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hall of fame championships

“WOODIES” LEAD TENNIS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2010

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Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, the Australian doubles pair affectionately known as “The Woodies” headlined the induction class of 2010 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, inducted Saturday in annual ceremonies in Newport, R.I.

In a day honoring doubles, Woodbridge and Woodforde were enshrined along with the dominant women’s doubles team of Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva and Owen Davidson, who won a mixed doubles Grand Slam.

Brad Parks, the pioneer of wheelchair tennis, was the Hall’s first wheelchair inductee. British tennis official Derek Hardwick was also enshrined posthumously.

“This is an amazing day for the Woodies,” Woodforde said. “I don’t know if any of us said we’re just going to be doubles players. We just excelled on the doubles court a little more than we did on the singles. As much as we would have loved to win more in the singles titles, we did in doubles.”

Woodbridge and Woodforde combined for 11 major titles and 61 world tour championships from 1991-2000.

They held the record for most doubles titles until it was matched by American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan earlier this year.

The Woodies
The Woodies

“I think we won our fourth tournament we played together,” Woodbridge said. “It was close on average to every fourth tournament we won the next 10 years. That’s pretty good business.”

A 65-minute induction ceremony on the grass courts at Newport, where the ATP’s Hall of Fame Championships is underway, started in heavy rain before sunny skies prevailed.

“I figured if I could team up with Mark we’d do well together. We did better than well, we did bloody great,” Woodbridge told the crowd.

Fernandez and Zvereva captured 14 grand slam tournament titles together. They were introduced by 2002 Hall of Famer Pam Shriver.

“She was fire and I was ice,” Zvereva told the crowd.

Fernandez is the first Puerto Rican-born player to be inducted into the Hall.

Parks, the pioneer of wheelchair tennis, was the Hall’s first wheelchair inductee.

“I can’t believe actually that I’m here,” Parks said. “This is kind of the last straw. A guy in a wheel chair is being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

FISH TO PLAY ROCHUS IN NEWPORT FINAL IN REMATCH OF GREATEST TENNIS MATCH OF ALL-TIME YOU NEVER HEARD OF

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By Randy Walker

NEWPORT, R.I. – It could easily received consideration as “the greatest tennis of all time.”

Except it was a second-round match at the lowest-level ATP World Tour event between two middle-ranked players.

Prior to playing in Sunday’s championship match at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships, the last meeting between Mardy Fish of the United States and Olivier Rochus of Belgium was the most closely contested best-of-three-set match ever on the ATP World Tour.

As documented in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), it was on October 25, 2007 that Rochus saved five match points and defeated Fish by the narrowest of margins 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (17-15) in a second-round match at the event in Lyon, France.

In the aftermath of the famous John Isner-Nicolas Mahut 11 hour, 5 minute 70-68 in the fifth-set Wimbledon classic – that featured an incredible 113 aces from Isner and 103 from Mahut – kudos must go to Fish, who hit an incredible 43 aces in the loss to Rochus in Lyon.

“It was a crazy match in Lyon,” said Rochus Saturday of his epic with Fish. “He had a lot of match points, but Mardy is more solid and in a good way. Mardy has a lot of confidence at the moment.”

Saturday in Newport, Fish advanced into the final, his 15th in his ATP World Tour career, by defeating Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain 7-6 (5), 6-4. Rochus bested Argentina’s Brian Dabul 6-3, 6-2 to reach his eight career singles final.

Fish has been the top-seeded player in Newport the last three years but will be seeking his first singles title in the New England coastal town and his fourth overall ATP World Tour title on Sunday. Fish was the top seed in Newport in 2007, where he lost in the first round to Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan, in 2008, when he lost in the second round to Rohan Bopanna of India, and last year, before pulling out of the event after the start of the tournament to replace Andy Roddick on the U.S. Davis Cup team in the USA’s match against Croatia. Fish did, however, win the doubles title here in 2008 with John Isner.

The turning point in the Fish-Bloomfield match came at 4-4 in the second set when Bloomfield led 40-15 on his serve, only to double-fault three times in a row. The 27-year-old Brit was able to fight off the first break point with a volley winner, but wasn’t as lucky two points later as his backhand volley off Fish’s return of serve floated long. Fish then served out the straight set victory in the next game.

Said Bloomfield, “At this level, three double faults in a row is not good enough.”

Bloomfield, a qualifier ranked No. 552, was looking to become the lowest-ranked player to ever win an ATP World Tour title. Prior to competing in Newport, he had won only one ATP-level singles match in his career. His semifinal showing will earn him a ranking of approximately No. 292, according to Greg Sharko of the ATP World Tour.

Prior to the start of play Saturday, Australians Mark Woodforde, Todd Woodbridge and Owen Davidson, Puerto Rico’s Gigi Fernandez, Natasha Zvereva of Belarus, Brad Parks of the United States and Derek Hardwick of Britain were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Randy Walker is a communications and marketing specialist, writer, tennis historian and the managing partner of New Chapter Media – www.NewChapterMedia.com. He was a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s marketing and communications division where he worked as the press officer for 22 U.S. Davis Cup ties, three Olympic tennis teams and was an integral part of USTA media services team for 14 US Opens. He is the author of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY (www.TennisHistoryBook.com).

THE FISH IS GOOD IN NEWPORT

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By Randy Walker

NEWPORT, R.I. — One thing you can say about Newport, R.I. is that the fish is very good.

Cod, Salmon, Grouper and … Mardy.

Mardy Fish, America’s No 5 ranked player and the No. 5 seed at the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships advanced into the semifinals Friday with a 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Canada’s Frank Dancevic.

Fish, the silver medalist in singles at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, will face Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain Saturday. The other semifinal will feature Olivier Rochus of Belgium against Brian Dabul of Argentina.

Fish was the top seed in Newport last year, but received a last minute call up to the U.S. Davis Cup team that was competing in Croatia and withdrew from the Hall of Fame Championships to answer his nation’s call of duty.

In seven previous appearances in Newport, Fish had reached the quarterfinals three times (2000, 2002, 2006), but was not able to break through into the final four.

“I have always played well here,” Fish said of Newport. “I just have not been able to win three (matches) in a row here.”

Bloomfield may be the biggest surprise of the week, reaching his first career ATP semifinal with a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over heralded 18-year-old American Ryan Harrison. Bloomfield is the No. 12 ranked player in talent-deprived Britain sitting at a ranking of No. 552. If he wins the tournament this weekend, Bloomfield would become the lowest ranked player to ever win an ATP World Tour singles title. He is ranked two spots worse than Lleyton Hewitt, who was ranked No. 550 when he won the singles title in Adelaide, Australia in 1998 as a 16-year-old.

Entering this week, Bloomfield had won only one career ATP World Tour level match – a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 first-round win at Wimbledon in 2006 over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina – a victory that attracted world-wide attention due to the suspicious betting patterns during the match. Due to irregular betting patterns, suspicious amounts of money was bet on Bloomfield, alleging that perhaps Berlocq could have been injured or was paid to “tank” the match to allow for profiteering among gamblers. Coincidentally, Bloomfield’s first-round win here in Newport over Christophe Rochus also attracted similar unwanted gambling attention.

Online gambling exchange Betfair told The Associated Press on Friday that Bloomfield’s 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Rochus Tuesday attracted an unusual $1.5 million in wagers and was the subject of dramatic price movement.

Bloomfield was rated even money against his Rochus, ranked No. 160. In the hours before the match, the odds on Bloomfield winning were shortened to 1-4. After he won the first set, the odds shorted to 1-8.

“If people are willing to risk 4 pounds to win one, that is indicative of a substantial gamble,” Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin said to the Associated Press.

Notification of the irregular betting pattern was reported to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), an independent body created by the sport’s governing bodies to lead the fight against corruption.

It is standard procedure for the betting industry to share irregular activity on its markets with the TIU.

“It is not operational policy of the TIU to make any comment about an investigation that it may or may not be involved in,” TIU spokesman Mark Harrison told the AP

Randy Walker is a communications and marketing specialist, writer, tennis historian and the managing partner of New Chapter Media – www.NewChapterMedia.com. He was a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s marketing and communications division where he worked as the press officer for 22 U.S. Davis Cup ties, three Olympic tennis teams and was an integral part of USTA media services team for 14 US Opens. He is the author of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY (www.TennisHistoryBook.com).

QUERREY FALLS IN NEWPORT AS “CASINO CURSE” CONTINUES

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By Randy Walker

The “Casino Curse” continues.

While not quite as famed – or lethal – as the Curse of King Tut’s tomb, the curse of the top-seeded player competing at the Hall of Fame Championships at the Newport Casino not winning the tournament continued Wednesday as top-seeded Sam Querrey was eliminated in the second round.

The dread-locked Jamaican Dustin Brown dismissed Querrey 6-4, 6-3, ensuring that Newport’s No. 1 seed will not be the champion in the 34th year of the event.

Brown, ranked No. 108 in the world, stunned Querrey in only 47 minutes. Querrey, a finalist in Newport last year and a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team, is currently ranked a career-high of No. 19 in the world and fresh off two strong grass court results. He reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon and won the event at Queen’s Club, which next to Wimbledon is the most prestigious grass court title in tennis.

Brown served impeccably hitting 14 aces, connecting on 66 percent of his first serves and losing one point when he got his first serve in (33 of 34 first-serve points). Querrey hit only 49 percent of his first serves and hit only three aces.

“Kudos to him and his service game,” said Querrey. “There was never a point that went more than two shots.”

Defending champion Rajeev Ram, who beat Querrey 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3 in last year’s final, was also defeated Wednesday, losing to qualifier Raven Klassen of South Africa 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3) after squandering a 5-0 third-set lead and two match points. Nicolas Mahut of France, playing in his first event since his record-breaking 11 hour, 5 minute 70-68 in the fifth-set loss to John Isner in the first round at Wimbledon, was also defeated Wednesday, losing 7-6, 6-3 to Canada’s Frank Dancevic. Also eliminated Wednesday was No. 2 seed Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, who lost to Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Querrey joins a list of interesting top-seeded players in Newport who failed to fulfill their seeding at the Hall of Fame Championships. The tournament’s top seeds since 1977 and their results are listed below.

1977 – Dick Crealy (lost in second round to John James)

1978 – Arthur Ashe (lost in the quarterfinals to Bernie Mitton)

1979 – Tim Gullikson (lost in the quarterfinals to Hank Pfister)

1980 – John Sadri (lost in the semifinals to Vijay Amritraj)

1981 – Brian Teacher (lost in the first round to Anand Amritraj)

1982 – Johan Kriek (lost in the second round to Nduka Odizor)

1983 – Steve Denton (lost in the first round to Bruce Kleege)

1984 – Tim Mayotte (lost in the final to Vijay Amritraj)

1985 – Johan Kriek (lost in the quarterfinals to Tom Gullikson)

1986 – David Pate (lost in the first round to Nduka Odizor)

1987 – David Pate (lost in the second round to Dan Goldie)

1988 – Dan Goldie (lost in the second round to Mike Lee)

1989 – Paul Annacone (lost in the quarterfinals to Glenn Layendecker)

1990 – Tim Mayotte (lost in the second round to Robbie Weiss)

1991 – Peter Lundgren (lost in the second round to Todd Martin)

1992 – David Wheaton (lost in the second round to Brian MacPhie)

1993 – Bryan Shelton (lost in the first round to Shuzo Matsuoka)

1994 – Greg Rusedski (lost in the second round to David Witt)

1995 – David Wheaton (lost in the final to David Prinosil)

1996 – Byron Black (lost in the quarterfinals to Leander Paes)

1997 – Alex Radulescu (lost in the quarterfinals to Leander Paes)

1998 – Jason Stoltenberg (lost in the semifinals to Neville Godwin)

1999 – Wayne Ferreira (lost in the second round to Leander Paes)

2000 – Chris Woodruff (lost in the second round to Mardy Fish)

2001 – Vladimir Voltchkov (lost in the first round to James Blake)

2002 – James Blake (lost in the final to Taylor Dent)

2003 – James Blake (lost in the first round to Gregory Carraz)

2004 – Vince Spadea (lost in the quarterfinals to Alexander Popp)

2005 – Taylor Dent (lost in the second round to Wesley Moodie)

2006 – Andy Murray (lost in the semifinals to Justin Gimelstob)

2007 – Mardy Fish (lost in the first round to Aisam Qureshi)

2008 – Mardy Fish (lost in the second round to Rohan Bopanna)

2009 – Mardy Fish (withdrew from the event, replaced by lucky loser)

For more information on the Hall of Fame and the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships, go to www.TennisFame.com

Randy Walker is a communications and marketing specialist, writer, tennis historian and the managing partner of New Chapter Media – www.NewChapterMedia.com. He was a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s marketing and communications division where he worked as the press officer for 22 U.S. Davis Cup ties, three Olympic tennis teams and was an integral part of USTA media services team for 14 US Opens. He is the author of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY (www.TennisHistoryBook.com).