STARS
Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 4-6 6-3 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open men’s singles at Indian Wells, California, USA
Caroline Wozniacki beat Marion Bartoli 6-1 2-6 6-3 to win the BNP Paribas Open women’s singles at Indian Wells, California, USA
Olivier Rochus beat Stephane Robert 6-2 6-3 to win the Orange Open Guadeloupe in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe
Anastasia Yakimova beat Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-2 to win The Bahamas Women’s Open in Nassau, Bahamas
SAYING
“I am just trying to play as best as I can, I couldn’t have asked for a better start to this year. The last three months have been unbelievable.” – Novak Djokovic.
“Marion, you had an amazing tournament. I am sorry I had to beat you in the final. It is not like football where you can have a draw.” – Caroline Wozniacki, after beating Marion Bartoli in the women’s singles final of the BNP Paribas Open.
“If every single match I could play like that throughout the years, I would be pretty happy.” – Marion Bartoli, after losing the Indian Wells final to Caroline Wozniacki.
“We just said hi before this tournament, and we weren’t like really close. He just asked me, ‘Do you want to play?’ like 15 minutes to the deadline of the doubles because I wasn’t planning playing doubles here, and here we are, winning the tournament. So it’s pretty amazing.” – Alexandr Dolgopolov, who teamed with Xavier Malisse to win the doubles title.
“We know each other 100 percent.” – Rafael Nadal, noting he and Novak Djokovic were playing for the 24th time when they met in the Indian Wells final.
“The motivation is not there, I’m quitting immediately. I know I can beat all the best in the world, but it does not matter when I am no longer passionate about doing it. It has dawned on me here that I’m done with this life.” – Joachim Johansson, announcing his retirement from tennis.
“The doctor here says not to play. We have been delaying it as much as possible because we were contacting our doctors in Spain to see what they feel about, and now the decision is done. I am out of here, and I am out of Miami, as well.” – Tommy Robredo, after straining his left abductor muscle and pulling out of the BNP Paribas Open.
“If I lose, I will take good things to improve in the future. That’s the main and important thing if I lose. Even if I win, I know it’s a long road to be in the top again. Of course I would like to win, but I will see in the future.” – Juan Martin del Potro, before playing and losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at Indian Wells.
“At this point I would play Indian Wells – anything to get back.” – Serena Williams, showing frustration about his long layoff due to injuries and illnesses. She and her sister have boycotted the Indian Wells tournament since 2001, when the crowd booed Serena in the final.
I think Serena is the best player out there, and I think just as a tennis player and a tennis fan, I do miss her.” – Kim Clijsters, wishing Serena Williams a speedy recovery.
“I hurt my foot last week in Davis Cup and since then it’s been pretty bad. Today it was not very good. I lost the match when I decided to go on court because I shouldn’t have done that. It was pretty stupid to play.” – Robin Soderling, after losing at Indian Wells.
“I knew he was sick in the beginning of the tournament, that he had flu and he pulled out of the doubles. What should I say? I’m happy about my victory. Yeah, he was on court; he played. Maybe he didn’t have his best day, but still I’m lucky to be through, I think.” – Philipp Kohlschreiber, after upsetting Robin Soderling.
“I still felt I could have won. I could have taken painkillers, but I don’t want to risk tearing it and I don’t want to be in a situation where I am taking medication to cover something up. It makes me realize I am not the youngest out there and maybe I don’t recover as fast.” – Kim Clijsters, after withdrawing from Indian Wells with a shoulder ailment.
“It happens, and you see the coverage on it and the videos, and it’s really incredible that something like that can even happen in the world. It opens your eyes, and obviously puts a lot of perspective in your life.” – Maria Sharapova, talking about Japan’s problems with an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant issues.
SERB POWER
Novak Djokovic continued to roll through the competition, knocking off top-ranked Rafael Nadal 4-6 6-3 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open and run his perfect season record to 18-0. Not just content with winning the title, the Australian Open champion knocked off Roger Federer in the semifinals and vaulted over the Swiss master to claim the number two spot in the ATP tour rankings. It was the second time Djokovic has won at Indian Wells, also capturing the crown in 2008 when he was just 20 years old. Nadal – the reigning French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion – applauded his Serbian conqueror, who has now won three titles this year. “You started the season fantastic, so all the best for the rest of the season,” said the Spaniard, whose own record for 2011 fell to 14-3. “Well done. I lost today but I lost to one of the greatest.” Nadal was the first to break serve, that coming in the fifth game of the opening set. The two traded service breaks before Nadal held at love in his last two service games to claim the opening set in 48 minutes. The second set, like the first, featured breaks of serve in three straight games. This time, though, it was Djokovic who came out on top to level the match. With flag-waving Serbian fans in the stadium’s upper tier urging him on, Djokovic broke Nadal’s serve in the first and third games to effectively clinch the victory.
STEADY WINNER
Caroline Wozniacki put an exclamation point on her number one ranking by outlasting Marion Bartoli 6-1 2-6 6-3 and winning the BNP Paribas Open women’s singles. It was the Dane’s second title of 2011 and increased her margin over second-ranked Kim Clijsters, who retired from the tournament with a shoulder injury. Clijsters could have replaced Wozniacki atop the rankings by winning Indian Wells. Wozniacki broke Bartoli’s serve three times in the final set and clinched the victory on the second match point when a backhand by the French woman sailed long. The victory was one of the biggest of Wozniacki’s career as she earned $605,500. In last year’s Indian Wells tournament she was runner-up to Jelena Jankovic. Bartoli, whose previous best showing at Indian Wells was reaching the fourth round, paid tribute to the champion. “I would like to congratulate (Caroline). You can be proud of yourself. I know your big goal is to get a Grand Slam (title) and I am sure you will get it soon.”
SLIPPIN’ THROUGH
Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine and Xavier Malisse of Belgium worked a lot of overtime the entire week, but it paid off as they captured a hard-earned men’s doubles title at Indian Wells. All five of their matches went to a “match tiebreak,” a truncated third set where the first team to get 10 points with a two-point margin in the winner. Swinging hard at every ball, Dolgopolov and Malisse bested Tomas Berdych and Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-4, 10-9; the top-seeded team of Bob and Mike Bryan 7-5, 6-7 (9), 10-7; another set of brothers, Andy and Jamie Murray, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 10-8; and the Indo-Pak Express, Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8. In the title match, Dolgopolov and Malisse beat Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka, the Beijing Olympic gold medalists, 6-4 , 6-7 (5), 10-7.
The men’s doubles at Indian Wells had a dream field and easily the strongest of the year. Not only were eight of the top nine doubles teams entered, including the top seven, but eight of the top 10 singles players participated, including the top three: Rafael Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Sania Mirza of India and Elena Vesnina of Russia claimed the women’s doubles title, beating Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0, 7-5. The Americans led 5-1 in the second set before Mirza and Vesnina won the final six games to close out the victory.
SAYONARA
Sweden’s Joachim Johansson has had enough. Despite helping Sweden win its first round Davis Cup World Group tie earlier this month, Johansson announced his retirement from tennis for a second time. The 28-year-old made his decision while playing at a USD $10,000 Futures tournament in Faellanden, Switzerland. Seeded second, the Swede won a three-setter in the opening round of the ZuriOberland Open, then retired before taking the court for his second-round match. “For five years I have struggled against injury and my goal has been to get in a position to be able to choose what I want to do,” Johansson said. “I am there now and I’ve made my decision.” Johansson was at the peak of his career in 2004 and 2005, when he reached the semifinals of the US Open, won three ATP tour titles and was ranked in the top 10. But shoulder and elbow injuries hampered his career and he retired for the first time in 2008 before making a comeback later that year. He has played only sparingly since, but helped Sweden to a 3-2 Davis Cup victory over Russia.
SIGNED UP
Ryan Harrison is returning to the scene of his first big splash, the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The 18-year-old Harrison is coming off his best tournament, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., where he defeated three top-50 players before losing to Roger Federer. One of his victories was over another rising star, 20-year-old Milos Raonic of Canada. As a wild card in Newport last year, Ryan advanced to the quarterfinals – his best ATP World Tour result to date at the time. Since then, Harrison has recorded a number of significant victories, including defeating then 17th-ranked Ivan Ljubicic in the first round of last year’s US Open. This year he won both the singles and doubles titles at the Honolulu Challenger.
STOPPED BY INJURY
Eventual winner Caroline Wozniacki needed only three games to grab a spot in the women’s semifinals in Indian Wells, California, USA. Wozniacki had won the first two games and was serving when Victoria Azarenka called for a trainer. While lying on the court, Azarenka had her upper left thigh massaged before she took a 10-minute medical timeout. When she returned, her left thigh had been wrapped. Wozniacki, who stretched her legs and talked to her coach during the medical timeout, resumed serving and won the next two points to go up 3-0. That was when Azarenka signaled that she was done and the two hugged at the net. “Victoria is one of my best friends on the tour, and to see her in pain on the court and to see her get injured was not nice for sure,” Wozniacki said.
Juan Martin del Potro never had to go out on court for his quarterfinals. Tommy Robredo withdrew before the match with a strained left abductor muscle. The Spaniard had hurt himself during his straight-sets win over Sam Querrey. An MRI had confirmed the injury. “The doctor here says not to play. We have been delaying it as much as possible because we were contacting our doctors in Spain to see what they feel about, and now the decision is done. I am out of here, and I am out of Miami, as well.”
SIDELINED SISTERS
Sisters Venus and Serena Williams will both skip this year’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami because of injuries. Ranked eighth in the world, Venus Williams withdrew from the tournament “due to her ongoing rehabilitation for an abdominal pull incurred during the Australian Open.” Serena, who is ranked 11th, withdrew earlier from the Key Biscayne event after suffering from a pulmonary embolism earlier this month. The 30-year-old Venus has not won a major since Wimbledon in 2008, but she captured the Miami tournament in 1998, 1999 and 2001. She lost in last year’s final to Kim Clijsters, who also has been injured. Clijsters withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., last week with a sore shoulder. Venus Williams was hurt in a third-round match at the Australian Open in January, where she was forced to retire.
SHARING GRIEF
During the women’s quarterfinal match between Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka, a Japanese flag was tied to the chair umpire’s tower. Written on the flag in black marker were the words, “Our thoughts are with you! Caroline and Victoria!” After Azarenka retired from the match, Wozniacki held the flag up in tribute to the victims of the recent earthquake, tsunami and problems with nuclear power plants. “It’s just devastating to see what’s going on in Japan,” the Dane said. “We just wanted to show that we’re thinking about them over there.” Wozniacki had asked her manager to locate a Japanese flag. He finally found one a two-hour drive from Indian Wells. “I said, ‘You better take your car and drive over there and get that flag to me,’” Wozniacki said. “Victoria helped me out, what to write. I wanted to do it so perfectly that my hand almost cramped when I was doing it.”
Maria Sharapova feels a kinship to the problems currently facing Japan. One year before she was born, Sharapova’s parents fled their home to escape the fallout from the Chernobyl explosion, considered the worst nuclear accident in history. In 2007, Sharapova became a United Nations Development Program goodwill ambassador, making a personal $100,000 donation to its causes in affected areas. The problems Japan now faces have raised the specter of another such far-reaching disaster. Sharapova said she wants to highlight the widespread, long-lasting effects that a nuclear accident can create. Noting Chernobyl, she said: “In the beginning my job was raising awareness to the world, basically getting the message across that even though something like that happened such a long time ago, it still causes many people (problems) on a daily basis. Kids that were born and now are having kids, you also find that they have something in their body that’s not allowing them to live a normal life from the pollution.”
SHOULDER PROBLEMS
Kim Clijsters was leading Marion Bartoli of France 6-3 1-3 when she retired from her BNP Paribas Open match with a shoulder ailment. Trailing 1-2 in the second set, Clijsters called for the trainer and had her shoulder worked on. She retired from the match one game later. “I just felt on every serve or forehand that came in a little high that something was not right, that something was not suppose to be there,” Clijsters said. “I still felt I could have won. I could have taken painkillers, but I don’t want to risk tearing it and I don’t want to be in a situation where I am taking medication to cover something up.” Clijsters, who had a chance to overtake Caroline Wozniacki as the No. 1 player in the WTA rankings, has been taking painkillers to cope with a pinched shoulder since before she won her fourth Grand Slam tournament title at the Australian Open in January.
SCOTLAND, NO!
Although Andy Murray was pushing for a site in Scotland, Great Britain’s next Davis Cup tie will be played either at Wimbledon or the seacoast town of Eastbourne. Murray and his brother, Jamie, had lobbied for the tie to be played at Stirling, which is just minutes from their hometown of Dunblaine, Scotland, and the seat of a university. “That’s where maybe three-fifths of the team grew up training,” Andy Murray told reporters. However, the venue was passed over because it does not have the required nine meters clearance at the ends of the court. “The facilities aren’t good enough in Stirling,” Andy Murray said, “but I think that’s also a reason why it wouldn’t be a bad idea because it kind of shows that it’s not about the facilities but that’s where all of us came through playing. I think it would be good.” Great Britain will host Luxembourg in the Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zonal tie July 8-10.
SHE’S BACK!!!
It’s not like Chris Evert doesn’t have a US Open title. It’s just that she was asked to go after another one. The winner of 18 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, Listeners to ESPN2 and ESPNRadio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning sports talk show were surprised when the show’s Mike Greenberg called Evert live on the air to ask her to play mixed doubles in the US Open National Playoffs Eastern Section. The Hall of Famer agreed to do so. “I know Mike is a big tennis fan and loves the US Open,” Evert said of her mixed doubles partner. “The US Open was the first tournament that sort of started my career and I have great memories of it and I love to support it. We’ll just go out there and have some fun. That’s the main thing.” The US Open National Playoffs offer any player age 14 and older a chance to qualify for the US Open in singles or mixed doubles. The Playoffs mixed doubles champions will receive a main draw wild card into the 2011 US Open. The US Open National Playoffs men’s and women’s singles champions earn wild card entries into the US Open Qualifying Tournament, held the week prior to the US Open.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
The Hawk-Eye line-calling system will have expanded use in Davis Cup and Fed Cup competitions, according to the International Tennis Federation (ITF). Use of electronic line-calling reviews will be used in the Fed Cup World Group semifinals and the Davis Cup World Group quarterfinals. Electronic review was first used in Davis Cup at the 2006 final between Russia and Argentina in Moscow. Its use was extended to the Fed Cup final in 2007 and the Davis Cup semifinals in 2010. The system is only used on ties played on hard court and grass court.
STUPID SODERLING
Robin Soderling called himself stupid. Playing with an injury, Soderling was upset by Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (8), 6-4 at Indian Wells. Ranked fourth in the world, the Swede failed to convert any of his five set points before losing the opening set tiebreaker 10-8. Although Kohlschreiber won, his victory was no fluke. The German has beaten Soderling four times in their five meetings. Soderling summoned his trainer after the first set, but he later said he did not consider withdrawing at that point. “I wanted to keep on playing, you know,” the Swede said. “I didn’t withdraw from many matches in my career.” Runner-up at the French Open each of the last two years, Soderling planned to have his foot X-rayed before deciding whether or not he will play in Miami this week.
STEPPING DOWN
David Shoemaker resigned his post as president of the WTA so he could become CEO of NBA China. As such, Shoemaker will oversee the NBA’s business and basketball development in China. Shoemaker joined the WTA in 2004 as general counsel and was appointed president in August 2009, where he was responsible for all global operations of the tour. For WTA China, he oversaw all of the tour’s television, digital, and sponsorship relationships and development, as well as community and government relations. NBA China was launched in 2008 and the league estimates that an estimated 300 million people in China play basketball, and fans across the country watch NBA games and programming.
SAD NEWS
Bill Camacho, president of the Guam National Tennis Federation (GNTF), is dead at the age of 46. He suffered a fatal heart attack. “Guam tennis will never be able to replace all the work Bill does for tennis,” said Torgun Smith, a GNTE board member. “The work he was doing behind the scenes for the development of our sport was remarkable. Often these jobs are thankless, but Bill’s passion for the sport kept his energy high and attitude positive and moving forward.” The GNTE was host of a first-round Davis Cup Pacific/Oceania Group II tie between Oceania and Thailand.
Former University of Kansas tennis coach Jim Seaver is dead at the age of 92. A professor at KU beginning in the late 1940’s, Seaver served as the head coach of the men’s tennis team for the 1948 season, when they had a 9-5-1 dual record in the regular season, yet surprisingly won the Big Seven Conference Championship. Seaver was also a Fulbright scholar, a world traveler and the uncle of Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Tom Seaver.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Indian Wells (men): Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 6-7 (5) 10-7 (match tiebreak)
Indian Wells (women): Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy 6-0 7-5
Le Gosier: Ricardo Ghedin and Stephane Robert beat Arnaud Clement and Olivier Rochus 6-2 5-7 10-7 (match tiebreak)
Nassau: Natalie Grandin and Vladimira Uhlirova beat Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-4 6-2
SURFING
Miami: www.sonyericssonopen.com/
Kunming: www.ldzjhome.com
ATP Tour: www.atpworldtour.com
WTA: www.wtatennis.com/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN
$4,500,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)
WOMEN
$4,500,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$4,500,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)
WOMEN
$4,500,000 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)