Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal Out Of Miami Open - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Miami Open – First Week

Andrey Kuznetsov beat fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-3

Damir Dzumhur beat fifth-seeded Rafael Nada 2-6 6-4 3-0 retired

CoCo Vandeweghe beat sixth-seeded Carla Suárez Navarro 6-4 6-2

Kristyna Pliskova beat seventh-seeded Belinda Bencic 4-1 retired

Ekaterina Makarova beat eighth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4

Elena Vesnina beat 10^th-seeded Venus Williams 6-0 6-7 (5) 6-2

SAYING

“Everything was fine until the end of the first set. Then I started to feel dizzy, not very good. It was getting worse and worse. Finally, in the second set I realized that I could not keep playing.” – Rafael Nadal, who retired from his Miami Open match against Damir Dzumhur.

“Between the first and second sets I called a medical timeout. I was really thinking about retirement, but just said to myself, ‘I’m playing Rafa. I don’t have a chance to play these guys every day. I want to enjoy this moment.’ So I tried to continue.” – Damir Dzumhur.

“I have not felt great for a few days and unfortunately it got worse in the last 24 hours. I was really excited to have my comeback in Miami but I am in no condition to play. I tried to warm up this morning but it was clear that I could not compete.” – Roger Federer, withdrawing from the Miami Open with a stomach virus.

“I think I played well in my career here. Four finals. Another semifinal. So was a positive tournament for me. Only negative thing is I finally never win it.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about the Miami Open.

“I started the year very well and my goal was to get back into the Top 50. But then I lost five matches in a row, so your goal is always changing. But my main goal is still to win an ATP World Toru title. I’ve been a finalist two times before, so I believe I can reach this one day.” – Dudi Sela, after winning a record-tying 20^th Challenger title.

“Everyone thinks women should be thrilled when we get crumbs. I want women to have the cake, the icing, the cherry on top, too … I just think every single human being deserves the cake and the icing and everything. OK? Everyone. Everyone.” – Billie Jean King.

“I think from time to time we all need a reminder of the evolution of women’s tennis and sacrifices every generation has had to make, from Billie Jean to myself and Martina, Steffi to Monica, to the Williams sisters. What we’ve done to get the credibility, the respect and equality that we have now.” – Chris Evert.

“I’m all for equal prize money. When I was fighting for prize money increases, especially at the Slam level, I was always very aware of the fact it would impact the women’s game. I’m happy tennis has produced some of the greatest female athletes in the world.” – Roger Federer.

STANDING ATOP RANKINGS

Great Britain’s Jamie Murray, the older brother of two-time Grand Slam tournament singles champion Andy Murray, is now ranked number one in the world in the ATP doubles rankings. Jamie Murray overtook Marcelo Melo for the top spot when the Brazilian and his Croatian partner Ivan Dodig lost to Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi at the Miami Open. That meant Melo lost enough points to fall behind Murray, even though the 30-year-old Scottish left-hander had already lost in the tournament. Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares won their first Grand Slam tournament doubles title in January when they captured the Australian Open. Murray also joined his brother last year to spark Great Britain to the Davis Cup title.

SIZZLING SERENA

Serena Williams is closing in on Lindsay Davenport. When the world’s top-ranked player beat Zarina Diyas in her third-round Miami Open match, it was her 750^th career match victory. She currently is seventh on the all-time list for match wins, just three behind Davenport’s 753. Martina Navratilova holds the all-time record with 1,442 match wins, followed by Chris Evert with 1,309; Steffi Graf, 902; Virginia Wade, 839; and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, 759.

SOME KIND OF LUCK

They called him a lucky loser. Horacio Zeballos failed to qualify for the Miami Open main draw, but got a spot when Roger Federer withdrew with a stomach virus. Zeballos made the most of his unexpected appearance, knocking off fellow Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-4 6-4. It was the first tour-level win for the 30-year-old Zeballos this year. “He played well,” del Potro said of his left-handed conqueror. “He’s a lefty, he can play to my backhand easier than anyone else. He played very smart.” Zeballos finished with six aces and he served mostly to del Potro’s backhand. He lost only nine points on serve and did not face a break point in the 81-minute match. Del Potro, making yet another comeback from a wrist injury, called for the trainer after being bothered by his left wrist. “I was suffering a little bit,” the 2009 US Open men’s champion, “but I hope it’s nothing dangerous. … It’d be a surprise for me to win a match at this moment because I’m not 100 percent yet. But I’m here playing tennis. That’s good for me.”

SELA MILESTONE

Dudi Sela know just where to go to get his confidence back. The veteran Israeli won his 20^th title on the ATP Challenger Tour when he captured a USD $75,000 event in Shenzhen, China. “Winning a title here is very important because I didn’t play well after the Australian Open,” Sela said. “The performance this week can boost my confidence for the rest of the year.” Sela is only the second player on tour to win 20 Challenger titles, joining Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun. In the Shenzhen final, Sela beat Wu Di of China 6-4 6-3. “The Challengers have been a very important part of my career,” Sela said. “These tournaments aren’t easy because most of the player either were in the Top 100 or have the ability to get there. But whenever my ranking dropped a bit, I would always go back to the Challengers to get some matches and confidence.”

STOPPED BY ILLNESS

Sapped by the 90-degree heat and feeling dizzy, Rafael Nadal retired from a match for the first time in six years. “It was getting worse and worse and worse,” the Spaniard said. “I get a little bit scared – too dizzy. I felt I was not safe, so I decided to go. I wanted to finish the match, but I seriously couldn’t.” The last time Nadal retired from a match was in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals against Andy Murray. Nadal was trailing Dzumhur 2-6 6-4 3-0 when he called it quits. The 14-time Grand Slam tournament champion has not won an event since August. He has never won the Miami Open, where he’s 0-4 in finals. Nadal said he felt fine before the match. “Hopefully it’s just the extreme conditions,” he said. “It’s tough for me because I felt I was playing well. It’s a hard accident. That’s life.” Nadal later pulled out of doubles.

STOMACH PROBLEMS

Roger Federer’s plans to return to act at the Miami Open fell through. “I am very sorry that I have to pull out of the Miami Open with a stomach virus,” the Swiss star said. “I feel bad for the tournament and the fans as I have rarely ever had to withdraw at such short notice.” Federer has not played since losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January. The next morning Federer torn his meniscus while preparing to bathe his children. The 17-time Grand Slam tournament champion said he felt a “click” as he transferred his weight to his left leg. At the time, he did not realize the seriousness of the injury. After returning home to Switzerland, an MRI revealed the extent of the injury and Federer underwent arthroscopic surgery on February 3. He had not expected to be ready in time to play the Miami Open, but recovered well from the operation and was excited for the opportunity. He didn’t count on the stomach virus.

SPORT IN TROUBLE?

Rafael Nadal feels tennis could be in trouble unless the sport’s leaders take action. “The sport in general needs to improve in all aspects,” Nadal said. “The players today are taller than before. The racquets hit the ball harder than before. Same time, it’s true that nothing changed in our sport in terms of rules, how high is the net, everything.” The Spanish star said there could be trouble if the evolution in equipment makes speed and power more important that skill and tactics. “Tennis has been tremendously successful for a long time,” Nadal said. “The sport is healthy. But it’s obvious at the same time we need to move, to predict the future.” The 29-year-old left-hander also said it’s important for tennis to develop stars and rivalries, such as he has enjoyed with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. “In my opinion, it’s not good if a different player wins a tournament every week,” Nadal said. “People arrive at the tournament nobody knows who are the favorites. It’s difficult because the people need to support one player, so you need the stars.”

SAID WHAT?

Novak Djokovic says his remarks were misinterpreted when he first responded to the furor created by Raymond Moore, who said women players “ride on the coattails” of the men’s game. Moore has since resigned, but Djokovic had to fight off flak from both members of the ATP World Tour and the WTA. “Stats are one of the … reasons why maybe we should get awarded more,” Djokovic said. “As long as it is like that and there is data and stats available and information … upon who attracts more attention, spectators, who sells more tickets and stuff like that, in relation to that it has to be fairly distributed. … On the other hand, I think that our men’s tennis world, ATP world, should fight for more because the stats are showing that we have much more spectators on the men’s tennis matches.” After his remarks were criticized by fellow players Andy Murray and Serena Williams, Djokovic said, “I’ve made some comments that are not the best articulation of my view. This was never meant to be made into a fight between genders and differences in pay, but in the way all players are rewarded for their play and effort. … This was my view all along and I want to apologize to anyone who has taken this the wrong way.”

SUSPICION OF MURDER

The coach of Dutch tennis player Robin Haase has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Mark de Jong is accused of fatally stabbing millionaire Koen Everink early this month. De Jong had said he had been at Everink’s home on March 3 and was perhaps the last one to see him alive. But the arrest of the coach caught many in the sport completely surprised. De Jong was arrested when he and Haase returned to Amsterdam from the Miami Open.

SURFING

Miami: www.miamiopen.com/

Raanana: www.ita.co.il/

Houston: www.mensclaycourt.com/

Marrakech: www.gphassan2tennis.com/

Katowice: http://katowiceopen.com/pl

Charleston: www.volvocaropen.com/

Guadeloupe: www.open-guadeloupe.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$6,267,755 ATP World Tour Masters Miami, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

$125,000 Israel Open, Raanana, Israel, hard