Rafael Nadal Adds Barcelona to 10-Victories List - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 6-4 6-1 to win the Barcelona Open Sabadell in Barcelona, Spain

Laura Siegemund beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 2-6 7-6 (5) to win the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany

Lucas Pouille beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-1 to win the Gazprom Hungarian Open in Budapest, Hungary

Elina Svitolina beat Elise Mertens 6-2 6-4 to win the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup in Istanbul, Turkey

Janko Tipsarevic beat Quentin Halys 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4 to win the Kunming Challenger in Anning, China

Zheng Saisai beat Zanna Diyas 7-5 6-4 to win the Hotspring Peninsula ITF in Anning, China

SAYING

“It is two consecutive weeks winning, in Monte Carlo and here, two special tournaments for me, it is a dream start on clay.” – Rafael Nadal, winning in both Monte Carlo and Barcelona for a record 10^th time.

“There are worse things than to lose against the greatest player on clay ever.” – Dominic Thiem, after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Barcelona Open final.

“Clay is very tough, and it can kill your body if you’re not prepared.” – Elina Svitolina, who won in Istanbul, her third WTA title of the year.

“I’d play in the juniors if I had to. I’m not getting wild cards to receive a trophy or a golden platter. It’s my job to win matches.” – Maria Sharapova, when asked if she would accept a wild card to play in the French Open.

“I feel very privileged to be back on a tennis court.” – Roger Federer, while playing an exhibition in Seattle, Washington, USA.

“I have said it once and I will say it again, this world has come so far but yet we have so much further to go.” – Serena Williams, referring to Ilie Nastase’s comments by quoting from Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise.”

“Roger is the best one-two striker on the planet, his opening shots in the point are at the next level. Rafa is the best competitor there is, he’s there and on it regardless of the score for each and every point. Novak returns better than anyone I’ve faced, his ability to get behind each ball is scary.” – Nick Kyrgios, on the strengths of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

“With the Grand Slams, it’s me who has to catch up to her, and she has to catch up to me with the baby. It’s a funny timing, but I do hope she is coming back and we can have some more of our battles, because she’s one of the people I can’t imagine the tour without.” – Victoria Azarenka, who is planning on returning to the WTA tour following the birth of her son, about Serena Williams, who announced she was taking time off to have a baby.

SUPER RAFA

For the second week in a row, Rafael Nadal has won a tournament for the 10^th time. No other player has done it once. Playing on a court named after the Spanish great, Nadal captured his 10^th Barcelona Open, ousting Dominic Thiem of Austria. “It means a lot for me to reach number 10 here in Barcelona, in front of the people of my club. I am very happy and emotional,” the left-hander said. Winning the last two weeks also has stamped Nadal as a favorite to win his 10^th French Open later this month. Thiem, who had upset top-ranked Andy Murray in the semifinals, reached his only break point on Nadal’s serve to begin the match. “The first set was vitally important,” Nadal said. “It was hard. I was having a few more chances than him, but it was very even and that is why I celebrated with so much energy at the end.” The 14-time Grand Slam champion didn’t drop a set all week on the Barcelona court named after him.

SIEGEMUND TRIUMPHANT

Laura Siegemund feels at home in Stuttgart – literally. A resident of the German city, Siegemund reached the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final for the second straight year, winning it this time by beating French youngster Kristina Mladenovic. Siegemund was a qualifier when she gained a berth in the title match last year. This time she was given a wild card entry in the tournament, and made the most of it. Both players earned their spots in the final. Mladenovic eliminated top-ranked Angelique Kerber, Carla Suárez Navarro and three-time champion Maria Sharapova. Siegemund beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep before annexing the biggest title of her career. Trailing 1-4 in the decisive tiebreak, Siegemund won six of the next seven points, clinching the victory with a passing shot.

SECOND TITLE

Lucas Pouille had very little problem annexing his second ATP World Tour title. The Frenchman overpowered qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the Hungarian Open final, dropping just four games. “I feel very happy with the way I started the clay court season,” said Pouille, who was a semifinalist in Monte Carlo the week before. “To win here gives me a lot of confidence for the future.” Bedene, who has never won a title on the ATP World Tour, had won 16 consecutive matches going into the title contest against his French foe. “I wasn’t close to the level I should be at to beat Lucas, but he was playing really well,” Bedene said. “It was like everything went in for him.”

SVITOLINA A WINNER

It took just over an hour for Elina Svitolina to capture her third WTA crown. Playing Elise Mertens for the first time, Svitolina won the first five games of the match before the Belgian finally could get on the scoreboard. The top-seeded Svitolina was always in command while winning her third title of 2017, tops in the WTA. “Last time I played on clay I got injured in the early part of the season, so it was difficult for me to come back on this surface and trust my body and my legs,” Svitolina said. “This year I prepared better, took more time off, and I was very happy that physically I could make it through this week.” Mertens, who discovered her clay court form while leading Belgium to a Fed Cup win over Russia, was playing in only her second career final and found Svitolina too powerful.

SCANDAL MATERIAL?

Facing criticism from his own Fed Cup players, Ilie Nastase is having problems trying to step back from the remarks he made about Serena Williams and two members of Great Britain’s Fed Cup squad. “Anything I say, I am the bad boy,” Nastase complained. “Why write a news story like this? Just to have a scandal? There are more important things going on.” Before the Great Britain-Romania Fed Cup competition began, Nastase, the Romanian captain, was heard questioning the color of Williams’ baby. “Let’s see what color it has. Chocolate with milk?” Nastase said. Then, during the competition, he argued with the umpire before being abusive to British captain Anne Keothavong and player Johanna Konta. The 1973 French Open winner said his remarks about Williams’ baby were not racist. “If I said she would have an ugly, black (baby), that would have been racist,” he told Press Association. Romania’s top player, Simona Halep, said the Romanian Fed Cup team will not defend Nastase, who has been suspended by the International Tennis Federation because of his statements. “I didn’t like the way he talked and I cannot accept that,” Halep said. We cannot defend him in that direction.”

STOPS NUMBER ONE BID

Angelique Kerber’s bid for a third straight Porsche Tennis Grand Pix title was ended by Kristina Mladenovic. The second-round loss also kept Kerber from regaining the WTA’s number one ranking. Kerber would have regained the top spot over Serena Williams if she had reached the quarterfinals at Stuttgart. Instead, it was Mladenovic who came up with the winning game. “I prepared my match a little bit differently,” the Frenchwoman said. “I played Angie already three times, always lost. I think that was our first one on clay and I really wanted to take advantage of the surface, being a bit more consistent, smarter, playing more angles but also aggressive. She began by winning the first three games of the one-hour, 37-minute match and also took a 3-0 lead in the second set.

SHARAPOVA TO PARIS?

Maria Sharapova will find out in the middle of this month exactly where she’ll begin her bid for a third French Open title. French tennis federation president Bernard Giudicelli said the players receiving wild cards into this year’s event will be made on May 16 at 7 p.m. Paris time. “The only guarantee I gave her is to call her beforehand,” Giudicelli said when asked if Sharapova would receive a wild card entry into the women’s singles main draw. “There is no reason why we should make an exception for Maria Sharapova, there is no reason why we should announce a wild card before the others.” Sharapova returned to competition in Stuttgart, Germany, last week following a 15-month suspension after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. The Russian won Roland Garros in 2012 and 2014.

Several top players, including Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray, have questioned whether Sharapova should be given wild cards into main draws without having to play her way back through qualifying. She received wild cards into the Stuttgart tournament and in this month’s Italian Open in Rome.

SWISS MASTER PLANS

Roger Federer will return to tennis at this month’s French Open. It will be his first action since he won hard-court Masters events in Indian Wells, California, and Miami, Florida. He began this year by capturing the Australian Open, his 18^th Grand Slam tournament title, and is currently ranked fourth in the world. “I am registered and my intention is the play Roland Garros,” Federer said after defeating John Isner in an exhibition at Seattle, Washington, USA. The 35-year-old Swiss star won in Paris in 2009 to complete a career Grand Slam.

SICK BAY CALL

Bernard Tomic withdrew from his second-round match at the Barcelona Open due to a lower back injury. The Australian was to face top-ranked Andy Murray in the clay court tournament, who advanced with the walkover. Tomic’s first-round victory over Dustin Brown in three sets was his first after five straight first-round losses. The 24-year-old retired from a tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, last month because of the heat, and withdrew from the Miami Open citing a back problem.

SAYONARA

Albert Montanes called it a career after losing in the second round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell to fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2 6-2. Montanes had announced the week before that his hometown clay court event would be his last tournament after nearly 20 years on tour. The 36-year-old won six ATP World Tour titles was ranked as high as 22^nd in the world in August 2010. His first-round victory over another Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, was the 255^th of his career.

STAYING THE COURSE

Blaž Rola of Slovenia took the extended route to win the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. “It’s been a long, long week,” Rola said. “But I can’t really rest. Maybe a day or two and then I’ll head to Savannah (Georgia, USA) and hopefully keep the run going.” Rola won eight matches in eight days after going through qualifying, then the main draw to win his third ATP Challenger tournament. He captured the title by outlasting unseeded Ramkumar Ramanathan of India 6-2 6-7 (6) 7-5.

STILL WINNING

Like “Old Man River,” Leander Paes continues to roll on. The 43-year-old veteran from India teamed with Scott Lipsky to win the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger doubles, stopping third-seeded Maximo Gonzalez and Leonardo Mayer 4-6 7-6 (5) 10-7 (match tiebreak) in the final. Paes, who has won 18 Grand Slam tournament titles – all of them in doubles – stayed long after his match was completed to sign autographs for fans. Currently ranked 52^nd in the world in doubles, Paes sat atop the world rankings 18 years ago.

SEEKING MORE TESTS

Players on the professional tennis tours will undergo more doping tests this year The International Tennis Federation (ITF) together with ATP, Grand Slam Board and WTA said the number of tests this year will increase to 8,000 from 4,899 in 2016. They also said more samples will be placed in long-term storage. “Protecting the integrity of tennis is an ongoing priority of the governing bodies of tennis to ensure that tennis is and remains a clean sport, and these enhancements will make a positive contribution to achieving that priority,” said ITF president David Haggerty.

STADIUM PROJECT

Usually a player gets a tennis stadium named in his honor after he has finished his playing career. But Rafael Nadal is not your normal player. The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell named its main court after the Spanish star, who then went on to capture the clay court event for a record-tying 10^th time, but his first on Pista Rafa Nadal. “This place has meant a lot to me and the club deciding to name the center court with my name makes it even more special,” Nadal said during the special court naming ceremony earlier in the week.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Anning (men): Dino Marcan and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn beat Steven De Waard and Blaz Kavcic 5-7 6-3 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Anning (women): Han Kinyun and Ye Qiu Ya beat Prathana G. Thombare and Xun Fang Ying 6-2 7-5

Barcelona: Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Philipp Petzschner and Alexander Peya 6-4 6-3

Budapest: Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6 (2) 6-4

Istanbul: Dalia Jakupovic and Nadia Kichenok beat Nicole Melichar and Elise Mertens 7-6 (6) 6-2

Stuttgart: Raquel Atawo and Jelena Ostapenko beat Abigail Spears and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 6-4

SURFING

Munich: http://bmwopen.de/

Estoril: http://millenniumestorilopen.com/en/

Istanbul: http://istanbulopen.kozawos.com/

Rabat: http://frmt.ma/frmt/