rogers cup

MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: CLIJSTERS BEATS SHARAPOVA & ANDY MURRAY BEATS ROGER FEDERER

August 16, 2010 by WTM

STARS

Andy Murray beat Roger Federer 7-5 7-5 to win the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada

Kim Clijsters beat Maria Sharapova 2-6 7-6 (4) 6-2 to win the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Adrian Mannarino beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 3-6 6-3 to win the American Express TED Open in Istanbul, Turkey

Thomas Enqvist beat Thomas Muster 6-4 6-4 to win the Vale Do Lobo Grand Champions in Algarve, Portugal

SAYINGS

“This is the first time I’ve beat Roger (Federer) and Rafa (Rafael Nadal) in the same tournament, which is probably the most pleasing thing. And I didn’t drop a set against either of them – so it’s good for the confidence for the next few weeks.” – Andy Murray, after winning the Roger Cup in Toronto, Canada, beating Nadal in the semifinals and Federer in the title match.

“The rain delays completely kind of shut it down for me to get any kind of rhythm. It was played at a couple of points here and there. It didn’t even feel like the end of the match, you know? All of the sudden, it was all over.” – Roger Federer, on losing the rain-delayed finale at Toronto.

“It sounds very similar to what I had with my left foot. I hope it’s not that bad.” — Kim Clijsters, talking about Ana Ivanovic, who retired from their semifinal when she injured her left foot.

“I was very scared. All of a sudden on that one shot, I felt something crack a little bit. Just on that one forehand when I went to step around it, I just felt like pain all of a sudden, so much pain in my foot and I couldn’t step on it anymore.” – Ana Ivanovic, who injured her left foot just 12 minutes into her semifinal match against Kim Clijsters.

“It’s the surface I feel most comfortable on. I move better on hard court than on other surfaces. There are certain things the surface allows me to do against him that I can’t do on the others. I’ve always played my best tennis on the hard court.” – Andy Murray, after beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals at Toronto, Canada.

“I think the depth of the (women’s) game is a lot deeper than it was, say, a few years ago, where maybe in the first few rounds you could have gotten a few easy matches, easy score lines. I think now, from the get-go, you really have to be ready for the first round. You’re facing really tough opponents, and some of them are not seeded or dropped in the rankings, but to be honest, at the end of the day, that doesn’t really matter. You still have to go out there and face them.” – Maria Sharapova, saying the rash of upsets can be traced to the balance in women’s tennis.

“The key to today’s match was I really didn’t return well and her serves were really accurate. I didn’t really have many chances. When I had the chances, I didn’t really take them. When I was able to hit the return, I would make mistakes. So, unfortunately, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. She was a better player today.” – Jelena Jankovic, after losing a third-round match to Akgul Amanmuradova.

“I’m much better physically at the moment, and I feel stronger on the court. So that puts me in better position to hit the ball, which then I can generate more power and hurt opponents more. So it’s kind of a circle. It’s all kind of connected.” – Ana Ivanovic, before hurting her left foot in a match against Kim Clijsters.

SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE

Andy Murray has won the Rogers Cup two years, but this time was different. The 23-year-old Scot stopped top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the hard court tournament, then swept past Roger Federer 7-5 7-5 in the rain-delayed final. The match began 15 minutes late because of rain, and Federer had his serve broken twice in the first 10 minutes. “I thought he played well,” Federer said. “He wasn’t giving me much and he clutch-served at the very end when he had to. He deserved the victory. The Rogers Cup was Federer’s first tournament since he lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

By beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, Roger Federer moved back to number two in the world in the latest rankings. Djokovic had been ranked second, right behind number one Rafael Nadal.

SEEKING MORE TITLES

Roger Federer wants to win at least four more Grand Slam tournament titles before he retires. The 29-year-old Swiss star won his 16^th major singles title at the Australian Open earlier this year. He then failed to get past the quarterfinals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. “I believe that having won three grand Slams per season three times, and two per year a couple of times, it’s something doable for me,” Federer told the BBC in an interview. “I only play 16-20 tournaments per year, so I’m not overplaying, and that keeps the fire burning.” He has not won a title since the Australian Open, losing the Rogers Cup final in Toronto to Andy Murray.

SIDELINED AGAIN

If it wasn’t for bad luck, Ana Ivanovic would have no luck at all. The Serb has suffered a string of injuries since she won the French Open in 2008 and reached the number one ranking in the world. Finally she was injury free and began to find her game. Then , in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ivanovic hurt her left foot just 25 points into the match while making a forehand return from the baseline. One shot later, the Serbian dropped her racquet and doubled over in pain. She had her foot taped, but after one more point she called it a day. “I tried a bit of tape, but I could not put any weight on it and there was no point in me continuing,” Ivanovic said. The injury also dims her chances of competing in the US Open, which begins its two-week run at the end of this month.

STEPPING UP

Serena and Venus Williams say they plan on playing in the Fed Cup final against Italy in November. It will be the first time either one of the sisters has played in the international team competition since 2007. “You always want to have your best players,” US captain Mary Joe Fernandez said after hearing the Williams sisters want to play. “I am very excited that Venus and Serena have made themselves available.” The best-of-5 tie will be held Nov. 6-7 on an indoor hard court at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. Also on the US team are Melanie Oudin, Bethanie Mattek-sands and Liezel Huber.

STAYING HOME

Ivo Karlovic and Mario Ancic won’t be playing in the US Open this year. The two Croatians withdrew from the year’s final Grand Slam tournament because of injuries. Karlovic had surgery on his left Achilles’ tendon and hasn’t played since the Madrid Masters in May. It is the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament Karlovic will miss after entering 26 in a row. Ancic, who has been ranked as high as seventh in the world, has a back injury and will be missing his seventh straight major championship. He last played on the ATP Tour in May at Munich, Germany.

SPONSOR SENDOFF

The Davidoff Swiss Indoors will be held for the final time this fall under that name. Tournament organizers said the 2010 tournament in November will be the least for a 17-year partnership with tobacco brand Davidoff. Swiss Indoors officials said they had to comply when the ATP said the existing sponsorship could not be extended. “It’s only in June this year that the ATP informed that, because of the advertising restrictions regarding tobacco, the tournament could no longer be played under this name,” organizers said in a statement. The Swiss Indoors was promoted in status last year to an ATP 500 event, giving the tour control over TV rights. The 2009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors was broadcast in 150 countries, although the sponsor’s name was dropped during transmissions.

STRENGTH SAPPED

Andy Roddick blames a virus for his recent fitness problems. The former world number one suffered a lopsided loss to Frenchman Gilles Simon in the Washington Classic, then pulled out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada. “I pulled out last week on the advice of doctors,” Roddick said. “I got some blood work done in Washington and then again in Texas, and one of them came back positive. I’ve been dealing with a mild, mild case of mono for the last couple months that I wasn’t really sure about.” Winner of the US Open in 2003, Roddick was playing well until March. He has since slipped out of the top 10 in the world rankings.

SCENE FROM THE PAST

When the ATP Champions Tour played in the Algarve, they embraced a unique all-white theme. That meant the tournament staff and officials wore white uniforms through the week. That meant the previously blue stadium seats on Center Court were all white. And it meant the players played with white tennis balls. It’s the first time in more than 25 years that white tennis balls have been struck on a professional court. Since manufacturers no longer make white tennis balls, the tournament had to order 10,000 balls. Tournament director Pedro Frazao said that while the tournament needed only 2,000 balls, the company’s minimum order size was 10,000 balls. “We had to place the order six months in advance,” Frazao said. “I think it’s nice for the fans to see the old traditions once again and the reaction has been good from the players as many of them have never played with white balls before.”

Thomas Enqvist of Sweden won his sixth ATP Champions Tour by defeating Austria’s Thomas Muster 6-4 6-4 in the final of the Vale Do Lobo Grand Champions.

STOPPED BY INJURY

Venus Williams isn’t playing in the Roger Cup this week in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Ranked fourth in the world, Williams said her injured left knee has hampered her preparation for the US Open. The seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion hasn’t played a singles match on tour since June 29 when she was upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Williams had been seeded third for the Roger Cup.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Cincinnati: Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko beat Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs 7-6 (4) 7-6 (8)

Istanbul: Leos Friedl and Dusan Vemic beat Brian Battistone and Andreas Siljestrom 7-6 (6) 7-6 (3)

Toronto: Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan beat Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra 7-5 6-3

SITES TO SURF

Cincinnati: www.cincytennis.com/

Montreal: www.rogerscup.com/

Knokke: www.optimaopen.be

New Haven: www.pilotpentennis.com/

Bronx: www.nyjtl.org

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$2,430,000 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, Cincinnati, Ohio, hard

WTA

$2,000,000 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hard

SENIORS

The Optima Open, Knokke, Belgium, hard

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$663,750 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, hard

WTA

$600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, hard

$100,000 EmblemHealth Bronx Open, The Bronx, New York, USA, hard

Great Things Could Await the New, Agressive-Playing Murray

August 15, 2010 by WTM

By Charles Bricker

There must have been about 5,000 Andy Murray fans in the stands and half of Scotland back home ready to boil him in oil for that impetuous, and failed, drop shot attempt on match point Sunday.

But, what was that the Bard said about things that end well? Two points later, as Andy got back down to business and Roger Federer’s drive from the baseline sailed well long, the British No. 1 was home with his second straight Rogers Cup title and his fifth ATP 1000 shield.

Crazy drop shots aside, this was the new, redefined Andy Murray out there and maybe, just maybe he has finally been convinced that he can’t reach the mountaintop in this game unless he comes out of his counter-punching shell and starts walloping winners.

That’s what he has done the last two days in dunking world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 and now No. 3 Federer by 7-5, 7-5. I don’t know how many pieces I’ve written over the last three years about Murray’s overly-defensive tactics.

He’s a great defender because of his speed, his ability to redirect the ball on the run and his amazing consistency from the backcourt, and I’ve never had a quibble with Murray about playing that kind of tennis through the early rounds of an ATP 1000 or a Grand Slam.

But once he reaches the semis and in some cases the quarters, you’ve got to do more because the elite players in this game are capable of trading safe shots point-for-point with him.

On another day, Murray would come out of a match like this final with 13 winners and 10 unforced errors — something along that line. He had 24 and 24 in this match, and those increased unforced errors are not a worry because when you commit to playing more offensively you’re going to have more misses.

The point is that Murray has also increased his winners against the top players and by playing more aggressively, he forces changes in the games of his opponents.

Federer, now 29, had some golden moments in this rain-delayed match, but he was never consistently as good as Murray and he may have been feeling some fatigue after having long matches and close calls against both Tomas Berdych in the quarters and No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the semis.

This match came to a head (yes, I know Murray uses a Head racket) on the first match point, when Federer returned a backhand crosscourt not deep but sharply angled. Murray was on it and, with one of the best down-the-line backhands in the game, that was his shot. Instead, in one of those incomprehensible Murray Moments, he tried to brush a backhand dropper. It never cleared the net.

He immediately won his serve to earn a second match point and this time he went to the power and induced Federer into a forced error to end it.

Murray was No. 4 coming into this match and won’t go higher because, having won Rogers Cup a year ago, he is only treading water with the 1,000 points he earned. But he is, suddenly and hopefully, a new player and that cold foretell great things the rest of 2010.

He has 11 losses to go with 30 wins this season, but, though he’s been in a few finals, he had not won that one blockbuster until he whipped Federer on Sunday.

This one is a blockbuster. It lasted two hours and four minutes, not counting umbrella time, and Murray now has his 15th overall title. He was broken only once by Federer, and in the second set, Murray won 18 of his 20 first-serve points — a major key. But not quite as major as Murray’s recognition, at last, that he can’t just play ping-pong out there.

Will he carry these tactics over to Cincinnati this week? We’ll see. He doesn’t have to be super-aggressive in the early rounds because his defensive and counter-punching skills are good enough to get him through the first few days. But he has to recognize the point at which he has to turn on the juice.

If he does that at Cincinnati, backing up what he did at Toronto, he’s suddenly the lead favorite at the U.S. Open.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com

FOR IVANOVIC, REVENGE IS A MONTREAL DISH SERVED COLD

August 13, 2010 by WTM

By Blair Henley

When tact-challenged tournament director Eugene Lapierre denied Ana Ivanovic a main-draw wildcard for the Rogers Cup in Montreal next week, you could say he counted his seeds before they sprouted. Now with Serena Williams, Justine Henin, Samantha Stosur and possibly Venus Williams out with injuries, Lapierre is backtracking – unsuccessfully.

In an interview with the Montreal Gazette last month, Lapierre explained his decision to relegate Ivanovic (the 2006 Rogers Cup champion) to the qualifying rounds, giving the remaining wild card to Canadian No. 2 Stephanie Dubois instead.

“The way I analyzed it was that, yes, she’s a player who has done a lot for our tournament -almost saved it one year. She has a lot of charisma. Everyone likes her. But the fact is that she hasn’t demonstrated (with her play) that she deserves a wild card,” he said. “It’s not the same as a player who has been injured and away for a while. … She is the one who dropped down to No. 65, not because of an injury.”

And it gets worse.

“If we didn’t already have the best players in the world, if we didn’t get all the players we think we can get, my choice would certainly be for the wild cards to go to international players, because you want to sell the attraction,” Lapierre said. “But we have them, so it’s normal to give the chance to young players.”

He even went as far as to say, “If I were her coach, I would force her to play qualies.”

Now, just under a month later, the tides have turned. Several seeds have withdrawn from the tournament, and Ivanovic pulled off a major upset over world No. 12 Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati earlier this week.

But never fear, Lapierre knew exactly what to say:

“There’s still a chance,” he said on Tuesday about giving Ivanovic a main-draw wild card. “Especially now that she’s showing us she still plays like a top-10. We’re looking at it and there should be developments soon.”

Loose-Lips Lapierre did, in fact, offer that wild card to Ivanovic. And she promptly refused it.

“I would have loved to have played in Montreal, but I was quite hurt by the comments of Mr. Lapierre that I was shown in the Montreal Gazette recently,” she wrote on her website. “I don’t think his comments were necessary, and they contradicted everything he had told my management previously: that I was not getting a wild card because I am not Canadian.”

Apparently Lapierre needs to be reminded that the internet allows people to read your hometown newspaper even if they don’t live in your hometown.

“The fact that my original request [for a wildcard] was turned down isn’t really an issue,” she continued. “I would have been happy to play qualifying, but I felt that they kind of stepped over the line with this interview, making public our correspondence and even misrepresenting it. Unfortunately I don’t feel welcome at this tournament.”

Can you blame her?

Even without playing in Montreal, Ivanovic will have played four out of the five weeks leading up to the U.S. Open, so the move shouldn’t disrupt her preparation for the Grand Slam tournament. For now, she can focus on playing in Cincinnati.

As for Lapierre, let’s hope he sticks with the “less is more” approach during future press interviews.

TOUGH LOVE FOR ANA IVANOVIC

July 28, 2010 by WTM

By Blair Henley

It’s been just over two years since a smiling Ana Ivanovic charmed her way to victory at Roland Garros, but all memories of the brunette Serb hoisting any kind of trophy seem to be as distant as her No. 1 ranking.

Just ask Eugene Lapierre, tournament director at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, who denied the 22-year-old a wildcard into the main draw despite the fact that she won the tournament four years ago.

Instead, the wildcard will likely go to Canada’s No. 2 player, Stephanie Dubois, sending 63^rd ranked Ivanovic into unfamiliar territory – the qualifying tournament.

On paper, Lapierre’s decision seems defensible, however unpopular. After all, the tournament’s 56-person draw puts Ivanovic on the bubble anyway, and it’s not uncommon to give wildcards to local talent.

But Ivanovic is a former champion. In fact, Lapierre admitted that “she’s a player who has done a lot for our tournament — almost saved it one year.”

That seems like reason enough to let her give it a go. Not to mention the obvious benefits of having the presence of the still-popular Ivanovic guaranteed in the main draw. Dubois, ranked 125^th, may be the hometown girl, but let’s be honest, it’s doubtful she’s a bigger draw than Ivanovic.

Right or wrong, the controversy at the Rogers Cup has highlighted the fact that Ivanovic will not be able to slide by on her marketability (read: looks and personality) forever.

If she’s really serious about resurrecting her game after an inexplicable two-year funk, she might want to consider pulling an Andre Agassi. In 1997, Agassi’s ranking sunk to No. 141, leading many to assume his career was finished. But with a new focus on his fitness, he decided to swallow his pride and work his way through the Challenger Circuit, also known as the minor leagues of tennis. Of course, we all know how that turned out.

Who knows if an Agassi-like resurgence is in the cards for Ivanovic, but one thing’s for sure – she’s got to change her approach (not just her coach, which she has done several times in the past two years). Some have speculated that she might benefit from a turn in the qualifying rounds, and while that may be true, there is also the potential that losing early could crush any sliver of confidence she has left.

So what about playing in some slightly smaller tournaments? Her ranking is still good enough for automatic entry into any second tier event, which could be a great place to start as she continues her quest to locate her once-dazzling form. Losing in a main draw match, no matter what level, won’t be quite as psychologically debilitating as losing in the qualifying.

The Rogers Cup follows two, possibly three, tournaments where Ivanovic will play in the main draw thanks to wildcards. While it’s tough to completely understand Lapierre’s reasoning in Montreal, it may provide a much needed reality check for the almost-superstar. No one gets free passes for life.

After losing 6-3, 6-0 to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round at this year’s French Open, Ivanovic said, “I’m on the right path, and I’m doing lots of things right. I have a plan in place, and I have a really good team around me. I’m very happy with the improvements that have been made.”

Then she went on to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.

Her calm in the face of a career meltdown is admirable, but there comes a point when breaking a racket or launching an incoherent rant during a press conference might actually be cathartic. It must be exhausting to act like each successive loss is independent of a bigger problem.

Ana Ivanovic is an interesting case. Unlike Dinara Safina, another former No. 1 whose gradual self-destruction has been about as subtle as Venus’s “illusion” outfit at Roland Garros, Ivanovic’s slide has seemed oddly avoidable. She says all the right things, she’s been relatively healthy, she looks frustrated, but not panicked in her matches, and every tournament she plays seems like the tournament that will prompt “She’s Back!” headlines.

But so far, that hasn’t been the case. Maybe Ana will look back and thank Mr. Lapierre for giving her the kick in the buns she needed. We’ll soon find out.

ISNER BEATING THE HEAT IN ATLANTA

July 24, 2010 by WTM

By Charles Bricker

The thermometer said 93 degrees, which probably meant it was about 193 on the asphalt stadium court, where John “Marathon Man” Isner looked anything but indefatigable on one extremely hot and humid Saturday afternoon at the new Atlanta Tennis Championships.

How hot was it? No fried egg jokes, please. But it was sapping enough that on the penultimate point of this Isner semifinal win over Kevin Anderson, Big John hauled his 6-foot-9 body over to the short wall that separates the court from the sideline and sat while Anderson ran an unsuccessful challenge on the big screen.

When the animated replay showed Anderson’s shot a hair wide, Isner didn’t look anxious to get off that wall. On the next point, he put a wrap on this 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3 win that would send him off for a long, cold shower, several gulps of rehydration liquid and back to an air conditioned hotel room.

Isner caught a lot of well-deserved publicity for winning an 11-hour, three-day match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon. But that was London, with the temperature a bit over 80 tops and with little humidity. It also was a first-round match.

Isner was playing his third match of the week in Atlanta and it has been like this all week — stiflingly hot and oppressively humid. And they weren’t on that nice, cushy grass at Wimbledon. They were on a court that was just soaking up the sun, and who knows what kind of heat was rising through these guys’ shoes for more than two hours.

Isner showed at Wimbledon that he was in one kind of good fitness. Now he’s going to have to show he’s into another kind. This heat not only dehydrates you, but works on your head. He can use a few weeks off after this before he goes to Toronto for the Aug. 9 start of the Rogers Cup ATP 1000.

As this semifinal headed down the backstretch, thunder began jolting the Atlanta area, and that usually means lightning right behind it, so Isner was happy to get this one done before they ushered the players off the court as a safety measure.

The only relief from the heat were the gathering clouds. “Yeah,” cracked Isner. “I was waiting for the clouds all afternoon.”

This was not an elegant match, outside of a few tense moments in the tiebreak. Quality return of serve was not there for either player, and it was made worse but the fatigue that set in for both in the third set.

Isner had 20 aces, Anderson 14. Isner faced seven break points and defended all of them. Isner was 78-31 on service points and Anderson 58-18. As long as Isner can serve like this, and his serve picks up even more pace in these hot conditions, he’s a threat to go the distance at the U.S. Open. But he has GOT to be ready for some heat in New York as well. Dealing with this weather should be a top off-court training goal for him this summer.

For Anderson, of South Africa, it was another step forward in a career that looked quite promising when he upset No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic at Key Biscayne in March of 2008. That win got him a lot more name recognition that he had while starring at the University of Illinois. A man who has a hard time keeping on weight, he was not to have a meteoric rise up the rankings with that win. He fell back, got heavily into the Challenger circuit last year and early this year, and, with three wins in Atlanta, he’s going to push into perhaps the low 80s when the new rankings come out Monday.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com

SERENA IN DOUBT FOR US OPEN

July 18, 2010 by WTM

Serena Williams is in doubt to compete in the US Open later this summer as the world No. 1 will undergo surgery on her right foot after cutting it on a broken glass at a restaurant.

Williams, who earlier this month won her fourth Wimbledon title, will miss three tournaments leading to the U.S. Open, Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal, the WTA Tour said Saturday.

“I’m so upset I won’t be able to play in the upcoming events because of this foot surgery,” Williams said on the site. “Thank you for all of your support. I can’t wait to get back on the courts.”

The Rogers Cup in Montreal begins Aug. 16. The U.S. Open starts Aug. 30.

With the injured foot, Williams was able to hopple through an exhibition match with Kim Clijsters in Brussels, Belgium that she lost 6-3, 6-2 in front of a world record crowd of 35,681.

Williams won her fourth Wimbledon crown and 13th major title on July 3. She already withdrew from the WorldTeam Tennis season.