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Roger Federer

“World Tennis with Harry Cicma” Returns For Sixth Season On NESN-TV

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“World Tennis with Harry Cicma” will return for a sixth season nationally on New England Sports Network (NESN) and will air 24 different shows for 24 consecutive weeks starting May 23.

This season’s shows features interviews with Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, John McEnroe, David Ferrer, Kei Nishikori among others. Feature stories include segments on The John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York City, The Casal-Sanchez Academy in Naples, Florida and the new tennis analytic system Playsight Interactive. Each show airs at least twice with an airing and a re-air each week (check local listings).

Broadcast sponsors include Infiniti of Norwood (www.InfinitiofNorwood.com), AlbrechtAuto.com, JoanNorton.com, edelsteinchiropractic.com and New Chapter Media. Excerpts from the show will also be available at www.WorldTennisMagazine.com and on the World Tennis Magazine YouTube channel following its airing on NESN.

The New England Sports Network (NESN) is the flagship station for both the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins and is available on New England cable systems and nationally – in both standard definition and high definition through satellite TV providers DirectTV (Channel 628) and Dish Network (Channel 434). The Red Sox are a co-founder and majority owner (80 percent) of NESN with the Bruins owning the remaining 20 percent. NESN is delivered to over 4 million homes throughout New England and consistently receives higher ratings of any other national or regional sports channels in the region combined.

Cicma is an Emmy award-winning reporter and on-air correspondent for NBC Sports and WNBC News, the former sports producer and anchor at NBC in Providence, R.I. and CBS in Springfield, Mass., and ABC in Sioux City, Iowa. He is the co-founder and host of “World Tennis with Harry Cicma” and also served as a commentator for other networks including Fox Sports Net and Tennis Channel and the U.S. Open tennis championship’s world feed. He is the TV voice of World Team Tennis, also host & producer of FOX Sports’ Ping Pong coverage, along with other productions on SNY, FOX, NESN and Comcast SportsNet. A former world-ranked doubles player, he is a graduate of Rutgers University.

 

World Tennis with Harry Cicma
World Tennis with Harry Cicma

From USTA Futures Event In Vero Beach, Top U.S. Prospect Francis Tiafoe Targets A Junior Grand Slam Title

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

VERO BEACH, Fla. — It’s not every day that Sports Illustrated and the Washington Post focus their journalistic endeavors on the sleepy Florida coastal paradise of Vero Beach and its $10,000 USTA Futures level tennis tournament. While the event – the SorensenRealEstate.com Tennis Classic – is among the most successful Futures events in the USA – now in its 20th year – the focus of this media interest is entirely 16-year-old Francis Tiafoe, perhaps the brightest future hope for American men’s tennis.

Tiafoe became a lightning rod for attention in American tennis circles when he became the youngest player to win the boys’ 18 title Orange Bowl last December as a 15-year-old, joining a list of champions at the 67-year-old international event headlined by Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier. Add in the fact that he has an incredible story of being the son of immigrants from war-torn Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa and that he picked up the sport while his father worked as a maintenance person at the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland. (Read more in this New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/sports/tennis/francis-tiafoe-top-ranked-junior-grew-up-at-tennis-center-and-it-shows.html?_r=0) With a current world junior ranking of No. 2, Tiafoe is now stepping up onto the next rung of the ladder of competitive tennis on the “Futures” tour – the lowest level of professional tennis.

“It’s definitely tougher. You have to come in with a different mentality,” Tiafoe said of playing pro-level tennis after his 6-4, 6-2 second-round loss in Vero Beach to Gregory Ouellette, a 27-year-old former All-American at the University of Florida, ranked No. 592. “Here, they don’t really care if you are good junior. They don’t care who you are. They want to win the match. It’s completely different. In the juniors, I‘m pretty well respected and I can win matches off my name. Here, you have you work for every match and every point. It’s not easy. I really need to get used to this level.”

“It’s good for Francis to be here and play some matches against these guys maybe lose a few matches and stay humble and keep on learning and getting better,” said Misha Kouznetsov, Tiafoe’s coach from the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Maryland, a USTA Regional Training Center for High Performance. “Here you always have to hold serve and you have to always be aggressive. You cannot have mental breakdowns. You have to stay right on it. In juniors, you can get always with a lot of stuff.”

Next for Tiafoe is continued introductions into pro tennis on the USTA Pro Circuit and similar-level ITF Futures events in Spain before competing at the French Open juniors and junior Wimbledon. Main draw or qualifying wild cards into ATP events in Newport, R.I., Atlanta and Washington, DC could materialize in July. Tiafoe will also compete at the USTA National Boys’ 18 Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he will hope to earn the automatic wild card entry into the US Open that is awarded to the winner.

Ranked No. 1,296 in the ATP rankings this week, Tiafoe is a high school sophomore – home-schooled working with three different teachers, mainly over Skype, as well as with other tutors. In addition to practicing and improving his tennis skills and technique, Kouznetsov said he works on tennis specific track work and improving his fitness and endurance.

When asked in Vero Beach what his goals were for the rest of the year, Tiafoe was succinct and clear on what he wanted to achieve, a sign of a someone bound for future success.

“The goal is to win one of the Slams this year in the juniors,” Tiafoe said. “By January of next year, I want to be 400 or 300 in the world in the ATP rankings. I want to go into the pros next year with a pretty high ranking and see if I am going to go to school or not.”

Tiafoe said that his final tournament as a junior player will be the U.S. Open junior championships in September before he will focus entirely on playing for ATP ranking points to help determine whether he will turn professional or attend college.

“I want to turn pro,” Tiafoe said when asked if he was leaning more towards college or turning professional, “but you never know what will happen.”

 

Francis Tiafoe
Francis Tiafoe

Stan Wawrinka Beats Roger Federer In All-Swiss Final at Monte-Carlo: Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Roger Federer 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-2 to win the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Donna Vekic beat Dominika Cibulkova 5-7 7-5 7-6 (4) to win the BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nick Kyrgios beat Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (10) 6-4 to win the Sarasota Open in Sarasota, Florida, USA

 

FED CUP

World Group

(Semifinals)

Czech Republic beat Italy 4-0 at Ostrava, Czech Republic

Germany beat Australia 3-1 at Brisbane, Australia

 

World Group Playoffs

Russia beat Argentina 4-0 at Sochi, Russia

Canada beat Slovak Republic 3-1 at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

France beat United States 3-2 at St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Poland beat Spain 3-2 at Barcelona, Spain

 

World Group II Playoffs

Romania beat Serbia 4-1 at Bucharest, Romania

Netherlands beat Japan 3-2 at ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Sweden beat Thailand 4-0 at Lidkoping, Sweden

Switzerland beat Brazil 4-1 at Catanduva, Brazil

 

SAYING

“I can see that when mentally I’m there and I’m fighting, I can play tennis, I can beat all the players. I did an amazing job.” – Stanislas Wawrinka, after beating Roger Federer in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters.

“Of course, I’m very happy for Stan. It’s a huge win for him after winning his first Grand Slam this year, also to win his first Masters 1000. To take the opportunities when they’re there, that’s key in a tennis player’s career. So I’m very happy for him.” – Roger Federer, following his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte-Carlo.

“It’s always special to play Roger. We know it’s always a strange match, especially being in the final here. He’s my best friend on the tour. We respect each other so much. I’m just trying on the court to win the match. Before and after, we are still very good friends. During the match, we just try everything to win. Today I’m really happy to take that one.” – Stanislas Wawrinka.

“I have had to wait 10 years to beat him on clay. It was a long wait but I am pleased with the win and the way I played.” – David Ferrer, after beating Rafael Nadal on the clay in Monte-Carlo.

“I didn’t play the right way. I didn’t play with the right intensity with my forehand. I played too short. I gave him the chance to have the control of the point almost all the time.” – Rafael Nadal.

“I just rest now. I cannot play tennis for some time. How long, I don’t know. It’s really not in my hands anymore. I’m going to rest and see when it can heal 100 percent, then I will be back on the court.” – Novak Djokovic,

“Rafa’s not a machine. Sometimes he can play not so good. Maybe today he didn’t play his best tennis, and I played very good.” – David Ferrer.

“I was frustrated, let’s be honest. I did chuck a ball out of the stadium, I did scream sometimes. I was aggravated to a degree, but not to the extent where I totally lost it.” – Roger Federer, after hitting a ball out of the stadium in frustration during his match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“It’s amazing to hit triple digits. It’s a great milestone to say that you have a hundred, to be the first player to hit a hundred titles. Kind of snuck up on us pretty quick. Last few years we’ve been really hot. We always wanted to beat the Woodies’ record of 61. Then trying to clip Todd Woodbridge’s 83 titles. All of a sudden I’m at 99. It will feel a lot better when we do it as a team. We’ve always looked at our career as team titles, doing it together. That’s the huge goal for this year, to do it together.” – Mike Bryan, who won his 100 career doubles title and teamed with his twin brother Bob to capture their 98th crown.

“I think of myself as two different people. There’s the Serena Williams that everyone knows: She’s crazy. She can’t make a mistake. And she’s angry and just not nice, to be honest. I’m only that person for three hours a day, when I’m on the court. The rest of the time I’m just Serena. I’m the class clown.” – Serena Williams, in comments she told Fitness Magazine.

 

SWISS SWITCH

Stanislas Wawrinka has shown that being ahead of Roger Federer in the ATP Tour Rankings is no fluke. The “other Swiss” beat Federer for only the second time in their careers to capture his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. “When I came here, for me it was more like a test. I knew I was playing good tennis, but I didn’t expect to win because the draw was so strong,” Wawrinka said. Instead, the 29-year-old Wawrinka came on strong in the second half of the final to capture the Monte-Carlo crown to go along with the Australian Open title he won in January. “When you win a match like this, it’s only one or two points, especially in the tiebreak,” Wawrinka said. “But I think I did a great tiebreak. I was serving big and being really aggressive. Then I took the advantage at the beginning of the third set. I saw that he was a little bit tired. Me, I was playing better and better, especially moving better.” Federer, who has never won Monte-Carlo, agreed with Wawrinka. “I think it’s one of those finals that I could have won,” Federer said. “But Stan was tougher at the end. I think he deserved it just a little bit more.” It was the first all-Swiss final on the ATP World Tour in 14 years, and was the fourth time Federer had reached the final at Monte-Carlo and lost, the first three times to Rafael Nadal. “I would have loved to have won a second title (this season) because I’ve come close a few times,” Federer said. “That’s my next objective, that I get to the very end more frequently. But clearly I’m happy that the clay court season started so well for me.”

 

SIDELINED

Fresh off from winning two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, Novak Djokovic’s season is on hold because of an injury to his right wrist. With his right arm heavily taped, the Serb was visibly hampered in his semifinal loss at the Monte Carlo Masters to Roger Federer. The injury severely hampered Djokovic’s serve and backhand. “I just rest now,” Djokovic said. “I cannot play tennis for some time. How long, I don’t know. It’s really not in my hands anymore.” Ranked second in the world, Djokovic said there was one positive thing about his injury. “The good thing is I don’t need to have a surgery,” he said. “I don’t have any rupture or something like that.” He had complained earlier in the week about the pain, but said he felt better after taking a day off from playing and training. But a long quarterfinal win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez aggravated the injury. “Long match, long rallies, heavy balls, definitely did not help the state of my arm,” said Djokovic, who was seeking to win his fifth straight Masters title. “The pain was there every single day from 10 days ago. At some stages it was very painful.”

 

STRUGGLING

A back injury and defeat in the Australian Open final has cost Rafael Nadal his confidence. At least that’s what the world’s top-ranked player is saying. “I don’t have to lie to anybody,” Nadal said. “After what happened in Australia it was little bit harder for me to find again the intensity, the confidence, the inside power that I always have.” Although he won a clay court tournament in Rio de Janeiro after the Australian Open, Nadal fell in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters and lost the final of the Miami Masters. Then came the Monte-Carlo Masters where Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Asked if his back was still bothering him, Nadal said: “No, no, the back is not an excuse. The back is in good shape. The physical performance is fine. No problem about that.” The left-hander vowed: “I’m going to fight to try to find that solution soon.”

 

SUCCESS, FINALLY

It took 10 years, but David Ferrer has finally posted a win over fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal on clay. Ferrer’s 7-6 (1) 6-4 win snapped Nadal’s 30-match clay-court winning streak and came in the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo. The last time Ferrer beat Nadal on clay was in their first ATP World Tour meeting in Stuttgart, Germany. “I have had to wait 10 years to beat him on clay,” Ferrer said. “It was a long wait but I am pleased with the win and the way I played. I spoke with my coach and we had a clear game plan. But with Rafa, it’s always tough because he doesn’t allow you to follow it. The good thing was I was able to deal with his attacks and stay strong physically for the whole match.” Nadal said he failed to stay with his own game plan. “I didn’t play the right way,” the world’s top-ranked player said. “I didn’t play with the right intensity with my forehand. I played too short. I gave him the chance to have the control of the point almost all the time.” Nadal has won Monte-Carlo eight straight years until he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final last year.

 

SIBLING POWER

The records keep falling for the Bryan brothers. Mike Bryan became the first player to win 100 tour-level doubles titles when he and twin Bob Bryan captured the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, defeating Ivan  Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-3 3-6 10-8 (match tiebreak). It was the 98th team title for the Americans. It was the fifth title in a row for the Bryans and extended their winning streak to 21 matches. The 35-year-olds have not lost since the Memphis, Tennessee, USA, final in February. The brothers’ goal now is to win 100 titles together. “I will feel a lot better when we do it as a team,” Mike Bryan said. “We’ve always looked at our career as team titles, doing it together. That’s the huge goal for this year, to do it together.” Brother Bob said their goal is to hit the century mark before Roland Garros. “We’ve got two tournaments or three coming up before the French,” Bob Bryan said. “It’s incredible to see what he’s done. I guess I’m knocking on the door. The Californian pair have now won the Monte-Carlo Masters four times and lead with 29 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles together.

 

STAR ARISING

Donna Vekic is out to prove she belongs with the best players on the WTA tour. The 17 year old from Croatia won her first WTA title – the BMW Malaysian Open – by posting her first win over a Top 10 player, Dominika Cibulkova. “I’m so happy – I don’t know what to say, I’m so, so happy,” Vekic said. She was runner-up in her first two WTA finals – at Tashkent in 2012 and Birmingham in 2013. And she was close to losing at Kuala Lumpur as she trailed Cibulkova 7-5 5-4. But Vekic reeled off seven straight games to take the second set and grab a 4-0 lead in the third. Cibulkova, herself a young player on the rise in the rankings, did not go down easily. She staved off three match points at 5-2 and eventually forced a tiebreak. When Vekic closed out the 5-7 7-5 7-6 (4) victory with a forehand winner, she finished the match by winning one more point than her Slovakian opponent, 122 to 121. Vekic also had 11 aces to just two for Cibulkova. At 17 years, 10 months and 23 days old, Vekic is the first player under 18 to win a WTA title since American Vania King captured Bangkok in 2006. “It was a very tough match,” Vekic said. “She played very well throughout the whole match. I was up 5-1 in the third set and she came back out playing insane. So I’m happy I was able to get through in the end.”

 

S’IL VOUS PLAIT

Not surprisingly, the French Open will pay out more this year than ever before. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn 1.65 million euros (USD $2,277,640), an increase of 150,000 euros (USD $207,059) from last year. Gilbert Ysern, tournament director at Roland Garros as well as French Tennis Federation director, said “this notable increase in Roland Garros prize money is part of the plan that was put in place for 2013 until 2017.” In all, total prize money for the clay court Grand Slam tournament increased by 3 million euros (USD $4.1 million) from last year. The biggest increases have come for those losing in the early rounds.

 

SKIPPING PARIS?

Being with his wife when she gives birth is Roger Federer’s top priority. Consequently the Swiss star could possibly miss this year’s French Open. The day before Christmas Federer announced he and his wife Mirka were expecting their third child, although they have not said when. The 32-year-old Federer says he still does not know the due date. “So we’re just waiting,” Federer said. “It’s a priority for me trying to be there, trying to support my wife. I’ve played enough tennis matches. Missing a tournament or missing a match wouldn’t change anything for me.”

 

SHORT PROBLEM

Normally when Rafael Nadal misses his first serve, he just reaches into his pocket for the second ball. At Monte-Carlo, however, he had to get the second ball from a ball person. That’s because of a problem the Spanish ace had with the pockets in his shorts. “The ball comes out of the bottom of them and gets in the way,” the world’s top-ranked player told Teledeporte. “We’ll try to sort it out for the next tournaments, but here it won’t be possible.” Pete Sampras always had just one ball at a time, as does Serena Williams. But Nadal, like many of today’s male players, grabs two balls and puts one in his pocket. “When you have been doing something the same way for so many years, when there is a change you have to think about it and it makes things a bit more difficult,” Nadal said. “But it’s better to do it that way than have the ball popping out of the bottom of your shorts, which is quite uncomfortable.”

 

SIDELINED

Great Britain’s top woman player, Laura Robson, has decided to undergo surgery on her left wrist, meaning she will miss both the French Open and Wimbledon. She was plagued by the left wrist problem throughout this year, playing just one match, and losing that to Kirsten Flipkens 6-3 6-0 in the first round of the Australian Open. She had retired because of the long-standing injury I her opening match against Yanina Wickmayer at a warm-up event in Hobart, Australia. Currently ranked 64th in the world, Robson announced on her Facebook page that she will have the operation, which will be performed by the same Minnesota-based doctor who operated on the wrist of former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro. “I wanted to inform my lovely supporters that I have decided to have minor wrist surgery at the Mayo clinic with one of the best wrist doctors in the world, Dr. Richard Berger,” Robson wrote. “Dr. Berger is very confident that I will be able to return to the tennis court pain free before you even have time to miss me.” The 20-year-old Robson won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title in 2008 and reached a career-high of 27thin the rankings last year.

 

SEEKING A COACH

Andy Murray hopes to have a new coach by next month’s French Open. The 26-year-old Murray won the London Olympics singles gold, the US Open and Wimbledon with Ivan Lendl as his coach. But the two announced their split last month and Murray is seeking a replacement. “The plan is to think exactly what I need over the next week, two weeks,” Murray told BBC Sport. “There’s a lot of factors you need to look at and I would hope I would have someone in place by the French Open, but I don’t want to rush it. I don’t want to get someone just because they’ve won a lot of tournaments or were great players.”

 

SAID WHAT?

No one was more surprised than Donald Young when an umpire assessed him a warning for what he said in a first-round match at the Sarasota ATP Challenger tournament in Sarasota, Florida, USA. What Young muttered after putting a backhand into the net was “son of a biscuit.” After being given the warning for his comment, the former world junior number one told the umpire: “Come on Keith, don’t give me crap for that, man, I said ‘son of a biscuit.’ That’s a problem? That’s a problem now?” Despite the warning, Young won his first-round match, beating Alexander Zverev, a 16-year-old qualifier from Germany. He then beat Zverev’s brother, Mischa, in the next round before losing to Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Kyrgios went on to win the Sarasota tournament, stopping Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (10) 6-4 in the final.

 

SENT PACKING

The men’s tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia, is moving to Tel Aviv, Israel. The ATP Board of Directors, meeting in Monte-Carlo, approved the tournament’s move, and now needs only a final agreement of conditions between the tournament and the ATP World Tour. “After 19 memorable years in St. Petersburg, the time has come for us to take the tournament in a new direction,” said Ruslan Linkov, a tournament representative. “We are very excited about the opportunities that lie in Tel Aviv and look forward to hold a successful event in September.” The tournament will be held at the Israel Tennis Centre at Ramat HaSharon this September and will offer USD $1,000,000 in prize money. It will be the first ATP World Tour event held in Israel since 1996.

 

STALWARTS ALL

Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, Romania’s Simona Halep, Brazil’s Teliana Pereira and Uzbekistan’s Sabina Sharipova have been named the first four winners of the 2014 Fed Cup Heart Award. The four recipients were decided more than 60,000 fans casting ballots on FedCup.com and FedCup.com/es. The winners will receive a check to be donated to their chosen charity. It is Radwanska’s second career Heart Award for her performance in the World Group and World Group II first-round category. The other three were Zone Group I winners. The Fed Cup Heart Award recognizes players who have represented their country with distinction in Fed Cup competition.

 

STARTING YOUNG

The top eight ranked boys and girls on the 18-and-under International Tennis Federation Junior World Rankings at the end of the year will compete in the ITF Junior Masters, a new event that be held next April at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu, China. According to the ITF announcement, the competition will consist of two knock-out singles events, with each player guaranteed three matches to determine their final finishing position. The Sichuan International Tennis Centre, which was built in 2008, has already hosted a number of international events. The new competition will be played three match courts, including a 6,000-seat stadium court.

 

SPLIT ENDS, TOO?

When Danish star Caroline Wozniacki showed up to caddy for her fiancé Rory McIlroy at a par-3 hit and giggle event prior to The Masters, she had dyed her hair pink. By the final round other the golf major, Wozniacki’s hair was its normal blonde. But returning to her natural color may not have been easy. The tennis star posted on social media: “Does anyone know if semi-permanent hairy dye from the brand Manic Panic washes off completely after a little while?” Gold Digest writer Dan Jenkins wrote on social media: “High-level talk on Augusta National veranda: ‘Exactly what color is Caroline Wozniacki’s hair?’ I’m going with a blend of violet and stupid.”

 

SALUTED

The chairman and CEO of the WTA, Stacey Allaster, is the first person from the tennis industry to be given the Great Wall Friendship Award. The award, established by the Beijing Municipal Government, acknowledges global professionals and experts who have played instrumental roles in facilitating the development of China’s capital. “It is an honor to receive this award, and this is an accomplishment to be shared with the entire China Open team,” Allaster said. “Together we shared a vision to build the China Open into one of the world’s most exciting sports entertainment events in the world. With the success and growth of the China Open, the WTA will host 10 events in China in 2014 as women’s tennis continues to grow and develop within the region.” Since the Great Wall Friendship Award was first given in 1999, 176 honorees from 30 countries have been selected. Of those 176, only three have been from the sports industry: Allaster; Hein Vergruggen of the Netherlands, chairman of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games; and American basketball star Stephen Marbury, who now plays for the Beijing Ducks. Besides Allaster, 14 other foreign experts received the Great Wall Friendship Award.

 

SCHOOL TIME

Paul Annacone, an Australian Open doubles champion and coach of both Roger Federer and Pete Sampras; Judy Murray, mother of Andy Murray and Great Britain’s Fed Cup captain, and Patrick McEnroe, USTA Player Development general manager, will be among the keynote speakers at this year’s Tennis Teachers Conference, which will be held in New York City in conjunction with the US Open. The four-day conference, beginning August 22, will bring together the leading tennis teaching professionals and coaches to share best practices. The event offers educational resources, facilitating innovative teaching techniques and creating networking opportunities among the members of the various associations. The conference also will include a series of interactive on-court sessions and presentations.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Kuala Lumpur: Timea Babos and Chan Hao-Ching beat Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Saisai 6-3 6-4

Monte-Carlo: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-3 3-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Sarasota: Marin Draganja and Henri Kontinen beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo and Franko Skugor 7-5 5-7 10-6 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Barcelona: www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com/

Bucharest: http://brd-nastase-tiriac-trophy.ro/2014/

Stuttgart: www.porsche-tennis.de

Marrakech: www.lallameryemtennis.com/

Ostrava: www.prosperitaopen.cz/

Munich: http://bmwopen.de/

Qeiras: www.portugalopen.pt/

Tunis: www.tct.org.tn/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$2,562,150 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain, clay

$592,239 BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, Bucharest, Romania, clay

 

WOMEN

$644,900 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart, Germany, clay

$250,000 Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Marrakech, Morocco, clay

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$590,148 Portugal Open, Qeiras, Portugal, clay

$590,148 BMW Open by FWU AG, Munich, Germany, clay

$125,000 Tunis Open, Tunis, Tunisia, clay

$117,586 Prosperita Open 2014, Ostrava, Czech Republic, clay

 

WOMEN

$250,000 Portugal Open, Qeiras, Portugal, clay

 

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka
Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka
Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka

Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal – A Look Back To Their First Match

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By Randy Walker

 

It was on March 28, 2004 when the Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal rivalry began. The most viral  rivalry in tennis history began in Key Biscayne when Nadal was just 17-years-old and ranked No. 34 and Federer was 22 and ranked No. 1 in the world.  The following is the excerpt from my upcoming compilation The Days of Roger Federer – available for pre-order here: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Roger-Federer-Randy-Walker/dp/1937559378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396006308&sr=8-1&keywords=Days+of+Roger+Federer – that reviews this historic first meeting between two of the sport’s greatest legends.

 

2004 – A hard-hitting 17-year-old from Spain named Rafael Nadal, ranked No. 34 in the world, stages a shocking upset of world No. 1 Roger Federer, claiming a 6-3, 6-3 win in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open. Federer, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, had won 28 of 29 matches dating back to the previous November, but the Swiss struggles with illness from the previous few days while Nadal plays impeccable tennis, never facing a break point, executing 81 percent of his first serves and winning 13 of 14 points at the net. ”I’m very happy because I played one of the best matches in my life,” Nadal says. ”Obviously, he didn’t play his best. If he had played his best tennis, I would have had no chance. I probably never served like this in my life, and that was the key.” Says Federer of the debut match with his future main rival, “I think it’s always difficult to play someone for the first time, first of all, but I think overall he played a very good match. He was the better player today. It was tough for me. I had time to get the rhythm, but he played very aggressive and I couldn’t quite play maybe the way I wanted to.” When asked if he was surprised by the result, Federer says, “No, no, I’m not surprised. I’ve heard a lot about him and saw some matches of him. I think this is not a big surprise for everybody.”

 

The Days of Roger Federer is an entertaining and illuminating chronicle of Federer’s trophy-laden journey and is unique for its day-by-day format: every day of the calendar year is presented with a corresponding bit of fact, trivia, or an anniversary, including hallmark victories, statistics, quirky happenings, and quotations. Fans of a player widely considered the greatest of all time as well as sports fans in general will get to know the 17-time major champion better in a uniquely engaging way with this book.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

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

by

by Bob Greene 

 

STARS

Sony Open (First Week)

Key Biscayne, Florida, USA

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

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

 

SAYING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

SINO CHARGE

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

 

SWIFT DAY

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

 

SURGERY AGAIN

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

 

STILL WINNING

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

 

SPLITTSVILLE

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

 

SENT PACKING

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

 

SAID WHAT?

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

 

SURPRISES

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

 

STANDING ALONE

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

 

SWITCHING SITES

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

 

SALUTED

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

 

SURFING

Miami: www.sonyopentennis.com

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

Charleston: www.familycirclecup.com/

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

Davis Cup: www.daviscup.com

ATP: www.atpworldtour.com

WTA: www.wtatennis.com

International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$4,720,390 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

$100,000 Zurich Jalisco Open, Guadalajara, Mexico, hard

WOMEN

$4,720,380 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

WOMEN

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

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

 

DAVIS CUP

World Group

Quarterfinals

Japan vs. Czech Republic at Tokyo, Japan, hard

France vs. Germany at Nancy, France, hard

Italy vs. Great Britain at Naples, Italy, clay

Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan at Geneva, Switzerland, hard

 

Group I

Second Round

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

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

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

Group II

Second Round

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

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

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

 

Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin del Potro

Novak Djokovic, Flavia Pennetta Capture BNP Paribas Open Titles – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

By Bob Greene

 

STARS

BNP Paribas Open

Indian Wells, California, USA

Men’s singles: Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer 3-6 6-3 7-6 (3)

Women’s singles: Flavia Pennetta beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-1

Men’s doubles: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 6-4 6-3

Women’s doubles: Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai beat Cara Black and Sania Mirza 7-6 (5) 6-2

OTHER

Lukas Rosol beat Steve Johnson 6-0 6-3 to win the Irving Tennis Classic in Irving, Texas, USA

Thomas Enqvist beat Stefan Edberg 6-2 6-3 to win the Kings of Tennis in Stockholm, Sweden

 

SAYING

“Today was my day and I really enjoyed this moment. After so many years of working hard, this is the best moment.” – Flavia Pennetta, who won the BNP Paribas Open women’s singles title.

“Personally, I’m very happy. I think I’m playing great tennis now and I’m really enjoying myself. Of course, I would have liked to have more won a few more points at the end but Novak made it tough, so congratulations to him for winning.” – Roger Federer, after falling to Novak Djokovic in the final at Indian Wells.

“The disappointing feeling always comes first, especially when you really, really have ambition to win the tournament. Of course, still good two weeks. First final here. Big event. And still good result. But it’s always disappointing that I really couldn’t play my 100 percent today.” – Agnieszka Radwanska, after losing to Flavia Pennetta.

“I just went for the winner.” – Alexandr Dolgopolov, who rifled a forehand on match point to upset top-ranked and defending champion Rafael Nadal.

“I am fine with the back. I didn’t have bad feelings with my back. The bad feelings were with the forehand and the backhand.” – Rafael Nadal, referring to his back injury at the Australian Open after losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov at the BNP Paribas Open.

“We are old, but we still good athletes. We are strong. We have so many years on the tour, and we know how to handle the emotion and everything.” – Flavia Pennetta.

“To get broken two consecutive times in that situation isn’t good enough. I played poor tennis at that stage. I didn’t make enough balls (and) missed easy shots … So over the course of the set, if you give up enough unforced errors on basic shots, then with the amount of free points he gets on his serve, that’s going to add up to a negative result.” – Andy Murray, following his 4-6 7-5 6-3 loss to Milos Raonic.

“We’re the number one team, and people may know us more now, but we still feel the same as before. All of this is nice because it helps us become more confident and believe in ourselves more on the court, and we’re more motivated now. too, but nothing has changed. We’re still the same people.” – Peng Shuai, who with partner Hsieh Su-Wei has never lost once they reach the final.

“We’ve known each other a very long time. Sometimes we don’t practice together – like at Wimbledon we never practiced together – but every time we go on court together, we try every point. If she misses a shot, I give her support. When I miss, she supports me. It’s very important in doubles. When we get into a final, we don’t think, we just try every point. This is the key for us.” – Hsieh Su-Wei.

 

STANDING TALL

In a battle of giants, Novak Djokovic reigned supreme by edging Roger Federer and capture his first title of 2014, the BNP Paribas Open. “Today was an incredible match,” Djokovic said when he was presented with the winner’s trophy. “It was an incredibly difficult match. Roger is playing great and it’s always a pleasure playing with him.” If Federer was playing great, Djokovic was just a few points better. The Serb lost his opening service game and subsequently the first set. Then, serving for the match, he was broken again. That necessitated a tiebreak, which Djokovic won 7-3. “I would have liked to have won a few more points at the end, but Novak made it tough,” Federer said. The hard-fought win gave Djokovic his third title in the California desert tournament, one less than Federer. Despite the loss, Federer leads their head-to-head record 17-16.

 

SPECIAL TITLE

One year after contemplating retirement, Flavia Pennetta has won the biggest title of her career. “After so many years and so much work and everything, this is the moment I’ve always waited for,” the Italian said. Best known as a doubles player, Pennetta seriously considered quitting the tour last year when her ranking dropped and victories were few. But she reached the semifinals at the US Open last September and now has won one of the biggest titles outside of the four Grand Slam tournaments. “And it’s coming when you don’t expect it, because in the beginning of the week I never expected to be the champion or to be in the final or semifinal,” Pennetta said. The champion’s victory was made much easier when her opponent, Agnieszka Radwanska, struggled with a knee injury that severely limited her movement. The Pole called for a medical timeout early in the second set and received treatment twice. “I’m sorry I could run as much as I could,” Radwanska tearfully told the crowd. “But I had a great week; it was my first final here.

It’s disappointing to lose, but Flavia was just playing too good today.” Pennetta proved her run to the title wasn’t a fluke dependent on Radwanska’s injury. The Italian beat American Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals and Australian Open champion Li Na in the semis. It was her 10th career singles title, but her first in four years. “For me it was something I was waiting a long time, and finally I have a good trophy in my hands.”

 

SUPREME PAIR

It took 15 years for brothers Bob and Mike Bryan to win their first BNP Paribas Open doubles title. Now, the 35-year-old American twins have won two straight, beating in the final the second-seeded team of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares. “It was a great couple weeks for us and for the sport of doubles,” Bob Bryan said. “We’re excited to win our hometown ATP Masters 1000 and play so well against Bruno and Alex, who continue to put up great results.” The Bryans, who were the top-seeded duo, improved their record to 7-1 against Peya and Soares as they increased their record number of doubles titles to 95. It was the third time this season that Peya and Soares finished as runners-up, matching their finishes at Doha and Auckland in January.

 

STILL PERFECT

When Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai reach the final, they are perfect. Hsieh and Peng increased their record to 11-0 together in WTA doubles finals. Their latest came in Indian Wells, where they stopped Cara Black and Sania Mirza in the BNP Paribas Open title match. The winning duo is currently the top-ranked doubles team in the world. Together they have captured Bali in 2008; Sydney, Rome and Beijing in 2009; Rome, Wimbledon, Cincinnati, Guangzhou and the WTA Championships last year, and Doha earlier this year. “We didn’t think about it,” Peng said when asked if they thought about their streak when they were on the court. “Every time we just try to fight every point.”

 

SURPRISE

The third round proved to be as far as top-ranked Rafael Nadal could get at the BNP Paribas Masters. The defending champion fell to Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5) in the tournament’s biggest upset. Nadal had reached the semifinals at Indian Wells every year since 2006, winning the title in 2007, 2009 and last year. Dolgopolov, ranked 31st in the world and from Ukraine, beat Nadal for the first time after five losses, including in the clay court final at Rio de Janeiro two weeks ago. Serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set, Dolgopolov was broken at love, the final point coming when he double-faulted. “The point was just not to get too nervous,” he said. “I knew he’s going to make me play that game and not miss much, and I just gave it away. That was all me. I just tried to forget about that and come back.” Dolgopolov thought he won the match with an ace, but the call being overturned on a challenge from Nadal. “I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” Dolgopolov said. “I was thinking he’s going to challenge because I didn’t really raise my hands up or anything after that ace because I knew it was close and I wasn’t sure it was on the line. Then I just tried to come back as fast as I could to the line so I didn’t have enough time to think about it and just serve and start the point.” Dolgopolov hot his second serve in and followed with a blistering forehand that Nadal couldn’t return. Point, game and match, Dolgopolov.

 

SENT PACKING

On the same day that Rafael Nadal was ousted from the BNP Paribas Open, Maria Sharapova was also sent packing in an upset. The fourth-seeded Russian fell to Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi, 6-3 4-6 7-5. “I did not play a good match at all,” Sharapova said. “She’s quite aggressive, but some shots she hit incredible for a long period of time. But, you know, if I’m speaking about my level, it was nowhere near where it should have been.”

 

SIDELINED

Injuries the past two years are keeping Victoria Azarenka from adding to the number of titles she has won at Key Biscayne, Florida, USA. A two-time winner of the event, Azarenka withdrew from this week’s tournament because of a lingering foot injury. Last year, she missed the event because of an ankle injury. After missing more than a month, Azarenka lost her opening match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, USA

 

SWITCHEROO

Caroline Wozniacki is once again seeking a new coach – perhaps. Michael Mortensen was hired earlier this year, but last week told Danish newspaper Esktra Bladet that he no longer will be working with the right-hander. He noted that Wozniacki will continue working with her father. “I can’t do much more right now,” Mortensen said. “It’s better if the two of them continue working alone.” Mortensen, an experienced coach, said he wanted the player to make changes in her game, but she disagreed. “She wants to work on the things she emphasizes, and that’s totally fine,” Mortensen said. “There’s a lot of pressure on her and a lot of points she has to defend, and she wants to become familiar with her own game again.” Once ranked number one in the world, Wozniacki keeps returning to working with her father. Her previous coach, Thomas Hogstedt, also lasted only a few months.

 

SENIOR TOPPER

Defending champion Stefan Edberg didn’t stand a chance against fellow Swede Thomas Enqvist when the two clashed for the Kings of Tennis crown at Stockholm’s Waterfront Centre. Playing in his first final at the Stockholm event, the 40-year-old Enqvist kept Edberg back of the baseline, let alone the net. “I’m super happy to win this title,” Enqvist said. “I’m from Stockholm so I have a lot of friends and family here. It was always very special to play the Stockholm Open, and now to get to win this event in my home city is just as special.” It was the ninth ATP Champions Tour title for Enqvist, but his first since Rio de Janeiro in 2012. He now is jointly ranked atop the ATP Champions Tour rankings with Delray Beach Open champion Andy Roddick.

 

SPECIAL CEREMONY

An inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame last year, Charlie Pasarell has received his official Hall of Fame ring. Pasarell was presented with his ring in a special ceremony at the BNP Paribas Open by Hall of Fame Chairman Christopher Clouser, Hall of Fame President Stan Smith.  Besides Smith, other Hall of Famers participating in the ceremony included Rod Laver, Donald Dell, Bud Collins, Butch Buchholz, Brad Parks, Rosie Casals, Roy Emerson and Mark Woodforde.

 

SCHOOL’S OUT

Eleven ATP World Tour players are recent graduates of the ATP University in Miami, Florida, USA. Players were schooled in media relations, finance, anti-corruption, marketing, rules and officiating, medical services, nutrition and giving back. The new graduates include Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic, Dominic Thiem of Austria, Guilherme Clezar of Brazil, Thomas Fabbiano of Italy, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, Frenchmen Guillaume Rufin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, American Bradley Klahn, Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Colombia’s Alejandro Gonzalez. Almost 900 players have graduated from the university since it was established in 1990.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Irving: Santiago Gonzalez and Scott Lipsky beat John-Patrick Smith and Michael Venus 4-6 7-6 (7) 10-7 (match tiebreak)

 

SURFING

Miami: www.sonyopentennis.com

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

ATP: www.atpworldtour.com

WTA: www.wtatennis.com

International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$4,720,390 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)

WOMEN

$4,720,380 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (first week)

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$4,720,390 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

$100,000 Zurich Jalisco Open, Guadalajara, Mexico, hard

WOMEN

$4,720,380 Sony Open, Miami, Florida, USA, hard (second week)

 

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer Shows He’s Still In Hunt for Major Titles – Mondays With Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Roger Federer beat Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-4 6-3 to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Grigor Dimitrov beat Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7) 3-6 7-6 (5) to win the men’s singles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Mexico

Federico Delbonis beat Paolo Lorenzi 4-6 6-3 6-4 to win the Brasil Open in São Paulo, Brazil

Klara Zakopalova beat Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6 7-5 6-0 to win the Brasil Tennis Cup in Florianopolis, Brazil

Dominika Cibulkova beat Christina McHale 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-4 to win the Abierto Mexicano Telcel women’s singles in Acapulco, Mexico

 

SAYING

“Things definitely went my way out here tonight, but I have had a lot tougher matches in the last one and a half years, so this is nice to get a lucky break again.” – Roger Federer, after winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“I’m quite good in that I don’t keep the losses in my head for a long time. I will definitely try to learn from the mistakes in the second set. I will just try to take positives from that and just leave all the negatives behind.” – Tomas Berdych, following his loss to Roger Federer in the final in Dubai.

“You just stand on the baseline, try to hit a few good shots and hope he doesn’t keep hitting the big serves.” – Roger Federer, on playing Tomas Berdych.

“Belief is the only thing that kept me going today. I didn’t think I was going to come back after last night’s match. I’m really happy. This title means a lot to me. Every match I played was really tough, especially the last three where I played three sets.” – Grigor Dimitrov, following his triumph in Acapulco, Mexico.

“I know it’s difficult but it’s not an easy sport. You have got two options – either to get down or get even more motivated.” – Kevin Anderson, after losing in the title match for the second straight week.

“I was losing the whole match, but anything can happen in a final. I think I got a little bit lucky here and there and I’m very happy I could make it through and win the third set and win the title.” – Klara Zakopalova, who won the last 11 games of the match to beat Garbiñe Muguruza and win the Brasil Tennis Cup.

“We are happy to be back to winning ways and winning a title. We got back this year hoping to continue the streak and doing well. We started off well in Sydney. We lost to (Nestor) Zimonjic and (Daniel) Nestor there in the final and happy to win this title against them and get a little sweet revenge back.” – Rohan Bopanna, after he and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Zimonjic and Nestor in the Dubai doubles final.

“We had in our mind we had to go all out, because the last time we lost to them, and this time we just had to go out aggressively. I think we had a very aggressive mindset, and luckily it just paid off. I’m really happy that we ended up getting a win today.” – Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

 

SWISS STANDARD

Playing from behind, Roger Federer showed that he is still to be reckoned with this season as he won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the sixth time, beating Tomas Berdych in the final. “It was a tough match,” Federer said, stating the obvious. “Tomas had the advantage and could have, should have, brought it home, but maybe I got a little lucky.” In the semifinals, Federer also lost the opening set before rallying to knock off top-seeded Novak Djokovic. Against Berdych, Federer lost the first set and was a break down in the second at 3-2. But the Swiss star immediately broke back, then held at love to begin his winning surge. “I was able to break back right away, which was key. I stayed calm and once I got even I started to play better,” Federer said. The 32-year-old Federer won his 78th tour-level title, moving him ahead of John McEnroe to stand third alone in the all-time titles leaders list. He has won as least one ATP World Tour title every year since 2000 and has passed the USD $80 million mark in career earnings. Berdych had an 11-match winning streak snapped. “I would say many things [went wrong],” Berdych said. “The match started pretty well. I had really many chances, and then I basically just gave him the game and that’s it. It’s very disappointing for me the way I handled that situation. I was in the better shape and playing really well and made my chances, but unfortunately I didn’t execute it in the end.”

 

SIZZLING IN MEXICO

Grigor Dimitrov has been tagged the “new Federer.” He proved it in Acapulco, Mexico, by knocking off Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, then outlasting South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the title match. The 22-year-old Dimitrov became the first Bulgarian to win on the ATP World Tour when he captured Stockholm last year. With the win in Acapulco, Dimitrov becomes the second player born in the 1990s to win multiple titles, joining Canadian Milos Raonic. It was the second straight week Anderson has suffered a heartbreaking. The week before, the South African lost to Marin Cilic in the Delray Beach Open final. “Right now it’s really disappointing … to come so close. It was possibly a match where I felt I was going to get it,” Anderson said. “I’m going to have to move on, need to take positives and take belief.”

Anderson was able to leave Acapulco with a winner’s trophy, however. He and Matthew Ebden defeated Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi for their first ATP World Tour team title. It was Anderson’s first doubles crown on the ATP World Tour, while Ebden has now won four titles. “It was the first time for us playing together,” Ebden said. “I’ve known Kevin since we were kids. We grew up playing junior tennis together. I was just really thankful that he was able to play through the doubles and the singles. It’s a massive effort by him. I really owe it to him.”

 

STOPPED BY INJURY

A shoulder injury forced Tommy Haas to retire during his semifinal match at the Brazil Open and could affect his future. Haas said he “felt a lot of pain” in his right shoulder when he slammed his racquet to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the opening set. He received several medical treatments but continued to play until he retired while trailing 6-3 3-2 to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy. “After I threw my racquet when I got broken at three-all, I felt a lot of pain in my shoulder and it never really got away,” the 35-year-old German said. “The pain was getting worse. And the smart player’s decision has to be not to continue, unfortunately.” Haas said the latest injury could be a factor in his decision on when to stop playing. “I’ve had three shoulder injuries and one elbow injury, so my shoulder is not the youngest, not the way it needs to be,” Haas said. “I’m very happy that I can still play at a high level, but sometimes the shoulder is very, very tired, very, very stiff, and it tells me not to continue. But I’ll try to play as long as I can, hopefully for the rest of the season, then we will see.”

In Acapulco, Mexico, top-seeded David Ferrer withdrew from his quarterfinal against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in the second set because of a left leg strain. The Spaniard was leading 6-4, 2-2 when he suffered an inner thigh strain in his left leg. After seeking treatment in the locker room, Ferrer returned to the court but lost the next two points before retiring. “I’m very sad because I was playing great.” Ferrer said. “The day was going so well for me and then this happened.”

 

SUDDEN SUCCESS

It took one streak to break another for Klara Zakopalova. Ranked 32nd in the world, Zakopalova had lost 12 straight finals before reaching the title match of the Brasil Cup. Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain was serving for the match8 at 6-4 5-2 when Zakopalova went on an 11-game streak to capture the title 4-6 7-5 6-0. “I was playing well in the first set but she was just playing a little bit better, but in the second set she was just playing amazing,” Zakopalova said. “But then maybe she started making a few mistakes and I was a little bit more patient. After I won the second set I told myself that anything could happen.” It was Zakopalova’s third WTA title, but first title in more than eight years. “Winning this title is just incredible. I really have no more words for it,” she said.

 

SLOVAKIAN WINNER

By winning the Mexican Open women’s singles, Dominika Cibulkova is one step away from the WTA Top Ten. Top-seeded in Acapulco, Mexico, Cibulkova beat American Christina McHale and secured a new career-high of 11th in the world. Cibulkova was runner-up to China’s Li Na in January’s Australian Open. Against McHale, Cibulkova had all she could handle. “I expected a really tough match and this was over my expectations,” Cibulkova said of the 2-hour, 54-minute battle. “I have to say, it was an extremely tough match. Her defense was amazing today. We had so many long rallies and the match was so up and down, but I was fighting for every point and I’m really happy I could win this. I’m really, really tired right now because I had to dig so deep, physically and mentally.” It was also a breakthrough week for McHale. “It was really nice to make my first WTA final here,” the American said. “II was happy with the way I fought today.”

 

STUNNER

Perhaps it was the quicker surface that suited Roger Federer’s game. Maybe it was the crowd getting behind him. Whatever, Federer played some of his best tennis in years to upset Novak Djokovic 3-66-3 6-2 in the semifinals of the Dubai Championships. From midway through the second set, the 32-year-old Federer dominated his opponent. “There was a buzz out there tonight. I was fully able to enjoy myself,” Federer said in a courtside interview after he knocked off the top seed. “It’s never easy against Novak. Today I had a difficult start that put me on the back foot, but the crowd kept pushing me on. It’s a quick court and I’m always going to play aggressively.” Djokovic had won nine of his previous 12 meetings with Federer and had not lost to the Swiss star in 18 months. Until now. “This is a big step in the right direction for me, gives me a lot of confidence,” Federer said.

 

SINGLE ACHIEVEMENT

You can now refer to Federico Delbonis as a champion. In a battle of unseeded players, Delbonis defeated Paolo Lorenzi to capture the Brasil Open. The Argentine failed to convert on three match points in the Hamburg, Germany, final last year. But this time he didn’t waste the opportunity, firing 12 aces and winning 84 percent of his first-serve points in besting Lorenzi in three sets. “All the matches were complicated,” Delbonis said. “I remember moments from each one of them, especially the one I had with Nico (Almagro) when I lost the first set. It was a hard moment, but I was able to come back. I think that everything happened because of the calm attitude I had when facing the key moments. That allowed me to always find a solution and find again my best game.” At 32 years old, Lorenzi was seeking to become the oldest first-time winner since Wayne Arthurs won in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, in 2005 at the age of 33. Until now, Lorenzi had never advanced past the quarterfinals of an ATP World Tour event. “For me, it felt like my home,” Lorenzi said of the tournament. “It has been incredible and I’m very happy. I tried to win the final, but he played the important points better, and that’s tennis.”

 

SERENA NOMINATED

Tennis star Serena Williams and Jamaican sprint act Usain Bolt are on a star-studded short list for this year’s Laureus Award. Others nominated for the prestigious “Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award” are Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal, British distance runner Mo Farah, American basketball star LeBron James, Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and German Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel. Besides Williams, the “Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year” nominees include German soccer player Nadine Angerer, American swimmer Missy Franklin, Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia and Slovakian skier Tina Maze. American golfer Tiger Woods has been nominated for “Laureus World Comeback of the year” along with Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, Naday, Isinbayeva and two others. The awards will be announced at a ceremony on March 26 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The winners of the awards are chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy, whose jury is made up of 46 sports stars.

 

SIGNED

Spain’s Rafael Nadal is teaming up with soccer great Ronaldo in Brazil. Ronaldo’s sports marketing agency announced it will manage Nadal’s advertising contracts in Brazil. The agency said the “non-exclusive” agreement was reached with Goramendi Siglo XXI, which handles the tennis player’s image rights worldwide. “Nadal is a lot more than just a new partner, he’s an idol that all of us learned to admire for his talent on the courts and for the kind of person that he is,” Ronaldo said in a statement.

 

STARS ON PARADE

The top names in tennis – Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams – have been drafted to compete in the new International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) this December. The draft was held Sunday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where USD $23,975,000 was spent on players for four teams which will be based in Bangkok, Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore. Nadal will be joined on Team Mumbai by 14-time Grand Slam tournament winner Pete Sampras, while Novak Djokovic will have fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki on Team Dubai. Serena Williams will play for Team Singapore. “We’ve got some unbelievably strong teams. I think out of the 28 players that got drafted we have about 21 Grand Slam champions. We have 14 present and past number ones. It’s a pretty blockbuster field,” said Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi, who is managing director of the league. Andy Murray was selected for Team Bangkok, where he will be joined by former world number one Carlos Moya. The Spanish star is also the league’s vice president of player relations. The league will play during the tennis off-season, between November 27 and December 14, and will feature 24 matches across the four host cities. Each match will have a best-of-five format comprised of separate sets contested in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and past champions singles. Play is scheduled to start in Singapore, followed by Bangkok, Mumbai and Dubai.

The much-talked about league will take place during the off season of the tennis calendar, between November 27 and December 14, and will feature 24 matches across the four host cities in the Middle East and Asia.

Each match will follow a best-of-five format comprised of separate sets contested in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and past champions singles, with the home team choosing the order of play prior to each match.

Play is scheduled to start in Singapore, followed by Bangkok, Mumbai and will finally conclude in Dubai.

Team Singapore will include: Serena Williams, Tomas Berdych, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Bruno Soares, Patrick Rafter, Daniela Hantuchova and Nick Krygios.

Team Bangkok: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya and Kirsten Flipkens

Team Mumbai: Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Pete Sampras. Rohan Bopanna, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza and Fabrice Santoro

Team Dubai: Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Malek Jaziri and Martina Hingis

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Acapulco (men): Kevin Anderson and Matthew Ebden beat Feliciano Lopez and Max Mirnyi 6-3 6-3

Acapulco (women): Kristina Mladenovic and Galina Voskoboeva beat Petra Cetkovska and Iveta Melzer 6-3 2-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Dubai: Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi beat Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4 6-3

Florianopolis: Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova beat Francesca Schiavone and Silvia Soler-Espinosa 7-6 (1) 2-6 10-3 (match tiebreak)

São Paulo: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Philipp Osward beat Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 5-7 6-4 15-13 (match tiebreak)

 

 

SURFING

Indian Wells: www.bnpparibasopen.com/

ATP: www.atpworldtour.com

WTA: www.wtatennis.com

International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

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

WOMEN

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

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$6,169,040 BNP Parabas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

$125,000 Irving Tennis Classic, Irving, Texas, USA

WOMEN

$5,427,105 BNP Parabas Open, Indian Wells, California, USA, hard (second week)

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Nadal Beats Federer In Australian Semis: “Like Watching The Same Movie Over And Over And Expecting A Different Ending”

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by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

With tennis legends Pete Sampras, Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall in the stands and tennis fans watching on TV in all time zones at all hours of the day and night, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal contested a highly anticipated 33rd career meeting in the Australian Open semifinals.

But despite his newly-found confidence, his larger-faced racquet and new coach Stefan Edberg in his box, Federer was not able to exorcise the hex that Nadal has over him, losing for the 23th time to his left-handed Spanish tormentor.

“It’s like watching the same movie over and over and expecting a different ending” wrote a keen tennis observer on my Facebook wall of the Nadal vs. Federer rivalry that has seen the Spaniard win eight of the last 10 matches and all confrontations at Grand Slam events outside of two matches at Wimbledon in 2006 and 2007.

The 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 win for Nadal places him into the Australian final to face Federer’s Olympic doubles partner Stan Wawrinka, who, with his run to his first Grand Slam final, overtakes Federer as the No. 1 ranked player in Switzerland.

A victory over Wawrinka in the final would give Nadal a 14th career major singles title, equaling the major title haul won by Sampras and only three behind Federer’s record of 17 major singles championships. A title would also give Nadal the distinction of winning “a double career Grand Slam” – winning all four major titles at least two times, a feat only achieved by Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

“I played probably the best match of the tournament,” said Nadal. “I am very happy with the way I played tonight.”

While Federer was able to successfully implement serve-and-volley tactics against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round and Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, he was not able to find the same success against Nadal, winning only 23 of 42 points at the net, frequently watching Nadal blast passing shots or force volley errors. Against Murray, Federer won 74 percent of points at the net (49/66) while he won 83 percent of net points (34/41) against Tsonga.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal

 

Roger Federer “Looks Great” In Australia Says John McEnroe

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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

 

John McEnroe was not among the tennis fans watching the Australian Open live at 3:30 am on the east coast of the United States as Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray to advance into a semifinal match-up with rival Rafael Nadal.

“Getting up at seven and getting the kids up and ready for school – it’s been a little bit rough for me to pull that one off,” he said Wednesday in a media conference call, sounding more like an everyday working class Joe than the global tennis icon that he is.

However, McEnroe said, despite only watching “bits and pieces and highlights” of Federer’s 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 win, he is impressed with his play with his new larger tennis racquet and his run to the semifinals.

“From what I‘ve seen, Roger is looking like he has gotten comfortable with this racquet and it seems like it has been doing some really good things for him,” McEnroe said in promoting his March 3 doubles match with brother Patrick against the Bryan Brothers at Madison Square Garden as part of World Tennis Day. “Obviously, this next match will be the ultimate test.”

“I can’t really comment on that match because I didn’t see the whole thing, but from what I did see, Roger looks great,” McEnroe continued. “Murray was coming off of a surgery so I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to get there. “

Last month, McEnroe made headlines when he said he didn’t think that Federer would win another major singles title in his career. Federer has now won five matches in Melbourne, losing only one set (the third set against Murray where he served for the match and held two match points at 6-4 in the tie-breaker), but McEnroe said Wednesday that the biggest test is right in front of him with Nadal, a player who despite their hyped rivalry has beaten the Swiss 22 times out of 32 matches.

“The tough part is trying to get all seven in,” McEnroe said. “Obviously, when the guy is that great, you anticipate that he is still going to make runs, but to go all the way, it is going to be difficult to beat this guy (Nadal).”

Starting February 5 in Kansas City, sandwiched around his March 3 appearance at Madison Square Garden,  McEnroe will be competing in nine singles events on the PowerShares Series tennis circuit, www.PowerSharesSeries.com

When asked, in his 22nd year since he last played full-time on the ATP Tour, if while playing on the “champions” tour if he is still intense or if wants to have more fun, he immediately answered “Both. I think I will always be intense but I realize that I am pretty fortunate to be out there still  try to hopefully show a sense of humor that I am a little bit better at showing on say commentary than I used to do when I played,” he said. “It’s not as life and death as it used to be for me.”

McEnroe will face off against old rival Ivan Lendl in the semifinals of PowerShares Series events in Kansas City (Feb. 5), Oklahoma City (Feb. 6) and Indianapolis (Feb. 14). He will face Jim Courier in the semifinals of the stop in Birmingham (Feb. 13) and Sacramento (Feb. 26) and Pete Sampras in the semifinals of Salt Lake City on Feb. 25. On Feb. 27, he will face Andre Agassi in the semifinals of Portland, Oregon. On March 13 in Nashville and March 14 in Charlotte, he will reprise his rivalry with Jimmy Connors in semifinal matches in the 30-year reenactment of the famous “Super Saturday” semifinal matches from the 1984 US Open, where Lendl beat Pat Cash in five sets and McEnroe beat Connors in five sets in what is regarded as the greatest single day in tennis history.

McEnroe and his brother Patrick’s match against the Bryan Brothers will be the undercard at Madison Square Garden to Murray playing Novak Djokovic.

Roger Federer
Roger Federer

Lleyton Hewitt Shocks Roger Federer to Win in Brisbane: Mondays with Bob Greene

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By Bob Greene

 

STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Gael Monfils 6-1 6-7 (5) 6-2 to win the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar

Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-5 to win the Brisbane International women’s singles in Brisbane, Australia

Lleyton Hewitt beat Roger Federer 6-1 4-6 6-3 to win the Brisbane International men’s singles in Brisbane, Australia

Li Na beat Peng Shuai 6-4 7-5 to win the Shenzhen Open in Shenzhen, China

Stanislas Wawrinka beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5 6-2 to win the Aircel Chennai Open in Chennai, India

Ana Ivanovic beat Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-4 to win the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand

Joao Souza beat Alejandro Gonzalez 6-4 6-4 to win the Aberto do Sao Paulos in Sao Paulo, Brazil

France beat Poland 2-1 to win its first Hopman Cup title in Perth, Australia

 

SAYING

“It’s a good rivalry. She’s so intense on court, and off court she’s so cool. So that’s what makes the rivalry the best, is because when you step on the court I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me, and we fight like crazy. When it’s over, it’s over. There’s a lot of mutual respect there.” – Serena Williams, on her rivalry with second-ranked Victoria Azarenka.

“It’s definitely always interesting to play someone like Victoria – I know her game, I know what she does – but she goes out and improves, so every time I go out there and play her, things I thought were her weaknesses are now her strengths.” – Serena Williams, after beating Victoria Azarenka to win the Brisbane Open women’s singles title.

“Playing the best players in the world and finals of tournaments, always it’s exciting. That’s why you still play the game. For me it was motivation enough just to try to get the win out there and obviously win another title. It’s been a couple years.” – Lleyton Hewitt, after upsetting Roger Federer in the Brisbane men’s final.

“I didn’t play great today which is a bit unfortunate. But also Lleyton was the best player I played this week. He made it toughest on me. So I have a clear idea what I need to work on, and I have a clear idea where my mind and body is at.” – Roger Federer.

“Every victory is important and the title today means a lot to me. It is the first time in my career that I am able to start the season with a victory. That’s always important.” – Rafael Nadal, after winning in Doha.

“Rafa put pressure on me from the first point. He was very aggressive from the first game and it was tougher for me to adjust. It’s always tough to play against him and at the end he was a bit better than me.” – Gael Monfils, following his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Doha final.

“I always enjoy playing you and I hope to meet you again in Melbourne.” – Victoria Azarenka, congratulating Serena Williams on winning Brisbane.

“I hope we do play in Melbourne too because that would mean we’d be going the farthest.” – Serena Williams, noting the world’s top two players will not meet in the Australian Open before the final.

“You never know what to expect from yourself after such a long break, but I think I did pretty well here.” – Jelena Jankovic, following her semifinal loss to Victoria Azarenka.

“I’m happy to defend my title for the first time. It proved I can do it.” – Li Na, who won the Shenzhen Open for the second straight year.

“Every victory is special, this one even more so because it’s been a while since I’ve won a tournament.” – Ana Ivanovic, following her win over Venus Williams to capture the ASB Classic women’s singles.

“Today for me it was all about fighting, because I didn’t feel I was playing my best. I fought as hard as I could no matter what the score was, but I just ran into a better player today.” – Venus Williams.

“I’ve improved a lot through the last year and am trying my best to give the top guys a run for their money.” – Stanislas Wawrinka, after winning the Chennai Open for the second time.

“The quality of the match was very high, especially from Maria’s end, so it was good for me to come up with a win in that match.” – Serena Williams, after defeating Maria Sharapova 6-2 7-6 (7) in the Brisbane semifinals.

“I had a few missed chances. It was tough being a small break up in that tiebreaker and also missing that forehand just a little bit wide. But overall I was happy I could compete at this level in my third match back.” – Maria Sharapova, following her semifinal loss to Serena Williams.

“I haven’t won a title before in Australia and it feels amazing.” – Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, after teaming with Alla Kudryavtseva to win the women’s doubles crown in Brisbane.

“It was a really difficult decision for me to pull out because I hate losing and not competing. I love being out on the court and I’m playing really well right now. But I just have to look out for my health.” – Vania King, who withdrew from her semifinal match in Shenzhen with a right thigh injury.

 

STILL WINNING

In his first tournament of 2014, Rafael Nadal captured his 61st career title, beating Frenchman Gael Monfils in three sets. It was the first time in six tries that Nadal has won the Doha stop on the ATP World Tour. The win moved Nadal past Andre Agassi for the sole ownership of the eighth spot on the of most Open Era titles for men. His 663 match victories also moved him past Michael Chang into 13th position on the all-time ATP World Tour list. Monfils has made it a habit of reaching the final in Doha, but has yet to capture the title. He lost to Roger Federer in 2006 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2012. Nadal has now won titles in 17 different countries.

 

SUCCESSFUL SERENA

OK, so it wasn’t a thing of beauty. But Serena Williams peaked whenever she had to beat the world’s number-two ranked player and successfully defended her Brisbane International title. Williams extended her win streak to 22 matches and beat both of her two main rivals, Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and Victoria Azarenka in the title match. Azarenka, who has won the last two Australian Opens, beat Serena twice last year, but still trails in their head-to-head battles 14-3. Azarenka was the last player to beat Williams, that coming at Cincinnati last August. Azarenka won four straight games to take a 4-2 lead in the second set. She didn’t win another. Serena has now won 34 of her last 36 matches against players ranked in the top five in the world – her only two defeats coming against Azarenka. The American also is the first player in the tournament’s 18-year history to successfully defend her title.

 

SENIOR SURPRISE

Lleyton Hewitt kept hanging around until he finally won her first ATP World Tour title since 2010. That was when he beat Roger Federer in the final at Halle, Germany. This time he beat the Swiss superstar for the Brisbane title. “It means a lot with the caliber of players here as well in this tournament,” Hewitt said. “It’s not an easy tournament to win. I wasn’t one of the top four seeds, so I had to win all five matches to get through. There are pleasing parts and massive positives to take out of it.” Hewitt broke Federer three times in winning the opening set in just 27 minutes. Federer fought back and leveled the match at one set apiece. But the 32-year-old Australian captured the third set and his first title on home soil since the 2005 Australian Open. “It took Roger a bit of time to get into the match,” Hewitt said, “then I just had to fight hard at the start of the third set.” Federer had sailed through the tournament without dropping his serve until the final.

Hewitt was joined in the Brisbane quarterfinals by fellow Australians Marinko Matosevic and Samuel Groth. It was the first time since 2004 that three Australians reached the final eight at an ATP World Tour event.

 

SWEET TITLE

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Alize Cornet won the mixed doubles to give France its first Hopman Cup title, edging Poland 2-1. Tsonga began the final by beating Grzegorz Panfil before Agnieszka Radwanska pulled Poland even by edging Cornet in an epic 2-hour, 33-minute battle 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-2. The French pair then claimed the title with a 6-0 6-2 win in the mixed doubles. “We made history today and France finally won the Hopman Cup,” Cornet said. “I think we deserved it. We played a great week.” France had previously lost in the 1998 and 2012 finals. Tsonga began the day by beating Panfil 6-3 3-6 6-3, but Panfil came away from the tournament with his best week yet. Ranked 288th in the world, Panfil beat two top-30 players: Milos Raonic and Andreas Seppi. The Pole also pocketed easily the biggest paycheck of his career, USD $137,936.

 

SHENZHEN TOPPER

Fans at the Shenzhen Open couldn’t have asked for more. Two local lasses battled for the title, with Li Na topping Peng Shuai. Even though Li won in straight sets, Peng made it interesting by winning four straight games to take a 5-4 lead in the second set. Li then won the last three games to win at Shenzhen for the second straight year. It is the first time Li had successfully defending a title. Li’s success has sparked Chinese interest in tennis, and China’s state broadcaster CCTV named her rise to third in the world in the WTA rankings as the second best sports story of 2013.

 

SERBIAN STOPPER

Ana Ivanovic won her first tournament in more than two years when she outlasted another former top-ranked player, Venus Williams. “It’s amazing,” Ivanovic said after capturing the 12th title of her career but her first since Bali in 2011. It was only the Serbian’s second win in 10 career meetings with Venus, the other victory coming almost six years ago in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open. “Coming into this week I didn’t really have any expectations,” Ivanovic said. “I didn’t even think about making the finals or winning it. I just tried my best.” Ivanovic served for the match at 5-4 in the second set when Williams came alive. Venus staved off two match points and sent the match into a third set. “Venus showed again what a great sport she is and what she has done in the past,” Ivanovic said. “At the end of the second set … I just decided I would try to enjoy it and play and move forward and be aggressive.” It paid off with the 12th title of her career.

 

SWISS CHAMPION

At least one Swiss player ended the week with a title. Stanislas Wawrinka didn’t drop a set all week as he regained the Chennai Open crown by stopped Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the final. It was fifth ATP title for Wawrinka, who also won the Chennai tournament in 2011. Roger-Vasselin is still seeking his first ATP World Tour title and was playing in his second final. “I tried everything, but Stan was simply too good,” Roger-Vasselin said. During the week Wawrinka became just the fourth Swiss player to win 300 matches in his career when he stopped Aljaz Bedene in the quarterfinals. The others to reach that mark are Roger Federer, Marc Rosset and Jakob Hlasek.

 

STAYING AWAY

After reaching the final of the Auckland Classic in New Zealand, Venus Williams needs a rest. The American has pulled out of this week’s Hobart International. “After a long week during my first tournament of the year, my body needs time to rest and recover,” Williams said. “Unfortunately I am not able t4o play this week in Hobart. I was looking forward to playing in Tasmania and I sincerely do hope to play there in the coming years.” The 33-year-old Williams has not won a title since October 2012, and Auckland was her first appearance in a WTA final since then. The former world number one has been suffering from an auto-immune disease and injuries over the past two years.

 

SWITCHING GAMES

Bernard Tomic says he’s ready to get serious about tennis again. The young Australian ended 2013 with five straight first-round losses, then celebrated his 21st birthday in November with lap dancers at a Gold Coast night club. “Everyone has their off time. Some people use it differently than others,” Tomic said. “But I’m back into tennis now, back into tournaments, and this is something that is very important for me. I’m ready for the Australian summer and hopefully I can do better because each year I’ve started doing better and better in Australia. So hopefully this is going to be an even better one.”

 

SEEING DOUBLE?

Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova may have had a hard time telling their opponents apart in the final at Shenzhen, China. They didn’t have a hard time winning, however. Niculescu and Zakopalova beat the Kichenok twins – Lyudmyla and Nadiya – in straight sets, 6-3 6-4 for their first WTA doubles title as a team. Each of them won their third individual WTA doubles crown. The Kichenok twins were trying to become the second pair of twins to win a WTA doubles title together. The first to achieve that feat were Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova at Linz, Austria, last fall. Despite the loss, the Kichenoks were thrilled with their week. “It’s been a great tournament for us,” Nadiya Kichenok said. “The fans have been great and we hope to come back again and win next time.”

 

SICK CALL

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta has withdrawn from the Hobart International tournament this week because of an injury to her right wrist. “Unfortunately I felt some pain in my wrist in Perth and it hasn’t had time to recover, so sadly I have to withdraw from the Hobart International.” An-Sophie Mestach of Belgium will replace Pennetta in the main draw as a “lucky loser.”

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Auckland: Sharon Fichman and Maria Sanchez beat Lucie Hradecka and Michaella Krajicek 2-6 6-0 10-4 (match tiebreak)

Brisbane (men): Mariuz Fyrstenberg and Daniel Nestor beat Juan Sebastian cabal and Robert Farah 6-7 (4) 6-4 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Brisbane (women): Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova beat Kristina Mladenovic and Galina Voskoboeva 6-3 6-1

Chennai: Johan Brunstrom and Frederik Nielsen beat Marin Draganja and Mate Pavic 6-2 4-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Doha: Tomas Berdych and Jan Hajek beat Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares 6-2 6-4

Sao Paulo: Gero Kretschmer and Alexander Satschko beat Nicolas Barrentos and Victor Estrella Burgos 4-6 7-5 10-6 (match tiebreak)

Shenzhen: Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova beat Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiya Kichenok 6-3 6-4

 

SURFING

Auckland: www.festivaloftennis.co.nz/

Sydney: www.apiainternational.com.au

Hobart: www.hobartinternational.com.au

Melbourne: www.ausopen.com

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$514,345 Heineken Open, Auckland, New Zealand, hard

$511,825 Apia International Sydney, Sydney, Australia, hard

WOMEN

$710,000 Apia International Sydney, Sydney, Australia, hard

$250,000 Hobart International, Hobart, Australia, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN & WOMEN

$14,600,000 Australian Open (first week), Melbourne, Australia, hard

Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Lleyton Hewitt

Roger Federer Wants To Know About This Rod Laver vs. Tony Roche Epic Australian Open Semifinal Match

by

By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

The words “Roger Federer” are on one of my Google news alerts that I have set up, whereas, any time there are stories about Roger Federer picked up by Google, it is emailed to me once a day.

As the publisher of the book “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” (www.RogerFedererBook.com), I will paste links to these stories within book-branded social media channels (Facebook page, Twitter handle, etc.) as a way to market the book. On the day after Christmas, Google sent me a story on Federer written by Paul Malone of the Brisbane Courier-Mail that discusses an intimate dinner that is going to be held in advance of the Brisbane International tennis tournament featuring Rod Laver and Federer as the guests of honor. Malone, in a telephone interview with Federer, presented the Swiss great with the fact that Brisbane was the site of one of Laver’s greatest matches, against of all players but Federer’s former coach Tony Roche. Wrote Malone, “Told by The Courier-Mail a little about Laver’s 7-5, 22-20, 9-11, 1-6, 6-3 Australian Open semi-final win over Tony Roche, later to be one of Federer’s coaches, the Swiss master said it was a match neither Laver nor Roche had told him about. It was played in 39 degree heat and if the hot weather forecast for the week of this Brisbane International bears up, one difference is that Federer, unlike Laver, will not be driven by the sun to put cabbage leaves inside his white floppy hat.”

“Tony has told me about his US Open final against Rod (in 1969) and other great matches he played, but they didn’t tell me about the Brisbane match,”‘ Federer said to Malone. “It’s one I have to find out about. I’m very excited to hear more.”

This famous match is not documented in photos or film (that I could find), but luckily still in writing, including two of the books that I have published via New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com). One is in Steve Flink’s volume “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time (available here:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Tennis-Matches-Time/dp/0942257936/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388081137&sr=8-1&keywords=Greatest+tennis+matches+of+all+time) where Flink rates this Laver vs. Roche match as the No. 16 match of all time and goes into thorough detail setting up, describing and putting into historical context the match. Also, the man himself who played the match, Rod Laver, gives his first-hand take on his triumph in his book “The Education of a Tennis Player” written with Bud Collins (available here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Education-Tennis-Player-Laver/dp/0942257626/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388081759&sr=8-1&keywords=rod+laver+education+of+a+tennis+player)_ Had Laver not won this match, his second Grand Slam would not have been, but he prevailed and went on to beat Andres Gimeno in the final to win the 1969 Australian Open and then the next three legs of the Grand Slam.

So, for Roger Federer – and those other students of tennis history – here is an excerpt of the match as outlined by Laver in “The Education of a Tennis Player.”

 

I brought three sunhats to the court that Saturday to play Tony in the semifinals, and each one was thoroughly soaked when we finished over four hours later. We started at noon. My brother Trevor was coming down from Rocky for the weekend, and since he keeps his sports goods shop open a half-day, he phoned me: “I won’t be there till two. Try to keep it going so I can see something of it.”

We laughed about that later. Trevor got to see more than enough of me and Tony struggling away with the temperature at 105 and no shade anywhere. We kept towels in an icebox beside the court and draped ourselves with them every change game. It was only momentary relief. I kept taking glucose and salt pills, but I got groggy. It turned out to be the longest match I ever played—90 games—and by far the hardest. Ten years back, at Wimbledon, I got by big Barry MacKay in 87 games, also a semifinal. But the London climate was a lot easier to take than Brisbane.

There wasn’t much to choose between us after Tony got into the match. It looked like I had him when I won the first two sets, 7-5, 22-20 [no tie-breakers until 1970], but I was getting tired. At that point of the season Tony was fitter than I, and when he grabbed the third set 11-9, you could see him begin to puff up with confidence. That brought merciful intermission with a shower in the dressing room, one of those showers you never want to leave. Too quickly we returned to the oven, and Tony came back eagerly to resume with the same heavy serves and stiff volleys. I was in a daze as he ran off five games. The set was gone.

I conceded that much as I served the sixth game, but I wanted badly to hold serve so that I could lead off in the fifth set. It was hard to do because Tony was playing full-tilt now and felt he had me. He’d already beaten me in Sydney and he was going to do it again.

Confidence is the thing in tennis, as I’m sure it is in any sport. I hear other athletes talk that way. Confidence separates athletes of similar ability. Tony had it . . . and in an instant during the decisive set he lost it, through no fault of his own, on what may have been a very bad break. I’ll never be certain, but Tony Roche will go through life thinking he was bad-lucked out of that victory by a linesman’s decision. Maybe he was. We went to deuce in the sixth game of the fourth set but I worked to make sure I got the game. It was important to me, even though Tony and I both saw that the set would be his. Maybe he didn’t sense the importance. He served out in the next game for 6-1. We were even, and the momentum was his.

But serving first in the fifth set picked me up a bit. It’s a psychological help to go into the lead every time you win your serve in a close match, and that’s why I tried so hard for a seemingly meaningless game when I was down 0–5 in the fourth. I wanted to serve that leadoff game.

Naturally, now I had to hold my serve, and I hadn’t been serving too well. Tony had broken me three of the last four times. He was returning serve better than I was, and returning was tricky business on that court. It was freshly re-sodded and playing badly. Any time a ball landed on the court, hitting it was guesswork. That’s unusual for Australian grass, but this was Brisbane ‘69, with everything schemozzled. Bad courts were just one more factor in a general screw-up.

Now I knew I had to get my first serves in because Tony would be jumping all over the second ball. I tried to pull myself together and make sure the first serve was a good one and that I was up to the net in position to make a good volley. I figured one break of serve would decide the match, the condition we were in. Tony was stronger, but he’d never been in a fifth set with me, and he’d have just a little more pressure on him, serving second.

Every time I held, the situation would be just a little dicier for him. My serve began to work all right. His continued too. One love for me, but he tied it. Two-one, and then 2-2. Three–two. I was feeling a little better. He wasn’t blasting me off the court the way he had in the fourth set, and my confidence was beginning to come back. I’ve lost five-set matches, but not many, and I’d have to think hard to remember one. Three-all as Tony held, but his volleys didn’t have quite the zip. I served to 4-3 and we changed courts. Slowly. The wet towels from the icebox felt good on my head. I wrung out my sun hat and it was like squeezing a sponge. One of the things I used to do on hot days was put a piece of wet cabbage inside my hat. That was a pretty good trick for keeping cool. Nothing like a green salad on your head, although I don’t know if oil and vinegar does much for your scalp. But I had no greens this day, and Tony and I felt like the cabbage that lies alongside boiled corned beef.

It was his turn to serve and I screwed my mind into working for every point as though it were the last. If you do that when you come down the stretch in a tight match you’ll be surprised how often a superhuman effort will come out of you. “It’s 3-4 in the last set, and I’m going to hack and grub,” I told myself. “Just do anything to get the ball over the net. It doesn’t matter how you look. Form won’t win this one.”

You learn to hack, as we call it, when you join the pros. Get balls back, and the hell with trying to slap a winning shot that doesn’t have too much chance. It looks great if you make it, but at this stage you can’t give away points.

A big shot may look lovely, but anything that goes over the net now will look lovely. You still win matches by getting the ball over the net one more time than your opponent.

You face up to that when you leave the amateurs. You settle down. You can slam away when your opponent isn’t too sound, or you clearly dominate him, but I was in with Tony Roche in the decisive set, and it was no time for pride and flamboyance. I was going to scratch and dig and bloop the ball over any way I could.

I was chipping my returns now, trying to squib them onto his feet. With the ball skipping erratically on those courts, the opportunities to hit full out were limited, and the best thing was just to meet the ball. So Tony was serving at 3-4, and this was the place for me to do my utmost. He knew it; everybody who hadn’t passed out from the heat in the stands knew it. Win this one and I’d be serving for the match at 5-3. This had to make it even a little more tense for Tony. We split the first two points: 15-all. Then he missed a volley. The 15-30 point is an awfully big one in this spot. He came in with a good serve, down the middle, spinning into my body. I sliced under it with my backhand to chip the ball crosscourt with underspin. Tony looked relieved because

he thought the ball was going out. He was sure it was out, but there was no sound. Tony turned around and looked at the sidelines-man sitting behind the court. The official held out his hands, parallel to the ground, like a baseball umpire signaling “safe.” It meant my shot was good, and the umpire called: “Fifteen-forty!”

Tony was furious, and I can hold his hand and sympathize . . . now. It was such a big point, and the ball may have been out. I didn’t have a good view, but I had the feeling when I hit the ball that it might be going wide. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been called out because it was terribly close.

It was a judgment call. Nobody—and I know Tony agrees—can blame a linesman if he misses one on a day like that. He’d been sitting there broiling for more than four hours, trying to stay sharp and alert. And maybe the ball was good and the man was correct. No matter. It stands as good forever because the linesman said so.

“Fifteen-forty” was the best thing I’d heard all day. Two break points, and Tony was riled. Tony swung hard on his serve, and I knocked the  ball back to him. He was at the net to make a backhand volley and sent the ball crosscourt to my backhand. Now this was a shot I love—the backhand down the line. Tony realized it and began moving to his left to cover it. But in this situation—two points to break—I was going for it with everything. I got the racket back and drove at the ball, snapping my wrist to load the ball with topspin. Tony and I had been through all this before. But even though he anticipated me, he was going to have a hard time volleying that top-spinning ball down his sideline whenever I hit it that well. Out went his arm in the reach that failed. His racket probed for the ball and found it, but he couldn’t control it. One of the most beautiful sights of 1969 was that ball clunking into the net.

Tony’s game was knocked apart by that line call, and he couldn’t get himself to function in the last game. He was mad and frustrated. He hadn’t quit, but it all seemed so unfair to him. In that moment of his anguish, I served through the game promptly, getting only token opposition. Ninety games, the eighth longest singles match ever played: 7-5, 22- 20, 9-11, 1-6, 6-3. It’s a good thing that players customarily shake hands at the end of a match. It was an effective way of holding each other up.

Even though Roche has been around, and at the highest level, he let himself get flapped out of that match like a novice, forgetting that you have to play the calls, as we say. Let’s assume the decision that upset Tony was outrageously wrong, and everybody thought so.

You can ask the linesman if he’s sure of his call. Sometimes he’ll change it or ask the umpire’s advice. But if he won’t there’s nothing you can do. You have to forget it, and make yourself work harder for the next point. Serving on grass at 15-40, Tony still had something like an even chance of winning that game. When he didn’t, he still had a shot at my serve. But by the time he pulled himself together the match was over. You mustn’t let the worst call in the world fluster you. I’m glad to offer this advice to Tony today.

Physically, that was the toughest match of the year, certainly of the Grand Slam. But the element of pressure wasn’t there. Not for me. The Grand Slam hadn’t even begun. I’d won nothing, and there was nothing to be concerned about. It was only the second tournament of the year, and though I wanted the Grand Slam, I really had no idea the year would turn out so incredibly well.

It could all have ended there as easily as not, on the center court at Milton. How many thousands of shots did I need to make the Grand Slam? I don’t know. Nobody counted. This isn’t baseball. But that one shot, the questionable call, could have changed the whole thing. Roche, of course, is convinced that it did, and I can’t argue with him. It’s funny, the hours and hours you practice, the miles and time you put in, and maybe the whole thing hinged on a bloke sitting in a chair, looking down the sideline, whose job it was to decide whether a ball was out or in. I like to think he was right, that he was wide awake and decisive and that my shot was a deftly hit winner. It reads better that way. But it doesn’t matter. Over the years the calls even up, Tony, but that one will hurt

even a century from now when you’re playing mixed doubles against Bonnie and Clyde at the River Styx Sauna and Racket Club, won’t it? But it may have been more than just a point—15-40 instead of 30-all—for both of us. If Tony had won the game, he might have won the match. That would have given him three straight victories over me, and a substantial heightening of his confidence. It wouldn’t have helped mine.

I can still see that backhand return of mine streaking for the sideline. Was a season for two men riding on that shot? That’s one way to look at it, but maybe I’m getting too dramatic. Nevertheless it’s weird how a simple mistake can change not only a match but perhaps a career.

 

Roger Federer and Rod Laver
Roger Federer and Rod Laver

 

 

Roger Federer and Tony Godsick Start Sports Management Agency – This Week In Tennis Business with Liz Kobak

by

By Liz Kobak

@LizTennis

 

Federer Delivers New Tennis Agency

Big shot tennis players co-founding sports management agencies is becoming in vogue.

As reported by Christopher Clarey in the New York Times, Switzerland’s most prized athlete Roger Federer, his longtime agent Tony Godsick and two American investors recently formed Team8 agency.

The Cleveland-based company that Godsick spearheads will represent 17-time Grand Slam Champion Federer and other top-earning ATP tour athletes. Team8 has also signed one of the Swiss man’s main rivals, world No. 5 Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina. This unifying decision came after Federer spent time with del Potro during a South America exhibition tour last year. Rising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, whom tennis experts view as a potential Grand Slam champion, confirmed via email that he is joining Team8 on Jan. 1, 2014.

“We’re trying to be a boutique agency that will manage just a small stable of iconic athletes,” Godsick said to Clarey in a telephone interview from his firm’s new Pepper Pike, OH offices. “We’re really going to try to be selective here. Some of the other groups, they look to sign as many players as they can and hope a few of them stick and make it, and they really go after the juniors. We’re not going to.”

In addition, Godsick said Team8 was partially created to give Federer a platform when he retires.

“I can sell Roger Federer really well, but nobody sells Roger better than Roger,” Godsick said to Clarey. “I always joke with him, ‘Look, you’ve been really successful on the tennis court, but I promise you, you’ll be more successful when you’re done playing tennis.’ ”

In the meantime, Federer has been training and testing new rackets in Dubai. For now, he is a client rather than an active partner.

McEnroe, Connors, Lendl, Cash, Reprising Epic US Open

Pat Cash, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors will reprise their epic “Super Saturday” semifinal matches from the 1984 US Open at 2014 PowerShares Series tournaments in Nashville and Charlotte, InsideOut Sports & Entertainment announced on Wednesday.

“We are really looking forward to recreate these two match-ups from probably the greatest day in tennis history in Nashville and Charlotte 30 years after the original ‘Super Saturday’ at the US Open,” said Jon Venison, Partner at InsideOut Sports & Entertainment. “It will be two nights to remember, full of nostalgia with the competitive juices still flowing among four great champions who will look to rekindle their rivalries and settle some scores.”

Thirty years after their fabled semifinal confrontations at Flushing Meadows, Cash plays Lendl and McEnroe plays Connors in semifinal matches at the Champions Challenge on Wednesday, March 12 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., and again on Thursday, March 13 at the Champions Cup at the Time Warner Arena in Charlotte, N.C. Both events are part of the 12-city PowerShares Series tennis circuit for legend tennis players more than 30 years of age. Each one-night tournament features three matches: two one-set semifinal matches and then a one-set championship match.

Tickets for all PowerShares Series events start at $25 and are purchasable at www.PowerSharesSeries.com. Nashville and Charlotte tickets are available at www.TicketMaster.com, TicketMaster locations, at the arena box offices and by calling 800-745-3000. All event VIP packages are also available at PowerSharesSeries.com, by email (VIP@insideoutse.com), or by phone: 253.315.4299.

Chang Coaching No. 1 Japanese Player in 2014

Many tennis players use social media as a means of connecting with their fans.

Last Tuesday, ATP world tour No. 17 Kei Nishikori announced through his self-entitled Twitter handle and Facebook page that he has hired 1989 Roland Garros Singles Champion Michael Chang as his part-time coach next year.

“Excited to announce an addition to the team,” Nishikori’s page indicated below a photo of head coach Dante Bottini, Nishikori and Chang. “Michael Chang will join us in 2014. Dante will remain the full time coach. We have already spent the last [two] weeks working hard and are getting ready for 2014.”

That Facebook post garnered more than 80,000 likes and 150 Re-Tweets, giving the 2012 Australian Open quarter-finalist increased media attention leading into his most successful Grand Slam event. Nishikori has been training in California with Chang for the past few weeks. Chang is coaching Nishikori in 17-20 tournaments.

Cost Causes WTA Event’s End

The AP reported on Wednesday that the WTA’s Brussels Open has ended after three years due to staging expenses.

This clay-court tennis tournament was Roland Garros’ warm-up event, drawing top players like Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska and Marion Bartoli in times past.

“The current economic context and the ever-increasing investments to meet the demands of the WTA for the Premier label made it a difficult, near impossible task,” tournament officials said.

The 2013 edition, which offered players $250,000 in prize money, was plagued by bad spring weather and poor crowds. Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, WTA ranked No. 30, was the last victor.

USTA Chooses EdgeWave as 2013 US Open Network Security

Leading web and email security solutions company EdgeWave Inc. announced on Wednesday that its Advanced Web Gateway program successfully secured internet access and enforced USTA internet policies during this year’s US Open.

The US Open is one of the largest global sporting events, with more than720,000 media, athletes, partners and fans in attendance. As many individuals carry a laptop, tablet or smart phone, the USTA’s internet security team was challenged in providing an open network while enforcing internet policies such as blocking gambling sites.

“With an event of this magnitude, there are thousands of moving parts that can change at any moment,” said USTA CIO Larry Bonfante. “Working with EdgeWave prior to the US Open allowed the Advanced Web Gateway to run flawlessly and to meet operational requirements from the very start, giving us one less thing to worry about.”

EdgeWave and the USTA have already planned their 2014US Open partnership. The two parties expect that bandwidth and security requirements will increase next year.

Lisicki Scores More Sponsorships Leading into 2014 Season

German tennis superstar and 2013 Wimbledon Singles Finalist Sabine Lisicki recently signed endorsement deals with K-Active and Thomas Sabo, according to her management team.

The two new products Lisicki is brand ambassador for are quite different. K-Active produces pre-cut tape that nurses soreness and injuries, while Thomas Sabo is a German sterling silver jewelry and charm company. However, both brands encompass Lisicki’s lifestyle as she is active on the court and fashionable off it.

Lisicki’s K-Active and Thomas Sabo deals are just two of many she aced this year. In November, the world No. 15 became brand ambassador for car companies AdmiralDirekt.de and Peugeot.

Liz Kobak won the 2013 USTA National Women’s Open Singles Grass Court Championship. She is a 2010 Columbia University graduate and Northwestern University journalism master’s recipient. She is a former WTA ranked pro and #1 ranked United States junior tennis player who rates her 6-4, 6-1 win on Italian clay over Sara Errani as her best victory.

Roger Federer
Roger Federer