Mondays with Bob Greene
STARS
David Ferrer beat Tomas Berdych 6-4 7-5 to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar
Maria Sharapova beat Ana Ivanovic 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-3 to win the women’s singles at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp in Brisbane, Australia
Roger Federer beat Milos Raonic 6-4 6-7 (2) 6-4 to win the men’s singles at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp in Brisbane, Australia
Stan Wawrinka beat Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4 to win the Aircel Chennai Open in Chennai, India
Simona Halep beat Timea Bacsinszky 6-2 6-2 to win the Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen, China
Venus Williams beat Caroline Wozniacki 2-6 6-3 6-3 to win the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand
Poland beat the United States 2-1 to win the Hopman Cup
SAYING
“It’s a special moment, no doubt about it. I’ve played a lot of tennis over the years, so to get to 1000 wins tonight really means a lot to me.” – Roger Federer, whose 1,000th match victory gave him his 83rd career title.
“It’s a great feeling to come back to the competition and have the feeling of winning a title. It’s positive for me, a good way to finish the week. I’m practicing very hard and I’ll be practicing tomorrow. I’m very motivated to be back at my best in singles too.” – Rafael Nadal, who teamed with Juan Monaco to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open doubles.
“Wins like this always give a lot of confidence.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, after she beat Serena Williams to lead Poland to the Hopman Cup title.
“Everyone needs a coffee every now and again, right?” – Serena Williams, when she had an espresso during her Hopman Cup competition against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta.
“By the time you’re 34 you have a lot of experience and if you can stay in shape, stay fit, can move and hit the ball and don’t have five kids at home then why not? There’s nothing holding me back from being here and doing well. Of course I can’t play forever. Someone else has to take the torch at some point. While I’m here I’m enjoying it.” – Venus Williams, when asked if she was thinking of retiring.
“I am so happy to be here. It’s very exciting to start to play. I am enjoying the moments with the players and the fans. I miss everything. I miss the nerves of playing a match. I miss the feeling when you win a tournament. I miss the fans, the players.” – Juan Martin del Potro, who is returning to the ATP World Tour to defend his title in Sydney, Australia.
SPECIAL WIN
When Roger Federer captured his 83rd career title, he became only the third player in the Open Era to win 1,000 matches. The 33-year-old Swiss master joins Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) reaching the 1,000-match plateau. Hall of Famers Rod Laver and Roy Emerson joined the on-court ceremony after the final. “Clearly it’s a special day for me, winning a title plus getting to the magic number of 1,000,”’ Federer said after his 6-4 6-7 (2) 6-4 win over Milos Raonic at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp. “It feels very different to any other match I’ve ever won. All those (milestone) numbers didn’t mean anything to me, but for some reason 1,000 means a lot because it’s such a huge number. Just alone to count to 1,000 is going to take a while.” Federer had to work hard for the title because Raonic played so well. But the Canadian double-faulted in the 10th game to give Federer a championship point, and the veteran closed out the victory. “Looking back it’s almost nicer winning this way through a tight match with nerves and humid conditions against a great player in a final,” Federer said. “It means so much more than just running away with it with the score maybe winning 6-4, 6-4, which was looking very likely at one stage. I guess I was much more happy having to go three sets in the end rather than winning in straight.”
SPANISH CHAMPION
David Ferrer defeated Tomas Berdych to win the Qatar Open, his 22nd career ATP title. “The performance, it was very good,” Ferrer said. “I’m happy because it never is easy to begin the season winning one tournament.” The victory in Doha, Qatar, makes it six consecutive years that the Spaniard has won at least one title. “First of all, David is never tired,” Berdych said after the title match. “Not after the match he played yesterday after 2½ hours. I have seen him playing five hours and then he played the next day.” Ferrer won his semifinal in three tiebreak sets against seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic. Berdych had sailed through the early rounds of the tournament without dropping his serve in 34 service games. But Ferrer broke him four times. “In important points I got a little bit lucky,” Ferrer said. “I tried to be confident in the bad moments. I played very good in those moments.”
SHOWTIME FOR MARIA
Maria Sharapova is hoping the Brisbane International is an omen of things to come. The Russian outlasted Ana Ivanovic 6-7 (4) 6-3 6-3 to capture the hard-court title and head into the Australian Open. In 2008, Sharapova beat Ivanovic to win the year’s first Grand Slam tournament title – her only other victory in Australia. The win also moved Sharapova closer to the number one ranking as she is now just 681 points behind Serena Williams. The Russian has now won at least one WTA title every year since 2003. “She had some great comebacks,” Ivanovic said of Sharapova. “She got back the balls that I thought weren’t coming over the net. That’s why she’s where she is, and that’s why she’s such a great champion.” Sharapova was also impressed with her Serbian opponent. “She was doing a lot of things better in the first set, and she deserved to win the first set, but I hung in there,” Sharapova said. “The third set came down to a few points, really. I’m just happy that I managed to get it in three.”
SENIOR CITIZEN
It was like old times for Venus Williams, who bounced back from a disastrous first set to knock off top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki and win the Auckland Classic. It was the 46th career title for the seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion, who at 34 is 10 years older than Wozniacki. The Dane controlled the beginning of the match, breaking Williams twice to take the first set, then broke her again at the start of the second. That’s when the veteran American turned the match around, spraying powerful winners all over the court. “The first set went fast and then it was like, ‘Time to take it to three,’” Williams said. “I tried to stay level-headed in the second and that worked. It felt good to figure it out and run away with it a little bit.” Williams has never lost to Wozniacki in their six career meetings.
STAN THE MAN
Stan Wawrinka has a reason for enjoying his visits to Chennai, India. The 29-year-old Swiss successfully defended his Aircel Chennai Open title by defeating qualifier Aljaz Bedene 6-3 6-4. It is Wawrinka’s third Chennai title in five years. “It’s an amazing atmosphere,” Wawrinka said. “It’s one of the reasons I come back every year. It was a great final. I’m really happy with my level.” After winning Chennai last year, Wawrinka went on to capture his first Grand Slam tournament title, the Australian Open, and reached as high as third in the world in the Emirates ATP Rankings. “I feel really happy,” Wawrinka said after repeating as champion for the first time in his career. “It’s tough to win tournaments on the ATP Tour. I feel good.”
Bedene, the first qualifier in the 20-year history of the tournament to reach the final, won seven matches during the week. In the main draw the 25-year-old Slovenian beat three Spanish players in succession: second-seeded Feliciano Lopez, fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut. “It’s been a great week,” Bedene said. “I guess the hard work pays off. … I don’t want to stop here. I just want to raise my level to the level of Stan’s game.”
SICK BUT SUCCESSFUL
Simona Halep wasn’t feeling well before the Shenzhen Open final. It was Timea Bacsinszky who was feeling down after the match. “I wasn’t feeling very well before the match – I was a little bit sick – so I told myself I have nothing to lose, just go on court, be relaxed, stay focused and fight for every point,” Halep said. “It worked, and I felt really relaxed today.” So relaxed she clobbered Bacsinszky 6-2 6-1 to capture her ninth WTA title. Halep is only the second winner of the Shenzhen Open. Li Na won the first two editions before retiring last year.
SINGLES SHOCKER
Rafael Nadal’s year hasn’t started out the way he really wanted. Playing in his first ATP World Tour event, Nadal was shocked 1-6 6-3 6-4 by Michael Berrer, a 34-year-old qualifier playing his final season, in the first round of the Qatar Open. Nadal has been sidelined with back and wrist injuries, and his service speed was affected greatly. “Little things didn’t quite work out for me today,” Nadal said. “This is the third comeback of my career after injury, so we will see how it goes in a couple of months. I wanted to start well, but it was not the case today. I also want to play in the Australian Open, which is a tournament I like a lot. I don’t know if that will be the case either, but I am going to work for it. If not. I will be playing at Rio and Buenos Aires.” Berrer had taken only four games in four sets off Nadal in their previous two meetings. “It’s one of the matches which will stay in my memory forever, but let’s be honest, it was the first match for Rafa after injury,” Berrer said. “It’s also my last season and I had nothing to lose, and I’m enjoying it here – so why not?”
Nadal did wind up with a trophy at Doha. He claimed a record fourth Doha doubles crown, teaming with Juan Monaco to win their first team title. Nadal won the doubles in 2009 and 2011 with Marc Lopez and in 2005 with Albert Costa. It was Nadal’s ninth career ATP World Tour doubles title.
SIDELINED
US Open champion Marin Cilic and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have pulled out of from the Australian Open because of injuries. Cilic, a 26-year-old Croatian, has been struggling with a right shoulder problem for more than a month. “I am really disappointed to announce that I had to withdraw from the Australian Open,” Cilic said in a statement. “I was advised by doctors to be careful as much as possible to avoid even more serious problems.”
Tsonga is suffering from an injury to his right arm. “I’m still suffering from a forearm inflammation and that prevents me being at 100 percent of my capacities in a competition,” the 29-year-old said. “I’m going to receive over three weeks all the needed treatments to be able to be back on track in the best conditions.” Tsonga hurt his arm while playing for France in the Davis Cup final. His 2008 Australian Open final appearance is his best career Grand Slam performance.
Great Britain’s Laura Robson also withdrew from the year’s first major. The 20-year-old has been sidelined with a left wrist injury and has not played since January 2014.
SICK BAY
This week’s Heineken Tennis Open in Auckland, New Zealand, has been riddled with withdrawals. David Ferrer, who was to have been the top seed, pulled out because of a back sprain. Earlier, seventh-seeded John Isner, the defending champion, cited tiredness after playing for the United States at the Hopman Cup, and sixth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils withdrew for personal reasons.
STOPS SERENA
Agnieszka Radwanska has given notice that she’s a force to be reckoned with this year. She beat Serena Williams twice to lead Poland to its first Hopman Cup title. Ranked fifth in the world, Radwanska stopped Williams 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-1, then returned to partner Jerzy Janowicz to a 7-5 6-3 doubles victory over Williams and John Isner as Poland became the 13th nation to win the mixed team event. Isner edged Janowicz 7-6 (10) 6-4 in the men’s singles, setting up the decisive mixed doubles. “When I go and play against her, you have nothing really to lose, she is number one in the world and a great champion,” Radwanska said of Williams. “It doesn’t matter what the score is. It’s never over, she’s a great fighter. I’m just very happy that could come back after that second set and play my good game in the third set.” It was the first time in nine career meetings that Radwanska has beaten Serena. And it comes after the Polish star signed Martina Navratilova as a coach. Radwanska was a semifinalist at last year’s Australian Open.
STUMBLING START
It has been a frustrating start of the season for Serena Williams. Twice the top-ranked American lost singles matches – to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska and to Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. But it was more than just losing. Williams appeared listless in both the singles and the mixed doubles of the final, where she and partner John Isner lost to Radwanska and Jerzy Janowicz. During the doubles, where she struggled on her serve, Williams lost her cool after a contentious point that brought the tournament referee onto the court to resolve the disagreement. Minutes later, Williams smashed her racquet in frustration after missing a volley. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I am so tired, it’s so weird,” Williams said early in the tournament. “I can’t get my body to move and I feel like I have no energy. It is a little frustrating because I know I can play 2,000 times better.” She beat Italy’s Flavia Pennetta after failing to win a game in the first set, then lost 6-2 6-1 to Bouchard. Williams followed by edging the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova in three sets, setting the stage for the loss to Radwanska. “I have been practicing so well, I just have not been able to put it through in my matches,” Williams said. “Hopefully it will be able to come through soon.”
SERVING UP ACES
Ivo Karlovic may have reached only the semifinals at the Qatar Open, but he is rapidly closing in on the top spot in firing aces. The 35-year-old Croat slammed 30 aces and 67 winners while losing 6-7 (2) 7-6 (5) 7-6 (4) to David Ferrer. That pushed Karlovic past Andy Roddick for second place on the all-time ace list with 9,092. Earlier in the week, Karlovic had become just the third player to reach the 9,000 aces plateau, joining Roddick and all-time leader Goran Ivanisevic. “Now I’m in the club,” Karlovic said. “It’s definitely one of my goals to be number one in all aces. This year, maybe, I will do it.” Ivanisevic holds the mark with 10,183 aces. Roddick is now in third place with 9,074.
STRAIGHT IN
France’s Lucas Pouille and Oceane Dodin are among six players awarded wild-card entries into the Australian Open main draws. Pouille and Dodin were given wild cards due to a reciprocal agreement between Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation. Americans Denis Kudla and Irina Falconi won their respective divisions of the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge. Zhang Ze and China and Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan are the Asia-Pacific wild card entries.
SPIKE IN PAY
The Australian Open increased its prize money at the last moment because of a weaker Australian currency. Organizers of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament said it wanted to ensure that players are not penalized by Australian dollar’s slide by 4.1 percent in December, reaching its lowest exchange rate against the US dollar in more than five years. In October, the prize money for this year’s tournament was announced at $36.3 million Australian. Last week, organizers increased that to a record $40 million Australian (USD $32.57 million).
SPLITSVILLE
Andy Murray says his split with long-term hitting partner and assistant coach Dani Vallverdu and fitness trainer Jez Green came about because they didn’t agree with his decision to hire Amelie Mauresmo as his head coach. Vallverdu had been with Murray since the two met at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain more than a decade ago. “The most important point in any team is that everyone has the same vision, everyone wants to move forward together,” Murray said. “I feel that’s what I have now. Maybe the last four or five months of last year it wasn’t like that. It’s not as much fun traveling when that’s the case. If everyone isn’t right into it, that isn’t how you want to work.”
STILL HURTING
Juan Martin del Potro admits he still has a sore left wrist as he returns to the ATP World Tour. “It bothers me sometimes when I hit backhands, but I am trying to hit harder because I need to hit harder if I want to play this tournament,” the 2009 US Open champion said before beginning a title defense at this week’s Apia International Sydney. “Sometimes the pain is high, sometimes it is low. It’s much better than (it was) three or four weeks ago and the doctor says that I can’t make it worse by playing at a high level, so I am very positive for that.” Del Potro said he played in pain for 18 months before deciding last February to have surgery on his wrist. The Argentine star contemplated a comeback after the US Open but felt his wrist wasn’t quite ready. He’s confident that now is the right time to return. “I know I need to be calm and to be patient, to stay healthy and play as well as I can,” del Potro said. “It will be a long road to get in good shape and to get to my level.”
STYLIST
Kei Nishikori is featured on this month’s cover of Time Magazine ASIA. The Japanese star is profiled by Hannah Beech, who quotes Andre Agassi as saying, “Kei is one of the few players that I’d pay money to see play.” The 25-year-old tells about his early move to train in Florida.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Auckland: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova 6-2 6-1
Brisbane (men): Jamie Murray and John Peers beat Alexandr Dolgopolov and Kei Nishikori 6-3 7-6 (4)
Brisbane (women): Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki beat Caroline Garcia and Katarina Srebotnik 6-2 7-5
Chennai: Yen-Hsun Lu and Jonathan Murray beat Raven Klaasen and Leander Paes 6-3 7-6 (4)
Doha: Rafael Nadal and Juan Monaco beat Julian Knowle and Philipp Oswald 6-3 6-4
Shenzhen: Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok beat Liang Chen and Wang Yafan 6-4 7-6 (6)
SURFING
Sydney: www.apiainternational.com.au/
Auckland (men): www.festivaloftennis.co.nz/heinekenopen/
Hobart: www.hobartinternational.com.au/
Melbourne: www.ausopen.com
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN
$519,395 Heineken Open, Auckland, New Zealand, hard
$494,310 Apia International Sydney, Sydney, Australia, hard
WOMEN
$665,900 Apia International Sydney, Sydney, Australia, hard
$226,750 Hobart International, Hobart, Australia, hard
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN and WOMEN
Australian Open (first week), Melbourne, Australia, hard
