fernando verdasco

Racquets Go As Grigor Dimitrov Self-Destructs – Mondays with Bob Greene

May 2, 2016 by Admin

Racquets Go As Grigor Dimitrov Self-Destructs – Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Nicolas Almagro beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 (6) 7-6 (5) 6-3 to win the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal

Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (7) 4-6 7-6 (4) to win the BMW Open by FWU AG in Munich, Germany

Diego Schwartzman beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (5) 7-6 (4) 6-0 to win the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open in Istanbul, Turkey

Lucie Safarova beat Samantha Stosur 3-6 6-1 6-4 to win the J&T Banka Prague Open in Prague, Czech Republic

Timea Bacsinszky beat Marina Erakovic 6-2 6-1 to win the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat, Morocco

Jordan Thompson beat Mathias Bourgue 6-3 6-2 to win the Kunming Open in Anning, China

Fernando Verdasco beat Lucas Pouille 6-3 6-2 to win the rain-delayed BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania

Jonas Luetjen beat Martinz Podzus 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships in Vero Beach, Fla.

SAYING

“Every event is tough. With Roland Garros coming up, things are really tight. Everyone wants to be ready for the French Open.” – Nicolas Almagro, who won his first title in four years.

“I’m very happy because I won this trophy. It was a long time since I was in this position, to win a tournament or to play in a final.” –Fernando Verdasco, after winning in Bucharest.

“Despite the loss, it was a positive week and I hope to keep on improving in the coming weeks.” – Lucas Pouille, who reached his first ATP World Tour final before falling to Fernando Verdasco.

“I went into this match thinking I had nothing to lose. I mean, it can’t be worse than Miami.” – Barbora Strycova, after upsetting Angelique Kerber in the first round at Madrid.

“There’s little to complain about. I myself am a little surprised by the convincing results this week.” – Philipp Kohlschreiber, after winning the Munich title for the third time.

“It was an exciting and for me a painful final.” – Dominic Thiem, who lost the Munich final to Philipp Kohlschreiber in a third-set tiebreak.

SMASHING LOSS

Besides the Istanbul Open title, Grigor Dimitrov lost three racquets. After he smashed his third racquet of the day, Dimitrov was given a game penalty, closing out his 6-7 (5) 7-6 (4) 6-0 loss to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. “I let myself down, I let my team down, I let my family down with that behavior,” Dimitrov said. The 29^th-ranked Bulgarian took the opening set tiebreak and appeared to have complete control of the match with a 5-2 lead in the second set. But Schwartzman battled back while Dimitrov lost 11 of the last 12 games. “I started cramping at 5-2 in the second set,” Dimitrov said. “It was very unfortunate that I couldn’t close out the match. I have to give credit to Diego.” The 23-year-old Schwartzman capped his strong week by winning his first career title. Despite Dimitrov’s antics, Schwartzman earned the crown. He upset top-seeded Bernard Tomic in the second round and saved one match point before edging Damir Dzumhur in the quarterfinals. He failed to win two titles, however, as Flavio Cipolla and Dudi Sela beat Schwartzman and Andres Molteni to capture the doubles.

SAME STAGE, SAME RESULT

Philipp Kohlschreiber loves home cooking. The 32-year-old German won his third BMW Open title by edging Austrian Dominic Thiem in a tight three-setter. “It was an exciting and for me a painful final,” Thiem said after losing 7-6 (7) 4-6 7-6 (4). Thiem trailed 5-2 in the final set before pulling even at 5-5, staving off two match points. The fourth-seeded Kohlschreiber, who had not lost a set before he ran into Thiem in the title match, finally closed out the win on his third match point. The German also won the Munich tournament in 2007 and 2012, and was runner-up last year. “Dominic, you will still win this tournament,” Kohlschreiber told his 22-year-old opponent. Thiem has won more matches this year – 29 – than anyone else on the ATP World Tour.

SPANISH TRIUMPH

Nicolas Almagro hadn’t won a tournament since May 2012. That drought has ended. The veteran Spanish clay-courter defeated Pablo Carreno Busta to win the Estoril Open. Almagro has spent much of the last few seasons coming back from injury. The Portuguese title was the 13^th of his career. “It’s great to win a title after so long,” Almagro said. “It was a battle today with Pablo, who was playing really well. I’ve improved during the week. I’ve been losing a lot of matches that I should have won. I’m looking for my tennis again. But I’m gaining more confidence with my game.” Almagro lost the opening set after leading the tiebreak 6-2. He closed out the victory on his third match point.

SWISS WIN

Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky gained her first title of 2016 by crushing Marina Erakovic in the final of the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem tournament. The top seed, Bacsinszky lost just one set in her five match at the Moroccan clay-court event. It was Bacsinszky’s first title on red clay, and that should help her confidence going into the French Open, where she was a semifinalist last year. Her three previous tournament victories have come on hardcourts.

SERENA’S OUT

The flu has forced Serena Williams to pull out of the Madrid Open. Since losing to Angelique Kerber in the final of the Australian Open in January, the world’s top-ranked WTA player has competed in just two events, losing in the final at Indian Wells, California, USA, and to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Miami Open. “Unfortunately I have to withdraw from Madrid because I’ve been battling the flu and I’m not at 100 percent,” Williams said. “I look forward to returning soon.”

SWISS STAR IN

To prepare for the French Open later this month, Roger Federer decided to participate in this week’s Madrid Masters. “The Madrid Open can count upon the presence of Roger Federer,” tournament director Manolo Santana said in a statement. “Federer is one of the best tennis players in history and Madrid is a special place for him.” The 34-year-old Swiss star won the Madrid title three times, in 2006, 2009 and 2012. Federer originally planned to skip the clay court tournament to reserve his energy, but his plans changed after he missed nearly three months of the season because of knee surgery. He also plans on playing the three remaining Grand Slam tournaments as well as the Rio Olympics later in the year.

SWEEPING WIN

It had been two years since Fernando Verdasco had won an ATP World Tour title. He had to wait an extra day by ending that streak when the experienced Spaniard outclassed Lucas Pouille in straight sets at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy. Until the Bucharest, Romania, tournament, Verdasco’s last win was in April 2014. It was the winner’s seventh ATP title, while Pouille was playing in his first tour-level final. Verdasco converted three of his six break-point opportunities, while Pouille failed to convert any of his five break-point chances, four of them coming in the first set. The winner surged into a 4-1 lead in the second set and never was threatened. The final was played on Monday after rain washed out Sunday’s schedule.

STRYCOVA SURPRISE

Until this week’s Mutua Madrid Open, Barbora Strycova had never won a set off Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in five career meetings. Things were completely different in Madrid, where Strycova upset the world’s third-ranked player 6-4 6-2 in a first round match. The last time the two had played – in the second round of the Miami Open – Kerber had won 6-1 6-1. “Oh, my god, it’s been difficult,” Strycova said of her rivalry with the German. “I’d win four games in the matches we played before.” While she hadn’t been successful against Kerber, Strycova has put together a decent 2016. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships. Her win over Kerber was her second over a Top 3 players this season, having upset Garbiñe Muguruza in Melbourne. “We have similar games,” Strycova said when asked about playing Kerber. “She’s a very patient player with good defense. It’s tough to win a point against her because she puts every ball back. It’s difficult for me because I’m a smaller player and I have a similar game to her, so it’s difficult for me to be patient because I’m not a patient person. But I tried to be patient today and it worked.”

SICK CALL

There’s something strange about Frenchman Gael Monfils and the clay-court tournament in Munich, Germany. The 29-year-old Monfils suffered a groin injury while practicing in Munich and withdrew from the event. It was the third straight year Monfils has missed the German tournament because of an injury. “Apparently I have bad luck here,” Monfils said. “I hope it’s not a tear, or it will be a close thing for the French Open.” In 2014, Monfils pulled out of Munich with an ankle injury. Last year he retired with an injured knee.

SAYS GO PUBLIC

Rafael Nadal wants the results of his drug tests made public. “It is necessary that our sport becomes a flagship in a world where transparency and honesty are two pillars of our conduct and way of living,” the Spanish wrote in a letter addressed to International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty. “I know how many times I am tested, on and off competition. Please make all my information public. Please make public my biological passport, my complete history of Anti-Doping controls and tests.”

Nadal filed a lawsuit against former French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot, who accused the tennis star of covering up a failed drugs test. Bachelot alleged that Nadal faked an injury in 2012, when he missed the final six months of the season due to knee problems, in order to hide a positive drug test. Nadal has vehemently denied ever using a banned substance and said he has never failed a drug test in his many years on the ATP World Tour. In his letter to the ITF, Nadal urged the organization to “start filing lawsuits if there is any misinformation spread by anyone. It can’t be free anymore in our tennis world to speak and to accuse without evidence.”

SKIPS PUNISHMENT

Sergey Betov won’t be severely punished, even though he tested positive for meldonium, the same drug that has halted the career of Maria Sharapova. The 28-year-old Betov failed a drug test at the Australian Open where he played doubles. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said that since the amount of meldonium discovered in the Belarusian’s sample was below that set by the agency earlier this month, Betov will be allowed to resume playing immediately. He has been serving a provisional suspension since March 12. “The International Tennis Federation (ITF) accepted that it is more likely than not that the meldonium found in Mr. Betov’s sample came from a course of Mildronate tablets that he took for six weeks ending in late October 2015,” the ITF said in a statement. “Mr. Betov did not know, and could not have known or suspected, even with the exercise of utmost caution, that the meldonium would still be in his system as of January 21, 2016,” the date of his failed test. “Accordingly, it was determined that Mr. Betov bore no fault or negligence for the violation … and so he is free to start competing again with immediate effect.”

Sharapova, a former world number one and five-time Grand Slam tournament winner, admitted in March that she had tested positive for meldonium at the Australian Open. She maintains she took the drug for health reasons and not as a performance enhancer. She currently is serving a provisional suspension as a doping tribunal has yet to decide her fate.

SANS WILD CARDS

There will be no wild-card entries for the tennis events at this year’s Rio Olympics. “We have received several enquiries regarding applications for ‘wild cards’ for the Olympic tennis event, and I wanted to take this opportunity to once more clarify that ‘wild cards’ do not exist in the Olympic tennis event,” International Tennis Federation (ITF) Chief Operating Officer Juan Margets said. “In previous Olympic Games the ITF had a degree of discretionary oversight on the allocation of Final Qualification Places, which might have been considered similar to the concept of wild cards in other events. Now, in line with International Olympic Committee requirements, this has changed for Rio 2016.” In a 64-player draw in both men’s and women’s singles, 56 are direct entries, six are final qualification places and two are tripartite commission invitation places. In doubles, 24 teams have direct entry and eight are final qualification places. Any doubles player ranked 10^th or better will gain direct entry and have a choice of partner.

SPAIN’S FLAG BEARER

For the second time, Rafael Nadal has been selected to carry the Spanish flag for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The tennis star was scheduled to be the flag bearer at the London Games in 2012, but when tendinitis forced him to skip the Games, the ceremonial duties went to basketball star Pau Gasol. Nadal won the men’s singles at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.

STRAIGHT IN

Bjorn Fratangelo, who won the French Open junior boys title in 2011, has earned a wild-card entry into this year’s men’s main draw at Roland Garros. The 22-year-old Fratangelo clinched the French Open spot by accumulating the most points based on results at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit clay-court tournaments. Named after tennis great Bjorn Borg, Fratangelo became the first American since John McEnroe in 1977 to win the boys’ singles title at Roland Garros.

STASH OF POUNDS

The singles champions at Wimbledon this year will each pocket nearly USD $3 million as the Grand Slam tournament increases overall prize money by 5 percent. Last year, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams each collected USD $2.74 million for winning the titles. The US Open continues to pay the most money. Last year, the singles champions each won USD $3.3 million.

SETS RECORD

There’s a new Guinness World Record for the most people bouncing tennis balls on racquets at the same time for 10 seconds. According to the official count from the assistant judges and the official Guinness World Record judge Anna Orford, 1,474 people participated at the Mutual Madrid Open, breaking the old record of 767 people set at the China Open last year. Among those participating in the record-smashing event were ATP World Tour players Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga along with tournament director Manolo Santana and tournament owner Ion Tiriac. WTA players participating included Alla Kudryavtseva, Vania King, Arantxa Parra Santonja, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Olga Savchuk.

SHARED PEFORMANCES

Anning: Bai Yan and Riccardo Ghedin beat Denys Molchanov and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 4-6 6-3 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Estoril: Eric Butorac and Scott Lipsky beat Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski 6-4 3-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Istanbul: Flavio Cipolla and Dudi Sela beat Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman 6-3 5-7 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Munich: Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Prague: Margarita Gasparyan and Andrea Hlavackova beat Maria Irigoyen and Paula Kania 6-4 6-2

Rabat: Xenia Knoll and Aleksandra Krunic beat Tatjana Maria and Raluca Olaru 6-3 6-0

SURFING

Madrid: www.madrid-open.com/

Busan: www.busanopen.org/new/main.html

Aix En Provence: http://opendupaysdaix.com/

Anning: www.wqbd.com.cn

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: www.opendecagnes.com

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.com/

Bordeaux: www.atp-primrosebordeaux.com/

Trnava: www.empireslovakopen.sk

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$6,417,170 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$100,000 Busan Open Challenger Tour Tennis, Busan, South Korea, hard

$100,000 Open Du Pays D’Aix, Aix En Provence, France, clay

WOMEN

$5,353,230 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$100,000 Anning Tennis Tournament, Anning, China, clay

$100,000 Engie Open de Cagnes-Sur Mer Alpes Maritimes, Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$4,921,700 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$100,000 BNP Paribas Primrose, Bordeaux, France, clay

$100,000 Seoul Challenger, Seoul, South Korea, hard

WOMEN

$2,513,000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$100,000 Empire Slovak Open 2016, Trnava, Slovakia, clay

Rafael Nadal Ousted From Miami Open – Mondays with Bob Greene

March 30, 2015 by Admin

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Miami Open (First Week)

Fernando Verdasco beat 2^nd-seeded Rafael Nadal 6-4 2-6 6-3

Daria Gavrilova beat 2^nd-seeded Maria Sharapova 7-6 (4) 6-3

Sabine Lisicki beat 5^th-seeded Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (4) 7-5

Tatjana Maria beat 6^th-seeded Eugenie Bouchard 6-0 7-6 (4)

Adrian Mannarino beat 7^th-seeded Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5)

Dominic Thiem beat 10^th-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-3

Johanna Larsson beat 10^th-seeded Lucie Safarova 7-6 (5) 6-2

DAVIS CUP

Group III

Asia/Oceania Zone at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Malaysia and Vietnam promoted to Asia/Oceania Zone Group II in 2016; Saudi Arabia and Qatar relegated to Asia/Oceania Zone Group IV in 2016

SAYING

“I am feeling more tired than usual, feeling that I don’t have this self confidence that when I hit the ball I am going to hit the ball where I want to hit the ball, to go for the ball knowing that my position will be the right one.” – Rafael Nadal, after losing to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

“Today was a good day. I played good and I won… I’m very happy, and now I just need to try to rest and be ready for the next one.” – Fernando Verdasco, following his win over Rafael Nadal.

“I am a little bit on and off too much. That is something that didn’t happen in the past.” – Rafael Nadal.

“I have been dreaming about beating Maria since I was probably 12, when I saw her win Wimbledon. She was my idol. She was just huge in Russia.” – Daria Gavrilova, after upsetting Maria Sharapova in the Miami Open.

“It’s sport, and I happened to lose the match. Of course it’s a bit of a surprise. I’m expected to win.” – Maria Sharapova.

“I’m going to take a day off and then I’m going to practice a lot and try to put this one behind me as soon as possible.” – Eugenie Bouchard, after losing to Tatjana Maria.

“I’m really fast when I want to be. I can get any ball I want to. My coach is always like, ‘If you want it, you can do it.’ I just have to want every ball. I guess I wanted to get to that.” – Serena Williams, after chasing down a lob and, with her back to the net, scooped back an improbable shot and went on to win the point in her victory over Monica Niculescu.

SENT PACKING

Rafael Nadal faced something besides fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco when he took the court at the Miami Open. “It is not a question of tennis,” the tournament’s second seed said after losing 6-4 2-6 6-3. “The thing is the question of being relaxed enough to play well on court. A month and a half ago I didn’t have the game. My game has improved, but … I am still playing with too much nerves for a lot of moments, important moments, still a little anxious on those moments.” The attacking game played by Verdasco also played a big part in Nadal’s ouster. It also was Verdasco’s second straight win over Nadal, who had won their first 13 meetings. “It’s a huge victory, and it’s always really nice to feel it in a packed stadium … in a very important tournament like this one and playing against one of the best players in history,” Verdasco said. “At the end, you just try to enjoy the moment.” In the battle of two left-handers, Verdasco hit 29 winners and saved nine of the 12 break points faced. Nadal didn’t help his own cause with 32 unforced errors. “I was anxious on court,” Nadal said. “I wanted to be there. I tried in every point, but I was not able to relax myself, calm myself.” Nadal has never won in Miami, with his 11 attempts his longest streak of attempts at a tournament without a victory.

SHOCKER

Maria Sharapova just can’t seem to win on the WTA tour’s North American swing. For the second straight tournament the second-seeded Sharapova was upset in an early round. A native of Russia, Daria Gavrilova, who entered the Miami Open with a wild card, shocked Sharapova 7-6 (4) 6-3 in the second round at Key Biscayne. “She runs a lot of balls down,” Sharapova said of Gavrilova. “I was committing a lot of errors off of those balls and not really staying patient and just going for too many winners.” Sharapova lost her serve four times and struggled with her return while engaging in a succession of long rallies. “I was probably visualizing beating her since I was 12, but this was a bit harder than that,” said Gavrilova, who will soon become an Australian citizen. “I thought I was very composed and just did my best. I was believing.” Gavrilova broke into the top 100 in the rankings last week for the first time. She’s making a comeback from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in 2013. “I always believed, and that’s probably why I won,” Gavrilova said. “I was very composed. I told myself to keep believing and keep trying.”

SLIPPIN’ STAN

Adrian Mannarino became the latest player to batter seventh-seeded Stan Wawrinka. Playing the best tennis of his career, the 26-year-old Frenchman reached his second straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 fourth round. Applying pressure from the start, Mannarino broke Wawrinka’s for the third time in the first set to force a tiebreak, which Mannarino won 7-4. He converted his fourth match point to take the second-set tiebreak 7-5. It was the first time Mannarino has beaten a player ranked in the Top 10 after losing his first 12 tries.

STANDING TALL

Sabine Lisicki is no stranger to the big stage. After all, she reached the Wimbledon final in 2013. That was the game she put on display at the Miami Open, stunning eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic to grab a spot in the fourth round. Ivanovic and Lisicki had played five times over the last year, with Ivanovic winning four of them in straight sets and pushing the only loss to three sets. This time, though, it was the 27^th-ranked German who proved to be too tough. She rallied from an early break down in the first set, then roared from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to oust her Serbian opponent 7-6 (4) 7-5. “In the beginning of the second set I stopped playing my game and my level went a little bit lower,” Lisicki said. “The important thing today was to just keep playing my game, and that’s what I started doing again after going down 4-1, and it worked out well.”

SLOW START

Juan Martin del Potro finally got back on court – at least for one match. Playing for the first time since January 15, del Potro lost his first-round Miami Open match to Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-4 7-6 (7). “I don’t feel frustrated,” said del Potro, who had been sidelined with a lingering left wrist injury. “I have to take the positive things on my comeback. The score doesn’t matter for now.” The 2009 US Open champion underwent wrist surgery a year ago and played in just four tournaments in 2014. Once ranked as high as fourth in the world, the Argentine right-hander’s ranking has fallen to 616^th. He said his wrist is not yet 100 percent, but it’s improving week by week. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes me to be at the top again,” he said. “I just wanted to play tennis and without pain.”

STRONG SQUAD

Sisters Serena and Venus Williams plan to play when the United States takes on Italy in a Fed Cup World Group playoff tie in April. The best-of-five competition will be played on clay in Brindisi, Italy, April 18-19. The winner will return to the top tier World Group, the only eight nations who actually compete for the Cup. “We deserve to be back in,” Serena Williams said. “We have some of the best players in the world. We should be in the World Group A and competing for the title.” The United States has won the international team competition 17 times, but not since 2000. The Williams sisters led the United States to a 4-1 win over Argentina last month to advance to the playoff round and a chance to return to the World Group in 2016.

SEED OUSTED

Seeded sixth, Eugenie Bouchard was one of the favorites at the Miami Open. Not anymore. The Canadian was upset by German qualifier Tatjana Maria 6-0 7-6 (4). “It’s the best win I have ever had,” Maria said. “I just didn’t think she was comfortable against my style.” It has been five years since Maria beat a Top 10 opponent. In the opening set Bouchard committed four double faults and won just one of eight points on her second serve. She jumped out to a 5-3 lead in t4he second set, only to have Maria send it into a tiebreak, which the qualifier won. Maria gave birth to a daughter 15 months ago and has been working her way back to the WTA Tour via the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit.

STARTING OVER

Nicole Vaidisova was 17 years old in 2006 when she broke into the top 10 on the WTA tour. In 2007, she was ranked seventh in the world. At the age of 20, she retired. The following year she wed ATP World Tour player Radek Stepanek – a marriage that lasted just three years – and has since undergone two surgeries on her right shoulder. Last September, Vaidisova announced her comeback, playing basically on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) tour. When she beat Timea Babos 6-1 7-6 (4) in a first-round Miami Open match, Vaidisova called it one of the great days in her tennis career. “It feels good,” she told journalist Sandra Harwitt when asked about winning her first match on the WTA Tour in five years. “You kind of forget what it feels like. I think this time around I definitely won’t take it for granted. I’m grateful to be here.” She lost her second-round match to third-ranked Simona Halep, 6-4 2-6 6-1.

SPECIAL DRESS

The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum has a hot new display of a hot old number. The white dress worn in the 1970s Tennis Girl poster was bought by the All-England Club at auction last July. The poster has sold more than two million copies. The model, Fiona Butler, who was 18 at the time, was wearing a friend’s homemade dress and was not paid for modelling. The friend, Carol Knotts, was 12 years old when she made the dress. “I can’t quite believe that the dress I used to wear to play tennis in will now be part of the Wimbledon Museum collection,” Knotts said. “It’s incredible.”

STERLING DEBUT

There may be another Canadian tennis star on the horizon. A native of Montreal, Felix Auger Aliassime became the first player born in the 2000s to earn a position in the Emirates ATP World Tour Rankings. The 14-year-old Aliassime won three qualifying matches at the Challenger Banque Nationale in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, beating among others Chris Guccione and 2011 champion Fritz Wolmarans. Despite being forced to withdraw before his first-round match because of an abdominal strain, Aliassime became th3e youngest player to qualify for a main draw in ATP Challenger Tour history. His is ranked 1,257^th in the world. “It’s nice to know, but I don’t pay too much attention to this,” he said. “I was actually playing the Drummondville Challenger to go get experience and to help me in my development. The ATP points are just a bonus, but I want to keep looking ahead.”

SUSPENDED

Two players have been suspended and fined by the Tennis Integrity Unit for match-fixing. The sport’s anti-corruption body said Walter Trusendi, a 30-year-old Italian, and Elie Rousset, a 25-year-old Frenchman, have admitted to breaching the code of conduct at the same tournament in 2014. The only tournament in which both men competed in last year was a clay-court Challenger event in Mohammedia, Morocco. Rousset and his German partner Richard Becker lost the doubles final. Rousset lost to Becker in the first round of singles. Trusendi, who didn’t compete in singles, went out in the first round of doubles in a walkover to two French players. Rousset was banned for six months, with tree months suspended for good behavior, and was fined USD $5,000, with $2,000 to be paid before the end of the three-month period of ineligibility and the remainder suspended “subject to good behavior.” Trusendi was banned for six months and fined USD $5,000. Trusendi is ranked 425^th on the men’s ATP World Tour; Rousset is ranked 576^th.

The players said a conversation between them was heard and reported by an official. Rousset had lost in qualifying and was first in line for the main draw should someone withdraw. Trusendi, who was scheduled to play a first-round match, told Rousset that he was injured and would withdraw, giving Rousset a spot in the main draw. But Trusendi said Rousset would have to give him the first-round prize money of 326 Euros he would have received for playing the match. If not, Trusendi said he would play three games then retire. “It happens every week,” Rousset told French newspaper L’Equipe. “It doesn’t seem to me to be something that bad. It’s not in the rules, but it’s good sense.” Trusendi told an Italian newspaper: “I was wrong. One shouldn’t do these things. I should have gone, played on game, retired and got the prize money and nothing would have happened.” Several players have criticized the decision to suspend Rousset, particularly his fellow French players.

SEXUAL ASSAULT

Bob Hewitt, a former Grand Slam tournament champion, was convicted in South Africa of raping and sexually assaulting three girls whom he had been coaching. The assaults occurred decades ago. After the ruling, Hewitt was given a low bail, which was paid by his wife, Delaille. A sentencing hearing will be held in Pretoria on April 17. Until then he must remain in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, where he lives, although he can visit his daughter in Johannesburg. The charges stem from events in the 1980s and 1990s. One accuser said her former coach raped her when she was 12. A second said she was 13 when Hewitt raped her in a hotel room. A third woman said Hewitt sexually assaulted her numerous times in the 1990s when she was 16. The judge said he is satisfied that all three women told the truth. Hewitt won 15 Grand Slam tournament doubles titles, both men and mixed. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHoF), but was suspended in 2012 after the Hall of Fame investigated the charges and found enough credibility in the allegations.

SURFING

Miami: www.miamiopen.com/

Le Gosier: http://open-guadeloupe.com/

Raanana: www.ita.one.co.il/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

Katowice: http://katowiceopen.com/pl

Charleston: www.familycirclecup.com/

Houston: www.mensclaycourt.com/index.php

Casablanca: www.gphassan2tennis.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$5,381,235 Miami Open Presented by Itau, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

$125,000 Electra Israel Open, Raanara, Israel, hard

$100,000 Open International de Tennis de Guadeloupe, Le Gosier, Guadeloupe, hard

WOMEN

$5,381,235 Miami Open Presented by Itau, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$488,225 Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship, Houston, Texas, USA, clay

$478,398 Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco, clay

WOMEN

$665,900 Family Circle Cup, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, clay

$226,750 Katowice Open, Katowice, Poland, hard

Federer Topples Murray in Dubai — Mondays With Bob Greene

March 5, 2012 by Bob Greene

STARS

Roger Federer beat Andy Murray 7-5 6-4 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

David Ferrer beat Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-2 to win the Abierto Mexicano Telcel men’s singles in Acapulco, Mexico

Kevin Anderson beat Marinko Matosevic 6-4 7-6 (2) to win the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Florida, USA

Sara Errani beat Flavia Pennetta 5-7 7-6 (2) 6-0 to win the Abierto Mexicano Telcel women’s singles in Acapulco, Mexico

Hsieh Su-Wei won the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when Petra Martic retired while trailing 2-6 7-5 4-1

Carlos Moya beat Ivan Lendl 6-4 6-4 to win the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships senior event in Delray Beach, Florida, USA

federer murray dubai — Roger Federer beats Andy Murray in Dubai final

SAYING

“It’s great. There is no substitute to confidence. I’ve played great. It’s not just that I’ve taken my chances, I really thought I played a good tournament here. I played a great tournament in Rotterdam. The end of last year was exceptional, so it’s nice to also win a tournament outdoors now. That gives me hope that I can carry it over to Indian Wells and Miami.” – Roger Federer, after winning the Dubai title.

“I’m very happy but I’m very tired. I was just fighting off cramps. … In the humidity I just sweat a lot and cramp. I cramped after my match on Wednesday, too.” – Marinko Matosevic, after beating Dudi Sela to advance to the final at the Delray Beach International.

“He was leading in the first, second and the third, but I thought I played much better except for the important points. It was a matter of who was more lucky in this kind of match, and he was more lucky.” – Dudi Sela, after losing to Marinko Matosevic in the semifinals at Delray Beach, Florida, USA.

“It’s best that I don’t push myself. I’m playing for my country at the London Olympics and I want to stay fit for that. I don’t want to get injured.” – Hsieh Su-Wei, saying she will play only doubles in Indian Wells, California, USA, after winning the Malaysian Open singles.

“I’ve been training really hard. People have been telling me hard work pays off, and I guess in some small way a little bit paid off this week. Before the week if you told me that I’d make the final, I’d be the happiest guy in the world. Then when you get there and you play the match, I feel like I was just a few points from winning the match or turning the match, but I just couldn’t do it. It can only help me I guess.” – Marinko Matosevic, after losing the Delray Beach final.

“It was like an emotional rollercoaster really. We managed to come up with big points when we needed them today.” – Colin Fleming, after teaming with Ross Hutchins to win the Delray Beach doubles title.

“Colin always amazingly makes these shots and he keeps saying he’s lucky, but it’s not, and he did that again today.” – Ross Hutchins.

“I am very proud to have won in Acapulco for a third consecutive time. I don’t think too far ahead and take my schedule week by week. Now I have two important tournaments coming up in Indian Wells and Miami, with a few points to defend in Miami. It will be great if I manage to do well, but if not, it is not a big deal. I will keep on working hard.” – David Ferrer, after winning his third straight title at Acapulco.

“I want to apologize for having played so bad. I am extremely disappointed I wasn’t able to have the fight I was expecting to have. I just couldn’t keep the ball in the court today. It’s always tough to lose a final, but losing it that way hurts a lot more.” – Fernando Verdasco, following his loss to David Ferrer.

“It’s my first ATP (World Tour) 500 title. This is great, and obviously it’s great to play with Mahesh. All that 17 years of experience on court I think really helps in those close matches and these big moments. It’s a good opportunity for me to play with him, alongside him. I couldn’t have asked for anything better than winning this title.” – Rohan Bopanna, after teaming with Mahesh Bhupathi to win the doubles in Dubai.

“Ivan played really well. I hope to be as fit as he is at 52. He can really still play. He was away from tennis for like 16 years, so this is an amazing effort from him. And his forehand is still so good, particularly down the line. It’s still there. It was a little bit strange being across the net from him. Guys like him and McEnroe were my idols growing up, so it is a bit strange to see him across the net playing with me. It’s good, I love it, and it’s what I really enjoy about this Tour.” – Carlos Moya, who beat Ivan Lendl to win the seniors event in Delray Beach, Florida.

STRONG SHOWING

It’s way too early to write off Roger Federer. The super Swiss won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the fifth time, defeating Andy Murray in the title match. That came one day after Murray eliminated top-ranked Novak Djokovic, handing the Serb his first loss of the season. The 30-year-old Federer won his 72nd ATP Tour-level title and his second in three weeks. Since losing in the US Open semifinals last September, Federer has won 33 of his 35 matches. His only losses have come to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals and to John Isner in a first-round Davis Cup tie. Federer, who didn’t lose a set in the tournament, beat Murray in a close match that lasted one hour, 36 minutes. “The match was close, I think, in both sets,” Federer said. “I just gave myself more opportunities than Andy did overall.”

SINO SUCCESS

Playing in her first WTA tour final, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei became the first Asian to win the Malaysian Open when her exhausted opponent retired. Because of rain delays that plagued the tournament, Petra Martic had to play both her semifinal and final on the same day. In the semifinals, Martic upset second-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-7 (5) 7-5 7-6 (5) in a match that lasted more than three hours. The Croatian had only a few hours to rest before taking on Hsieh for the title. Like Hsieh, the 21-year-old Martic was playing a WTA final for the first time. Hsieh is the second qualifier to win a WTA in 2012, and is the second player from Taiwan to win a WTA title. The other was Wang Shi-Ting. “I never expected to win this,” Hsieh said of her victory. “It wasn’t easy for me as I couldn’t sleep upon arriving and had to play the very next day. In a way I was lucky, but I will remember this for as long as I can remember. I tried so hard to win and it was good that I won. It has been a good week for Chinese Taipei here.” The Taiwanese pair of Chan Kai-Chen and Chuang Chia Jung won the doubles title.

SUPER EFFORT

Russian Alisa Kleybanova will be returning to WTA play at Key Biscayne, Florida, USA where she has received a wild card entry. The 22-year-old, once ranked 20th in the world, was diagnosed with cancer last year and had to withdraw from the circuit to undergo treatment. “I finished my treatments in December and a couple of weeks ago I did my last tests in Italy,” Kleybanova wrote on her WTA blog. “The treatments were successful, my doctors are happy with my health and I’m feeling great. I have started to train and right now I’m in Florida playing tennis again. It was physically really hard in the beginning, but it was so emotional that I didn’t want to get off the court. For me the best part of tennis is the competition and I’m really looking forward to my comeback.”

SLIP-UP

Andy Murray made sure Novak Djokovic won’t have the same torrid start in 2012 that he did last year when he won his first 41 matches. Murray knocked off the Serbian world number one in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships, reversing the outcome of their five-set, nearly five-hour marathon in the Australian Open semifinals. “It’s obviously great any time you beat the world number one,” Murray said after posting the 6-2 7-5 victory. “I just tried to do some of the same things I did in Australia. I was very close there against one of the greatest players ever, and today I did what I needed to – even though it nearly got away from me at the end.” Djokovic said he had simply lost to the better player on the day. “But generally I feel good, physically, mentally, you know. It’s just the start of the season.” Murray then lost to Roger Federer in the final.

STEADY SPANIARD

It’s becoming monotonous: David Ferrer wins in Acapulco. The top-seeded Spaniard won the Mexican tournament for the third straight time, defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in two easy sets. “As Fernando hits so hard, I knew I had to be solid and counter him, and I think I did it very well, especially at the beginning,” said Ferrer, who is ranked sixth in the world. “I also know Fernando didn’t play his best tennis today, but that’s tennis. You have good days and sometimes bad days.” It was Ferrer’s second clay-court title in two weeks and his third championship of the year. Ferrer has an 18-1 record this season, his only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

SHORT LIST

Ten players have been named to a short list to receive the first four Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heat Awards of 2012. Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, American Christina McHale, Samantha Stosur of Australia and Roberta Vinci of Italy have been short-listed for the World Group/World Group II award. Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson and Elena Baltacha of Great Britain have been short-listed for Europe/Africa; Catalina Castano of Colombia and Florencia Molinero of Argentina for Americas; and Li Na of China and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan for Asia/Oceania. The awards will be presented based on performances in the Fed Cup World Group and World Group II first-round ties, and the three Zone Group I events that were played at the beginning of February. The public will determine the winners by voting at FedCup.com and FedCup.com/es. Balloting runs until March 22. All four winners will receive a silver Baccarat bracelet and a check to be donated to their chosen charity.

SO TIRED

Marinko Matosevic had problems reaching the first ATP Tour final of his career. Playing in the semifinals of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, the 173rd-ranked Australian needed five match points to finally edge Dudi Sela of Israel in a battle that lasted six minutes short of three hours. “I’m very happy but I’m very tired,” Matosevic said. “”I was just fighting off cramps.” The eventual winner had two match points on his serve at 5-3 in the third set, but made four consecutive errors to lose the game. He had three more match points in the third-set tiebreaker, moving into the title match when Sela netted a backhand. It was the first time in four meetings that Matosevic had beaten Sela. And the Israeli was so upset he left the court immediately after the match without shaking the winner’s hand. Matosevic, who lost to Kevin Anderson in the final, said he and Sela are good friends and he wasn’t bothered that the Israeli fled the court without shaking hands.

SHARING THE SPOILS

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna won their first ATP World Tour doubles crown s a team when they captured the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The Indian pair – who are preparing for the Summer Olympics in London – beat Poland’s Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski. Bhupathi and Bopanna began playing as a team fulltime at the beginning of this year. Earlier this season they reached the semifinals at Chennai, India, and Marseille, France. It was the 50th tour-level doubles title for the 37year-old Bhupathi. Bopanna won his sixth ATP World Tour doubles crown.

SWISS FED CUP HEAD

Heinz Günthardt is the new captain of Switzerland’s Fed Cup team. The former coach of Steffi Graf replaces Christiane Jolissaint, who stepped down after a 4-1 loss to Australia in February. Swiss Tennis said Günthardt will take over when the Swiss take on Belarus in a World Group second-tier playoff on April 21-22. A former doubles specialist, Günthardt also has coached Ana Ivanovic and Andrea Petkovic.

SHANGHAI HONORED

Players on the ATP World Tour have selected the Shanghai Rolex Masters, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the SkiStar Swedish Open as their favorite tournaments. The Shanghai Rolex Masters has been voted by the players as the top ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in each of its first three years. The Dubai tournament won the ATP World Tour 500 award for the eighth time in nine years. The SkiStar Swedish Open, held in Båstad, was the player’s favorite 250 category tournament for the 10th consecutive year.

SENIOR SHUFFLE

Carlos Moya is continuing to show he’s the best in senior tennis. The 35-year-old Moya defeated former world number one Ivan Lendl 6-4 6-4 to capture the ATP Champions Tour event in Delray Beach, Florida, USDA. It was the first time the two – who have a 17-year age difference – had faced each other. Lendl surprised his Spanish foe by charging the net at every opportunity. But Moya was able to break Lendl’s serve once in each set to walk away with his fifth trophy since joining the ATP Champions Tour a year ago. “It’s the competition and the adrenaline of matches like this with a massive crowd that I miss about the Tour,” Moya said. “It’s great that I still have a chance to feel that on nights like this, and it’s great that the Champions Tour can give me this feeling.”

SINGLES, DOUBLE COMBO

Italy’s Sara Errani has joined a select group. Errani became the first player in almost two years to capture both the singles and doubles titles at a WTA tournament. She pulled off the feat at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico, beating compatriot Flavia Pennetta in the singles final, then teaming with Roberta Vinci to down Spaniards Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 6-1 in just 51 minutes. Errani is the first player to sweep singles and doubles titles at the same WTA tournament since Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic did it at Fèz, Morocco, in April 2010. “It has been a great week for me,” Errani said. “To finish the week with the singles and doubles trophy is better than I could have hoped for.”

SOCCER CHARITY

Rafael Nadal will play a charity match to help celebrate the 110th anniversary of his favorite soccer club. Ranked second in the world, Nadal will play July 14 against an opponent yet to be decided. The match will be held in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. All earnings from the event will go to fund charity efforts by the Real Madrid Foundation and the Rafa Nadal Foundation.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Acapulco (men): David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco beat Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3 6-4

Acapulco (women): Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Lourdes Domínguez Lino and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 6-1

Delray Beach: Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins beat Michal Mertinak and Andre Sa 2-6 7-6 (5) 15-13 (match tiebreak)

Dubai: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-4 3-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Kuala Lumpur: Chang Kai-Chen and Chuang Chia-Jung beat Chan Hao-Ching and Rika Fujiwara 7-5 6-4

SURFING

Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/
Nassau: www.thebahamasopen.com
ITF: www.itftennis.com
ATP World Tour: www.atpworldtour.com
WTA: www.wtatennis.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$4,694,969 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)

WOMEN

$5,536,664 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (first week)

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$4,694,969 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)
$100,000 Guadalajara Challenger, Guadalajara, Mexico, hard

WOMEN

$5,536,664 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)
$100,000 The Bahamas Open, Nassau, Bahamas, hard

Tomic Fights Back in Epic Five-Set Thriller

January 16, 2012 by WTM

by Lisa-Marie Burrows

It was always going to be a difficult mountain to climb, but climb it and conquer it 19 year old teenager, Tomic, did in a marathon match against world No. 24, Fernando Verdasco, lasting 4 hours and 19 minutes on Rod Laver Arena in front of his home crowd.

A Grand Slam would not be a Grand Slam without a consequential ‘upset’ which saw the first ATP seed crash out on the opening day. First round challenges are inevitable, however for Verdasco, he was playing not only against the break through teenager, but also against a very excited home crowd. A year ago, Tomic was ranked No. 208, fast-forward a year, he is now No. 37 in the world.

All seemed to be going well for the 22^nd seed sporting a bright fluorescent yellow and orange adidas outfit, as he won the first two sets 6-4, 7-6, as the Australian looked down and out, but despite the hot conditions, the rising talent hit back when his groundstrokes solidified, whilst Verdasco’s seemed to fall apart, which resulted in Tomic snatching the final three sets 6-4, 6-2 and 7-5.

A contributing factor to the momentum on court and turnaround in the score line was largely due to Verdasco encompassing more unforced errors into his game towards the latter stages of the match, which proved costly. Tomic took advantage of this and was far more consistent in the third set, enabling him to battle his way back into the match.

Much has been said and a lot has been written about Tomic and in his third five set match in his young career, for the second time, he has come from two sets down to win, despite looking the likely loser.

In his on court interview with Jim Courier, the young survivor shared his thoughts on his victory:

“Things fell down and I don’t know how I found the energy to live, but I thank the crowd.”

Tomic next plays American Sam Querrey, who dispatched of France’s Kenny De Schepper in straight sets earlier in the day.

Lisa-Marie Burrows is a qualified LTA Community Tennis Coach from England and a trainee sports journalist, in the final stages of completion of her course, enabling her to put her passion and enthusiasm for tennis into words and write articles about the events on the WTA and ATP Tours. She has taken great pleasure in traveling across Europe to watch tennis and cover the events, most recently the Davis Cup tie between Spain and France and the Valencia Open 500 tournament. Lisa-Marie is a member of the International Press Association and a contributing journalist for its online magazine, IMPress. She has contributed articles for various leading websites including www.tennisscoop.co.uk,www.olympictennis.net and most recently for www.tennisgrandstand,com andwww.worldtennismagazine.com. Lisa-Marie operates her tennis website called Tennis News and Views where you can read her reports and updates for the latest tennis information and keep up to date with the news on Twitter @TennisNewsViews.

Australian Open Tennis Fashion from Adidas

January 12, 2012 by WTM

Check out the latest adidas tennis fashions for the year’s first slam at the Australian Open, and dress in style while on-court! All products may be purchased directly through adidas for Men and Women.

Andy Murray:

adipower barricade Crew Tee, $55

When you ramp up your serves, this men’s adidas BARRICADE Crew Tee shirt makes sure heat and sweat don’t trip you up thanks to CLIMACOOL ventilation. And with a FORMOTION design, this tennis t-shirt gives you the perfect fit for high-pressure rallies.

adipower barricade Short, $45.00

With these men’s adidas BARRICADE Shorts you can respond immediately to your opponent’s shots thanks to a FORMOTION design that follows your natural motion. These tennis shorts also have side pockets for extra balls and a snug elastic waist.

adipower barricade 7.0, $140

Win from front court and back in the men’s adiPower BARRICADE shoes by adidas. adiPRENE+ in the forefoot of these tennis shoes launches you up to the net, EXTENDED TORSION gives you support, and the adiWEAR 6 outsole holds up to hard play.

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Fernando Verdasco:

adizero Crew Tee, $60

Big serves and powerful backhands get backup with this men’s adizero Crew Tee shirt by adidas. This tennis shirt features a FORMOTION™ design that moves with you in the high-pressure rallies so you stay in control.

adizero Bermuda, $50

As you lift-off into your serve, these men’s adizero Bermuda Shorts by adidas make sure you stay cool with breathable mesh inserts. And with convenient side pockets, these tennis shorts have room for a few extra balls for when you don’t want to interrupt your flow.

adizero Feather, $125

With their lightweight build, the men’s adizero Feather shoes from adidas move easily between devastating backhands and point-winning serves. The tennis shoes have a breathable upper, adiPRENE+ for propulsion and EXTENDED TORSION for midfoot support.

–

Jo Wilfried Tsonga:

adizero Theme Polo (similar style is adizero Crew Tee, $60)

This adizero Feather Theme Polo Shirt by adidas keeps you cool with breathable CLIMACOOL and comfortable with an active FORMOTION design, so you can focus on your serves and placement.

adizero Bermuda, $50

adizero Feather, $125

–

Ana Ivanovic:

adizero Dress, $80

Tennis is a game that requires your full body, and that’s why this women’s adizero Dress by adidas is designed to move with you, from your swinging shoulders to your swift-moving legs. This tennis dress has a FORMOTION design for an active fit, CLIMACOOL ventilation, and ruching details for a more feminine look. Comes with a bra and shorts.

adizero Tempaia, $125

The adiZero Tempaia shoes by adidas are lightweight, breathable tennis shoes designed for multi-court use. They feature a breathable upper, adiPRENE+ in the forefoot for propulsion, adiPRENE heel cushioning and EXTENDED TORSION for support.

–

Andrea Petkovic:

adipower barricade Capsleeve, $50

You have to open the set with a powerful serve and be ready to back it up, and that’s why this women’s adidas BARRICADE Cap-Sleeve Tee shirt has a dynamic FORMOTION design for a comfortable, active fit. And with CLIMACOOL ventilation, this tennis shirt keeps the heat locked out.

adipower barricade Skort, $45

As you put your returns into play, this women’s adidas BARRICADE Skort puts itself in the right positions thanks to a dynamic FORMOTION design. And with built-in short tights, this tennis skort has a snug, comfortable feel.

adipower barricade 7.0, $130

Every woman is different, but these adiPower BARRICADE shoes by adidas come close to a perfect fit for any lady. That’s because these tennis shoes have a feminine design with plenty of cushioning, stability claws that keep you on your feet and adiPRENE heel cushioning.

–

Caroline Wozniacki:

Tennis Performance Dress, $120

Worn by Caroline Wozniacki at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, the adidas by Stella McCartney Tennis Performance Dress draws moisture away from skin to keep you dry and focused.

Sebellica Tennis (shoes), $200

(Photos courtesy of adidas Sport; all products may be purchased through adidas for Men and Women.)

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer to enter US Open with worst-ever preparation

August 20, 2011 by Charles Bricker

The two men who once dominated tennis were blasted to the sidelines at Cincinnati this afternoon, forcing Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer to go into the U.S. Open, which begins in 10 days, with perhaps their worst-ever preparation for the final Grand Slam of the year.

Nadal has played only four matches since Wimbledon, losing two. Federer has played just six, including a Davis Cup match against Portugal and, in their final tuneups Friday, neither was anywhere in the neighborhood of scintillating.

Nadal: Out 6-3, 6-4 to Mardy Fish, who now must be taken seriously as a challenger at the Open.

Western & Southern Open - Day 5 — Roger Federer

Federer: Down 6-2, 7-6 (3) to Tomas Berdych, and looking very sloppy and at times disinterested.

Were they rusty following the long, hard half-season that led to Wimbledon? No doubt. But you would expect both to have come to Montreal and then Cincinnati with serious practice time and ready to use matches to get back their groove.

Federer at one point these last two weeks seemed to be playing quite well. But he clearly wasn’t ready to play the opening set against Berdych and, though he served better in the second set, his ground strokes looked nothing more than ordinary and he was whacked badly in the tiebreak, despite Berdych’s sore right shoulder, which required heat ointment and massage on changeovers. Tellingly, Federer never had a break point opportunity in this match.

Nadal? He never got it right in his four matches at Montreal and Cincy. He gutted out a third-rounder against Fernando Verdasco on Thursday, but you knew from the dicey performance he put on that he was going to be in trouble with Fish.

Mardy has faced only six break points in three matches at Cincinnati and has yet to be busted, and that, of course, includes Nadal, whose return of serve looks like perhaps his most pressing problem going into the Open.

Nadal came to Cincy leading the ATP in points won returning second serves (58%) and was fourth in points won returning first serves (35%). Against Fish, he converted 38 percent on second serves, just 18 percent of his first serve returns.

Yes, yes. Fish is one of the top servers in tennis. Still, that’s a pretty sizable drop-off for Nadal from his average.

Let’s go back to preparation for the Open. For the last few years, both Nadal and Federer have opted for long layoffs following Wimbledon, needing some physical and mental recovery time and playing only two tournaments (the 1000s at Canada and Cincinnati) before New York.

For Federer, he played nine matches leading up to the U.S. Open in 2010, eight in 2009, seven in 2008 (but that included the Olympics), 10 in 2007, eight in 2006. He played only six matches in 2005, but he was six years younger then and in the middle of a 30-1 run going into the U.S. Open, which he also won. He obviously didn’t need any more matches that year.

But he’s 29 now, his game on the backside of the mountain and his body and stroking in need of more day-to-day attention to stay sharp. That’s exactly what he hasn’t gotten this summer and that makes him even more questionable to win at New York — not that he could be considered over Novak Djokovic, Nadal and maybe Andy Murray and Fish.

Federer is still a top-5 player. The rankings say so. But there haven’t been many winner’s circles lately. He hasn’t won any of his last six majors, scoring his only runner-up at this year’s French Open. And with his loss at Cincinnati, he has now not won any of his last eight ATP 1000s nor 14 of his last 15 ATP 1000s — his only title coming at the 2010 Cincinnati tournament.

Nadal looks even shakier at this point with only four prep matches. Last year he had seven. He had seven in 2009, 15 in 2008, 10 in 2007, seven in 2006 and 17 in 2005.

Whatever sharpness these two are going to bring to New York is going to have to be honed on the practice courts now, and as hard as you train that’s never quite the same as feeling the pressure of a match.

What does it all mean? Probably a more competitive and interesting U.S. Open in the first five rounds. Once we get to the final four I think you can expect Djokovic to be there and maybe Fish and Murray, depending on how the draw plays out.

But Federer and Nadal? As great as they are, this hasn’t been a good summer. They’re going to have to scramble more than ever to reach the finish line in New York.

Nadal wins thriller against countrymen Verdasco in three tiebreaks in Cincinnati

August 19, 2011 by Justin Cohen

In the most electrifying match of the combined tournament this week, world No. 2 Rafael Nadal advanced on Thursday afternoon to the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati after closing out fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 7-6(9) in three hours and 38 minute match on his fifth match point.

“The truth is that I am very happy. Very content with the victory. It was a tough match for both us. Now I’m looking ahead to my next round and I hope to continue playing well here in Cincinnati,” said Nadal, who lost his doubles match with close friend Marc Lopez following his singles victory.

The match opened up with three service breaks before Verdasco finally found his groove and held serve. Up a break at 3-2 and serving, Verdasco was broken after being up 40-15. Both players would hold serve the rest of the way as huge shot making from the baseline took over. In the tiebreak, Nadal earned a mini-break to go up 3-1 and never looked back, winning it 7-5. The opening set lasted one hour and eight minutes.

In the opening set, the Mallorcan won 17 of 28 points on his first serve, saved 50 percent of break points he faced and smashed three aces compared to one double fault. Meanwhile, Verdasco won 64 percent of first serve points to go along with making 76 percent of his serves.

The Madrid native, who is known as a very aggressive baseliner like his counterpart, didn’t falter early in the second set which he has been known to do in past matches after losing the opening set. Verdasco held serve at love and eventually broke the 10-time Grand Slam champions serve in the eighth game to take a 5-4 lead. But, he was quickly broken back by Nadal due to several unforced errors. The second set headed to another tiebreak. The 27-year-old Verdasco, who is a five-time singles winner on the ATP World Tour, secured the mini-break at 4-3 and lost just one more point, winning the tiebreak, 7-4. The second set also lasted one hour and eight minutes.

The second set showcased many impressive rallies including several huge forehand winners by Verdasco, as well as a handful of perfectly hit angles by the former world No. 1. Although there were times that Verdasco looked as though he could crumble at anytime due to many loud outbursts and heaps of complaining to his player box, he seemed to re-group right away and was able to win 18 of 26 points on his first serve, 7 of 10 on his second serve and win 46 percent of points on Nadal’s second serve. Nadal, on the other hand, dropped only 10 points on his first serve, but struggled on his usually steady return game, winning only 8 of 26 first serve return points and 3 of 10 second serve return points.

The final set didn’t disappoint, as it also headed to a tiebreak after players exchanged service breaks in the fifth and sixth games, treating fans to even higher caliber tennis. Nadal built a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak as the match began to slip away from Verdasco. However, the heavy hitting world No. 21 held his nerve to reel off enough points to level the tiebreak. Nadal, a winner of 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles was uncharacteristically sloppy with his play on his first four match points but secured the victory on his fifth match point to a rousing applause.

In the final set, which lasted one hour and 21 minutes, Verdasco placed a remarkable 85 percent of his first serves in the court, including three aces, but won just two points on his second serve. He was also only able to win 14 of 42 return points. The triumphant Nadal won 22 of 30 first serve points, lost only six second serve points and hit one ace.

Overall, Nadal wasn’t as close to perfect on the stat sheet as customary, committing 41 unforced errors and only hitting 24 winners, but securing a win is more important than what lies on the stat sheet.. Verdasco, a former two-time US Open quarterfinalist, smashed 47 winners and 59 unforced errors.

The win marks just the fifth time in Nadal’s 635 career matches played that he needed three tiebreaks’ to secure a victory. It also marks the fifth time he has reached at least the quarterfinals in Cincinnati.

Next up for Nadal is a meeting with in-form World No. 7 Mardy Fish, who took out Frenchmen Richard Gasquet, the No. 12 seed, 7-5, 7-5. Fish, who secured the Olympus US Open Series Bonus Challenge with his victory today and is a two-time Cincinnati finalist, has never beaten the 25-year-old in six career meetings.

“If you want to play someone like Rafa, you hope that he plays a match that’s four hours long before you played him,” jokes Fish. “That’s as physical as it gets. It’s hot out there, so I’m sure he’ll be pretty tired. He’s a human being. It’s a great opportunity for me. I’ve never beaten him before. This is probably a surface that I would choose to play him on if I were to pick. Something hot, something quick.”

With seven of the top eight seeds advancing to the quarterfinals including No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Roger Federer, No. 4 Andy Murray, No. 6 Gael Monfils and No. 8 Tomas Berdych, it marks just the fourth time in the Open Era (10th time overall) and first time since 1999 that this feat has occurred. It also marks the 12th time in the Open Era that all eight quarterfinalists are seeded players, and the first time since 1996.

In the WTA Tour event also going on this week at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, No. 5 seed and defending French Open champion Li Na, reigning Wimbledon champion and No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova and No. 8 seed Marion Bartoli of France were all bounced from the tournament.

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Rafael Nadal searches for consistency

August 18, 2011 by Charles Bricker

There was the usual display of how-did-he-do-that shots, including a nothing-but-wrist backhand half-volley crosscourt pass that left the astonished Fernando Verdasco playfully threatening to drop his shorts.

But my guess is that Rafa Nadal would have traded most, or maybe all of those highlight winners in Cincinnati on Thursday for the consistency that he has been searching for, futilely thus far, since he abandoned his post-Wimbledon vacation to get ready for the U.S. Open.

Western & Southern Open - Day 4 — Rafael Nadal

It’s just not there yet. There are flashes of No. 1 form and there’s nothing wrong with his movement. But when you look at him on balance, he still needs a lot of work to regain what is needed to take him to yet another Grand Slam title.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of this narrow win for Nadal was three hours and 38 minutes of desperately needed court time. It only makes sense that the more he plays, the faster his rhythm will return.

This 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9) gritty victory over Verdasco, coming on the fifth match point, sends him into the quarters today against No. 7 seed Mardy Fish, who was unbroken in a win over Richard Gasquet. As good as Verdasco can be, the Fish match is going to be tougher. Mardy at age 29 is playing very mature, very intelligent tennis. He is, in short, playing the best tennis of his life.

Where is Rafa lacking?:

* Service returning. He left Verdasco too much too often on second serves. He doesn’t seem consistently confident enough to crack his returns.

* The long rallies: Anything remotely resembling a grinding point is supposed to be about 80 percent Nadal’s. Not on this 90-degree afternoon in Cincinnati, where Verdasco did a lot of the dictating and Nadal did so much running it’s surprising the baseline paint hasn’t worn thin.

* Serving. Very shaky start for Nadal. He picked up his serving considerably at 4-4 in the opening set, then diminished. He not only was broken six times in this match, but was forced to defend 10 break points and twice in the third-set tiebreak failed to cash out the match on serve.

The good stuff? Yes, there was a lot of it and perhaps the best thing about Nadal’s game right now is his fitness level. He looks great and he’s running beautifully. He now needs to purge himself of all those bewildering errors.

Like the first match point, at 6-5 in the tiebreak. With an abundance of time to set up and measure an inside-in drive down the line, he inexplicably clubbed a forehand about 15 feet beyond the baseline, and that measurement is not an exaggeration.

Like the third match point, at 8-7. Simple backhand crosscourt from his right sideline. No blistering pace. Just a safe crosscourt, and it was wide — with the match on the line.

I won’t go into a dozen other perplexing errors. It’s enough to say he has to eliminate those if he’s going to threaten Novak Djokovic in New York.

This was win number two for Nadal since Wimbledon. He had taken out Julien Benneteau 6-4, 7-5 in his opening match at this ATP-1000, after losing his opener at Montreal a week earlier to Ivan Dodig of Croatia. He hasn’t looked dominant in any of these three matches.

After beating Verdasco in all 11 of their previous competitions, I’m sure Rafa knew what to expect, and Verdasco was at his streaky best out there, slamming running forehands that would have made Fernando Gonzalez swoon, followed by forehands that were nowhere near the court. He had 47 winners and 59 unforced errors, most of them off the forehand side.

Streaky, you say? Verdasco was up 5-4 in the first-set tiebreak and looking quite brilliant when he took the balls to, hopefully, serve it out. He promptly snapped off a second serve that was intercepted by the net in front of the wrong box, and it was 5-5. Then, in complete command of a serve-and-volley point, he tapped his volley straight down the middle of the court, allowing Nadal to recover from his return point and crash an easy pass.

But, as you can tell from the score, Verdasco never retreated, even down 1-5 in the final set tiebreak. He got even at 5-5 and fought off four match points, so that counts for something. Serving at 6-7, he forced an error from Rafa. Serving at 8-9, he cracked a forehand winner.

But he never had a match point of his own and about the only thing that will make him feel good about this loss was that he snapped a streak of 11 consecutive sets he’d lost to his Spanish amigo.

You could see the heavy relief on Nadal’s face when this was over. He wasn’t producing any fist pumps or leaps into the air, his usual victory posturing. He looked instead like a man who has work to do and if he wants to build momentum into the Open, he has got to play better than this against Fish.

Cincinnati starts with a bang! Roddick one and done

August 16, 2011 by Justin Cohen

Andy Roddick was eliminated in the first round of the combined ATP World Tour and WTA Tour Western & Southern Open Monday, losing to Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1. Roddick was up 7-6, 4-2 in the match but was unable to put away the pesky German. After smashing his racquet after losing the second set, Roddick was assessed a point penalty on break point down 0-1 in the third set when he hit a ball into the stands. The penalty point game the German the key service break for a 2-0 lead in the third set.

“Obviously a split-second thing,” Roddick said of his fit of anger that resulted in the point penalty. “Soon as I hit it, I wanted it back….It was a judgment call for (Chair umpire Carlos Bernardes),” Roddick said. “Pretty sure I saw an 8-year-old girl catch it on the way down. He was telling me I hit it as hard as I could. I was like, ‘Dude …It’s so frustrating. I certainly accept what I did. I put him in a bad situation out there, but I do think it’s stupid in tennis that _ I mean, in football if someone throws a helmet on the sideline, it’s their helmet. We wonder where we lose our ratings battles to the WWF, Monday Night Raw.”

The loss was his third in a row for the 28-year-old ranked No. 15 in the world. He accepted a wild-card into next week’s Winston Salem Open in an effort to gain more match play in preparation for the US Open.

World No. 21 Fernando Verdasco started things off Monday on Center Court by defeating Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6 (4). Getting revenge from his first round lost to the Brazilian on clay at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in February, Verdasco served up four aces while saving six of seven break points throughout the one hour and 41 minute match. The Spanish star will meet the winner of No. 13 seed Mikhail Youzhny or Michael Llodra.

One of the newest editions to the newly renovated Lindner Family Tennis Center is Court 3 and it didn’t take long before things got exciting, as former Top 15 Shahar Peer took out recent Wimbledon semifinalist and world No. 22 Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 7-6(4) in a match that featured an overkill of service breaks. In the one hour and 34 minute affair, the Israeli squandered a 6-4, 5-0 including holding two match points before closing things out in a tiebreak. “I was playing very solid and very smart until a set and 5-0, then I just stopped moving and was making errors from nowhere,” said Peer. “I could have been in the locker room half an hour before, but at least I won the match in the end.” The world No. 24 who trains in Miami with coach Harold Solomon will face No. 3 seed Victoria Azarenka. Peer is 0-3 lifetime against Azarenka, who spent a portion of her afternoon answering questions for the media at the annual WTA All Access Media Hour featuring the Top 8 seeds.

On Grandstand Court, No. 9 seed and recent Rogers Cup quarterfinalist Andrea Petkovic kicked off her tournament with a gutsy come from behind with over Australian Jarmila Gajdosova 5-7, 7-6(5) 6-2. The German, who cracked the Top 10 for the first time in her career last week, rallied from 7-5, 2-0 down before finding herself in a pressure filled tiebreak. In a very vocal tiebreak by both players, Petkovic rallied from 1-4 down to extend the match before closing out the final set in 38 minutes. “When I get tired I get easily frustrated,” said Petkovic. During the match, Gajdosova smashed 10 aces but was haunted by 15 double faults, while Petkovic hit six aces compared to five double faults. There was a combined 32 break point opportunities throughout the match. Petkovic will face lucky loser Sofia Arvidsson, who defeated qualifier Monica Niculescu 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 14 minutes. After the match, Petkovic felt bad for beating Gajdosova after she played so well. “I feel terrible. I feel awful, really, because Jarka was playing incredible. She was just hitting winners all over. I felt like I was in the defense all the time. That’s not a good feeling, especially for a player like me who likes to be the dominant one. I don’t know how I pulled it out, but I’m thrilled that I did.”

The only other two seeded players in action on the WTA side were No. 14 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 15 Ana Ivanovic and both were victorious. Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, easily dispatched veteran American qualifier Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-4 in 90 minutes. The Russian won 78 percent of her first points, while smashing three aces and breaking serve on three occasions. Knowing she had to get off to a quick start since Alexa Glatch had two matches under her belt from the qualifying tournament over the weekend, Ivanovic easily dispatched the young American qualifier 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour during their night session match. “I’m very happy,” said Ivanovic. “It was very important, especially knowing she had a couple matches under her belt. I (had) never seen her play before, so it was a new match for me and (I) didn’t know what to expect. I had to really focus on my game, and it worked out very well for me.” The former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion lost just three points on her first serve and was able to convert on five of eight break points throughout the match.

Other winners on the ATP side included No. 12 Richard Gasquet, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Grigor Dimitrov, Fabio Fognini, Ryan Harrison, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Monaco and David Nalbandian. Players advancing on the WTA Tour include Alona Bondarenko, Sara Errani, Daniela Hantuchova, Ekaterina Makarova, Christina McHale, Lucie Safarova and Jie Zheng.

Na Li, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serena Williams will headline the action on Center Court during the day session on Tuesday, while Maria Sharapova will start the night session off by facing Australian Anastasia Rodionova. Following the Sharapova vs. Rodionova match, No. 3 seed and 16-time Grand Slam singles champion Roger Federer will clash against 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro in a second round showdown. During Federer’s pre-tournament press conference today, the Swiss looked ahead at this year’s tournament as the defending champion and reflected on his 2009 US Open final loss to del Potro in which he was just two points from winning the title, as well as his most recent loss at the 2009 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. “I thought both matches were really good. They were both very close,” said Federer. “There was a lot on the line in both matches, qualifying for the semis in the World Tour Finals. And then US Open obviously having all the chances, it was a tough one to lose, definitely one of the bigger losses in my career, I think, because I really think it shouldn’t have gone away.”

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Serena Williams is back in the swing after winning Bank of the West Classic – Mondays with Bob Greene

August 1, 2011 by Bob Greene

STARS

Serena Williams beat Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-1 to win the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA

Ernests Gulbis beat Mardy Fish 5-7 6-4 6-4 to win the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, California, USA

Marcel Granollers beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4 3-6 6-3 to win the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open in Gstaad, Switzerland

Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Marin Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-3 to win the ATP Studena Croatia in Umag, Croatia

Nadia Petrova beat Shahar Peer 7-5 6-2 to win the Citi Open in College Park, Maryland, USA

Mikhail Kukushkin beat Sergei Bubka 6-3 6-4 to win the President’s Cup men’s singles in Astana, Kazakhstan

Vitalia Diatchenko beat Akgul Amanmuradov 6-4 6-1 to win the President’s Cup women’s singles in Astana, Kazakhstan

Bank of the West Classic - Day 7 — Serena Williams and Marion Bartoli

SAYING

“Coming back and hearing the claps when I walk out there are moments that I truly missed. It’s so awesome to be back and to be a part of those moments. Not everyone can be a sports – I don’t know if ‘star’ sounds full of myself, but I’ve worked hard for that title. So, yes, I say it and I take pride in it.” – Serena Williams, after winning her first title since the 2010 Wimbledon.

“Serena, she already can improve from one day to the other. So you can imagine from one match to the other. I knew before the match started it was different than Wimbledon.” – Marion Bartoli, who beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

“I feel like a kid again. When I was younger I had the goal of being in the top 100, then qualifying for a Grand Slam without a wild card. I have those goals again.” – Serena Williams, following her semifinal win over Sabine Lisicki at the Bank of the West Classic.

“I’m sure she’s going to tell you that she can play even better. And I’m sure that she will.” – Marion Bartoli, on Serena Williams.

“I have never played her before so I did not know what to expect. I’m not used to having the ball come back at me so hard. It was a new experience, a learning experience.” – Sabine Lisicki, after losing to Serena Williams.

“When I had chances to change things around, I couldn’t do it. Her biggest strength is her power and you don’t see so much of that in the top 10. It really makes her dangerous.” – Maria Sharapova, after losing to Serena Williams at Stanford, California.

“You both develop as people and players, and have great moments as well as tough ones … but at the end of the day she has 13 Grand Slams and I have three.” – Maria Sharapova, on the differences between her and Serena Williams.

“A lot of people say that (they don’t mind losing if they play well). I lie when I say that.” – Serena Williams, admitting that winning is more important to her than satisfaction with her performance.

“I’m really pleased with the way things went this week. We haven’t had a Croatian in the final here for 21 years and it was a relief I think for all the tournament organizers and also for me to reach the final and be playing well at home.” – Marin Cilic, who lost the final at Umag, Croatia.

“I have been waiting for this one patiently and I’m very happy to come away with my 10th title. It’s a good achievement.” – Nadia Petrova, after winning her first tournament in nearly three years when she beat Shahar Peer in the Citi Open final.

“Last week was bad for me because I felt a lot of pain in my arm, which I had felt since Wimbledon. I went home and rested for five days without any practice, and I came here on Sunday and started to feel better and better. Now I have won the tournament and so it’s amazing.” – Marcel Granollers, after beating Fernando Verdasco to win the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open.

“Of course it’s better to lose in the final than before the final. You always want to win, so it’s not easy to lose the final.” – Fernando Verdasco.

“The second set was quite difficult as the conditions were pretty windy. Everybody was a bit nervous at the end and I am just happy we won it.” – Filip Polasek, who teamed with Frantisek Cermak to win the doubles in Gstaad, Switzerland.

“It was painful when I played Marina (Erakovic), but I was able to get through that match. I thought it would be better in the morning, but I saw a doctor and he recommended not playing since the injury could worsen…” – Dominika Cibulkova, who withdrew from the Bank of the West Classic semifinal with a strained abdominal muscle.

“Serena’s a great champion. She has won so many tournaments and has a huge amount of experience. She didn’t play for a year and comes back and is winning again. You have to be so tough to do that.” – Maria Kirilenko, before losing to Serena Williams at Stanford, California.

“I knew Shahar wasn’t able to hurt me with her serve, especially her second serve, so even though I was broken early in each set I knew I could turn it around. I’m happy with my record against her. And today was an important match, going for the title – all I had in my mind was to fight for every point and at the end of the day walk away with the trophy.” – Nadia Petrova, who beat Shahar Peer to win the Citi Open.

“It was a great wedding! It was the best wedding I’ve ever been to. Elena and her husband were always with the guests, talking to us a lot, singing and dancing … Normally at weddings the pair just sits and watches, and it’s kind of boring. But Elena and Maxim were interacting with us. They even sang a song together – I wish I could listen to them one more time! I think they practiced a lot for that. It was a Russian song, about love and being together – I don’t remember all the words. I was surprised, she sang well!” – Maria Kirilenko, about Elena Dementieva’s wedding.

SERENA POWER

She’s back – and with a vengeance. Serena Williams captured her first tournament title since Wimbledon in 2010 when she pounded Marion Bartoli to win the Bank of the West Classic. The victory was doubly sweet, since Williams had missed 11 months with two foot operations and blood clots on her lungs. And the win over Bartoli was sweet revenge since she had lost to the Frenchwoman in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year. Bartoli led 4-2 in the opening set and served for the set at 5-4 before Serena reeled off eight straight games. Williams became the first American woman to win on home soil since she captured the 2008 US Open. Serena entered the tournament unseeded and ranked 169^th in the world, but the victory will vault her into the top 80. “I hated those triple digits,” Serena said. “Now I’ve got to get to single digits.”

STREAKY GULBIS

Ernests Gulbis continued his brilliant play at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, California, USA, by besting top-seeded Mardy Fish and winning his second career ATP World Tour title. It was only the second time Gulbis has reached a final; the first time was in February 2010 in Delray Beach, Florida, where he also was victorious. The first Latvian to win at Los Angeles, Gulbis is the first European and the first unseeded player to annex the title since Radek Stepanek in 2007. His victorious run was even more noteworthy considering Gulbis entered the Farmers Classic carrying a five-match losing streak. Three Americans – Fish, Ryan Harrison and Alex Bogomolov Jr. – reached the semifinals for the first time since 2002 when Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Jan-Michael Gambill reached the penultimate round.

SMOOTH SAILING

Marion Bartoli of France had smooth sailing to the Bank of the West Classic final, where she fell to Serena Williams. Ranked ninth in the world, Bartoli won her quarterfinal match when Ayumi Morita of Japan withdrew with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1. Bartoli advanced to the title match when her semifinal opponent, eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, withdrew with a left abdominal muscle strain. Cibulkova said she had been troubled by the injury all week. “This has never happened to me but there’s not much I can do about it,” Bartoli said. “It’s a shame Dominika had to be put out.”

SINGULAR PERFORMANCE

Aleksandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine won his first ATP World Tour title and handed home favorite Marin Cilic his second defeat of the week at the Croatia Open. It was only the second time the second-seeded Dolgopolov had reached a final. Earlier this year he lost to Nicolas Almagro in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. “I feel great after winning my first title,” the 22-year-old Dolgopolov said. “I hope more victories are to come.” Cilic lost his serve to open the match and Dolgopolov was in charge most of the way after that. Cilic was the first Croat to reach the Umag final since Goran Prpic defeated compatriot Goran Ivanisevic in 1990. “Dolgopolov was better tonight and deserved to win,” said Cilic, who also was on the losing team in the doubles final.

SHARING THE SPOILS

In just the second time they have teamed up, Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini won their first ATP World Tour doubles title, defeating home favorites Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 6-3 5-7 10-7 (match tiebreak) in the final of the ATP Studena Croatia Open. The winners squandered three match points when they were up 4-5 15-40 in the second set on Cilic’s serve. In the match tiebreak, the teams were tied 7-7 when Bolelli and Fognini took the first three points for the victory. “Every match was tough … the last three went to a match-tiebreak, so we are happy,” Bolelli said. “This is my second title this year and in my career. The doubles this year has given me a lot of confidence, even for the singles.” With the defeat, Zovko dropped to a 0-5 record in doubles title matches, including his third defeat in Umag.

STARTING OUT

Two players made their ATP World Tour main draw debuts at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, California, USA. Both Daniel Kosakowsi, who lives in Los Angeles and Lithuania’s Laurynas Grigelis came through qualifying to gain spots in the main draw. Grigelis lost to Alejandro Falla of Colombia in the opening round, while Kosakowski beat fellow American Tim Smyczek, who also was a qualifier, before losing a second-round match to eventual champion Ernests Gulbis 6-2 6-4.

SINGLED OUT

Tracy Austin, Brad Parks and Pam Shriver are the latest to receive their rings from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. They were presented the rings at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA. The rings are given to honor their induction into the Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

Peter Fleming was honored in a special ceremony at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, California. Better known for his doubles play, Fleming won the Farmers Classic singles title in 1979 and the doubles crown in 1983. In his career, Fleming won 66 career doubles titles, teaming with John McEnroe to capture four championships at Wimbledon and three at the US Open.

SUSPENDED

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has banned Robert Kendrick for one year after he tested positive at the French Open for a banned stimulant. The 31-year-old Kendrick said the stimulant got into his system because of a capsule he took to combat jet lag, and denied that he was trying to enhance his performance. The ITF accepted the American’s explanation, but said a player is responsible for any banned substance in his body. The ITF backdated the beginning of Kendrick’s suspension to the date of his test, meaning he will be able to return to tennis on May 21, 2012. Kendrick tested positive for methylhexaneamine, which has been at the center of several doping cases in recent months. Two South African rugby players recently tested positive for the stimulant, while last year a dozen Indian athletes – including wrestlers, weightlifters and swimmers – tested positive for methylhexaneamine just prior to the Commonwealth Games.

SELECTS COACH

Guillermo Canas, who once was ranked in the top 10 in the world, is the new coach of Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis. Canas agreed to work with Gulbis at Wimbledon and also trained him during a three-week mid-summer break. Gulbis returned to tennis by snapping a five-match losing streak when he beat Xavier Malisse in the opening round at Los Angeles. He continued his winning ways, capturing his second WTA World Tour title. Hernan Gurny stepped down as coach for Gulbis to spend more time at home with his family. Canas once was suspended for two years after testing positive for the banned substances, but was acquitted of all charges after taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

SOCK TURNS PRO

Jack Sock, last year’s US Open junior boys champion, has decided to skip college and turn pro. The 18-year-old native of Nebraska went 80-0 in singles competition during his high school career, including four individual state championships and three straight team titles. He signed a multiyear deal with adidas and immediately began training with fellow adidas-backed players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Monaco. “I feel like I’m ready to turn pro,” said Sock, who was close to joining his older bother Eric on the tennis team at the University of Nebraska. “Ultimately, it was my decision and what I feel like is best for me. It’s sad that I won’t get the chance to play college tennis and won’t be able to see my brother play or be on a team with him one more time, but I just felt like my game was ready.” Sock who turns 19 in September, has played a number of professional events already, but forgoing the money so he could keep his amateur status. “I’ve been playing Futures events for a year and a half now,” Sock said. “I’m used to the competition. The only difference is accepting the money now. It’s no different in terms of the mind-set.”

SCHOLARSHP

Pakistan’s top woman player, Sarah Mahboob Khan, has received an athletic scholarship from the University of New Mexico where she will play tennis. She made history when she became Pakistan’s youngest national tennis champion at the age of 14 and has gone on to win 59 national titles in her country. The university has agreed to allow Khan the freedom to represent Pakistan in Fed Cup competitions.

SISTERS RADWANSKA

Sisters Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska are no longer coached by their father, Robert. In recent months there had been tension and several arguments between the sisters and their father. “On court he’s still dad and coach, and then sometimes he brings tennis off the court and it’s too much,” Agnieszka said. “That’s why we are trying to have a break.” Into the breech has stepped Poland’s Fed Cup captain Tomasz Wiktorowski, who began working the sisters at the Bank of the West Classic in Los Angeles, California, USA. Agnieszka has not won a WTA title in three years.

SISTERS RODIONOVA

Arina Rodionova has successfully applied for residency in Australia, pending a physical clearance. The younger sister of Anastasia Rodionova, Arina will be able to represent Australia in International Tennis Federation (ITF) events. Two years from now, she will qualify for citizenship. Anastasia is now an Australian citizen after living Down Under with partner Lorne Padman since 2005. The elder sister has represented Australia in both Fed Cup and Commonwealth Games play. The Rodionovas were born in Russia.

SO PERFECT

World TeamTennis history was made when the Washington Kastles completed the first undefeated 16-0 record in the league’s 36 seasons. Because of three rain delays, the Kastles needed nearly eight hours to overpower the St. Louis Aces 23-19 in the WTT Finals in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Anastasia Rodionova was named the WTT Finals most valuable player after winning her singles and teaming with Rennae Stubbs to capture the doubles. Stubbs made history by becoming only the fourth player in WTT history to be on five championship teams. The others were Martina Navratilova, Richie Reneberg and Craig Kardon, whose fifth title came as coach.

SET FOR A DAY

National Basketball Association star Carmelo Anthony will join with defending champions Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters and well as Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic to participate in the annual Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day at the US Open. Also taking park in the tennis and music event on the eve of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament will be former Open champion Andy Roddick. Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day will be held on August 27.

SALUTED

Mark Miles, the former chief executive officer and president of the ATP Tour, will be inducted into the USTA/Midwest Section Hall of Fame in December. Miles, who headed the men’s tour from 1990 to 2005, served as president of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships – formerly known as the RCA Championships – from 1985 to 1989. He also was the volunteer tournament director of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships in 1988 and 1999. The induction ceremony will be held December 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Astana (men): Konstantin Kravchuk and Denys Molchanov beat Arnau Brugues-Davi and Malek Jaziri 7-6 (4) 6-7 (1) 10-3 (match tiebreak)

Astana (women): Vitalia Diatchenko and Galina Voskoboeva beat Akgul Amanmuradov and Alexandra Panova 6-3 6-4

College Park: Sania Mirza and Yaroslava Shvedova beat Olga Govortsova and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3 6-3

Gstaad: Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek beat Christopher Kas and Alexander Peya 6-3 7-6 (7)

Los Angeles: Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse beat Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey 7-6 (3) 7-6 (10)

Stanford: Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko beat Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 6-1 6-3

Umag: Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini beat Marin Cilic and Lovro Zovko 6-3 5-76 10-7 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Segovia: www.teniselespinar.com

Kitzbühel: www.bet-at-home-cup.com/de/

Washington: www.leggmasontennisclassic.com/

Vancouver: www.vanopen.com

Carlsbad: www.mercuryinsuranceopen.com/

San Marino: www.atpsanmarino.com

Montreal: www.rogerscup.com/men/english/home.php

Toronto: www.rogerscup.com/women/english/home.php

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$1,165,500 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Washington, DC, USA, hard

$563,400 Bet-at-Home Cup, Kitzbühel, Kitzbühel, Austria, clay

$122,323 ATP Open Castiolla y Leon, Segovia, Spain, hard

$100,000 Odlum Brown Van Open Presented by Ivesco, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hard

WOMEN

$721,000 Mercury Insurance Open, Carlsbad, California, USA, hard

$100,000 Odlum Brown Van Open Presented by Ivesco, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,430,000 Rogers Cup, Montreal, Canada, hard

$122,323 San Mario CEPU Open, San Marino, clay

WOMEN

$2,050,000 Rogers Cup, Toronto, Canada, hard

The Mutua Madrid Open – A draw analysis

May 1, 2011 by WTM

By Mike McIntyre

The Mutua Madrid Open, or Madrid Masters, opens the month of May on the ATP World Tour and sets the scene for a frantic three weeks of clay court action leading up to the French Open.

Two-time and defending champion Rafael Nadal will look to extend his 34 match winning streak on clay and will face either Marcos Baghdatis or a qualifier in his opening match. Nadal has been his usual brilliant self thus far in 2011 on his favorite surface and will be the leading candidate to walk away with the trophy here in Madrid.

2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell - Final — Rafael Nadal

Rafa will face a stiff challenge in the third round where it appears likely he will face Juan Martin Del Potro who is unseeded in the draw. Nadal leads their head-to-head by a narrow margin of 5-3 but only one of those meetings was on clay.

Jurgen Melzer, the eighth seed could be a quarter-final opponent while either Robin Soderling or Roger Federer will probably see Nadal in the semis.

Novak Djokovic will be looking to extend his own winning streak that has seen him go undefeated since a loss to Roger Federer back in November at the ATP World Tour finals. The Djoker opens against either big serving Kevin Anderson or enigmatic Ernests Gulbis. His clay court record a year ago was 10-4 which is respectable but not spectacular. As evidenced by his final showing in Belgrade this past week, Djokovic appears ready to transition onto the dirt without any problems. A final showdown with Nadal would be an epic match, pitting their two different types of winning streaks on the line.

Third seeded Roger Federer did not have any favors bestowed upon him with the draw in Madrid. The two-time champion (2006, 2009) will potentially face rising Canadian star Milos Raonic in the second round. If Milos has recovered from back issues he suffered while playing back-to-back matches in Estoril he could be a very difficult early round opponent.

Fernando Verdasco and the Swede, Robin Soderling, are also in Roger’s quarter of the draw and have the clay court skills to challenge the now vulnerable Swiss star.

Soderling could face Alexandr Dolgopolov in the second round which would make for a great early round encounter. While Dolgopolov experienced his breakthrough moment earlier this year at the Aussie Open on hard court he considers clay his favorite surface.

The final quarter of the draw to mention holds both Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych. Seeded fourth and seventh respectively they both have the first round off. Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils and clay court specialist Juan Monaco could trouble either of the big seeds in this section.

Some first round matches worth watching include Monfils against Ivo Karlovic and his monstrous serve, former top-ten players Ivan Ljubicic and Gilles Simon facing each other and the all-American match of Mardy Fish against John Isner. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nicolas Almagro should also offer-up a great opening tilt.

For a change a Djokovic vs. Nadal final is the match-up most tennis fans want to see on the last day of play. How will Djokovic, the world’s best player at the moment, fare against the world’s best clay court player in Nadal? Stay tuned to find out!

Hantuchova and Raonic Take Home Titles – Mondays with Bob Greene

February 14, 2011 by Bob Greene

STARS

Robin Soderling beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 3-6 6-3 to win the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands

Petra Kvitova beat Kim Clijsters 6-4 6-3 to win the Open Gaz de France Suez in Paris, France

Milos Raonic beat Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5) to win the SAP Open in San Jose, California, USA

Nicolas Almagro beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6 () to win the Brasil Open in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil

Daniela Hantuchova beat Sara Errani 6-0 6-2 to win the PTT Pattaya Open in Pattaya City, Thailand

Lucie Hradecka beat Irina Falconi 6-4 6-4 to win the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Michigan, USA

Irina-Camelia Begu beat Laura Pous-tio 6-3 7-6 (1) to win the Copa Bionaire in Cali, Colombia

SAYINGS

“I can’t stop smiling. I’m happy about it and I hope I can keep it going more than six weeks into the full year schedule and see where I am at the end of the year.” – Milos Raonic, after winning his first ATP tournament, the SAP Open.
“He has good potential and he has one of the best serves, and also on the baseline he plays so aggressive. The moments he needs to play solid, he plays solid, and I think that he can be a Top 20 player very soon. Now he’s going to be [ranked] 50-something, and it’s just the beginning of the year. He has all year to become a good player and I think he can do it.” – Fernando Verdasco, speaking about Milos Raonic.

“Matches start to build on each other. We’ve won a few in a row now. It’s always nice to play on Sunday, and it’s even better to win on Sunday, so we’re happy and hopefully we can keep it rolling for a little bit now.” – Rajeev Ram, who teamed with Scott Lipsky to win the SAP Open doubles title.
“I had many tough matches this week. I had to fight a lot for every match. I was lucky; I had the margins on my side. I think to win tournaments like this, you need to of course play well, but you need a little bit of luck as well.” – Robin Soderling, after winning the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
“I played a good match today. It was difficult of course because he played unbelievable, he didn’t miss many things. I had to play my best tennis to win some games and break him, so it was difficult. At the end he just played better than me.” – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Robin Soderling in Rotterdam, Netherlands

“We had a great week. We played four great matches in a row. We beat tough teams as well so I’m really happy about the win. (Next week) in Marseille we are the top seeds, so of course we’ll go there and try to get the title.” – Philipp Petzschner, who teamed with Jurgen Melzer to win the doubles title in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

“Winning the Fed Cup was definitely a highlight, and matches against the Williams sisters and Amelie (Mauresmo) herself also stand out. It was a childhood dream. It was a great experience. I will miss the people, the life. I have no regrets.” – Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, who announced her retirement from the WTA tour.

“It wasn’t a good day for me. There’s too much on my mind this week. I’m not just under pressure as defending champion here, it’s everything and I’m not focused on my game.” – Vera Zvonareva, who lost her semifinal match after refusing to play after being penalized for “abusive language.”

STOPPING FOR GOOD

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro announced her retirement after her last match at the Open Gaz de France Suez in Paris, France. In her final tournament, the Frenchwoman reached the second round in singles as a “lucky loser” and the semifinals in doubles. Her best results on the WTA tour were semifinal finishes at Estoril, Portugal, in 2004 and Barcelona, Spain, in 2008. She peaked at Number 61 in singles. In doubles, she reached on final, at Paris in 2003, when she teamed with Marion Bartoli. She was a member of the French team that won the Fed Cup in 2003. “It was a difficult decision but one I came to progressively,” the 27-year-old said. “My passion for tennis is still there, but my motivation has started to dip a little.”

Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia hits a re — Daniela Hantuchova

STEPPING UP

Kim Clijsters took over the top spot in the WTA ranking this week, supplanting Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The Australian Open winner was assured of being number one after winner her quarterfinal match at the Open Gaz de France Suez tournament in Paris. Clijsters has won the last two Grand Slam tournaments. She topped the rankings in 2003 and again in 2006. She quit tennis in 2007, got married and gave birth to a daughter, then returned to the sport in 2009. She has won the last two US Opens.

SWEDE RETURN

Robin Soderling successfully defended his ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament title, but it wasn’t easy. “I don’t know how I managed to beat you,” the Swede told Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after the title match. “I think we both deserved to win this final.” Soderling became only the fourth player to successfully defend his title in Rotterdam, Netherlands, joining Arthur Ashe, Stefan Edberg and Nicolas Escude. Retaining a title for the first time in his career, the Swede has won eight career titles in 18 finals. He has twice been runner-up at the French Open . “I played well in the important moments,” Soderling said.

STAYING PUT

Roland Garros in Pari9s will remain the site of the French Open after the country’s tennis federation opted to upgrade the existing site rather than move the tournament outside the city. Three other communities had been bidding to stage the clay-court Grand Slam tournament beginning in 2016. Paris won 70 percent of the votes over Marne-la-Vallee in the final round. In earlier balloting Gonesse and Versailles were eliminated. The upgrade will cost USD $370 million, half of what would have been required to move the tournament. The French Open has been played on the red clay courts of Roland Garros since 1928. Originally covering eight acres of land with five courts, Roland Garros now has 20 outside courts spread over 21 acres. Still, it remains the smallest of the four major tournaments. Wimbledon and Melbourne Park, where the Australian Open is played, each cover close to 50 acres, while the US Open has 34.5 acres of land at Flushing Meadows in New York.

STAR ASCENDING?

By knocking off defending champion Fernando Verdasco in the SAP Open final in San Jose, California, USA, Milos Raonic became the first Canadian to win an ATP tour title since 1995. The 20-year-old, playing in his first final, is the youngest tour winner since Marin Cilic won in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, in 2008 when he was 19. The last Canadian to win a tour title was Greg Rusedski in Seoul, South Korea, in April 1995. Raonic edged Verdasco 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5) in a match that had no service breaks and only one break point. Raonic hit 13 aces and 20 service winners in the victory, hitting one serve at 149 mph. He has had a strong start this year, going through qualifying and winning three matches in the Australian Open. He has risen in the rankings from 156^th at the end of last year to 59^th this week. “It’s been quite a month and a half, but an amazing month and a half,” he said. “I just hope to keep this going.”

SIDELINED

Gael Monfils will miss France’s first-round Davis Cup tie against Austria next month. A left wrist injury caused Monfils to pull out of the SAP Open in San Jose, California, USA, after his quarterfinal victory over Tim Smyczek. A statement on the tournament website said Monfils “has also withdrawn from Memphis, Acapulco and Davis Cup. He will be out for four to six weeks and hopes to return for Indian Wells.” The agile, acrobatic Frenchman, who is ranked 12^th in the world, has been plagued by injuries throughout his career. “It’s been a month and a half that I’ve had this pain,” Monfils said on his website. “I can’t hit my backhand. I tried, but my backhand is very soft. I have a better backhand than I showed here – more powerful.” Monfils’ withdrawal advance Milos Raonic to the final, where he defeated defending champion Fernando Verdasco to win his first ATP title.

SHE SAID WHAT?

Vera Zvonareva was seeking her third straight Pattaya Open title when officiating caused her a lot of angst during her 7-6 (3) 6-4 semifinal loss to Daniela Hantuchova. Zvonareva received what she felt was a series of contentious lines calls, and the Russian spent much of the match mumbling angrily to herself or shouting and gesticulating at the umpire. When she lost her serve at 3-3 in the second set, she began smashing her racquet. She was later penalized for improper conduct, which gave Hantuchova a match point. Zvonareva refused to play and demanded the referee intervene after questioning the umpire, who said she had Zvonareva’s lips and detected abusive language. “I didn’t agree with that,” Zvonareva said. “I talked to myself in Russian. I don’t think she can understand that.”

SPOKESWOMAN

Billie Jean King has signed with the British orthopedics giant Smith & Nephew PLC to be the spokeswoman for the company’s Legion knee implants. King, who won six Wimbledon singles championships and four US Open titles, had double knee replacement surgery last year using the Legion implant. “For nearly four decades I was in a downward spiral of pain and compromise due to my knees,” King said in prepared remarks. “The mental and emotional shift my new knees have provided me has been tremendous. I feel like I’m 20 again, and I’m back on the courts
playing tennis.” In addition to her on-court exploits, King is the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Women’s Sports Foundation and Women’s Sports Magazine. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2009.

SPECIAL PARTNER

Leander Paes believes it was karma that brought him Mahesh Bhupathi back together again as a doubles team following a nine-year separation. The two will continue to play as a team, at least through the French Open in May, Paes said. “We’ve just signed up to play three more tournaments together – the Dubai Open, Palm Springs and Miami. Of course there’s the Davis Cup,” Paes said. “I am sure we’ll play a lot more together. If we are winning and we are enjoying, we’ll take it from there. We’ve won the French Open twice before so it’ll be interesting to play there and see how it goes.” Paes claims reuniting with his former partner happened at the right time. “I think it was a good time to get back together, even though it may have taken nine years,” he said. In those nine years, Paes said the two tried to reunite at least five times. “A lot of my family, coaches and friends have been trying to get us together for years. In fact, a lot of people think we have never tried before. But really, we have. In the last nine years, there have been at least five times that we’ve tried,” he said. “Every time he would ask me to play, I’ve done well with a partner. If you are winning a Grand Slam with someone, it’s tough to break that team,” Paes said. “Every time I’ve asked him, he would be doing well with his partner. The timing in life is very important. Over the years, we’ve both matured a lot; we’ve both grown as individuals. I have to commend Mahesh for a great run at the Australian Open. Our coming together now is really karma. It’s like life coming a full circle.”

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Rafael Nadal added to his trophy case when he was named Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus Sport Awards. The Spaniard, who won three Grand Slam tournaments in 2010 – Roland Garros, Wimbledon and his first US Open – beat out Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines and Barcelona footballers Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi for the Sportsman of the Year honor. Olympic gold medalist skier Lindsey Vonn was named Sportswoman of the Year, beating out the likes of high jumper Blanka Vlasic and tennis players Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki. The awards were presented at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. Spain’s World Cup-winning squad won Team of the Year, while the Spirit of Sport Award went to the European Ryder Cup team for their win at Celtic Manor. Winners are chosen by 46 sports stars that make up the Laureus sports academy.

SWEDE FUND

The Swedish newspaper Affarsvarlden reports that former world number one Stefan Edberg has launched a corporate bond fund. Edberg, who earned more than $20 million in career price money, is a part owner in Case Asset Management, the Stockholm-based boutique that will run the fund. The six-time Grand Slam tournament winner is one of the biggest seed investors in the fund. Edberg and Kristianstad Sparbank together have invested SEK50 million ($7.8 million). Edberg told Affarsvarlden that during the financial crisis he bought bonds from Nordic banks as he believed they would not collapse. The new fund, which launched at the beginning of January, is called Safe Play and targets returns of 5-7% per annum. Edberg’s company, Case Asset Management, was founded in 2004 by Edberg and some leading Swedish investors. 2009 was a good year for the firm as its balanced fund, Fair Play, returned 27 percent, and in 2010 the fund returned 10 percent.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Cali: Irina-Camelia Begu and Elena Bogdan beat Ekaterina Ivanova and Kathrin Woerle 2-6 7-6 (6) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Costa do Sauipe: Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares beat Pablo Andujar and Daniel Gimeno-Traver 7-6 (4) 6-3

Midland: Jamie Hampton and Anna Tatishvili beat Irina Falconi and Alison Riske, walkover

Paris: Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy beat Vera Dushevina and Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-2

Pattaya: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Sun Shengnan and Zheng Jie 3-6 6-3 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Rotterdam: Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner beat Michael Llodra and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4 3-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

San Jose: Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram beat A Falla and Xavier Malisse 6-4, 4-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

TO SURF

Memphis: www.memphistennis.com/splash

Marseille: www.open13.fr/

Buenos Aires: www.copaclaro.com/

Acapulco: http://abiertomextenis.com.mx/

Dubai: www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/

Bogota: www.copacolsanitas.com/

Delray Beach: www.yellowtennisball.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$1,226,500 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, hard

$782,400 Open 13, Marseille, France, hard

$544,330 Copa Claro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay

WOMEN

$2,050,000 Dubai Tennis Championships, Dubai, Qatar, hard

$220,000 XIX Copa BBVA Colsanitas, Bogota, Colombia, clay

$220,000 Cellular South Cup, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, hard

SENIORS

Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, Delray Beach, Florida, USA, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$1,619,500 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hard

$955,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, clay

$442,500 Delray Beach International Championships, Delray Beach, Florida, USA., hard

WOMEN

$721,000 Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Doha, Qatar, hard

$220,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, clay

fernando verdasco

STARS

SAYING

STRONG SHOWING

SINO SUCCESS

SUPER EFFORT

SLIP-UP

STEADY SPANIARD

SHORT LIST

SO TIRED

SHARING THE SPOILS

SWISS FED CUP HEAD

SHANGHAI HONORED

SENIOR SHUFFLE

SINGLES, DOUBLE COMBO

SOCCER CHARITY

SHARED PERFORMANCES

SURFING

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

WOMEN

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

WOMEN

STARS

SAYING

SERENA POWER

STREAKY GULBIS

SMOOTH SAILING

SINGULAR PERFORMANCE

SHARING THE SPOILS

STARTING OUT

SINGLED OUT

SUSPENDED

SELECTS COACH

SOCK TURNS PRO

SCHOLARSHP

SISTERS RADWANSKA

SISTERS RODIONOVA

SO PERFECT

SET FOR A DAY

SALUTED

SHARED PERFORMANCES

SURFING

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

WOMEN

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

WOMEN

STARS

SAYINGS

STOPPING FOR GOOD

STEPPING UP

SWEDE RETURN

STAYING PUT

STAR ASCENDING?

SIDELINED

SHE SAID WHAT?

SPOKESWOMAN

SPECIAL PARTNER

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

SWEDE FUND

SHARED PERFORMANCES

TO SURF

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

WOMEN

SENIORS

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

WOMEN

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