Roger Federer Wins Basel for 10th Time; Dominic Thiem Wins First Vienna Title - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Dominic Thiem beat Diego Schwartzman 3-6 6-4 6-3 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria

Roger Federer beat Alex de Minaur 6-2 6-2 to win the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland

Aryna Sabalenka beat Kiki Bertens 6-4 6-2 to win the Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China

Ugo Humbert beat Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-3 to win the Open Brest Credit Agricole in Brest, France

Peng Shuai beat Zhu Lin 6-2 3-6 6-2 to win the ITF W100 in Suzhou, China

SAYING

“Being a ballboy really inspired me, but I cannot believe that I’ve won here 10 times.” – Roger Federer, after winning the Swiss Indoors for a 10^th time.

“It has been a dream week.” – Dominic Thiem, after winning his hometown tournament for the first time.

“I’m just really happy with this title and with the finish of my singles season. It’s really impressive.” – Aryna Sabalenka, after capturing her third singles title this season in China.

“Wisconsin isn’t exactly the hub of tennis. I’m the only person at my tennis club.” – Reese Brantmeier of Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA, winner of the WTA Future Stars Under-16 competition.

SWISS GIANT

When he was a ballboy at the Swiss Indoors, Roger Federer dreamed of winning the tournament. Now he’s done it 10 times, the latest with a straight-set triumph over Australian Alex de Minaur. “I would have never thought to win here 10 times, not even one, so it’s very special,” said Federer, who was unable to hold back the tears during the trophy presentation. “Thank you everyone, hope to see you all next year,” he told the crowd that included his wife, four children and parents. De Minaur’s quickness and defensive skills kept him in many points, but he lost his serve four times, twice in each set, to the brilliance of Federer’s game. “The first five games we had some great rallies,” the 38-year-old champion said. “It was fast but very nice. I think I played a great match. … I was great on offense, made very few unforced errors, came up with the big shots and served well when I had to.” The hometown crowd gave him a standing ovation when he received his 103^rd career trophy, only six behind the record 109 titles won by American Jimmy Connors. The final was Federer’s 75^th match win in Basel, extending his hometown tournament winning streak to 24 matches. It was his fourth 2019 title after Dubai, Miami and Halle. “You don’t get to win 10 titles at the same venue very often in a career, if ever,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier that I was able to do it here in Basel.” Federer has also won Halle, Germany, 10 times, and Wimbledon and Dubai eight times each.

SCORES AT HOME

Dominic Thiem also won his hometown tournament. But it was Thiem’s first Vienna Open title as he rallied to outlast Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in three sets. “It’s been an unbelievable year for me in Austria, to win titles in Kitzbühel and now here in Vienna,” said Thiem. “I have had some troubles to deliver my best tennis in front of these amazing crowds in Kitzbühel and also here in Vienna and now, in the same year, I win both titles. It is completely unreal to me.” Ranked fifth in the world, Thiem is the first player to win five ATP titles this season. After Schwartzman captured the opening set, Thiem changed his strategy from staying on the baseline to taking the net whenever he could. Trailing 2-3 in the second set, Thiem saved a break point, then broke the Argentine in the ninth game before holding to level the match at a set each. He broke Schwartzman to begin the final set, then broke him again on match point. As Thiem laid on the court in joy, Schwartzman climbed over the net to congratulate his friend.

SUPERB IN CHINA

Aryna Sabalenka has found a home in China. The Belarus native won her third WTA singles title of the year, all coming in China, by downing top-seeded Kiki Bertens in Zhuhai. “For the next season I would like to win somewhere else instead of China,” Sabalenka joked. “But also I would like to keep winning in China.” All of Sabalenka’s titles this year have come in China, winning at Shenzhen at the start of the year and successfully retaining her crown at Wuhan. In all, four of her five career WTA singles titles have been won in China. Sabalenka beat Bertens for only the second time in their six career meetings. “I think I played a little bit more aggressive … and stayed calm from the beginning until the end. That’s helped me a lot to break her serve and to be consistent,” Sabalenka said. “I just stayed focused on each point and tried to keep this calm atmosphere inside of me.” She also struck 17 winners along with 14 unforced errors. Bertens had 14 unforced errors against only 11 winners. Sabalenka next will play at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, where se and partner Elise Mertens are the top-seeded doubles team.

SANS AMERICANS

The Stars and Stripes will be absent for the first time in the 49-year history of the WTA Finals. No American player qualified for either singles or doubles in the year-ending tournament being held this week in Shenzhen, China. Serena Williams, who lost in the final at both Wimbledon and the US Open, finished the season in ninth place. Only the top eight players contest the elite USD $14 million event. Williams was the last American to win the WTA Finals, which she did for three consecutive years starting in 2012. She has won the title five times, her first victory coming in 2001.

STARS OF THE FUTURE

Two American teenagers – 13-year-old Clervie Ngounoue of Washington, DC, and 15-year-old Reese Brantmeir of Whitewater, Wisconsin – captured the titles at the WTA Future Stars tournament in Shenzhen, China. Ngounoue beat Kayla Cross of Canada 6-2 7-6 (2) to win the Under-14 title, while Brantmeir took the Under-16 crown by stopping Annabelle Xu of Canada 6-3 6-4. Besides competing in the tournament, the WTA Future Stars met WTA Legends and players like Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Casey Dellacqua, Zheng Jie and Alicia Molik. They also attended clinics hosted by Community Ambassador Judy Murray. “What we’re offering with WTA Future stars is not necessarily a tournament, but more of an experience, said WTA Supervisor Donna Kelso. “There’s a lot of educational and inspiration components.”

Rosie Sterk of Great Britain (U16s) and Vaiani Dusserre Valleaux of French Polynesia (U14s) received the Li Na Inspiration Award, which is given for outstanding sportsmanship, empathy, respect, and team spirit, qualities that made Li Na well-loved by fans, players and sponsors throughout her career.

SHE’LL BE THERE

Former world number one Angelique Kerber is the first player confirmed to contest the new grass WTA Premier tournament that will be held in Berlin, Germany, in June 2020. Steffi Graf won the event nine times in 11 years before it was ended in 2008. The last Berlin Open was won by Dinara Safina. Other winners of the event included Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Martina Hingis, Amelie Mauresmo, Justine Henin and Ana Ivanovic.

STAN HURT

Because of a back injury, Stan Wawrinka never took to the court for his Swiss Open quarterfinal match against fellow Swiss Roger Federer. “The bad news is that I will have to retire,” the 34-year-old Wawrinka said an hour after beating American Frances Tiafoe 6-3 3-6 7-5. “I had some trouble with my back in the last game. I’m sure I cannot make it for tomorrow (Friday). I will pull out.” It would have been the 27^th meeting between the two Swiss teammates, with Federer holding a 23-3 edge.

SERVING BIG

American Reilly Opelka became just the eighth player since statistics began being recorded in 1991 to serve 1,000 aces in a season. The 22-year-old smashed 26 aces in his Swiss Indoors semifinal loss to Alex de Minaur, bringing him to 1,014 for the year. He has averaged 21 aces per match this season. Opelka’s biggest week came at the New York Open when he served 156 aces, including 43 in the championship match. Fellow American John Isner has served 1,000 or more aces in eight different seasons, including this year. Ivo Karlovic has reached the mark in four different years, the same as Goran Ivanisevic. Two players – Kevin Anderson and Milos Raonic – have blasted 1,000 or more aces in two separate years, while Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras both did it once.

SHARAPOVA’S RICH

Maria Sharapova was named one of the 25 richest women in Russia by Forbes magazine. The tennis star is worth an estimated USD $180 million. The list is led by Elena Baurina, who reportedly is worth USD $1.2 billion. In an interview, Sharapova said the 15-month doping ban she served kept her playing tennis. “It was such an interesting time in my career because it’s also a time that I was considering maybe stepping down from the sport and thinking a little bit about family and business, and it kind of prolonged my career in a way of when I did get back I viewed the sport in a very different way. It was a blessing and opened my eyes to what I had achieved and the number of people that respected what I did.”

SON FOR MIKE

Mike Bryan and his girlfriend Nadia Murgasova are expected their first child. “It’s a boy!” Bryan wrote to his Instagram followers. His twin brother and doubles partner, Bob Bryan, has three children.

John Isner and his wife Madison had a baby boy on October 20, while Kevin Anderson tweeted that he and wife Kelsey had a baby girl on September 27.

SURGERY

Japan’s Kei Nishikori has undergone surgery on his right elbow. Currently ranked eighth in the world, Nishikori has not played since the US Open when he lost in the third round of the US Open to Alex de Minaur of Australia. He won the Brisbane International title in January. Nishikori is scheduled to return to action at the inaugural ATP Cup in January.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Basel: Jean-Julien Roger and Horia Tecau beat Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka 7-5 6-3

Brest: Denys Molchanov and Andrei Vasilevski beat Andrea Vavassori and David Vega Hernandez 6-3 6-1

Suzhou: Jiang Xinyu and Tang Qianhui beat Ankita Raina and Rosalie Van Der Hoek 3-6 6-3 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Vienna: Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury beat Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4 6-7 (5) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Zhuhai: Lyudmyla Kichenok and Andreja Klepac beat Duan Yingying and Yang Zhaoxuan 6-3 6-3

SURFING

Paris: https://www.rolexparismasters.com/

Shenzhen: http://www.shiseidowtafinalsshenzhen.com/home

Milan: https://ticketing.nextgenatpfinals.com/

Bratislava: https://www.tennisslovakopen.sk/uvod.html

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK