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IN-FORM CILIC MAINTAINS WINNING WAYS

February 24, 2010 by WTM

Dubai, UAE, February 23rd, 2010 – Croatia’s Marin Cilic continued his winning ways this year by defeating Arnaud Clement of France 6-2 6-4 to reach the second round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

The number six seed has now won 16 matches this year, claiming titles in Chennai and Zagreb, with his only defeat coming against Andy Murray in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. This month he celebrated reaching the world’s top 10 for the first time.

It was no surprise then that he put in a solid performance against Clement and didn’t face a break point until the final game. He got off to a perfect start by breaking serve to love in the opening game, and then solidified his advantage by breaking again for 5-2 and then serving out the set at love and finishing with an ace.

A Clement double-fault gave Cilic a break for 3-2 in the second set, and he held a further break point to lead 5-2. He failed to take advantage of that opportunity, and Clement then had the chance to extend the match when he held five break points to level at 5-5.

But Cilic rose to the challenge, saving three of those break points with aces before finally ending the contest with his seventh ace of the match.

Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman also reached the second round and a meeting with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis by overcoming Italian-speaking Swiss Marco Chiudinelli 6-4 7-5.

Just one break of serve decided the first set after Devvarman took a 2-1 lead. He then had to be patient in the second, holding off a break point when down 3-2 before breaking his opponent for a 6-5 lead and serving out the match to love.

Germany’s Michael Berrer also advanced, defeating Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-4 7-6.
Berrer had a tough time holding his first service game for 1-1, holding off three break points before finally holding the 20-point game with his fifth game point.

He then broke to lead 4-3 and that was enough to give him the set, and he broke again at the start of the second set and held to lead 2-0. And although Stakhovsky recovered the break to level at 3-3, Berrer dominated the tiebreak to win it 7-3.

HAAS LEADS GERMAN RUN AT SAP OPEN

February 10, 2010 by WTM

By Chris Kane

Germany 4, Rest of the World 0. The SAP Open in San Jose featured a clean German sweep Tuesday with Benjamin Becker, Bjorn Phau, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Tommy Haas each scoring first-round victories.

Becker, the 2004 NCAA Singles Champion while at Baylor University, beat American qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-2, while Phau produced the biggest upset of the tournament thus far by eliminating No. 8 seed Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-1. Kohlschreiber recovered from a first set tiebreak loss to beat Rajeev Ram of the United States, 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-3. Tommy Haas, although recently being granted US Citizenship, completed the German sweep with straight sets victory over American Devin Britton 6-4, 7-6 (3).

With its strong showing today, Germany now features four of the final 16 players in the tournament. With Sam Querrey’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in Tuesday’s late match, the United States will also send four players to the round of 16 despite starting with a total of 12 players to Germany’s five. While it is unarguably a strong start, it may be a bit premature to start the celebration. In the tournament’s 121 year history there has never been a German singles champion.

FEDERER’S FIRST ATP TITLE

February 4, 2010 by WTM

Nine years ago, on February 4, 2001, Roger Federer finally broke through and won his first ATP singles title. As documented in the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY, Federer, then relatively uncertain19-year-old struggling to live up to the heavy expectations thrust upon him, defeated Julien Boutter of France 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in Milan, Italy to win his maiden ATP title. “What a relief,” said Federer after the match. “I’m really happy to have won my first title here in Milan. As a kid you always dream of winning your first title.” Federer has gone to win grander heights, netting an additional 61 ATP titles, including 16 major singles titles. Rene Stauffer, the author of the leading Federer biography THE ROGER FEDERER STORY: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) documents Federer and his coach at the time Peter Lundgren at this crucial time in Federer’s career in this exclusive book excerpt below.

Lundgren expected a lot from Federer in 2001, his first full season as Federer’s private coach. He was convinced that “if he plays like he did last fall in Sydney, Vienna or in Basel, he’ll be in the top 15.” He even dared to speculate that “he could have his first title very soon.”

At the start of the season, Federer and Martina Hingis won the Hopman Cup in Perth. It was not an especially significant event but it was, after all, the International Tennis Federation’s sanctioned world mixed tennis tournament. He reached the third round of the Australian Open—avenging his Olympic loss to DiPasquale in the first round before losing to eventual finalist Arnaud Clement. February, however, became the best month of his career to date. At the indoor event in Milan, Italy after the Australian Open, Federer defeated Olympic Champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov for the first time in his career in the semifinals to reach his third career ATP singles final. Federer seized the opportunity and, with his parents in the stands cheering him on, he finally won his first ATP singles title, defeating No. 53-ranked Julien Boutter of France 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4.

Lundgren was correct. A milestone was achieved. “The relief is enormous,” Federer said. “I’ve had to wait a long time for this moment. It should get easier from here on out.” But the excursion to Milan didn’t end very happily for Roger’s father. In his excitement, he locked his car keys inside the car and had to smash in the car window to retrieve them.

A week later, another career milestone was achieved for the 19-year-old as he returned to Basel for Davis Cup duty against the United States. There was no stopping Federer. He beat Todd Martin and Jan-Michael Gambill in two breath-taking performances in singles, and in between, paired with Lorenzo Manta to defeat the American team of Gambill and Justin Gimelstob in doubles. With his three match victories in the 3-2 Swiss defeat of the USA, he joined Raul Ramirez, Neale Fraser, Nicola Pietrangeli, Frank Sedgman, Henri Cochet and Laurie Doherty as the seventh and the youngest player to win three live matches in a Davis Cup tie against the United States. “It’s like a dream,” said Federer, who shed tears of joy after his match-clinching victory over Gambill.

The Americans, by contrast, were stunned. “You’d have to be blind not to see that he’s got a great future in store for him,” said Gambill. U.S. Captain Patrick McEnroe didn’t try to make any excuses although he was missing his two strongest players, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, in this match. “We knew that Federer would be tough but we didn’t expect this,” he said. “Whenever he got hold of the ball, the point was his.”

February would bring even more success for Federer. The week after his single-handed defeat of the U.S. Davis Cup team, he reached the semifinals in Marseille where his 10-match winning streak was ended by Kafelnikov. The next week, he reached his fourth career singles final, losing to Nicolas Escude of France in a third-set tie-break in the final of Rotterdam. The ATP chose him their “Player of the Month” and effusively praised in their official press communication, “The Federer Express has arrived!” A playful warning was also issued in the press release stating that Federer, “has been blessed with so much talent that it almost seems unfair to his opponents.”

Seventeen-Year-Old Roger Federer’s First ATP Match Victory

September 29, 2009 by WTM

From the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY, it was on Sept. 30, 1998 that Roger Federer registered his first career victory on the ATP Tour. Who was his first victim who undoubtedly is a great trivia question answer at the dinner table or cocktail party? The answer is Guillaume Raoux, the spectacled Frenchman, who lost to a 17-year-old Federer in the first round of the ATP event in Toulouse, France. The following is the book excerpt from ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com) that summarizes the now historic match.

Seventeen-year-old Roger Federer defeats Guillaume Raoux of France 6-2, 6-2 in the first round in Toulouse for his first ATP singles match victory. Rene Stauffer, in his book The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection, ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFedererBook.com) summarizes Federer’s achievement, “Yet, before the chase for the year-end No. 1 junior ranking reached its decisive phase, the unexpected happened. Federer achieved his first great breakthrough on the ATP Tour. With a ranking of No. 878, he traveled to Toulouse, France at the end of September and, to his own surprise, advanced through the qualifying rounds to progress into the main draw of the tournament. In only his second ATP tournament, the 17-year-old registered an upset victory over No. 45-ranked Guillaume Raoux of France—his first ATP match victory—allowing the Frenchman just four games. In the next round, Federer proved this win was not a fluke by defeating former Australian Davis Cup star Richard Fromberg 6-1, 7-6 (5). In the quarterfinals—his sixth match of the tournament including matches in the qualifying rounds—Federer lost to Jan Siemerink 7-6 (5), 6-2, with a throbbing thigh injury hampering him during the match. The Dutchman was ranked No. 20 and went on to win the tournament two days later, but Federer was also handsomely rewarded. He received a prize money check for $10,800 and passed 482 players in the world rankings in one tournament—moving to No. 396.”

Clijsters Crashing Party at US Open

September 9, 2009 by WTM

NEW YORK – Kim Clijsters may be like a bull in a china shop, crashing through the US Open party, but she no longer feels like an elephant.

Three months after giving birth to her daughter, Clijsters, then retired, went onto a tennis court to hit with a friend and former player, Caroline Maze.

“That was a big mistake because I was so frustrated after that,” Clijsters remembered. “Because in my mind I still knew how to step forward, step back, move to the side. But the connection from the brain to the body wasn’t really – there was nothing there.
“So I had a good feeling when the ball was coming towards me, but just moving was absolutely terrible. I felt like an elephant sometimes just trying to move.”

Playing in her third tournament since ending a two-year retirement, Clijsters is moving just perfectly, thank you. With an easy 6-2 6-4 victory Tuesday over China’s Li Na, Clijsters grabbed a spot in the women’s semifinals with her 12th consecutive victory on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Her next hurdle will be defending champion Serena Williams, who advanced with a 6-4 6-3 victory over 10th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

“She’s a really good player,” Williams said of Clijsters. “She plays tough. She plays hard. Now it’s like a totally different level because shed has absolutely nothing to lose. … I think that’s when you can play your ultimate best tennis.”

In men’s fourth-round play Tuesday, 16th-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia shocked No. 2 Andy Murray of Great Britain 7-5 6-2 6-2; No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina brushed aside No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-3 6-3 6-3; No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile knocked off No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 3-6 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-4; and third-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain stopped No. 13 Gael Monfils of France 6-7 (3) 6-3 6-1 6-3.

The last time Clijsters played in the US Open, in 2005, she won the women’s singles, beating Mary Pierce of France. Injuries and then retirement, marriage and motherhood kept her away from New York until this year.

She also didn’t play here in 2004 because of injuries. The last time she lost at Flushing Meadows was to fellow Belgian Justine Henin in the 2003 championship match.

Not even Clijsters could imagine her implausible run to the US Open semifinals when she decided to return to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. But she surprised even herself by her success in tournaments at Cincinnati and Toronto leading up to the year’s final Grand Slam event.

“I definitely didn’t have that idea, you know, or that thought in my head now,” she said. “But like I said before, something switched with me after Toronto where I felt like, OK, I can, you know, compete with these girls. Because that was obviously a big question in my mind.

“So I am surprised that I’m sitting here talking to you right now, but I’m very happy and, you know, flattered that I get to do that.”
Because of her time away from the tour, Clijsters will have no computer ranking until after her third tournament back – the US Open. She was given a wild card into the tournament and has become the first unseeded player to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows since Elena Dementieva in 2000.

Li, China’s top player, wasn’t surprised by the play of the Belgian right-hander.

“I saw her when she came back in her first tournament,” Li said. “I knew she was at a high level. She’s much stronger than other girls, so I knew if she was going to come back it must be a strong comeback.”

It was much too strong for Li, who did break Clijsters’s serve to knot the score 4-4 in the second set. But Li then made four unforced errors and Clijsters quickly wrapped up the victory and a spot in the semifinals.

She is attempting to become the third mother to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open Era, behind Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong. At the age of 26, Clijsters was the youngest of the four quarterfinalists in the bottom half of the draw: Li, Williams and Flavia Pennetta are all 27.

In the top half, Kateryna Bondarenko, at 23, is joined by two 19-year-olds, Caroline Wozniacki and Yanina Wickmayer, and 17-year-old Melanie Oudin. They play their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday.

“You don’t really think about the age or anything,” said Clijsters, the mother of 18-month-old Jada. “Unless like now that I’m older I look back and I’m like, ‘Wow, they’re young.’ … They look at things in a different way when they get to a Grand Slam because it’s so new.

“That’s something I think in the beginning is really good for them. But I think as they progress and they make a name on tour, I think that that will change. The pressure will gradually start to build in a little bit.

“But, you know, it’s great what they’re doing here. It’s fun to watch for me, as well.”