Li Na

Before Qinwen Zheng and Li Na, This Famous Personality From China Loved His Tennis (Until A Goat Ate His Net!)

January 25, 2024 by Admin

Before Qinwen Zheng and Li Na, there was another great personality from China who was almost equally passionate about tennis. It was Chairman Mao Tse-Tung….

There is much attention focused on tennis in China with the success of Zheng, following in the footsteps of Li Na, the first Chinese player to win a major singles titles at the French Open in 2011 and at the Australian Open in 2014.

It is interesting to know that Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and its ruler until his death in 1976, was also an enthusiastic tennis player and that he played in a lot more tiring environments. Bud Collins, the one-and-only and irreplaceable tennis personality, author and Hall of Famer, wrote of Chairman Mao in the “They Also Serve” biography section of his authoritative book “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” which is for sale and download here: https://a.co/d/9V197JJ

Wrote Collins in his “tome” of Mao, “Chairman Mao’s biographer, Edgar Snow, reported that the chairman enjoyed playing tennis with comrades in Shensi Province after his army had survived the famed, brutal Long March of 6,000 miles in 1935. Unfortunately his tennis career ended when a goat ate the net. That must have gotten his goat. But he would have been proud of Zi Yan and Jie Zheng, first Chinese ladies to win majors, Australian and Wimbledon doubles, 2006. Mao was born December 26, 1893 in Shaoshan Xiang Tan, Hunan Province, China and died at the age of 82, September 9, 1976 in Beijing.”

John Isner Wins Hall of Fame Open For Record Fourth Time – Mondays With Bob Greene

July 22, 2019 by Admin

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

John Isner beat Alexander Bublik 7-6 (2) 6-3 to win the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island, USA

Nicolas Jarry beat Juan Ignacio Londero 7-6 (7) 6-4 to win the Swedish Open in Båstad, Sweden

Dusan Lajovic beat Attila Balazs 7-5 7-5 to win the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag, Croatia

Fiona Ferro beat Alizé Cornet 6-1 2-6 6-1 to win the Ladies Open Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland

Elena Rybakina beat Patricia Maria Tig 6-2 6-0 to win the RRD Bucharest Open in Bucharest, Romania

Evgeny Donskoy beat Sebastian Korda 7-6 (5) 3-6 6-4 to win the President’s Cup in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

SAYINGS

“She overcame every hurdle in front of her, and nothing was going to stop this amazing woman from becoming a champion.” – Max Eisenbud, in introducing China’s Li Na at the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

“I will do all I can to inspire, to help more young and upcoming players in the hope that they can enjoy this amazing sport.” – Li Na, after becoming the first Asian-born player to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“Dreams are like fuel, and my dream was to one day win the French Open.” – Mary Pierce, the 2000 French Open champion who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“It means that I did it because of hard work. All my success came because I did work hard.” – Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who with Li Na and Mary Pierce was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“My very first ATP Tour event was here in 2007 and I didn’t enjoy the courts that much back then because I didn’t know how to play on them. To say that I’ve won this event four times isn’t something I thought would be possible.” – John Isner, who did just that, winning the Hall of Fame Open for the fourth time.

“When you play a friend the emotions always take over.” – Fiona Ferro, after beating Alizé Cornet in the Lausanne, Switzerland, final.

STARS ON PARADE

In a third-round match at the 2006 US Open, China’s Li Na crushed Mary Pierce of France 4-6 6-0 6-0. It was Pierce’s last match of her career, but one she remembered. “Look where we are today,” Pierce said in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, where she and Li were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Also inducted was Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov. In a strange twist of fate, all three won the same two Grand Slam tournaments – the French and Australian Opens. Li is the first Asian-born player to be inducted into the tennis shrine. Now 37, she won the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open. “I started (at) about 8 years old, but I hated tennis,” Li said. “Not bad, at least I’m standing here right now.” Pierce won the Australian Open in 1995 and the French Open in 2000. Kafelnikov, who is described as “one of the most dominant Russian players of his generation,” won the French Open in 1996 and the Australian Open in 1999. He also won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics and led Russia to the Davis Cup title in 2002. “I know now what it is to be a Hall of Famer,” Kafelnikov said. “I will carry that responsibility for the rest of my life, and hopefully I won’t disappoint you.”

SUPER JOHN

Grabbing the big trophy in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, has become habit-forming for John Isner. The top-seeded American became the first player to win the Hall of Fame Open four times, his latest triumph coming over seventh-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. It is Isner’s first title of the year, but that could because he broke his left foot while losing the Miami Open final to Roger Federer. The Newport event was his second tournament back, and he survived three-set battles in three of his four matches during the week. Not so in the final where Isner converted all three of his break points in the 76-minute victory. Bublik got the first break and served for the opening set, only to double-fault to send the set to a tiebreak. Isner easily won the tiebreak 7-2, then cruised to his 15^th ATP Tour singles title.

SWEDISH OPEN CHAMP

Riding his big-serving game, Nicolas Jarry fired 10 aces to win the Swedish Open, joining his grandfather as an ATP Tour winner. The 23-year-old from Chile didn’t drop a set in the clay-court tournament, stopping Juan Ignacio Londero in the final. “It was a really tough match,” Jarry said. “There was a lot of wind and I couldn’t manage to play as well as the other days, but (with) titles, you have to win them as you can and I am really happy to be able to pull this one off.” Playing in his third career final, Jarry won for the first time. His grandfather, Jaime Fillol Sr., captured six tour-level titles between 1971 and 1982, reaching a career-high ranking of 14^th in the world in 1974. “I have been working for this for a long time and it really means a lot,” Jarry said. “We are a big team back home and I really appreciate everybody that has been behind me for a long time.”

SWISS TOGETHERNESS

When the two French club teammates battled, it was the “little sister” who won her first WTA singles title in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fiona Ferro needed three sets to beat Alize Cornet, who described her conqueror as “like my little sister on the tour.” The victor clinched the title with her seventh break of serve in nine chances. “It was a very tough match against a fellow French player and a friend,” Ferro said. “It was very difficult to stay calm and to stay in the moment.” It was the 22-year-old Ferro’s first tour final. Cornet was the defending champion, although last year’s event was held in Gstaad, Switzerland. The loss snapped Cornet’s Swiss winning streak at nine matches. She was aiming to defend a title for the first time in her career.

SUCCESSFUL

Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina had no problems capturing her first WTA Tour title, the BRD Bucharest Open, dropping just two games in crushing Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig in the final between two unseeded players. Rybakina, who turned 20 a month ago, overpowered her opponent, hitting 30 winners against just 14 unforced errors. The only time she appeared to be in trouble came in the sixth game of the match when Tig had a chance to break back and level the score at 3-3. Instead, Rybakina held and never lost another game. Tig went through qualifying after returning from two years off the tour due to injuries and becoming a mother. Unfortunately, she was unable to show off her strong game in her eighth match of the week.

SNARES FIRST TITLE

This time, Serbian Dusan Lajovic came away with his first ATP Tour title, beating qualifier Attila Balazs to win the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. Four months ago, Lajovic reached his first tour-level final at an ATP Master 1000 event, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, before falling to Italy’s Fabio Fognini. Lajovic dropped just one set during the week, but swept his Hungarian opponent in straight sets in the title match. Balazs was trying to become the first qualifier to capture an ATP Tour title this season Five years after retiring from tennis, Balazs was contesting his first tour-level final.

SIMONA’S REWARDS

When she returned home, the newest Wimbledon champion, Simona Halep, was honored by Romania’s presidency as well as the Orthodox Church. The 27-year-old Halep is the first Romanian player to win a Wimbledon singles title. “I did the best I could, and that’s why I managed to win,” Halep said during a welcoming ceremony at the Bucharest international airport. The presidency awarded her the Star of Romania, while the church gave her the Patriarchal Cross, its highest distinction. “Simona is to many of the young a symbol of industriousness, perseverance and hope,” Patriarch Daniel, the head of the Romania Orthodox Church said. “We are happy to highlight that all of her achievements are the expression of a talent cultivated through sustained, constant effort.” Besides the cross, Patriarch Daniel also gave Halep a Bible. Among those welcoming Halep back to Romania were two former Romanian tennis stars, Ilie Nastase and Ion Tiriac. Halep also was selected to be the Romanian flag-bearer at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

SERBIAN HONORS

Novak Djokovic has been proclaimed “king of tennis” by the Serbian press after he captured his fifth Wimbledon title by beating eight-time champion Roger Federer. “Novak, King of Tennis,” the Blic daily newspaper proclaimed in a front-page headline. “The fifth Crown for the King,” the Vecernje Novosti newspaper, reported. The Danas daily newspaper said the match offered the public “all that can be seen in a perfect tennis match … suspense, drama and a happy ending … for Djokovic.”

SET FOR CITI OPEN

Fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff, who surprisingly reached the third round at Wimbledon, will be at the Citi Open in Washington, DC, USA, whether she is playing or not. Because of her ranking, the teenager does not qualify for either the main draw or the qualifying event. And, because she has already used her maximum allotment for her age group of three wild cards, she is ineligible to gain entry into the tournament that way. Whatever the outcome, Gauff will host the Citi Open Kids’ Day on Sunday, July 28. “Coco’s fairytale run at Wimbledon captured the hearts of fans worldwide and Washington DC cannot wait to host her first post-Wimbledon tennis appearance back in the United States at the City Open,” said Mark Ein, who owns management rights for the tournament. “We hope she gets into the qualifying but if not, we will provide our community and her fans a great opportunity to meet her and watch her play and practice as she prepares for the US Open.”

STRAIGHT TO THE BANK

The US Open will set another payoff record this year. The year’s final Grand Slam tournament will pay out more than USD $57 million, the richest in tennis history, and each singles champion will receive a record USD $3.85 million. The record payout also includes the winning men’s and women’s doubles champions, who will each split USD $740,000. Even the first-round losers in the singles main draw will have a hefty paycheck: USD $58,000. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said it will also may a payment of USD $500,000 to support the ATP and WTA Tour player programs, including pensions. The US Open will be played August 26 through September 8.

SHE’S EXONERATED

Saying she played “professionally from the first to the very last point” in her first-round Roland Garros loss, Anna Tatishvili has been exonerated by the Grand Slam board. Returning to play at the French Open following a 31-month absence due to a serious ankle injury and several surgeries, the 29-year-old American was stripped of her entire USD $52,000 prize money when she lost 6-0 6-1 to Maria Sakkari in just 55 minutes. Officials claimed she had failed to play at a “professional standard.” But Tatishvili appealed what she called “the unfair and discriminatory sanction,” pointing out that a male player lost a qualifying match in 43 minutes and was not sanctioned. “The Grand Slam Board has reversed the sanction imposed on me at the 2019 French Open, acknowledging I played ‘professional from the first to the very last point’ and returning to me all the prize money that I earned,” she tweeted. “So happy the question of my performance is settled and I can move on with my tennis career. Excited to be back in competition.”

STINGING REBUKE

Bernard Tomic’s fine of USD $56,241 for not playing to “required professional standards at Wimbledon was upheld by the Grand Slam Board. Tournament organizers ruled that the Australian put in minimal effort in his 6-2 6-1 6-4 first-round loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 26-year-old Tomic appealed the decision, saying he was not feeling well before the match. In refusing to overturn the original decision, the board criticized Tomic’s tennis career. “A review of your historical record of misconduct at Grand Slams, never mind elsewhere, provides little justification for an adjustment,” board director Bill Babcock wrote in the decision letter that was published by The New York Times. “In your case, Bernard, I am sure you would agree there is no historical evidence to give comfort to the theory that you can reform your behavior.” Babcock said if Tomic goes without sanction in his next eight Grand Slam tournaments then he would be refunded 25 percent of the fine. Tomic said he would appeal the decision further.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Båstad: Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen beat Federico Delbonis and Horacio Zeballos 6-7 (5) 7-5 10-5 (match tiebreak)oracio Zeballos 6-7 (5) 7-5 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Bucharest: Viktoria Kuzmova and Kristyna Pliskova beat Jaqueline Cristian and Elena-Gabriela Kuse 6-4 7-6 (3)

Lausanne: Anastasia Potapova and Yana Sizikova beat Monique Adamczak and Han Xinyun 6-2 6-4

Newport: Marcel Granollers and Sergiy Stakhovsky beat Marcelo Arevalo and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela 6-7 (10) 6-4 13-11 (match tiebreak)

Nur-Sultan: Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov beat Chung Yunseong and Nam Ji Sung 6-4 6-4

Umag: Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald beat Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer 7-5 6-7 (2) 14-12 (match tiebreak)

SURFING

Hamburg: http://www.hamburg-open.com/

Atlanta: https://www.bbtatlantaopen.com/

Gstaad: https://swissopengstaad.ch/fr/

Jurmala: http://balticopentennis.com/

Palermo: https://www.palermoladiesopen.com/en/home/

Washington: https://www.citiopentennis.com/

Los Cabos: https://abiertoloscabos.com/en/home/

Kitzbühel: https://www.generaliopen.com/

San Jose: http://www.mubadalasvc.com/

Karlsruhe: https://karlsruheopen.de/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$2,090,770 Hamburg European Open, Hamburg, Germany, clay

$777,385 BB&T Atlanta Open, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, hard

$660,463 J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open, Gstaad, Switzerland, clay

WOMEN

$250,000 Baltic Open, Jurmala, Latvia, clay

$250,000 Palermo Ladies Open, Palermo, Italy, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,046,340 Citi Open, Washington, DC, USA, hard

$858,565 Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemax, Los Cabos, Mexico, hard

$657,526 Generali Open Kitzbühel, Austria, clay

WOMEN

$876,183 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic, San Jose, California, USA, hard

$250,000 Citi Open, Washington, DC, USA, hard

$125,000 Liqui Moly Open Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, clay

John Isner and his family — John Isner and family

Li Na, Mary Pierce and Yevgeny Kafelnikov Elected For Induction Into International Tennis Hall of Fame

January 20, 2019 by Admin

Chinese tennis great Li Na, France’s Mary Pierce, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, each a two-time Grand Slam singles champion among their many career accolades, have been elected for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Li Na, China’s first global tennis star, reached the world No. 2 ranking and was a champion at both the French Open and the Australian Open. Pierce is a former world No. 3 in singles and doubles, and four-time major champion, having won a singles title at the Australian Open, singles and doubles titles at Roland-Garros, and a mixed doubles title at Wimbledon. In addition to his two major singles titles, Kafelnikov is a former world No. 1, Olympic Gold Medalist, and the winner of four major doubles titles.

The new inductees will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 24 in a special ceremony in Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open, joined by many other Hall of Fame tennis legends who will gather to welcome them for the first time as Hall of Fame inductees. The ceremony will take place at approximately 6:40 pm, just ahead of the first evening match.

In becoming Hall of Famers, Li Na, Pierce, and Kafelnikov join an elite group of just over 250 individuals hailing from 23 nations who have received the honor, which recognizes their careers as being among the most accomplished and impactful in the history of tennis. The three are being inducted in the Player Category. This is not a year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame’s other two categories – Contributor and Wheelchair.

“It’s a pleasure to congratulate Li Na, Mary Pierce, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and to welcome them into the International Tennis Hall of Fame,” stated Hall of Fame President Stan Smith. “They are three incredibly hard-working athletes who set and achieved goals at tennis’ highest levels. This is a well-deserved honor, and we look forward to celebrating them as Hall of Famers in Newport in July.”

Li Na, Pierce, and Kafelnikov will be officially inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 20, during Hall of Fame Weekend in Newport, Rhode Island.

New for 2019, ticket packages for Hall of Fame Weekend, inclusive of the Induction Ceremony and other special events, are on sale now on tennisfame.com/enshrinement.Individual Induction Ceremony tickets will go on sale on February 1.

For more info on online betting UK, go to https://www.olbg.com/

A Detailed Look At International Tennis Hall of Fame Nominees

September 11, 2018 by Admin

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Before you participate in the new “fan voting” for the International Tennis Hall of Fame, read this!

I have been in some discussions via my Twitter profile @TennisPublisher about statistics with regard to what is a “Hall of Fame worthy” resume through the years.

I have generally felt that winning two major singles tournaments gets you into the Hall of Fame. You could also win only one major singles title but could also get in if you reached a few other major finals and reached the No. 1 ranking in the world and won over 20 singles titles. Doubles specialists would probably have to win at least eight major doubles titles with at least one from each of the four. Winning the Davis Cup / Fed Cup and an Olympic medal should also help in giving you consideration.

Fans can go to vote.tennisfame.com to submit their votes. The deadline for fans to vote is October 7.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

2 majors singles titles (1996 French Open, 1999 Australian Open)

1 major singles runner-up finish

4 major doubles titles (1996, 1997, 2002 French, 1997 US Open)

26 career singles titles

27 career doubles titles

Career high singles ranking: No. 1

Davis Cup titles: 2002

Olympic accomplishments: Won Olympic gold in singles in 2000

Other: First player from Russia, man or woman, to rank No. 1 and win a major singles title. The last man to win singles and doubles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament at the 1996 French.

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: By comparison, Kafelnikov’s career is better than his fellow Russian Marat Safin, who was inducted in 2016. Safin also won two majors and reached No. 1 in the world like Kafelnikov, but no doubles majors, but won 11 fewer singles titles, 25 fewer doubles titles and did not win an Olympic medal, like Kafelnikov’s gold in Sydney. Kafelnikov’s record is also on par with the record of two major winners Ilie Nastase and Stan Smith and is certainly better than Michael Stich, this year’s inductee, who won one major (albeit Wimbledon) and reached two other finals, did not reach No. 1 in the world, won eight less singles titles, 17 fewer doubles titles.

Kafelnikov was not a popular player with a “bad guy” image so you could also compare him to that of Ilie Nastase, who, like Kafelnikov won two majors (the French and US Opens) and was also world No. 1.

Goran Ivanisevic

1 major singles title (2001 Wimbledon)

3 major singles runner-up finishes (1992, 1994 and 1998 Wimbledon)

0 major doubles titles

22 career singles titles

9 career doubles titles

Career high ranking: No. 2

Davis Cup titles: 2005

Olympic accomplishments: At the Olympic Games in Barcelona, he won won bronze medals in both singles and doubles for Croatia, a state that had only recently declared independence. In order to earn his single bronze medal, he won four straight five-set matches, a unique feat in the open era.

Other: Reached at least the quarterfinals at all four majors, including the semifinals at the US Open in 1996

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Andy Roddick and Michael Chang are worthy comparisons here as each also entered the Hall of Fame with only one major title and multiple runner-up showings at majors (Roddick 3 Wimbledon final losses and 1 U.S. Open final loss and Change 1 U.S. Open final loss and 1 French Open final loss). Like Chang, Ivanisevic reached No. 2 in the world. Chang won 34 singles titles, Roddick won 32 and Ivanisevic won 22. Ivanisevic also won 9 doubles titles and won two Olympic medals.

Sergi Bruguera

2 major singles titles (1993, 1994 Roland Garros)

1 major singles runner-up finish (1997 Roland Garros)

0 major doubles titles

14 career singles titles

3 career doubles titles

Career high ranking: No. 3

Davis Cup titles: 0

Olympic accomplishments: Silver medal at the 1996 Olympics

Other: Reached at least fourth round at all four majors, but not past the fourth round other than the French. Opened the door to an armada of Spanish greats, including Al Costa, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Patrick Rafter, like Bruguera, won two majors and back-to-back as he did at the 1997 and 1998 US Opens. Rafter also reached two other major finals at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001 (and reached at least the semifinals at the French and Australian) which is better than Bruguera’s other runner-up finish at the French and fourth-round finishes elsewhere. Rafter reached the No. 1 ranking famously for only one week, which tops Bruguera’s career high of No. 3. They are virtually equal in singles titles as Rafter won three fewer titles than Bruguera with 11. The Spaniard, however, does have an Olympic silver medal, which adds to his case. Jan Kodes is a fair comparison to Bruguera. Manuel Orantes, a fellow Spaniard like Bruguera, only won a single major title at the 1975 U.S. Open and only played one other major final at the French in 1974, which is not as good a record as Bruguera, despite Orantes winning 36 singles titles to Bruguera’s 14. Yannick Noah is another one-Slam inductee to compare to. He only won the 1983 French and only reached one other semifinal at a major at the 1990 Australian. Noah did win 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles and reached a career singles ranking of No. 3 and No. 1 in doubles. Noah’s personality as a global ambassador certainly helps his cause as a Hall of Famer.

Thomas Muster

1 major singles title (1995 Roland Garros)

0 major singles runner-up finish

0 major doubles titles

44 career singles titles

1 career doubles titles

Career high ranking: No. 1

Davis Cup titles: 0

Olympic accomplishments: Did not compete

Other: Reached two Australian Open semifinals (1989, 1997) and three US Open quarterfinals but was 0-4 in his career at Wimbledon. Despite his reputation as one of the best clay court players ever, he only reached the French Open semifinals twice – in 1995 en route to the title and in 1990, losing to Andres Gomez.

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Again, once can compare Muster and his one major title with that of Andy Roddick and Michael Chang. Muster was No. 1 in the world and won 44 career titles to Roddick’s 32 and Chang’s 34. Roddick, however, reached four other major finals. Chang also reached two other major finals, losing to Muster in the 1995 French final, and his career-high was one-rung lower at No. 2.

Also, Muster’s credentials should be compared to Yannick Noah, who also won his only major at the French in 1983. Muster won 21 more singles title than Noah and had a high

Yannick Noah is another one-Slam inductee to compare to. He only won the 1983 French and only reached one other semifinal at a major at the 1990 Australian. Noah did win 23 singles titles and 16 doubles titles and reached a career singles ranking of No. 3 and No. 1 in doubles.

Jonas Bjorkman

0 major singles titles

0 major singles runner-up finishes

9 major doubles titles (career Grand Slam in doubles)

6 career singles titles

54 career doubles titles

Career high singles ranking: No. 4 (No. 1 in doubles)

Davis Cup titles: 3

Olympic accomplishments: No medals

Other: Reached two career major singles semifinals (1997 US Open and 2006 Wimbledon) and won a career Grand Slam in doubles (3 Australian, 2 French, 3 Wimbledon, 1 U.S. Open)

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Todd Woodbridge won 16 majors doubles titles, which is seven more than Bjorkman. Woodbridge won 83 doubles titles, 29 more than Bjorkman. Woodbridge also reached a major semi in singles at Wimbledon in 1997. Mark Woodforde won 12 major doubles titles, five more than Bjorkman and won 67 doubles titles, 13 more than Bjorkman, and also reached a Grand Slam semifinal in singles at the Australian Open in 1996. “The Woodies” also won Olympic gold and silver as a team.

Mary Pierce

2 major singles titles (1995 French, 2000 Australian)

3 major singles runner-up finishes (1994, 2005 French Open, 1997 Australian Open)

2 major doubles titles (2000 French doubles, 2005 Wimbledon mixed)

18 career singles titles

10 career doubles titles

Career high singles ranking: No. 3

Fed Cup titles: 2

Olympic accomplishments: No medals

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Let’s compare Pierce with fellow Frenchwoman and Hall of Famer Amelie Mauresmo, who also won two major singles titles (2006 Australian Open and 2006 Wimbledon) but Piece reached three more major finals than Mauresmo. Mauresmo won 25 career titles, which is seven more than Pierce, but Pierce won seven more doubles titles, including the 2000 French doubles title. Pierce only reached a career high of No. 3, two rungs lower than Mauresmo’s career high of No. 1.

Li Na

2 major singles titles (2011 French Open, 2014 Australian Open)

1 major singles runner-up (2013 Australian Open)

0 major doubles titles

9 career singles titles

2 career doubles titles

Career high singles ranking: No. 2

Fed Cup titles: 0

Olympic accomplishments: Fourth-place at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Other: The first player from China to win a major singles title. Her final-round matches were watched by more people than perhaps any tennis match in the history of the world, being seen alone by over 100 million people in China (Super Bowl like numbers in that country alone). She is a major reason why there has been such an explosion in interest in tennis in China.

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Amelie Mauresmo again can be a comparison here as she also won two major singles titles. Li Na reached an additional major singles final and won only nine career singles titles (against 25 for Mauresmo), which is a low number for a potential Hall of Famer.

Conchita Martinez

1 major singles title (1994 Wimbledon

2 major singles runner- up finishes (1998 Australian, 2000 French Open)

0 major doubles titles

33 career singles titles

13 career doubles titles

Career high singles ranking: No. 2

Fed Cup titles: 5

Olympic accomplishments: 3 Olympic medals in doubles, silver in Barcelona, bronze in Atlanta, silver in Athens

Other: Won five Fed Cup titles for Spain alongside Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, which is fourth-place all time.

Current Hall of Famer Career Comparison: Jana Novotna also won one major singles title (at 1998 Wimbledon), reached two other final-round finishes, a career high ranking of No. 2 and three Olympic medals just like Martinez. Novotna has 24 singles titles to 33 for Martinez. However, Novotna won 12 major doubles titles (and four in mixed doubles) and won 76 doubles titles (to 13 for Conchita). Novotna won one Fed Cup title to five for Conchita.

Wuhan: The Future of Tennis in China

November 1, 2016 by Admin

Ever since Steven Simon became WTA CEO, ten events have been staged not only in Taiwan and Hong Kong but across Mainland China. The Elite Trophy Zhuhai is the eighth tournament on the women’s circuit to take place in Mainland China. The sportsbetting tennis odds of Mainland China hosting such events were never high, to begin with.

As such, events like the Elite Trophy Zhuhai have silenced a lot of naysayers. With other premier 5 events typically hosted in cities like Dubai and Rime, some fans have wondered how Wuhan ever came to host the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

One would probably point to Wuhan’s determination to elevate its status in China and the world over. Home to 10 million people, the fact that Li Na, Asia’s only grand slam champion, came from Wuhan probably acted as a driving force.

Octagon, the sports agency that owns the Premier 5 tournament, began talking to Wuhan’s municipal government in 2012 about the possibility of leasing the tour shortly after Li Na won her first slam and became the second-highest-paid female athlete in the world.

Li Na’s retirement in 2014 disappointed fans but didn’t derail talks, especially when $225 million was availed to build a state of the art tennis facility in Wuhan. Some pundits hoped that Li Na would get to play on home soil, but that won’t happen.

None the less, the investment paid off; Tennis has become the vehicle through which Wuhan’s name has gained recognition, mentioned alongside the likes of Cincinnati and Toronto. If properly executed, the massively expensive branding exercises could soon put Wuhan on the same level as Beijing, Shanghai, and other significant Chinese cities.

Of course, seeing as the tournament is still new and the stadium is situated in a developing area, it is only natural for Wuhan to struggle to attract a big live audience. Rarely do they come close to filling the 15,000 seats of the stadium in any given session.

According to Steve Simon, Wuhan must change the tournament from a typical competition to an event. It isn’t enough to simply mimic the goings-on of tournaments in bigger cities.

Fans must be educated about Tennis until they gain a sense of familiarity. The empty seats often seen on TV do not help the WTA; unfortunately, the attendance issue won’t be resolved anytime soon.

Even if the attendance were to rise, though, Wuhan would still struggle to attract new international partners.

The tour is such a massive investment that it will be several years before those involved can begin breaking even or profiting; more international partners would help Wuhan contend with the financial aspects of the tournament, especially taking into account the new infrastructure rising in the city. The investment is simply too massive.

Attracting interest would probably be easier if Li Na was still playing tennis. She sparked a tennis revolution in China during the peak of her popularity. Right now, Wuhan is depending on initiatives like the Amateur City League Club (which engages 3,000 players in nearly two dozen Chinese Cities) to spread the Tennis Culture.

If Wuhan continues pushing tennis in China, and with the WTA establishing a position in the Chinese marketplace, the tour could continue to expand in the region. The key is to host enough tennis events in China to make Tennis commonplace, but without over saturating the market.

There must be a balance of sorts, especially if Wuhan is to recoup its investment in the long run.

Di Wu Looks To Make More Tennis History For China At The US Open

August 23, 2016 by Admin

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

A man representing China has never made the singles main draw in the history of the U.S. Open tennis championships. However, two men are looking to make an historic mark in New York for the world’s most populous country before the tournament officially kicks off next week.

Di Wu and Yan Bai are two of 128 players men competing in the U.S. Open qualifying tournament that began Tuesday at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. The tournament will determine 16 men – and 16 women in a 128-player women’s qualifying tournament – that will join the main draw of the final Grand Slam event of the year that starts Monday, August 29.

Wu won his opening round match on Tuesday 6-0, 4-6, 6-2 over David Perez Sanz of Spain. (Wu spoke on video with me after his win here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJBZJfFuiA) Bai plays former Wimbledon junior champion Noah Rubin of New York on Wednesday.

Not only has there never been a man representing China in the singles main draw at the U.S. Open but there also has never been a man ranked in the Top 100 of the ATP World Tour rankings. In the August 22 rankings, only two men from China are ranked in the top 200 – Ze Zheng as the top ranked Chinese man in singles at No. 174 and Di Wu at No. 178. Zheng is not participating in the U.S. Open qualifying tournament. Bai is ranked No. 273.

“He is getting closer,” said Wu’s coach, the former Italian standout player Davide Sanguinetti, of his charges attempt to crack the top 100, a mendoza line of pro tennis.

Wu is 24 years old and lives in Shanghai, but was born in Wuhan, China, also the birthplace of the Li Na, the icon of tennis in China as the first-ever Chinese player to win a major singles title at the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open. Li Na is the player by which all of Chinese tennis is measured, leading the charge of the more successful history of Chinese women in pro tennis. Currently there are three Chinese players in the top 100 (Shuai Zhang, Saisai Zheng and Qiang Wang). Jie Jheng and Peng Shuai have negotiated their ways to major semifinals and the pair of Chinese women have also excelled at the Olympic Games with Tian Tian Sun and Ting Li winning women’s doubles gold in 2004 in Athens, Greece.

Wu reached a career-high ranking of No. 148 in March of this year, but has struggled the last few months with a virus that has slowed his progress, according to Sanguinetti. He started this year by advancing through the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open, where he lost in the first round to Austin Krajicek of the United States. Wu had made men’s tennis history for China at the Australian Open in 2013 and 2014 as the first man representing China to play in the singles main draw there (and at any other Grand Slam tournament) after winning a special wild-card tournament open to players from Asia two years in a row. In 2014, Wu reached the final round of qualifying at the U.S. Open but fell one match shy of history losing to Illya Marchenko of Ukraine.

After the Australian Open this year, Wu became the first man representing China to win on the Challenger level of professional tennis – the equivalent of AAA level of Major League Baseball – winning the Maui Challenger in Hawaii. Wu not only won the title, but won a bet with his coach Sanguinetti, who was forced to shave his head in a motivational stunt after Wu’s win. A former top 50-ranked pro who helped Italy to the Davis Cup final in 1998, Sanguinetti has been working with Wu for a year. He likes the progress his charge is making as he and his countrymen race to try and become the first Chinese man to rank in the top 100.

“They are all competing to go to the top 100,” Sanguinetti said. “Hopefully, there will more (Chinese) players so there will be competition and they will be pushing each other. They really think every time when they step on the court ‘I would like to be the first one.’ Of course, the first one will be remembered. I think there is a little pressure there.”

Australian Hard Court Season Preview

January 2, 2015 by Admin

The tennis season is always one that shoots out of the blocks quickly. Each year, barely past its first month, the young tennis year has already witnessed its first major in the form of the Australian Open. Therefore, with only three weeks before a Grand Slam, the first cluster of tournaments are always ferociously competed. Players are painfully aware that they have no time to gently ease themselves into the season. The Australian hard-court season may be short, but it is never without a long list of definitive moments. With 2014 proving somewhat of a watershed moment for numerous players, the 2015 season looks poised to be one of the most exciting in recent memory. So, to whet your appetite, here is a look at a few of the most crucial events within the first month of the tennis season.

Sydney

This dual event has been the premier warm-up tournament of the Australian Open for decades. Moreover, this tournament takes place in one of the most beautiful, varied and vibrant cities in the world. Sydney has everything from a world-famous opera house to a huge, internationally respected casino. For entertainment away from the court at other events on the tennis calendar, you may have to be content with playing mobile games in your hotel room with the likes of Net Ent casinos. But in Sydney there’s no need for compromise (not that there’s anything wrong with Net Ent casino games, a list of which you can find online here: PureNetEnt.com slot games!) In fact, the Star Casino, the second-largest gambling establishment in Australia, has just undergone a $475 million redevelopment, and is definitely worth a visit during your trip to the city.

The Australian summer is famous for its oppressive heat, which means that even the fittest of players are known to have resorted to low-percentages plays, and dangerous shot-selection, to minimize their time on court. Fans will surely remember last year’s titanic semi-final between Sergiy Stakhovsky and home favourite Bernard Tomic. Stretching over three competitive sets, this scorching contest featured both players desperately attacking the net as they wilted under the Australian sun. This year the event will be headlined by temperamental Italian Fabio Fognini and rising star David Goffin.

Brisbane

This small tournament has grown in both prize money and quality of competitors in recent years. Indeed, in 2015, Brisbane’s prize money of $100,000,000 has eclipsed the offering by Sydney to make the tournament the most lucrative warm-up on the calendar. To match this top prize, organisers have secured top player and living legend Roger Federer to headline the event for the second successive year. It seems that Federer, still wounded over his surprise loss to dogged Lleyton Hewitt last year, is determined to finally add Brisbane to his impressive haul of titles. Brisbane’s intimate arena means that the action often feels equally personal and intense, whilst its positioning in the first week of the season means that it often features a surprise or two. Besides Federer, 2015’s tournament features a duo of rising stars in the form of US Open finalist Kei Nishikori and Wimbledon semi-finalist Milos Raonic.

Australian Open

The first Grand Slam of the year was once shunned by tennis’ elite but is now a firm favourite amongst players. However, the coming event will be tinged with sadness as defending champion and fan favourite Li Na will be unable to defend her title due to her shock retirement last year. But, Na’s absence aside, this laid back-yet-atmospheric tournament should live up to its reputation as the most unpredictable of tennis’ majors. Last year saw five-time champion Serena Williams fall to erratic Ana Ivanovic while former world number one Rafael Nadal suffered numerous mental lapses, and a serve back injury, in his tense loss to Stan Wawrinka. In 2015, the event will feature a returning Nadal, fading Federer, uneven Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all attempting to re-establish the crumbling dominance of the Big Four. Moreover, WTA fans will be questioning if this will be Venus Williams’ final appearance in Melbourne, whether Maria Sharapova can once again become a threat outside the clay-court season and if Victoria Azarenka will regain the form that took her to the top of the rankings.

Li Na Calls It A Career, Victoria Azarenka A Season – Mondays with Bob Greene

September 22, 2014 by Admin

STARS

Ana Ivanovic beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 7-6 (2) to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan

David Goffin beat Joao Sousa 6-4 6-3 to win the Moselle Open in Metz, France

Karolina Pliskova beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-2 to win the Kia Korea Open in Seoul, South Korea

Monica Niculescu beat Alizé Cornet 6-4 6-0 to win the Guangzhou International Women’s Open in Guangzhou, China

Borna Coric beat Malek Jaziri 6-1 6-7 (7) 6-4 to win the Izmir Cup in Izmir, Turkey

DAVIS CUP

World Group Playoffs, winner promoted to World Group in 2014: Serbia 3, India 2 at Bangalore, India

SAYING

“This is a tough decision to make for me, even harder than playing the Grand Slam matches. But I think this is about the right time to say goodbye to everyone, because my body doesn’t allow me to participate in any high-level tennis matches.” – Li Na, a two-time Grand Slam tournament champion, announcing her retirement from tennis.

“There were some very tough moments, especially in the second set. But I just tried to take it one point at a time, and I’m really happy to make it through. It’s just an amazing feeling to win this title.” – Ana Ivanovic, after capturing the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

“I think it’s very tough to play against me because I put many balls back and run a lot and fight for every ball. I think in this heat and humidity it’s definitely not easy to play against me.” – Monica Niculescu, following her victory in Guangzhou, China.

“This is very special because my family was here today. That’s the advantage of playing close to home. Winning my second title feels just as good as the first one. I’m very happy.” – David Goffin, after winning the Moselle Open.

“Even if I lost today, it was a great week for me as well, reaching the final. I hope that I can come back next year and hopefully go one step further.” – Joao Sousa, who lost to David Goffin in the final at Metz, France.

“I have been trying my best to improve day in and day out by pushing and pushing … but that does not appear to be the best approach for me right now. I will use this time to work on making a full recovery and take care of my body to compete at my best next season.” – Victoria Azarenka, announcing she will miss the rest of the year and try to recover fully from her injuries.

“Since returning from the US Open my team and I have decided that right now it is best for me to take a break from professional tennis.” – Ashleigh Barty, an 18-year-old Australian announcing she is stepping away from the sport.

SPEAKING OUT

The tennis world speaks out on the retirement of China’s Li Na.

“A sad day for tennis but I’m sure your future will be bright and the star you left on our sport will never dim.” – Serena Williams.

“It’s definitely sad, sad news. We’re going to miss such a great champion and such a great character. We love having her on the tour. She’s such a nice person and has brought so much to tennis in Asia and the world. We’re going to miss her a lot.” – Ana Ivanovic.

“Her speech after winning the AO (Australian Open) title was the best speech I have ever seen and heard.” – Aleksandra Krunic.

“One of the funniest players on tour, great humor, hard worker and a true champion.” – Melanie South.

“It’s sad to hear Li Na is retiring. I think everybody is sad about it. She had a great career, though, and it’s really not easy to recover after so many knee surgeries. We’re all going to miss her. I hope to see her at tournaments. She’s very funny. She’s just a great girl.” – Monica Niculescu.

“Great player and even better person! Always funny and smiling, inspired millions of people around the world! We will miss you.” – Lucie Safarova.

“It’s hard to be a household name in a nation with 1.4 billion people, but that’s what Li is.” – Stacey Allaster, WTA Tour chief executive.

“What an honor/pleasure it was competing against this great champion/person.” – Kim Clijsters, in a Twitter.

“Li Na, one of the funniest and nicest players on tour! A great competitor and a role model both on and off the court! You will be missed!! An exciting new chapter starts today!” – Caroline Wozniacki.

SAYONARA

Saying she has no regrets, Li Na said goodbye to the tennis tour. Winner of two Grand Slam tournament titles, the Chinese superstar said surgery on her knees were the reason she decided to stop playing. “After the surgery in July, I tried very hard to recover, hoping I can make it to participate in tennis matches in China, especially the Wuhan Tennis Open which is the first-ever big tennis match in my hometown,” Li said. “However, this is my fourth big surgery, and with my age and physical state, it is hard for me.” Li won the French Open in 2011 to become Asia’s first Grand Slam tournament champion. She won her second major in January in her third trip to the Australian Open final. “I’m very satisfied with my tennis career,” the 32-year-old said. She only entered seven tournaments after winning in Australia, and she hasn’t played since being stopped in the third round at Wimbledon. Citing a knee injury, she withdrew from three tournaments in August, including the US Open. “I feel this is the best time for me to retire, she said. “I don’t feel sorry or have any regrets about retiring. When I was making this decision I asked myself, ‘If I retire, will I regret it?’ My heart told me I wouldn’t, because I’ve done my best.”

Li, who was the first Chinese player to win a WTA title, the first to break into the top 20 and, by being ranked second in the world became the highest-ranked singles player from Asia, man or woman, knows what’s in her future. “What I really want to do now is try to set up a tennis school of my own and do basic things to help build up the base for Chinese tennis,” she said. “Like a pyramid, I believe only with a solid base Chinese tennis can have a better future.” And she knows what that future holds. “Keep an eye out. They’ll be coming,” she said. “Maybe even better than me.”

SEASON TO SAVOR

There’s no Grand Slam tournament title this time around, but 2014 is Ana Ivanovic’s best year yet. The 2008 French Open winner beat another former number one player, Caroline Wozniacki, to capture the Toray Pan Pacific Open, the 15^th WTA title of her career. It was Ivanovic’s 52^nd match win of the year – the most she’s ever had in one season – and her fourth WTA title of the year, another personal best. “Caroline played a great match today,” Ivanovic said. “It was a really good battle out there.” After four consecutive breaks to begin the match made it 2-all, Ivanovic won 17 consecutive points to capture the opening set. That seemed to get Wozniacki started. The Dane broke serve and was two points from taking a 4-1 lead. In another dramatic turn over events, Ivanovic won five of the next eight games to push the set to a tiebreak, which the Serb won 7-2. “I really tried to come into the net and finished a lot of points at the net,” Ivanovic said. “I am happy because Wozniacki is a great defensive player and she gets a lot of balls back.” It was the Serb’s first Toray Pan Pacific Open title in her eighth trip to the tournament. “I tried to serve and return well,” Wozniacki said. “I tried to play the first couple of balls out wide so she has to run for it. But Ana was playing very aggressively.” Both finalists are in the running for next month’s season-ending WTA Finals, which features the world’s top eight players. “I’m really happy that this is one step closer to the WTA Finals in Singapore,” Ivanovic said. “It’s coming close and everything’s on the line.”

SPECIAL WEEK

David Goffin has been a world-beater since Wimbledon, and proved it by capturing the Moselle Open title. The 23-year-old Belgian has won 34 of his past 36 matches, including his first ATP World Tour trophy in Kitzbühel, Austria, in July and three ATP Challenger Tour titles. Since falling to Andy Murray in the opening round at Wimbledon, Goffin has compiled a 17-2 record. On his way to the Moselle final, he upset top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1-6 7-6 (5) 7-5. He only needed two sets to stop Joao Sousa in the title match and earn his 50^th career tour-level win. Having finished 2013 ranked 113^th in the world, Goffin is now in the top 35 in the rankings. Goffin joins Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic was players born in the 1990s who have won multiple ATP World Tour titles.

SEASON OVER

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka will miss the rest of this year as she attempts a full recovery from injuries. “Unfortunately I will not be competing in any tournaments for the remainder of the season,” the 25-year-old Belarusian said on her Facebook page. “It has been a very tough year for me.” Azarenka won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, and she reached the US Open final both years. But this year the former world number one has struggled with foot and knee troubles and has seen her singles ranking plummet to 25^th in the world. She announced her season had ended after withdrawing from this week’s Wuhan Open in China, citing a foot injury.

SECOND TITLE

Heat and fatigue weren’t the only things Monica Niculescu overcame to capture her second career WTA title. The Romanian trailed Alizé Cornet 4-2 in the opening set of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open final before rallying to win 10 straight games. “I was so happy to finish in the end because it was very hot and very humid, and I was very, very tired,” Niculescu said after her win. “But to finish so strong was amazing for me. I have many emotions right now, but most of it is joy and confidence. It’s my second WTA title and that’s just an amazing feeling.” The 26-year-old champion did not drop a set the entire week while losing just 17 games in the five matches. Cornet, on the other hand, committed 12 double faults. “I had a good feeling about this tournament when I entered it,” Niculescu said.

SIZZLING

Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski – a duo known as “Polish Power” – finally captured the Moselle Open doubles crown. The two were runner-up in both 2007 and 2008 to Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra. And the Polish pair hadn’t won any title in 14 months, the last coming in July 2013 in Hamburg, Germany. This time, though, they bested Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen to collect their 15^th title as a team. “Recently we haven’t won much,” Fyrstenberg said. “It’s always great to have a title. It’s very refreshing and you get confidence. Hopefully it’s not over.” Fyrstenberg and Matkowski were playing in their 38^th tour-level final together. Draganja and Kontinen, playing in just their second ATP World Tour tournament together, were bidding for their first team title.

SUCCESS, FINALLY

It took a while before Karolina Pliskova finally took home the big trophy at the end of the tournament. Ranked 32^nd in the world and seeded second in the Seoul, Korea, event, Pliskova was finally successful in her fourth WTA final of the year, needing three sets before stopping American Varvara Lepchenko. The 22-year-old Czech had lost three singles finals this year – the latest coming against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki at the WTA Hong Kong Open last Sunday – before finally prevailing. It was her second WTA title. Lepchenko reached the title match after knocking off defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals and fellow American Christina McHale in the semifinals.

SITE SELECTED

France and Switzerland will clash in the Davis Cup Final in Lille, France, November 21-23. The tie will be played indoors under a retractable roof at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. The stadium has a capacity of more than 50,000, but a court will be set up at one end with seating capacity around 27,000. The largest attendance for a Davis Cup Final was in 2004 when 27,200 spectators watch Spin defeat the United States at Olympic stadium in Seville, Spain. “Lille will be a spectacular setting for one of the most eagerly anticipated Davis Cup Finals in years,” ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said. The tie will feature Switzerland’s Roger Federer, winner of a record 17 Grand Slam tournament titles, and 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka going against a strong French squad that could include, among others, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet.

STAYING HOME

Former Wimbledon junior girls singles champion Ashleigh Barty is taking a break from tennis. The 18-year-old Australian, saying she needs to take time out, offered no reason for the layoff or when she might return. Teamed with Casey Dellacqua, Barty reached the women’s doubles final at three Grand Slam tournaments in 2013 – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. But she has had difficulty in singles, her highest ranking being 129^th in the world in 2013, but currently at 216^th. She received eight wild-card entries into Grand Slam tournament singles events before qualifying for this year’s US Open, where she lost in the first round to 30^th-seeded Barbora Zahlavova Strycova. Barty has not played since and, for the time being, has no plans to play again.

SIDELINED

Spain’s Nicolas Almagro won’t return to the tennis court until next year. The 29-year-old under surgery on his left foot in July, and is still recovering. He has withdrawn from the Shanghai Rolex Masters and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Almagro last played at Roland Garros in May, losing in the first round to American Jack Sock. He reached the semifinals in Houston, Texas, USA, earlier in the year as he compiled a 14-9 record on the ATP World Tour. Almagro is currently ranked 28^th in the world.

SENIOR FIELD

Former French Open champion Iva Majoli will compete in the four-player WTA Legends Event during the WTA Finals in Singapore. Majoli won the clay court Grand Slam tournament in 1997. Others in the select field include 18-time Grand Slam tournament winner Martina Navratilova; Tracy Austin, who won the US Open in 1979 and 1981, and 2013 Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli in the inaugural WTA Legends Event.

STATOIL MASTERS

American Andy Roddick will make his debut at the Statoil Masters Tennis event at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Great Britain, December 3-7. Roddick won the hearts of British tennis fans when he lost a 16-14 final set to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2009. Greg Rusedski has also announced that he will return to the ATP Champions Tour event. Also in the field will be Tim Henman and Mark Philippoussis. Others will be announced later. Besides competing in the ATP Champions Tour event, Roddick and Rusedski will join Henman, John McEnroe, Kim Clijsters and Sabine Lisicki for the Mylan World TeamTennis Smash Hits tennis charity event co-hosted by Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King on December 7. It is the first time the event will be held outside the United States and will raise money for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

SELECTED

Mark Stenning and Ed Woolard have been named Life Trustees of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. Stenning had been CEO of the Hall of Fame until earlier this year, when he stepped down. Woolard has been a longtime supporter of the Hall of Fame in numerous capacities, most recently serving as vice chair of the organization’s Capital Campaign.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Guangzhou: Chuang Chia-Jung and Liang Chen beat Alizé Cornet and Magda Linette 2-6 7-6 (3) 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Izmir: Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski beat Malek Jaziri and Alexander Kudryavtsev 6-1 6-4

Metz: Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski beat Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen 6-7 (3) 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Seoul: Lara Arruabarrena and Irina-Camelia Begu beat Mona Barthel and Mandy Minella 6-3 6-3

Tokyo: Cara Black and Sania Mirza beat Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro 6-2 7-5

SURFING

Kuala Lumpur: www.malaysianopentennis.com/2014/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopen.com/

Wuhan: www.wuhanopen.org/

Beijing: www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/index.shtml

Tokyo: www.rakutenopen.com/

Mons: www.ethiastrophy.be/fr/accueil

Sacramento: www.sacchallenger.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$910,520 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hard

$590,230 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China, hard

$137,895 Open d’Orléans, Orléans, France, hard

WOMEN

$2,139,320 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Wuhan, China, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$2,500,470 China Open, Beijing, China, hard

$1,228,825 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, Tokyo, Japan, hard

$137,895 Ethias Trophy, Mons, Belgium, hard

$100,000 Sacramento Challenger, Sacramento, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

$4,720,380 China Open, Beijing, China, hard

Wimbledon’s First Week – Serena, Li Na Tumble – Mondays with Bob Greene

June 29, 2014 by Admin

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Wimbledon

(First Week)

Alize Cornet beat top-seeded Serena Williams 1-6 6-3 6-4

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat second-seeded Li Na 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5)

Marin Cilic beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-6 (5) 6-4 7-6 (6)

Kaia Kanepi beat seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-2

Andrey Kuznetsov beat seventh-seeded David Ferrer 6-7 (5) 6-0 3-6 6-3 6-2

Bojana Jovanovski beat eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-3 3-6 7-5

Lucie Safarova beat 10^th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-2

SAYING

“If I’m not playing a great, great match, these girls, when they play me, they play as if they’re on the ATP Tour.” – Serena Williams, after losing to Alize Cornet.

“Right now, she doesn’t have her usual ability to respond and turn matches around. It was obvious when she trailed 3-0 in the second set. Nothing happened.” – Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ coach.

“In my opinion there are more and more players understanding how to play her.” – Alize Cornet, after upsetting Serena Williams in the third round at Wimbledon.

“You don’t get sick of coming out here and playing Wimbledon.” – Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion who played in his 61^st major tournament.

“When you go on court and you lost last year in the first round, the year before in the second round, ‘’m not going to lie, it stays in your mind.” – Rafael Nadal, who won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010 and reached the second week this year.

“All his shots just started to be much more hard, powerful and more aggressive. It was like a different player.” – Mikhail Kukushkin, who lost to Rafael Nadal after winning the first set.

“We have a good relationship. That’s important because at the end tennis is only a game. The relationships are in my opinion more important than a game.” – Rafael Nadal, talking about how he and the other top three players – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – remain friendly despite the pressure of competing under extreme pressure for big prizes.

“People have been trying to retire me since I was like 25. For some reason in tennis we always do that to our players. It’s weird. We don’t encourage them to stick around. It’s like, ‘Get out of here.’ So I’m not getting out of here.” – Venus Williams, saying her future plans are to continue playing.

“I love to play on grass and I have great memories of 2011 here at Wimbledon. I’m pretty confident, but everyone is playing well at this stage.” – Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, following her victory over Venus Williams.

“I’m quite happy with the way I’ve gone about things so far.” – Maria Sharapova, following her third-round 6-3 6-0 victory over American Alison Riske.

“If someone tells me that some machine doesn’t work just because of the light, and that we don’t have enough, so why we have to play?” – Tomas Berdych, who lost in the fading light that caused the electronic Hawk-Eye review system to stop working.

“Luckily for me it was only an impact that had a minor effect on the joint and the muscles around, but no significant damage that can cause a bigger problem. I just came from the doctor’s office, had ultrasound. It’s all looking good.” –Novak Djokovic, after falling heavily onto his left shoulder during his match against Gilles Simon.

“I think sometimes I don’t know how to play the point (on grass), especially in the important moment. Today I made a lot of mistakes. I was always waiting (or) wishing for the opponent to make mistakes. But today it didn’t work.” – Li Na, following her third-round loss to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

“It’s definitely nice to feel like you’re mentally happy out there when you’re on the court.” – Maria Sharapova, when asked if her relationship with fellow player Grigor Dimitrov was helping her win on the tennis court.

“The important thing is to fight, play with the right tactic and wait for the luck.” – Rafael Nadal, on what it takes to win.

“Maria Bartoli.” – The public address announcer blundering when announcing last year’s Wimbledon’s women’s singles champion Marion Bartoli.

“Get rid of vampires? My God. Umpires? I thought something else. I thought vampires in the way the people who are surrounding and sucking the energy out of players. That’s what I meant. Umpires, no. Without umpires it wouldn’t work. So please delete it. No, umpires. Cannot work without umpires. I thought it was vampires. You know what I mean?” – Ernests Gulbis, who misheard a question regarding John McEnroe’s comments about umpires.

“I don’t think really for anybody that it’s a surface that anybody can say they play their best tennis on grass. I think it’s a matter of playing less worse than you do on other surfaces.” – Milos Raonic.

SLUMPING SERENA

It’s becoming habit-forming for Serena Williams, early-round losses at the Grand Slam tournaments. The world’s top-ranked player lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Alize Cornet of France 1-6 6-3 6-4. It was the earliest departure from the grass-court major for Serena since she lost to fellow American Jill Craybas in the third round in 2005. It was also Cornet’s second win over Williams this year, beating the American inn Dubai. This time, when her victory was complete, Cornet dropped to her knees and killed the grass. “I few years ago I couldn’t even play on grass. I was so bad,” the Frenchwoman said. “To beat Serena at Wimbledon, wows, it is just a dream. It is the biggest upset in the tournament because she is the world number one and has won here so many times.” There had been a four-hour rain delay, but the five-time Wimbledon champion had returned to complete her romp through the opening set. After that it was all Cornet. “Right now I don’t really know what I did wrong,” Williams said. “Usually I do. Usually I know I did this and that. I have a few ideas, but this will be a really good one for me to kind of like assess and figure out.” While she piled up the unforced errors and her serve was off, Serena admitted what everyone else has been saying. “I just have to always, every time I step on the court, be a hundred times better,” she said. “If I’m not, then I’m in trouble.”

SINKING SIGHT

Tomas Berdych was going for his 100^th Grand Slam tournament match win when he took on Marin Cilic. He will have to wait until the US Open if he’s going to reach that milestone as the 26^th-seeded Croatian upset the sixth-seeded Berdych 7-6 (5) 6-4 7-6 (6) in fading light. “I was very fortunate to be able to win that one,” Cilic said. “It was very close, especially that third set. I have to say that Tomas stayed in the match unbelievably mentally.” The match, played on Court 3, didn’t finish until 9:38 p.m., the latest a match has ever been played at the All England Club outside of Centre Court, which has lights. The dwindling light even caused the electronic Hawk-Eye system to stop working. “It was very, very dark in the tiebreak,” Cilic admitted. Besides having to deal with his opponent and the deepening gloom, Berdych was upset with a linesman for constantly making the wrong calls. “I lost all the will to talk to that guy anymore,” Berdych said. “I saw so many mistakes from him. I ask him (the umpire) three times to change the guy. All he said (was) ‘No, everybody can make mistakes. He’s a great linesman. He’s doing a great job, so give him a chance.’ … Then the end of the match basically there was a third call, and then I look at the line … and there was the same guy. He (the umpire) just put him on another line.” When Berdych went to challenge the call, he was told that was not an option because Hawk-Eye had stopped working due to the lack of light. “I didn’t even have the energy to talk to him when we should stop,” Berdych complained. “I just lost all the will to talk to him anymore.”

SO LONG, JELENA

There’s something about the Wimbledon grass and Jelena Jankovic as opponent that makes Kaia Kanepi a different player. The Estonian upset the seventh-seeded Jankovic in the opening round of this year’s grass-court Grand Slam tournament. It was the third time Kanepi has beaten her Serbian opponent, and the third time Kanepi has beaten a Top 10 opponent at Wimbledon. She also beat Jankovic at the US Open in 2010. Kanepi is a former Top 15 player and a six-time Grand Slam tournament quarterfinalist, including at Wimbledon in 2010 and 2013. Kanepi wasn’t as fortunate this year, dropping her second-round match to Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3 3-7 (4) 6-2.

SLIPS AWAY

Twice Lleyton Hewitt staved off match points. But in the end it was Jerzy Janowicz who prevailed in their five-set battle, winning 7-5 6-4 6-7 (7) 4-6 63. “Even though I felt like I was starting to turn the match around throughout the fourth set, you’re only sort of a few points away from him opening it again,” said Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002. “That’s what happened. He saved a couple of big break points first game of the fifth, then he sort of took it upon himself to take the match out of my hands.” The match took two days to finish, play having been suspended at 4-4 in the second set the first day due to rain. Janowicz, who was seeded 25 at this year’s Wimbledon, considered his victory over the veteran Hewitt a big win. “It’s a really good win for me,” said Janowicz, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year. “I think Hewitt is a really dangerous player. Doesn’t matter how old he is and doesn’t matter his ranking, he’s an extremely good player, especially on grass. I was a little bit unlucky in the third set tiebreak. I took a small risk on the second serve when I had the first match point. I missed like by four centimeters, and the next match point he played winner down the line backhand exactly middle of the line. But luckily I played an unbelievable fifth set, and I’m really happy.”

STREAK SNAPPED

Sloane Stephens was riding a streak of reaching the second week at six consecutive Grand Slam tournaments. This ride ended at Wimbledon when she was ousted in the opening round by Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-2 7-6 (6). Stephens saved five matches points in the 11^th game, sending the second set into a tiebreak. But it was Kirilenko who prevailed. Seeded 18^th this year, Stephens held the longest active run of fourth-round appearances at majors by a woman, dating to a semifinal showing at the Australian Open. All of that’s gone now, however. Whileher Grand Slam tournament match record is 31-12, she is just 55-54 everywhere else.

SAM’S NEMESIS

Wimbledon just isn’t Samantha Stosur’s cup of tea. The 2011 US Open champion lost her first-round match at Wimbledon to Yanina Wickmayer, the sixth time in her 12 appearances at the All England Club that the Australian has failed to reach the second round. Stosur has never gotten past the third round at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. She recently dropped her coach Miles Maclagan after the two were together for just seven months. She said she is not in a hurry to hire a replacement. “By no means a rush … I want to really take my time and think about it and make sure I’m doing the right thing,” Stosur said. “There’s probably a handful of coaches that you might want to think about. They’ve probably all got jobs.”

SHARAPOVA SURGES

With the top two seeded players gone, Maria Sharapova is putting on a strong bid to capture her second Wimbledon and her second straight Grand Slam tournament title. The 27-year-old Russian has been on cruise control through the first week of the year’s third major tournament, dropping just seven games in three matches. When American Alison Riske lost the first set of their third-round match 6-3, it was the most games Sharapova had given up in any first-week match. “I’m quite happy with the way I’ve gone about things so far,” Sharapova said. “I’m happy I’ve gone further than last year, erasing those memories and trying to form new ones.” Seeded fifth, the Russian is seeking a rare French Open-Wimbledon double.

STUPID RULE

Fabio Fognini is gone from the men’s draw at Wimbledon. He didn’t go quietly. The Italian was fined USD $27,500 by Wimbledon for unsportsmanlike conduct during his first-round match. Then, after losing to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in a second-round battle, the Italian complained about the All England Club’s all-white clothing policy. “The only things I don’t like are the rules, Wimbledon’s rules, the white color,” Fognini said. “Today I crashed the racquets against my knee because the court is really soft and I can damage it a lot.” Seeded 16^th, Fognini also complained about his match being put on a small court. “It’s strange because in the first round (against a qualifier) I play on Court number 18,” the Italian said. “Today, I am 16 and he is 20 and we play on Court 17. But I don’t really care.”

STEADY SCHEDULE

It is normal at Grand Slam tournaments that players see action every other day: in 14 days the finalists will have played seven matches. Tell that to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Frenchman played five consecutive days at Wimbledon before finally getting a day off. That’s because the tournament’s 14^th seed had his first two matches each completed over two days at the All England Club. His third-match was much quicker. He defeated Jimmy Wang of Taiwan 6-2 6-2 7-5 in one hour, 43 minutes.

SHOULDER STOPPER

CoCo Vandeweghe finally won a match at Wimbledon. Finally. The American had suffered first-round losses in her first three trips to the grass court Grand Slam tournament. This year, she finally won – but needed 13 match points to finally knocked off Garbiñe Muguruza, the Spanish player who upset Serena Williams at Roland Garros. “It was a tough match and it was crazy at the end,” said Vandeweghe, who also beat Muguruza in a Wimbledon warm-up event the week before. “The toughest part for me was that I played her the week before. I knew she would come out even more fired up because of the recent memory of her loss.” Vandeweghe, who won the TopShelf Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, increased her grass-court match win streak to eight before falling to Tereza Smitkova of the Czech Republic 6-3 7-6 (4) in the second round at Wimbledon. “There was too many (match points) too count,” said Vandeweghe, who currently is ranked a career-best 51st in the world. “After having all those chances and then losing it to come back, bounce back, and hold, I don’t think, before in my past matches, mentally I would have been able to come back. Because to be honest, coming in here I was a little bit mentally fried.”

SKIPPING A MISTAKE

China’s Li Na said her biggest mistake came before The Championships at Wimbledon even began. After losing her third –round match 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5) to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, Li said it was her preparation that let her down. “I think I made the wrong decision,” said Li, who skipped a Wimbledon warm-up event for the first time in six years. “I need to play some matches before the big one. You know, it is not only about technique. I think sometimes I don’t know how to play the point, especially in the important moment. I think today I make a lot of mistakes.” Grass admittedly is Li’s least-favorite surface, “I always play Eastbourne every year, but it is always rain, windy,” she said. “I say, ‘OK, I cannot practice in that.’ I make a decision. I say: ‘Oh, maybe I should change a little bit.’ I come here pretty early to try to play on the grass court.” Li has won two Grand Slam tournaments – Roland Garros in 2011 on clay and the Australian Open in January on hard courts.

SURFING

Wimbledon: www.Wimbledon.com

Wimbledon Tennis: www.wimbledontennis.co.uk/

Braunschweig: www.sparkassen-open.de

Contrexeville: www.open88.org

Biarritz: www.tournoi.fft.fr/openboqdfsuez

Båstad: http://men.swedishopen.org/

Stuttgart: www.mercedescup.de/

Newport: www.halloffametennischampionships.com/

Bad Gastein: www.gastein-ladies.at/

Bucharest: www.brdbucharestopen.ro/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

Wimbledon, Wimbledon, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$144,861 Sparkassen Open, Braunschweig, Germany

WOMEN

Wimbledon, Wimbledon, Great Britain, grass (second week)

$100,000 Lorraine Open 88, Contrexeville, France, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$571,617 SkiStar Swedish Open, Båstad, Sweden, clay

$571,617 Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany, clay

$474,005 Hall of Fame Championships, Newport, Rhode Island, USA, grass

WOMEN

$226,750 Nurnberger Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria, clay

$226,750 Bucharest Open, Bucharest, Romania, clay

$100,000 Open GDF Suez de Biarritz, Biarritz, France, clay

Shockers Shred Women’s Draw, Swiss Men at Roland Garros – Mondays with Bob Greene

June 1, 2014 by Admin

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

(French Open – First Week)

Garbiñe Muguruza beat top-seeded Serena Williams 6-2 6-2

Kristina Mladenovic beat second-seeded Li Na 7-5 3-6 61

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-0

Ajla Tomljanovic beat third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-4

Ernests Gulbis beat fourth-seeded Roger Federer 6-7 (5) 7-6 (3) 6-2 4-6 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-7 (3) 6-1 9-7

Eugenie Bouchard beat eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-2

Martin Klizan beat ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori 7-6 (4) 6-1 6-2

Samantha Stosur beat ninth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-4

SAYING

“I’m going to go home and work five times as hard to make sure I never lose again.” – Serena Williams, after losing to Garbiñe Muguruza.

“I just couldn’t kind of figure it out.” – Roger Federer, after losing to Ernests Gulbis.

“I think it was the biggest, probably, win of my career.” – Ernests Gulbis.

“I was trying to find my game, trying to find to be aggressive, trying to find anything – and I didn’t. – Stanislas Wawrinka, the Australian Open champion after losing his first-round Roland Garros match.

“Always wanted to play him on clay and see how good he is. He showed me a lesson today.” – Robby Ginepri, after losing to Rafael Nadal 6-0 6-3 6-0.

“I think that tennis is a sport where we should be able to think. This is really truly what I think. It’s physical, it’s mental, there are strategies. Otherwise, you know, it’s just about keeping an eye on the clock.” – Rafael Nadal, complaining that chair umpire Pascal Maria is a stickler for a rule that limits players to 25 seconds before they must serve.

“That’s a surprise for everyone,” – Simona Halep, after it was mentioned that at number four she is the highest seeded player remaining in the women’s singles.

“The performance was great from the start till the end. I came with the exact level of intensity that I was looking for before the start of the match.” – Novak Djokovic, after his easy 6-1 6-4 6-1 fourth-round victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“I really believe in my skills. I believe I can play with the best girls out there.” – Eugenie Bouchard, an 18-year-old Canadian who was still in the running for the Roland Garros women’s singles title when the second week started.

“I’m so happy to be back in the quarterfinals. It’s such a special tournament for me. It’s a big step, but when you get there it will get more difficult. Hopefully I will raise my level.” – Maria Sharapova, after beating Samantha Stosur in a fourth-round match.

“Mentally I have already switched to the grass, to be quite honest. For me, it’s like, ‘OK, clay-court season was fun, but we are moving on.’” – Roger Federer.

“I’ve had ups and downs (since the Australian Open). That’s why I’m saying I am not at the level of (Novak) Djokovic, (Rafael) Nadal, (Roger) Federer, because they have been around for many years and they win everything. I know I’ll have the level. I could defeat them, but it’s different. I need to put the puzzle back together, find solutions, because the pressure is different.” – Stanislas Wawrinka.

“You care. I don’t care. I don’t have to write. … So write whatever you want, whatever you feel. Because for me, the only thing that matters to me is I won today.” – Rafael Nadal, when asked after his first-round match if he or Novak Djokovic was the man to beat at Roland Garros this year.

“After eight times that he has won here, I think he deserves that role.” – Novak Djokovic, when asked if Rafael Nadal was the favorite to win Roland Garros.

“It doesn’t go week by week. I don’t know who’s talking all the time, but Rafa is the favorite, and then Novak, and then the rest. It’s very clear.” – Roger Federer, when asked who should be the favorite to win the men’s singles at Roland Garros.

“You know, my playing memories end at Wimbledon. My last point was the ace on match point. The rest of the hard drive is erased.” – Marion Bartoli, who played three more matches after winning Wimbledon last year and before retiring from tennis.

SCENE OF THE FUTURE?

The face of women’s tennis changed dramatically on the Parisian red clay of Roland Garros. In a week like no other in Grand Slam tournament history, four of the top five women in the world rankings were sent off to prepare for their grass-court campaigns, having been ousted from the year’s second major event. Gone were top-ranked Serena Williams, number two Li Na, number three Agnieszka Radwanska and number five Petra Kvitova. Also eliminated before the second Monday of the two-week tournament were eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber and ninth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova.

The first three rounds included the ousters of former French Open champions Serena Williams (2013 and 2002), Li Na (2011), Francesca Schiavone (2009) and Ana Ivanovic (2008), as well as former world number ones Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki.

The new faces going into the second week include 18-year-old Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, 20-year-old Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, 21-year-old Sloan Stephens of the United States and 22-year-old Simona Halep of Romania. The veterans are led by Maria Sharapova, who won Roland Garros two years ago, former number one Jelena Jankovic and 2009 French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova. But only one will be standing when the red dust settles on Saturday.

The men’s seeds were also thinned in the first eight days of play, just not nearly as much as the women. But missing are Switzerland top two players – Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, who was seeded third at Roland Garros this year, and 17-time major winner Roger Federer. Also gone was ninth-seeded Ken Nishikori of Japan, who played in Paris despite an injured hip.

With the losses of Wawrinka and Li Na, it was the first time in history that both the men’s and women’s Grand Slam singles championships lost in the first round of the next major. And it was the first time since tennis turned professional in 1968 that the top three seeds in the women’s draw have failed to qualify for the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.

SERENA VS. VENUS KAYOED

This year’s draw could have resulted in the Williams sisters meeting each other in the third round, bringing back memories. In 2002, the two met in the final at Roland Garros, with Serena winding up with the bigger trophy. This year, however, neither reached the third round. “I felt like this was a match that I was most likely going to win,” Venus said. “I’m sure – I don’t know how Serena felt, but I’m sure she feels like that every time she goes on the court. So I think our expectation was to play in the next round.” Instead, it was their conquerors – Garbiñe Muguruza beat Serena, 19-year-old Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia ousted Venus – who met in the third round with Muguruza winning 6-2 6-4. “I think she played really well and she played really smart,” Serena said of Muguruza. Asked about her 2014 campaign so far, Serena said: “My first few months I don’t think have been great at all. I haven’t gotten past the fourth round of a Grand Slam this year. I have a couple words to describe it, but I think that would be really inappropriate so I’m going to leave it at that.”

STREAK ENDS

One by one, Roger Federer’s incredible records are coming to an end. His streak of nine consecutive quarterfinals at the French Open was ended by Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who pounded out a 6-7 (5) 7-6 (3) 6-2 4-6 6-3 victory over the fourth-seeded Swiss. It was Federer’s earliest exit from Roland Garros since he was beaten in the third round by Gustavo Kuerten in 2004. Since then, Federer had reached the quarterfinals in a record 36 consecutive major tournaments, a streak that ended at Wimbledon last year when he was ousted in the second round. The Swiss master also has Grand Slam tournament streaks of 10 consecutive finals and 23 straight semifinals. Even Gulbis was humbled by his victory over the 32-year-old Federer. “I’m sorry I had to win,” Gulbis told the crowd following the match. “I know all of you like Roger.”

SAY BYE-BYE

With the top two players, Serena Williams and Li Na, sitting on the sidelines, the road to the Roland Garros women’s singles title appeared to be wide open for the tournament’s number three seed, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. But those earlier upsets proved to be the boost the 21-year-old Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia needed. “After seeing the two first seeds go out, you kind of feel you can do this too,” Tomljanovic said after knocking off Radwanska 6-4 6-4. “I grew up with these girls who are beating them. I went into the stadium for the first time, and she (Radwanska) kind of feels like home there, because she’s been there a lot more than I have. I went out there and inside I really thought I could win. I think that showed and it is why I won.”

STUMBLE BY STAN

He is the reigning Australian Open champion, a player who has posted victories over the top two players in the world this year. But the brilliant playmaking that has taken Stanislas Wawrinka to number three in the world was missing when he took to the court for his first-round match at Roland Garros. Two hours and 23 minutes later, Wawrinka had fallen to unheralded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-0. Wawrinka became the highest seeded man to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros since third-seeded Andy Roddick lost to Igor Andreev in 2007. He also was the first Australian Open champion to lose in the first round of the subsequent Roland Garros since Petr Korda in 1998. Before the year’s second Grand Slam tournament began its two-week run, Wawrinka had been tabbed as possibly the first man to win the Australian Open and French Open back-to-back since Jim Courier in 1992. Instead, it was Wawrinka who self-destructed, making 62 unforced errors to just 28 for his opponent. “Now it’s a different picture for my career,” Wawrinka said. “I need to put the puzzle back together, but differently than in the past, because now, after winning a Grand Slam, a Masters 1000, being number 3 in the world, everything is different, and I still didn’t find all the pieces.”

SEESAW RESULTS

Li Na has a somewhat strange relationship with Roland Garros. It seems to be all or nothing. The Chinese star showed almost no clay-court prowess until she won the French Open in 2011, her first Grand Slam tournament title. Since then, however, she’s been backsliding in the only major tournament played on clay. She was ousted in the fourth round in 2012 when she was attempting to defend her title, then was upset in the second round last year. This year, Li Na was ousted in the first round by Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 3-6 6-1. “I think doesn’t matter who plays today against me, I always lose the match today, because I don’t think she was put a lot of pressure from me,” Li said. “I think today just I gave it away for the match.” It was a career-best victory for the 21-year-old Mladenovic, whose ground strokes were consistently deep, keeping her opponent pinned behind the baseline. “I just tried to believe in myself and working really hard every day just to achieve and believe where she is and try one day to be up there,” Mladenovic said. “I had to be really calm and take my chances and being mentally strong … it was such a nice feeling to have such a big win here in front of my crowd.”

STANDING TOGETHER

The upsets weren’t limited to the singles draw in the first week at Roland Garros. French wildcards Julie Coin and Pauline Parmentier knocked off the defending women’s doubles champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-3 5-7 6-3. In their two previous French Opens, Parmentier and Coin had never gone beyond the second round. Their win over the third-seeded team of Makarova and Vesnina put the French pair into the third round.

SINGLES FINALE

Michaël Llodra’s singles career ended at Roland Garros. The Frenchman lost to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-2 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3). The 34-year-old reached the doubles final on the red clay at Paris a year ago with countryman Nicolas Mahut, and is still in this year’s doubles draw. He’s also playing mixed doubles at Roland Garros. But Mahut has announced that this will be his final year on the ATP World Tour, singles or doubles. “It’s not like I’m stopping after Roland Garros,” Llodra said. “I decided to play until the end of the year, so I didn’t think I’d feel a lot in terms of my emotions. But then people saw my emotion on the court, I probably am one of the most Parisian of all the French; I was here when I was five years old. At the beginning, of course, probably not to come and watch tennis, but to make paper airplanes on center court. And then I started as a junior, and then my first senior match. Then an incredible number of matches where it turned around and the tremendous pleasure shared with the crowd and the family.” His first main-draw match at Roland Garros was in 1999 against two-time champion Sergi Bruguera of Spain.

STRANGE FLAG

When Victor Estrella Burgos took to the court in his first-round match at Roland Garros, he became the first player from the Dominican Republic in more than a half-center to compete in a Grand Slam tennis tournament – and only the second to do so. The only other Dominican to compete in the main draw of a major was Manuel Morales, who lost in the first round of the 1956 French Open. “This day, I’ll remember. I’m never going to forget,” Estrella Burgos said of this year’s tournament. “When I get into the court I almost want to cry for the first time. There are so many people from the Dominican who come to see me.” In March, Estrella Burgos, who plays mostly on the lower-level Challenger tour, became the first Dominican to break into the top 100 of the ATP rankings. He turned pro in 2002, then stopped playing to work as a coach. After resuming his career, he considered retiring after injuring his right elbow two years ago. His first Grand Slam tournament appearance ended in a 6-1 6-4 6-7 (6) 6-4 loss to Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.

SURFACE SWITCH

Stanislas Wawrinka wants to atone for his surprising loss on the red clay of Roland Garros. But he’s seeking his atonement on the grass courts of The Queen’s Club in London. After his brief stint in Paris, Wawrinka accepted a wild-card entry into the Aegon Championships, a grass-court warm-up event for Wimbledon. The Australian Open champion, Wawrinka joins a field in the London tournament that includes Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Grigor Dimitrov and four-time winner Lleyton Hewitt. “I love London,” Wawrinka said. “I love the atmosphere, it is an important tournament with a lot of history, and playing at The Queen’s club gives me the best possible chance to become comfortable on grass.”

SHARING A SEAT

Like all tennis professionals, when he’s on the court during a match Novak Djokovic is unrelenting in trying to beat his opponent. But when rain suspended play in his match against Joao Sousa, Djokovic sat down while a ball boy stood over him with an umbrella. Djokovic had the young man join him on the bench, then held the umbrella over them both while the young man held the Serb’s racquet. When play resumed, the two shook hands and Djokovic went to the baseline while his most recent companion returned to ball boy duties.

SICK BAY

Kei Nishikori probably shouldn’t have even tried to play Roland Garros this season. After all, he had suffered a hip injury in the Madrid Open final two weeks ago. He underwent treatment in Florida before flying back to Europe for the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. His movement was visibly hampered in his 7-6 (4) 6-1 6-2 first-round loss to Slovak Martin Klizan. “I’m actually happy to finish the match,” Nishikori said. “I was really disappointed that my performance was – I mean, not very bad, but it wasn’t a perfect match for me today. And I didn’t have much practice. So I knew this is going to be happen.” The first Japanese man to be ranked in the top 10 in the world, Nishikori had appeared to be a strong challenger for this year’s Roland Garros title. After all, he won his first clay-court title last month, the Barcelona Open, and reached the Madrid Open final by defeating David Ferrer in the semifinals. In the title match he led Rafael Nadal by a set and a break, 6-2 4-2, before retiring with the injury. It wasn’t the first time injuries have derailed Nishikori’s career. He had right elbow surgery in 2009 and an abdominal injury forced him to skip Roland Garros in 2012. “It’s tough for me, but I guess this is my tennis life, you know,” he said. “I have to take care of my body and injury will come again, for sure. So I have to mentally be ready. I have to do whatever I can do to get healthy.”

SOLACE, PERHAPS?

Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki found a way to forget about their quick exits from the French Open. The two players – Williams the current number one and Wozniacki a former number one – flew from Paris to Miami, Florida, USA, where they attended Game 6 of the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference playoffs. The Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 117-92 to return to the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive year. After the game, Wozniacki posted a photo of her and Williams posing with the Heat’s Greg Oden.

SURFING

Paris: www.rolandgarros.com

Prostejov: www.czech-open.cz

Marseille: www.tennisclubmarseille.fr

Halle: www.gerryweber-open.de

London: www.lta.org.uk

Birmingham: http://www.lta.org.uk/

Caltanissetta: www.atpcaltanissetta.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)

$145,242 UniCredit Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay

WOMEN

Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)

$100,000 Open Féminin de Marseille, Marseille, France, clay

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$968,182 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass

$968,182 Aegon Championships, London, Great Britain, grass

$145,021 Caltanissetta, Italy, clay

WOMEN

$644,900 Aegon Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain, grass

Novak Djokovic stops Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams Beats Li Na In No. 1 vs No. 2 Battles – Mondays with Bob Greene

March 31, 2014 by Admin

By Bob Greene

STARS

Sony Open Tennis

Key Biscayne (Miami), Florida, USA

Men’s singles: Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-3

Women’s singles: Serena Williams beat Li Na 7-5 6-1

Men’s doubles: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6 (8) 6-4

Women’s doubles: Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Venina 4-6 6-4 10-5 (match tiebreak)

OTHER

Gilles Muller beat Denis Kudla 6-2 6-2 to win the Zurich Jalisco Open in Guadalajara, Mexico

SAYING

“I played a great match, from the start to the end everything was working really well.” – Novak Djokovic, after dominating Rafael Nadal in the Sony Open Tennis men’s singles final.

“In no other tournament have I lost this many finals, but it’s always a very special tournament to me. The energy and passion from the crowd is unforgettable.” – Rafael Nadal, who was runner-up at Key Biscayne for the fourth time.

“This crowd is amazing. I have so many friends and so many fans here, and I love, love, love playing in this crowd. It just feels really, really good to play at home. There’s really no better feeling.” – Serena Williams, who won a record seventh Key Biscayne title.

“I don’t think I was playing bad. Maybe she just start a little bit better after 5-2 down.” – Li Na, who won only one of the final 14 games while losing to Serena Williams.

“This is incredible for us, especially to win in such a hostile environment. There were a lot of Colombians out there. They were bringing the noise. Juan and Robert should play Davis Cup here because the Colombian fans are loud. They had the flags out.” – Bob Bryan, after he and brother Mike beat Colombian pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the men’s doubles final.

“Just couldn’t find my rhythm on the serve, which was surprising. Maybe the (cool, mid-60s) temperature had something to do with it. Haven’t played that many matches in the dark. It’s a bit frustrating, but Kei did well to stay with me. He was more consistent in the second and the third, which are the ones he won. To his credit.” – Roger Federer, following his loss to Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals at Miami.

“Yeah, it was second time to beat him. I was hitting balls deep and striking well. And I was fighting.” – Kei Nishikori, who now holds a 2-1 career record over Roger Federer.

“Despite my results against her, I still look forward to playing against her because you learn so much from that type of level which she produces. There is no reason for me to have any pressure because of my results against her. She’s an incredible champion. That’s the reason she’s at the top.” – Maria Sharapova, after losing her 15^th consecutive match to Serena Williams.

“I have always felt when I’m playing at my best, then it’s hard for people to beat me. But I have to get there, and it’s hard to always be at your best.” – Serena Williams.

“Was really playing well and beating (Grigor) Dimitrov, David (Ferrer) and Roger (Federer), I was really excited to play here. But unfortunately I couldn’t move side-to-side. Just tried to warm up today, but I couldn’t move.” – Kei Nishikori, who withdrew with a groin injury from his semifinal match against Novak Djokovic.

“I had a few game plans. I wanted to get out there and see what works the best. He serves and likes to move to the backhand corner. He runs around his backhand, so that he opens the court for his opponent on forehand side.” – Novak Djokovic, on playing Rafael Nadal.

SUPER NOVAK

It was no contest when Novak Djokovic took on Rafael Nadal in the Sony Open men’s singles final. And the super Serb, who is ranked second in the world behind Nadal, took no prisoners as he blasted his Spanish opponent to win the Key Biscayne tournament for the fourth time. “I played a great match, everything was working really well,” Djokovic said. “I didn’t give him a chance to come back in the match. I am really excited.” He should be. Djokovic blasted five aces and dominated with his serve and huge ground strokes. It was the Serb who controlled most of the points, moving Nadal from side to side before ripping winners. “He was better than me in everything,” Nadal said. “He was able to find the right spot, the right position. Playing against him is the worst thing that can happen to me because he has a better return than mine, he has a better serve than my one, especially on this surface.” Djokovic moved ahead when he broke Nadal in the fifth game of the opening set, taking a 3-2. He closed out the set by serving a love game, then broke Nadal again to open the second set. “I just started swinging freely and had good percentages on my first serves,” Djokovic said. “He had a hard time reading my serve.” It was Djokovic’s second straight Masters title, having won two weeks ago at Indian Wells, California, USA. It was the second time he had pulled off the Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double, matching Roger Federer as the only two to achieve the feat. It was the Serb’s 43^rd tour-level title and 18^th at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level. Djokovic is now 14^th on the all-time title winners list, one behind Thomas Muster. He also passed Andre Agassi for third on the all-time Masters 1000 titles list.

SWEET SERENA

Li Na is the reigning Australian Open champion and won at Indian Wells earlier this month. She is behind only Serena Williams in the WTA Tour rankings. So it may not have been a great surprise when she grabbed a 5-2 lead in the first set of the women’s singles final at Key Biscayne. Li was to win only one more game as Williams captured her unprecedented seventh Key Biscayne title. “Oh, I definitely don’t do it on purpose,” Williams said of the slow start. “I don’t know. Maybe I get a little nervous because I want to do so well, and I want to – I just want to win, and then sometimes if you get too nervous you’re not able to play.” Even in defeat, Li thought she played well. “I think it was a pretty good match,” Li said. “I don’t think today I was doing like a wrong game plan or I was playing totally wrong. Yeah, that’s what I think.” Williams increased her Key Biscayne record total. Last year she moved ahead of Steffi Graf, who held the previous record with five. Serena is one of only four players to win the same WTA event seven or more times, joining Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Graf. Asked how she managed to turn the match around after trailing 5-2, Williams said: “At that moment I felt like I had nothing to lose, and I was able to relax. And whenever I relax, I enjoy myself.”

SEMIFINAL BAGEL

What if they played the semifinals and nobody showed up. That’s exactly what happened at the Sony Open when the men were to battle the penultimate round. Novak Djokovic was the first to gain a spot in the final without striking a ball when his semifinal opponent, Kei Nishikori, withdrew from the hard-court tournament with a groin injury. A few hours later, Tomas Berdych announced he was withdrawing from his semifinal against Rafael Nadal because of gastroenteritis. Fans at the Key Biscayne, Florida, tournament were left to watch two women’s doubles matches. There was an angry chorus of boos when it was announced that the Nadal-Berdych match would not be played. “Sorry for Kei. Sorry for Tomas. Sorry for the tournament. Especially sorry for the fans,” Nadal said. “It’s very unlucky, very unusual for something that can happen. “I cannot remember that (ever happening).” It hadn’t. This was the first time in the Open Era – since 1968 – that an ATP World Tour event had no semifinal matches.

STILL WINNING

Martina Hingis won enough tournaments during her career that she earned entry into the International Tennis Hall of Fame following her retirement. Now she’s back on the WTA Tour – and winning again. Now 33 years old, Hingis teamed with Sabine Lisicki to win the Sony Open women’s doubles title by defeating the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. Gaining a spot in the draw with a wild card, the Hingis-Lisicki team won the last seven points of the super tiebreaker to capture the trophy. Hingis had been retired for nearly six years when she returned to play doubles in last year, entering five events with Daniela Hantuchova. Following the US Open, Hingis didn’t play against until earlier this month at Indian Wells with Lisicki. The Sony Open was her 38^th WTA doubles title, but first since Doha in 2007.

SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE

When a suspicious package was found at the Sony Open, the tournament was locked down while the Miami-Dade Police Department bomb squad investigated. That meant thousands of spectators were prevented from entering or leaving the sprawling tennis complex. Four-lane traffic in both directions in front of the complex was halted. “Earlier this evening a suspicious package was left unattended at the front gate,” the tournament said in a statement. “For the safety of the public the Miami-Dade police have set up a perimeter and cordoned off the area until the package can be secured. We apologize for the inconvenience but the safety of the public must be placed first.” An all-clear was given some 30 minutes after officials had confirmed the lockdown. Security has been beefed up around major North American sporting events since last year’s Boston marathon bombings left three people dead and wounded 264.

SLOVAKIAN MOVER

Match after match, Dominika Cibulkova is proving she belongs with the top players in women’s tennis. The Slovakian has moved into the Top 10 in the rankings after reaching the semifinals of the Sony Open with a 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-3 victory over third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, including staving off three match points. “I knew before the match that this was the match I needed to win to become top 10,” Cibulkova said. “So it was some more pressure, but I’m obviously very happy with the way I handled it today.” But the tournament’s 10^th seed had the misfortune of running into China’s Li Na in the semifinals – and losing. Cibulkova also lost to Li in the Australian Open final and in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, California, USA, earlier in the month.

SIBLING PERFECTION

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan won their 96^th title as a team, the Sony Open, with a 7-6 (8) 6-4 pounding of the Colombian duo of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. It took only 90 minutes for the Bryans to capture their 28^th ATP World Tour Masters level crown and their third at Miami, but first since 2008. It was the third title in five weeks for the brothers and their first Indian Wells-Miami double. The won their second BNP Paribas Open title earlier this month. “This is a match we’ll remember for a long time,” Mike Bryan said. “The crowd support was unreal for both teams. The first set was pivotal and it was huge to save those set points. Bob and I are very excited to play so well and win Miami again for a third time.” Cabal and Farah were the first South American team to reach the Miami final in tournament history. It was their fifth final as a team in 2014, their lone championship coming in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in February. They also reached the final in Brisbane, Vina del Mar and Sao Paulo.

SENIOR STARS

The top two players in the WTA ranking have more in common than just playing winning tennis. Both Serena Williams and Li Na are 32 years old, almost ancient in tennis terms. Both have sparkled this year, with Li winning her second Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open in January, and the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA, earlier this month. In beating Li in the Sony Open final, Williams improved her career record against her Chinese opponent to 12-1. The American has been as dominant in her career against the other top players on the women’s tour. She is 8-0 against third-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, 14-3 against fourth-ranked Victoria Azarenka and 16-2 against seventh-ranked Maria Sharapova. Williams has lost just twice this year – to Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open and to Alize Cornet at Dubai. Following their Sony Open match, which Williams won 7-5 6-1, the two were seen giggling. “We’re playing great tennis and we’re number one and number 2, and we’re both the same age,” Williams said. “For me it was just an honor to be there with her. We’re living the same life, and at this stage, to be on top, I don’t think it’s been done before, and I think it’s really awesome. … I feel like we both have his never-give-up fight. It shows that you can still shine at any age.”

SIGNED UP

Alex Dolgopolov has joined Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych in the field for the AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club, a grass-court warm-up event for Wimbledon. Dolgopolov has beaten three of the four highest ranked player in the world this year in rising from 57^th in the rankings at the end of 2013 to 23^rd. His highest ranking was 13^th in the world, but Dolgopolov says he’s playing better tennis now. This year he holds victories over Rafael Nadal, Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and David Ferrer. The tournament is scheduled to be played June 9-15.

SWEDE APPOINTMENT

Former Swedish tennis pro Ingrid Lofdahl-Bentzer has been appointed vice chairman of the Enshrinee Nomination Committee at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The committee develops the annual ballot of nominees for enshrinement in Hall of Fame, located in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The committee is chaired by five-time major champion Stan Smith and is comprised of 22 individuals from all aspects of the sport, including former players, journalists, historians and administrators. One of the founders of the WTA, Lofdahl-Bentzer was ranked in the top 15 in the world in the 1970s and was Sweden’s top-ranked player. She won five STA Tour titles and was a member of the Swedish Fed Cup team for eight years. She currently serves on the Fed Cup Committee.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Guadalajara: Cesar Ramirez and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela beat Andre Begemann and Matthew Ebden 6-4 6-2

SURFING

Charleston: www.familycirclecup.com/

Monterrey: http://abiertomonterrey.com/2014/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

Casablanca: www.frmt.ma/

Houston: www.mensclaycourt.com/

Katowice: www.bnpparibaskatowiceopen.com/pl

Bogota: www.copaclarocolsanitas.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

WOMEN

$644,900 Family Circle Cup, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, clay

$500,000 Abierto Monterrey presentado por Afirme, Monterrey, Mexico, hard

DAVIS CUP

World Group

Quarterfinals

Japan vs. Czech Republic at Tokyo, Japan, hard

France vs. Germany at Nancy, France, hard

Italy vs. Great Britain at Naples, Italy, clay

Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan at Geneva, Switzerland, hard

Group I

Second Round

Americas Zone: Ecuador vs. Brazil at Guayaquil, Ecuador, clay; Colombia vs. Dominican Republic at Cali, Columbia, clay

Asia/Oceania Zone: China vs. Uzbekistan at Tianjin, China, hard; South Korea vs. India at Busan, South Korea, hard

Europe/Africa Zone: Poland vs. Croatia at Warsaw, Poland, hard; Slovenia vs. Israel at Portoroz, Slovenia, clay; Sweden vs. Ukraine at Malmo, Sweden, hard; Slovak Republic vs. Austria at Bratislava, Slovak Republic, hard

Group II

Second Round

Americas Zone: Barbados vs. El Salvador at St. Michael, Barbados, hard; Mexico vs. Peru at Puebla, Mexico, hard

Asia/Oceania Zone: Philippines vs. Pakistan at Manila, Philippines, clay; Thailand vs. Kuwait at Nonthaburi, Thailand, hard

Europe/Africa Zone: South Africa vs. Lithuania at Centurion, South Africa, hard; Finland vs. Bosnia/Herzegovina at Helsinki, Finland, hard; Moldova vs. Belarus at Chisinau, Moldova, clay; Denmark vs. Luxembourg at Hillerod, Denmark, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$586,650 Grand Prix Hassan II, Casablanca, Morocco, clay

$474,005 Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men’s Clay Court Championship, Houston, Texas, USA, clay

WOMEN

$250,000 BNP Paribas Katowice Open, Katowice, Poland, hard

$250,000 Copa Claro Colsanitas, Bogota, Colombia, clay

Surgery For Del Potro; Few Sony Open Upsets So Far – Mondays with Bob Greene

March 24, 2014 by Admin

by Bob Greene

STARS

Sony Open (First Week)

Key Biscayne, Florida, USA

Varvara Lepchenko beat seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-3 2-6 7-6 (2)

Ekaterina Makarova beat ninth-seeded Sara Errani 6-3 2-6 6-4

SAYING

“No, I cannot feel that way (sorry) for him. I am here to try my best. I know how dangerous Lleyton is and I admire him so much. He’s a great example for me, he keeps playing with passion and love for the game, and that is a great example for the kids, too.” – Rafael Nadal, after beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-3.

“I think it (the racquet) just gives me easier power, especially on the first serve. And I think as time now goes by, I’m getting a better feel for how is the ball going to react, you know, how much spin do I need to put on to stay really accurate and put it really close to the line. But then again, this wasn’t Andre Agassi on the other side, or (Novak) Djokovic. It’s just important for me to keep that up and remind myself it’s going well so far.” – Roger Federer, after beating Dutch qualifier Thiemo De Bakker 6-3 6-3.

“She’s number two in the world for a reason. She just won the Australian Open for a reason. She’s a great player. I played well at times, but she just played the bigger points really well.” – Madison Keys, after losing to second-ranked Li Na.

“She’s much, much better than I was at her age. Americans have a long history in tennis. They have high goals – Serena, Venus, Lindsay Davenport – they have so many tennis stars in America, and they’re looking forward for another number one in the world. For China, it has still been a short time. I was just learning tennis in my mind – to me Top 10 was huge. We had much different goals. But as for Madison, I think she will definitely be a very good player in the future.” – Li Na, after beating Madison Keys.

“Obviously I wasn’t at my best. I had 40 something errors. It’s not the way to play professional tennis. Maybe amateur.” – Serena Williams, after narrowly getting past Caroline Garcia 6-4 4-6 6-4 in a third-round match at Key Biscayne.

“I’m eternally grateful to Ivan for all his hard work over the past two years, the most successful of my career so far. As a team we’ve learned a lot, and it will definitely be of benefit in the future. I’ll take some time with the team to consider the next steps and how we progress from here.” – Andy Murray, after spitting with coach Ivan Lendl.

“The benefits and the effects of our incorporation, Boris and mine, hopefully we will see in the rest of the season.” – Novak Djokovic, talking about his new coach Boris Becker undergoing surgery and unable to be at the Sony Open.

“I changed to be more aggressive on the court. And I was more relaxed. That was the secret. I want to fight for every point, but also to enjoy the match.” – Simona Halep, explaining to ESPN.com her rapid rise in the WTA rankings.

“She was doing a little bit of everything. She was hitting hard; she was hitting soft; she was doing a little bit of everything.” – Serena Williams, explaining why she had problems in her second-round match against Yaroslava Shvedova.

“This time a good thing is I won’t lose so much time seeking a diagnosis. In 2010, it took me two to three months to find the right diagnosis and the right doctor. This time, luckily, I know.” – Juan Martin del Potro, who is having surgery on his left wrist done by Dr. Richard Berger, a wrist specialist who operated on the Argentine’s right wrist in 2010.

SINO CHARGE

It took a long time for Australian Open champion Li Na to play her first match at the Sony Open Tennis. And when she did, she found herself in the fourth round at the Key Biscayne, Florida, USA, tournament. As the number two seed, Li had a first-round bye. Then the Chinese star advanced to the third round without stepping onto the court as her opponent, Russian Alisa Kleybanova, withdrew from the tournament because of illness. Li was a little rusty to start her third-round match against Madison Keys. The American won four straight games to take a 5-3 lead. But Li staved off three break points in the ninth game and finally won the opening set 7-6 (3). Her 6-3 win in the second set put her into the fourth round. “Madison was playing very well today – big serve, big forehand,” Li said. “I think if she won the first set she would have been more confident going into the second set and we would have had a different result in the end.”

SWIFT DAY

Jarkko Nieminen of Finland blazed his way into the record book with a 28-minute, 20-second roasting of Australian Bernard Tomic. It was the quickest match in ATP Tour history, besting the mark set by Greg Rusedski when he defeated Carsten Arriens 6-0 6-0 in 29 minutes in 1996. The ATP Tour began keeping official records in 1991. It was Tomic’s first match since he retired with an injury while playing Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open in January. Against his Finnish foe, Tomic won just 13 points. “I felt like I did the best that I could and I’m happy with the way I’m coming back,” said the 21-year-old Tomic, who underwent hip surgery after the Australian Open. “Hopefully in a little bit of time I can get back to 100 percent. It’s not easy, but I’m trying, doing everything, doing my best to get there.” Tomic reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2011. Once ranked as high as 27^th in the world, he currently is ranked 74^th.

SURGERY AGAIN

For the second time in his career, Juan Martin del Potro has been sidelined and will undergo a wrist operation. Argentine media reports that the big right-hander will miss the rest of the season. Del Potro pulled out of the Sony Open before the tournament began this past week. Once ranked as high as fourth in the world, del Potro hasn’t played since Dubai nearly a month ago. He currently is ranked eighth. Four years ago, shortly after he won the US Open, del Potro underwent an operation on his right wrist. After he returned to the tour, he won the bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012. This time del Potro is having his left wrist operated by American surgeon Richard Berger, who also did the earlier surgery. “I have the experience of how the rehabilitation is, the time it takes,” del Potro told the Buenos Aires, Argentina daily newspaper La Nacion.

STILL WINNING

Another Australian reached a longevity mark at the Sony Open. Lleyton Hewitt became the third ATP player still on the tour to win 600 matches when he beat Robin Haase of the Netherlands 3-6 6-3 6-3 in a first-round match at Key Biscayne. Once ranked as high as number one in the world, Hewitt joins Roger Federer (942 wins) and Rafael Nadal (675) in reaching the milestone. “Not many people get the opportunity to get close to that, so it means I have been around for an awfully long time,” the 33-year-old Hewitt said of the achievement. Hewitt has spent more than half his life playing tennis professionally. He won his first ATP World Tour title at Adelaide, Australia, in 1998 when he was 16 years old. He won the US Open in 2001, beating Pete Sampras, and Wimbledon the next year, when he bested David Nalbandian in the title match. He led Australia to the Davis Cup title in 1999 and was first ranked number one in the world on November 19, 2001.

SPLITTSVILLE

Andy Murray will go it alone after he and coach Ivan Lendl decided to go their separate ways. Murray said the two abruptly ended their partnership in a Miami restaurant. “We went and had dinner,” Murray said. “We chatted for an hour about other stuff, and then we chatted about us moving forward. … It wasn’t going to happen. The best thing to do was just to move on.” With Lendl coaching, Murray reached his first Wimbledon final, won the 2012 Olympic gold medal, and then became Britain’s first male Grand Slam tournament champion in 76 years when he beat Novak Djokovic to win the US Open. Last year, Murray beat Djokovic again in the final to become the first Wimbledon men’s singles champion from Britain since Fred Perry in 1936. “It’s a tough one for me because he’s been a big part of my life,” Murray said of Lendl. “He’s been a big part of my team. He made a huge difference to my tennis.” Before Lendl became his coach, Murray had lost four times in Grand Slam tournament finals. Although he has not win a title since Wimbledon, Murray missed the final two months of last season after undergoing surgery on his back. He lost to Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and in the fourth round in Indian Wells, California, USA in his most recent outing before the Sony Open. “The thing that he was brought in to do was to help me get over the line in the big events, and that’s what he did,” Murray said of Lendl. “My game was kind of there. It was the mental side in dealing with pressure situations that he was there to help with. That was the biggest influence he had on my game.”

SENT PACKING

This year CoCo Vandeweghe finally made it past the opening round at the Sony Open. After getting past Marina Erakovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the American found the 2011 US Open champion in her path. A qualifier ranked 104^th in the world, Vandeweghe proceeded to knock off Samantha Stosur of Australia 5-7 7-5 7-5 in a match that ended at 2:29 in the morning. Only a handful of spectators remained in the stadium when Vandeweghe completed the upset. And what was her reward for the victory? Why, she face top-ranked Serena Williams in a fourth-round clash.

SAID WHAT?

Remember John McEnroe’s outburst at Wimbledon: “You are the pits of the world”? Add Novak Djokovic’s choice words directed at the umpire in his Sony Open match. While playing Jeremy Chardy in a second-round match, Djokovic was handed a time violation by the umpire. “You have to understand the game,” Djokovic said. The Serb had fewer problems with Chardy, defeating the Frenchman 6-4 6-3 in an entertaining match that lasted one hour, 24 minutes.

SURPRISES

The big surprises at the Sony Open Tennis came in the women’s doubles. The top-seeded pair of Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai and the third-seeded team of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci first fell on the first day of doubles action. Kimiko Date-Krumm and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova rallied from a 5-1 second-set deficit to upset Hsieh and Peng 6-2 7-6 (7). It was just the second loss of the year for Hsieh and Peng. “When we were losing 5-1 in the second set, we calmed down and stopped making as many mistakes,” Date-Krumm said. Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro ousted four-time Grand Slam doubles champions Errani and Vinci 7-6 (7) 1-6 12-10 (match tiebreak). The losers actually won four more points than they lost and had two match points in the match tiebreak. It was the first time Muguruza and Suárez Navarro had played as a team.

STANDING ALONE

Like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic is playing the Sony Open without his coach. Unlike Murray, Djokovic has not split with his new coach, Boris Becker. It’s just that Becker is undergoing surgery on both hips. “In these particular situations you can’t do much about it,” Djokovic said. “If he has an operation on his hips, he cannot move, cannot walk, unfortunately. It has been something that has been an issue he has been carrying for many years.” Becker, a six-time Grand Slam tournament champion, began working with Djokovic at the beginning of this year. The Serb won his first title of 2014 a week ago at Indian Wells, California, USA. “The benefits and the effects of our incorporation, Boris and mine, hopefully we will see in the rest of the season,” Djokovic said. Becker hopes to resume traveling with Djokovic beginning with the Monte Carlo tournament, which starts April 13.

SWITCHING SITES

The WTA Tour’s Paris Open will no longer be in Paris – or at least not for the next five years. Organizers said the tournament will leave the French capital and relocate to Toulouse, France, for the next five years. Next year’s tournament will retain the same spot on the WTA calendar after the Australian Open, running from February 7-15. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won this year’s Paris Open, defeating Italy’s Sara Errani in the final, 3-6 6-2 6-3.

SALUTED

Two Americans – John Isner and Justin Gimelstob – were presented USD $15,000 grants from their charity work. The two received their ATP ACES For Charity grants from Chris Kermode, ATP executive chairman and president, in support of their charitable causes, the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Justin Gimelstob Children’s Fund. One of the leading cancer centers in the United States, the UNC Lineberger successfully treated Isner’s mother, Karen, after she had been told that her cancer was incurable. Isner hosts an annual charity event in North Carolina in support of UNC Lineberger. The Justin Gimelstob Children’s Fund provides financial support to a variety of children’s charities in northern New Jersey and the New York metropolitan region. It has raised more than USD one million dollars since its establishment in 1998. The main beneficiary of the JGCF is The Valerie Fund, which supports comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders. The Valerie Fund Children’s Centers treats more than 5,000 children annually.

SURFING

Miami: www.sonyopentennis.com

Guadalajara: http://jalisco-open.com/

Charleston: www.familycirclecup.com/

Monterrey: http://abiertomonterrey.com/2014/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

ATP: www.atpworldtour.com

WTA: www.wtatennis.com

International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN