Martina Navratilova, Justin Gimelstob Join Coaching Ranks - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

SAYING

“My goal is to win a Grand Slam, so to have someone with Martina’s accomplishments in my corner is going to be hugely advantageous and give me a big boost. We are originally from a similar part of the world so we share an understanding about tennis and life, which I’m sure will translate into a successful relationship.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, announcing Martina Navratilova will be her coaching consultant in 2015.

“Now it’s normal to expect that there is a new generation of players, younger players that are right at the top like (Japan’s Kei) Nishikori, (Canada’s Milos) Raonic, (Bulgaria’s Grigor) Dimitrov who have the quality to win against the best, and they have done that. It’s definitely going to be an interesting year.” – Novak Djokovic, saying the domination by the “Big Four” may be ending in 2015.

“The pleasure of winning again was greater and I felt this year I was happy, this year on the tour there were no setbacks. I have two more kids now, I play great, so overall wonderful season. I could not have been happier.” – Roger Federer, on his 2014 season.

“Novak (Djokovic) gets the nod for player of the year by winning Wimbledon and then finishing the year number one buoyed by a dominant performance in the fall season. He was incredibly consistent, posting a 61-8 record on the year and winning seven titles.” – Jim Courier, who with Martina Navratilova and writer Doug Robson selected Djokovic as the 2014 Player of the Year.

SIGNING UP

Only one player ranked among the top 200 in the world – top 100 men and top 100 women – will be missing when the Australian Open begins in mid-January. Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia’s chief executive, called it one of the “deepest and strongest” fields in the Grand Slam tournament’s history. The only absentee will be Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, who withdrew from the women’s draw with a hip injury.

SERB IS BEST

Novak Djokovic was voted Player of the Year and his Wimbledon five-set final victory over Roger Federer was the Match of the Year, according to a panel of experts from USA TODAY newspaper and The Tennis Channel. The judges on the committee were former Grand Slam tournament champions Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier along with USA TODAY tennis writer Doug Robson. Djokovic was selected over the women’s top-ranked player, Serena Williams, while the Djokovic-Federer match won out over the title match at the WTA Finals between Williams and Roman’s Simona Halep. All three judges selected the Wimbledon final as the Match of the Year. “It saved Djokovic’s season,” Robson said. “Had Federer won the final set, he likely would have finished the year at number one instead of the Serb.”

SOUTH AMERICA-BOUND

Rafael Nadal will be heading to South America in February. The Spaniard will be returning to Buenos Aires for the first time since 2005 when he will top-seeded at the 2015 Argentina Open presentado por Buenos Aires Ciudad. “I love playing in Latin America because it feels like home,” Nadal said. “After having to pull out at the last minute this season due to stomach problems, I’m very excited to go back in 2014. I hope I can play my best tennis there and see all the Argentine fans, who love our sport so much.”

SELECTS MARTINA

Agnieszka Radwanska has turned to one of the game’s great players for coaching help. Ranked sixth in the world, Radwanska has hired 18-time Grand Slam tournament champion Martina Navratilova as a coaching consultant for next year. Navratilova will work with Radwanska at the four Grand Slam events while Tomasz Wiktorowski will remain Radwanska’s full-time coach. “I am absolutely delighted that Martina has agreed to help me and my team next season,” Radwanska said. “She is my idol in tennis and I am honored we will be working together. Her achievements speak for themselves and I hope that I can learn from all her experience.” The 25-year-old Radwanska has finished six of the last seven years ranked in the top 10, but she has only reached one Grand Slam tournament final, losing to Serena Williams at Wimbledon in 2012. It will be Navratilova’s first stint as a WTA elite coach.

SIGNS TV PACT

All singles matches played on the WTA tour will be televised for a 10-year span beginning in 2017. The new media rights contract will be worth more than USD $525 million, according to the WTA. Under the deal, the WTA keeps its international television rights with its current broadcast distribution partner, PERFORM, but expands the scope of their relationship. The current agreement, which began in 2013, runs through 2016. Under the existing contract, only about one-third of all singles matches are televised, according to WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster. Under the new agreement, the tour and PERFORM will form WTA Media, which will produce all main-draw matches in singles, along with the semifinals and finals in doubles at every tour event. WTA Media will also develop content for the web and magazine shows for television.

STEPHENS AND SAVIANO?

At least right now Sloane Stephens is working with coach Nick Saviano. But the young player has yet to decide if the two will work together next year. The 21-year-old American began training with Saviano earlier this month in Plantation, Florida. Saviano recently split with seventh-ranked Eugenie Bouchard. He has also coached a number of other players over the years. Stephens only recently began working out after recuperating from a wrist injury. If she is healthy enough, she will start her season in Auckland, New Zealand, in January. She has not decided if she will play Sydney or Hobart the following week, but has said she will play the Australian Open.

SEES YOUNGSTERS COMING

Novak Djokovic believes the days of the “Big Four” may be ending. Either the world’s top-ranked player, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray have won 36 of the last 39 Grand Slam tournament titles. But 2014 may have been the beginning of the end of their domination. When Croatia’s Marin Cilic beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the US Open final, it was the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that a men’s Grand Slam tournament final did not feature either Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. Besides the victory of Cilic at the US Open in September, last January saw Switzerland Stanislas Wawrinka capture the Australian Open. “It’s really unpredictable,” Djokovic said. “It’s going to be hard to say who are the clear favorites to win the Grand Slams.”

SIGNS NEW COACH

John Isner has turned to Justin Gimelstob for coaching help in 2015. “I’m really excited to start working with Justin,” said Isner, America’s top-ranked male player. “He has so much experience within the tennis business and I’ve long respected his knowledge of the sport. I think it will be great for me to have a new perspective helping me with my game.” A former player who won 13 ATP World Tour doubles titles, Gimelstob currently has been a broadcaster with Tennis Channel. He also is a member of the ATP Board. “John is a very unique talent, a great guy both on and off the court and I am thrilled to be able to be part of his team,” said Gimelstob, who replaced Mike Sell as Isner’s coach. “Coaching is in my blood. My father and uncle were both basketball coaches and I had the good fortune of working with some of the best tennis coaches in the world during my career. Gimelstob will be on the road when Isner attempts to defend his title in Auckland, New Zealand, to start the 2015 ATP World Tour campaign.

SHE’S NUMBER ONE

American CiCi Bellis, who at the US Open in September became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam tournament match since Anna Kournikova in 1996, has clinched the world’s year-end number one junior girls ranking. The 15-year-old Bellis shocked Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round at the US Open. She clinched the year-ending ranking by reaching the semifinals of the Orange Bowl Junior Championships, where she was upset by fellow American Sonya Kenin.

STRAIGHT TO THE BANK

Prize money on the ATP World Tour in 2015 will exceed USD $100 million for the first time. Players on the men’s tennis tour will see the prize money pool reach USD $135 million by 2018. “The increases at ATP events are a testament to the sustained success of men’s professional tennis, as well as demonstrating the ATP’s confidence in the strength of its product and projected growth in future years,” the ATP World Tour said in a statement. The biggest increases come at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 category, with tournaments providing annual increases of 11 percent and the ATP contributing an additional 3 percent increase. Player compensation at the ATP World Tour 250 events will increase at an average of 3.5 percent per year during the same period.

SUPER PERFORMANCE

Sam Riffice could be a star of the future on the ATP World Tour. The 15-year-old from Roseville, California, USA, became only the second player to win the 16-and-under boys title at both the Eddie Herr and Orange Bowl Junior Championships in the same. Riffice stopped Mattias Siimar of Estonia 6-1 1-6 7-5 to capture the Metropolia Orange Bowl Boys’ 16s crown in Plantation, Florida, USA. “These are definitely two of the biggest tournaments of the year,” Riffice said. “The whole year I trained to do well here, and to be able to win both of them is incredible.” The only other player to win both Boys’ 16s titles in the same year was Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who did it in 2006.

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu won the Girls’ 16s Orange Bowl title, defeating Dominique Schaefer of Peru 7-5 6-3 in the final.

STYLIST TSONGA

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is featured in a photo spread in the latest edition of GQ France. Ranked 12^th in the world, the 29-year-old Tsonga is shown modeling winter coats and jackets in a 10-page spread. “I like to dress fashionably, it’s great,” Tsonga said. “I think GQ is the best magazine for me in terms of fashion for men. It’s very cool and I’m very happy to do some photos for them.”

SURFING

Brisbane: www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/

Doha: www.qatartennis.org/

Chennai: www.aircelchennaiopen.org/2015/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopentennis.com/2015/chs/

Auckland: www.festivaloftennis.co.nz/asbclassic/

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