STARS
Wimbledon
(First Week)
Tsvetana Pironkova beat second-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-3
Sabine Lisicki beat third-seeded Li Na 3-6 6-4 8-6
Bernard Tomic beat fifth-seeded Robin Soderling 6-1 6-4 7-5
Tamira Paszek beat sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 3-6 6-4 11-9
Feliciano Lopez beat eighth-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2) 6-4
Lukasz Kubot beat ninth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3
Melinda Czink beat 10th-seeded Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4
OTHER
Paul Capdeville beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos 7-5 6-1 to win the Jalisco Open in Guadalajara, Mexico
DAVIS CUP
Americas Zone Group III: Barbados and Bolivia promoted to Group II for 2012; Jamaica and Honduras demoted to Group IV.
SAYING
“I was very calm, but inside I was bursting.” – Bernard Tomic, a qualifier from Australia, after upsetting fifth-seeded Robin Soderling and becoming the first 18-year-old man since 1990 to reach Wimbledon’s fourth round.
“When he’s healthy, he must be in the top five … So will be a very tough opponent for me. I know that. I’m not lucky to play against (Juan Martin) del Potro in the round of 16.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about his fourth-round opponent.
“I’m moving well, and I’m using all of my arsenal. I thought today was a particularly good performance on my serve.” – Roger Federer, after his straight-set third-round victory over David Nalbandian.
“From the bright side, I hung in there in the important moments. I stayed emotionally stable, believing that I can win, and that’s what matters the most.” – Novak Djokovic, who outlasted Marcos Baghdatis in a third-round match.
“Probably the opinion of the past champions, they have more troubles between each other. Is different. But for me the rivalry is only inside the court. Doesn’t affect the rest.” – Rafael Nadal, disagreeing with Jimmy Connors’ assertion that today’s players are too soft because they are friends off the court.
“It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. … I normally never act like that. I felt at this point I had to get all this frustration out and start again.” – Marion Bartoli, after telling her parents to leave the stands at her match.
“You keep moving forward until you decide to stop. At this point I’ve not decided to stop so I’ll keep moving forward.” – Andy Roddick, after being upset in the third round.
“Don’t bet against me.” – Serena Williams, when asked about her chances of winning her third consecutive Wimbledon title despite missing more than 11 months with injuries and illnesses.
“I’m feeling better and glad to be still in the tournament. I just need that rhythm that I have been missing and keep serving like I did today.” – Serena Williams, after winning her third-round match.
“I’ve got to play relaxed, have fun. That’s when I play my best tennis. I think I can play really well when I do that. I don’t really want to stop now after you’ve done it. You really want to keep going. That’s what I’m going to do.” – Bernard Tomic, following his upset of fifth-seeded Robin Soderling.
“He’s a nice kid who just doesn’t fear too much. He just goes out and plays. I think that’s a strength in one way, because you just play your game and you don’t really think about your surroundings.” – Xavier Malisse, talking about his next opponent, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic.
“Very impressed. First time I have seen him play live. I tell you, a star in the making. I really liked the way he played, his composure. I expect a lot more from him.” – Boris Becker, commenting on Bernard Tomic.
“The goal is the second week.” – John Isner, who didn’t make it, instead losing in the second round to Nicolas Almagro.
“My ranking, for me, it’s not an issue. I’ll get wild cards into a certain amount of tournaments that I’ll want to play anyway. As I’ve always said, your ranking takes care of itself. Once you’re actually in the tournament, if I can play at that level consistently, then my ranking’s the furthest thing from my mind.” – Lleyton Hewitt.
“Before, my tennis was a priority, I was 100 percent focused on it. But the older you get, the interest for other things. Now I want to spend more time with friends and family. Of course, this does not mean that my career is over, I would love to be on top again.” – Jelena Jankovic, a former world number one player, after she lost in Wimbledon’s first round.
SENT TO COURT 2
WTA CEO Stacey Allaster said she was “disappointed” that four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams was sent to Court 2 for her second-round match. Williams insisted that the world’s two top-ranked men, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, would never be scheduled for a court outside either Centre Court or Court One. “Serena Williams is a four-time Wimbledon singles champion, the defending champion of Wimbledon, and a 13-time Grand Slam singles champion. I share her disappointment,” Allaster said in a statement. The All England Club noted frequent interruptions caused by rain had forced some court changes but denied there was any bias against either Serena or sister Venus, a five-time Wimbledon winner. Venus also has played on Court 2 this year. “They like to put us on Court 2, me and Venus, for whatever reason. I haven’t figured it out yet.” Serena said. “Maybe one day we’ll figure it out. They (Nadal and Djokovic) are never moved across. Actually, Venus and I have won more Wimbledons together than a lot of the players or by ourselves in doubles even. I don’t make it a big issue, but I think at some point maybe I should.”
STOPPED AT THE BORDER
Novak Djokovic is missing one member of his entourage at Wimbledon. Great Britain has refused to allow Djokovic’s white toy poodle into the country. “He is upset he can’t bring Pierre to Wimbledon and he is pleading with the authorities to let the dog in,” a source close to the player said. “Whenever he can, he takes the dog with him. He is genuinely upset. For him this is a very serious issue.” Djokovic was photographed with the dog in Paris during Roland Garros, and both were on the cover of the July edition of fashion magazine L’Uomo Vogue. The poodle even has his own Twitter page.
SCREECHING
Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club, wants to put a stop of the grunting, yelling, shrieking, crying or high-pitched yelping found on the courts at Wimbledon. Ritchie was quoted in The Telegraph of London saying tournament officials would “prefer to see less grunting” at the grass court Grand Slam tournament. “We have discussed it with the tours and we believe it is helpful to reduce the amount of grunting. We are one tournament in a global circuit. But we have made our views clear and we would like to see less of it.”
SENT OFF
Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli caused widespread amazement during her third-round match when she demanded her parents leave Court 12 while she was playing. Bartoli, who was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007, is coached by her father, who gave up his career as a doctor to mentor her. When Bartoli trailed 3-4 in the final set against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, she told her parents to leave the stands. “I was so tired and exhausted that really I had to express my emotions somehow,” the player said. “I saw them right after the match, my parents, and they understood completely. It was not against them. It was just that we played a very long first set, and I was exhausted and I was tired and I was feeling worse and worse. I normally never act like that.” Bartoli won the match.
STOP PROTEST
Demonstrators were stopped Saturday from entering the Wimbledon tennis championships by police, causing a backup of thousands of fans who were waiting to get inside the gates. The 14 protesters from the Spanish-based 15M movement, wearing yellow T-shirts reading “real democracy now,” had tins of paint and banner-making equipment hidden in their bags. Sources said they were seeking to protest Madrid’s economic policies. It was feared they might have been targeting the match involving the world’s number one player, Rafael Nadal of Spain, the defending Wimbledon men’s champion. Club officials kept the gates closed for an extra 45 minutes while they assessed the nature of the threat. The group was removed from the queue and left peacefully.
SOFIA, HERE WE COME
The WTA Tournament of Champions will move next year from Bali to a new venue in Sofia, Bulgaria. The tournament features the six highest-ranked players who have won a title during the year, but who have not qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships. Bali will stage the event for the last time November 2-6 this year before the tournament moves to the Arena Sofia for three years beginning in 2012. Bulgaria has not hosted a WTA tournament in 22 years.
STOPPED
Li Na’s run at Wimbledon was much shorter than at the year’s first two Grand Slam tournament. At Roland Garros earlier this month, Li became the first player from Asia to win a major singles title. In January, she was runner-up at the Australian Open. But at Wimbledon Li wasted two match points before losing to wild-card entry Sabine Lisicki of Germany 3-6 6-4 8-6.
Cashing in on her success in Paris, the 29-year-old Li reportedly signed an endorsement deal with Daimler AG to endorse its Mercedes Benz that is worth about USD $1.5 million annually for three years. Li’s agent, Max Eisenbud of IMG, acknowledged a deal had been struck, but he would not confirm the numbers. Li Na’s other endorsement deals include Nike, Rolex, Spider Tech and Haagen Dazs. She is expected to pull in about USD $10 million in endorsement money this year, which would rank her second in women’s tennis only behind Maria Sharapova, who makes about USD $25 million a year and is the highest earning female athlete in the world.
SAY IT RIGHT!
Germany’s Julia Goerges gets upset when people call her “gorgeous.” Her name, after all, should be pronounced “Gur-ges” with a hard “g” in each case – like “gurgle.” Umpire Graeme Jones had problems with pronouncing Goerges’ name, most of them variations of “gorgeous” and all tickling the spectators. Finally Goerges had enough and corrected the umpire. “Honestly, I don’t really like it,” the 22-year-old brunette said. “It’s just that people sometimes read my name and can’t pronounce it because they haven’t heard it before, especially in America. You can make the joke once, but you don’t have to do it two or three or four times in a row. It’s getting to really annoy me. … I want to show what I can do in tennis and it has nothing to do with how you look on court. If you’re good-looking on court, it doesn’t win any matches.” Goerges lost in the third round.
SOFTIE SERENA
Jack Marshall of Scunthorpe in northern England helped reveal the softer side of Serena Williams. The 5-year-old was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2009. His mother Tracy contacted a number of celebrities via Twitter to help spread awareness of his illness and raise money to support him and other sufferers. “I read his story and my heart kind of went out for him,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ That was one thing, I thought if I made it to Wimbledon, I wanted to invite Jack out. The youngster watched Williams win her second-round match. “I got to meet him yesterday. It’s just been so amazing, his whole story, to be so small to have such courage,” Serena said. “He calls me his best bud, so I love it.”
SERIOUSLY
It was 30 years ago when John McEnroe screamed at a Wimbledon umpire, “You cannot be serious.” Called “Superbrat” by the British tabloid media, McEnroe’s outburst came in a first-round match against fellow American Tom Gullikson, who was serving in the opening set when a McEnroe shot was called out. Approaching umpire Edward James, McEnroe said: “Chalk came up all over the place, you can’t be serious man.” Then, his anger rising, the left-hander yelled: “You cannot be serious. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in. How can you possibly call that out? Everybody knows it’s in in the whole stadium and you call it out? You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?” James then politely announced: “I’m going to award a point against you, Mr. McEnroe.” The umpire later docked McEnroe another point for racquet abuse. After he beat Bjorn Borg to win the first of his three Wimbledon titles, McEnroe became the first singles champion to not be made an honorary member of the All England Club.
SET FOR TORONTO
Sisters Venus and Serena Williams are heading to Canada this summer. “Venus and I are thrilled to come to Toronto this summer to play at Rogers Cup,” Serena said. For the first time, Rogers Cup will be a virtual combined event with the men playing in Montreal and the women in Toronto at the same time, August 5-14. Previously the two events were played on successive weeks. “They’re really excited to get back on the court and play a lot of tennis over the next couple of years,” tournament director Karl Hale said of the Williams sisters. “They’re hungrier than ever to get out and achieve on the tennis court, which will be good for Rogers Cup.”
SHORTER, THANKFULLY
For the second straight year, Nicolas Mahut and John Isner faced each other in the opening round of Wimbledon. A year ago, the two battled their way into history as Isner needed more than 11 hours to win. Isner repeated his victory, but this time he needed only 2 hours, 3 minutes to wrap up a 7-6 (4) 6-2 7-6 (6) clash in fading daylight and move into the second round. “I’m just really thrilled to have won that third set,” Isner said, “because if I lose that third set, then chances are we don’t finish. You know, our match goes to a second day.” Last year, they battled for three days.
SMASH FOR JOPLIN
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is donating USD $100,000 to the city of Joplin, Missouri, USA, to assist with disaster relief efforts in the tornado-stricken community. The USTA is committed to helping rebuild Joplin High School and its tennis courts, which were demolished in the storm. In addition, the USTA will bring SmashZone, the interactive fan attraction featured annually at the US Open, to Missouri Southern State University in an effort to help boost the spirits of the children and families affected by the disaster. The USTA contribution consists of a USD $25,000 donation from the USTA Missouri Valley Section, a USD $25,000 donation from USTA National, and a USD $50,000 grant for refurbishment of the high school tennis courts and technical assistance. In addition to its $100,000 donation, the USTA is working with tennis manufacturers and retailers to collect additional donations including equipment and tennis gear for the Joplin High School tennis team.
SPIFFY GARDENS
A battle with his gardener over money has prevented Boris Becker from selling his villa in Spain. The gardener claims the three-time Wimbledon champion owes him nearly USD $400,000 for the upkeep of the grounds. A court has decided to hold the debt against the villa, meaning it will be claimed against any eventual sale of the property. “There is a lawsuit and we are fighting it,” Becker said. “They wanted more money than they were supposed to get. It is my house and hasn’t been taken.” Becker is asking USD $24 million for the property, which has been on the market since 2007. He wanted to gardens in pristine condition for the benefit of potential buyers. Becker now lives in Switzerland with his wife Lilly but is currently staying at his home in Wimbledon.
SHOWING OFF
In partnership with Fila, the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, has unveiled a new exhibit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the brand that has been worn by many great champions of tennis, including Hall of Famers Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker and Monica Seles. “At the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum, our mission is to preserve and showcase the history of tennis, with the goal of honoring the legends and inspiring tennis fans,” said CEO Mark L. Stenning. “From Borg’s Wimbledon victories to Seles’ French Open title, Fila has been an integral partner in great moments in tennis history and we are pleased to celebrate their milestone anniversary by showcasing the brand’s rich history to our visitors.” The special exhibit was unveiled in mid-June and will be changed throughout the year as part of Fila’s year-long celebration of the centennial anniversary of the brand. The exhibit includes design sketches as well as dramatic photos of Fila players in action. A wooden Fila tennis racquet and polo shirts worn by Hall of Famer Boris Becker are also part of the display.
SAD NEWS
Lance Lumsden, one of the best tennis players to come out of Jamaica, has died at the age of 71. According to his nephew, Richard Lumsden, the former Davis Cup player had been undergoing treatment for cancer . Lumsden played at Southern Illinois University in the early 1960s and was one of the first Jamaicans to play tennis on the international circuit in the modern era. In 1968, the first year of the era of Open tennis, he played the world number one, Australia’s Rod Laver, in the first round of the French Open in Paris. Lumsden competed in Davis Cup under the flag of the Commonwealth Caribbean. In 1966, Lumsden and Richard Russell defeated Venezuela 3-2, the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup tie. In the following tie against the United States at the St Andrew Club in Kingston, Lumsden and Russell beat the top-ranked American doubles team of Arthur Ashe and Charlie Pasarell 6-4 7-9 14-12 4-6 6-4. It was the first time the Commonwealth Caribbean had won a Davis Cup match against the United States. Although the United States won the tie by 4-1, the doubles victory by Lumsden and Russell in May 1966 is still regarded as one of the finest hours in the history of tennis in Jamaica and the Caribbean. After retiring from tennis, Lumsden settled in Vienna, Austria, where he married and raised a family. He leaves sons Joris, Marco and Robin, the latter the current honorary consul of Jamaica to Austria.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Guadalajara: Vasek Pospisil and Bobby Reynolds beat Pierre-Ludovic Duclos and Ivo Klec 6-4 6-7 (6) 10-6 (match tiebreak)
SURFING
Wimbledon: www.wimbledon.com
Braunschweig: www.nordlb-open.org/
Turin: www.sporting.to.it/
The Lawn Tennis Association: www.lta.org.uk/
Tennis Brit: www.tennisbrit.co.uk/
Bastad: http://women.swedishopen.org/
Budapest: www.budapestgrandprix.hu/joomla15/
Newport: www.tennisfame.com/
Pozoblanco: www.tennispozoblanco.com/
Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN
Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)
$163,300 Braunschweig, Germany, clay
$122,000 Turin, Italy, clay
WOMEN
Wimbledon, London, Great Britain, grass (second week)
SENIORS
Volkswagen Senior Classic, Turin, Italy, clay
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$441,500 Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass
$120,800 ATP Challenger Ciudad de Pozoblanco Open, Pozoblanco, Spain, hard
WOMEN
$220,000 Collector Swedish Open Women, Bastad, Sweden, clay
$220,000 Poli-Farbe Budapest Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary, clay
DAVIS CUP
World Group
Quarterfinals
Sweden vs. Serbia at Halmstad, Sweden, hard
Argentina vs. Kazakhstan at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay
United States vs. Spain at Austin, Texas, USA, hard
Germany vs. France at Stuttgart, Germany, clay
Group I
Americas Zone, 2nd round: Ecuador vs. Canada at Guayaquil, Ecuador, clay; Uruguay vs. Brazil at Montevideo, Uruguay, clay
Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: China vs. Australia at Beijing, China, hard; Japan vs. Uzbekistan at Kobe, Japan, hard; playoffs: New Zealand vs. Philippines at Taranaki, New Zealand, hard
Europe/Africa Zone, 2nd Round: Italy vs. Slovenia at Arzachena, Italy, clay; South Africa vs. the Netherlands at Potchefstroom, South Africa, hard; Switzerland vs. Portugal at Berne, Switzerland, hard
Group II
Americas Zone, 2nd round: Peru vs. Dominican Republic at Lima, Peru, clay; Paraguay vs. Venezuela at Asuncion, Paraguay, clay; playoffs: El Salvador vs. Netherlands Antilles at Santa Tecia, El Salvador, clay; Puerto Rico vs. Haiti at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, hard
Asia/Oceania Zone, 2nd round: Korea vs. Pakistan at Gimcheon, Korea, hard; Thailand vs. Indonesia at Nonthaburo, Thailand, hard; playoffs: Syria at Hong Kong, hard; Pacific Oceania vs. Iran at Guam, hard
Europe/Africa Zone: 2nd round: Great Britain vs. Luxembourg at Glasgow, Scotland, hard; Hungary vs. Belarus at Godollo, Hungary, clay; Bosnia/Herzegovina vs. Estonia at Tuzla, Bosnia/Herzegovina, hard; Denmark vs. Latvia at Fredericksburg, Denmark, clay; playoffs: Ireland vs. Tunisia at Dublin, Ireland, hard; Bulgaria vs. Cyprus at Sofia, Bulgaria, carpet; Lithuania vs. Morocco at Vilnius, clay; Greece vs. Monaco at Thessalonica, Greece, clay
Group III
Africa Zone at Cairo, Egypt, clay (round-robin in four pools; two nations promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II for 2012): Algeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe