bendigo australia Archives - World Tennis Magazine

STARS

Serbia beat France 3-2 to win the Davis Cup by BNP Parabis in Belgrade, Serbia

Goran Ivanisevic beat Todd Martin 6-2 6-4 to win the AEGON Masters Tennis in London, England

Timea Babos beat Elitsa Kostova 3-6 6-3 7-5 to win the $25,000 William Loud Bendigo International in Bendigo, Australia

Alexandra Cadantu beat Julia Cohen 6-1 6-3 to win the $25,000 Hotel do Frade ITF Challenger in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dominic Thiem beat Oliver Golding 6-2 6-1 to win the boys 18s at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in Bradenton, Florida, USA

Lauren Davis beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 7-5 to win the girls 18s at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships in Bradenton, Florida, USA

DAVIS CUP FINAL

Gael Monfils (France) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-1 7-6 (4) 6-0

Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Gilles Simon (France) 6-3 6-1 7-5

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra (France) beat Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 3-6 6-7 (3) 6-4 7-5 6-4

Novak Djokovic beat Gael Monfils 6-2 6-2 6-4

Viktor Troicki beat Michael Llodra 6-2 6-2 6-3

SAYINGS

“Under the circumstances, with huge pressure, I played an amazing match. Everything was working for me.” – Novak Djokovic, after beating Gael Monfils in the reverse singles to knot the Davis Cup tie 2-2.

“I’m still in shock. After the last shot I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It will take a few days for it all to sink in. This was the most intense pressure ever in my life in front of my home fans. It’s unbelievable. I’m struggling for words.” – Viktor Troicki, after winning the decisive fifth rubber to give Serbia a 3-2 victory over France and its first Davis Cup title.

“The French team are good guys, but unfortunately someone has to lose.” – Bogdan Obradovic, Serbian Davis Cup captain.

“We are not asking them to be thieves and give us anything, but some of them were absolutely awful today and they made several bad calls at key moments in the match. They were like a dark force out there and their lack of patriotism was astounding.” – Bogdan Obradovic, Serbian Davis Cup captain, complaining about the line judges in the Davis Cup final against France.

“At times we felt like the line judges were French and we were playing in Paris.” – Viktor Troicki, a member of the victorious Serbian Davis Cup team.

“I had never before started the match with a pair of double faults. I was nervous and it’s not surprising the crowd never really got going because I gave them very little to cheer about. Stage fright is not the main reason for my bad performance though. Quite simply I lost to a better player today and all credit to (Gael) Monfils.” – Janko Tipsarevic, after losing the opening singles match to Gael Monfils and giving France a 1-0 lead over Serbia in the Davis Cup final played in Belgrade, Serbia.

“Every time people write me off – or try to write me off – I’m able to bounce back.” – Roger Federer, after winning the season-ending ATP World Finals in London, England, beating Rafael Nadal in the final.

“When he’s playing well, (it’s) difficult to find solutions.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about Roger Federer.

“I think I showed everyone this week that I have one of the best conditioning and that I’m probably the biggest fighter here. The basics for me just were to stay in the game, stay in the match and try to just get it to go longer and longer.” – Timea Babos, after winning the William Loud Bendigo International in Bendigo, Australia

SERBIAN KINGS

Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic were the heroes as Serbia made history by winning the Davis Cup for the first time in its history. Trailing France 2-1 going into the two reverse singles, Djokovic began the comeback by thrashing Gael Monfils 6-2 6-2 6-4. That knotted the score and made whoever won the fifth and final rubber the champion. Troicki played one of the best matches of his career to down Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-2 6-2 6-3. When Troicki’s cross-court backhand on match point was a winner, the players and the crowd broke into wild celebrations.

The three-day competition began with Monfils defeating Janko Tipsarevic and Djokovic beating Gilles Simon. France took its 2-1 led when Arnaud Clement and Llodra teamed up to defeat Nenad Zimonjic and Troicki in the doubles.

Serbia v France - Davis Cup World Group Final - Day Three — Serbia wins Davis Cup

SENIOR STAR

Goran Ivanisevic captured his first AEGON Masters Tennis title by downing Todd Martin 6-2 6-4 at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Ivanisevic overwhelmed Martin with serves of more than 130 mph. “I’m just so happy I finally won this tournament,” Ivanisevic said after lifting the trophy. “The first set today was probably the best set I played this week.” Everything was working for the winner. His beloved British football team, West Bromwich Albion, also won, beating Newcastle 3-1. “My day can’t get any better!” shouted Goran to the crowd midway through the second set when he learned West Bromwich had taken a 1-0 lead. The AEGON Masters Tennis title is Goran’s third of the year, making 2010 his most successful year to-date on the ATP Champions Tour.

STANDING FOR PEACE

Doubles partners Rohan Bopanna of India and Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi of Pakistan have been awarded the 2010 Grand Prix of Peace & Sports at a glittering event held in Monaco. The two players, who are also known as “Indo-Pak Express,” were given the award in the presence of Crown Prince of Monaco for their role in promoting peaceful relations between India and Pakistan. One of the top doubles teams on the ATP Tour, the pair conveys their message of peace by sporting the slogan “Stop War, Start Tennis.” The citation on the award says: “Their commitment to promoting peace between the two countries and their conviction that peace was possible was shown amply during the year. In the US Open tournament they managed to bring together the ambassadors of India and Pakistan to support the same team.” As he presented the award, Joel Bouzou, president and founder of Peace and Sport Foundation, requested the governments of India and Pakistan support Bopanna and Qureshi by organizing a symbolic tennis match at the Wagah border check post. “The sport is ready for peace. Will the two governments rise to the occasion?” Bouzou asked.

SPECIAL MAN

Slobodan Zivojinovic was awarded the 2010 Davis Cup Award of Excellence at the Davis Cup finals held in Belgrade, Serbia. The International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum and International Tennis Federation (ITF) honored Zivojinovic during a special on-court ceremony. The award was presented by ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti and Geoff Pollard, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum Board of Directors. The award recognizes the importance of Davis Cup by honoring individuals who best represent the ideals of the competition’s founder, Dwight Davis and is presented annually to a member of a past or present Davis Cup team who is from the country or region where the Final is being held. Zivojinovic was a member of the Yugoslavian Davis Cup team for more than a decade, representing his nation for 12 consecutive years between 1981 and 1992. He led the team to the semifinals in 1988, 1989 and 1991, compiling an overall Davis Cup win-loss record of 36-26.

Past recipients of the Davis Cup Award of Excellence are Manuel Orantes of Spain in 2009; Guillermo Vilas of Argentina in 2008; Stan Smith of the United States in 2007; Alex Metreveli of Russia in 2006; Miloslav Mecir of Slovak Republic and Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia in 2005; Manolo Santana of Spain in 2004; John Newcombe of Australia in 2003; Pierre Darmon of France in 2002; and Neale Fraser of Australia in 2001.

SEASON FOR GIVING

John Isner showed up in Dallas, Texas, USA, to help a friend, Dallas Stars center Brad Richards. Isner didn’t have to play tennis, but instead joined his hockey-playing pal in a Texas hold ‘em poker tournament to raise money to expand the pediatric cancer wing at Children’s Medical Center.

Twins Bob and Mike Bryan were just two big names who took part in a clinic in Clinton Township, New Jersey, USA, to benefit the Justin Gimelstob Children’s Fund and The Valerie Fund. The Children’s Fund provides financial support to a variety of children’s charities and related causes in Northern New Jersey and the metropolitan New York City area. The next night the Bryans joined Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, Mary Joe Fernandez and Gimelstob in Chatham, New Jersey, USA, for another fund-raiser.

The Mark Knowles Tennis Invitational in Nassau, Bahamas, celebrated its 10^th renewal. Joining Knowles, one of the world’s top doubles players, were Andy Murray, Xavier Malisse, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Olga Savchuk, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Sabine Lisicki, Bobby Reynolds, Amer Delic, Alex Kuznetsov, Jesse Levine, Filip Krajinokov, Ryan Sweeting, Brent Haygarth, Oliver Marach and Don Johnson.

STUPID MOVE

Top of Form

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria has been fined more than USD $2,000 for allegedly attacking an umpire at a Challenger tournament in Helsinki, Finland, and could be punished further. The Finnish press reported that after he lost to Ricardas Berankis, the 19-year-old Dimitrov pushed umpire Daniel Infanger and that the two had to be separated by another official. The tournament director said that Dimitrov, a former junior number one, is facing a possible suspension. “The immunity of the umpire is a sacred thing in sports. You can disagree with calls but this was way out of line,” Finnish umpire Antti Aine said.

Bottom of Form

STOSUR IS WINNER

Samantha Stosur was awarded the inaugural Newcombe Medal as Australia’s tennis’ player of the year. Currently ranked sixth in the world, Stosur received the medal from John Newcombe himself at the Australian Tennis Awards in Melbourne. The 26-year-old had a break-out year in 2010, reaching the French Open final where she lost to Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone. Stosur also reached the final at Stuttgart, won her second career title in Charleston and reached the semifinals of the season-ending WTA Tour Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Davis Cup stalwart Peter Luczak was awarded the Spirit of Tennis Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership, passion and dedication to the sport. Stosur’s coach and Australian Fed Cup captain, David Taylor, was awarded the Coaching Excellence, High Performance Award.

SERBIAN IRE

Calling them “unpatriotic,” Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic lashed out at the line judges in the France-Serbia Davis Cup final played in Belgrade, Serbia. “They were like a dark force out there and their lack of patriotism was astounding,” Obradovic said. His comments came after Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra gave France a 2-1 lead by rallying from a two-set deficit and beating Serbia’s duo of Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic. The battle was played in a raucous atmosphere that threatened to boil over in the closing stages of the second set. With Serbia a set up and leading 6-5 in the second, several hundred French fans screamed for a foot fault on Troicki’s serve and Serbian supporters responded with loud jeers every time the French duo hit the ball after that. Following protestations to the umpire by both sides, Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic grabbed a microphone and warned the home crowd that Serbia could be punished with a point or game deduction if the fans carried on. France then rallied to win the match. Serbia captured both reverse singles to win the prestigious international team trophy for the first time.

SIGNED

Two-time defending US Open champion Kim Clijsters will play in the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open, which will take place July 30 through August 7 in Carlsbad, California, USA. Since turning pro in 1997, Clijsters has won 40 career singles titles, including three US Opens. The Belgian finished 2010 by defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark to win the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, and ended the year ranked third in the world.

SHARING SPACE

A death in Andy Roddick’s family has resulted in the postponement of the ConAgra Food Rock-n-Racquets exhibition in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Instead, the event will be held on December 17 at the Qwest Center in Omaha. “This week is a time my family needs to be together. I appreciate everyone’s understanding and support and look forward to giving the fans a great show on December 17,” Roddick said. Tennis great Pete Sampras said he will also be able to accommodate the new date.

SHARAPOVA SET

Maria Sharapova will lead Russia when it takes on France in a first-round Fed Cup tie next year. “Sharapova has agreed to play the first round,” said Shamil Tarpishchev, president of the Russian Tennis Federation and its Fed Cup captain. “She is now fully recovered from the problems with her shoulder and again could challenge for the number one spot.” A three-time Grand Slam tournament champion and former number one, Sharapova has struggled to regain her form after a nine-month lay-off following shoulder surgery at the end of 2008. She finished this year ranked 18th in the world. Sharapova made her first and only Fed Cup appearance for Russia in a 4-1 victory over Israel in February 2008. Tarpishchev said Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has won two Grand Slam singles titles, and former world number one Dinara Safina will be joined by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on the Russian team. The tie will be played in Moscow on February 5-6.

SPARKLING DEBUT

Tobias Kamke of Germany has been named the ATP 2010 Newcomer of the Year after advancing 187 places in the ATP rankings since the start of the season. The 24-year-old reached four ATP Challenger Tour finals, winning twice. He finished the year ranked 67^th in the world.

SPONSOR

Adecco, the world leader in Human Resources Solutions, has returned as an international sponsor to Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and will join Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. The new agreement, announced by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), began AT THE Davis Cup Final between Serbia and France in Belgrade and runs through 2013. Adecco previously sponsored Davis Cup from 2002-2007. “It is always good news when a top sponsor like Adecco chooses your competition. It is even better news when they decide to come back,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. “This shows a real vote of confidence for both Davis Cup and Fed Cup and reinforces the current strength of both competitions.”