Mondays with Bob Greene
STARS
Petra Kvitova beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6) to win the women’s singles at the Apia International Sydney in Sydney, Australia
Jiri Vesely beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-2 to win the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand
Viktor Troicki beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2 6-3 to win the men’s singles at the Apia International Sydney in Sydney, Australia
Heather Watson beat Madison Brengle 6-3 6-4 to win the Hobart International in Hobart, Australia
Fernando Verdasco beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (3) retired to win the Kooyong Classic
SAYING
“I didn’t feel prepared for playing in this big event. My first Grand Slam after one year, five-set matches, is very tough. It could be dangerous for my wrist. I think it was a tough decision, but could be a smart decision if I want to stay healthy and play for the whole year.” – Juan Martin del Potro, after withdrawing from the Australian Open.
“Playing for the France team is a duty for me. On the other hand, playing professional tennis is my job.” – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, saying he should not have played in the Davis Cup final where he aggravated an arm injury that is keeping him out of the Australian Open.
“This will be my 34th Grand Slam appearance and I’ve been considering my retirement for a while now, but it’s nice to see that I can still play really well and play against guys 20 years younger than me. I still enjoy it. I love the competition aspect and to play in a Grand Slam – there’s no better feeling than that.” – American Michael Russell, after qualifying for the Australian Open men’s singles main draw.
“It would be really great to win here again. I’ve been going for number six for a number of years now. I would be really happy. So I want it I think more than anyone else here. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to get it, so I’ll have to fight hard to get it.” – Serena Williams, on her chances of winning this year’s Australian Open.
“I’m sure I’m one of them, definitely. I mean, I’m number two in the world. I had a great season last year, winning a Grand Slam. There are a lot of players that have an opportunity to win this tournament, and I’m certainly one of them.” – Maria Sharapova, when asked if she should be considered a favorite to win the Australian Open women’s singles.
“I have a great partner with me who keeps me young and motivated. He works hard on the practice court. He goes out on the match court, and he’s very intelligent. That’s a bonus for me. I really love playing with Raven.” – Leander Paes, after teaming with Raven Klaasen to win the doubles in Auckland, New Zealand.
“Leander is arguably one of the best doubles players of all time. He’s still willing to learn and improve and teach me those things I haven’t heard before. Looking forward, my improvement curve is going fast, and he’s improving, too. The way things are going now, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.” – Raven Klaasen.
“There are a lot of emotions actually. It’s been a tough road, a lot of work, and it paid off with a nice title. If I look back to where I was five, six months ago, it’s amazing to have a title already. So it’s a really nice moment for me and for all my team. It’s very emotional.” – Viktor Troicki, following his victory in Sydney, Australia.
“To start the season like that, to win so many matches, to get some confidence, is really important. So of course I take something positive from that. But of course it was a disappointing final for me; Viktor just played better today.” – Mikhail Kukushkin, after losing the Sydney final to Viktor Troicki.
“It feels amazing to be part of the ATP champions. It’s not something that everyone is (able) to achieve, so I’m very grateful for that. It’s a great start for me … I can really see that it’s possible to play with the best guys and I think that’s something very important for me for the future.” – Jiri Vesely, after winning the Heineken Open title.
“When you get broken by someone who’s serving like this, you feel like it’s slipping away. I was trying to deal with my own game and it was really tough today. I didn’t have the same feeling that I had during the week. I didn’t feel the ball the same way. Unfortunately it happened in the final.” – Adrian Mannarino, who lost to Jiri Vesely.
SIDELINED
With his wrist still not completely healed, Juan Martin del Potro has pulled out of the Australian Open. That doesn’t mean, however, that his career is over. The Argentine had been sidelined for almost a year before making his return at the Sydney International last week, where he reached the quarterfinals. He says he’s ready to return to the ATP World Tour, but feels grueling five-setters in the year’s first Grand Slam tournament could affect his wrist. “I’m looking forward for my future, for my career,” said del Potro. “I have to do what the doctor says, but I’m still positive. I want to play tennis. It doesn’t matter how. After seeing my level in Sydney, I think if I’m in good shape and I’m healthy, without pain, I could be competitive again very soon.” Del Potro won the 2009 US Open, then played only three tournaments in 2010 because of a right wrist injury. He bounced back and reached the top five in the rankings by the end of 2013, only to miss most of 2014 after undergoing wrist surgery.
SYDNEY CHAMPION
Petra Kvitova should be entering the Australian Open full of confidence. The left-hander edged fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova in two tiebreak sets to win the Sydney International women’s singles. She also is the reigning Wimbledon champion, capturing her second title on the grass courts of the All England Club. Ranked fourth in the world, Kvitova had all she could handle beating Pliskova. “It’s always tough to play a final,” she said of her 15th career title. Underlining her superiority over her compatriots, Kvitova’s win was her 15th straight against Czech opponents.
SERBIAN COMEBACK
Viktor Troicki saw his tennis career collapse when he failed to take a blood test during the Monte Carlo Masters in 2013. That caused him to be banned from the sport for 12 months and his ranking dropped from 12th in the world to 847th. He was initially banished for 18 months, a sanction his disputed. The sentence was reduced to one year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He returned to tennis is July last year, and played his first 2015 event at Sydney. Troicki beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2 6-3 in the first ATP World Tour final between two qualifiers. Troicki became the first qualifier to win the Sydney title since Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen did the same in 2012.
STANDING TALL
Jiri Vesely is now an ATP World Tour champion. The 21-year-old Czech captured his first title when he beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino to capture the Auckland Open. Along the way to his first ATP final, Vesely upset top-seeded Ernests Gulbis and fourth-seeded Kevin Anderson. Vesely lost his opening serve in the title match before dominating play, breaking his opponent twice in each set.
SERENA RULE
Serena Williams could lose her number one ranking when the Australian Open ends its two-week grind. But the American has already achieved something historic. She has become on the fourth person in almost 40 years of the WTA Rankings to spend 100 consecutive weeks at number one. Steffi Graf holds the mark at 186 straight weeks, followed by Martina Navratilova at 156 straight weeks and Chris Evert at 113 straight weeks. Serena Williams is guaranteed to reach 101 consecutive weeks at number one at the beginning of the Australian Open’s second week.
The American would keep her number one ranking if she reaches the Australian Open final. It makes no difference whether or not she wins – just making the final will do it.
Three other players could vault to the top of the rankings by the time the year’s first Grand Slam tournament is completed. Maria Sharapova has the easiest road. She would rise to number one by reaching the final and having Williams lose before the semifinals and Petra Kvitova lose before the final. Sharapova would also become number one by winning the title and Williams lose before the final.
Kvitova and Simona Halep also can overtake Williams, but it’s much hard. They both need to win the title; Halep would also need Serena to lose before the quarterfinals and Sharapova to lose before the final. Kvitova would also need Williams to fall before the semifinals.
Got that?
SECOND TITLE
Britain’s Heather Watson battled rain and blustery conditions all well, then wrapped up an error-strewn contest to win the Hobart International, stopping American qualifier Madison Brengle in the final. Watson didn’t drop a set the entire tournament as she captured her second career WTA title. “I’ve enjoyed my time here so, so much and I’d love to come back here again next year,” Watson told the crowd. “I know it hasn’t been superb weather for tennis, but you’ve definitely made it fun for us.”
SPANISH RULE
Spain’s Fernando Verdasco won his second Kooyong Classic title in six years when Alexandr Dolgopolov was forced to retire with a knee injury. “This is the last way you want to win a match,” Verdasco said. “I’m good friends with Alex and you don’t want this to happen to anyone. Dolgopolov said he’s not sure if he will be able to play in this week’s Australian Open. “I may need surgery,” said the Ukrainian, who was ranked 23rd in the world going into the exhibition event.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Representing his country in the Davis Cup final was a choice Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now says he shouldn’t have made. “I should never have played the Davis Cup final,” the Frenchman said. When losing the opening match against Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, Tsonga aggravated an arm injury and now can’t play in the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open. Tsonga said he had been struggling with the injury for several weeks. “Knowing all that, obviously I should never have played the final, like I should never have played Bercy (in November), like I should have not played at all from the month of September to have time to recover from this injury and be fighting fit for the 2015 season,” Tsonga said. He said he would be undergoing treatment for the condition over the next three weeks and hoped to ready for the Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells, California, USA, and Miami. Florida, USA. “It’s a part of my career which has been quite complicated and which has left its mark,” he said. Still Tsonga insists he loves playing for his country, despite “sacrificing practically nine weeks a year” for Davis Cup). “You mustn’t get everything mixed up,” he said. “Playing for the France team is a duty for me. On the other hand playing professional tennis is my job.”
STRAIGHT IN
Sweden’s Elias Ymer is one of three qualifiers who are making their Grand Slam debuts at this week’s Australian Open. The 18-year-old Ymer along with Marius Copil of Romania and Yuki Bhambri of India came through qualifying to play in their first major tournament. Others who qualified for the men’s singles draw included Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, Jurgen Melzer of Austria, Kyle Edmund of Great Britain; Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko, Taipei’s Jimmy Wang, Americans Tim Smyczek and Michael Russell; Tim Puetz and Matthias Bachinger of Germany, Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans, Alexander Kudryavtsev of Russia, Czech Jan Hernych, and Frenchman Laurent Lokoli.
Qualifying for the women’s singles draw were Denisa Allertova, Renata Voracova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands, Poland’s Urszula Radwanska, Petra Martic of Croatia, Stephanie Foretz of France, Germany’s Tatjana Maria, Russia’s Alexandra Panova and Evgeniya Rodina; Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, and American Anna Tatishvili.
SCRIBE’S CHOICES
Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki are the 2014 winners of the International Tennis Writers Association’s Ambassadors of the Year Awards. It is the sixth time Federer has won the award, but the first time since 2009. Wozniacki has won it twice, the first coming in 2011. While both players were successful in 2014, the awards are as much for their off-court efforts as their tennis. Both players ended their seasons in fund-raising efforts, Federer playing compatriot Stan Wawrinka in Switzerland for his Foundation, Wozniacki running for charity in the New York City Marathon. The ITWA represents more than 120 of the world’s leading tennis journalists, and its awards recognize the combination of tennis achievements, including conduct that shows tennis in the best possible light, as well as cooperation with the media.
SIGNED
Young Australian Nick Kyrgios has signed with WME/IMG to represent him on and off the court. The 19-year-old made headlines at Wimbledon last year when he upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal in four sets. “Nick’s combination of natural talent, his charismatic personality and an interesting background has the potential to make him the most marketable player of his generation,” said Fernando Soler, head of the tennis division of the newly combined sports management firm. Kyrgios won the Australian Open boys singles title in 2013.
STEPS TO THE TOP
At the age of 46, Katrina Adams is the youngest person to become chairman, chief executive and president of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). She also is the first African American as well as the first former professional player to lead America’s tennis ruling body. She succeeds Dave Haggerty in the two-year, unpaid position. Adams’ playing career highlight was a fourth-round appearance in singles at Wimbledon. She also won 20 WTA doubles titles from 1988-1999. “I can say, I’ve been there, I know what it looks like, I know what it takes,” she said recently. Since her playing days ended, she has been a national USTA coach, a commentator on Tennis Channel and on CBS Sports Network’s all-female sports discussion show, and executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program.
STU UPSON COO
Stu Upson has been named to the new position of Chief Operating Officer of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Upson brings more than 20 years of experience in managing sports and entertainment properties to his new job. Most recently, he was executive director of the United States Bowling Congress, the national governing body of bowling. He will report to Hall of Fame CEO Todd Martin.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Auckland: Raven Klaasen and Leander Paes beat Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea 7-6 (1) 6-4
Hobart: Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson beat Vitalia Diatchenko and Monica Niculescu 7-5 6-3
Sydney (men): Rohan Bopanna and Daniel Nestor beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-4 7-6 (5)
Sydney (women): Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands beat Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones 6-3 6-3
SURFING
Melbourne: www.ausopen.com
ATP World Tour: www.atpworldtour.com/
WTA: www.wtatennis.com/
International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com/home.aspx
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN and WOMEN
Australian Open (first week), Melbourne, Australia, hard
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN and WOMEN
Australian Open (second week), Melbourne, Australia, hard
