will be suspended at the end of an even number of games in that set or at the completion of a tiebreaker. With Margaret Court Arena remodeled, the Australian Open has three courts with retractable roofs for the 2015 tournament.
SAYS THE FANS
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska has been voted the fans’ favorite player. Roughly 70,000 votes were cast in the WTA Fan Favorite Awards, and the Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci were selected the Fan Favorite Doubles Team. The WTA Finals match between winner Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki was named the Match of the Year, while the fans voted the Maria Sharapova-Simona Halep French Open battle their favorite Grand Slam Match of the Year. Sharapova was also selected the Fan Favorite Facebook page and the Fan Favorite Tweet, while Wozniacki was named Fan Favorite Twitter. And Venus Williams came away the winner for Fan Favorite Dress.
SPANISH FAVORTE
Even though he has been sidelined by injuries, Rafael Nadal was selected the “Favorite Son of Mallorca.” “The first thing that I do when I’m playing on other countries, whether I win or lose in the tournament, is to seek for the fastest way to go back to Mallorca, the 28-year-old Spaniard said. The 11th person to receive the award, Nadal underwent appendectomy surgery in November. He has begun training again. “What I must do is play well, prepare and, when the moment comes, give myself opportunities,” he said. “If one of those is in the final rounds, anything could happen.”
SET FOR MEMPHIS
John Isner, the top-ranked American, and two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori have committed to play the Memphis Open in February. Isner reached lost the Memphis final in 2010 to fellow American Sam Querrey. The two then teamed to win the doubles title in the ATP World Tour 250 event.
SLAPPED BY FATHER
Umpires called police when a junior player from Romania, Iona Andrada Surdeanu, was slapped by her father, who is also her coach, causing blood to stream down her face. Lucian Surdeanu slapped his daughter for losing her quarterfinal match at a junior girls’ International Tennis Federation Tournament in Israel. According to witnesses, the 16-year-old screamed when her father hit her as “punishment” for losing to top-seeded Daria Kruzhkova of Russia 6-2 7-6 (0). Surdeanu defended her father, saying it was normal for him to punish her after matches, usually by taking her phone. “I didn’t play well in that match,” she said. “At the end, he went to confiscate my phone. That’s the way he punishes me when it is my fault and I don’t win matches. I was annoyed and I threw the phone at him. Of course he didn’t catch it and he got angry because of the way I’ve behaved. He pushed me and slapped me twice. One of the slaps hit my nose. I sat down on my knees and I put my hands on my face so he would not be able to hit me again. I had a little blood, I was scared and shaking. He gave me a wet towel and said that I should go to the tournament’s doctor. When I came back, he was already kicked out from the tennis court … By the time I got to the hotel, they had already arrested him. … At the police station they didn’t let me see him, like he was dangerous and I had to stay away from him. My father is not a beast. He didn’t break my nose. I didn’t have my face covered in blood. It’s true he slapped me, but so what. I deserved it.” The father was fined for hitting his daughter.
SERENA BOOSTER
Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have developed a close friendship over the last few years. Wozniacki visited Williams when she was injured and ill, and the two have attended weddings and fashion shows together. When Wozniacki ran the New York City Marathon, awaiting her at the finish line was Williams. Now, Wozniacki has penned an essay for Sports Illustrated nominating Williams for Sportsman of the Year. “My only problem with Serena is that I’m tired of losing to her,” Wozniacki wrote. “So I told her, ‘Watch out, I’m coming for you in 2015.’”
SURFING
ATP: www.atpworldtour.com
WTA: www.wtatennis.com
ITF: www.itftennis.com
World Tennis Magazine: www.worldtennismagazine.com
TOURNAMENTS WEEK OF JAN. 5, 2015
(All money in USD)
MEN
$1,195,500 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Doha, Qatar, hard
$511,825 Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, Brisbane, Australia, hard
$459,140 Aircel Chennai Open, Chennai, India, hard
WOMEN
$1,000,000 Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, Brisbane, Australia, hard
$500,000 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China, hard
$250,000 ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand, hard
