World Tennis Magazine

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marin cilic

Roger Federer Wins Record Eighth Wimbledon Title With Destruction Of Marin Cilic

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

Wimbledon is played in the London suburb with the postal code SW19, but the 2017 edition of The Championships was all about RF19.

Roger Federer won his 19th career major title – and his record-breaking eighth men’s singles at the All England Club with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 destruction of Marin Cilic in the singles final.

The win extricates Federer from a tie with both Pete Sampras and Willie Renshaw to become the all-time men’s title leader at Wimbledon with his eighth title. The number eight, as Swiss tennis writer Rene Stauffer writes his biography of Federer “Quest for Perfection” is Federer’s favorite lucky number.

Federer’s run to the championship was done without the loss of a set, making Federer only the second man to do so at Wimbledon, joining Bjorn Borg in 1976. Federer was also not down a service break in any set during the tournament.

At 35 years 342 days, Federer is the oldest man in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon title and the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Ken Rosewall won the 1972 Australian Open aged 37 years 62 days.

The win comes a year after Federer lost in the semifinals to Milos Raonic and subsequently took six months off to rehab an injured knee and refresh his body, putting doubt into his career. Federer then incredibly won the Australian Open earlier this year in his first sanctioned tournament back from his break for his 18th major title.

Said Federer of his efforts and successes since his return to tennis, “If you believe, you can go really far in life.”

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Roger Federer and Venus Williams Highlight Wimbledon Finals Weekend

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The Wimbledon singles finals are set.

Roger Federer of Switzerland will face Marin Cilic of Croatia in the men’s singles final while the women’s final will feature Venus Williams of the United States against Garbine Muguruza of Spain.

Sports fans will getting their TVs and couches situated, their strawberries and cream ready, get brushed up on their Wimbledon betting tips and gear up for fantastic weekend of tennis in the world’s most important and historic tennis event.

Venus Williams will play the Wimbledon final at the age of 37, the oldest player to play for a singles title at the All England Club since Martina Navratilova in 1994. There are interesting parallels between the efforts of both Williams and Navratilova. Both were huge sentimental favorites, Navratilova announcing that the 1994 tournament would be her final Wimbledon (although she would return). Navratilova, a natural grass-court player (perhaps the greatest of all time),  faced the Spanish clay-courter Conchita Martinez in what seemed like match-up that heavily favored Navratilova based on skill-sets and destiny. Navratilova was playing in her 12 Wimbledon final while Martinez was playing in her first. However, Martinez pulled of the upset victory 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Now, 23 years later, a similar scenario awaits as Venus Williams, also one of the greatest grass-court players of all time, faces Muguruza, who like Martinez hails from Spain and is more comfortable on the clay courts, having won the 2016 French Open. It is the ninth Wimbledon final for Williams, the five-time champion, and the second final at the All England Club for Muguruza, who lost the 2015 Wimbledon final to Serena Williams, the younger sister of Venus.

In the men’s final, Federer is the heavy and emotional favorite to win his record eighth Wimbledon title in his 11th final at the All England Club. Cilic, by contrast, will be playing in his first Wimbledon final and his second major title after his run to the championship at the 2014 U.S. Open. En route to his only major title in New York, however, Cilic had a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 destruction of Federer in the semifinals. But to be fair, Federer was worn out after coming back from two-sets-to-love to beat Gael Monfils in and emotional quarterfinal match.

Federer has yet to lose a set at the All England Club in 2017 and if he straight-sets Cilic in the final to complete the sweep, he would join Bjorn Borg (1976) as the only player to win the men’s singles title without dropping a set. Cilic would join countryman Goran Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon winner, as the only Croatians to win the Wimbledon title and many Wimbledon betting tipsters make him a trendy pick to pull an upset.

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Marin Cilic Gets Clay Game Ready for Paris – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Alexander Zverev beat Guido Pella 6-4 6-3 to win the BMW Open by FWU in Munich, Germany

Pablo Carreno Busta beat Gilles Muller 6-2 7-6 (5) to win the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal

Marin Cilic beat Milos Raonic 7-6 (3) 6-3 to win the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open in Istanbul, Turkey

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Francesca Schiavone 7-5 7-5 to win the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat, Morocco

Mona Barthel beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-4 7-6 (3) to win the J&T Banka Prague Open in Prague, Czech Republic

 

SAYING

“It’s always nice to win a title and win any match. A win is a win, I always say. I just love to win.” – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, after winning the final in Rabat, Morocco.

“This week was a big one for me and a good sign for the rest of the clay-court season. I hope I can improve in these upcoming three tournaments – two Masters 1000 events and the French Open.” – Marin Cilic, after winning in Istanbul.

“The tennis was good and I achieved a lot of the things I would have liked. Of course I didn’t achieve the ultimate thing, but I got a much better understanding of how I need to play on clay and I got to play four matches. These are all positive things at the end of the day.” – Milos Raonic, who lost to Marin Cilic in the Istanbul Open final.

“I’m completed exhausted.” – Mona Barthel, who won the Prague Open after having to qualify for the clay-court event.

“If they are going to be so small-minded about it, there’s nothing I can do.” – Ilie Nastase, referring to Wimbledon’s decision not to invite him to sit in the Royal Box at this year’s tournament.

“I am a hunter and my biggest goal is to find the winning spark on the court again.” – Novak Djokovic, after firing his entire coaching team.

“I didn’t miss a Slam for the last 10 years. It’s hard to think that I’m going to miss that. For the moment, I’m preparing to play and hope that I will be ready to play. But, of course, you can’t predict everything.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, saying she plans to play the French Open after withdrawing from the Madrid tournament with a foot injury.

“I want to be the greatest of all time.” – Cori Gauff, a 13-year-old American who is seeking to earn a wild card entry into the French Open junior girls.

“We definitely didn’t expect to win the final with a score like that. But we played great, didn’t miss many returns and put every ball back. … We deserved to win.” – Jiri Vesely, after he and Roman Jebavy won the Istanbul doubles final 6-0 6-0.

 

SLUGFEST

Marin Cilic came out on top of a slugfest between two of the game’s big hitters, stopping Milos Raonic to capture the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Winning a clay tournament for the first time in five years, Cilic saved all seven break points he faced. “I’m on a good track and feeling very well,” said Cilic. “In these last three or four weeks on clay, it’s never easy, but I’m trying to get better with every match.” Neither player lost serve in the opening set, and Cilic finally edged in front on the fifth point of the tiebreak, pouncing on a second serve and forcing a backhand error. He broke Raonic for the first time to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, then held after falling behind love-40. Cilic closed out the victory with an ace on his second match point. Raonic was appearing in his first clay-court final after returning to the ATP World Tour after recovering from a hamstring tear.

 

SLOW START

Alexander Zverev lost four of the first six games of the match before winning the Munich Open in straight sets. The German trailed 4-2 to Argentina’s Guido Pello, a qualifier, before winning 10 of the next 13 games, including 10 points in a row to close out the first set. Zverev broke Pella early in the second set and secured the title on his first match point. The start of the final was delayed half a dozen times by rain. The match took just over an hour for Zverev to capture his third ATP World Tour title.

 

SEEKING SPARK

Saying he needs to rediscover the “spark” in his game, former world number one Novak Djokovic dropped his entire team, including coach Marian Vajda, fitness coach Gebhard Phil Gritsch and physio Miljan Amanovic. “It was not an easy decision, but we all felt we need a change,” said Djokovic, who has not won a major title since the 2016 French Open. “I enjoy this journey. It feels like I am starting something new again and I love this challenge.” Djokovic won six of his 12 Grand Slam tournament titles with Boris Becker on his team. He split with the German Hall of Famer shortly after being replaced atop the ATP rankings by Great Britain’s Andy Murray last November. Following his win in Paris, the Serb was upset in the third round at Wimbledon by American Sam Querrey, lost to Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final and shockingly beaten by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round of the Australian Open in January. “I feel like this is a new chapter in my life,” Djokovic said.

 

SEIZES TITLE

In a tough battle, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcame Italy’s Francesca Schiavone to win the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, her second WTA title of the year and 10th of her career. “It was probably the toughest match of the tournament,” the Russian said. Pavlyuchenkova lost her serve two straight times in the opening set and also dropped serve early in the second set. But it was Schiavone who blinked at the crucial moments and Pavlyuchenkova closed it out on her second set point. “We’ve had really tough matches in the past on clay as well,” Pavlyuchenkova said, “so I knew it would be so tough. And it was.”

 

SPANISH TINGE

It was a flawless week at the Millennium Estoril Open for Pablo Carreno Busta. The top-seeded Spaniard came away from Portugal with his first ATP World Tour title of 2017, stopping third-seeded Gilles Muller in the final. A five-game run gave Carreno Busta the first set. The Muller settled down and the two battled evenly, holding serve to send the set into a tiebreak. There, it was Carreno Busta again, racing to a 5-2 lead. Muller fought back to level the match 5-5 before Muller took the next two points and the trophy. Although he came out the loser, it was the first clay-court final in the 33-year-old Muller’s career.

 

SUCCESS IN PRAGUE

Because of her low ranking, Mona Barthel had to qualify for the main draw at the Prague Open. After outlasting unseeded Kristyna Pliskova in three sets to win her first WTA title since 2014, Barthel said: “I can’t believe it. Somehow I made it. I’m completed exhausted.” She should be. Ranked 82nd in the world before Prague, Barthel had to save three match points in the second round of qualifying before stopping Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-2 4-6 7-6 (3). Against Pliskova, Barthel lost the opening set and was down a break in the second before she began her run to the title. On her way to the final, the German beat sixth-seeded Zhang Shuai and third-seeded Barbora Strycova.

 

SECOND CHILD

Justine Henin is a mother for the second time. “His name is Victor and already fills us with joy,” the former world number one from Belgium said in announcing the birth. Winner of seven Grand Slam singles titles, Henin and her husband, Benoit Bertuzzo, are also the parents of a daughter, Lalie, born in 2013.

 

SMALL-MINDED?

Because of his verbal abuse to players and a Fed Cup umpire, former Romanian world number one Ilie Nastase has been banned from the French Open and was told he wouldn’t be invited to the Royal Box at Wimbledon. The 70-year-old Nastase was provisionally banned from all International Tennis Federation (ITF) events following his verbal abuse of opposing players when he captained the Romanian team to a Fed Cup victory over Great Britain last month. “What does Wimbledon have to do with what I said about Serena (Williams) and at the match in Romania?” Nastase asked. “If I did something stupid at Wimbledon, then I’d understand. … But in this case, I don’t get it.” Nastase called Wimbledon organizers “small-minded” for their decision. A brief statement on the French Open’s official Twitter account said “following his suspension by the ITF, Mr. Ilie Nastase won’t be accredited” for Roland Garros.

 

SIZZLING

The team of Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely were perfect in the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open doubles final. The Czech duo won their first title by crushing wild cards Tuna Altuna and Alessandro Motti 6-0 6-0 in just 41 minutes. It was the first double bagel in an ATP World Tour final since 2010.

 

SPECIAL MARK

Marin Cilic joined two other Croatian greats when he reached a special milestone at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Cilic needed only 45 minutes to beat eighth-seeded Steve Darcis 6-1 6-1 and earn his 400th career match win. Goran Ivanisevic with 599 and Ivan Ljubicic with 429 are the other Croats who have won as many matches on the ATP World Tour as Cilic. “This was the best match for me this year considering how I moved and took the ball early,” Cilic said. “This was the way I need to play.”

 

SICK BAY CALL

Citing a right foot injury, seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska withdrew from this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. “I’ve been feeling it actually for a few months but now it’s getting worse again,” Radwanska said. “Clay is not helping.” The Polish star said the injury is from overuse. “I just need a rest, and I just didn’t have that rest,” Radwanska said. “I thought it would be good. Maybe, if it was 10 years ago and I had the same injury, it would be good, but not this time.” She said she still plans to play the French Open, which begins on May 22.

 

SHE’S BACK – MAYBE

Five months after her left hand was slashed by a home invader, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is back on a tennis court. Last month the Czech left-hander revealed she had entered the French Open draw to keep the possibility open. Then last week, she posted a picture of her training in Monte Carlo. “I’m back on the tennis court, hitting with some proper balls and reunited with my dear friend Wilson tennis racquet,” she wrote. The French Open begins May 22.

 

SPOT ASSURED

Amanda Anisimova has earned the right to return to the scene of her greatest triumph. The American was just 14 years old when she reached the French Open junior girls final last year. This year Anisimova will be in the French Open women’s singles draw after clinching the USTA Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge, a series of USTA Pro Circuit events from which the best performer earns a wild card into the clay court major. She earned the most points of any American woman by reaching the finals of Pro Circuit events at Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, and Dothan, Alabama. At the age of 15, she is still eligible to play the junior girls event at Paris as well.

 

SOMEONE YOUNGER

At the age of 15, Amanda Aismova might seem to be the “old lady” among the Americans playing the French Open juniors this year. That’s became 13-year-old Cori Gauff won the Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros, in partnership with Longines, at Boca Raton, Florida, USA. With the red-clay title comes an all-expenses paid trip to Paris, where Gauff will compete for a wild card into the French Open juniors. Gauff won the Girls 12 title at the prestigious Orange Bowl international tournament this past December. “Right now I’m just focusing on getting better, so when I become professional I will be ready to compete with the top dogs,” Gauff said.

 

STOPPED FROM PLAYING

Konstantinos Mikos of Greece was banned for life after being found guilty of attempted match fixing and other gambling offenses. The Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) said the lifetime ban covers all forms of professional tennis. The 25-year-old Mikos was found to have approached Alexandros Jakupovic at a Futures tournament in Greece in November 2013 and “offered payment in return for agreeing to lose nominated sets and games in a match at the event,” the TIU said in a statement. Jakupovic was banned for life in December 2015. Mikos reached a career-high singles ranking of 933 in August 2014.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Estoril: Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus beat David Marrero and Tommy Robredo 7-5 6-2

Istanbul: Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely beat Tuna Altona and Alessandro Motti 6-0 6-0

Munich: Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah beat Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-3 6-3

Prague: Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke beat Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova 6-4 7-6 (3)

Rabat: Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova beat Nina Stojanovic and Maryna Zanevska 2-6 6-3 10-5 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Madrid: www.madrid-open.com/

 

Aix en Provence: www.opendupaysdaix.com/

Cagnes-sur-Mer: www.opendecagnes.com

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.com/

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

Bordeaux: www.tournoi-primrosebordeaux.com/

Trnava: www.empireslovakopen.sk

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$6,979,330 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$138,318 Aix en Provence, Aix en Provence, France, clay

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

 

WOMEN

$5,439,350 Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, clay

$100,000 Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritime, Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France, clay

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$7,035,470 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$150,000 Busan Open Challenger, Busan, South Korea, hard

$116,375 BNP Paribas Primrose 2017, Bordeaux, France, clay

 

WOMEN

$2,775,745 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome, Italy, clay

$100,000 Empire Slovak Open 2017, Trnava, Slovakia, clay

 

Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic

Argentina Wins Its First Davis Cup Title – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Catherine Bellis beat Zhang Shuai 6-4 6-2 to win the Hawaii Open in Honolulu, Hawaii

 

DAVIS CUP

Final

Argentina beat Croatia 3-2 at Zagreb, Croatia

 

SAYING

“I was calm, I hoped all the time that I could win and I did it. I’m very happy to hand my team a chance of a victory.” – Juan Martin del Potro, after beating Marin Cilic to knot the Davis Cup final 2-2 and set the stage for Argentina’s first title in the international team competition.

“Maybe I’ll feel better tomorrow, but tonight it is awful.” – Ivo Karlovic, after losing the deciding fifth rubber as Argentina won the Davis Cup title by beating Croatia 3-2.

“It is very difficult to lose such an important match. I feel a lot of disappointment.” – Marin Cilic, after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the first reverse singles, setting the stage for Argentina’s Davis Cup triumph over Croatia.

“I don’t want to say, ‘Yes, I’m continuing,’ and then in one week, I stop, or say, ‘No, I’m retired,’ and then after a week you see a video of me practicing. If it’s yes, then yes. If it’s no, then no.” – Roberta Vinci, saying she will play through the 2017 season.

“No more glasses, no more elegant shoes … I want to go back to my trainers. I need them. I love to feel alive, I love to play tennis and this is my present to you: I don’t know for how long, but my present to you in 2017 is for playing tennis and it is a present to myself too!” – Francesca Schiavone, announcing she will play the 2017 season.

 

SMASHING PERFORMANCE

Federico Delbonis gave Argentina its first Davis Cup title when he defeated big-serving Ivo Karlovic in straight sets. That gave Argentina a 3-2 comeback win over Croatia, set up with Juan Martin del Potro rallied to win the first reverse singles match to knot the best-of-5 tie at 2-2. It was the fifth time Argentina reached the Davis Cup final, but its first victory in the prestigious international team tennis competition. Marin Cilic was one set away from giving Croatia its first Davis Cup title since 2005 when del Potro rallied to win 6-7 (4) 2-6 7-5 6-4 6-3. “Delpo showed his huge heart after turning around the match that looked lost,” Argentina team captain Daniel Orsanic said. “Federico played a perfect match under huge pressure. I’m really proud to be part of this fantastic team.” With the title on the line, Delbonis defeated Karlovic 6-3 6-4 6-2. “This is fabulous,” Delbonis said. “We somewhat felt we could do it despite trailing after the doubles.” With the victory, Argentina became only the third team to rally from a 2-1 deficit in the final since the World Group Davis Cup format was introduced in 1981.

Karlovic was representing Croatia for the first time following a four-year absence. He also lost his opening singles match to del Potro.

Cilic and del Potro, both of whom have won the US Open – del Potro in 2009, Cilic in 2014 – battled from the baseline for nearly five hours. When Cilic broke del Potro in the fifth and seventh games of the second set, he appeared to be cruising to victory over the tired-looking Argentine. When del Potro won the third set, Cilic wasn’t worried. “After losing the third set I was still confident I could win as he looked tired,” Cilic said. “I started pushing a bit too hard, handing him a chance for a comeback.” And that’s exactly what del Potro did, breaking his opponent in the 10th game to level the match at two sets apiece. He dominated Cilic in the decisive fifth set to set the stage for Delbonis’ championship victory.

Cilic began the three-day competition by defeating Delbonis 6-3 7-5 3-6 1-6 6-2. Del Potro knotted the tie 1-1 when he beat Karlovic 6-4 6-7 (6) 6-3 7-5. Croatia then took the lead when Cilic teamed with Ivan Dodig to beat del Potro and Leonardo Mayer 7-6 (2) 7-6 (4) 6-3.

 

SURPRISE WINNER

Turning pro hasn’t hurt Catherine Bellis’ game at all. The 17-year-old American upset top-seeded Zhang Shuai to win the inaugural Hawaii Open, the biggest title of her young career. Bellis won two consecutive indoor International Tennis Federation (ITF) events, and she showed that same form as she won all five matches without dropping a set. “This is definitely the best support I’ve ever got at any tournament,” Bellis said. “I was a little nervous at first. Zhang’s done so well this year and had another great week. … This is the best day of my life.” A late wildcard entry into the tournament, Zhang is ranked 23rd in the world. The Chinese player broke Bellis to begin the match, but the young American ripped off four straight games. It took just over an hour for the youngest player ranked in the WTA’s Top 100 to come away with the title.

 

SEASON STARTER

Serena and Venus Williams will begin their 2017 WTA season together at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. It’s the first time the sisters have played an International-level WTA tournament together since 1998. Others planning on starting their season in Auckland are two other former world number ones – Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic – along with defending champion Sloane Stephens and Lucie Safarova.

Top-ranked Angelique Kerber will kick off her season at the Brisbane International along with Dominika Cibulkova, Karolina Pliskova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Carlo Suárez Navarro, Elina Svitolina, Elena Vesnina, Roberta Vinci, Samantha Stosur, Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, Zhang Shuai and Eugenie Bouchard.

The Zhenzhen Open in China will feature defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, Simona Halep, Johanna Konta and Timea Bacsinszky.

 

STICKING AROUND

Francesca Schiavone, who won the French Open in 2010, and 2015 US Open finalist Roberta Vinc1 say they will play the 2017 season. “I still feel like I have the desire an enthusiasm to try and do something in what is perhaps the thing I’m best at, playing tennis,” Vinci said. “Now don’t start asking me if this will be my last year!!! See you in Australia.” Vinci had said 2016 would be her final season, but she began changing her mind after she won the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, the biggest singles title of her career. She also became the oldest woman in WTA history make her Top 10 debut.

 

SWITCHING COACHES

David Goffin and Madison Keys are the latest players to make changes in their coaching team. Goffin, Belgium’s top player, said he will stop working with coaching consultant Thomas Johansson, who joined his team last February after the Australian Open. “I would like to thank him for the good work we have done together this year,” the 11th-ranked Goffin said. “It’s been a great experience.” Goffin will continue working with his regular coach, Thierry Van Cleemput.

Keys has stopped working with Thomas Hogstedt, who joined her team during the clay-court season. Although Keys admitted Hogstedt had “helped her game a lot,” there were reports that there was “too big a personality conflict off the court” between the two. The 21-year-old American finished the year ranked eighth in the world.

 

SERBIAN WEDDING

Serbian Viktor Troicki married model Aleksandra Djordjevic in an Orthodox wedding at the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Belgrade. At the ceremony the bride wore a dress created by Biljana Tipsarevic, the wife of tennis player Janko Tipsarevic. Among those attending the wedding were Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena. Djokovic, Troicki and Tipsarevic were members of Serbia’s victorious Davis Cup team in 2010.

 

SHORTENED SCHEDULE

Four teams will compete in three cities as the International Premier Tennis League (ITPL) has reduced its schedule this its third season. Roger Federer, who has not played since Wimbledon, is scheduled to take to the court for Indian Aces team. The league will hold matches in Hyderabad, India; Tokyo, Japan, and Singapore before playing the finals in Hyderabad. A team representing the United Arab Emirates will play only road games. Citing political unrest in the country, IPTL owner Mahesh Bhupathi said the Philippines will not participate in the league this season. Besides Federer, other top players scheduled to compete in the league are Serena Williams, Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych. Also participating will be Nick Kyrgios, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchard, Jelena Jankovic, Martina Hingis, Sania Mirza, Daniel Nestor and Rohan Bopanna. Teams consists of six men’s and women’s players, along with a retired player as captain.

 

SET TO PLAY

Doubles specialist Michael Venus won the New Zealand Championships last year. Now he’s set to defend his title in a tournament that gives the singles and doubles winners wild card entries into the main draw of the ASB Classic. The New Zealand Championships will be held December 16-17. There also will be a women’s event with the singles champion receiving a wild card into the ASB Classic qualifying.

 

SEASON ENDING

The top players return to action on January 2, and so will this column. There are plenty of tournaments being played around the world through the end of December, including some of the top junior events. But there are no tournaments being played that match or exceed the USD $100,000 prize money floor this column reports on.

So enjoy the holiday. See you next year.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Honolulu: Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato beat Nicole Gibbs and Asia Muhammad 6-7 (3) 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Dubai: www.habtoortennis.com

 

TOURNAMENT WEEK OF DECEMBER 12

WOMEN

$100,000 Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hard

 

Argentina Davis Cup Team
Argentina Davis Cup Team

Surprising Dominika Cibulkova Captures WTA Finals In Singapore – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Dominika Cibulkova beat Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore in Singapore

Andy Murray beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 7-6 (6) to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria

Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori 6-1 7-6 (5) to win the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland

Oceane Dodin beat Lauren Davis 6-4 6-2 to win the Internationaux Feminins de la Vienne in Poitiers, France

 

DAVIS CUP

Group 1 Relegation Playoffs

Americas Zone: Dominican Republic beat Barbados 3-2 at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Europe/Asia Zone: Israel beat Sweden 3-1 at Ramat Hasharon, Israel

 

SAYING

“Why do I always get idiots?” – Viktor Troiki, complaining about line calls during his Erste Bank Open match.

“I have no words, coming here for the first time, the biggest tournament of my life. I still don’t know how I won, I put the ball over the net and it went in. It’s the happiest moment of my life.” – Dominika Cibulkova, after winning the season-ending WTA Finals by beating top-ranked Angelique Kerber in the title match.

“I gave everything. I mean, it was a tough year with a lot of matches, so I give everything on court today, the rest (of the) energy I had left.” – Angelique Kerber, following her loss to Dominika Cibulkova.

“I think I played my best tennis today of the tournament.” – Andy Murray, following his straight-set victory over Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the Vienna final.

“I’m really happy with my week. I played good tennis. I fought until the end, and that’s most important for me. It was nice to play five matches in a row like this.” – Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.

“Finishing the year number one is amazing. It’s a dream come true and gives me motivation and inspiration to come out and work even harder next year.” – Sania Mirza, who will end 2016 ranked number one in the world in doubles for the second straight year.

“I let nerves get the best of me, and I think that happens to everyone. Just something that I need to work on. It’s not a bad thing. It happens to a lot of people. People figure it out. Obviously I’m not the best at it at 21. Hopefully there are a couple more years to figure that out.” – Madison Keys.

“I had a lot of matches, a lot of tough matches – but also a lot of great finals, a lot of great memories (that) I received this year. Of course, now I’m ready for the vacation.” – Angelique Kerber.

“You need to understand that in a Davis Cup tie we are given the kind of support I don’t have during the year. That helps. I’m not complaining; that is just the reality.” – Amir Weintraub, after beating Sweden’s top player, Elias Ymer, to begin Israel’s 3-1 victory over Sweden in their Europe/Africa Group Zone 1 relegation playoff tie.

 

SINGAPORE SURPRISE

Dominika Cibulkova had the worst possible start to her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals. But she had a glorious ending, shocking top-ranked Angelique Kerber to post her biggest career victory. The Slovak right-hander lost her first two round-robin matches, and in order to advance to the semifinals needed to beat Simona Halep in straight sets and have Kerber beat Madison Keys in straight sets. Both happened, and Cibulkova ended up her fairytale season by coming from behind to stop Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals before pulling off her final shocker of the week. “It wasn’t easy to go on the court after two losses, but I was mentally very strong and I knew I played well in the first two matches, I was just a little bit unlucky. Then at the end I was lucky.” Or good. Or both.  Cibulkova dominated the title match from the beginning, finding the answer to every problem posed by her German opponent and winning most of their baseline battles. Her only wobble came at the end when Kerber staved off three match points. That’s when she got lucky. On her fourth match point, her shot clipped the net and fell on Kerber’s side.

Cibulkova joins last year’s champion, Agnieszka Radwanska, as capturing the Finals title after winning just one round-robin match. She also is the first player since Petra Kvitova in 2011 to win the season-finale in her first trip to the elite eight event. And her victory advances Cibulkova to a career-high number five in the WTA rankings.

 

SEEKING TOP SPOT

Andy Murray is moving ever closer to the number one ranking currently held by Novak Djokovic. Murray won the Erste Bank Open to pull within just 415 points heading into the final week of the ATP World Tour regular season. If Murray wins the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris this week and Djokovic does not reach the final, the Scot would overtake his Serbian foe. Djokovic would remain in the top spot if he reaches the Paris final. Murray continued the best season of his career by beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. But the Frenchman forced Murray to win a second-set tiebreak 8-6. “Jo fought well and started playing a lot better,” Murray said. “He was more aggressive and taking some more chances and making the shots.” Murray’s 14th win over Tsonga in 16 career meeting gave the Scot his career-high seventh title of the year, tying Djokovic. Murray goes into Paris having won 15 consecutive matches, including titles in Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna. His 69 match wins this season is the most on the ATP World Tour. “The last few months have been very good,” Murray said.

 

SWISS CHAMP

Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori to win the US Open in 2014. This time the two met in the final of the Swiss Indoors Basel, but the result was the same. The Croatian rode his dominant serve and huge forehand to his 16th career ATP World Tour-level title and second of 2016, having also won in Cincinnati in August. “I knew it going to be important to start well,” said Cilic, who raced through the opening set 6-1 in just 25 minutes. “Obviously it was a big match for me. Being in the final of a 500 tournament against someone like Kei, who has been playing good tennis during the week, I knew it was going to be important to have energy straight away. I was playing well in the first set with my shot-making, and I was serving smart.” Cilic finished with 28 winners, including six aces. Nishikori served his second double-fault of the day on match point. “In the second set I was a little tight,” Nishikori said. “I had a couple set points and couldn’t convert. He played good tennis today.”

 

SANIA ON TOP AGAIN

India’s Sania Mirza has retained her spot as the WTA’s top doubles player for the second straight year. “It’s very, very exciting to finish two years in a row as number one,” Mirza said. “It’s been an incredible year for me again with seven WTA titles, a Grand Slam and ending the year at the WTA Finals in Singapore.” It wasn’t easy, however. Mirza barely edged out Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The American could have wound up with the year-end number one doubles ranking if she and Lucie Safarova had won the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore. But they lost the title match to Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 7-6 (5) 6-3. Mirza won eight titles with three different partners in 2016, capturing her third Grand Slam tournament trophy at the Australian Open with Martina Hingis. Mirza began a new partnership with Barbora Strycova by winning in Cincinnati in August and at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She also won the Connecticut Open in 2016 with Monica Niculescu.

 

SANS RACQUETS

Britain’s Dan Evans was ready to play his opening round of qualifying at the Paris Masters against Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. But the 26-year-old Evans had to withdraw from the event because his racquets failed to make it to France. “I had to pull out of Paris qs (qualifiers) as my racquet bag never made it to Paris from Birmingham (Great Britain), so basically I had a day trip to Paris,” Evans said. Despite not being able to play in Paris, Evans will end 2016 ranked 60th in the world, his highest end-of-year ranking in his career.

 

SET FOR LONDON

Gael Monfils has qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time in his career. The Frenchman joins Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori in the select eight-man singles field. “It feels great to qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time in my career,” Monfils said. “It is a great way to finish my best season on the tour and I look forward to competing against the other best players of 2016. I heard a lot of great things about the event, every match is like a final, and I always love to play on a big stage.” Monfils, however, will miss this week’s Paris Masters. He pulled out of the tournament with a rib injury.

The doubles team of Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram will be making their first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Others who have qualified for the doubles competition include Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, and Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.

 

SETS ANOTHER MILESTONE

The Bryan brothers – Bob and Mike – have won 1,000 doubles matches, nearly twice as many as any other team in the Open Era. “Very few players will achieve it,” Nenad Zimonjic of the Bryans’ record. “In the next 100 years, you’ll still be counting on one hand. Their longevity and number of titles will be so tough to break.” The American twins won their first match in 1998, beating Mark Keil and Dave Randall at Atlanta, Georgia, USA.  Their 1,000th match win came over Pablo Cuevas and Viktor Troicki in the Erste Bank Open quarterfinals in Vienna, Austria. Hall of Famers Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde have won the second-most matches as a team, 508. “They force opponents to ‘beat’ them and most of all they believe,” Woodforde said of the Bryans. “Bob has the big lefty serve, Mike has the solid and consistent return. They help each other out at net, they have great reflexes, they can play on the baseline and they can switch sides if necessary.”

 

SAID WHAT? 

Viktor Troicki took a page out of the John McEnroe book on on-court etiquette. The Serb may have even written a new chapter. Trailing Kevin Anderson in the first set of their first-round match at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria, Troicki erupted when a ball off the South African’s racquet was called in. Troicki screamed and paced around the court for over a minute before returning to the baseline to serve. “Why do I always get idiots?” he screamed. “This is incredible. … Why do I always get this? … Why does this always happen to me? I’m going crazy over here. What’s wrong with you?” Despite his irritation with the officiating, Troiki won the match 4-6 7-6 (5) 7-5.

 

SUSPICIOUS

Tennis has resulted in more suspicious betting alerts than all other sports combined, according to the European Sports Security Association (ESSA). The organizations aid 31 of the 37 alerts it received in the third quarter concerned tennis. Soccer was second with three alerts. Suspicious betting patterns can be an indication of match fixing, but can also occur for other reasons, such as injury or inside knowledge by bettors. ESSA represents most of Europe’s largest betting companies.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Basel: Marcel Granollers and Jack Sock beat Robert Lindstedt and Michael Venus 6-3 6-4

Poitiers: Nao Hibino and Alicja Rosolska beat Alexandra Cadantu and Nicola Geuer 6-0 6-0

Singapore: Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova 7-6 (5) 6-3

Vienna: Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin 4-6 6-3 13-11 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Singapore: www.wtafinals.com/

Basel: www.swissindoorsbasel.ch/de-de/

Vienna: www.erstebank-open.com/de/

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

Paris: www.bnpparibasmasters.com/

Zhuhai: www.wtaelitetrophy.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$4,681,802 BNP Paribas Masters, Paris, France, hard

$125,000 Ea Hua Hin Open Challenger, Hua Hin, Thailand, hard
WOMEN

$2,214,500 WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$100,000 Internationaux De Tennis De Vendee, Mouilleron Le Captif, France, hard

WOMEN

$115,000 WTA Ea Hua Hin Championship 2016, Hua Hin, Thailand, hard

Dominka Cibulkova Wins Singapore
Dominka Cibulkova Wins Singapore

Argentina, Croatia Into Davis Cup Final – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Christina McHale beat Katerina Siniakova 3-6 6-4 6-4 to win the Hashimoto Sogyo Japan Women’s Open Tennis in Tokyo, Japan

Océane Dodin beat Lauren Davis 6-4 6-3 to win the Coupe Banque Nationale in Québec City, Québec, Canada

Alessandro Giannesi beat Dustin Brown 6-2 6-3 to win the Pekao Szczecin Open in Szczecin, Poland

Rebecca Sramkova beat Martina Trevisan 6-3 4-6 6-1 to win the Engie Open de Biarritz Pays Basque in Biarritz, France

 

DAVIS CUP

World Cup Semifinals

Argentina beat Great Britain 3-2 at Glasgow, Scotland

Croatia beat France 3-2 at Zadar, Croatia

 

World Cup Playoffs

Switzerland beat Uzbekistan 3-2 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Belgium beat Brazil 4-0 at Ostend, Belgium; Australia beat Slovakia 3-1 at Sydney, Australia; Canada beat Chile 5-0 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Russia beats. Kazakhstan 3-1 at Moscow, Russia; Spain beats India 5-0 at New Delhi, India; Germany beat Poland 3-2 at Berlin, Germany; Japan beat Ukraine 5-0 at Osaka, Japan

 

Group I

1st Round Playoffs

Americas Zone: Colombia beat Dominican Republic 4-1 at Santiago De Los Caballeros, Dominican Republic

Europe/Africa Zone: Netherlands beat Sweden 5-0 at Båstad, Sweden

 

2nd Round Playoffs

Asia/Oceania Zone: New Zealand beat Pakistan 5-0 at Christchurch, New Zealand

Europe/Africa Zone: Portugal beat Slovenia 5-0 at Viana do Castelo, Portugal

 

Group II

Finals

Americas Zone: Venezuela vs. Peru at Barcelona, Venezuela, hard

Asia/Oceania Zone: Chinese Taipei beat Thailand 3-2 at Nonthaburi, Thailand

 

Semifinals

Europe/Asia Zone: Bosnia/Herzegovina beat Lithuania 5-0 at Vilnius, Lithuania; Belarus beat Denmark 4-1 at Minsk, Belarus

 

SAYING

“I don’t even want to put my trophy down – I just want to hold it all the time.” Christina McHale, during the trophy presentation after she won in Tokyo, Japan.

“It’s very special for me. This is a very nice tournament; I feel like I’m in France because the people are very friendly and supportive of me.” – Océane Dodin, after winning in Québec City.

“We’ve played together for so long that not every week can be perfect. But this week was proof that if you’re having fun, you have good results. I hope we can take this momentum into Asia.” – Andrea Hlavackova, after she teamed with Lucie Hradecka to win the doubles in Québec City.

“I’m very proud of how I fought, I did fantastic. I fought for every point, tried as best as I could. That’s all you can do.” – Andy Murray, after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the opening match of the Great Britain-Argentina Davis Cup World Group semifinal.

“I cannot imagine this moment in my career. This was the type of match I was missing when I was at home.” – Juan Martin del Potro, who has missed most of the past several years while undergoing four wrist surgeries, after beating Andy Murray in a five-set Davis Cup semifinal match.

“Things kind of worked, and isn’t it nice when things just work out?” – Alla Kudryavtseva, after beating Eugenie Bouchard in Québec City.

“Johan has got a great thing going here. When it’s about kids getting the opportunity to play tennis, we all chip in.” – Martina Navratilova, who was on hand for the opening ceremonies at the Johan Kriek Tennis Academy in Florida, USA.

 

SWINGING IN THE RAIN

Christina McHale beat the rain and Katerina Siniakova to win the Hashimoto Sogyo Japan Women’s Open Tennis in Tokyo. “I’ve been coming to this tournament for a few years now and I really love it here,” she told the crowd during the trophy presentation. “Thanks to all the fans and everyone here for sticking through all the rain delays – we’ve had a few, especially today.” The 24-year-old American trailed Siniakova when the final was suspended by rain in the second set, Siniakova just three games away from victory. When play resumed, Siniakova held for a 4-3 lead before McHale rallied to win her first WTA title. In the final set, McHale jumped out to 4-0 lead before her Czech opponent rallied to pull within one game at 5-4. McHale won when Siniakova’s backhand sailed wide. McHale spent more than 13 hours on court during the week, going the distance in all five of her matches. The only other time she reached a WTA final was at Acapulco two years ago. Siniakova, who also lost the final in Båstad this summer, was unable to hide her disappointment at being able to win her first title. “I’m here in the final for the second time and unfortunately it was really tough for me,” she said, “so I’m a little sad. But Christina played really well, so congratulations to her.”

 

SCARED WINNER

Océane Dodin of France is a first-time singles champion on the WTA tour. The 19-year-old beat American qualifier Lauren Davis in the Coupe Banque Nationale final to become the youngest champion in the history of the Québec City tournament. Ranked 132nd in the world going into the tournament, Dodin will crack the Top 100 for the first time in her career. She also is the first teenager to win a WTA title in 2016. After winning the first set, the eventual champion jumped out to 3-0 lead, and then faltered. “In the second set I scared myself,” she said. “I had a lot of chances to get a big lead and go up 4-0 and 5-2, but my nerves got the best of me.” In the final, Dodin had 31 winners to just 26 unforced errors. “It was a very tough match, very difficult,” the French teenager said. “She plays very well and runs everywhere. I’m just trying to improve my game, so I’m there for every point, focused on my serve. That helped me so much in this match.” Dodin twice reached the second round of major tournaments in 2015, but until Québec, she had never won a main draw match outside the Grand Slam events. Now she has a title.

 

SQUEAKING THROUGH

Four experienced doubles players who were the top two seeded teams battled for the title in Québec City, with two-time Grand Slam tournament champions Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka outlasting Russians Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova in a pair of tiebreaks. “With the no-ad scoring and super tiebreaks, it’s very rare to get an easy match on the WTA tour these days,” Hlavackova said. “So that experience helped today. We didn’t have a good record in tiebreaks, super tiebreaks or no-ads before Québec, so we took this tournament to try to change that. We did, and we’re very happy about it.” With their latest title, Hlavackova and Hradecka move up to the fifth spot on the Road to Singapore leaderboard with a good chance of qualifying for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global for a second straight year.

 

SET FOR LONDON

US Open champion Stan Wawrinka has qualified for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the fourth straight year. Ranked third in the world, Wawrinka is the third player to qualify for the event, which will be held November 13-20 in London, Great Britain. “At the beginning of the season it is always my goal to be in the Top 8 and qualify for London,” Wawrinka said. “It is great to be able to secure a spot once again this year after a fantastic two weeks in New York.” The US Open was Wawrinka’s third Grand Slam tournament title in three years. He won the Australian Open in 2014, beating Rafael Nadal in the title match, and Roland Garros in 2015, where he bested top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who also fell to the Swiss star at the US Open. Wawrinka has reached the semifinals on all three previous visits to the Finals.

 

STOLEN RECORDS

Leaked medical records show four WTA players have been approved to use banned drugs because of medical problems. The Russian hacker group allegedly responsible for leaking World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) records of Serena and Venus Williams has also released records of Petra Kvitova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The Williams sisters were among the 29 athletes whose record were released in the first round of leaks. Kvitova has asthma and received therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) starting in 2009 for albuterol and formoterol. Mattek-Sands received TUEs for hydrocortisone and initially for DHEA, a banned anabolic agent. The DHEA was subsequently revoked by WADA, the only time a TUE has been approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and subsequently turned down by WADA since the ITF began running the program. Mattek-Sands appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was rejected again. WADA’s director general called the attack on its system “retaliation” for the agency’s investigation into a state-sponsored Russian doping system. The Russian government has denied any involvement. WADA also said none of the athletes named in the leaks have been shown to commit a doping violation.

 

SWITCHES RESULTS

When they met at the Rio Olympics, it was Andy Murray who beat Juan Martin del Potro for the gold medal. This time, it was a Davis Cup tie on the line. And this time it was del Potro who won. Del Potro ended Murray’s 14-match Davis Cup winning streak in the opening match of the five-match tie, 6-4 5-7 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4, in a battle that took 5 hours, 7 minutes. It was the longest match of both players’ careers. Del Potro broke Murray in the seventh game with a forehand winner down the line, giving the Argentine a 4-3 lead. He served out for the match, finishing it off with an ace. “It was very fine margins,” Murray said. “That happens in tennis and sport sometimes. It could have gone either way.” It was the first time Murray had lost a home singles match in Davis Cup.

Argentina won the semifinal when Leonardo Mayer stopped Daniel Evans 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the decisive fifth match. Mayer was substituting for del Potro after Argentina’s top player had played the first two days, outlasting Murray in the singles, then teaming with Mayer to lose to brothers Andy and Jamie Murray 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the doubles.

The Davis Cup final, which will be played Nov. 25-27, will pit Argentina against Croatia, which advanced by beating France 3-2. France played without its top two singles players, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils, both of whom are injured. Argentina has never won the international team event, finishing runner-up in 1981, 2006, 2008 and 2011.

 

STILL STRUGGLING

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard is still struggling to return to the WTA’s Top 10. She lost a second-round match at the Coupe Banque Nationale to Alla Kudryavtseva 6-2 6-3. “The crowd was amazing. It was a sold-out match today, and it was very nice to play singles in a full stadium,” Kudryavtseva said. “I was in trouble in the second game, but I was able to come up with good shots on break points. From then on I kind of rolled. Talk about being in the zone. I was hitting my shots very well and it was just working. It was just electric, and I love how engaged the crowd was, though sadly they were engaged against me. But it was still nice to have the full-house atmosphere, and by the end I really felt like they appreciated the level of tennis I was playing.”

 

STRONG REBUKE

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is under fire for including a Canadian national as the fourth player on the Pakistan squad for a Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I tie against New Zealand. With its top player, Aisam Ul-Haq Quereshi, boycotting the tie, the PTF named Asad Nawazish as its fourth player. Under Davis Cup rules, Pakistan would have faced disqualification by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) if it had sent only a three-man team. The tie was played in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the referee disqualified Nawazish and refused to allow him to play because his Pakistani passport had expired a few years ago. “He had traveled to New Zealand on his Canadian passport,” one source in the PTF confided. Mushaf Zia, a former Pakistan player, said the whole episode was an embarrassment since Asad had not even bothered to get his Pakistani passport renewed yet was sent to New Zealand for the tie.

 

STANFORD GOODBYE

Catherine Bellis, also known as CiCi, is turning pro instead of playing college tennis at Stanford. The 17-year-old made up her mind after reaching the third round of the US Open, which is a $140,000 payday for professional players. Though Grand Slam rules stipulate a player must declare themselves professional before the start of the tournament, the USTA has previously allowed players to keep prize money after turning professional. Bellis is currently ranked 120th in the world. “I’ve been working really hard,” Bellis said, “and all my hard work is beginning to pay off right now. But I think I can do whatever I want to in tennis. If I keep working hard, I think I can be one of the best players in the world.” At the US Open, Bellis beat Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland and fellow American Shelby Rogers before losing to eventual champion Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-1.

 

SAYING I DO

Two ATP World Tour players were married on the same day earlier this month. Andreas Seppi of Italy married Michela Bernardi in Oreisei, Italy. In Bourron-Marlotte, France, Paul-Henri Mathieu of France wed his longtime girlfriend Quiterie Camus. They were married by the bride’s mother, the deputy mayor of Bourron-Marlotte.

 

SHE’S HELPING

Martina Navratilova turned up at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA, for the opening ceremonies at the John Kriek Tennis Academy. Kriek, a two-time Australian Open champion, and Navratilova, who won 59 Grand Slam titles in her career, played an exhibition match to launch the PGA National as one of the more elite tennis academies in the United States. “To take a 6-year-old to where they get to 10, and they start playing in tournaments and just blossom into wonderful human beings because of tennis, it’s just extremely rewarding,” said Johan Kriek, reflecting on his new tennis academy.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Biarritz: Irina Khromacheva and Mryna Zanevska beat Cornelia Lister and Nina Stojanovic 4-6 7-5 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Quebec City: Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka beat Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova 7-6 (2) 7-6 (2)

Szczecin: Andre Begemann and Aliaksandr Bury beat Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6 (3) 6-7 (7) 10-4 (match tiebreak

Tokyo: Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya beat Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith 6-3 6-3

 

SURFING

 

Moselle:  www.moselle-open.com/

St. Petersburg (men): www.spbopen.ru/

St. Petersburg (women): www.kamelzon.ru

Kaohsiung: www.oectennis.com/

Guangzhou: www.guangzhouopen.org/

Seoul: www.koreaopentennis.com/

Tokyo: www.toray-ppo.com/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopen.com/

Orleans: www.opendorleans.com/

Tiburon: http://tiburonchallenger.com/

Wuhan: www.wuhanopen.org/

Tashkent: www.tashkentopen.uz/en/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

$986,380 St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard

$583,955 Moselle Open, Moselle, France, hard

$125,000 OEC Kaohsiung Challenger, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, hard

 

WOMEN

$885,500 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan, hard

$226,750 Guangzhou International Women’s Open, Guangzhou, China, hard

$226, 750 Korea Open Tennis, Seoul, Korea, hard

$100,000 Neva Cup 2016, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$947,735 Chengdu Open, Chengdu, China, hard

$704,140 Shenzhen Open, Shenzhen, China, hard

$118,789 Open D’Orleans, Orleans, France, hard

$100,000 Wells Fargo Bank Tiburon Challenger, Tiburon, California, USA

 

WOMEN

$2,288,250 2016 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, Duhan, China, hard

$226,750 Tashkent Open, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, hard

Juan Martin del Potro and Argentina's Davis Cup team
Juan Martin del Potro and Argentina’s Davis Cup team

Angelique Kerber, Andy Murray Both Stumble In Cincinnati – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

 

STARS

Marin Cilic beat Andy Murray 6-4 7-5 to win the Western & Southern Open men’s singles in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Karolina Pliskova beat Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-1 to win the Western & Southern Open women’s singles in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

 

SAYING

“I felt that I played really good tennis today. The serve was a big factor in my game. I was hitting a lot of big serves in important points, and I was definitely in that second set very, very mentally strong.” – Marin Cilic, after beating Andy Murray to win the Western & Southern Open men’s singles.

“I’m very proud of this week. Obviously today it didn’t go how I would’ve wanted. But I certainly didn’t expect to get to the final when I arrived here.” – Andy Murray.

“I was expecting I’m going to play good, but I wasn’t expecting it that easy. I think she might be a little bit tired, or she felt a little bit of pressure on herself.” – Karolina Pliskova, following her upset win in the Cincinnati final over Angelique Kerber.

“I’m really tired. I played the 11th match in 13 or 14 days. I really enjoyed the week. I really tried my best today, but sometimes you have days when it’s not working so good.” – Angelique Kerber.

“As cliché as it sounds, a ranking is really just a number. At the end of the day you have to come out and you have to play your best tennis. That’s what we did, and we feel like that’s why we won the tournament.” – Sania Mirza, who took over the top doubles ranking alone after sharing the spot with former partner Martina Hingis.

“You have to change the rhythm. I didn’t hit as strong as I did first four games and I didn’t miss as I did at the beginning. She was playing really well at the beginning, those four games, but then I had just to change, to play more angles, and then I came back and I think I was the one that was dominating match.” – Simona Halep, following her 7-5 6-1 victory over Agnieszka Radwanska.

“I’ve practiced with him many times, so to some extent I have an understanding of his game, like he has of mine. But it’s different come match time, so I did a little bit of studying. I feel like I took that all in and adapted well.” – Milos Raonic, on Dominic Thiem after beating the Austrian 6-3 6-4.

 

STOPS KERBER

Karolina Pliskova made sure Serena Williams remains atop the women’s rankings by knocking off Germany’s Angelique Kerber. It was the sixth career title for the Czech, but by far her biggest. If Kerber had won, she would have moved past Williams and take over the number one spot in the rankings. “Of course I’m disappointed, but still she played a great match and a great tournament and deserved to win,” Kerber said of her conqueror. Pliskova came into the hard-court event ranked 15th in the world and leads the WTA Tour in aces. Against Kerber, Pliskova pounded seven aces, the last one on match point. Kerber committed 32 unforced errors, most coming from her forehand. “I know she was playing for the world number one,” Pliskova said. “I think you deserve to be number one. But maybe next time.” It was the second straight week that she came up short. Kerber fell to Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig in the women’s final at the Rio Olympics. The result allowed Williams to continue her reign on top of the rankings to 184 consecutive weeks, two weeks away from tying the all-time mark held by Steffi Graf.

 

STUNNER BY CILIC

Marin Cilic found his serve, which was enough to power the Croat over Andy Murray and capture his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, the Western & Southern Open. “The serve was a big factor in my game,” said Cilic, who became only the second active player outside of the Big Four to win both a Grand Slam tournament and a Masters 1000 title. “I was hitting a lot of big serves in important points, and I was definitely in that second set very, very mentally strong.” Cilic, relentless in his baseline game, took the opening set in 41 players. He pulled off the only service break in the 11th game of the second set, then closed out the victory on his first match point. “I felt that I played really good tennis today,” Cilic said. “Andy was starting to play a bit better, but it’s definitely a huge win against him. He’s been on a great run the last couple of months.” Cilic’s victory is just the fifth title by a player outside of the Big Four of Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since 2010.

 

SWIFT KICK

A swift kick almost caused Andy Murray to be penalized during his semifinal match at the Cincinnati Masters. When a ball came his way, Murray kicked it towards the crowd. But the ball narrowly missed the chair umpire’s head and drew a stern look from the umpire. The ATP rulebook states: “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match.” Murray escaped any penalty and went on to easily down Milos Raonic 6-3 6-3.

 

SOLE POSSESSION

No longer are India’s Sania Mirza and Switzerland’s Martina Hingis teammates. And no longer are they tied for the number one on the WTA doubles ranking. When Mirza and her new partner, Barbora Strycova, beat Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe 7-5 6-4 to win the women’s doubles crown in Cincinnati, the 29-year-old Mirza took over sole possession of the top of the rankings. Hingis and her American teammate won five of the first six games before Mirza and the Czech Republic’s Strycova won the next six games and wrapped up the victory in straight sets. Although Mirza and Hingis have split up, they will team up in October for the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Singapore.

 

STRONG FINISH

Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo won five of the last six points in their match tiebreak to capture the Western & Southern Open men’s doubles over Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. It was their fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title together. The Croatian/Brazilian pair improved their 2016 record to 25-11. Neither team dropped serve in the match and both won 7-5 tiebreaks to send it into the match tiebreak.

 

STAYING HOME

Ninth-ranked Madison Keys is skipping this week’s Connecticut Open because of a neck injury. Announcing her withdrawal from the final hard-court warmup event before the US Open, Keys said she felt pain on the right side of her neck while she was hitting a forehand return during a practice session. “I probably hit it late,” she said. “As soon as I finished the stroke, I knew that I did something.” Keys has had trouble with her neck in the past. She has sought medical treatment and hopes to be ready in time for the US Open, which begins its two-week run next Monday.

Two other players withdrew from the New Haven, Connecticut, USA, tournament, although both won titles at Cincinnati. Karolina Pliskova, who upset Angelique Kerber to win the Western & Open women’s singles, withdrew from New Haven with a lower back injury. Barbora Strycova, who teamed with Sania Mirza to win the doubles, pulled out of the Connecticut Open with an illness.

 

STRAIGHT IN – MEN

Juan Martin del Potro, the Olympic silver medalist, was given a wild card entry into the men’s singles draw at the US Open. The 27-year-old del Potro returned to competitive play in February following his third surgery on his left wrist. He was ranked as high as fourth in the world in 2010, but has missed quite a bit of time since then because of surgeries, including on to his right wrist.

Others receiving wild card entries into the main men’s singles draw include Rajeev Ram, Bjorn Fratangelo, Frances Tiafoe, 2016 NCAA singles champion Mackenzie McDonald, 2016 USTA Boys’ 18s national champion Michael Mmoh and USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge winner Ernesto Escobedo. As part of a reciprocal agreement with the USTA, Tennis Australia will award one additional main draw wild card.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) also awarded wild card entries into the US Open qualifying tournament, which will be played this week. Players receiving those wild cards are Sekou Bangoura, Christian Harrison, Vasil Kirkov, Mitchell Krueger, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Reilly Opelka, Tennyus Sandgren and Ryan Shane.

 

STRAIGHT IN – WOMEN

Two-time NCAA singles champion Danielle Collins and mixed doubles Olympic gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands head the list of direct wild card entries into the US Open women’s singles main draw. A senior at the University of Virginia, Collins won her second NCAA singles title this year. She also won in 2014, after which she received a wild card and played second-ranked Simona Halep in the opening round, winning the first set in a tiebreak. Mattek-Sands, 31, won the mixed doubles gold medal at the Rio Olympics with Jack Sock. Last year, she teamed with Lucie Safarova to win the women’s doubles at both the Australian Open and the French Open, and also won the French Open mixed doubles title with Mike Bryan. Mattek-Sands will be competing in her 15th US Open main draw.

Others receiving wild card entries into the women’s singles main draw are Lauren Davis, 2016 USTA Girls’ 18s national champion Kayla Day, USTA Pro Circuit US Open Wild Card Challenge winner Sofia Kenin, Vania King and Virginie Razzano of France. As part of a reciprocal agreement with the USTA, Tennis Australia will award one additional main draw wild card.

Awarded wild card entries into the US Open qualifying tournament are 14-year-old Amanda Anisimova, Francesca Di Lorenzo, Nicole Frenkel, Ellie Halbauer, Jamie Loeb, Raveena Kingsley, Melanie Oudin and Great Britain’s Laura Robson.

 

SICK BAY

After receiving a wild card into the Western & Southern Open women’s singles draw, top-ranked Serena Williams withdrew from the tournament citing a right shoulder injury. That’s the same injury that forced her to withdraw from the Rogers Cup in Montreal last month. “My shoulder inflammation continues to be a challenge,” Williams said, “but I am anxious to return to the court as soon as possible.” She did play in the Rio Olympics, but appeared to be bothered by her shoulder in her third-round loss to Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine.

 

SUFFERING APPENDICITIS

The US Open has already lost one of its top players. Eighth-ranked Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic pulled out of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament after suffering appendicitis. “I am very disappointed to announce I will not be able to compete at the US Open this year,” Berdych wrote on Twitter. “I was just diagnosed with appendicitis in Cincinnati so I will be flying back to Europe for additional checks and treatment. I will need to take some time off to recover fully, but I know I will get back as strong as ever.” Berdych reached the semifinals at Wimbledon this year where he lost to eventual champion Andy Murray.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Cincinnati (men): Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo beat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-6 (5) 6-7 (5) 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Cincinnati (women): Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova beat Martina Hingis and Coco Vandeweghe 7-5 6-4

 

SURFING

New Haven: www.ctopen.org

Winston-Salem: www.winstonsalemopen.com/

New York: www.usopen.org

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

$720,940 Winston-Salem Open, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, hard

 

WOMEN

$695,900 Connecticut Open, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN and WOMEN

US Open, New York, New York, USA, hard

 

 

Angelique Kerber

 

Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych Repeat As Champions – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Marin Cilic beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4 to win the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow men’s singles in Moscow, Russia

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-1 to win the women’s singles at the Kremlin Cup by Bank of Moscow in Moscow, Russia

Tomas Berdych beat Jack Sock 7-6 (1) 6-2 to win the If Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden

David Ferrer beat Steve Johnson 4-6 6-4 75 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria

Misaki Doi beat Mona Barthel 6-4 6-7 (7) 6-0 to win the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open in Luxembourg, Luxembourg

 

SAYING

“Playing in Moscow’s really hard for me because it’s the one I want most. It’s pretty much the same emotions as at Roland Garros.” – Svetlana Kuznetsova, after winning the Kremlin Open, her first title in her native Russia.

“It was painful that the final turned out like that, but I’m happy that I made the final.” – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Kremlin Open.

“It’s one of the goals for next season. A tournament hat trick would be a wonderful achievement. Three consecutive titles at the same tournament? This I haven’t done in my career.” – Marin Cilic, when asked if he would return to the Kremlin Cup next year.

“I found a way to deal with a tough situation in the first set. Afterwards I was able to find my game and get better and better.” – Tomas Berdych, after winning the Stockholm Open for the second straight year and for the third time in four years.

“I am 33 years old. I hope I have two more years to go.” – David Ferrer, after winning the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

“I had an awesome week and am super proud about how I played. I’m not going to be sad about this week and I look forward to the rest of the year. I have gained a lot of confidence and will work hard in the off season because I know I can beat these guys.” – Steve Johnson, who played in his first ATP World Tour final, losing to David Ferrer.

“The Hall of Famers are individuals who I have admired from the time I was a young girl, throughout my career, and to this day. To be nominated for induction into this group and to have my career recognized in this way is a great honor, and I thank the committee for the nomination.” – Justine Henin, who has been nominated for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

 

SECOND STRAIGHT

The last time Marin Cilic played in an ATP World Tour final, he beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-4 to win the Kremlin Cup. Cilic reached the Moscow tournament’s title match again this year, and again he faced Bautista Agut – the first time in the event’s 26-year history that the same two players had competed in consecutive finals. Again it was Cilic who wound up a 6-4 6-4 winner. “I’m glad the result was repeated,” the top seed said after besting his Spanish opponent. “Last year was emotional for me. Of course this year’s a little different. I felt very comfortable and relaxed on the court. Perhaps the victory this year is special in the sense that it is usually more difficult to defend than to win the tournament for the first time.” Cilic, who won the US Open in 2014, played only one tournament in the first three months of this season because of a right shoulder injury. Against Bautista Agut, he never dropped serve and had nine aces in the victory.

 

SWEET STOCKHOLM

Tomas Berdych matched Marin Cilic feat of successfully defending a tournament title. The Czech captured the Stockholm Open by stopping Jack Sock after the American forced a first-set tiebreak. That’s when the top seed found his form, winning the tiebreak 7-1, then racing through the second set for the victory. “I’ve definitely built up a good history here, which always helps,” said Berdych after winning his third Stockholm title in four years. “Sometimes you find a place in the world that suits you well, and it’s the case here.” Sock earned the first break of serve in the match and served for the opening set at 5-4. That’s when Berdych broke back to force the tiebreak.

 

STELLAR SPAINARD

David Ferrer has been perfect this year when he reaches a tournament’s last match. The top-seeded Spaniard improved his record to 5-0 in finals this season by coming from behind and beating American Steve Johnson at the Erste Bank Open. The victory all but secured Ferrer a spot in next month’s season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. “I am glad for all the support in my second final in Vienna,” said Ferrer, who lost the title match a year ago to Andy Murray. Playing in his first ATP World Tour final, Johnson gave Ferrer a battle, but the 33-year-old Spaniard proved to be up to the task. The American grabbed the first three games of the opening set, while three straight breaks at the start gave Ferrer an early advantage in the second. The final set went with serve until Johnson led 5-4. Ferrer then won the last three games to add the Erste Bank Open crown to his growing trophy case.

 

SVETLANA’S DREAM

It was a dream come true for Svetlana Kuznetsova. The Russian veteran ended her 14-month title drought by capturing the Kremlin Cup women’s singles. “Deep down I always wanted to win this tournament,” said Kuznetsova, whose last title came at Washington in August 2014. “Finally my dream’s come true. I’m really happy to win this particular title.” A two-time Grand Slam tournament champion, winning the US Open in 2004 and Roland Garros five years later, Kuznetsova had never won a tournament in her home country until now. Against fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kuznetsova was dominant. Pavlyuchenkova, the defending champion, appeared to tire as Kuznetsova took the opening set in 40 minutes. The winner raced out to a 5-0 lead before Pavlyuchenkova won a game. “Unfortunately I failed to recover to play on a normal level today,” the loser said. “But I’m proud to play in my second consecutive Kremlin Cup final.”

 

SET FOR FAME HALL VOTE

Belgium’s Justine Henin, who won seven Grand Slam tournament singles titles, heads the nominees up for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Also nominated in the recent player category are two-time Grand Slam tournament winner Marat Safin of Russian and Czech doubles specialist Helena Sukova. Two champions have been nominated posthumously in the Master Player Category: Yvon Petra of France and Margaret Scriben of Great Britain. The Class of 2016 will be announced early next year and an induction ceremony will be held July 16 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Both Henin and Safin were ranked number one in the world.

 

SUCCESS

Going into the Luxembourg Open, Misaki Doi had lost four straight matches. In her first-round match she twice was a break down in the third set before she got past fourth-seeded Andrea Petkovic. In the quarterfinals, the left-hander upset former world number one Jelena Jankovic.  Doi completed her surprising run by winning her first career WTA title, beating Mona Barthel in the final. “It was an incredible moment and I’m just happy,” Doi said. After losing the second set, Doi fell behind 0-40 to begin the decider. “The key point was that first game,” she said. “It was 0-40 but I tried to focus on every single point and built confidence from there.” Doi sailed through the final set for the title.

Barthel came away with a title, teaming with Laura Siegemund to win the doubles.

 

SICK CALL

After losing the opening set, Marcos Baghdatis withdrew from his semifinal match at the Stockholm Open with an injury. “It’s not the way you want to finish the match,” said the winner, Tomas Berdych, after his opponent had left the court. Berdych told Swedish TV that Baghdatis said it was a recurrence of a long-standing injury. Baghdatis looked sluggish as Berdych ripped through the opening set in 26 minutes. The Cypriot had won the event in 2009.

 

SPECIAL RING

Martina Hingis looks as if she wants to be inducted twice into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHoF). After the Swiss star was inducted in the Newport, Rhode Island, USA, shrine in 2013, she returned to tennis playing only doubles. Now, she is co-ranked number one in the world with her partner, India’s Sania Mirza. The two qualified for the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore where Hingis received her Hall of Fame ring from ITHoF CEO Todd Martin. Hingis won five Grand Slam tournament titles in 2015, two in women’s doubles and three in mixed. “These are the moments we live for, and why we come back and play,” Hingis told the Singapore crowd. “It’s thanks to you that I tried to come back and cherish every single moment.” This past summer Hingis was named a Global Ambassador for ITHoF.

 

SAYONARA

Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen ended his 16-year career at one of his favorite tournaments, the Stockholm Open. After losing his final singles match to Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, Nieminen cried as he sat courtside with a towel draped over his head. “My emotions were on the surface,” the left-hander said, “but when the audience applauded … I felt empty.” His final match came in doubles, where he teamed with his friend, Sweden’s Johan Brunstrom. They received a wild-card entry into the tournament, but failed to get past the first round. Nieminen reached the Stockholm Open final three times – in 2001, 2006 and 2011 – but never won the trophy. “Swedes have supported me since the beginning, even when they have had some great players,” said the 34-year-old Finn, who was ranked 13th in the world in 2006. “They have treated me very well.”

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Luxembourg: Mona Barthel and Laura Siegemund beat Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 7-6 (2)

Moscow (men): Andrey Rublev and Dmitry Tursunov beat Radu Albot and Frantisek Cermak 2-6 6-1 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Moscow (women): Daria Kasatkina and Elena Vesnina beat Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-7 (7) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Stockholm: Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock beat Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 7-5 6-2

Vienna: Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat Jamie Murray and John Peers 4-6 7-6 (3) 10-6 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Valencia: www.valenciaopen.tennis/

 

Basel: www.swissindoorsbasel.ch/de-de/

Singapore: www.wtafinals.com/

Poitiers: www.ifv86.com

Monterrey: www.sierramadretennisclub.com/

Paris: www.bnpparibasmasters.com/

Zhuhai: www.wtaelitetrophy.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$2,308,420 Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland, hard

$689,631 Valencia Open, Valencia, Spain, hard

$100,000 Monterrey, Mexico, hard

 

WOMEN

$7,000,000 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore, Singapore, hard

$100,000 Nanjing, Nanjing, China, hard

$100,000 Internationaux Féminins de la Vienne, Poitiers, France, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$4,219,260 BNP Paribas Masters Paris, Paris, France, hard

$125,000 Hua Hin Championships, Hua Hin, Thailand, hard

 

WOMEN

$2,150,000 Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China, hard

 

Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic

Brand Slam: A Look Back at the US Open Brand Winners

by

By Rob Penner

 

Welcome to our new monthly column “Brand Slam” featuring all things tennis brands: new products, reviews, interviews and more. The world’s biggest sports brands have made all four Grand Slam tournaments a highlight of their seasonal calendars to launch new products and feature custom designs for several years now – and continue to do so. So we’ll take a look back four times each year at the brand winners and losers at each Grand Slam.

It was at the US Open where Jennifer Capriati first came out with the blue stars and stripes dress by Fila, Serena Williams unveiled the PUMA cat suit and Tommy Haas first donned his sleeveless shirt at a major. The 2014 US Open didn’t have quite that sort of fashion statement this year, but there were plenty of other highlights.

The Winners:

Li-Ning – Li-Ning was an ATP World Tour partner from 2006-2012 and has Dwayne Wade among its basketball endorsers, but until Marin Cilic captured the US Open title last week, it had never previously received this kind of brand visibility in any sport across global newspapers and television – except perhaps during the Olympics. Ivan Ljubicic wore Li-Ning for a time and won Indian Wells but that’s not quite the Open. Putting Li Ning’s logo on the sleeve lead to some nice logo placements in photos and it will be interesting to see if Cilic stays with the lesser-known brand in the years ahead. But this is still a major coup for a brand still trying to make a mark in other markets beyond China.

Grade: A-

Uniqlo – Uniqlo’s sponsorship of Novak Djokovic is old news. He’s been wearing their square red logo since summer 2012, but it still seems a bit of an odd combination and not quite at the core of the Uniqlo brand. But who would have expected the first ever all-Uniqlo semifinal with Djokovic facing Kei Nishikori, also outfitted in Uniqlo? It was quite the brand exposure and makes you wonder if another Japanese brand like Mizuno might want to dive back into the tennis mix some time soon.

Grade: B+

Asics – Asics doesn’t go big with the sponsorship dollars in tennis – Gael Monfils and Sam Stosur are their headliners – but more and more players who might not have formal shoe deals are using the Gel-Resolution 5 or Gel-Solution Speed. You see them all over the backcourts. The average tennis fan notices this and – in parallel – you’re seeing a huge gain in popularity of Asics on tennis courts across the country.  Gael Monfils’ bright yellow shirt and shoes and all-Asics outfit during his quarterfinal against Federer definitely stuck out.

Grade: B

Noteworthy:

New Balance – New Balance gets a mention for its NYC subway ad campaign during the Open featuring Milos Raonic. His yellow Charlie Brown top gets mixed reviews, but the New Balance MC996 has been one of the best tennis shoes the venerable brand has put out in years and the yellow colorway Raonic wears is clearly a hot color across the courts this year.

Grade: B-

Nike – Nike unveiled several looks for the Open for all of its top players: Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Rafa Nadal. Only two of them made the semis. Nike gets credit for its design of Sharapova’s “Day Tunic” which hits high on the waist and gives a flattering silhouette. It was arguably the most stylish outfit of the entire tournament and had nice color blocking. Unfortunately, Maria’s outfit was juxtaposed by Serena’s hot mess of a dress which featured a leopard print look that was in style about 10 years ago. And the hot pink version was particularly bad.

Grade: C+

Lacoste – For several years over the past decade, Lacoste was prevalent out there in every tournament with Andy Roddick and a host of Frenchmen sporting the crocodile, but lately they have been almost non-existent on the court. They’ve seemed to fall off the radar on the competitive tennis side – much like the American men at this year’s Open.  It’s a bit curious considering that they are only on the second generation of their performance Repel shoe.

Grade: D

Rob Penner is a former PR Manager with the ATP and former head of sports PR for global sportswear brand PUMA. 

Serena Williams 2014 US Open
Serena Williams 2014 US Open

Record Gap Between Titles for Mirjana Lucic-Baroni – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

US Open

Men’s singles: Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-3

 

OTHER

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni beat Venus Williams 6-4 6-3 to win the Coupe Banque Nationale in Québec City, Quebec, Canada

Sabine Lisicki beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5 6-3 to win the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open in Hong Kong, China

Karin Knapp beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 7-6 (4) to win the Tashkent Open in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

 

DAVIS CUP

World Group Semifinals

France beat Czech Republic 4-1 at Paris, France

Switzerland beat Italy 3-2 at Geneva, Switzerland

 

World Group Playoffs

(Winners will be in World Group in 2014)

Serbia 3, India 2, at Bangalore, India, hard

Brazil beat Spain 3-1 at Sao Paulo, Brazil

Argentina beat Israel 3-2 at Sunrise, Florida, USA

Canada beat Colombia 3-2 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

United States beat Slovakia 5-0 at Chicago, Illinois, USA

Australia beat Uzbekistan 5-0 at Perth, Australia

Croatia beat Netherlands 3-2 at Amsterdam, Netherlands

Belgium beat Ukraine 3-2 at Tallinn, Estonia

 

Group 1 Playoffs

Americas Zone, 2nd Round: Uruguay beat Venezuela 4-1 at Caracas, Venezuela; Asia/Oceania Zone, 1st Round: South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 at Kaohsiung City, Taiwan; Europe/Africa Zone, 1st Round: Romania beat Sweden 3-1 at Bucharest, Romania, clay; Austria beat Latvia 4-1 at Valmiera, Latvia; Europe/Africa Zone, 2nd Round: Russia beat Portugal 4-1 at Moscow, Russia

Group 2 Playoffs

Americas Zone, 3rd Round: Barbados beat Mexico 3-2 at St. Michael, Barbados; Asia-Oceania Zone, 3rd Round: Thailand beat Pakistan 4-1 at Nonthaburi, Thailand; Europe/Asia Zone, 3rd Round: Lithuania beat Bosnia/Herzegovina 3-2 at Sarajevo, Bosnia/Herzegovina; Denmark beat Moldova 3-2 at Kolding, Denmark

 

SAYING

“It was so long ago, I don’t even remember what it’s like to hold a trophy in my hands. It’s just incredible.” – Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, after beating Venus Williams to win the title in Québec City, her first title in a WTA-record 16-year, four-month span.

“She swung as hard as she could on every shot and hit so many lines. It’s not typical that when you go for every shot they almost all go in. I think I played pretty well, but she just played better than me. She just had the magic today.” – Venus Williams, on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s game.

“I’m so happy I can’t really find the words right now to explain how happy I am.” – Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, after beating Venus Williams to win the title in Québec City, Canada.

“It’s fabulous to share in this moment.” – Roger Federer, after clinching a tie that put Switzerland into the Davis Cup final for only the second time.

“I always fight for every single point, no matter what the score is.” – Sabine Lisicki, after rallying from a 1-5 deficit in the first set to win the Hong Kong title in straight sets.

“I’ve had five surgeries, so many months of layoffs in the last six years, in and out of tennis the last two years due to bad knee problems. But I knew it was possible for me to win a WTA event one day, and I’m so happy I could do it here in Tashkent.” – Karin Knapp, after winning her first WTA title six years after undergoing heart surgery.

“I mean, it seems completely unreal to be called Grand Slam champion. I was dreaming about this all my life, and suddenly last four, five days everything started to change. And with my tennis especially. I started to play absolutely unbelievable starting with the fifth set with Simon. After that I had unbelievable run of the matches against these top guys. And what it means to me, it means everything. … This is just the peak of the world.” – Marin Cilic, after winning the US Open men’s singles title.

“I just could never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet.” – Serena Williams, after winning her 18th Grand Slam tournament singles title, tying her with Evert and Navratilova.

“We were mentioning that. They were saying 13 years passed since he (Goran Ivanisevic) won his Wimbledon title, and that happened on Monday, and now none of the Croatians can lose at the final on Monday.” – Marin Cilic, responding to Ivanisevic, his coach, telling him no Croatian player has ever lost a Grand Slam tournament final played on a Monday.

“I’m more surprised with (Marin) Cilic, to be honest, because he’s older. I think he is, anyway. He’s been around for longer but he’s really been able to make a nice transition in the last few years in his game. There is a significant difference in how he plays. Whereas with Kei I always thought unbelievable talent way back when I played with him for the first time when he was 17. Just wasn’t quite sure that in a best-of-five-set tournament if he could get all the way to the back end of the tournament. But he’s beaten myself twice already, other top guys before. He was destroying Rafa in the finals of Madrid. He’s shown what he can do, and that’s why with Kei I’m not surprised, really.” – Roger Federer, on the surprising US Open men’s singles finalists.

“You’re making it sound like I went through, I don’t know, that I almost died and there was 10 sharks and I got attacked and I survived. And I saved a dolphin, as well. It’s not that complicated, really. You know, what I enjoy is to play tennis.” – Victoria Azarenka, saying she is tired of being asked questions about her recent injuries.

 

SURPRISE

Playing some of the best tennis of her career, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni upset Venus Williams to win her first WTA title in 16 years and four months. That’s the longest gap in WTA history between titles. Before her surprising run in Québec City, Lucic-Baroni fashioned a sensational run to the fourth round at the US Open, including a victory over second-ranked Simona Halep. She did not drop a set as she reached her first WTA semifinal since Wimbledon in 1999. It was her first final since Bol, Croatia, in 1998. “I’m so happy I can’t really find the words right now to explain how happy I am,” Lucic-Baroni said. “I played such a great match today against one of the best players in the world, such a champion. It’s been so long. I’m finally playing the great tennis I always knew I could play, but it had been so long that I kind of lost a little bit of the belief in myself.” Williams began the match by winning three of the first three games. But Lucic-Baroni then won 11 of the next 15 games to capture the crown. “Now, after starting with my new coach, Julian Alonso, winning matches and really getting that belief back, I’m just so ready to keep going,” Lucic-Baroni said.

Lucic-Baroni’s day got even better. After winning the singles, she teamed with Lucie Hradecka to capture the doubles, beating Julia Goerges and Andrea Hlavackova 6-3 7-6 (8). It was Lucic-Baroni’s first WTA doubles title since the Pan Pacific in Tokyo, Japan in 1998 – a gap of 16 years and seven months.

 

SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD

There’s something about Monday finals at Grand Slam tournaments and Croatian men. Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon on a Monday in 2001. Marin Cilic became the second Croat – behind Ivanisevic – to win a major when he captured the US Open on a Monday, stopping Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-3. Cilic’s coach? Ivanisevic. “There has been a lot of hard work in these last few years and especially this last year,” said Cilic, who missed the US Open last year while serving a controversial doping ban. “I think my team has brought something special to me, especially Goran.” Seeded 14th in this year’s final major, Cilic is the lowest-ranked champion since Pete Sampras won in 2002 while ranked 17th in the world. Not only was it the first Grand Slam tournament final for either Cilic or Nishikori, it was the first major title match not to feature either Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal since the 2005 Australian Open. Nadal was injured and didn’t play this year’s US Open. Nishikori beat Djokovic and Cilic beat Federer in the semifinals. Cilic wasn’t surprised at who reached the title match. “I feel that for all the other players that are working hard, I think this is a big sign that if you’re working hard things are going to pay off,” the champion said.

 

STANDING TALL

When Kei Nishikori returned to Japan after losing in the US Open final, more than 200 fans were there to welcome the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam tournament title match. “It was obviously hugely frustrating to lose the final,” Nishikori said. “But in terms of my tennis career I’ve taken a very important step. It feels like I’ve moved a little bit closer to realizing my dream of becoming the world number one.” With his run to the final in the year’s final major, Nishikori is not ranked sixth in the world. “This is the most amazing welcome I’ve ever had,” he said. “To have so many well-wishers come out like this is really gratifying and really underlines the scale of what I did. It doesn’t guarantee I will win a Grand Slam – and it’s too late this year now of course – but I’ll train hard to get there.” On his way to the title match, Nishikori posted victories over three players ranked in the Top 10 in the world – Milos Raonic, Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka and top-ranked Novak Djokovic. “Getting through those tough matches and beating three players in the top 10 is the stuff I can draw confidence from,” he said. “It’s important I gained the confidence that I could deal with the physical demands and still play my style of tennis. The goal now will be for me to win a major next year for sure.”

 

SAYING SAYONARA

Doubles specialist Ross Hutchins has retired from tennis at the age of 29. The native of Great Britain returned to the sport in January after recovering from Hodgkin Lymphoma. “After much deliberation I feel it is the right time for me to stop playing professional sport and pursue new goals as I enter the next phase of my career,” Hutchins said. “I feel strong and healthy and I look forward to moving on to the next chapter of my life.” He won five ATP World Tour doubles titles in his career – the last with Colin Fleming at Eastbourne in 2012 – and reached the US Open mixed doubles semifinals this month with partner Chan Yung-Jan of Chinese-Taipei. “Tennis has enabled me to do something which I love every day, to travel the world and along the way form some incredible friendships,” Hutchins said.

 

SECOND TO QUALIFY

Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic are the second doubles team to have clinched a spot in the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held in London, Great Britain, Nov. 9-16. The Canadian-Serbian tandem will be seeking their third season finale trophy, having won in both 2008 when the event was held in Shanghai, China, and in London in 2010. The two ended their doubles partnership after the 2010 season, but reunited at the start of this year. American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were the first to qualify for the season-ending event. Six doubles spots remain up for grabs at the 2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

 

SABINE SUCCESSFUL

After falling behind 1-5 in the opening set, Sabine Lisicki rallied to win seven straight games and beat Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to win the Hong Kong Open. It was the German’s fourth WTA title, but her first in more than three years. “After being in three finals last year and losing them closely, this is a big step forward for me,” Lisicki said. “I’ve won titles in doubles, but obviously the main goal is to play well in singles and get these trophies.” The champion was a last-minute entry into the Hong Kong Open, grabbing a wild card berth after China’s Peng Shuai and Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard pulled out of the tournament. “Coming here was a spontaneous decision – we literally decided three or four days before the tournament – and I felt very well all week in Hong Kong.” Not that she overwhelmed the field. Lisicki rallied from 6-3 4-2 down to beat Monica Niculescu in the first round and rallied from a break down in the third set against Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals. But her poor start in the final provided her biggest escape of all. She finished by winning 12 of the final 15 games.

Pliskova did come away with a title, however. She teamed with her twin Kristyna to capture the doubles, defeating Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and Arina Rodionova 6-2 2-6 12-10 (match tiebreak). The Pliskovas are the only twins in the history of women’s tennis to win a WTA doubles title together – and now they have three, Linz, Austria, last year and Bad Gastein, Austria, and Hong Kong this year.

 

SWEET VICTORY

Six years ago Karin Knapp underwent heart surgery and feared her tennis career was over. Now the Italian is a WTA champion, winning the Tashkent Open with a 6-2 7-6 (4) victory over Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski. “I can’t say how happy I am right now,” the 27-year-old Knapp said. Knapp was ranked 35th in the world in 2008 when she had surgery for a longstanding heart condition. Later, knee injuries and other problems caused her ranking to plummet to 616. Last year she got back into the Top 40. And now she has the first WTA title of her career. She did it by not dropping a set all week, although she needed 65 minutes to win the second set in the title match. “I was up 4-2 in the second set and I was feeling a little stressed after she got back to 4-all,” Knapp said. “But I decided to stay mentally tough and keep going for my strokes, and it worked.”

 

SEETHING

Tournament organizers of the Moselle Open are seething over Stan Wawrinka’s withdrawal from this week’s event. The 29-year-old Australian Open champion was to be the top seed. Instead, he pulled out of the event, citing tiredness. “The tournament directors did not welcome the news at all of the withdrawal of Stan Wawrinka,” the organizers said in a statement. “He notified us simply by email that he would not be competing as he is fatigued. The directors are extremely disappointed and angry. They won’t take this lying down.” Wawrinka’s image was liberally used in advance publicity for the tournament after he agreed right after he won the year’s first Grand Slam tournament to play in the Metz, France, event.

 

SPECIAL AWARD

Two former Grand Slam tournament champions – Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil – are among the latest group of players to be presented with the Davis Cup Commitment Award. The award was conceived as part of the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) 2013 Centenary celebrations and is presented to Davis Cup players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country in the prestigious international team competition. Each award recipient will have competed in a minimum of 20 home-and-away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition during their career. The latest presentations were made during Davis Cup ties last weekend.   Besides Hewitt and Kuerten, others honored were Carlos Kirmayr, Luiz Mattar, Cassio Motta and Jaime Oncins, all of Brazil; Frank Dancevic, Canada; Ti Chen, Chinese Taipei; Pierre Darmon, France; Rohan Bopanna, India; Victor Hanescu, Romania; Andrei Chesnokov and Andrei Olhovskiy, Russia; Sanchai Ratiwatana, Sonchat Ratiwatana an Danai Udomchoke, Thailand; and Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine. A total of 320 players have already qualified to receive the award.

 

SINGLES AND DOUBLES

Despite retiring with cramps and heatstroke in her US Open semifinal singles match, China’s Peng Shuai says she still plans on playing doubles as well as singles in future tournaments. But she did admit that she needs to improve her fitness. “What I learned at the US Open was that in future I have to take care of my body,” Peng said. She has won two Grand Slam tournament doubles titles, Wimbledon in 2013 and Roland Garros this year. But this year’s US Open was her best showing in singles in a major. She is ranked 21st in the world in singles, and had previously become the first Asian ever to be ranked number one in the world in doubles. “You know I was asked after the French Open if I’m just a doubles player, but I’m still really focused on both,” Peng said. “I’ll definitely play both next year.”

 

STILL SIDELINED

Juan Martin del Potro still isn’t ready to return to the ATP World Tour. The 25-year-old Argentine is still sidelined after undergoing wrist surgery in March. He says he will miss tournaments in China, Japan and Malaysia over the next two months. The 2009 US Open champion has played just four matches at two tournaments since losing in the second round at the Australian Open in January. “I would like to take this opportunity to tell you, my fans, that although the recovery of the wrist is progressing very well, I need a little more time to reach the competitive level necessary to compete week after week,” del Potro said on his Facebook page. “I worked hard to be ready to make my comeback in Asia, where I had great results last year, but unfortunately it was not possible. I’m going to miss my fans in Malaysia, Tokyo and Shanghai who always gave me tremendous support. I will keep working hard on my recovery to play the European season at the end of the year.”

 

SIGNED

Eugenie Bouchard will play in the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, in January. The 20-year-old will partner Vasek Pospisil for the Canadian team in the January 4-10 event. “I had a great time this year and I think it’s a great event to kind of transition from the off-season to competitive playing,” Bouchard said of the mixed teams event. Bouchard reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros before gaining a spot in the final at Wimbledon this year. Others who have already have announced they are playing the Hopman Cup include Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Australia’s Nick Kyrgios. The round-robin event will include teams from Australia, Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, United States, France, Great Britain and Canada.

 

SELECTED

American Todd Martin is the new CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum. The former top-five player has been serving as CEO-designate since April of this year. Martin succeeds Mark Stenning, who had been with the Hall of Fame for 35 years, serving as CEO since September 2000. Unanimously elected to the position at the Hall of Fame’s annual meeting, Martin also is a member of the United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) Board of Directors. In addition to serving as CEO, Martin will be the tournament director of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

Ten new individuals were elected at the annual meeting to serve on the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors. They are: Chris Combe, Phil de Picciotto, Russ Fradin, Anthony Godsick, Anne Hamilton, Hall of Famer Peachy Kellmeyer, Hall of Famer Monica Seles, Lee Styslinger, Kristian Tear and Todd Martin.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Hong Kong: Karolina Pliskova and Kristyna Pliskova beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and Arina Rodionova 6-2 2-6 12-10 (match tiebreak)

Québec City: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Lucie Hradecka beat Julia Goerges and Andrea Hlavackova 6-3 7-6 (8)

Tashkent: Aleksandra Krunic and Katerina Siniakova beat Margarita Gasparyan and Alexandra Panova 6-2 6-1

 

SURFING

Guangzhou: www.guangzhouopen.org/

 

Moselle: www.moselle-open.com/

Metz: www.moselle-open.com/

Tokyo: www.toray-ppo.com/

Seoul: http://html.gethompy.com/servicestop.html?id=izec9050

Kuala Lumpur: www.malaysianopentennis.com/2014/

Shenzhen: www.shenzhenopen.com/

Wuhan: www.wuhanopen.org/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$531,123 Moselle Open, Metz, France, hard

$137,895 Izmir Challenger, Izmir, Turkey, hard

 

WOMEN

$876,900 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Tokyo, Japan, hard

$426,750 Guangzhou International Women’s Open 2014, Guangzhou, China, hard

$426,750 Kia Korea Open 2014, Seoul, South Korea, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

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

 

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni

A Laundry List of Firsts For 2014 U.S. Open Champion Marin Cilic

by

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

Marin Cilic did a few thing he had never done before at the 2014 U.S. Open.

It started in a sparsely-attended round of 16 match on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday, September 2 when Cilic broke through to beat Gilles Simon of France for the first time in four previous meetings in the round of 16 in five sets in four hours, 13 minutes. In the quarterfinals, he then won consecutive matches against Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals for the first time. In the semifinals came his first career win over Roger Federer – a straight-set throttling to move him into his first career Grand Slam tournament final. He then capped his miraculous run to his first major title with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Kei Nishikori to become the first man from Croatia to win the U.S. Open singles title.

He won his quarterfinal, semifinal and final-round matches in straight sets – becoming to the first man since Stefan Edberg in 1991 to sweep their last three U.S. Open matches.

Cilic, at 6 foot 6, is the tallest man to win the U.S. Open – equaling Juan Martin del Potro, also at 6 foot 6, who won the title in 2009.

The eight-inch height discrepancy between Cilic and Nishikori, 5 foot 10, was the biggest height difference among Grand Slam men’s singles finalists in the Open Era, the previous being at the 1999 U.S Open – 6’6” Todd Martin was 7 inches taller than the 5’11” Andre Agassi – and at the 1971 U.S. Open – Stan Smith (6’4”) was 7 inches taller than the 5’9” Jan Kodes.

Cilic played the U.S. Open one year after missing the event in a drug-suspension when the tested positive for a banned stimulant that he claimed when he accidently indigested a glucose tablet.

In his last U.S. Open appearance, he blew at 6-2, 5-1 lead in the 2012 quarterfinals against Andy Murray, who went on to win the title.

It marked the first straight-set US Open men’s final since 2008 when Federer defeated Murray 62 75 62.

Cilic becomes the first Croatian to win a major title since Goran Ivanisevic, his coach, won Wimbledon in 2001. Seeded No. 14, Cilic is the lowest seeded man to win the U.S. Open since No. 17 seed Pete Sampras won the 2002 U.S. Open in his career finale.

The No. 10 seeded Nishikori, who defeated No. 5 seed Milos Raonic and No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka in five sets in the fourth round and quarterfinals respectively, and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic in four sets on a 90-degree afternoon in the semifinals, was the first Asian man to play in a Grand Slam singles final.

The final was the first US Open final between two players making their Grand Slam final debut since 1997 when Patrick Rafter defeated Greg Rusedski in what was also the last US Open final that did not feature a Top 10 player. Rafter was ranked No. 14 and Rusedski No. 20.

Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic

Venus Williams Is Back In Winner’s Circle: Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Venus Williams Is Back In Winner’s Circle

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Venus Williams beat Alise Cornet 6-3 6-0 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Rafael Nadal beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 7-6 (3) to win the Rio Open by Claro hdtv men’s singles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ernests Gulbis beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (5) 6-4 to win the Open 13 in Marseille, France

Marin Cilic beat Kevin Anderson 7-6 (6) 6-7 (7) 6-4 to win the Delray Beach Open by The Venetian® Las Vegas in Delray Beach, Florida, USA

Kurumi Nara beat Klara Zakopalova 6-1 4-6 6-1 to win the Rio Open by Claro hdtv women’s singles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Somdev Devverman beat Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3 6-1 to win the ONGC-GAIL Delhi Open in New Delhi, India

 

SAYING

“It’s great to be back.” – Venus Williams, referring to winning the Dubai title for the third time, but the first time in four years.

“I haven’t talked to my mother yet, but I think she’s crying again.” – Kurumi Nara, after winning her first WTA title, talking about how her mother had cried when she reached the final.

“I think (the top players) feel threatened by my game, because they know if I serve well and I’m aggressive, then it’s tough to play against me. I don’t feel I’m in the same league as the (top four) yet; I need to prove it. Game-wise, I think that I can be.” – Ernests Gulbis, after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to capture the Open 13 title.

“I have no regrets. I gave everything I had. I played a pretty good match, but I needed a bit more belief and needed to show a bit more instinct on my returns of serve. But he was solid, he served very well and took a lot of risks.” – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after losing the Marseille final to Ernests Gulbis.

“Winning all those Grand Slam titles and playing deep and getting to the final so many times, those are amazing accomplishments. It takes a lot of nerve, takes a lot of mental prowess, so I’d like to think I’m on that path. I’m not looking to do anything I did in the past because I already did that. I’m looking to improve and be a better, smarter Venus. I think, obviously, this week is a step.” – Venus Williams.

“I’m so excited. I didn’t expect that definitely, and I’m really, really happy and proud of myself. She’s one – or maybe THE biggest champion of history, and, wow, just thinking that I beat her today.” – Alize Cornet, following her upset win over Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships.

“I’m a wee bit embarrassed. She played really well. I just didn’t play today. I tried, though.” – Serena Williams, after losing to Alize Cornet.

“I know her, and I know she feels the moment when she has to put more into making the opponent feel that she’s still here. But I did it, too. I showed her that I would be there till the end. So when she was screaming louder, I was screaming louder. She was hitting harder, I was hitting harder.” – Alize Cornet, after her win over Serena Williams.

“I didn’t really feel like I could go out and play what I wanted to play. Once I got going, she started to play better as well. It was kind of uphill today.” – Carolina Wozniacki, after losing to Venus Williams in an early round match in Dubai.

“I’ve had a few wins I’ll never forget, and this is one of them.” – Steve Johnson, after upsetting Tommy Haas at Delray Beach.

“I struggled at times with the lights and my focus, but I’m not going to take anything away from (Johnson). I hate to lose, but I’m happy for him.” – Tommy Haas, following his loss to Steve Johnson.

“I feel my best tennis is around the corner. I’ve said that quite a few times, but I feel this time it’s really the case. I wake up with zero pain. I’m excited playing tournaments.” – Roger Federer.

 

STANDING TALL AGAIN

It was the Venus Williams of old who captured the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the third time – but the first time in four years. At the age of 33, it was Venus who proved she could still win, collecting her first title in 16 months. The older sister, Venus needed a wild card to enter the Dubai tournament. The only Williams stutter in the hard court event was when sister Serena Williams – the world’s top-ranked player – was upset in the semifinals by Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, thus denying the tournament of an all-Williams final. “I was expecting to be playing Serena,” Venus said, “but Alize played an amazing game in the semis, so congratulations on that.” While Venus had a huge smile on her face, Cornet twice broke into tears during the match. The win ensured that Venus would climb back into the world’s top 30 in the rankings. “I have continued being able to practice, and I have been getting healthier,” Williams said, referring to the long-term effects of the immune deficiency which has threatened her career. “It hasn’t been easy. I have to thank the tournament for a wild card, and my family and Serena for encouraging me. They all kept me up when I was down.”

By winning five matches at Dubai, Venus remains ahead of sister Serena as the active player with the most WTA Tour wins, 647 to Serena’s 641. “When things got tough, I definitely got going this week,” Venus said. “If I was down break point, when push came to shove, I was pushing and shoving, I guess.”

 

SPANISH FLAIR

Rafael Nadal continued his victorious cruise through the WTA World Tour, capturing his 62nd tour-level title at the inaugural Rio Open Presented by Claro hdtv. The victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov also moved the Spaniard up in the record books, tying Guillermo Vilas with number of titles won in the Open Era, and now just two titles away from Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. Nadal now has a 16-1 record in 2014, his lone loss coming in the Australian Open final to Stanislas Wawrinka. The 27-year-old left-hander barely got past countryman Pablo Andujar in the semifinals, staving off two match points. The same wasn’t true in the final as he needed just one hour and 41 minutes to hoist the trophy.

 

STRONG FINISH

Whenever Ernests Gulbis reaches a final, he becomes unbeatable. The Latvian extended his perfect record in finals to 5-0 by stopping defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and winning the Open 13 title. “It’s a really nice record for me. Five-nil is really good,” Gulbis said. “I remember when I used to play Futures and Challengers, I think I lost maybe one or two finals. When I get into finals I really have good form and good confidence and play my best tennis.” Ranked 23rd in the row, Gulbis needed only the minimum of four sets to beat France’s top two players in the Marseille, France, tournament. He beat Richard Gasquet 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals and Tsonga 7-6 (5) 6-4 in the title match. “My long-term goal in tennis isn’t to be Top 20,” Gulbis said. “It’s to be number one. Anything less than that wouldn’t make me fully satisfied. I don’t want to get to 30 years old, look back on my career and say I didn’t make something of it. Everybody’s looking for satisfaction in life.” The 25-year-old Gulbis finished with 14 aces and hit 41 winners compared to just 22 for Tsonga.

 

SUCCESS

Japan’s top player is now a WTA champion. Kurumi Nara beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-1 4-6 6-1 to win the women’s singles title at the Rio Open presented by Claro hdtv. The 22-year-old was seeded fifth in the tournament. She is Japan’s top player and is ranked 62nd in the world. Zakopalova saw her losing streak in title matches stretch to 12 in a row. She had won two WTA titles 10 years ago before the long losing streak began. With the victory, Nara moves into the Top 50 in the WTA rankings. “It’s really amazing,” she said. “I try not to think about being number one in Japan. I really just try to focus on my game and my tennis every day. I just try my best every time and now I have my first WTA title. I’m so happy right now.”

 

SEEKS CHANGES

Tomas Berdych believes the Davis Cup competition should be held every other year. Berdych, who has led the Czech Republic to the last two Davis Cup titles, said the international team competition has come at a considerable cost. “In my last two years I missed eight weeks for Davis Cup – four to play the matches and then a week after. You are dead to play a tournament or even prepare yourself,” said Berdych who criticized the Cup’s schedule, with the first round played in the beginning of February, the quarterfinals in April, the semifinals in September and then a two-month break before the final in late November. “It ends up so late and makes a difficult season even more difficult,” Berdych said. “I think it would make sense and the players would really like to play if the Davis Cup was every two years. Berdych, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2010, calls the two Davis Cup championships the greatest achievements of his career.

 

STOPPED BY INJURY

Japan’s Kei Nishikori’s bid to win this second straight title was halted by a hip injury. Seeded third in the Delray Beach Open, Nishikori had to retire from his second-round match against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. “I tried to play, but if you’re not 100 percent, it’s tough,” Nishikori said. “I couldn’t do anything today. It’s going to take some time to recover. It’s shocking this happened, especially since I’ve been playing well.” The right-hander won his fourth ATP World Tour title last week in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. After retiring, Nishikori withdrew from next week’s tournament in Acapulco, Mexico.

 

SUPER STEVE

Steve Johnson is one of those players who seem to travel the world, toiling in qualifying, and only rarely making it to a main draw. And even if they are successful, they are little more than fodder for first-round winners. Not so this past week. The unheralded American knocked off top-seeded Tommy Haas in the second round of the Delray Beach Open, 6-4 2-6 7-6 (2). Johnson banged out 13 aces and dominated the tiebreaker for the huge win.

 

SOME WORDS

One thing’s for sure. It wasn’t pleasantries Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic were exchanging during their Dubai Open match. And it wasn’t the first time. The two have exchanged testy words on several occasions, the last time at the WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, in October when Jankovic appeared to question Serena’s sportsmanship. In Dubai, the dispute came over the time taken between points. When Jankovic appeared to take her time before serving, Williams held her arms out wide in a questioning gesture. Jankovic walked towards umpire Kadir Nouni while complaining, and once gesturing towards Serena as she did so. Four points later Williams wrapped up her 6-2 6-2 win and there was a further exchange of words between the two players. Jankovic later suggested the umpire might have been at fault. “First he tells me I’m serving too fast,” the Serbian said. “Then when I took my time, it was like one minute. So you never know what to do. Usually if I go over 25 seconds with whoever I play, you know, warning, time violation. Here it’s like you can do pretty much whatever. I have to follow who knows which rules. If it’s 25 seconds, you play 25 seconds. If it goes over, someone’s not ready, you should be ready. I follow when she (Serena) serves, no matter how fast or slow she plays.” Talking after the match, Serena refused to be drawn into a disagreement. The world’s top-ranked player said, “I told her at the end I didn’t mean anything, and I’m sorry if I played slow. She was like, ‘no,’ it was more that they say she plays too fast and then they say she played too slow.”

 

STRENGTHENING THE MIND

In an attempt to regain the world’s number one ranking, Novak Djokovic says his new coach, Boris Becker, will held him acquire more mental toughness. Djokovic hired Becker in December after losing to Rafael Nadal at the US Open and to Andy Murray at Wimbledon. “We’re not significantly changing anything in my game. No one-handed backhands, stuff like that,” said Djokovic, who has won six Grand Slam tournament titles. “The biggest part he can contribute is the mental approach. That’s one of the reasons Boris is here, because of the big matches and Grand Slams. I felt I dropped two or three titles in the last two years I could have won. I felt there was a mental edge I was lacking.”

 

SWISS PAPA

After dominating men’s tennis for a decade, holding the number one ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks, Roger Federer has slipped down the rankings to number eight in the world. Still, the 32-year-old Swiss master is convinced he will have a good season this year. “What was very encouraging was my off-season,” Federer said. “I trained really hard in Dubai for a month. That was key, for me to know my body was able to handle that stress level. For that reason I’m confident for the year.” The father of twin girls, Federer will become a dad again later this year. “They are coming to matches from time to time, depending on the stadiums,” Federer said of his family. “In the beginning it was very much different. You’re not as flexible and can’t just change flight tickets or just leave after you lost. It’s almost better to stay on the road.”

 

STIFFED BY STATE

Rio de Janeiro’s state government reportedly owes the ATP World Tour USD $3 million. And the men’s tennis organization doesn’t expect to get paid. ATP President Chris Kermode said the Brazilian state government and the tour agreed to end a contract that allowed Rio de Janeiro to promote itself at ATP events. Rio de Janeiro is the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The conflict is the latest in a string of cancellations of sports-related events in Rio de Janeiro. The Soccerex football conference was called off last year in a funding dispute. In January, the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards – which were to be held in Rio – were called off. Brazilian officials are under pressure to stop funding sports events. Brazil is estimated to be spending about USD $14 billion on this year’s World Cup and a similar amount on the 2016 Rio Olympics. “It’s left a very bad taste, to be honest,” Kermode said of the decision to end the contract. “We had an agreement with Rio Tourism. We came to a mutual agreement to terminate and the terms were very clear. Unfortunately we haven’t been paid. It doesn’t look as though we are going to be paid.”

 

STENNING SUCCESSOR

Former player Todd Martin is the new CEO-designate of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Martin will succeed Mark L. Stenning, who is stepping down in September after 35 years with the ITHF, the last 14 as CEO. Ranked as high as fourth in the world, Martin will begin his new post on April 1. “Not only was Todd a great player – one of the very best in the world – but he is also a tremendous leader and he has been widely respected in his role as president of the ATP Players Council and as a member of the USTA Board of Directors,” said Christopher E. Clouser, ITHF chairman of the board.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Delray Beach: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Frantisek Cermak and Mikhail Elgin 6-2 6-3

Dubai: Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova beat Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-2 5-7 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Marseille: Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Paul Hanley and Jonathan Marray 4-6 7-6 (6) 13-11 (match tiebreak)

New Delhi: Saketh Myeni and Sanam Singh beat Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana 7-6 (5) 6-4

Rio de Janeiro (men): Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah beat David Marrero and Marcelo Melo 6-4 6-2

Rio de Janeiro (women): Irina-Camelia Begu and Maria Irigoyen beat Johanna Larsson and Chanelle Scheepers 6-2 6-0

 

SURFING

Acapulco: www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com/

São Paulo: www.brasilopen.com.br

Florianopolis: www.brasiltenniscup.com.br/

Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$1,928,340 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, hard

$1,309,770 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, hard

$474,005 Brasil Open 2014, São Paulo, Brazil, clay

 

WOMEN

$250,000 Brasil Tennis Cup, Florianopolis, Brazil, hard

$250,000 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Mexico, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$6,169,040 BNP Parabas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

$5,427,105 BNP Parabas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard

Venus Williams
Venus Williams