Kristina Mladenovic Leads France to Fed Cup Title - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

France beats Australia 3-2 to win the Fed Cup in Perth, Australia

Jannik Sinner beat Alex de Minaur 4-2 4-1 4-2 to win the Next Gen Finals in Milan, Italy

Zhu Lin beat Peng Shuai 6-3 1-3 retired to win the Shenzhen Longhua Open in Shenzhen, China

SAYING

“It’s absolutely epic. This one is special because it’s playing in the final for the country in front of an amazing, packed crowd.” – Kristina Mladenovic, who was in on all three points to give France its 3-2 Fed Cup victory over Australia.

“I’m the proudest man on the planet right now, I’m so proud of my girls and my team. They deserve it because they fought for a long time for this title.” – Julien Benneteau, captain of the victorious French Fed Cup team.

“We gave everything today; we fell just a fraction short. That happens.” – Alicia Molik, Australia’s Fed Cup captain.

“From my point of view, I fought as hard as I could and I hope that I did my team proud and all Australians proud. I fought with everything I had left.” – Ashleigh Barty, who lost her reverse singles match and the doubles as France won the Fed Cup title.

“I’m young and I’m enjoying it.” – Jannik Sinner, after winning the Next Gen Finals.

“Life is a change.” – Karolina Pliskova, after dropping Conchita Martinez as her coach.

“I never coached women, but with her I made an exception. It will be a nice challenge.” – Riccardo Piatti, who has been coaching Maria Sharapova and will continue next year.

“All the trophies and medals I’ve won over my career have not amounted to what I’ve gotten from tennis. I found a confidence that I didn’t know I had, as well as an inner strength that I never knew I had.” – Bethanie Mattek-Sands, on being given the New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL) Next Leadership Award for her work both on and off the court.

SMASHING VICTORY

Erasing memories of a defeat, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia teamed up to give France its third Fed Cup title. The pair beat Ashleigh Barty and Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-3 in the decisive doubles, lifting France to a 3-2 win in the international team competition. “It’s a lot of emotion to share this with (Garcia) after we failed on the last step three years ago,” Mladenovic said, remembering how the two lost the decisive doubles match against the Czech Republic in the 2016 final. “We just wanted to take this little revenge for ourselves.” Mladenovic began the second day of play by shocking Barty, the world’s top-ranked player, 2-6 6-4 7-6 (1), putting France in front 2-1. But Aja Tomljanovic, who lost to Mladenovic to begin the five-match tie, beat Pauline Parmentier 6-4 7-5 to make the doubles a winner-take-all battle. “I’m really glad I got a second chance and that I got a win,” Tomljanovic said. France last won the Fed Cup in 2003, when it beat the United States. Australia has lost nine straight Fed Cup finals, having last won 45 years ago. The final marked the last Fed Cup played under the current format. Next year, 12 nations will compete in a six-day event in Budapest, Hungary.

SINNER WINNER

An 18-year-old wildcard surprisingly captured the Next Gen ATP Finals by defeating top-seeded Alex de Minaur in straight sets in Milan, Italy. Jannik Sinner of Italy delighted the home fans as he saved nine break points in his victory over de Minaur, who is ranked 18^th in the world. It was the second straight year the Australian fell in the final; last year he lost the title match to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. “I was the last one in and tried to take my chances,” Sinner said. “I played better and better with each game.” De Minaur won his first three ATP Tour titles in Sydney, Atlanta and Zhuhai. “The biggest difference was I had nine break points and I wasn’t able to convert any of them,” the Australian said. “Jannik played a really impressive match. He was putting me under pressure very often. If I had converted some of those break points early, it would have been a completely different match.” He didn’t, and it wasn’t. Sinner broke at love in the sixth game of the opening set, then saved break points to hold serve to begin the second set. He converted three of his eight break point chances and wrapped up the victory when de Minaur netted a return of serve. “It’s been an unbelievable week,” the Italian said. The Next Gen tournament is played in three winning sets with four games and a tiebreak at 3-3. Coaching is allowed using headphones with hawk-eye replacing line judges.

STOSUR HONORED

Australia’s Samantha Stosur was presented with the Fed Cup Award of Excellence by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) before the Fed Cup final was played in Perth, Australia. A 16-year veteran of the Australian Fed Cup team, Stosur posted a 29-20 won-loss record in singles and 8-0 in doubles until she and Ashleigh Barty lost the decisive fifth match in France’s 3-2 victory over Australia. Only Wendy Turnbull, with 46 combined match wins, has more victories than Stosur on the Australian all-time list. “As her results and longevity in Fed Cup shows, Sam has put her full heart into representing Australia over the years,” Todd Martin, International Tennis Hall of Fame CEO, said in tribute to Stosur. Past recipients of the Fed Cup Award of Excellence include Nathalie Tauziat of France in 2016, Czech Republic’s Helena Sukova in 2014 and American legend Billie Jean King in 2010.all of Fame CEO, said

SITE UNKNOWN

India wants to know where it is playing before it picks a team to face Pakistan. The Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie was originally scheduled to be held in Islamabad, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) moved it from the Pakistan capital, citing security concerns. But the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) appealed the decision. “I don’t know if they can convince ITF and get it back to Islamabad,” said Indian captain Rohit Rajpal. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. We could very well be going back to Pakistan. My role as the captain is now to make sure that all the players are together and we win the tie.” An Indian team last traveled to Pakistan in 1964 for a Davis Cup tie, defeating the hosts 4-0. Pakistan lost 3-2 on its last visit to India in 2006. The venue dispute has led to problems between the All India Tennis Federation (AITA) and its top players. Rajpal was just named captain, replacing Mahesh Bhupathi, who, along with several player, had refused to play in Pakistan. Bhupathi criticized the way he was removed hours before the ITF announced the tie was being moved to a neutral site. He was backed by several players, including Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal. Rajpal said the list of players from which he will select include 46-year-old Leander Paes.

SIDELINED

A knee injury will keep Marin Cilic from joining defending champion Croatia when it takes on Russia in the Davis Cup finals later this month. “My recurring knee injury has continued to give me problems, and as the season progressed it was becoming more evident that surgery was inevitable,” Cilic wrote on Facebook. The “rehab work was successful enough that surgery is not necessary at this stage. However, I will need to undergo a few minor interventions which will keep me off the tennis court for a longer period and unfortunately means I will not be able to compete at the Davis Cup this month.” According to the Sportske Novosti daily newspaper, Cilic will be replaced by 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic, who will join Borna Coric, Mate Pavic, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic.

STOPPED BY KNEE

Kim Clijsters won’t be back on the WTA Tour as soon as she had hoped. The four-time Grand Slam tournament champion is being treated for a knee injury. “It’s a setback, but I’m determined as ever to get back to the game I love,” said the 36-year-old Belgian mother of three. Clijsters says she has been “inspired” by other mothers on the tour, such as Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. Clijsters first retired in 2007 to start a family. She returned in 2009 and won three more Grand Slam tournaments before her second retirement in 2012. By having a former ranking of number one in the world, Clijsters is eligible for unlimited wildcards at WTA tournaments. She said not having to play a set number of tournaments each year has “made the choice a little bit easier.” She originally had planned on returning in January, but now says she will remain flexible in her scheduling. Her daughter Jada was born in 2008, followed by sons Jack in 2013 and Blake in 2016.

SPECIAL DELIVERY

Andy Murry and his wife Kim are parents once again. Grandmother Judy Murray said a “lovely, happy, healthy baby boy” was born in London, where the family lives. Andy and Kim already have two daughters, Sophia, who was born in 2016, and Edie, born in 2017. Murray is scheduled to play for Great Britain in Davis Cup later this month.

STEP DOWN

At the age of 20, Eugenie Bouchard reached the Wimbledon final, the semifinals at both the Australian and French Opens and was ranked fifth in the world. Now 25, the Canadian is seeking victories on the International Tennis Federation’s women’s circuit. Bouchard only played doubles at the Henderson Tennis Open in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, where she and her partner, Fanny Stollár of Hungary, reached the semifinals of the USD $60,000 event where they lost to Olga Govortsova and Mandy Minella 6-3 6-3. “I haven’t played a match in a while, singles or doubles, so I just wanted to come out and get some match play,” Bouchard said her team won their first-round match. Her last singles victory came in Dubai in February, and her ranking has dropped to 220^th.

SEVERS PARTNERSHIP

After 10 months of collaboration, Conchita Martinez is no longer coaching second-ranked Karolina Pliskova. “I decided I will no longer work with Conchita,” the Czech Republic’s top player said. “It was a touch decision as the season was great.” Martinez began working with Pliskova at the US Open in 2018, where she reached the quarterfinals before falling to Serena Williams. She began Pliskova’s full-time coach this past February. Pliskova won a WTA Tour-tying four titles this year and raised her ranking from eighth to second.

SAYS GIRL’S COMING

Fabio Fognini and his wife, Flavia Pennetta, are growing their family. “We are expecting a daughter,” Fognini told the Italian TV channel Canale 5. “We have not decided the name yet, but it will definitely start with F. It’s mandatory, otherwise my father gets angry.” Fognini and Pennetta married shortly after she won the US Open in 2015, then retired. Their first child, Federico, was born in May 2017.

SHARAPOVA COACH

Italian Riccardo Piatti says he will coach Maria Sharapova next year. “We worked a lot over the past months and now she healed from an injury,” Piatti said. “She is doing well and she committed a lot to be competitive again. We focused a lot on technique and shots in order to put everything together. … She is very clever.” Piatti also is coaching ATP Next Gen winner Jannik Sinner.

SHOW OF HANDS

Two players almost came to blows after their match at the Henderson Tennis Open in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. After Katherine Sebov, a 20-year-old from Canada, beat 18-year-old American Alycia Parks 6-0 7-6 (9), Parks threw her racquet in disgust and went to the net to shake Sebov’s hand. Parks complained that Sebov squeezed her hand too tight and was too aggressive. The umpire immediately got out of his chair and blocked Parks when she moved to Sebov’s side of the net as the two prepared to trade blows. Parks’ father jumped onto the court to intercede but was blocked by other officials. Parks, ranked 410^th in the world, was fined for starting the altercation.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bratislava: Frederik Nielsen and Tim Puetz beat Roman Jebavy and Igor Zelenay 4-6 7-6 (4) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Shenzhen: Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya beat Sofia Shapatava and Emily Webley-Smith 6-4 6-0

SURFING

London: https://www.nittoatpfinals.com/en

Houston: https://oraclechallengerseries.com/houston/houston-event-info/

Tokyo: http://ando-open.tokyo

Madrid: https://www.daviscup.com/

Limoges: https://www.openblslimoges.fr/

Dubai: www.habtoortennis.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

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