Czech Republic Wins Third Straight Fed Cup – Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Julien Benneteau beat Andrey Rublev 7-5 2-6 6-3 to win the Internationaux de Tennis de Vendee in Mouilleron Le Captif, France

Zhang Shuai beat Dalma Galfi 4-6 7-6 (2) 6-2 to win the Ando Securities Open Tokyo 2016 in Tokyo, Japan

Norbert Gombos beat Marius Copil 7-6 (8) 4-6 6-3 to win the Peugeot Slovak Open 2016 in Bratislava, Slovakia

 

FED CUP

Final

Czech Republic beat France 3-2 at Strasbourg, France

 

SAYING

“It was the most unbelievable weekend of tennis. We were just a bit more lucky, but the French put up a stunning performance because we were the favorites on paper. I don’t thing we were favorites for the doubles, but you never know what you’re going to get in the team competition.” – Petr Pala, captain of the Czech Republic Fed Cup team.

“The feeling is something so special, even if it’s our fifth title. It’s really unbelievable.” – Barbora Strycova, who teamed with Karolina Pliskova to win the doubles and give the Czech Republic its third straight Fed Cup title.

“It’s one of the best trophies I am going to win. I am going to place it next to the one from last year.” – Karolina Pliskova.

“I feel fresh, actually. But it’s my longest match that I’ve played ever, so I’m really happy with the way I ended.” – Karolina Pliskova, who beat Kristina Mladenovic in the longest set in Fed Cup history, winning the opening rubber of the international team competition final 6-3 4-6 16-14.

“If I have to undergo surgery, I would like to do it as soon as possible so I can start getting ready for next season.” – Tomas Berdych, who withdrew as an alternate to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals because of appendicitis.

“The memories come back quickly but also the pride to be part of the team like 40 times. It is a long career and I have to be proud of that. I try to keep the best memories I have, but also there were some bad memories in Fed Cup because I always did not play well, but I learned a lot with this team and to represent France for me was really important.” – Mary Pierce, after receiving a new Fed Cup award.

“Fed Cup always meant a lot to me. I played I think 40 times, and when we won in ’97 it was one of my goals.” – Nathalie Tauziat, who also received a Fed Cup Commitment Award.

“We literally lived right down the street so we could walk there.” – Venus Williams, telling a crowd in Compton, California, USA, about where she and sister Serena began playing tennis.

 

SUPREME AGAIN

Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova teamed up to give the Czech Republic its third consecutive Fed Cup title and fifth in the last six years. Pliskova began the two-day competition by overcoming France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the longest set in Fed Cup final history, 6-3 4-6 16-14. Then, after Caroline Garcia won both of her singles matches to give France a 2-1 lead, Strycova knotted it up by stopping Alizé Cornet 6-2 7-6 (4). That put the title on the line in the doubles, and Pliskova and Strycova rose to the challenge, downing French Open champions Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 7-5. “It was a huge day, but we made all three points, which is something really special,” Strycova said. “Today was tough, but in the end it’s a fairytale.”

After the two sides split the first-day singles matches, Garcia put France within two sets of the title when she upset Pliskova 6-3 3-6 6-3. Czech captain Petr Pala then called on Strycova to substitute for the injured Petra Kvitova. Strycova beat Cornet, herself a substitute for Mladenovic, setting the stage for the doubles. “Our secret? Just fighting on every point, fighting until the end,” said Strycova, who also clinched the decisive rubber with Pliskova in last year’s final against Russia.

Pala, whose teams have won five titles, became the most successful captain in Fed Cup history. It was the Czech’s 10^th overall title and it became the first team to win three consecutive Fed Cups since Spain in 1993-95. “It’s a wonderful day,” Pliskova said. “It was not easy, that’s why we are so happy.”

 

SURVIVOR

The 2016 Fed Cup final began with a match that didn’t want to end. Karolina Pliskova outlasted France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 4-6 16-14, the longest set in Fed Cup history, to give the Czech Republic its first point. “I heard that it’s the longest one,” Pliskova said. “I was just looking at the score and just counting the games and we were still continuing. Unbelievable match from both of us. My tennis was maybe not 100 percent, but it still counts as a win.” It was the Frenchwoman who kept her hopes alive. Pliskova had a 5-2 lead in the final set and was just two points away from winning when Mladenovic clawed her way back and put the match on serve. She saved two match points with a drop shot and crosscourt backhand to hold for 9-9. The two traded breaks at 12-12 before Pliskova closed out the victory three hours, 48 minutes after they began. The third set took 2 hours, 23 minutes alone.

 

STANDING TALL

Five women, including four from France and the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova, were presented with a new Commitment Award for players who have shown long-standing dedication in representing their country in Fed Cup competition. The awards were handed out during the Fed Cup final in Strasbourg, France. Besides Kvitova, the award was given to Nathalie Tauziat, who played a record 40 ties for France; Gail Beneditti, who represented both her birth country Australia and adopted country France; François Durr, who was both player and captain over a period of 34 years, and Mary Pierce, a two-time Fed Cup champion in 1997 and 2003. Each award recipient has competed in a minimum of 20 World Group ties or 40 ties at any level of the competition, including zone group events, over their career. A total of 129 players have already qualified to receive the award, including all-time greats Margaret Court, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. The latter played a record 58 World Group ties. The list also includes Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, who is the record holder for number of ties at all levels with 74.

 

SISTERS IN COMPTON

Venus and Serena Williams returned to their childhood hometown to attend the dedication of tennis courts named in their honor. With a few hundred people watching, two newly refurbished courts at Lueders Park were proclaimed the Venus & Serena Williams Court of Champions. The sisters learned to play tennis a few miles away on courts at East Rancho Dominguez Park in an unincorporated area surrounding Compton. “When you consider all the challenges and all the obstacles that the Williams sisters had to overcome and they stayed focused and dedicated, so that same message is being transferred over to the young people in the city,” said Compton Mayor Aja Brown. The Williams sisters are helping fund the Yetunde Price Resource Center in Compton, which is named for their half-sister who was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 2003 and is set to open early next year. “It’s definitely a healing moment. They haven’t been to the city of Compton since their sister passed away,” said Brown, whose grandmother was fatally shot in Compton. “All of us in the community in some way have been touched by violence.”

 

SHE’S BACK

The United Nations will allow Maria Sharapova to resume her role as a UN goodwill ambassador when her drug suspension ends in April. The Russian became an ambassador for the UN Development Program (UNDP) in 2007, but was dropped in March when she admitted using the banned substance meldonium. The five-time Grand Slam tournament winner was handed a two-year ban, but it was later cut to 15 months. Sharapova will be eligible to play three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2017, missing only the Australian Open.

 

SEASON STARTER

Rafael Nadal will begin his 2017 season in 2016. “Excited to announce my first tournament back will be in Abu Dhabi at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in December,” the Spaniard posted on his Twitter account. That six-man event, which Nadal has won three times, will be held December 29-31. Others in the field are expected to be Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Goffin and Thomas Berdych.  Nadal cut his 2016 season short in October to fully recover from the physical problems that plagued his year.

 

SUSPENSION OVER

His suspension over, Nick Kyrgios can return to the ATP Tour. The Australian was originally suspended for eight weeks for “not giving his best effort” at the Shanghai Masters. The ban was reduced to three weeks when the 21-year-old underwent counseling from a sports psychologist. “His three weeks are up and he could be back out on tour playing if he chose to,” Tennis Australia official Todd Woodbridge said. “The punishment was there. I think everybody agreed that he had to get something. Now that’s done, we look forward to what he’s going to be able to show us in the new year.”

 

SCARY CRASH

David Nalbandian, who reached the semifinal of every Grand Slam tournament and was runner-up to Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon in 2002, escaped injury when his car crashed during a rally race in Argentina. “As you know, we had an accident in the Rally of Entre Rios. Both my co-driver and I, are perfectly well,” Nalbandian wrote on Twitter. Footage taken by spectators show the 34-year-old’s Chevrolet Agile rolling twice before ending up on its side. Fans helped the two drivers out of the battered car. The crash happened in San Justo, about 200 miles from Buenos Aires. Nalbandian retired from tennis in 2013 because of a troublesome shoulder injury. He also was involved in spectacular crash in April last year when his car flipped several times.

 

SEASON NOT OVER

The men, the ATP World Tour, and the women, the WTA, will end their seasons this month, but that doesn’t mean the players won’t be in action. The week beginning November 28 will find men’s tournaments in the United States, Turkey, Colombia, Spain, Qatar, Tunisia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Chile and Georgia. The largest will have a payout of only USD $25,000. Meanwhile the women will be playing USD $10,000 events in Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Israel. A USD $100,000 women’s tournament is scheduled to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the week of December 12.

Even the week of Christmas will find tennis tournaments being played around the world, albeit ones with very little money on the line. Istanbul, Turkey, will stage a USD $10,000 men’s event, while a USD $50,000 women’s tournament is scheduled to be held in Ankara, Turkey, the same week. Others will be playing Christmas week in India, Morocco, Thailand and Hong Kong

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bratislava: Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski bet Purav Raja and Divu Sharan 4-6 6-3 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Mouilleron Le Captif: Jonathan Eysseric and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom 6-7 (1) 7-6 (3) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Tokyo: Rika Fujiwara and Yuki Naito beat Jamie Loeb and An-Sophie Mestach 6-4 6-7 (12) 10-8 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

London: www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en

Limoges: www.engieopendelimoges.fr/

Taipei: www.oectennis.com/bin/home.php

Shenzhen: www.missionhillschina.com

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/en/

Honolulu: https://hawaiitennisopen.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London, Great Britain, hard

 

WOMEN

$115,000 Engie Open de Limoges, Limoges, France, hard

$115,000 OEC Taipei WTA Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

$100,000 Shenzhen Women’s Tournament, Shenzhen, China, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

WOMEN

$115,000 Hawaii Open, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, hard

 

DAVIS CUP

Final

Croatia vs. Argentina at Zagreb, Croatia, hard