STARS
Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-0 to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany
Robin Soderling beat David Ferrer 6-2 6-2 to win the SkiStar Swedish Open in Båstad, Sweden
Anabel Medina Garrigues beat Polona Hercog 6-3 6-2 to win the XXIV SANAI Open in Palermo, Italy
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-0 7-5 to win the Nürnberger Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein, Austria
Eric Prodon beat Nikova Ciric 6-1 6-3 to win the BNP Paribas Polish Open in Sopot, Poland
Feliciano Lopez beat Carlos Salamanca 6-4 6-3 to win the Open Seguros Bolivar in Bogota, Colombia
Laurynas Grigelis beat Illija Bozoljac 6-2 7-6 (4) to win The Comerica Bank Challenger in Aptos, California, USA
FED CUP
World Group II Playoffs: Japan beat Argentina 4-0 at Kobe, Japan
DAVIS CUP
World Group I, Americas Zone, 2nd round: Canada beat Ecuador 3-2 at Guayaquil, Ecuador
SAYING
“First of all, in any sport where you can measure distance, height speed and all of that, you see how athletes have changed their sport and made it better. I believe, with every generation, the sport has improved. Certainly, in the men’s game, that has been the case. I think that I played Pete (Sampras) at his best, I played Roger (Federer) at his best … I believe wholeheartedly that Rogers and (Rafael) Nadal have pushed the game much further than myself or Pete ever did. Their options on the tennis court are considerably more than ours.” – Andre Agassi.
“This is the toughest time in my life, and I hope it always stays the toughest time in my life. I’m sure I’ll be able to overcome this. It’s just a matter of patience and time.” – Alisa Kleybanova, announcing she has Hodgkin’s disease, a form of cancer.
“Since I don’t look like every other girl, it takes a while to be OK with that. To be different. But different is good. My smile remains my favorite part of my body. Does that count? I think a smile can make your whole body!” – Serena Williams.
“When Billie Jean asks you to do something, you do it.” – Chris Evert, explaining why she has made appearances at World TeamTennis events after being asked to do so by Billie Jean King.
“It is amazing. You don’t get to defend your title every year, so to defend my title in my hometown it is amazing. It is a title that I thought I would never win, but now I have gone the last three years: in the final, then win, win. I am on cloud nine right now.” – Robert Lindstedt, who teamed with Horia Tecau to successful defend their doubles title at the SkiStar Sweden Open.
“I take a lot of confidence in myself again. I can believe that I can win tournaments again after the injury. That is the most important thing. The knee responds very well, so everything’s perfect.” – Juan Carlos Ferrero, after winning the Stuttgart, Germany, title in just his third tournament of the year.
SENIOR SEÑOR
In just his third tournament of the year, Juan Carlos Ferrero showed off the skills that once took him to number one in the world. The 31-year-old Spaniard, who has been sidelined with knee and wrist injuries, won his 16th tour-level title at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, defeating countryman Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-0 in the final. “It’s been a dream for me this week,” Ferrero said. “This first tournament playing here (after) a very long year at home, practicing zero, so I came here with no goals. Now I am the winner of the tournament. I’m very happy.” Ferrero is the seventh different Spaniard to win at Stuttgart.
SPANISH LADY
María José Martínez Sánchez is back. After winning her third career title last year in Rome, Martínez Sánchez missed two months with a knee injury. She didn’t play Rome this year, so her ranking plummeted into the 80s. On Sunday, the Spaniard returned to the winner’s circle, capturing the Nürnberger Gastein Ladies in Bad Gastein, Austria. Her 6-0 7-5 victory ended a remarkable run by Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, a wild-card entry who had the best week of her career. Martínez Sánchez won the first seven games of the match before Mayr-Achleitner took the next four games for a 4-1 second-set lead. But the Spaniard then won six of the last seven games to win. “At the start I was playing almost 100% perfectly,” said Martínez Sánchez, who hit nine aces in the match. “It’s normal to have a bit of difficulty after such a good start, but I stayed calm all the time until the end, and that’s why I won.”
SOUTHERN CAL HALL
Billie Jean King is going into yet another hall of fame. King heads the 2011 inductees who will be enshrined in the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in Los Angeles on August 5. A member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, King will be joined in the SCTA Hall by past SCTA and USTA President Franklin Johnson; fellow players Dorothy Head Knode, Pat Canning Todd, Kathy Mae Fritz and Hugh Stewart; along with coaches Billy Martin and Dick Leach. The eight will join the 62 previously inducted members of the Hall of Fame.
SIDELINED BY CANCER
Alisa Kleybanova is optimistic about beating cancer but is not sure when or whether she will be able to resume her tennis career. The Russian chose her 22nd birthday to make public the fact that she has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Kleybanova, who is ranked 28th in the world, has not played since May and missed both the French Open and Wimbledon. “It’s not an easy time for me right now,” Kleybanova wrote in a message on wtatennis.com. “I’ve been a bit unlucky with my health. I have Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer.”
SWEET PAYOFF
The US Open singles champions will each pocket a record USD $1.8 million this September. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced the total prize money for the year’s final Grand Slam tournament has been increased by more than USD $1 million to USD $23.7 million. The US Open begins its two-week run on August 29.
SURPRISING RUN
Federico del Bonis lost his semifinal at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany to Juan Carlos Ferrero. That wasn’t a surprise since Ferrero, despite playing his first tournament in two months after wrist and knee injuries, once was ranked number one in the world. The surprise was that the 21-year-old del Bonis was in the semifinals. The Mercedes Cup marked the first time the Argentine has won a tour-level match. At Stuttgart, he won three matches in qualifying and three in the main draw to reach his first semifinal.
STARS IN ACTION
Three of the top women players in the world – French Open champion Li Na, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon finalist Maria Sharapova – will be heading to Japan in September to help the earthquake and tsunami victims. The three will compete in the Pan Pacific Open in September, and all three will also take part in charity events to raise money for the disaster victims. Li Na said they plan to meet with children from Fukushima Prefecture, where the nuclear power plan suffered a meltdown following the earthquake and tsunami. The three stars also will help the victims through their foundations.
SAYONARA
Sybille Bammer has retired for the last time. The 31-year-old Austrian retired from professional tennis after she lost in the opening round at Wimbledon in June. Then she decided to play her last tournament at home, in the Gastein Ladies, a clay court event in Bad Gastein, Austria. After pulling off a surprising first-round victory, Bammer lost the final match of career, falling to fellow Austrian Yvonne Meusburger 6-2 6-1. A two-time tour winner, Bammer never fared well in WTA tournaments played in Austria. “I will take a break now and enjoy some time off with my family,” said Bammer, who has a 9-year-old daughter. “I won’t regret my decision.”
SWISS TEAM
Switzerland’s best two players ever – Roger Federer and Martina Hingis – reportedly could partner in the mixed doubles at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Federer, who will be seeking to win his first singles Olympic gold medal, captured the doubles at the Beijing Games in 2008, teaming with Stanislas Wawrinka. Ben Rothenberg of The Daily Forehand has reported that Federer has asked Hingis, who is retired, to partner him in the London Olympics. Mixed doubles is making a return to the Olympics. The last mixed doubles gold medalists were R. Norris Williams and Hazel Wightman, who won 88 years ago.
STAYING HOME
After losing in the doubles final at the SkiStar Swedish Open, Simon Aspelin announced his retirement. The 37-year-old Sweden and his partner, Andreas Siljestrom, finished runner-up to Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-3 6-3 for the title in Båstad. Aspelin turned pro in 1998 after graduating from Pepperdine University, where he was a four-time All-American. He won the first of his 12 titles in Marseille, France, in 2000 and reached a career-high doubles ranking of seventh in the world in March 2008. He teamed with Julian Knowle to win the US Open in 2007 and partnered with fellow Swede Thomas Johansson at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where they won a silver medal. “I’m a little bit disappointed after losing the final,” Aspelin said. “The feelings are mixed, but I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time so I can settle down and spend more time at home. I haven’t quite decided what I want to do later in the year, but right now I just want to relax for a few weeks.”
SEES PAST AS FUTURE
Ana Ivanovic is looking to the past in a bid to regain her Grand Slam tournament-winning ways. The Serbian star has returned to Scott Byrnes as her strength and conditioning coach. Byrnes worked with Ivanovic between July 2006 and July 2009, a period during which she became number one in the world. Byrnes took a break from tennis. Since his return, he has worked with Maria Sharapova, Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka. “With the appointment of Nigel (Sars) as my coach and now Scott as my fitness trainer, I feel that I have a very good structure in place and I am feeling optimistic about the future,” Ivanovic said.
“SOFT” RIVALRY, NOT
When Rafael Nadal, after winning the Australian Open in 2009, wrapped his arm around his defeated opponent, Roger Federer, in a gesture of compassion, it didn’t sit well with Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors. In the battle of left-handed Americans, Connors never felt sympathy for John McEnroe. “If I beat Mac in the finals of Wimbledon and he was having a tough time standing next to me, I could never see me putting my arm around him to console him, and vice versa,” Connors said. “And I wouldn’t expect him to. That’s not the kind of rivalry that we had. It carried far and wide to every corner of this great planet. I’m happy to say that he showed no respect, and I didn’t expect him to, even though he was trying to take my place as the best tennis player at that time. I didn’t give him any either; he was trying to brush me aside. We had a different feel and a different rivalry. It was the Lakers and the Celtics: his style versus my style, his attitude versus my attitude, his upbringing versus my upbringing. There was something that set us off towards each other. In turn, you saw the kind of tennis that we were able to produce.” Time has changed all that, however. “We had something special when we played. To be able to get beyond that, and move forward, I think is great,” Connors said of McEnroe. “Life’s too short to ever hold a grudge on everything.”
SANCTIONED
The Federal Communications Commission enforcement bureau believes cable giant Comcast Corp. has used its market muscle to discriminate against Tennis Channel. The Santa Monica, California, USA-based Tennis Channel has long claimed it lost revenue because Comcast, America’s largest cable television operator, has refused to add the sports network to a more widely distributed package of channels. Key to the case was testimony that two other sports channels that Comcast owns – the Golf Channel and Versus – has been provided better financial terms and greater exposure by the cable company. The case is now before an administrative law judge in Washington who has been presiding over the case. The judge will submit his decision to the five-member Federal Communications Commission, which will make the final determination.
SET FOR NEW HAVEN
Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki will be joined by eighth-ranked Francesca Schiavone and 12th-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova at the New Haven Open at Yale in August. Schiavone won the French Open in 2010 and reached the final this year, falling to Li Na. The Italian, who has been ranked as high as fourth in the world, will be making her sixth appearance at New Haven. Kuznetsova is a two-time Grand Slam tournament champion, winning the US Open in 2004 and the French Open in 2009. She won New Haven in 2007. Wozniacki has never lost a singles match at New Haven, winning all three times she has played in the hard-court tournament, a warm-up event for the US Open. The New Haven Open, part of the Olympus US Open Series, will be played August 18-27.
SCOT TO THE RESCUE?
Marcos Bagdatis has hired Miles Maclagan as his new coach. The Zambian-born Scotsman helped guide Andy Murray to a career-high world number two ranking and two of his three Grand Slam tournament finals. Now Maclagan is helping the 26-year-old Bagdatis prepare for the upcoming North American hard court season. Bagdatis grabbed Maclagan when the Scot split from Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, reportedly by mutual consent, after Wimbledon. Maclagan becomes Bagdatis’ third coach in three months. Just before the French Open, Bagdatis announced he had hired Eduardo Infantino of Argentina as his coach. That was a short-lived relationship, and after Bagdatis lost at Wimbledon, he renewed his partnership with Guillaume Peyre, who guided the Cypriot to the Australian Open final in 2006.
SODERLING STIFTELSE
Robin Soderling has been busy on and off the court this past week. Off the court, Soderling inaugurated a foundation, became an ambassador for the Non-Violence Project and announced a new talent award. The Robin Soderling Stiftelse hopes to help children in need, attempting to improve their everyday lives, assisting those who are economically deprived and providing aid to research that is focused on children’s diseases. Sweden’s top player was named ambassador for the Non-Violence Project – Tennis for Peace, an international youth education and leadership initiative promoting social change. And, together with Swedish candy manufacturer Lakerol, Soderling introduced a new talent award which aims to ensure the growth of Swedish tennis. “This scholarship is very dear to my heart because as a junior I know how hard it was to develop into a top player. It’s a long and costly way to go,” Soderling said. On the court, Soderling won the SkiStar Swedish Open in Båstad, Sweden, reclaiming the title he won in 2009.
SCHOOLS FOR MALAWI
Through his Roger Federer Foundation, the tennis star has launched a USD $3.3 million (2.4-million euro) initiative to build schools in Malawi. In association with Action Aid International Malawi (AAIM), Federer has begun a 10-year initiative to support early childhood education. The aim is to sustainably improve the quality of care and education in 80 Community Based Childcare Centers (CBCCs) and put 54,000 children between 4 and 6 years of age into schools. “As the father of two little girls, I observe every day how incredibly fast children learn if their environment is a stimulating one,” Federer said in a statement. “It is a great privilege for me and my foundation to help give children in Malawi the chance to reach their full potential.” Malawi is one of Africa’s poorest countries, with half its 13 million people living below the poverty line.
SET TO CLASH
Russia will be host to Spain when the 2012 Fed Cup competition gets underway next year. Other World Group matchups between the eight nations who actually compete for the international tennis trophy send Serbia to Belgium, Ukraine to Italy and Germany to the Czech Republic. In the World Group II first round, the United States will be at home to Belarus, Slovenia travels to Japan, France will be at the Slovak Republic and Australia will play host to Switzerland. Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport, with 81 nations taking part in 2011.
SHARED PERFORMANCES
Aptos: Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione beat John Paul Fruttero and Raven Klaasen 7-6 (5) 6-4
Bad Gastein: Eva Birnerova and Lucie Hradecka beat Jarmila Gajdosova and Julia Goerges 4-6 6-2 12-10 (match tiebreak)
Båstad: Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau beat Simon Aspelin and Andreas Siljestrom 6-3 6-3
Bogota: Treat Conrad Huey and Izak Van der Merwe beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6 (3) 6-7 (5) 0-0 default
Palermo: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Andrea Hlavackova and Klara Zakopalova 7-5 6-1
Sopot: Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski beat Olivier Charroin and Stephane Robert 7-5 7-6 (4)
Stuttgart: Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner beat Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3 6-4
SURFING
Hamburg: http://bet-at-home-open.com/
Baku: www.bakucup.az/
Bucharest: www.bcropen.ro/en/
Petange: www.tennispetange.lu
Atlanta: www.atlantatennischampionships.com/
Poznan: www.porscheopen.pl/
Astana: www.ktf.kz
Los Angeles: www.farmersclassic.com/
Gstaad: www.creditagricolesuisseopengstaad.ch/en/
Umag: www.croatiaopen.hr/tenis/home.aspx
Stanford: www.bankofthewestclassic.com/
Washington: www.midatlanticwtc.com/
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN
$1,425,000 bet-at-home Open German Tennis Championships, Hamburg, Germany, clay
$531,000 Atlanta Tennis Championships, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, hard
$120,800 Poznan Porsche Open, Poznan, Poland, clay
WOMEN
$220,000 Baku Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan, clay
$100,000 ITF Roller Open, Petange, Luxembourg, clay
$100,000 BCR Open Romania Ladies, Bucharest, Romania, clay
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$619,500 Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, California, USA, hard
$563,400 Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad. Gstaad. Switzerland, clay
$563,400 ATP Studena Croatia, Umag, Croatia, clay
$125,000 President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard
WOMEN
$721,000 Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, California, USA, hard
$220,000 Citi Open, Washington, DC, USA, hard
$100,000 President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard
