World Tennis Magazine

Unique Tennis Perspectives

ivan ljubicic

Angelique Kerber Surprises Caroline Wozniacki in Copenhagen — Mondays With Bob Greene

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STARS

Paul Andujar beat Albert Ramos 6-1 7-6 (5) to win the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco

Juan Monaco beat John Isner 6-2 36 6-3 to win the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, USA

Angelique Kerber beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-4 to win the e-Boks Open in Copenhagen, Denmark

Sara Errani beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-2 to win the Barcelona Ladies Open in Barcelona, Spain

SAYING

“This tournament is for Piermario Morosini (an Italian soccer player who died after collapsing during a game). It has been very hard. The images have impacted me a lot. It’s amazing these things can happen. It really makes you think. It brings you back to reality and makes you realize many of the things we complain about in life are just pure nonsense. You have to enjoy every minute of life.” – Sara Errani, who won both the singles and doubles at the Barcelona Ladies Open.

“I think this is the first time that I’m not happy that I won the match. I’m happy and proud that I played the match against such a good player who made history, especially for Croatian people, Croatian tennis.” – Ivan Dodig, who sent Croat Ivan Ljubicic into retirement with a defeat.

“I have to say that I felt like it could end up emotional, but I didn’t expect it to be this emotional. Obviously, it’s the end of something beautiful for me. Now it’s time to do something else.” – Ivan Ljubicic.

“A title isn’t something you always achieve, so each one is so important. Sara and I had a great match today. Flavia and Francesca had a great week and I hope they achieve their best tennis in the weeks to come.” – Roberta Vinci, after teaming with Sara Errani to win the Barcelona Ladies Open doubles.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose. If I lost the match, it’s OK against her. It made me take more chances and I’m glad it worked out.” – Angelique Kerber, after beating top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki for the title in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“You always want to win. Yes, it’s disappointing to lose, but it’s not a disaster. You lose matches sometimes, and today was one of those times. There’s a new match and new tournament coming, so you go on.” – Caroline Wozniacki, after losing to Angelique Kerber.

“This is very special to me. I didn’t think that I could win here twice in a row. It was difficult with the three rain delays. Albert was a bit nervous at the beginning and I played very well during the first set. The second set could have gone in both directions. It wasn’t easy to remain calm in the end.” – Pablo Andujar, on successfully defending his title in Casablanca, Morocco.

“This is a great moment in my career. I’ve worked very hard to be here. I have the clay-court season in Europe now, which is very important for me. This tournament is going to bring me a lot of confidence.” – Juan Monaco, on winning in Houston, Texas, USA.

“I had some things go right in the second set. I saved a number of break points. But I had some things go against me in the third set. He was pressuring me pretty well all day. All in all, it was a good effort and was the best match I played all week. That’s encouraging. I was a little tired, but I didn’t feel it at the end.” – John Isner, following his loss to Juan Monaco for the US Men’s Clay Court Championship.

“The week was great, as I haven’t been in the winners’ circle in a while. It’s a great feeling to get back in it with a good friend like Sam. I hope it’s a stepping stone. I remember when I won my first doubles title; it was a precursor to my first singles title the next weekend. I think it shows I’m starting to play well and getting confidence. I’ll take it anywhere I can get it.” – James Blake, after teaming with Sam Querrey to win the doubles at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships.

“It’s always fun to play with a buddy like James. We hadn’t won a match before, but once we got one win, we got four. We had a lot of close matches. Hopefully we can play again and win another title.” – Sam Querrey.

“This is the first time we played together. The win against the top seeds Cermak and Polasek in the first round gave us a lot of confidence. It also helped us figure out what we needed to improve. Yesterday we had a very tight match and today it was also very hard.” – Dustin Brown, who with partner Paul Hanley won the doubles in Casablanca, Morocco.

“I’m really happy. I’ve played here for a few years now and I finally managed to win the tournament this year. That’s very nice. I got the monkey off my back. The conditions were tough out there and the sun was pretty strong.” – Paul Hanley.

SARA SUPREME

Sara Errani pulled off a rare double in Barcelona, Spain, beating Dominika Cibulkova to capture the singles, and then teaming with Roberta Vinci to beat Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone in an all-Italian doubles final. Having also pulled off the singles-doubles pairing in Acapulco, Mexico, earlier this year, Errani becomes the first player to do the feat twice in the same year since Serena Williams did it at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2009. With her singles title, Errani increased her winning streak on clay to 10 straight matches. And she continued the winning ways for Italian players in Barcelona. This was the fourth straight year an Italian has won the Spanish tournament, with Vinci coming out on top in 2009 and again last year, while Schiavone captured the crown in 2010. Errani dedicated her victory to Piermario Morosini, an Italian soccer player who collapsed and in a game last week. “It really makes you think,” she said. “It brings you back to reality and makes you realize many of the things we complain about in life are just pure nonsense. You have to enjoy every minute of life.”

STEPPING UP

Angelique Kerber in her win over Caroline Wozniacki

Handing Caroline Wozniacki her first defeat in the Copenhagen, Denmark, stop on the WTA tour, Angelique Kerber is making a bid for a spot in the Top 10. Wozniacki was 14-0 at the e-Boks Open going into the title match. Kerber put a stop to that by running her indoor record to 11-0 this year. She won her first WTA title in Paris in February, then posted a 1-0 record in Fed Cup before winning all five matches in Copenhagen. The German left-hander, who entered the Danish tournament ranked 15th in the world, has now won four of her last five matches against Top 10 players, beating Maria Sharapova, Marion Bartoli and Li Na as well as Wozniacki.

SHE’S IN THE HALL

A teen prodigy whose off-field problems also made headlines is the newest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Jennifer Capriati will be inducted in the 2012 class that includes Gustavo Kuerten, Manuel Orantes, Randy Snow and Mike Davies. “Tennis has been my passion and dedication for my entire life, and to be acknowledged for this passion and dedication is truly icing on the cake,” said the 36-year-old Capriati. She was 14 years old and just out of the eighth grade when she reached the semifinals of the first Grand Slam tournament she played, the 1990 French Open. Sidetracked by drugs and shoplifting, Capriati left tennis following the 1993 US Open. She returned in 1996 and in 2001 won her first of two consecutive Australia Opens. In 2001, she also captured Roland Garros, was a semifinalist at both Wimbledon and the US Open and reached the number one ranking. She retired in 2004 with a career record of 430-176, including 14 singles titles. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is July 14 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

SWINGING TOGETHER

It was a week that saw new faces when they gave out the doubles trophies. Kimiko Date-Krumm and Rika Fujiwara won their first WTA doubles title together when they captured the e-Boks Open in Copenhagen, Denmark, outlasting Sofia Arvidsson and Kaia Kanepi in the final. It was the third career WTA doubles title for the 41-year-old Date-Krumm, who last won in Osaka, Japan, last year. It was the first WTA title of any kind for the 30-year-old Fujiwara.

Americans James Blake and Sam Querrey had never won as a team in four previous matches. That changed at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, USA, when Blake and Querrey won their first team title, beating Treat Conrad Huey and Dominic Inglot in the final 7-6 (14) 6-4. The winners converted the only break of the second set to claim the title. Huey has reached the doubles final twice but has yet to win. Inglot was making his first ATP World Tour title match appearance.

At the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, Morocco, Dustin Brown and Paul Hanley won as a team for the first time. And they did it the hard way. The duo had to beat three of the four seeded teams to capture the title, starting off with top-seeded Frantisek Cermak and Filip Polasek in the opening round. Then Brown and Hanley ousted third-seeded David Marrero and Marcelo Melo before downing the fourth-seeded squad of Daniele Bracciali and Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-3. Hanley improved to a 26-21 final record, while Brown lifted his second trophy in three title matches.

SOLO FLIGHT

Serena Williams will play Fed Cup for the United States this coming weekend, but not her older sister Venus. “She just played Miami and Charleston, so she’s trying to gauge now her recovery, how much she can play,” US Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez said of Venus. “She’s, I believe, planning on playing a couple of tournaments now before the French Open.” Venus Williams recently returned to action after being sidelined for more than six months after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjogren ’s syndrome. Serena, who also played Fed Cup against Belarus in February, will be joined on the American team by Christina McHale, Sloane Stephens and doubles specialist Liezel Huber. The Americans will be playing on clay in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

It’s not just the winners who have won the latest race to the bank. Prize money at the French Open is going up significantly this year for players who lose in the early rounds. Organizers at Roland Garros say the overall purse for the tournament will go up 7 percent to USD $24.6 million. The singles champions – men and women – will each get USD $1.64 million, an increase of 4.17 percent. First round losers in the Grand Slam tournament will get a 20 percent boost, while more than 300 players who lose between the second round of qualifying and the third round of the main draw will see their prize money increased by between 10 and 20 percent.

SAYONARA

It turned out to be a quick ending to a long career. Ivan Ljubicic retired from the ATP World Tour after he lost an opening-round match at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. The Croatian was beaten by countryman Ivan Dodig 6-0 6-3. “I had the pleasure to play on this beautiful court again,” said Ljubicic, who is a three-time quarterfinalist at the Monte-Carlo Country Club and who lives in Monte Carlo. “I chose this tournament to be my last and I’m very happy that I made that decision.” Once ranked as high as third in the world, Ljubicic won 10 tournaments and was a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2006 during his 15 years on the tour. In 2004, he won an Olympic bronze medal in Athens, and led Croatia to victory in the Davis Cup in 2005. “As impressive as his achievements were on the court, Ivan will also be remembered for the way he carried himself away from the court,” said ATP Executive Chairman and President Brad Drewett. “A true gentleman and ever popular amongst his peers, we thank Ivan for his first-rate contributions to the sport throughout his career, and wish him the very best for the future.” Ljubicic served on the ATP Player Council and was the European player representative on the ATP Board of Directors from August 2008 until January 2009.

STOPPED BY INJURY

A persistent hip injury has caused Ireland’s top player, Conor Niland, to retire from tennis. Last year the 30-year-old Niland became the first Irishman to qualify for the main singles draw at Wimbledon since 1984. He lost a five-set, first-round thriller to France’s Adrian Mannarino. Niland also qualified for the US Open, but had to retire because of illness after only two sets against Novak Djokovic. “I am today sadly announcing my retirement from professional tennis,” Niland said in a statement. “I have been suffering from labral tears in both hip cartilages and this has resulted in pain and restricted movement for the past nine months. … I have considered the possibility of hop surgery, but have been advised of a lengthy recovery time without any guarantee of a successful outcome.” Niland’s last match was a week before his retirement when he helped Ireland defeat Egypt 3-2 in a Davis Cup tie.

SICK CALL

When Belgium meets Japan in this week’s Fed Cup competition, its top player will be Tamaryn Hendler, who is ranked 210th in the world. That’s because Kirsten Flipkens has had to withdraw for the women’s international team competition because she has blood clots in a calf muscle. Belgium’s top two players, Yanina Wickmayer and Kim Clijsters, are also missing from the team. Clijsters has a torn hip muscle and is expected to return to the WTA tour next month. Wickmayer wants to focus on the tour. She felt it was too risky to play on hard courts in Japan this weekend instead of preparing for the clay court season in Europe.

SUCCESSFUL AGAIN

It took a long time for Yasutaka Uchiyama to defend his title. But he did, and successfully. Uchiyama won a USD $10,000 Futures tournament in Tsukuba, Japan, in 2010. Last year, the tournament was cancelled in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011. Now 19, the top-seeded Uchiyama dropped just one set as he claimed his second singles title of the year and a career fourth, defeating Huang Liang-Chi of Taiwan 7-5 6-4 in the final. His latest success has seen the Sapporo, Japan, native rise to a career high ranking of 378th in the world.

SEEKS GRASS TITLE

Returning to where he won his first professional matches, defending champion Andy Murray has committed to playing the AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club in London for the next five years. “Ever since I got my first ATP World Tour match-win at the tournament seven years ago, I have always loved playing at The Queen’s Club,” Murray said. “I’ve won the tournament twice, and I’m looking forward to trying to win it many more times in the years to come.” In 2005, an 18-year-old Murray won his first professional matches at The Queen’s Club before losing in the third round against Sweden’s Thomas Johansson. He won the grass-court tournament in 2009 and 2011. Also signed to play in this year’s tournament are last year’s runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and four-time winner Andy Roddick. In 2009, Murray became the first British player to win the AEGON Championships since Henry “Bunny” Austin in 1938.

SAD NEWS

Laurie Pignon, who first covered Wimbledon as a journalist in 1938, is dead at the age of 93. During World War II Pignon was captured during the retreat at Dunkirk in 1940 and became a prisoner of war in Poland. In January 1945 he and his fellow captives were forced to walk from Katowicze, Poland, to Austria during the very cold winter months. The journey took two months. After the war Pignon joined the Daily Sketch newspaper, and became the tennis writer of the Daily Mail of London when the two newspapers merged in 1971. He retired in 1983 but still showed up at The Championships at Wimbledon to visit his former colleagues. His status was such that he became one of the few journalists to be offered membership of the All England Club, and he was a long-serving president of the Lawn Tennis Writer’s Association.

SIGNED

Richard Lewis is leaving his post as chairman of the Rugby Football League (RFL) to become chief executive at Wimbledon. The move will take place at the end of this month. The 57-year-old Lewis replaces Ian Ritchie, who left the All England Club in February after six years to become chief executive of the Rugby Football Union. Lewis will continue as chair of Sport England, a position he took up on a part-time basis three years ago. A former player, Lewis reached a career high world ranking of 68 and represented Great Britain in Davis Cup from 1977 to 1983. Before joining the RFL, Lewis was Director of Tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association from 1998 to 2000.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Barcelona: Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone 6-0 6-2

Casablanca: Dustin Brown and Paul Hanley beat Daniele Bracciali and Fabio Fognini 7-5 6-3

Copenhagen: Kimiko Date-Krumm and Rika Fujiwara beat Sofia Arvidsson and Kaia Kanepi 6-2 4-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Houston: James Blake and Sam Querrey beat Treat Conrad Huey and Dominic Inglot 7-6 (14) 6-4

SURFING

Monte Carlo: www.monte-carlorolexmasters.com
Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com
Barcelona: www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com
Bucharest: http://brd-nastase-tiriac-trophy.ro/2012/
Stuttgart: www.porsche-tennis.de
Fès: www.frmt.ma

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$3,180,000 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Monte Carlo, Monaco, clay
$100,000 Sarasota Open, Sarasota, Florida, USA

FED CUP
World Group Semifinals

Russia vs. Serbia at Moscow, Russia, clay
Czech Republic vs. Italy at Ostrava, Czech Republic, hard

World Group Playoffs

Ukraine vs. United States at Kharkiv, Ukraine, clay
Japan vs. Belgium at Tokyo, Japan, hard
Spain vs. Slovak Republic at Marbella, Spain, clay
Germany vs. Australia at Stuttgart, Germany, clay

World Group II Playoffs

France vs. Slovenia at Besançon, France, hard
Switzerland vs. Belarus at Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, hard
Sweden vs. Great Britain at Borås, Sweden, hard
Argentina vs. China at Buenos Aires, Argentina, clay

Group II
Round-Robin

Europe/Africa at Cairo, Egypt, clay: Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Montenegro, Norway, South Africa, Turkey

Americas at Guadalajara, Mexico, clay: Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay

Group III
Round-Robin

Europe/Africa at Cairo, Egypt, clay: Algeria, Armenia, Cyprus, Egypt, Ireland, Kenya, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Tunisia

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,179,536 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain, clay
$523,619 BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, Bucharest, Romania, clay
$125,000 Kaohsiung OEC International Tennis Challenge, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, hard

WOMEN

$740,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany, clay
$220,000 Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Fès, Morocco, clay

Guga Elected to Hall — Mondays With Bob Greene

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STARS

BNP Paribas at Indian Wells, California, USA
(First Week)

Christina McHale beat third-seeded Petra Kvitova 2-6 6-2 6-3

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat fourth-seeded Andy Murray 6-4 6-2

SAYING

“Today I was a shadow of myself. I didn’t feel like I did anything right.” – Jelena Jankovic, after being upset 6-4 6-3 by Jamie Hampton at Indian Wells.

“I have to go away and think about what happened.” – Andy Murray, after losing 6-4 6-2 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

“I don’t like to be out there for too long if I don’t have to. I like to play tennis and I love grinding it out, but if I have the opportunity to finish it off fast, I like that opportunity as well.” – Caroline Wozniacki, after beating Ekaterina Makarova in just over an hour.

“We didn’t play a beautiful match and there were a lot of unforced errors, but look, it’s the opening match of the tournament for me and I am getting used to the conditions and the court.” – Novak Djokovic, following his victory over Andrey Golubev.

“It’s not easy to be back after a while without competition, but I did really well. I started the match very focused, very aggressive. I’m very happy about almost everything.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning his opening match at Indian Wells.

“It’s always tough to play a same-country player because we know each other a lot. We stay in the national teams so we practice every day and travel all of the time, so it’s very tough. But I was so happy because it’s the first time I beat her.” – Li Na, after beating fellow Chinese Zheng Jie 6-1 6-3.

SUPER GUGA

Gustavo Kuerten (Getty Images)

Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten is the newest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. A three-time French Open champion, Kuerten is the second Brazilian to be inducted into the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, shrine, joining 1978 Hall of Famer Maria Bueno. Winner of Roland Garros in 1997, 2000 and 2001, Kuerten’s induction was announced in São Paulo, Brazil. Bueno was on hand for the announcement. “I was inspired by lots of great tennis players, like Maria Esther Bueno and Thomas Koch, two of the biggest Brazilian tennis players, and I have also always greatly admired Hall of Famers including (Bjorn) Borg, (John) McEnroe, (Pete) Sampras and (Andre) Agassi,” Kuerten said. “To be honored in the same category as those great players is amazing.” He also reached the French Open quarterfinals in 1999 and 2004, was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 1999, at the US Open in 1999 and 2001, and at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In 2000, Kuerten became the first South American to finish the year number one in the world in the history of the ATP World Tour rankings since they began in 1973. A panel of international tennis media selected the 35-year-old Kuerten for induction in the Recent Player Category. A 75 percent favorable vote is required for induction. Previous announced inductees in the Class of 2012 include Spanish great Manuel Orantes in the Master Player Category; tennis administrator and promoter Mike Davies in the Contributor Category; and Randy Snow, who was elected posthumously in the Recent Player Category for his accomplishments as a wheelchair tennis player.

STORMY EXIT

There apparently is no such thing as a smooth start for Andy Murray. The Scot hit an unexpected road bump when he was upset 6-4 6-2 by Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a second-round match in Indian Wells. Ranked fourth in the world, it’s the second straight year he has stumbled in the California desert. Last year he was eliminated by American qualifier Donald Young. “I have to go away and think about what happened,” Murray said after his latest loss. “I played great in practice, was hitting the ball really well. I felt pretty fresh. … It almost felt like playing the match on a clay court. I wasn’t able to hit through the court and I squandered so many chances.”

SICK BAY

At least six players were felled in the first week of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells by a viral infection that has swept through the California desert. Frenchman Gael Monfils pulled out of the tournament because of stomach problems, as did American Vania King. King, who won her first WTA title in Paris last month, had already won two matches, so her withdrawal advanced Angelique Kerber of Germany into the fourth round with the walkover. Earlier, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, Italy’s Andreas Seppi, Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands all suffered from stomach bugs. Health officials in the Palm Springs, California, area, said the virus had spread across the Coachella Valley, resulting in symptoms of nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea. “It (the virus) is self-limited and lasts between 24 and 48 hours,” the Eisenhower Medical Center said in a statement. “It is transmitted by air and direct contact and not passed via food. … We have seen increases in overall visits to the emergency department by about 15 percent over the past week. We have seen fans and players at the tournament experience these symptoms as well.”

STRONG SHOWING

Leander Paes chalked up another milestone when he captured the 600th doubles win of his career. That came when Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek won their first-round match in Indian Wells, California, USA, by outplaying unseeded Spaniards David Ferrer and Albert Ramos 6-3 6-3. Paes, who will be 39 in June, and Stepanek won the Australian Open doubles in January. The veteran Indian, who turned pro in 1991, has a 600-311 doubles record overall. He won the Indian Wells doubles in 2007 when he teamed with Martin Damm.

STRAIGHT SET SHOCKER

Jelena Jankovic said fatigue played as much in her losing as did the game of her conqueror, American Jamie Hampton. “I am feeling jet-lagged and have allergies here and there,” the 12th-seeded Jankovic said. “I went on court and I expected much more from myself, but it didn’t happen.” Jankovic flew to Indian Wells from Southeast Asia, arriving in the California desert four days before her first match. Once ranked number one in the world, the Serb won the Indian Wells title two years ago. She reached the semifinals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before heading to the United States. The 22-year-old Hampton fired three aces in the match and clinched the win when Jankovic pushed a forehand wide.

SET TO MOVE

Johan Kriek is moving again, this time to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he will open a junior tennis academy. A native of South Africa, Kriek won the Australian Open in 1981 and 1982. He moved to Florida and became a United States citizen. He and his wife Daga had a tennis academy for three years in Sarasota, Florida. About 18 months ago they moved their academy to Roanoke, Virginia. Now he plans to move to Charlotte with his family in May. “It’s 100 percent now, we’re coming,” Kriek told The Observer newspaper in Charlotte. “I’ve always liked Charlotte and have some connections there and I think this academy is something the tennis community in Charlotte could really use.” Now 53, Kriek will partner with Charlotte Indoor Tennis Club. He plans on teaching between 24 and 32 students. During his career he posted victories over John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors.

STILL WAITING

John Laffnie de Jager, who captains both the South African Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, is still waiting for his top players to commit to the international team competition. Both Kevin Anderson and Chani Scheepers have yet to confirm their availability. “I’m still expecting Anderson and Scheepers to come up with positive replies for the respective Davis Cup tie against Slovenia in Soweto and the Euro-Africa Group Two Fed Cup playoffs in Egypt,” de Jager said. A strong incentive exists for both to play, since that could make them eligible to compete in this year’s London Olympics. Ranked 30th in the world, Anderson would almost certainly gain a spot in the Olympics. Scheepers’ situation is not as clear-cut. She would still not have fulfilled the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) requirement to make herself available for Fed Cup in at least two of the past five years. But should Scheepers play in this year’s Fed Cup, she could apply for special dispensation to be included in the Olympics.

SAYING GOODBYE

Ivan Ljubicic is calling it a career. The 32-year-old Croatian right-hander says he will retire from the sport following the Monte Carlo Masters in April. Ljubicic has won 10 titles since turning professional in 1998, and reached a career-high ranking of third in the world in May 2006. Two years ago he won Indian Wells, California, USA, by beating Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick. Ljubicic also was part of Croatia’s Davis Cup-winning team in 2005, and in 2004 he teamed with Mario Ancic to win a bronze medal in doubles at the Athens Olympics.

SIGNED UP

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be seeking his first grass court title when he plays the AEGON Championships in London in June. Currently ranked sixth in the world, Tsonga last year lost to Andy Murray in the final. Agreeing to return to Queens Club this year, Tsonga said the event last year was a turning point for him. He went on to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon and the title match at the ATP World Tour Finals at the end of the year. “I had an incredible year in 2011, and it all started there (at Queens Club),” Tsonga said. “I beat Lleyton Hewitt there in 2007 to get into the Top 100 for the first time.”

SCHEDULE SET FOR SERENA

The only World TeamTennis appearance for Serena Williams with the defending champion Washington Kastles will be on July 22 before she heads to the London Olympics. Williams will play in the nation’s capital against the Kansas City Explorers. Venus Williams of the Kastles will take on Martina Hingis of the New York Sportimes on July 23 in Albany, New York, USA, and then will play a home match the next night. Others scheduled to play WTT matches include Lindsay Davenport and John Isner. The eight-team league runs from July 9-28, with the WTT finals scheduled to be held September 14-16 in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.

SURFING

Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/
Nassau: www.thebahamasopen.com
Dallas: www.dallastennisclassic.com/
Guadalajara: www.jalisco-open.com/
Miami: www.sonyericssonopen.com
Stockholm: www.kingsoftennis.com
Zurich: www.zurichopen.net

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$4,694,969 BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)
$125,000 Dallas Tennis Classic, Dallas, Texas, USA
$100,000 Aeromexico Jalisco Open, 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

SENIORS

Kings of Tennis by Index International, Stockholm, Sweden, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$3,973,050 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)

WOMEN

$4,828,050 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)

SENIORS

BNP Paribas Zurich Open, Zurich, Switzerland, hard

Flavia Pennetta upsets Maria Sharapova

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NEW YORK – There were a lot of clattering among seeded players at the US Open on Friday – and one big bang.

Gone is former champion Maria Sharapova, the third seed this year and one of the favorites. The Russian beauty bombed on this far-off-Broadway production, falling to Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-3 3-6 6-4.

“I just want to enjoy this moment now,” said Pennetta, whose fourth-round opponent will be China’s Peng Shuai.

Flavia Pennetta

In day matches, Monica Niculescu of Romania ousted 27th-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic to grab a spot in the fourth round, while in men’s second-round play, Donald Young shocked 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (7) 3-6 2-6 6-3 7-6 (1); Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn ousted 17th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 3-6 6-3 1-6 6-2 7-6 (5), and Argentina’s David Nalbandian eliminated 30th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic 6-4 1-6 6-3 6-2.
“I made way too many unforced errors,” said Sharapova, who had 60 unforced errors in the 2-hour, 29-minute battle on Arthur Ashe Stadium court. “I didn’t feel comfortable with most of my game today.”

The hardest-working player in women’s tennis, Pennetta handed Sharapova her first third-set loss of the year. Last year, Pennetta played 137 matches combined in single and doubles, the most of any player on the WTA tour.

The two have split their four career meetings, but it was the Italian’s second straight triumph over the former world number one. Pennetta also beat Sharapova in three sets in Los Angeles two years ago.

“I think she played really smart,” Sharapova said of her conqueror. “That’s her gamer, and she makes you hit a lot of balls. Even when I had balls in the middle of the court I just didn’t do much with them. I thought I could have done a lot more.”

Although seeded third, Sharapova came into the year’s final Grand Slam tournament as one of the favorites to annex the title she first won in 2006. She also had a chance to rise to number two in the WTA rankings.

All that’s gone now.

“It’s disappointing,” Sharapova said. “It’s disappointing to lose in the middle of nowhere. It’s disappointing to lose in New York. Losing isn’t fun for anyone because we work to win. We don’t work to try to lose.

“So when we’re faced with a position where, you know, we can win and we didn’t in the end, it’s tough. But it’s all right.”

Besides Peng, a 6-4 706 (1) winner over 19th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany, other women in early matches who gained fourth-round berths included Angelique Kerber of Germany, No. 2 Vera Zvonareva of Russia, No. 22 Sabine Lisicki of Germany.

Young was the world’s top-ranked junior in 2005 when he was just 16 years 5 months old, the youngest boy to gain that honor. And he won the Wimbledon Boys’ title in 2007. But that was before he suffered a long period of first-round losses.

This year, the left-handed American has once again seemingly found his winning game, posting upset victories over Andy Murray, Jurgen Melzer and Marcos Baghdatis in the run-up to the US Open. Now, with his second-round win over Wawrinka, Young has equaled his best Grand Slam tournament result. He reached the third round at the USA Open as a wild card in 2007.

“This year I’ve had the biggest wins of my career and I put together matches in a row,” Young said. “It was quite tough for me to put together two, three (matches) in a row.

“That’s a big thing. I could win one match and not another. When you put matches together in a row against players of this caliber, it gives you confidence and you feel like you belong.”

In the fifth-set tiebreak, Young ripped off the first six points as Wawrinka’s game disintegrated into a slew of unforced errors. Young then slammed a forehand wide before Wawrinka buried a backhand into the net on the second match point.

Argentina’s Juan Martin de Potro has returned to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the first time since he beat Roger Federer in the final two years ago. Last year the Argentine was sidelined following wrist surgery.

For the second straight match del Potro has had an easy time, sailing through in straight sets. His second-round victim was fellow Argentinean Diego Junqueira, 6-2 6-1 7-5. Primarily a clay court player, Junqueira was playing on a hard court for the first time this year.

“I played better than my first round,” said del Potro, referring to a 6-3 6-1 6-1 win over Italy’s Filippo Volandri. “I was more confidence with my forehand, especially in the beginning of the match, and always is important go through.

“So doesn’t matter if you play good or not the first round if you win. Now I’m in the third one, so I need to improve, I need to be more confidence with my serves and forehands.”

 

Federer wins three tie-breakers to win ’06 title: On this day in Sony Ericsson Open history

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The Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., is the biggest, most prestigious tennis tournament in the United States next to the US Open. Its history dates back to 1985 and is documented in pages in my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com). The following are events that happened in the history of the tournament – also previously called the Lipton Championships, the NASDAQ-100 Open and the Ericsson Open – as excerpted from the book from April 2.

2000 – Pete Sampras wins an inspired men’s singles final at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., defeating Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten 6-1, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) in 3 hours, 18 minutes. Fighting off the hot, humid South Florida conditions, the tenacious groundstrokes of the 1997 French Open champion, and a rare case of nerves at the closing stages of the match, Sampras prevails to win his 62nd – and third to last – title of his career. Says Sampras of the match, ”I haven’t played a match this tough in many, many months. You can do all the training, all the practicing, but it is always different when you go out and compete. But I can definitely walk out of this tournament feeling real confident about the way things went.”

2005 – Kim Cljisters defeats Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-5 to win the women’s singles final at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Coupled with her win two weeks earlier in Indian Wells, Calif., Clijsters becomes only the second woman to win the rare “Coast-to-Coast Double” sweep of the two important Indian Wells-Key Biscayne back-to-back tournaments in the spring calendar. Clijsters joins Steffi Graf, who won both Indian Wells and Key Biscayne back-to-back in 1994 and 1996. Her win over Sharapova moves her to No. 17 in the rankings, after missing most of 2004 with a wrist injury. She last ranked No. 1 in the world on Nov. 9, 2003.

2006 – Roger Federer wins three tie-breakers in a match for the first time in his career, defeating Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) to win the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. The win was Federer’s 48 straight match victory in the United States, dating back to August of 2004. Federer also becomes the first player ever to win the “Coast-to-Coast Double” – the American hard court titles in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne – back to back in consecutive years.

Indian Wells: Time for some meaningful tennis – Around the Corner

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By Mike McIntyre

It’s time again for some meaningful tennis. No disrespect to the ATP World Tour level 250 and 500 tournament’s, but the BNP Paribas Masters in Indian Wells represents a return to top-level tennis with all the big names in attendance.

Rafael Nadal claims to be healthy again and the world number one is ready to perform. Defeated a year ago by Ivan Ljubicic in the semi-finals here, Nadal will hopefully be fit enough to play at 100%. After a first round bye he will potentially face a qualifier or Pere Riba from Spain. Either way Rafa should be off to a good start. His first major obstacle could be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round and that could be a real special match for tennis fans. The 17th ranked Tsonga is a top-ten player when he is healthy and could give Rafa a tremendous challenge. While he is only 1-5 against Nadal, Tsonga has beaten him on hard courts before and usually gives the Spaniard a good test. With a weaker quarter of the draw, look for the winner of this match to likely advance to the semi-finals.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal set to compete in Indian Wells

Still in the top-half of the draw, don’t expect defending champion Ivan Ljubicic to last long. Aside from battling some injury issues, the veteran Croatian has the unenviable task of facing Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round. Ljubicic has a first round bye, while Del P will very likely take care of fading veteran Radek Stepanek in his opening match.

The 2009 U.S. Open champion, Del Potro has been playing terrific in recent weeks. Finally recovered from a wrist injury that kept him off the ATP World Tour for the better part of 2010, DelPotro has rebounded nicely in 2011 with two semi-final appearances in a row in San Jose and Memphis followed by a victory at the event in Delray Beach against Janko Tipsarevic.

Del Potro, when healthy, is a top-five player who is capable of beating just about anyone when on his game. In a tennis world where Federer and Nadal have been less than perfect lately, here is a player who can really throw his name into the mix in competing for Grand Slams. Look for him to have a tournament where he truly announces his return to the upper-echelon of the men’s game.

A Del Potro vs. Dolgopolov third round would be fun to watch, as would a potential fourth round battle between Del P and Sweden’s Robin Soderling. I like one of these two players to advance to the finals in fact. I still feel like Soderling has yet to reach his potential.

In the last section of the top-half of the draw we have Andy Murray. What to make of the world’s fifth ranked player? He has a comfortable lead over sixth ranked DavidFerrer in the rankings but what has he done for us lately? He has only played in two events through more than two months of the year and his results were total opposites. He was playing fantastically at the Australian Open before he advanced to the finals and then tanked in three sets toNovak Djokovic. Murray then proceeded to lose in the first round in Rotterdam in early February to Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets. Since then Murray has been absent from the tennis court and that in itself makes me wonder what else is going on with the talented Scot. Perhaps his third straight-sets loss in a Slam final has taken a mental toll on him? His performance here in Indian Wells and then in Miami will go a long way towards determining what direction Murray is headed.

The bottom-half of the draw meanwhile seems to have many more meaningful matches on deck. Second seeded Roger Federer could face Kei Nishikori in the second round and then rising-star Milos Raonic in the fourth round. A Federer vs. Raonic match would be an electric test of old versus the new.

Tomas Berdych has been sleep-walking through this year so far and could face Marin Cilic or Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round. Honestly, I don’t see Berdych ever living up to his so-called potential despite his semi-final results at the French Open and making the finals of Wimbledon in 2010. There are several more mentally strong players on tour with just about as much physical talent as he has that I would bank on.

On the other side of the bottom-half draw we have aging American vet Andy Roddick and soon to be second ranked Novak Djokovic. Both should advance to the quarter-finals although Roddick’s path is less certain. James Blake, John Isner and Richard Gasquet all stand in Roddick’s way.

Djokovic meanwhile shouldn’t face too much opposition with the lights-out way he has been playing. Veteran Lleyton Hewitt and fellow-Serb Viktor Troicki linger in his section but neither is anywhere near matching his level of performance.

I like a Djokovic vs. Federer semi-final in this section of the draw to go along with Nadal and Del Potro in the top half. Who emerges is anyone’s guess but any way you slice it tennis fans worldwide are going to enjoy the next week and a half of tennis in California.

Around The Corner: Marseille, Memphis and Buenos Aires

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By Mike McIntyre

Open 13 – Marseille, France

Fresh off his win in Rotterdam, Sweden’s Robin Soderling looks to continue his impressive form this week in Marseille as the number one seed. This guy has certainly proved he belongs in the top five and the only thing really left for him to achieve at this stage in his career is to win a Slam at some point. With Roger approaching thirty and Nadal’s health always a question, there is no reason why Soderling cannot accomplish this at some point in 2011.

Robin Soderling

Soderling gets a first round bye and will face either Frenchman Nicolas Mahut or a qualifier in the second round. He will have the likes of Jurgen Melzer or Ivan Ljubicic to contend with in the top-half of the draw.

Tomas Berdych is the second seed and still seems to be struggling with his game. Despite making the semifinals of Wimbledon last year, Berdych has not managed to be as consistent week in and week out like Soderling is. The Czech will face either veteran Arnaud Clement or a qualifier in the second round.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a more likely name to emerge from the bottom-half of the draw and lookout for Nikolay Davydenko or Gilles Simon – both unseeded – to also make a run in Marseille. The two former top-ten players face each other in the opening round and then have the “good” fortune of facing seventh seeded Mikhail Youzhny in round two. Getting through that kind of tough start could give them the momentum to go deep in the draw.

A Frenchman has won this event in four of the last five years. In 2010 it was Michael Llodra, who opens this time against Julien Benneteau. With all the big names entered in the draw I think it is a huge long-shot for Llodra to expect similar results this time around.

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Memphis, Tennessee

Andy Roddick makes his return to the ATP World Tour for the first time since the Australian Open where he surprisingly lost in the fourth round. He opens against Richard Berankis in a relatively easy opening match and then could face Janko Tipsarevic in round two. Tipsarevic has given him trouble in their past two meetings so this will be no easy draw for America’s top player. Roddick could really use a tournament victory to show others he is still one of the top contenders on the circuit. It wouldn’t hurt to prove that to himself either as he has not won a title since March of last year. Roddick has a lot of ranking points to defend next month and could see himself drop out of the top-ten if he doesn’t bring his best game to the court.

Veteran Lleyton Hewitt is also in Roddick’s quarter and the pair could meet up in the third round. Hewitt, even more-so than Roddick, needs to show he still has some fight left in him. Turning thirty in just over a week, the Australian is ranked 70th in the world and is looking for his first ATP level win of the season.

The first-round match to watch here in Memphis will undoubtedly be that between wild-card Juan Martin Del Potro and sixth seeded John Isner. Standing at 6’6” and 6’9” respectively, these two players will be bringing some serious firepower to the court. Del Potro leads the head-to-head 2-0 but is still not back at 100%. He did take a giant leap forward in his comeback from wrist surgery when he made the semi-finals in San Jose this past week before losing to Fernando Verdasco.

Verdasco leads the bottom-half of the draw as the second seed and will face Canadian Milos Raonic in the first round. The interesting thing about this match-up is that the two have just played each other in the finals in San Jose. It is not often that you see two players meeting in the final of one event only to then meet in the first round of the next one.

Defending champion Sam Querrey is also in the bottom-half of the draw, but much like with Llodra in Marseille, I feel he will be hard-pressed to repeat as champion due to the tough competition. Ranked 17th in the world, Querrey has struggled mightily at the start of the season by losing both of his first round matches in Australia last month. We’ll see if he can get back on track while playing in a spot like Memphis where he has so many positive memories from 2010.

Copa Claro – Buenos Aires, Argentina

The seemingly mandatory clay court event on the tour this week takes place in Buenos Aires where forgotten veteran Juan Carlos Ferrero is the defending champion. Unfortunately Ferrero has not been able to play yet this season as he recovers from wrist and knee surgery and will miss the event this year.

That being said there are several worthy successors to walk away with the title. Top seed Nicolas Almagro loves playing on red clay and just won the Brasil Open against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Almagro has always had trouble putting together back-to-back titles though, so don’t expect another deep run this week. He often follows up a win with a second round loss for some reason. Should he get to round three in Buenos Aires, he will likely get a rematch with Dolgopolov.

David Nalbandian and Tommy Robredo represent the veteran presence in the top-half of the draw and while I would count on Nalbandian to emerge from this section, you can never really count out Mr. Robredo. This guy always seems to have a strong performance just when you think he’s on the verge of disappearing from the radar.

The bottom half of the draw is led by second seeded Stan Wawrinka. While Stan has had a great season thus far, on clay I’d take guys like Juan Monaco and Alberta Montanes as more likely picks in this section of the tourney.

All in all this week has some great matches despite the lack of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray. Most of the other top players are in action and we also have some great new faces like Dolgopolov and Raonic to continue to keep an eye on. Enjoy the tennis everyone!

Around the Corner: Roger Federer is the top Seed at the Paris Masters

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By Mike McIntyre

The final ATP World Tour event that those outside of the top eight players in the world can enter is about to begin in Paris, France. It just so happens it is a Masters 1000 tournament so you’ll have one last chance to cheer for your favorite player in all likelihood.

World number one and the most dominant force on tour this year, Rafael Nadal, has withdrawn due to undisclosed injury issues. I would expect him to be ready for the tour finale in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, Roger Federer assumes the number one seed in Paris and has a relatively good draw, although he will be challenged from the get-go with a likely second round encounter with Richard Gasquet.

Roger Federer is the top seed at the Paris Masters

Roger has Andy Murray in his half of the draw and given their head-to-head results of late you would have to give the edge to Murray should they meet here in Paris. While Roger has owned all of the major battles between these two during Grand Slam competition, Murray has a stark advantage in all other events where he leads 8-3.

On the other side of the draw, defending champion Novak Djokovic is the second seed and will open against either Sam Querrey or Juan Monaco after his first round bye. He could potentially face big serving John Isner next and then perhaps Tomas Berdych. No walk in the park for Novak.

Robin Soderling the fourth seed could see Andy Roddick in the quarter finals of that side of the draw in what would be an entertaining match. Look out for Mikhail Youzhny in that section as well who has played well since late-summer.

Other names who could make a splash this week include Gael Monfils or veteran Ivan Ljubicic who has had quite the year in 2010.

While in many ways it will be sad to close the book on another year of fantastic tennis achievements I’m sure many of you, like the players, are ready for a short and deserved break.

The ATP World Tour Finals from London take place starting November 21st and then there is the Davis Cup wrapping-up in early December.

With Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Soderling already qualified for the Finals, there are still three spots to be claimed for the year-end event.

I’m going with Youzhny, Roddick and Berdych to round out the final eight. How about you?

Mondays with Bob Greene: Kim Clijsters Wins WTA Championships

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STARS

Kim Clijsters beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 5-7 6-3 to win the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar

Gael Monfils beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-2 5-7 6-1 to win the Open Sud de France in Montpellier, France

Jurgen Melzer beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-7 (10) 7-6 (4) 6-4 to win the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria

Mikhail Kukushkin beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 7-6 (2) to win the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia

Sofia Arvidsson beat Pauline Parmentier 6-2 7-6 (4) to win the Internationaux Feminins de la Vienne in Poitiers, France

SAYINGS

“At the moment I’m kind of relieved it’s over. It seemed like it would never end. It was a tough battle. We showed some great tennis and some great fitness. I think we showed the crowd some great women’s tennis tonight.” – Kim Clijsters, after winning her third season-ending WTA Championships.

“I had to step it up, and I did and I had the momentum. I just couldn’t keep it all the way through. You know, you cannot win every match. I’ve made the finals of the Championships and I lost one match today. I’ve had a fantastic week, a fantastic year. I won six tournaments, I’ve beaten so many good players.” – Carolina Wozniacki, who lost to Kim Clijsters in the WTA Championships final.

“I’m happy with the first final, but I was up 7-6 5-3, I served for the match. I had big chances to win this title, but it’s the first time. I was a little bit nervous. Jurgen played good in this moment and I lost.” – Andreas Haider-Maurer, after losing to Jurgen Melzer in Vienna, Austria.

“I am so happy about this title, and it’s even more special because it is in France and in front of my crowd.” – Frenchman Gael Monfils, following his victory in Montpellier, France.

“Four hundred (wins) is special. It’s a lot of matches, a lot of history, but I hope I’m not going to stop here.” – Ivan Ljubicic, who won his 400th career match victory in Montpellier, France.

“It wasn’t a goal I set for myself to hit more than 1,000 aces, but I knew coming into these last three tournaments that I was close and that I was very likely to reach it. It’s pretty neat being the company of these four really good players.” – John Isner, who became the fifth player to hit 1,000 or more aces in a single season.

“It was unbelievable walking out to a standing ovation on a national holiday. It was just a great atmosphere. It’s all been worthwhile, all the practice, and it was a good start. … The main thing is that there’s no pain. I’m fit and I know I can go long matches. … It’s awesome to be back playing.” – Thomas Muster, playing his first ATP Tour-level match since 1999 and losing to fellow Austrian Andreas Haider-Mauer in Vienna, Austria

“To have the opportunity to play Pete at Madison Square Garden is thrilling. Playing in front of the New York fans has always been exciting and I’m sure Pete and I will give them something to cheer about.” – Andre Agassi, on an upcoming exhibition he will play against Pete Sampras in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

SOARING

Kim Clijsters crowned one of her best seasons by winning her third WTA Championships singles title, defeating top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 5-7 6-3 in the final. With her 40th career tournament title, Clijsters becomes only the fifth player in WTA history to win the season-ending event three of more times. Martina Navratilova won the tournament eight times, Steffi Graf five, Chris Evert four and Monica Seles three. In 2010, Clijsters won five tournaments, including her third US Open. Against Wozniacki, the Belgian mother jumped out to a 6-3 4-1 lead before her Danish opponent won seven of the next eight games, including breaking serve to begin the third set. After that, it was all Clijsters. “This may be disappointing for Caroline, but she has a great future,” said Clijsters, who during the week became the eighth player to surpass the USD $20 million career prize money mark.

It wasn’t all fun and games for Clijsters during his stay in Doha, Qatar. She escaped injury when the official car taking her to her WTA Championships semifinal match was hit by a truck that “came out of nowhere,” she said. “There was a lot of glass.” Despite the accident, Clijsters went on to defeat Samantha Stosur.

Clijsters, who left the women’s tennis tour to get married and have a daughter, said she plans on retiring from tennis again following the London Olympics in 2012 and having a second child. She told the Guardian newspaper of London that she owns a tennis club in Belgium. “We’re going through the process of rebuilding it, so when I retire from tennis that’s something that will interest me very much,” she said.

STANDING ON TOP

Despite losing in the WTA Championships final, Caroline Wozniacki finishes the year as the WTA’s top-ranked player. The 20-year-old Dane sealed the year-end number one ranking by beating Italian Francesca Schiavone in the season-ending tournament. “I’m only the 10th one to finish the year as number one, so I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved,” she said. Wozniacki won six titles this season and took over the number one ranking in October after reaching the quarterfinals of the China Open.

SET TO LEAD

Four-time Grand Slam tournament champion Jim Courier has taken over as captain of the United States Davis Cup team, replacing Patrick McEnroe. “I’ve always known, once I got a taste of playing Davis Cup, if I were given an opportunity to be the captain I would certainly want to take it,” Courier said. McEnroe served as captain for 10 years and led the US to the Davis Cup title in 2007.

Kim Clijsters

STARRING

Gisela Dulko of Argentina and Flavia Pennetta of Italy finished the season as the number one-ranked doubles team in the world for the first time. The duo captured six titles this season, including the season-ending WTA Championships. During the season the two won 17 consecutive matches, the WTA’s longest streak since March 2007. They reached the semifinals at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open.

SURPRISE

Mikhail Kukushkin was the surprise winner when he captured his first career title by upsetting top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 7-6 (2) at the St. Petersburg Open in St. Petersburg, Russia. The winner’s previous best result came in Moscow last year when he reached the semifinals. Ranked 88th in the world, Kukushkin grabbed a 6-2 lead in the second-set tie-break, and then won the title on his first match point. “I won because I was running for every ball and played solid tennis,” Kukushkin said.

SAYONARA

Elena Dementieva announced her retirement after 13 years on the WTA tour. The Russian won the Beijing Olympics singles gold medal in 2008 and 16 WTA singles titles. Twice she reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament, only to lose to a fellow Russians – Anastasia Myskina at the 2004 Roland Garros and Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2004 US Open. She won two tournaments this year, the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia, and the Open GDF Suez in Paris, France. Dementieva has been ranked inside the Top 20 for almost eight consecutive seasons and reached a career-high singles ranking of number three in the world. She also was ranked in the top five in doubles. She won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and represented Russia in 18 Fed Cup ties, leading the team to the title over France in 2005.

SWISH

John Isner has joined an illustrious group. The American slammed 12 aces in his three-set loss to Frenchman Gael Monfils in Montpellier, France, bringing his total number of aces for the season to 1,011. Isner joins Goran Ivanisevic, Ivo Karlovic, Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick as the only players to hit 1,000 or more aces in a single season. The record is 1,477 aces hit by Ivanisevic in 1996. Isner slammed more than 100 of his aces in his record-breaking match at Wimbledon against Nicholas Mahut.

SUPER SUPPORT

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian will pay former pro tennis player Lisa Bonder more than USD $10 million in back child support plus USD $100,000 a month for a child Bonder has admitted was not Kerkorian’s biological daughter. Bonder was married briefly to the casino mogul after a long relationship. She acknowledged during a child support battle that she had faked a DNA paternity test by using saliva she obtained from Kerkorian’s adult daughter. She said the biological father actually was Hollywood movie producer Stephen Bing. Kerkorian, 93, has had joint custody of the girl, who lives with her mother. Bonder, 45, was married to Kerkorian for 28 days in 1999. Once the majority shareholder of what is now MGM Resorts International, Kerkorian is the legal father of the child because the couple married.

SAYS PAY UP

India’s Supreme Court has ruled that Mahesh Bhupathi must pay taxes on money the player claims he gave his father for tennis tips before turning pro in 1995. Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar took less than five minutes to toss out Bhupathi’s appeal against an earlier verdict. The justices also refused to remove the stinging observation made by the Karnataka High Court that the agreement for payment by the son to the father was a sham transaction.

SECOND PLACE

Vera Zvonareva is the fifth Russian to be ranked in the top two in women’s tennis as she supplanted Serena Williams behind top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki. The 26-year-old Zvonareva joins Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina as the Russian players who have been ranked in the top two spots on the WTA Tour. Sharapova and Safina are the only Russians to be ranked number one.

SAYS NOT FOR PROFIT

Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt says he wasn’t trying to profit from his newborn baby when he encouraged fans to pay for a text service revealing the child’s name. The 29-year-old Hewitt instead blamed the media for putting a “spin on reality” by criticizing his use of the Text A Star service to announce the name. “Some sections of the media have, as usual, found it opportune to place some spin on reality by suggesting we have taken this approach just to make money,” Hewitt wrote on his website. “Certain media people believe that (they) are the only ones who should have an exclusive. In this instance, we made a decision that my fans deserve to know first and the general public second.” Text A Star charges subscribers $2 (Australian) per text to receive two messages a week from their favorite sports stars. It is not known how much Hewitt would make from the venture.

STOSUR HONORED

Samantha Stosur has won the Diamond ACES Award for the 2010 season. The ACES Award is given to the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote the sport of women’s tennis to fans, media, and local communities by performing off-court promotional and charitable activities. “Sam is not only one of the world’s best athletes, she is extremely aware of the opportunity of giving back to women’s tennis and connecting the sport with media and sponsors,” WTA CEO Stacey Allaster said. The ACES award was first introduced in 1995 in memory of former Tour CEO Jerry Diamond. Since then, 10 players have won the award: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Amanda Coetzer, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva and Stosur.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Doha: Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta beat Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 7-5 6-4

Montpellier: Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins beat Marc Lopez and Eduardo Schwank 6-2 4-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Poitiers: Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova beat Akgul Amanmuradova and Kristina Barrois 6-7 (5) 6-2 10-5 (match tiebreak)

St. Petersburg: Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace beat Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5)

Vienna: Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5 3-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

SITES TO SURF

Valencia: www.valenciaopen500.com/

Basel: www.davidoffswissindoors.ch/

Bali: www.commbanktennis.com/

Taipei: www.taipeiarena.com.tw/

Paris: www.fft.fr/bnpparibasmasters/2010/

Ortisei: www.itfvalgardena.com

Phoenix: www.goldwaterwomensclassic.org/

Sydney: www.thechampionsdownunder.com.au/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$1,900,000 Valencia Open 500, Valencia, Spain, hard

$1,707,000 Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland, hard

$125,000 Challenger Astana President’s Cup, Astana, Kazakhstan, hard

WTA

$600,000 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, Bali, Indonesia

$100,000 Taipei Ladies Open, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

SENIOR

The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Legends Championships, Grand Cayman

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$3,075,000 BNP Paribas Masters, Paris, France, hard

$88,000 Val Gardena – Sudtirol, Ortisei, Italy, hard

WOMEN

$75,000 Goldwater Tennis Classic, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, hard

SENIOR

The Champions Downunder, Sydney, Australia, hard

Around The Corner: Shanghai Hosts Masters 1000 Event

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By Mike McIntyre

The best men’s tennis players in the world are once again assembled as the ATP World Tour showcases their talent in Shanghai. The Masters 1000 event boasts all top twenty players in the world.

In the first quarter we have world number one Rafael Nadal who recently completed his career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open. Since then Nadal has lost a semi-final match in Thailand and is currently set to play Gael Monfils in the finals in Beijing.

Nadal gets a first round bye this coming week and will play the winner of the Gilles Simon vs. Stan Wawrinka match.

Rafael Nadal

While Nadal seemed to pace himself this year by playing fewer tournaments, he has been going full throttle during the Asian tennis swing and is perhaps due for an early round upset. Either of Simon or Wawrinka could trouble him. After his opening match Nadal could face the likes of Mardy Fish and Fernando Verdasco in the third and fourth rounds. I feel it is time for Nadal to come back down to earth with a humbling loss to one of the above players.

Andy Murray leads the next quarter and has had a less than successful 2010 season on tour. While he did finally grab his first tournament victory in Toronto in August, he failed to advance past the third round at the U.S. Open. Murray also bombed out early this past week in Beijing where veteran Ivan Ljubicic thrashed him 6-3, 6-2.

Murray could be challenged by the likes of Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Querrey or Mikhail Youzhny in his section. His recent results do not inspire confidence in his chances here this week.

On the other side of the draw Novak Djokovic has regained the number two position on the tour and likely will open in the second round against Ivan Ljubicic who has had a terrific week in Beijing making the semi-finals. Djokovic will have Gael Monfils and potentially Tomas Berdych to deal with in his quarter as well.

Finally, world number three Roger Federer will play in his first tournament since New York. It is hard to tell what we can expect from Federer after his month-long layoff, although he has played strongly since Wimbledon where he unexpectedly lost in the quarter finals.

Federer has the best draw of the top four and should get a couple of wins under his belt before having to face Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals.

I expect a strong showing from Federer who will certainly be well rested. I foresee a Federer vs. Djokovic semi-final on one side with more of an upset on the other between Verdasco and Youzhny.

Any way it ends up, it’s another great opportunity to see all of the best players in the world show us their skills. Tennis fans in Asia and those willing and able to watch at odd hours around the globe will enjoy this late season competition.

The ATP Tour Continues its Swing in Asia – Around the Corner

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By Mike McIntyre

The ATP Tour continues its swing in Asia with stops in both China and Japan this coming week. All of the top players in the game with the exception of Roger Federer will be making an appearance in either Beijing or Tokyo. Both events are at the 500 level which means bigger pay-days and bigger competition. The first Masters 1000 event of the fall is just a week away as well.

China Open:

Defending champion Novak Djokovic takes the top seed in Beijing and makes his first appearance on the Tour since falling to Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open final a month ago. Djokovic need not worry about facing the Spaniard this week but will still be pushed hard in order to advance to the finals.

Mao-Xin Gong, a Chinese wildcard, will be Djokovic’s first opponent. Given Gong’s world ranking of 353rd, I don’t think we have to worry about any potential upsets here. He gets the winner of the Mardy Fish vs. Janko Tipsarevic match in round two which will surely be a much bigger test of his abilities.

Novak Djokovic

Tomas Berdych the fifth seed could be Djokovic’s quarter-final opponent, while both Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco could await in the semis. It’s about time that Davydenko has a strong result and he has typically played well this time of year.

Gilles Simon and Sam Querrey are also lurking in the top half of a very strong draw and must face each other in the opening round.

David Ferrer and Sweden’s Robin Soderling are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals of the bottom section of the draw. Meanwhile Andy Murray will try to get back on track as the second seed and could end up meeting Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the final eight of his quarter.

Some great first round matches in Beijing include Alexandr Dolgopolov against Marcos Baghdatis, Youzhny vs. Ivan Ljubicic and the already mentioned Querrey vs. Simon.

Fans are going to be treated to some top-level tennis without a doubt this year in Beijing.

Rakuten Japan Open:

Nadal appears as the top seed in Tokyo and will try to improve upon his semi-final result this past week in Thailand where he was defeated by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.Nadal opens against little-known Santiago Giraldo in the opening round. Next he could face either Florent Serra of France or a qualifier.

The draw here in Tokyo is not quite as strong as the one in Beijing, which should allow Nadal a clear path to the finals.

Names in his half of the draw that could cause some hurdles include Ernests Gulbis, Jurgen Melzer and Richard Gasquet.

In the bottom half, Andy Roddick is the second seed. Roddick will try to return to the form that helped him knock-off the likes of Djokovic and Soderling in Cincinnati earlier this summer, rather than his lackluster performances at the last two Grand Slams. Tatsuma Ito will be the American’s first opponent followed by the winner of either Jeremy Chardy or a qualifier. I foresee Chardy giving Roddick some trouble, especially if Andy has not been getting in a lot of court time lately.

Frenchman Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsong and Michael Llodra have all been slotted into the bottom half of the draw and one of them should be advancing to the semi-finals. Perhaps Tsonga can rekindle some magic from a year ago where he won this very tournament. He is making his first tournament appearance since a quarter-final loss at Wimbledon.

This week’s tournaments boast a strong contingent of the world’s best competitors with only two players missing from the top twenty. Oddly enough both of those players, Federer and Stan Wawrinka, come from Switzerland.

The push for the final spots at the season ending Tour championships in London is about to kick-off. Time to see who has been preparing the best game plan since the U.S. Open ended.

Around The Corner: ATP Tour Shifts Focus to Europe

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The forgotten tennis season of the fall begins this week with two European events taking place. In Metz, France, there is an indoor hard-court event while in Bucharest, Romania, there is an outdoor event on clay. None of the big names are playing this week but that should come as no surprise following a hectic summer schedule and the lack of major prize money at these two ATP World Tour 250 events.

Open de Moselle

The Open de Moselle in France is a tournament that was resurrected in 2003. Previously played every two years it disappeared from the schedule in 1988. French tennis fans have much to be excited about these days with 6 players in the top 50 in the world, and 12 players in the top 100.

Gaels Monfils

Gael Monfils is the defending champion and defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in the finals a year ago. Seeded second, he is the favorite in my opinion, especially after a strong showing in New York at the U.S. Open.

Marin Cilic is seeded first but has had such an inconsistent season that I can’t see him coming through here this week.

Other notable names include 2005 winner Ivan Ljubicic who is seeded third and fourth seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

BCR Open Romania

Romania hosts a rather sparse draw of clay-court talent led by top seeded Albert Montanes. Montanes captured the title a year ago and has the luxury of a first round bye. He could very well face Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals, a match that I believe will produce the champion in this year’s edition. Chardy could have played the hard court event in his home country of France but made the wise tactical move to enter the field in Bucharest instead.

Third seeded Potito Starace and fourth seeded Juan Ignacio Chela are also in the mix.

Looking further ahead on the ATP World Tour schedule reveals two tournaments in Asia next week in Thailand and Malaysia followed by larger events in China and Japan. The Masters event in Shanghai begins October 10th and that is where I expect we see all of the big names together again.

Roddick Loss, Harrison Win – The Start of the Changing of the Guard in US Men’s Tennis?

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Is there a changing of the guard happening in American tennis?

Andy Roddick, the man who has held the torch for American tennis since his US Open victory in 2003, suffered his earliest loss in a Grand Slam tournament since 2008, losing in the US Open second round Wednesday night to Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in a match that finished at 11:59 pm.

Andy Roddick

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Ryan Harrison, who many target as the future of American tennis, registered his first victory in his first match ever in a Grand Slam tournament with 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4  win over No. 15 seed Ivan Ljubicic earlier on Wednesday

The previous symbolic changing of the guard in American men’s tennis came in 2001 and 2003, when an 18-year-old Roddick beat Pete Sampras in straight sets in the round of 32 at the 2001 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne and two year later when Roddick won the 2003 US Open, the same event that kicked off with the official retirement ceremony for Sampras.

Against Tipsarevic, the No. 9-seeded Roddick became went off on a verbal tirade after being called for a foot fault during the third set and, he has done consistently through his career, tried to use the event to fire himself up to try to get himself back in to the match. Roddick last lost in the second round of a major at Wimbledon two years ago — also to Tipsarevic. His earliest US Open losses were in 2005 and in his debut Open in 2000.

“He was in a groove,” Roddick said of Tipsarevic. “He was taking risky cuts at the ball and it seemed like all of them were dropping.”

Harrison, meanwhile, impressed with his solid play against Ljubicic, the former top five player who won one of the biggest hard court events of the year in Indian Wells, Calif., in March.

“To win on this stage here and to take out a top 20 player in the world is the biggest win of my career,” said Harrison, who advanced into the main draw with three wins in the qualifying tournament. “I’ve always believed in myself. I have always had confidence in myself, so obviously I’m extremely excited and really pleased with what happened.”

Harrison competed in the US Open Wild Card Playoffs two weeks ago in Boca Raton, Fla., where he lost in the final to Tim Smyczek. After the loss, he won three matches in the US Open qualifying rounds to earn his entry into the 128-player field.

“Playing on these courts week before, winning matches builds confidence and that builds winning,” he said. “Getting used to the courts and used to playing a certain style of play helped me an extreme amount going into today.”

Harrison, ranked No. 220, said that Roddick has been one of his biggest supporters. “Every time I see him, he’s always been extremely helpful and really talked to me a lot about some of the things he experienced when he was first coming up,” Harrison said. “Andy has always been great about making sure that I keep working hard. Most of the time he’s talking to me about working on certain parts of my game, basically taking me aside and saying, ‘Look, this is going to make you win now in Futures and Challengers, but you won’t be able to do this in two years. So you’re gonna need to work on this.”

He did not hold back when asked where he wants to stand in the scope of American tennis.

“Absolutely I want to be that guy,’ said Harrison. “I’ve qualified and still have a ways to go to get there, but I’m definitely working has hard as I can. I’m really putting all the work in. I’m trying to stay open minded with everyone who is giving me their opinion and really trying to listen as much as possible and take in as much as advice as I can.”

By Bob Stockton