rakuten japan Archives - World Tennis Magazine

STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Gael Monfils 6-1 7-5 to win the men’s singles at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan

Adrian Mannarino beat Steve Darcis 7-5 6-2 to win the Ethias Trophy in Mons, Belgium

Petra Cetkovska beat Mathilde Johansson 6-1 6-3 to win the ITF women’s tournament in Jounieh, Lebanon

Ayumi Morita beat Jill Craybas 6-3 7-5 to win the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships women’s singles in Tokyo, Japan

Commonwealth Games

Men’s Singles: Somdev Devvarman beat Greg Jones 6-4 6-2

Women’s Singles: Anastasia Rodionova beat Sania Mirza 6-3 2-6 7-6 (3)

Men’s Doubles: Paul. Hanley and Peter Luczak beat Ross Hutchins and Ken Skupski 6-4 3-6 6-3

Women’s Doubles: Anastasia Rodionova and Sally Peers beat Olivia Rogowska and Jessica Moore 6-2 2-6 6-3

Mixed Doubles: Jocelyn Rae and Colikn Fleming beat Anastasia Rodionova and Paul Hanley 7-6 (7) 6-7 (2) 6-2

SAYINGS

“I won a lot this year, but I have to appreciate how difficult it is and how much hard work you have to do. I improved a lot my serve and it is a big thing on a surface as quick as here in Tokyo.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning in Japan.

“He (Rafael Nadal) is the best player in the world right now. He’s won the last three Grand Slams so he completely deserves to be at world number one. I’m a strong believer that when I’m at my best I can beat anyone, I can even dominate anyone. But there’s many guys around that play really, really well, and Rafa, being the number one guy, is a tough guy to beat.” – Roger Federer, on the state of his game.

“I don’t have the capacity to aim for a place in the top 100, To play to be 200^th in the world rankings doesn’t interest me.” – Christophe Rochus, announcing he will retire at the end of this year.

“The numbers have been great for us this year. To win our 10th title on 10/10/10 (October 10, 2010) is pretty crazy, too! I was aware of that before the match. It feels awesome and hopefully we can keep the momentum going through the rest of the year.” – Bob Bryan, after he and brother Mike won the title in Beijing, China.

“2010 has been a dream year, 10 titles so far. I don’t think we’ve ever had 10 at this mark. We’re 10-0 in finals. We’ve never been perfect, so we’re really happy.” – Mike Bryan.

“I’m very proud of becoming number one in the world. It’s always been a dream for me to achieve the number one ranking and today is a great day for me.” – Caroline Wozniacki, after surpassing Serena Williams in the WTA Tour rankings as number one in the world.

“I really enjoy playing with Eric. I know it is not easy to put up with me.” – Jean-Julien Rojer, who teamed with Eric Butorac to win the men’s doubles in Tokyo.

SPLASHING IN THE RAIN

Rain in Beijing has pushed back the two China Open singles finals until Monday. Caroline Wozniacki, who will officially become number one in the world when the weekly rankings are released Monday, will play second-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the women’s final after Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer complete their men’s title match. Djokovic led 3-1 on Sunday when rain washed out play for the remainder of the day.

SPARKLING DANE

Caroline Wozniacki is the 20^th player in WTA Tour history to climb to the top of the rankings. By reaching the quarterfinals at the China Open in Beijing, Wozniacki was assured of surpassing Serena Williams as number one when the weekly rankings were released on Monday. The 20-year-old is the first Danish player – man or woman – to earn the world number one ranking and the seventh youngest in WTA Tour history. Williams had held the number one ranking since November 2, 2009, but because of an injured foot has not played since winning Wimbledon in July.

SERENA OUT FOR YEAR

Serena Williams is only the latest player to say their season is over. “After practicing yesterday morning I felt discomfort in my foot and tests by my doctor revealed that I had unfortunately re-strained it as a result of over-training. I am likely out for the year now,” Williams said in a statement on her website. “I was really looking forward to beginning my comeback in Linz, followed by the year-end Championships in Doha. I feel completely heartbroken and devastated, but knowing I will never be given more than I can handle, I plan on coming back stronger and better.” Williams has been sidelined since cutting her foot on a broken glass in July. She later had surgery on her foot and has not seen action since winning Wimbledon. Williams has played only six tournaments this year, but that includes the Australian Open in January.

SAFINA’S SEASON OVER

The back problems have become just too much for Dinara Safina. After suffering a first-round loss to Vera Zvonareva in Beijing, Safina decided to stop playing in 2010. “My back injury is acting up again and I’ve decided not to play any more tournaments the rest of the season,” she said. “It has been the worst year of my career mainly because of my injury that has kept me away from several tournaments and kept me from playing my game of tennis.” Her back forced Safina off the tour for three months after the Australian Open, and she has been struggling since returning to the WTA Tour at the beginning of the clay court season.

SVETLANA STOPPED

Svetlana Kuznetsova will be at home when the WTA Tour makes it stop in Moscow – really at home. Writing on her Twitter account, Kuznetsova said “my health issues won’t allow me to play in my home country tournament in Moscow! I have to end this difficult season now and recover.” The Russian said she became ill and was bedridden just before she began her Far Eastern swing in Tokyo, Japan, and Beijing, China. “I got sick,” she was quoted as saying on the WTA website. “From Sunday to Saturday, one week, I wasn’t home, I didn’t go out, I didn’t do any fitness. I was in bed. I didn’t have time, but that’s how it is.”

SMASH HITS

The big hitters will be on hand for the annual WTT Smash Hits presented by GEICO charity night in Washington, DC. The November 15 events will feature Steffi Graf, Anna Kournikova, Andre Agassi, James Blake and Martina Navratilova. And that doesn’t include the two captains – Elton John and Billie Jean King. The two teams will play five sets of World TeamTennis and John will participate in a celebrity doubles match. In its 18^th year, WTT Smash Hits has raised more than USD $9.6 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and various local AIDS charities since 1993. The District of Columbia suffers the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the United States and an HIV infection rate 12 times the national average.

SEEING AN OLD FRIEND

Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva complete the field for the season-ending WTA Championships-Doha 2010. For the third year in a row, the tournament will be held at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar. The event will be held October 26-31. Besides Jankovic and Dementieva, others in the elite eight-player singles field are Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Samantha Stosur and Francesca Schiavone. The world’s top four doubles team will also compete for the coveted WTA Championships title. The teams are composed of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, and Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova.

STAYING HOME

Venus Williams will not be playing in the WTA Tour Championships this year. In fact, the 30-year-old won’t be playing anywhere the rest of this year because of a lingering left knee injury. “I have been getting treatment and therapy on my knee and have been making progress, but unfortunately must continue to keep weight off my knee for the short term and won’t be ready to return to competition in 2010,” Williams told The Associated Press in a statement. “I am looking forward to returning to full health in time for the start of the 2011 season, and hopefully having the opportunity to play in both the Fed Cup and WTA Championships next year.” Williams last played in the semifinals of the US Open, where she lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. She was recently seen on crutches in Los Angeles.

STANDING UP FOR CHARITY

Brazil’s Gustavo Kuerten and American Andre Agassi will battle for charity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 11. The match will celebrate the 10^th anniversary victory by Kuerten over Agassi at the Masters Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2000. That win boosted Kuerten into the number one spot in the world rankings. In their head-to-head meetings on the ATP Tour, Agassi holds a 7-4 lead.

SMASHING RETURN

Having fully recovered from her elbow injury, Justine Henin will return to the sport on December 9 when she takes on fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in an exhibition match in Antwerp. The 28-year-old Henin hasn’t played in a tournament since injuring her elbow in a fall at Wimbledon. She says she returned to training two weeks ago. “I’ve played eight times in two weeks without pain,” Henin said. “It’s very positive, the doubts have faded away.” Henin also is scheduled to compete in the Hopman Cup in Australia in January. She had returned to competition this past January after an 18-month retirement.

SANIA TOPPER

Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova proved her top seeding when she won the women’s singles gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, edging India’s Sania Mirza 6-3 2-6 7-6 (3). Australia also won the bronze medal as Sally Peers beat fellow Australian Olivia Rogowska 4-6 7-6 (2) 6-3.

SERVING

India’s Leander Paes will serve as Goodwill Ambassador and international spokesperson for the Cambodian Tennis Federation’s project, “Killing Fields to Tennis Courts.” The foundation is trying to clear areas planted with landmines by the former Khmer Rouge regime. Once the areas are cleaned of all danger, modified tennis courts will be built and the foundation will begin tennis programs for the disabled with prosthetic limbs along with wheelchair tennis. “What attracted me to this foundation is that I can help bring land mind awareness to the tennis industry,” Paes said. “Though the genocide in Cambodia has been over for many years, the results of millions of landmines planted by the Khmer Rouge continue to be an everyday danger for the Cambodian people. And for those victims of landmines, it is now my mission to share this great sport of tennis with them. Through tennis I can hopefully inspire children and coaches to dare to dream, and that through hard work and persistence you can overcome many of life’s obstacles.”

SAID WHAT?

Ilie Nastase is being investigated by Romanian authorities for making “potentially discriminatory and racist” remarks about the country’s Roma minority. The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) is looking into comments published in the newspaper ProSport in which Nastase reportedly said if he were Romania’s president he would “send the gypsies (Roma) to Harghita,” referring to an area in central Romania where the majority of people are of Hungarian origin. “That would modify the ethnic composition of the region,” Nastase is quoted as saying. One of the world’s top players in the 1970s, Nastase is not new to controversy. He reportedly badly injured a woman journalist as she used her mobile telephone to take a picture of him in the street.

SHE’S OUT

Agnieszka Radwanska says she is not only through for the year because of a stress fracture in her foot, but she may not be ready for the Australian Open in late January. “I’m done for this year with a very serious injury, a stress fracture,” Radwanska said. “It’s a complicated injury and there’s some chance it won’t be healed in time for Australia. I just realized how serious the injury was just before I came to Asia to play in Tokyo and Beijing.”

SAYONARA

Christophe Rochus is hanging up his racquets. In the next to last tournament of his career, Rochus was given a wild-card entry into the Ethias Trophy in Mons, Belgium, but lost in the opening round to fellow Belgian Steve Darcis 6-4 2-6 7-6 (0). The 5-7 (170m) Rochus, who has not won a match in 2010, going 0-11, said his final tournament will be an ATP Tour event in Valencia, Spain.

SETTING THE BAR HIGH

Next January’s Australian Open will offer a record USD $24 million in prize money, an increase of 3.8 percent over this year’s purse. The year’s first Grand Slam tournament will see Rafael Nadal seek a fourth straight major title. The men’s and women’s winners in Melbourne will each pocket USD $2.1 million. Nadal and Kim Clijsters each earned USD $1.7 million for their US Open victories last month. The tournament organizers also announced a 10-year extension of their TV rights deal with sports network ESPN covering North and South America.

SURPRISE

When the smog had parted and the dust settled, Chuang Chia-Jung and Olga Govortsova were the surprise doubles champions of the China Open. Winning their first title together, Chuang and Govortsova knocked off the top-seeded team of Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta in the final, 7-6 (2) 1-6 10-7 (match tiebreak). During the week, the winners also upset the number two seeds, Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik, and the number four seeds, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova – three of the four teams that have qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar. Before Beijing, the team of Chuang and Govortsova had never been past the quarterfinals in any tournament. They trailed 6-4 in the match tiebreak before rallying to win six of the next seven points. “Because it’s in China it’s very special to me,” said Chuang, who is from Taiwan. “We played aggressively and that was the key today.”

SET FOR LONDON

Novak Djokovic has grabbed a spot in the season-ending 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be held in London November 21-28. Besides reaching the final at the US Open, Djokovic clinched his spot in the elite field by advancing to the final of the China Open in Beijing. The Serb, who won the event in 2008, has reached the quarterfinals or better at each of the year’s four Grand Slam tournaments, as well as capturing his 17^th career title in Dubai in February. Djokovic is the third player to qualify for the event, joining Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

STOPPED CONDO BID

The famed 87-year-old horseshoe stadium at New York’s West Side Tennis Club will not be turned into condominiums, at least not right now. In a vote by members, the club decided not to sell the stadium, where the US Open was played from 1923 through 1977, to a real estate developer who planned to tear down the structure and build condos. The club is expected to restart the process and search for another buyer. Estimates are that approximately USD $12 million would be needed to refurbish the stadium, money the club does not have. The Wall Street Journal reported that a club newsletter to members last year said that revenues from dues covered “less than 50 percent of the operating expenses of the club.” The last time a tennis tournament was played in the stadium with fans in the stands was in 1990.

SURGERY

Juan Carlos Ferrero will be out the remainder of this year after undergoing surgery on his left knee and right wrist. Once ranked number one in the world, Ferrero was told he would need around two months to return to playing condition, causing him to miss the Valencia Open, an ATP World Tour event of which he is part owner. Currently ranked 26^th in the world, Ferrero compiled a 33-14 record this season, including a period where he won 14 consecutive matches, capturing titles at Costa do Sauipe and Buenos Aires before losing to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the Acapulco final.

SUITABLE FOR COVER

Dutch wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer has posed nude for the front cover of ESPN The Magazine’s second annual Body Issue. Vergeer is a five-time Paralympic gold medalist, 16-time Grand Slam tournament winner and currently on an unprecedented winning streak of 396 consecutive matches. She is pictured naked in her wheelchair holding a tennis racquet across her body. Gary Belsky, editor of ESPN The Magazine, said the issue is meant to be a study and celebration of athletes’ bodies, not simply an excuse to see them naked. Other sports stars featured on the cover include Amar’e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks, PGA golf pro Camilo Villegas, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi and the USA women’s water polo team. Vergeer is the first wheelchair athlete and the first Paralympian to be featured as a cover model.

SCARE IN CHINA

Playing her first match as the world’s top-ranked women’s player, Caroline Wozniacki suffered an injury scare in her quarterfinal victory over Ana Ivanovic in Beijing’s China Open. The 20-year-old Wozniacki tearfully crumpled to the ground clutching her left knee while leading Ivanovic 7-6 (1) 3-1. After taking an injury time out to get her knee strapped, the Dane completed her 7-6 (1) 6-4 victory. “I felt pain when I jumped down on my knee,” Wozniacki said. “Not very nice thoughts went through my mind. It was a bit of a scare. But I have had treatment and it feels better.”

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Beijing (men): Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-1 7-6 (5)

Beijing (women): Chuang Chia-Jung and Olga Govortsova beat Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (2) 1-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Jounieh: Petra Cetkovska and Renata Voracova beat Eva Birnerova and Andreja Klepac 7-5 6-2

Mons: Filip Polasek and Igor Zelenay beat Ruben Bemelmans and Yannick Mertens 3-6 6-4 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Tokyo (men): Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer beat Andreas Seppi and Dmitry Tursunov 6-3 6-2

Tokyo (women): Jill Craybas and Tamarine Tanasugarn beat Urszula Radwanska and Olga Savchuk 6-3 6-1

SITES TO SURF

Shanghai: www.shanghairolexmasters.com

Tashkent: www.tennis.uz/

Linz: www.generali-ladies.at/

Osaka: www.hp-open.jp/