Naomi Osaka Loses in Japan; Dominic Thiem Wins in Russia - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Dominic Thiem beat Martin Klizan 6-3 6-1to win the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia

Karolina Pliskova beat Naomi Osaka 6-4 6-4 5o win the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan

Gilles Simon beat Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (2) 6-1 to win the Moselle Open in Metz, France

Kiki Bertens beat Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6 (2) 4-6 6-2 to win the KEB Hana Bank Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea

Wang Qiang beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1 6-2 to win the Guangzhou Open in Guangzhou, China

Gael Monfils beat Soonwoo Kwon 6-4 2-6 6-1 to win the Kaohsiung OEC Open in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

SAYINGS

“I’m me.” – Naomi Osaka, when asked about her identity since her mother is Japanese, her father is Haitian and she grew up in the United States.

“I was just happy it didn’t go to a third set. Naomi was playing so good all tournament but I think she was a little bit tired today.” – Karolina Pliskova, after beating Naomi Osaka to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

“I’ve literally never felt more tired in my entire life. To play the final of the US Open and then to come here, I think I did pretty well. So, if there is anything I can take from this it is that I am proud of myself.” – Naomi Osaka.

“It always means a lot to win a tournament. There’re not too many guys who win a tournament every year, so it’s really special.” – Dominic Thiem, following his St. Petersburg Open victory.

“It’s a loss. I’m not very happy, but overall it was a good week for me.” – Martin Klizan, whose loss to Dominic Thiem was his first defeat in seven ATP World Tour finals.

“Every time I win a title I tell myself that it might be my last, so I’m happy to add one more to the list.” – Gilles Simon, after winning the Moselle Open, his 14^th career title.

“I need to be positive. This has been an incredible week for me. If I would have been told that I would reach the final when I arrived here to play the qualies, I wouldn’t have believed it.” – Matthias Bachinger, who lost the Metz, France, final.

“Normally I like to enjoy (a title) with good food and a nice glass of wine. I don’t know if that’s a good idea tonight – we have to get up early and get our flights (to Wuhan). But titles – you have to celebrate them. This is what you play for.” – Kiki Bertens, who beat Ajla Tomljanovic to win in Seoul, South Korea.

“I need a long period of training and reconditioning to get myself in the best shape possible for the beginning of the 2019 season and getting myself back competing for the biggest tournaments again.” – Andy Murray, announcing he will skip the last two tournaments of the season.

“If I played tennis on home courts only I wouldn’t finish my career so early. But I’m too tired to travel around the world.” – Mikhail Youzhny, who retired from the tour.

“A win is a win and I came here to win a lot of matches, so I am very happy.” – Gael Monfils, after winning a Challenger event in Taiwan.

“If she’s on, it would’ve been almost impossible to beat her. The only thing that I could do is play as well as I can and hope for the best.” – Naomi Osaka, after beating Camila Giorgi 6-2 6-3 in the semifinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

STREAK ENDED

Riding her booming serve, Karolina Pliskova ended Naomi Osaka’s winning streak, capturing the Pan Pacific Open in straight sets. “First of all my serve was very good today,” the fourth-seeded Pliskova said. “I was able to hold all my service games, so that was the key.” Pliskova, on the other hand, had only two break point opportunities, converting both to serve each set. Osaka was playing in her first tournament since upsetting Serena Williams to win the US Open. The loss to Pliskova snapped her 10-match winning streak. It was the second time Osaka lost in the final of the Tokyo tournament. Two years ago, she lost in the final to Caroline Wozniacki. Pliskova wound up with 12 winners and just 13 unforced errors. Osaka had four more winners, but 26 unforced errors. “I didn’t want to try to overpower her because I think she has more power than me,” Pliskova said. “So, I just wanted to be patient, wait for my chances and try to attack, to serve well, to mix the speed a big, to play a lot to her backhand.”

SECURES INDOOR CROWN

The Saint Petersburg Open championship was something special for Dominic Thiem. “It’s my first indoor title and it’s really amazing,” Thiem said after defeating Slovakia’s Martin Klizan in straight sets for his third ATP World Tour title of the season. “I felt myself a big tired at the end, but I’m really happy that I made it.” Klizan, who won the Russian event in 2012, suffered his first loss in seven ATP finals. “He’s a very dangerous player. He can hit winners from everywhere,” said Thiem, who beat Klizan for the first time in four career meetings. “I was doing a lot of things very well today: serving, returning and also from the baseline. The scoreline was going for me, and that’s why it was pretty quick, I would say.” The pair were on serve until the seventh game, when Thiem got the break. “From this moment on, I think I had control of the match,” the Austrian said.

SIMON A WINNER

Overcoming a shaky start, Frenchman Gilles Simon stopped German qualifier Matthias Bachinger to win his third Moselle Open title. “I have a good feeling here,” Simon said. “I also have the family coming. So, it’s a very nice feeling to come back every year.” It’s the first time Simon has won two titles in the same season since 2011; he began the year by capturing a tournament in Pune, India. With his 14^th career title, Simon, who started the year ranked 89^th in the world, will return to the Top 30. Bachinger reached the title match by shocking Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the semifinals. And he led Simon 5-4 in the opening set. The 33-year-old Frenchman rallied to win the tiebreak 7-2, then raced through the second set. “It’s been a great week,” Simon said.

STRONG FINISH

What a difference a year makes. “It feels great to be honest,” Kiki Bertens said. “To be holding this trophy feels special. Last year I won the doubles title, but this feels better.” The Dutch woman won the final six games of the match to defeat Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic for the KEB Hana Bank Korea Open title. The two players broke each other twice in the opening set before Bertens won six straight points to win the tiebreak 7-2. Not to be outdone, Tomljanovic came up with her own streak, winning seven straight games from 3-4 down to level the match at one set each and take a 2-0 lead in the decider. That’s when the 26-year-old Bertens responded with her six-game streak, taking the title with a forehand pass on her second championship point. It was Bertens’ third title of the season.

SQUEEZING BY

Hard-won singles victories by Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Germany’s Alexander Zverev enabled Team Europe to retain the Laver Cup, beating Team World 13-8 in Chicago. Federer barely got past American John Isner 6-7 (5) 7-6 (8) 10-7 before Zverev edged South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-7 (3) 7-5 10-7 to clinch the victory. “It was such a close match all around, not only this one but all weekend, a few points here and there and it could have been different,” Zverev said. “I’m just happy to get the win and we defended the title. That’s the most important thing.” Anderson and American Jack Sock beat Federer and Serbian Novak Djokovic in doubles on the first day. Anderson then shocked Djokovic in singles on Saturday. On Sunday, Sock and Isner beat Federer and Zverev 4-6 7-6 (2) 11-9, making the final two singles matches decisive. Federer saved three match points to squeak past Isner before the 21-year-old Zverev clinched the victory.

SUCCESSFUL STEP DOWN

Seeking more match play and confidence after injuring his wrist at the US Open, Gael Monfils decided to play a Challenger Tour event. The Frenchman wound up winning the OEC Open in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, defeating Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon in the final. “It is never easy to win a Challenger,” Monfils said. “It has given me confidence, to play five guys who were really tough. I’m just very happy.” It wasn’t easy against Kwon, who broke Monfils three times in the second set. But the Frenchman rediscovered his rhythm and won the first three games in the third set before closing out the victory on his second match point. “Kwon played amazing today,” Monfils said. “He’s a youngster with a lot of hope and desire, so it was a very tough match and I had to pull out my best game to beat him today.” Monfils is the fifth player to win titles on both the ATP World Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour this year. Monfils won the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in the opening week of the season.

SAY DA-DA

When John Isner showed up at the Laver Cup in Chicago, he had a new title: father. His wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, an experience Isner described as “the best moment of my life for sure.” The tall American with the blistering serve said he will skip upcoming tournaments in Asia to be with his family. “It’s been super tough being away right now,” he said. “I certainly miss my daughter incredibly much right now.” At the age of 33, Isner has been playing some of the best tennis of his life. He won his first Masters 1000 title at Miami and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon.

STRAIGHT-SET WIN

Wang Qiang loves home-cooking – or at least playing at home. The Chinese right-hander won her second career WTA title by crushing Yulia Putintseva in straight sets in the Guangzhou International Women’s Open final. Wang won her first WTA title in Nanchang, China, in July. A two-time Asian Games singles champion, Wang hit 25 winners to just 16 unforced errors, breaking Putintseva five times. She saved all three break points she faced in the match and captured the title without dropping a set all week. By reaching a career-high 34^th in the world, Wang becomes China’s top-ranked player.

SEES END TO SEASON

Andy Murray’s troubled season will end a little earlier than originally planned. The former Wimbledon champion says he will skip the final two ATP World Tour events in Shanghai and Paris. He will, however, play in Shenzhen and Beijing before heading home. Murray, once ranked number one in the world, has tried to recover from hip surgery and has played a truncated season this year, skipping Wimbledon and several other tournaments. He played in only one Grand Slam tournament this year, the US Open, where he lost in the second round.

STOPPING NOW

Maria Sharapova is withdrawing from the three tournaments she was to play later this year and shutting down her 2018 season, according to the New York Times. Seeking to rest, the Russian reportedly will skip the China Open, Tianjin Open and the VTB Kremlin Cup. The five-time Grand Slam tournament champion advanced passed the quarterfinals in just two tournaments this year, losing both times in the semifinals.

SUSPENDED

Chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani has been given a two-week suspension for giving Nick Kyrgios a pep talk at the US Open. The ATP World Tour suspended Lahyani for two weeks without pay, meaning he will miss the China Open in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters. According to the New York Times, Lahyani will return to officiating at an event in Stockholm, Sweden. During the US Open match, Lahyani came out of his chair to approach Kyrgios while the Australian trailed Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 0-3 in the second set. The umpire appeared to offer words of encouragement to Kyrgios, who won the match in five sets. Umpires are not allowed to offer any sort of advice or encouragement to either player and are expected to stay neutral. The US Open did not suspend the umpire, but released a statement saying his conduct “went beyond protocol.” The ATP acted because Lahyani is a full-time ATP employee “and subject to ATP disciplinary action due to … the high standards the ATP requires of its chair umpires regardless of the event to which he or she is assigned, in order to maintain the integrity of the Tour,” the ATP Tour said in a statement.

SET FOR PARIS

Not wanting to rush his recovery from a leg injury, Rafael Nadal is planning to return to the ATP World Tour at the Paris Masters, according to his Uncle Toni. The top-ranked Nadal retired with a knee injury while playing Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals of the US Open. He has since withdrawn from Beijing and Shanghai. “Rafa told me in our recent conversations that he would return at Paris and would not play the Asian swing because he would not be ready to compete again,” Toni Nadal told EFE. “There is no reason to force his return. He has experience that if forced, everything is complicated. At 32, you have to take care of yourself.”

SWITCHING SPORTS

Hall of Famer Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss have joined the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team as minority owners. “Just like Billie Jean and Ilana, the Dodger franchise has a history of and commitment to breaking barriers, inclusion and winning, and we’re looking forward to them continuing to promote these attributes within our organization,” Dodger owner and chairman Mark Walter said in welcoming the tennis stars. Now 74, King won 12 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, including Wimbledon six times. She won 20 Wimbledon titles in all, including 10 women’s doubles and four mixed doubles.

SITE SELECTED

The Davis Cup final will be played at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille, France, for the second straight year and for the third time. France, the defending champion, will meet Croatia from November 23-25 for this year’s title. Last year, France edged Belgium 3-2 for the prestigious international team trophy. Lille also was the site for the 2014 final when France was beaten by Switzerland. The French federation still has to decide what type of court surface the final will be played on.

SAYONARA

Mikhail Youzhny ended his career one victory short of 500 match wins. The 36-year-old Youzhny won 10 titles and played on two winning Davis Cup squads. He also became a brief internet hit when he whacked his head with his racquet so hard that his skull bled profusely. He called it quits after losing to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (6) 3-6 6-3 in the second round at Saint Petersburg. Ranked as high as eighth in the world, Youzhny became a national hero when he came from two sets down in the fifth and final rubber of the 2002 final in Paris to beat France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu. Former president Boris Yeltsin, who was in the stands, sprinted onto the court to hug the exhausted Youzhny. “I’m happy with the level of tennis that I performed today, but I have no plans to come back,” Youzhny said. “I decided to quit and there’s no way back.”

SKIPPING WUHAN

US Open champion Naomi Osaka and former world number one Victoria Azarenka have pulled out of the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. “Naomi has had an amazing few weeks and we’re very sorry not to see her here in Wuhan,” said tournament co-director Fabrice Chouquet. “Thankfully we are blessed with a fantastic lineup of player this year, including nine other Grand Slam champions and the rest of the Top 10.” Osaka withdrew because of a viral illness after Azarenka pulled out of the tournament, also with a viral illness that forced her to retire in the Tokyo quarterfinal match against Camila Giorgi. Magdalena Rybarikova also withdrew from the tournament with an upper respiratory illness.

SOLD

A billionaire owner of a tennis club has bought the WTA Volvo Car Open. The Charleston, South Carolina, USA, tournament was purchased by Ben Navarro, who recently made a bid for the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers. The sale also includes the Family Circle Tennis center, where the tournament is played. The event was previously owned by two corporations, including the owner of Family Circle Magazine. Charleston is the only green-clay event played on the WTA Tour.

SIGNED ON

Jennifer Capriati, a three-time Grand Slam tournament champion, is the latest WTA Legend to join the WTA Finals Legend Ambassadors program. She will be one of 12 Grand Slam champions and WTA trailblazers who will serve as Legend Ambassadors for the fifth and final edition of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Leading the group will be Billie Jean King, founder of the WTA, who will return to the WTA Finals for the first time since 2014. Other Legends include Martina Navratilova, after whom the WTA Finals Doubles Trophy is named, Chris Evert, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Iva Majoli, Alicia Molik, Mary Pierce, Monica Seles, Yayuk Basuki and Tamarine Tansugarn.

SUSPENSION OVER

Oliver Anderson, a former Australian Open junior champion, is now free to play again after serving a 19-month suspension for match fixing. Now 20, Anderson admitted to deliberately losing a set during an ATP tournament in 2016. After he was approached by a friend and asked to drop a set at the Traralgon Challenger event in Victoria, Australia, someone tried to place a bet with a bookmaker, who alerted the police. Anderson lost the first set 6-4 before taking the next two, 6-0 6-2 to win the match. Although he won the match and received no financial benefit himself, his conduct was in breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Guangzhou: Monique Adamczek and Jessica Moore beat Danka Kovinic and Vera Lapko 4-6 7-5 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Kaohsiung: Hsieh Cheng-Peng and Yang Tsung-Hua beat Hsu Yu Hsiou and Jimmy Wang 6-7 (3) 6-2 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Metz: Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski 6-1 7-5

Seoul: Ji-Hee Choi and Na-Lee Han beat Hsieh Shu-Ying and Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 6-2

St. Petersburg: Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini beat Roman Jebavy and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6 (6) 7-6 (4)

Tokyo: Miyu Kato and Makoto Ninomiya beat Andrea Sestini Hlavackov and Barbora Strycova 6-4 6-4

SURFING

Chengdu: www.chengduopentennis.com/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopen.cn/

Orleans: www.opendorleans.com/

Tiburon: http://tiburonchallenger.com/