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Three Observations From Olympic Tennis At Roland Garros

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The tennis competition at the Paris Olympic Games was one of the best ever.

The nine-day event featured riveting matches, packed crowds and star players playing sizzling tennis while showing off incredible emotions while competing for their nations. The event was historic in that it featured the career swan songs for future Hall of Famers Andy Murray and Angie Kerber and likely Rafael Nadal, while Novak Djokovic completed his career Golden Grand Slam with his gold medal performance. (And Sara Errani did it too with her doubles gold alongside Jasmine Paolini.) And, to boot, it was played at some of the great sporting venues in the world, Roland Garros, the site of the French Open every year.

There are three other things that stood out for me in particular at Olympic tennis in Paris that I outline below.

  1. “Olympic Crowds” Should Be A New Term (Replacing Davis Cup Crowd) – The crowds at Olympic tennis were amazing. Flag were flying everywhere, and even flags of countries not represented in the matches they were watching, as Rennae Stubbs talked about while broadcasting the match on Peacock. With flags, chants, singing and exurberant cheering, the atmosphere at Olympic tennis was top-notch. There was a time during the event where I was going to tweet / post on X that the crowds there are like Davis Cup crowds. However, since Davis Cup has dropped in visibility and atmosphere since the ITF changed the format that causes for more neutral matches, that atmosphere has suffered so the term “Davis Cup crowd” or “Davis Cup atmosphere” is pretty much gone. From now on, we should refer it to “Olympic Tennis atmosphere.”
  • Let’s See More Doubles – More doubles matches where showcased and received more attention at the Olympics than all four Grand Slam tournaments combined. Of course, you had exciting teams like Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz and also Andy Murray and Dan Evans and Tommy Paul with Taylor Fritz, but also teams of doubles specialists like eventual gold medalists John Peers and Matt Ebden and silver medalists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek. It’s clear that winning Olympic doubles – and even just medaling in Olympic tennis – rates higher than a major championship. Same can be said for mixed doubles. As I said on my video version of this article here https://youtu.be/vfyfYfNsKQc?si=hGWB-43PfXQqfbWY The ATP, WTA and the Grand Slams should look into ways at getting more star players (ie singles players) to play in the doubles to add star power and excitement to that discipline. I have suggested many times that doubles and mixed doubles at majors should start after the second round of singles, as you can see me discuss here https://youtu.be/3fGp1JzwEsM?si=CZvWMyyaWiuVvIES and read about here https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/21267 and the same for mixed doubles, as I wrote about here https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/23464 The Olympic doubles matches were riveting and gave tennis fans and amateur players (who mostly play doubles) more a look at what top-level doubles looks like because it is seldom on TV or played on feature courts at events.
  • Olympic Match Tiebreakers Are Awesome – Your Olympic life hangs in the balance when you split sets and a 10-point tiebreaker decides if you are still alive for Gold or if you start dreaming about Los Angeles in 2028. I tweeted out during the Games that Olympic doubles match tiebreakers was the most exciting thing in tennis. I am a pretty jaded tennis fan as I have seen A LOT of tennis in my day, but I found myself screaming in excitement at some of the match tiebreakers at Olympic tennis – and without really a big rooting interest! In mixed doubles, nine of 16 matches where decided in match tiebreakers. The doubles silver medalists, Zhizhen Zhang & Wang Xinyu, played match tiebreakers in all four of their matches in Paris. Many players who wouldn’t normally play doubles or mixed doubles will enter two of the three or all three (like Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff did, for example) so they really want to win a medal which makes losing a match tiebreaker that much more devastating and making it that much more exciting for fans. In men’s doubles, 10 of the 32 matches where decided by match tiebreakers while nine of 32 matches had match tiebreakers in women’s doubles. All the gold medal matches in doubles where decided in match tiebreakers. The doubles silver medalists, Zhizhen Zhang & Wang Xinyu played match tiebreakers in all four of their matches in Paris.

Iga Swiatek Looks To Be In League All To Herself In Paris

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BY JAMES BECK

Just call her Iga. No other identification is needed.

As the years go by, Iga’s notoriety is sure to grow.

She’s probably already earned a spot in tennis’ Hall of Fame.

Yes, Iga Swiatek is a name to remember. A hero in her native Poland, a superstar in the world of sports.

IGA WAS JUST TOO GOOD

Iga just added to her stardom Saturday with an impressive 6-2, 6-1 victory over little-known Italian Jasmine Paolini to win her third straight French Open title. This was Paolini’s chance to make a name for herself, but she didn’t have the game to make it happen.

Iga was just too good. She made it look too easy.

Paolini could hit some great ground strokes, but when she looked up a bigger shot was on its way back. Iga doesn’t look like a power hitter, but she is.

WINNING 10 CONSECUTIVE GAMES

The 23-year-old Polish Wonder finished the first set winning five straight games, then started the second set winning five more games in succession. The 28-year-old Paolini didn’t seem to have a clue on how to upend Swiatek.

It took just 78 minutes for Iga to win her fifth Grand Slam title.

She’s a lot like her French Open hero, Rafa Nadal.

She takes every match seriously.

SWIATEK OWNS THE RED CLAY

No wonder Iga owns a 35-2 record at Roland Garos. Or that she has won 21 straight matches. Or that she owns a 5-0 record in Grand Slam finals.

She only dominated opponents, except for Naomi Osaka in the second round. Swiatek escaped a match point in that one and didn’t look back.

Iga’s game should be just as superb on the green grass of upcoming Wimbledon.

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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award  for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.

(240604) — PARIS, June 4, 2024 (Xinhua) — Iga Swiatek returns the ball during the women’s singles quarterfinal match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, June 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)

Bob Bryan, Kathy Rinaldi Named 2024 U.S. Olympic Tennis Coaches

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Olympic doubles gold medalist and Davis Cup captain Bob Bryan and USTA Head of Women’s Tennis and former Billie Jean King Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi were announced as the U.S. Olympic team men’s and women’s coaches, respectively.

The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11 at Roland Garros in Paris. The USTA will formally announce the athletes for the U.S. Olympic team later this summer, based off the rankings of June 10, 2024 that are determined for entries.

Bryan is making his debut as an Olympic coach. He was a two-time medalist as a player with his brother, Mike, earning bronze in Beijing in 2008 and gold in London in 2012. He was also a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team.

Rinaldi is coaching her second Olympics, after leading Team USA at the Tokyo Games in 2021. She spent seven years as the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup captain, leading the U.S. to its most recent title in 2017.

Read about the history of tennis in the Olympic Games in the ebook “The Olympic Tennis Fact Book” here Amazon.com: The Olympic Tennis Fact Book: Second Edition eBook : Walker, Randy: Kindle Store

Four-time Paralympian Jon Rydberg and World Team Cup coach John Devorss will lead the U.S. Paralympic men, women, and quad teams. Both Jon Rydberg and John Devorss are making their debuts as Paralympic coaches. Rydberg is a four-time Paralympian, while Devorss is the longtime U.S. World Team Cup coach. Both coached the U.S. teams at the 2023 Parapan American Games. The Paralympic Games will take place from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 also at Roland Garros. .

Paris 2024: Who Will Win Gold?

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There’s way more at stake this year outside of the four Grand Slams, with an Olympic Gold up for grabs.

Three years ago in Tokyo, we saw Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic take the prize medals, but it could be a very different event this time out with the event taking place at Roland Garros, a venue all of the biggest stars are familiar with.

The French Open will almost act as a rehearsal and the clay surface could really open it up in terms of which players have the best chance of securing a Gold Medal.

With the Olympics around the corner and the French Open still to come, we thought we’d take a look to see who are the biggest contenders, and determining a champion is more difficult than ever before.

For those who want to place a bet on the winner, you’d perhaps have more chance putting your money on 777 slots and trying to seal a win, it’s that tight. Of course, such is life you might not win at all, and for the likes of Novak Djokovic, who has yet to win Gold, that could be the case for him too.

We take a look at the main contenders for the 2024 Olympics…

Men’s Singles

It’s a good idea to look at the French Open odds to see what may be the case when it comes to Paris 2024 and Carlos Alcaraz, who is excellent on clay and picked up a Wimbledon title last year is looking like the main contender.

He reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2023 and is the favourite with the bookies for the title this year, which would hold him in good stead for the Olympic Gold too.

However, it could also be Novak Djokovic’s last opportunity to claim the Gold. He picked up a bronze in 2008 and it’s the only thing missing from his trophy cabinet, something which Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer all have.

Jannik Sinner is another potential having won the Australian Open earlier this year, while Alexander Zverev has a good chance of retaining, while Daniil Medvedev may also as a neutral athlete.

Women’s Singles

The women’s singles Gold really is up for grabs, but it’s WTA No. 1 Iga Swiatek who is leading the way with the bookmakers for the French Open, and will likely do so for the Games. She’s won the French Open three times so will be comfortable on the clay and is certainly the woman to beat.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will be competing as a neutral and is some way off Swiatek.

Coco Gauff will be looking to continue her rise to the top, having won the US Open in 2023 and secured a semifinal spot in the 2024 Australian Open. She’s never competed at a Games and the way she steps up could be a good shout for following in Serena Williams’ footsteps, 12 years on after she secured Gold.

“The Olympic Tennis Fact Book: Second Edition” for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games for download here https://a.co/d/34aM7hG #Amazon via @Amazon

Top American Tennis Player’s Announcement To Skip Paris Olympics

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The top American tennis player caused waves when he announced he was skipping the Olympic Games in Paris.

This was not Taylor Fritz, the top American men’s tennis player, for the 2024 Olympic Games at Roland Garros, but rather it was 100 years ago and Bill Tilden heading into the 1924 Olympic Games.

It was 100 years ago on March 11, when Tilden made his announcement, as detailed in my book “On This Day In Tennis History” (for sale as a paperback, electronic book or audio book here: https://a.co/d/5Thegg3

The book excerpt and the details can be found here:

March 11, 1924 – Bill Tilden announces that he will not represent the United States in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. Tilden’s reasoning is that even if he wanted to play for the United States, the U.S. Olympic rule that forbids athletes from writing for newspapers prevents him from competing since he is contracted to write two articles per week. Writes the New York Times, “The tennis champion had never definitely announced that he would go abroad this year if picked for the Olympic team. Two months ago, Tilden said he did not think he would go because of the sharp competition expected in the national singles and in the Davis Cup matches. He said he regarded the Davis Cup competition more important than the Olympics and that he felt he could husband his strength for those matches in the event he is to be one of the contestants.” The USLTA also had enacted a similar rule for amateur tennis, but it is not scheduled to take effect until Jan. 1, 1925.

Read more about the history of tennis in the Olympic Games in my ebook “The Olympic Tennis Fact Book” here: https://a.co/d/dO6Cj7j

Statement Win For Nadal In Rome Provides For French Open Confidence

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“He needed this. He wanted this and he had to play his best tennis today to get it.” This is what former world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said on Tennis Channel as Rafael Nadal finally won his first clay-court title of the year in Rome, defeating world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 in the final.

“This was a statement week for Rafa,” she said and there is nothing more true for the 11-time French Open champion as he works to win a 12th title at Roland Garros. Nadal suffered through the most paltry clay court season of his career, failing to advance past the semifinals in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid. Doubts as to whether the soon-to-be 33-year-old Spaniard would continue to his clay-court dominance persisted until his important win over Djokovic, the reigning Wimbledon, U.S. and Australian Open champion, who beat him by a one-sided margin in Melbourne in January.

Djokovic, the winner in Madrid  earlier this month,  is still be considered the slight favorite in Paris as he looks to hold all four major singles titles at the same time for the second time in his career, something only done one time in men’s tennis, by the one-and-only Rod Laver, who won calendar-year Grand Slams in 1962 and 1969.

Dominic Thiem, last year’s beaten finalist in Paris, stands on more sturdy feet this year entering Roland Garros and is a trendy tennis betting choice entering the season’s second major championship. He nearly beat Nadal in a U.S. Open epic last September, and beating Roger Federer in the Indian Wells final. He also registered an impressive win over Nadal in Barcelona – beating him in a stadium that is named after him!

Roger Federer will be playing in Paris for the first time in two years and a lot of attention will be focusing on the 2009 French singles champion. Most insiders do not think he can get through the Nadal, Djokovic wall in Paris, which will allow Federer to play more freely without extra pressure, which could result in some surprise overachieving results for the Swiss maestro. Federer won his 101st career title in Miami earlier this season and he could surprisingly add No. 102 in Paris this coming fortnight.

 

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Can Anyone Stop Rafael Nadal In Paris?

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When Rafael Nadal finally calls it a day, he will rightly be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racquet. With 16 Grand Slam titles to his name, the Spaniard has proved that he has both the ability and versatility to win on any surface. However, with Nadal currently cutting through the field of the Madrid Open like a hot knife through butter, we are once again reminded that he is undoubtedly the best clay court tennis player of all time. Rafa’s latest victim in the tournament was former number six Gael Monfils, who can count himself unlucky after only returning from a lengthy back injury a week prior to the tournament.

After recently picking up titles at both Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal looks primed and ready to pick up his sixth career title in Madrid and his fifth since the tournament switched to clay some nine years ago. The win against Monfils meant that Nadal is now on a 20-match clay court winning streak and has won a record-breaking 48 consecutive sets on the clay courts. If Nadal was to win his next round game in straight sets, he would equal the record set by U.S. tennis legend John McEnroe, who managed to put together a streak of 49 consecutive sets on carpet all the way back in 1984.

With the French Open just around the corner, we’re back to the same question that we seem to be asking ourselves at this time every year – can anyone stop Rafael Nadal from claiming another clay court Grand Slam? Nadal is around 4/9 with most tennis betting to pick up his 11th French Open and on this basis alone, it would appear that the rest of the players may as well not bother searching for a Parisian hotel. With Andy Murray absent from the competition, Roger Federer out of the clay court equation for the foreseeable future and all manner of questions over the form of Stan Warwinka and Novak Djokovic, it’s difficult to see anyone putting up any sort of meaningful resistance.

Despite the fact that it would take a brave punter to back against Nadal, rising Austrian star Dominic Thiem believes he has the know-how and the tools at his disposal to stop the Spaniard in his tracks on the clay courts. Thiem is one of only four players to have beaten Nadal twice on the surface since 2014 and was the last man to do so, knocking him out in the quarter-final stages in Rome just last year – the fact that Thiem is second favourite with most bookmakers to win at Roland Garros does indeed suggest that he could be the player to end Nadal’s clay court dominance. At 8/1, the Austrian looks good value for money and after making the semi-finals in his last two French Open appearances, the shrewd punters will no doubt be having a little flutter on the 24-year-old. With that being said, Nadal looks hungrier than ever and with some of the game’s top stars either missing or convalescing, the field looks wide open for Nadal to land his 11th Roland Garros crown.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Can Rafael Nadal Win ‘La Decima’ of French Open Titles?

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No man has won one of the Grand Slam singles titles 10 times or more in any era – the only woman to do so was Margaret Court, who claimed the Australian Open on 11 occasions. But in-form Rafael Nadal now has a brilliant chance of making history once again by adding another French Open crown to his trophy cabinet and complete ‘La Decima.’ It certainly seems that 2017 is a year of round numbers for the superstar Spaniard.
After recently becoming the first man in the Open Era to win a singles tournament 10 times – the Monte Carlo Masters – he now heads to the Barcelona Open in attempt to do the same thing. On top of that, after triumphing in Monaco, he now overtakes Guillermo Vilas in claiming his 50th clay court title. Surely it’s written in the stars that Nadal should claim his 10th French Open trophy, three years after his last at Roland Garros? He’s even been made the favourite for the title with the bookies, and you can pick out the best odds through Online Bookmakers.
Injuries have ravaged Nadal’s career, particularly in the past couple of years, yet he still sits second-equal in the all-time Grand Slam title list with 14 – four behind Roger Federer and level with Pete Sampras. That gives him yet another incentive to rule the clay once more.
The 30-year-old has looked back to his best this year, after reaching the Australian Open final – narrowly losing out to old nemesis and fellow revitalised veteran Federer in five sets. Swiss great Federer may even chose to sit out the Paris event in 2017, with an aim to focus on his favoured Wimbledon and US Open tournaments.
With world’s number one and two Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic respectively suffering from fitness and form issues, it’s all set up for Nadal to capitalise. While younger pretenders Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori, Juan Martin Del Potro, Alexander Zverev and Milos Raonic, as well as 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka, will of course be threats, but on his day Nadal will not be stopped by any of them.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

Andy Murray Captures Paris and No. 1 Ranking – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Andy Murray beat John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4) 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, France

Petra Kvitova beat Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-2 to win the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in Zhuhai, China

 

SAYING

“To get to this stage is about 12 months of tournaments … The last few months have been the best of my career and I’m very proud to get to this moment.” – Andy Murray, on becoming number one in the world on the ATP World Tour, surpassing Novak Djokovic.

“There was pride and satisfaction in the success I have had with my team, but in the other hand it was also very exhausting. At a certain point, I had to reach this kind of phase where I had to reflect and say, ‘OK, I have played on the highest possible level for that much.’ The drop of form is normal in sports. I’m not too concerned about how the future will go for me.” – Novak Djokovic, talking about his form after he won the French Open for the first time.

“On the scoreboard it looks pretty close, but he was the better player in the third set. He’s the guy that everyone is looking up to right now.” – John Isner, after losing to Andy Murray in the Paris Masters final.

“This morning I had trouble waking up and getting out of bed. I had some tests and an MRI half an hour ago and they found that I have a tear, Grade 1 tear in the right quad.” – Milos Raonic, who withdrew from his Paris semifinal against Andy Murray.

“The end of the season is just getting better and better.” – Marin Cilic, after upsetting Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters but before he lost to John Isner in the semifinals.

“We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match. We’ve been able to get some really good matches here and there throughout the year but it’s actually been a challenge for us to back it up every day. I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals, so it’s been really good to be able to do that.” – John Peers, who teamed with Henri Kontinen to win the doubles in Paris.

“Consistency is what we’re all striving for on the court; it’s difficult with different surfaces, different time zones and different climates. It’s a long year in tennis.” – Steffi Graf.

“At the end of the week we were the only two players left in the locker room. But we still had each other’s backs even then. Every Sunday one of us would be comforting the other one. There was always that caring, that compassion between us. It was very deeply rooted.” – Chris Evert, on her relationship with Martina Navratilova.

“Welcome to a very small club of members being the best in their profession.” – Boris Becker, former world number one who has coached Novak Djokovic, on Andy Murray becoming top-ranked on the men’s tour.

“Congrats @andy murray – Wimbledon champion, Olympic gold, and now number one! What a year! – Kensington Palace.

“You’ve come a long way, baby.” – Judy Murray, Andy’s mother and former coach of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team.

 

SMOKIN’

Being number one in the world wasn’t enough for Andy Murray. The Scot replaced Novak Djokovic atop the ATP World Tour rankings when Milos Raonic withdrew from their semifinal. Murray then won his fourth straight title, this time the Paris Masters.  “Sometimes after you achieve something big or something that you maybe didn’t expect, it can be quite easy to have a letdown and feel a little bit flat,” Murray said. “But I was really up for the match and really wanted to try and win today. I didn’t feel like my work this week was done.” American John Isner put up a battle, but it wasn’t enough as Murray won his 19th consecutive match, adding Paris to his titles in Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna. Isner never was able to break Murray’s serve, but the 6-foot-10 (2.08m) Isner took the second-set tiebreak 7-4. Isner lost his serve in the first and third sets. In eight meetings with Murray, the American has created 39 break-point opportunities and converted only one. It was Isner’s third Masters 1000 final and his third loss after also reaching the title match at Indian Wells in 2012 and Cincinnati in 2013. Murray responded to Isner’s big serving game by keeping the ball low and controlling play.

By winning the Paris Masters for the first time, Murray now has a 405-point lead over Djokovic. That’s significant because Murray will lost his Davis Cup points later this month. He will be able to finish the year in the top spot if he matches whatever Djokovic does at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

 

STANDING TALL

Andy Murray is the 26th player to be ranked number one in the Emirates ATP Rankings and the first man from Great Britain to accomplish the feat. The 29-year-old Scot is the oldest first-time number one since 30-year-old John Newcombe took the top spot in June 1974. Murray first reached the number two ranking in August 2009 and has been ranked second in the world for a total of 76 weeks. And now that Murray has reached the top, every member of the Big Four – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Murray – has been number one in the world. Federer topped the rankings for 302 weeks, Djokovic 223 weeks and Nadal 141 weeks. Reaching number one in the rankings caps a remarkable year for Murray that saw him win his second Wimbledon and successfully defend his Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.

 

STRONG FINISH

A slow start didn’t stop Petra Kvitova from winning the Huajin Securities WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in straight sets. “I knew that it’s still in my hands,” Kvitova said after beating Elina Svitolina. “I just felt that she played a little bit aggressively than me in the beginning of the match.” The Czech left-hander, a two-time Wimbledon champion, found her rhythm midway through the opening set and took complete control, winning five straight games after trailing 4-1. “I was a little bit trying to get the rhythm to play a little bit more aggressive, maybe a little bit longer rallies, that I can go to the game and be able to play,” said Kvitova, who lost just 18 games in her four matches. Kvitova has beaten Svitolina in all three of their meetings this season. It was the Czech’s 19th career title and her second in China in two months, having won in Wuhan in October. “I still think that I find a way to kind of beat her,” Kvitova said. “I player her in Wuhan and I was break down there as well from the beginning of the match. I just probably knew that it’s still not the end, so I was just trying to play point by point. That was kind of the style of the match.”

 

SICK CALL

Milos Raonic pulled out of his Paris Masters semifinal against Andy Murray because of a “Grade 1 tear in the right quad.” Now there’s a question as to whether or not the Canadian will be able to compete in the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals next week. “I still have the possibility of making it,” Raonic said, “but I was told 5 to 10 days. So I’m on the borderline for that.”

 

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE

Kei Nishikori didn’t come away from the Paris Masters with a title, but he did claim a significant mark in his career. Nishikori’s 6-2 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki in a second-round battle was the Japanese player’s 300th tour-level win. “I think it’s a great number,” Nishikori said of the feat. “I think this year has been pretty good. I have been winning a lot of matches and playing a lot of tournaments. Every year I feel like I’m getting strong, so I’m happy with performance right now.” Ranked fifth in the world, Nishikori will be making his third appearance at the upcoming Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

 

SPECIAL SOCK

After winning his first-round match at the Paris Masters, Jack Sock was only wondering about a little boy who had been treated by paramedics during his match. In the second set, Sock hit a first serve that landed out and bounced into the first row, hitting the boy in the mouth. The boy started crying and play was stopped while paramedics rushed his side and gave the boy an ice pack. “Obviously I couldn’t see exactly what happened,” Sock said. “At first when I saw the serve go over and it hit him, I thought it could be his eye and he was wearing glasses, so could have been a disaster.” The American soon learned the boy, who was sitting with his father in the stands, had stayed though the entire match after getting a bloody nose when he was hit by the ball. Sock comforted the boy, gave him one of his wristbands and posed for photos with him. “It was better than I thought it was,” Sock said. “I’m glad he’s OK.”

 

SURGING

Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australia’s John Peers are finding their games are a perfect match for each other. The unseeded pair won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title when they upset top-seeded Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the Paris Masters final. “It was amazing to actually get the first Masters (1000) title for both of us,” Peers said. “I know we’ve put in a lot of hard work together and it’s something to cap off a really good year just before we head to London.” The pair qualified for their first ATP World Tour Finals. “We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match,” Peers said. “I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals, so it’s been really good to be able to do that.”

 

STOPPED

Novak Djokovic’s reign atop the ATP World Tour rankings was ended by Marin Cilic, not Andy Murray. Of course, Murray was the one who replaced Djokovic in the number one spot, but it was Cilic who opened the door for Murray, beating the Serb 6-4 7-6 (2). It was the first time Cilic had beaten Djokovic in 15 career matchups. But it was Djokovic who made uncharacteristic mistakes from the baseline, struggled on serve and, when serving for the second set at 5-4, hit two double faults and was broken. “I wasn’t on the level that I could have been on,” said Djokovic said, who also called for the tournament doctor during the first set. “I was also in this kind of circumstances and with his level of play, in a good position to take the match into the third set, and then two double faults. Just in important moment I wasn’t able to deliver. He is a deserved winner.”

After winning the French Open in June for the first time, Djokovic has ran into a rough patch. He lost in the third round at Wimbledon and in the first round of the Rio Olympics. At the US Open, he reached the title match and won the opening set before losing to Stan Wawrinka.

 

SMASHIN’

John Isner may not have wound up his season by winning the Paris Masters, but he did finish 2016 with a title. The big-serving American slammed 18 aces in each of his final two matches to bring his total to 1,159 to claim the aces title for a fourth time and halt Ivo Karlovic’s two-year reign. Karlovic, who finished with 1,131 aces, was bidding to achieve the feat for a record-tying sixth time, the mark set by Goran Ivanisevic. The Croat had entered the Paris tournament with a 50-ace lead. Isner and Karlovic have dominated the aces category in the last 10 years. Isner won the title in 2010, 2012, 2013 and this year. Karlovic won in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015. The only player to out-ace the two was Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who captured the aces title in 2011.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Paris: Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Zhuhai: Ipek Soylu and Xu Yifan beat Yang Zhaoxuan and You Xiaodi 6-4 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Bratislava: www.tennisslovakopen.sk/uvod.html

Mouilleron Le Captif: www.internationauxdevendee.com/

Tokyo: http://ando-open.tokyo

Fed Cup: www.fedcup.com

London: www.barclaysatpworldtourfinals.com/en

Limoges: www.engieopendelimoges.fr/

Taipei: www.oectennis.com/bin/home.php

Shenzhen: www.missionhillschina.com

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com/en/

Honolulu: https://hawaiitennisopen.com/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

MEN

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

$100,000 Peugeot Slovak Open 2016, Bratislava, Slovakia, hard

 

WOMEN

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

$100,000 Ando Securities Open Tokyo 2016, Tokyo, Japan, hard

 

FED CUP

Final

France vs. Czech Republic at Strasbourg, France, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, London, Great Britain, hard

WOMEN

$115,000 Engie Open de Limoges, Limoges, France, hard

$115,000 OEC Taipei WTA Challenger, Taipei, Taiwan, carpet

$100,000 Shenzhen Women’s Tournament, Shenzhen, China, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS WEEK of NOVEMBER 21

WOMEN

$115,000 Hawaii Open, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, hard

 

DAVIS CUP

Final

Croatia vs. Argentina at Zagreb, Croatia, hard

 

 

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

Andy Murray Gunning To Become First Brit To Secure ATP No. 1 Ranking This Week In Paris

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Scottish tennis player Andy Murray is on the verge of achieving a lifelong dream of becoming the best tennis player on the planet. It is not going to be easy for the player from Scotland as he is trying to take the No. 1 ranked place from Novak Djokovic who is one of the greatest tennis players ever to have played the sport. For Murray to achieve his dream he will have to win the Paris Masters and hope that Djokovic does not make the final.

Murray who is now 29 years old is in the best form of his life and has won three titles over the last few weeks with the latest coming in Vienna last week. His competitor for the top spot Djokovic has recently suffered from a slump in form which has given the Scottish player a great chance of taking the number one spot from the Serb. The website bestbettingwebsites.org.uk shows that bookies are uncertain on who is the favorite out of the two to win the Paris Masters with different bookmakers having either Murray or Djokovic as their favorite.

Djokovic, the 12 times Grand Slam tournament champ, is not going to give up the No. 1 place without a fight. He is determined to hold on to it and in a recent interview he said that it has fired him up and is going to fight for every single point.

Djokovic who is also 29 years old has an impressive record and over the past five years, he has finished in the top spot for four of them. In order for him to keep his title as the best tennis player in the world, he will need to reach the final at the Paris Masters. If he fails to make this and Murray can win it, he will overtake Djokovic to become the No. 1 ranked player.

Andy Murray has been on fire this season and has had a career best season of winning seven titles so far this season. The Scotsman has only lost three-time since his loss at the French Open which took part in June.

No other male tennis player from Great Britain has ever been number ranked No. 1. The closest were Greg Rusedski and Tim Henman who both managed to reach the top four. If Andy Murray wins the Paris Masters he will make a feat that no other tennis player from Britain has managed to achieve. Fred Perry was regarded as the best player in the world in the 1930s, before the days of computer rankings and pro tennis.

With Murray playing the best tennis of his life and in form, he is certainly in with a very good chance of achieving history. Djokovic will have to greatly improve his form or hope that Murray has a disaster in Paris or he will find himself pushed out of the top spot he has held onto for such a long time.

 

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

Rafael Nadal Withdrawal Rocks First Week of Roland Garros – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

 

French Open (first week)

Kiki Bertens beat third-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-2 3-6 6-3

Karin Knapp beat fifth-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-7 (6) 4-0 retired

Richard Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2

Ernests Gulbis beat sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2-5 retired

Kateryna Bondarenko beat seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1 6-3

Albert Ramos-Vinolas beat eighth-seeded Milos Ranoic 6-2 6-4 6-4

Shelby Rogers beat 10th-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-0 6-7 (3) 6-0

Marco Trungelliti beat 10th-seeded Marin Cilic 7-6 (4) 3-6 6-4 6-2

 

SAYING

 

“It’s not broken, but if I keep playing, something will break in the next couple of days.” – Rafael Nadal, withdrawing from Roland Garros with a left wrist injury.

“Today was pretty, you know, stressful.” – Andy Murray, after finishing his two-day, five-set victory over Radek Stepanek.

“This is an experience, something to do, it’s a dream.” – Kristina Mladenovic, before playing Serena Williams.

“Roland Garros announced my retirement, but I didn’t. So you can stand up and go back to work in the office because I didn’t say that. I will announce when I want to stop.” – Francesca Schiavone, who received a standing ovation from the French Open crowd following her first-round loss when it was announced she was retiring.

“At the risk of sounding really arrogant, I kind of think that I can play like the Top 10 players. I feel like I can play with anybody. I just have to be consistent and not freak out all the time.” – Naomi Osaka, after losing to her first Top 10 opponent, Simona Halep, in a third-round match.

“Frankly, I did not expect such a match. A double bagel. It hurts. Since I started tennis I have never experienced such a situation. It does hurt a lot. Maybe I didn’t prepare well the French Open. So basically I’m reaping the bad fruit that have sowed.” – Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, a French teenager who was crushed 6-0 6-0 in her French Open debut by China’s Qiang Wang.

“It’s the only time when being old is OK.” – Ivo Karlovic, after becoming the oldest man since Jimmy Connors to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament.

“I felt a lot of pressure and kind of this expectation if you win a match it’s normal, and if you lose it’s a disaster.” – Eugene Bouchard, explaining her life last year.

“I just want to consult and be part of his team and add a little bit to his quest on the grass. He is a guy who can win majors and one of five or six who can win Wimbledon. This is exciting.” – John McEnroe, announcing he will join the coaching team of Milos Raonic.

“I was sort of just looking for another set of eyes to be a bit more efficient on grass. … At the end of the day he loves tennis. He’s going to see matches. I’m sure he’ll have some quality advice to give.” – Milos Raonic, on John McEnroe joining his coaching team.

 

SPANISH SHOCK

In a shocking development, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from Roland Garros after his second-round win. “I have to retire from the tournament because of problem with my (left) wrist that I have had for a couple of weeks,” the left-hander said. “Yesterday I played with an injection in my wrist. … I did an MRI and an echography and the results were not positive. … I came here to win the tournament, and that means playing five more matches. According to the doctor, that would be impossible, as there is a 100 percent chance something will break.” It was just the third time in his career that Nadal retired before a match. He withdrew ahead of the 2004 Estoril quarterfinals and the 2012 Miami semifinals. Nadal said he does not need immediate surgery. “For the moment I need a couple of weeks of immobilization,” he said. Then we’re going to do the treatment, and we’ll hope that the treatment works well. … I hope to have a fast recovery.”

 

SUPRISING SHELBY

Shelby Rogers was the second-to-last player to receive an automatic spot in the French Open women’s singles main draw. Now she’s one of the last eight remaining in the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. Ranked 108th in the world going into the two-week French Open, the 23-year-old Rogers began her bid by coming from behind to stop 17th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 3-6 6-4 6-3. Her next victim was Russian Elena Vesnina, who fell 6-4 6-2. In the third round the American shocked two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the tournament’s 10th seed, 6-0 6-7 6-0. Her 6-3 6-4 win over 25th-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romina gained Rogers a spot in the quarterfinals. “I always dreamed it would happen, but I’m not sure I thought it could,” Rogers told the crowd after her latest win.

 

SETTING RECORDS

Both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal continue their assault on the record book. His second-round triumph over Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis was Djokovic’s 50th French Open match win, the only Grand Slam tournament he has never won. Nadal became just the eighth man to win 200 Grand Slam tournament matches when he beat Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis before withdrawing from Roland Garros with a wrist injury. Roger Federer, missing from the French Open this year, tops the all-time list with 302 Grand Slam tournament match wins.

 

SHOULDERED ASIDE

Angelique Kerber is quickly discovering that being a Grand Slam tournament champion puts a big bullseye on your uniform. Kiki Bertens overpowered the third-seeded German 6-2 3-6 6-3 in a first-round encounter. Kerber also had a shoulder injury that prevented her from making much impact against her hard-hitting Dutch opponent. “That was for sure not my best tennis,” said Kerber, who took a medical timeout in the third set. “I tried to fight, but she played good then in the important moments.”

 

SO WHO’S RETIRED?

When Italy’s Francesca Schiavone lost her first-round match, tournament officials announced the 2010 French Open champion was retiring and had played her final match at Roland Garros. Whoa! Not so fast. The retirement was news to Schiavone. “I will announce when I want to stop,” Schiavone said. The false news may explain the great reception the crowd gave the Italian after her 6-2 6-4 loss to Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. “When I finished, everybody stood up. I say, I don’t know if it’s respect. I love, I appreciate this situation,” Schiavone said. “But I think that everybody thought this because Roland Garros announced it. It was not the last one for me.” Besides capturing the title on the red clay courts in Paris, Schiavone, who turns 36 in June, was runner-up in 2011.

 

STOPPED BY INJURY

Kerber wasn’t the only former major winner who failed to make it past the first round at Roland Garros. Fifth-seeded Victoria Azarenka retired from her opening round match against Italy’s Karin Knapp with a knee injury. The former world number one and two-time Australian Open champion was trailing 6-3 6-7 (6) 4-0 when she called it quits. Azarenka hurt her knee midway through the second set and required a medical timeout. She saved a match point in the tiebreak, when she underwent a second session of treatment to no avail.

 

STRING BROKEN

Winning a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament is no longer possibly for Martini Hingis and Sania Mirza. The top-ranked women’s doubles team fell to the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2 in the third round. Hingis and Mirza – fondly called “Santini” – had won the last three Grand Slam events: Wimbledon and the US and Australian Opens. “We played bad and they played good, as simple as that,” Mirza said.

 

SINGLES ONLY

Playing two doubles matches in one day was too much for Venus and Serena Williams. The American sisters completed a second-round match, besting Vitalia Diatchenko and Galina Voskoboeva in a battle that was halted the day before because of darkness. Then, Venus and Serena took on Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Swede Johanna Larsson. The sisters lost 6-3 6-3, giving them time now to concentrate on singles.

 

SENT HOME

When Marcos Baghdatis posted a 7-5 6-4 6-1 first-round victory over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, the 30-year-old Cypriot had reached a milestone. It was his 300th career match win. Baghdatis, who lost in the second round to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, was a finalist at the Australian Open in 2006, the year he reached his highest ranking, eighth in the world.

 

SECRET’S OUT

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard says he has battled an eating disorder while attempting to get back on the winning track. Two years ago, the 22-year-old reached the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens and the final at Wimbledon. Last year saw her career dive into a tailspin with first-round exits at both Paris and Wimbledon. He got worse at the US Open when she suffered a freak fall in the showers and was able to play just one more match until the start of this season. “Before matches I was very nervous and definitely had trouble eating,” she said. “I just felt like it would come right back up. It’s a difficulty I went through. And not just before matches. It happened to me at other meals as well.” Denying she had been trying to purposely lose weight to sharpen and tone her body image, Bouchard said even now she has to force herself to eat. “I was just so stressed I was burning calories even more than I normally would, so it was hard to kind of intake enough to keep my weight up or even gain weight which was the goal, to become stronger,” Bouchard said. “I feel like I learned from it. I know now that even if I feel sick I have to force food down my throat. I feel like I’ve come out stronger and able to deal with a problem if it ever comes back to me again.”

 

SILENT BAN?

American Varvara Lepchenko refuses to say if she served a “silent ban” for testing positive for meldonium, the drug which has sidelined Maria Sharapova. Born in Uzbekistan, Lepchenko didn’t play on the WTA Tour from February to May this year. Russian physio Anatoly Glebov alleges the reason was that Lepchenko had tested positive for 1mg of meldonium. Since that small amount is below the limit set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Lepchenko supposedly was allowed to return to competition in Rome. During a post-match news conference after she lost to Ekaterina Makarova in a French Open first-round match, Lepchenko was asked eight times to address the allegations. Eight times she refused. “At the moment I have to comment on any of this,” she said. “I’m here just to answer tennis questions. If you have any questions about my match, I would gladly answer them. But otherwise, I just have no comments.”

 

SHOWPIECE ROOF

Court Philippe Chatrier, the main stadium at the French Open, will have a roof by 2020, according to French Open chief Guy Forget. The roof would have helped this year. Only 10 of 32 matches were completed in a little over four hours of play on Sunday, and rain played havoc with the schedule for most of the first week. The other three Grand Slam tournaments have stadiums with covered courts. “I think it’s a question of respect to the crowd, to the people, to you guys from the media and the players that are waiting hours and hours in the lounges, in the locker rooms,” said Forget, a former player. “We wait and wait and wait and wait. While Wimbledon, Melbourne and New York now have the roof, you know, we’ll have to wait until 2020.”

 

STUPIDITY SQUARE

Bernard Tomic admits he shouldn’t have boasted about how much money he has. An apology, however, is a completely different thing. After the 23-year-old Australian held his racquet the wrong way to face a match point in Madrid, Tomic told a news conference: “I don’t care about that match point. Would you care if you were 23 and worth other $10 million?” In Paris, Tomic said: “Yeah, I shouldn’t have said that, but that’s in the past. That was my fault. You got me there. I was just in that moment. I just said that and I was talking to my friends about some things, so it just sort of came out.” Then he added: “I don’t really care. Maybe if I had 100, that’s different.” Tomic lost his second-round match to another youngster, Borna Coric of Croatia, in four sets.

 

SENIOR

Shades of Jimmy Connors. When Ivo Karlovic beat Australian Jordan Thompson, he became the oldest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament since Connors pulled off the same trick 25 years ago. The 37-year-old Karlovic slammed 41 aces in his 6-7 (2) 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-7 (4) 12-10 win over Thompson, a 22-year-old wild card. “It’s unbelievable because this year I was struggling with the injury, with the knee,” the 6-foot-11 (2.11m) Croatian said. Connors was 38 when he reached the third round at the French and US Opens in 1991. He went on to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows that year. Karlovic’s run in Paris ended in a straight-set loss to second-seeded Andy Murray.

 

SHARAPOVA TO OLYMPICS?

Although she’s currently serving a provisional ban after testing positive for the drug meldonium, Maria Sharapova will be selected for the Russian tennis team competing in the Rio Olympics this summer. She hasn’t played since the Australian Open in January. The Olympic rosters are due June 6. It is believed the ruling on the drug charges will be made in June. Also named to the Russian Olympic team were Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina and Ekaterina Makarova.

 

SET TO COACH? 

Milos Raonic is adding John McEnroe to his coaching team. The Canadian, who was upset by Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas at Roland Garros, is hoping McEnroe can help him with his grass-court game at Wimbledon. McEnroe told Eurosport that he is going to be a consultant for Raonic at the next Grand Slam tournament next month. Now 57, McEnroe won Wimbledon three times. Raonic is currently coached by 1998 French Open winner Carlos Moya and Riccardo Piatti. “Milos … is a guy who can win majors and one of five or six who can win Wimbledon,” McEnroe said.

 

SURFING

Paris: www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

Marseille: www.tennisclubmarseille.fr

Prostejov: www.czech-open.cz/

Bol: http://bolopen.com/en/home/

Stuttgart: http://tennis-weissenhof.de/

‘s-Hertogenbosch: http://ricoh-open.nl/

Caltanissetta: www.atpcaltanissetta.com/

Nottingham: www.lta.org.uk/major-events/aegon-open-nottingham/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN

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

$120,528 Unicredit  Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay

 

WOMEN

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

$125,000 Bol Open, Bol, Croatia, clay

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

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$539,713 Ricoh Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, grass

$539,713 Mercedes Cup, Stuttgart, Germany, grass

$118,329 Citta Di Caltanissetta, Caltanissetta, Italy, clay

 

WOMEN

$250,000 Aegon Open Nottingham, Nottingham, Great Britain, grass

$250,000 Ricoh Open, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, grass

 

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

The First Roger Federer-Less Grand Slam Since 1999 Starts At Roland Garros – Mondays With Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Stan Wawrinka beat Marin Cilic 6-4 7-6 (11) to win the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open in Geneva, Switzerland

Dominic Thiem beat Alexander Zverev 6-4 3-6 6-0 to win the Open de Nice Cot d’Azur in Nice, France

Caroline Garcia beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4 6-1 to win the Internationaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France

Kiki Bertens beat Mariana Duque-Mariño 6-2 6-2 to win the Nürnberger Versicherungscup in Nürnberger, Germany

 

SAYING

It’s a dream come true to be able to win a title in Switzerland, after all these tournaments. To be able to do it here in Geneva, I the event’s second year, is something special. The fans were great. They made a lot of noise today.” – Stan Wawrinka, after winning the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open.

“It was an amazing week for me and this was something … I was not even expecting.” – Marin Cilic, on his run to the Geneva Open final.

“You have so much to win and so much to lose. I played a solid third set and I’m really happy. My arm is a little tired, but I will be OK for Roland Garros on Monday.” – Dominic Thiem, after winning Nice for the second straight year.

“Another title is great. It’s progress, but every tournament is a new chance to develop. But today is a great day for me, especially in front of home fans here in France.” – Caroline Garcia, after winning in Strasbourg.

“People have been asking me to sign pictures from 1999. It’s like another life. But it makes me proud to have been able to come back and be at the same stage 19 years later.” – Mirjana Lucic- Barona, who reached the final in Strasbourg 19 years after she first did it.

“Four tournaments and three finals is not bad for everyone else, but I’m not everyone else.” –Serena Williams, referring to her 2016 record

“We try to play as many tournaments as possible together, so it’s really fun to always have the same partner. For me it’s also important that we not only have a lot of fun on the court but off the court as well.” – Kiki Bertens, after she and partner Johanna Larsson won the doubles in Nürnberger, Germany

 

SWISS WIN FINALLY

Stan Wawrinka has won two Grand Slam tournaments, is the reigning French Open champion and ranked fourth in the world. Now he finally has won a tournament in his home country of Switzerland. Wawrinka defeated Marin Cilic to win the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, his third title of the season and his first on clay this year. Cilic took a 4-1 lead in the second set, only to have Wawrinka rally to knot the set a 5-all. In the tiebreak, Cilic had five set points but lost all five. Wawrinka closed it out on his second match point. “Marin is a great player,” Wawrinka said. “He really ramped up the pressure toward the end, with those set points, so it was nice to be able to finish off the match.” The 31-year-old Wawrinka reached the singles final in Gstaad in 2005 and the doubles final in Gstaad in 2004 and 2008, but lost all three times.

 

STAR ENDS SLAM RUN

After appearing in 65 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, Roger Federer is sitting out the French Open. “I am still not 100 percent and feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready,” the 2009 Roland Garros champion said. “This decision was not easy to make, but I too it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career.” Ranked third in the world, the 34-year-old Federer missed the Madrid Open with back problems and lost early at the Italian Open. Federer had played in every Grand Slam tournament since the 1999 US Open. The Swiss star has been troubled by back problems over the past few years, and he underwent a left knee operating after the Australian Open in January. “I remain as motivated and excited as ever and my plan is to achieve the highest level of fitness before returning to the ATP World Tour for the upcoming grass court season,” said Federer, who has won Wimbledon seven times. “I am sorry for my fans in Paris but I very much look forward to returning to Roland Garros in 2017.”

 

STANDS TALL

Dominic Thiem won the Nice clay-court tournament for the second straight year. This time, the Austrian knocked off German teenager Alexander Zverev in the title match. “It’s been an unbelievably great week,” said Thiem, who has now won three titles this year. “The first time I had to defend a title and I made it. Maybe I played better in the three matches before this, but a final is always special.” It was the first tour final for the 19-year-old Zverev, who led 4-2 in the opening set. But Thiem rallied, took the opening and led 2-0 in the second set. Zverev won six of the next seven games to force a decided. Thiem had a trainer massaged his right arm before the third set. He then won 24 of the 29 points in his rush to victory.

 

SHOULDER PROBLEM

Caroline Garcia won the Internationaux de Strasbourg, but it was her opponent who made people get out the record books. Garcia dominated qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-4 6-1, not showing any nerves that seem to accompany French players playing on home soil. “I felt very confident going into the final,” Garcia said. “The first set I let her back into it. The first set is super important in tennis for momentum. Because you want to get off to a good start. And I got that today, which helped for the rest of the match.” For Lucic-Baroni, it was her second trip to the Strasbourg final, the last coming 19 years ago when she lost to Steffi Graf. It was my seventh match,” the loser said. “I was a bit slow, a bit tired. It was to be expected. I’m proud to get to the final though.”

 

SECOND WTA TITLE

Kiki Bertens found the Nürnberber Versicherungscup was just to her licking. The Dutchwoman captured the second WTA singles title of her career, then teamed with long-time partner Johanna Larsson to add the doubles crown to her trophy room. Bertens had no problems in the title match, downing Mariana Duque-Mariño 6-2 6-2 in little over an hour. “I think I played really well today. I was serving good and going for my shots,” Bertens said. “I had really good length to my shots and she couldn’t do much from the baseline. The doubles winners stopped Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova 6-3 6-4 for the trophy.

 

SICK BAY

A right heel injury will sideline Andreas Haider-Maurer for at least five more months. The Austrian has not played since losing in the opening round of the Erste Bank Open in October 2015 and says he won’t return to the tour before October this year for the same event in Vienna. “After two days of training I need a day of rest,” he said. “That’s why I’ve decided now not to rush things and to return to competitive tennis in Vienna at the earliest.”

 

SENT HOME

Frenchman Constant Lestienne lost his French Open wild card after he was placed under a corruption investigation. The 23-year-old was ready to make his main draw debut in the year’s second Grand Slam tournament. Organizers said Lestienne is under investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) for what the French Tennis Federation (FFT) understood to be a “minor breach of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP).” In a statement, the FFT said it revoked Lestienne’s wild card to underline their “zero-tolerance approach to unethical conduct.”

 

STOSUR HURT

Samantha Stosur is going into the French Open without the match play she was hoping for. That’s because a wrist injury forced her to pull out of the Internationaux de Strasbourg before her quarterfinal match against Caroline Garcia. “I have had some pain in my left wrist for the last few days,” Stosur said. “I tried to practice yesterday and felt a lot of discomfort and unfortunately I can’t take to the court today. I’ve played some good tennis here this week and I’m disappointed I won’t be able to properly defend my title here in Strasbourg.” Garcia won the tournament.

 

SKIPPING PARIS

Former world number on Caroline Wozniacki and Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic pulled out of the French Open because of injuries. Wozniacki has a right ankle injury, while Bencic, ranked eighth in the world, is out with a lower back injury according to the WTA. Wozniacki a first-round loser at the Australian Open who has tumbled to 34th in the rankings, suffered another ankle injury last month, forcing her to pull out of the Istanbul Cup tournament and a Fed Cup tie. The 19-year-old Bencic has lost her opening round matches at four of her last five events.

 

SPLITS WITH COACH

After suffering a double-bagel loss, Tomas Berdych has dropped his coach, Daniel Vallverdu. “My results lately have not been what I expected,” the 30-year-odl Czech said. “As I am not a tennis player at the beginning of his career I have to act quickly when I feel that I need a change.” Ranked eighth in the world a former Wimbledon runner-up, Berdych has been in the Top 10 for the past six years. He began working with Vallverdu, the former hitting partner of Andy Murray, in 2014. Berdych lost to Belgium’s David Goffin 6-0 6-0 in Rome.

 

SURFACE SWITCH

The grass-court season is growing. Beginning next year, a new grass-court ATP World Tour 250 event will be held in Antalya, Turkey.  “ The addition of Antalya in the ATP World Tour calendar from 2017 represents the latest enhancement to the grass court swing following the introduction of the three-week gap between Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year,” said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President. Seven grass courts will be constructed under the guidance of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Next year, the Aegon Open Nottingham, an ATP World 250 grass-court tournament, will return to Eastbourne, taking place the same week at Antalya. To go along with Wimbledon, there will be seven ATP World Tour grass-court tournaments in 2017: the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany; the Aegon Championships in London; the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany; Ricoh Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, USA; Eastbourne and Antalya.

 

SHIA IS MAC

Hollywood action Shia LaBeouf will play John McEnroe in a film about the tennis rebel’s rivalry with Bjorn Borg. LeBeouf admitted that he was cast in the role, he had no interest tennis. And he’s not left-handed like McEnroe. But he said it was the love-hate relationship between McEnroe and Borg that intrigued him. “These two men had a whole lot of stuff going on,” LeBeouf said. “There’s 30,000 people in the stands, millions watching (on television) and there are two dudes (McEnroe and Borg). There is something really romantic” about that. “You don’t often see masculine love portrayed honestly.” Icelandic actor Sverrir Gudnason has been selected to play Borg with Stellan Skarsgard cast as his influential coach Lennart Bergelin. The film will be shot in the autumn in Sweden, London, Monaco and New York.

 

SHARED PEFORMANCES

Geneva: Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey beat Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-4 6-1

Nice: Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah beat Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 4-6 6-4 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Nürnberger: Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson beat Shuko Aoyama and Renata Voracova 6-3 6-4

Strasbourg: Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja beat María Irigoyen and Liang Chen 6-2 6-0

 

SURFING

Paris: www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/index.html

Marseille: www.tennisclubmarseille.fr

Prostejov: www.czech-open.cz/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

 

MEN & WOMEN 

French Open, Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (first week)

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

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

$120,528 Unicredit  Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay

 

WOMEN

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

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

 

Roland Garros
Roland Garros