Tennis Masters Cup

Mondays With Bob Greene: Caro, it does not matter whether it’s going to be 5-0, 4-1 or 3-2

October 26, 2009 by WTM

STARS

Mikhail Youzhny beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-5 (5) 6-0 6-4 to win the Kremlin Cup men’s singles in Moscow, Russia

Francesca Schiavone beat Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-0 to win the Kremlin Cup women’s singles in Moscow, Russia

Marcos Baghdatis beat Olivier Rochus 6-1 7-5 to win the Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden

Timea Bacsinszky won the Luxembourg Open, beating Sabine Lisicki 6-2 7-5 in Luxembourg

Xavier Malisse beat Stephane Robert 6-1 6-2 to win the l’Open d’Orleans in Orleans, France

Eduardo Schwank beat Nicolas Massu 6-2 6-2 to win the Copa Petrobras in Santiago, Chile

SAYING

“I went onto the court and said to her: ‘Caro, it does not matter whether it’s going to be 5-0, 4-1 or 3-2. You can not play the next round, so you shouldn’t take the risk,”’ – Piotr Wozniacki, telling his daughter Caroline to retire from the match because her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round.

“We’re just looking into everything that happened in this match.” – WTA spokesman Neil Robinson, speaking about Caroline Wozniacki’s injury retirement from her match with Anne Kremer and a resulting surge in betting on Kremer to win

“So, people bet on my matches. Some win, others lose. I just know that I am clean. … And if anyone is in doubt about my injury, I can both produce scan from the hospital and a report from the tournament physiotherapist.” – Caroline Wozniacki.

“My ranking was down at 120. To finish (the year) near the top 50 is incredible for me.” – Olivier Rochus, who had right shoulder surgery in October 2008 but was a finalist at the Stockholm Open.

“When I got to 4-0 in the second set I looked at the trophy and said to myself, ‘I’m coming to get you!’” – Francesca Schiavone, after winning the Kremlin Cup women’s singles.

“It will be great to get back to playing competitive tennis again and with the strong field, the same court surface and a similar climate to Melbourne, it will be the perfect preparation leading into the Australian Open.” – Justine Henin, saying she will return to tennis at the Brisbane (Australia) International.

“Winning the doubles title here in Moscow is a nice way to end the season.” – Nadia Petrova, a native of Moscow.

“It’s great to win my first title. I don’t think I’ve realized what it means for me yet. For now I just want to stay focused because I have another tournament next week.” – Timea Bacsinszky, who won the Luxembourg Open in her first trip to a WTA final.

“It’s been a long time since I won an ATP tournament. The last one was in February 2007. I’m so happy right now. It’s been a tough couple of years and this title came when I least expected it, so it’s even better.” – Marcos Baghdatis, after winning the If Stockholm Open.

SUSPENSION, NOT

Apparently Yanina Wickmayer will only get a warning for failing three times to report her whereabouts to anti-doping officials. The 20-year-old US Open semifinalist from Belgium faced a suspension. Instead, the prosecutor at the anti-doping tribunal called only for a warning in principle. The tribunal is scheduled to rule on the case on November 5. In her defense, Wickmayer said she had troubles with her password in the computerized system overseen by the World Anti-Doping Agency. She also said registered mail to her home could not be signed off on since she was traveling to WTA tournaments. She noted that she never missed an anti-doping test and her samples were always negative.

SPARKING BETS

Caroline Wozniacki was leading her Luxembourg Open match 7-5 5-0 when she retired with a hamstring injury. What has caused tennis officials to investigate the move is what happened two games before the US Open finalist stopped playing. That’s when her father and coach, Piotr Wozniacki, told his daughter to retire because of her injury would keep her from playing in the next round. The father’s comments were picked up by microphones and broadcast over the Internet. That led to a surge in online bets for Anne Kremer of Luxembourg to win, which she did. “We’re just looking into everything that happened in this match,” said WTA spokesman Neil Robinson, who added that he believed the Tennis Integrity Unit will investigate.

SUFFERING SODERLING

The Stockholm Open lost its favorite son when top-seeded Robin Soderling withdrew from the semifinals with a right elbow injury. That gave Marcos Baghdatis a spot in the final, and he turned it into victory, winning the title. Soderling has been bothered by the sore elbow since July and said it’s been painful for the last few weeks. “I had an MRI and they told me that I have to rest two, three weeks to get well,” Sweden’s top player said. Ranked 10^th in the world, Soderling was the last seeded player left in the Stockholm Open. Earlier this year he reached the French Open final, while Baghdatis was a finalist at the 2006 Australian Open. Both lost to Roger Federer in their lone trips to a Grand Slam tournament title match.

STARTING BACK

Justine Henin will return to the WTA Tour at the Brisbane International, two weeks before the Australian Open begins. Fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters is also in the women’s draw, along with former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic. “After a 15-month absence I am pleased to begin my second tennis career at the Brisbane International,” said Henin, who has won seven Grand Slam tournament titles. Clijsters returned from retirement earlier this year and, in her third tournament back, won the US Open. Now 27, Henin says her goal is to win Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam tournament singles event she hasn’t won.

SAYS NO WAY

Martina Hingis will not be following in the footsteps of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. The 29-year-old Swiss star says she will remain in retirement. “I’ve got a nice house, my four horses,” Hingis said. “On the tour I had no life.” Hingis spent 209 weeks at number one in the world and won five Grand Slam tournament singles titles. She retired after she was banned for two years for testing positive for cocaine after losing in the third round at Wimbledon in 2007. She has denied using the drug. She had quit tennis once before, in 2002 because of foot and leg injuries. She returned to the WTA Tour in 2006, won two smaller tournaments, reached two Grand Slam tournament quarterfinals and finished the year ranked number seven. “If I had won the four Grand Slam tournaments, maybe I would have continued,” she said. “But I was on down slope. And I was suspended for two years, and that was it.”

SOLICITING

Swedish police detained two players in Stockholm for allegedly soliciting prostitutes. The two, in Sweden to compete in the Stockholm Open, were identified only as foreign citizens. The prostitution law in Sweden is unusual in that it punishes those who pay for sex but not the prostitutes.

SWEDISH SWITCH

Thomas Enqvist has replaced Mats Wilander as captain of Sweden’s Davis Cup team. Wilander, who quit the post, led Sweden to the Davis Cup semifinals in 2007. As a player, he was ranked number one in the world in the 1980s. Enqvist played for Sweden between 1995 and 2004, winning 15 of 26 matches. He was a member of the Cup-winning teams in 1997 and 1998 and also played in the 1996 final. Sweden will host Argentina in a first-round World Group tie March 5-7.

SET TO RETURN

Returning to the men’s tour will be David Nalbandian, who will end a nine-month layoff following hip surgery when he competes at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, in January. The 27-year-old Argentine has been ranked as high as number three in the world, that coming in 2006. He was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2002 and won the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, in 2005.

SEASON-ENDER

The field for the season-ending WTA Championships was completed when Jelena Jankovic qualified for the eight-player tournament in Doha, Qatar. Already in the elite field were Serena and Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka. Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Rodwanska will be in Doha as alternates. Jankovic gained her berth in Doha when Zvonareva lost in the second round of the Kremlin Cup.

SOUTHERN STOP

John McEnroe is heading south – way south. In January the veteran left-hander will represent the Americas at the World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide, Australia. Others who are expected to be in the field include Pat Cash, Henri Leconte and Radek Stepanek. South Australian Tourism Minister Jane Lomax-Smith said it was coup for South Australia and Australian tennis to have McEnroe for the January 12-14 event. The World Tennis Challenge is in its second year. McEnroe will partner fellow American Robby Ginepri.

SWEDISH CHAMPION

A little time in the minor leagues has paid off for Marcos Baghdatis. The Cypriot won his first ATP World Tour title since February 2007 when he stopped Olivier Rochus of Belgium at the If Stockholm Open. The victory makes Baghdatis the 10^th unseeded player to win an ATP World Tour event this year. Baghdatis has been playing on the ATP Challenger circuit – tennis’ minor leagues – and last week won a title at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His winning play there carried over into the Stockholm Open. The 24-year-old Baghdatis reached the Australian Open final in 2006, the year his ranking rose to number eight in the world. He was ranked 41^st in the world going into the Swedish event.

SMOKE, ANYONE?

European health organizations are furious that the main sponsor of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Basle, Switzerland, is connected with Britain’s Imperial Tobacco. The tournament is sponsored by Davidoff, a luxury brand that covers everything from cigarettes to cigars and aftershave. Imperial owns Davidoff’s cigarette brand. The European Union (EU) has banned all tobacco advertising in its member states since 2005, but Switzerland is not in the EU and tobacco sponsorship is legal. Unesco, which received a donation from the event’s organizers, has returned the money and demanded it no longer be associated with the tournament.

SERVING STRONG

To hear the First Lady tell it, President Barack Obama plays a mean tennis game. “He beats me quite often. That gets to be pretty annoying,” Michelle Obama said on NBC-TV’s “The Jay Leno Show.” She mentioned his tennis game when she was asked what was the president’s most annoying habit. In a brief skit, Leno pushed her to talk about her husband’s flaws. At first she said he has none, quipping: “He’s perfect.” Then she let it be known that it was their battles on the tennis court that get her peeved.

SURPRISE

The BGL Luxembourg Open was the first time Timea Bacsinszky had made it past the semifinals on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. She made her first appearance in the title match a victorious one, capturing her first tour crown by defeating Sabine Lisicki in straight sets. The unseeded Swiss player won the first four games of the match, then served for the title at 5-4 in the second set. But she lost her serve for the only time during the match before breaking right back to close out the battle.

SUPER IN STOCKHOLM

Zimbabwe’s Kevin Ullyett feels right at home in Sweden. The 37-year-old won his fifth Stockholm Open doubles title with his fifth different partner. This time he teamed with Bruno Soares to down Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley 6-4 7-6 (4). “A lot of players have their favorite places to play, and for me Stockholm is one of them,” said Ullyett. “I feel privileged and happy to have won my fifth title here.” This is Ullyett’s final year on the ATP World Tour. The victory also extended Ullyett’s doubles title streak to 13 consecutive years. He won his first doubles crown at Shanghai, China, in 1997. And the victory kept alive the team’s chances of qualifying for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Ullyett’s win in the semifinals was the 500^th of his career, making him the eighth active player on the ATP World Tour to register 500 career doubles match wins.

SAMPRAS WINS

It was just like old times when Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi battled each other on a tennis court. And just like the last time they met, it was Sampras who wound up the winner, besting Agassi 3-6 6-3 10-8 (match tiebreak) in an exhibition match in Macau. It was the first match between the two retired greats since Sampras won the 2002 US Open final for his then-record 14^th Grand Slam tournament singles crown. To make it even sweeter, Sampras closed out the match with an ace.

STREAKING

Czechs Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova put together a string of points at just the right time. The two were trailing fellow Czechs Vladimira Uhlirova and Renata Voracova 5-7 in the match tiebreak when they won five straight points. That gave them their second doubles title as a team, having won Stockholm last year. Benesova and Zahlavova Strycova each had won five WTA Tour title apiece.

STAVES OFF CHALLENGE

Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard is staying in his post. Pollard fended off a challenge from former Australian Open tournament director Paul McNamee in secret balloting involving Tennis Australia’s 16 state and territory delegates. It was the first time Pollard has faced a challenge to his leadership since he succeeded Brian Tobin in 1989. Pollard says this will be his last year at the helm of Tennis Australia. McNamee had been supported by Australia’s leading player, Lleyton Hewitt. Both have criticized Tennis Australia’s administration, particularly concerning player development.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Moscow (men): Pablos Cuervas and Marcel Granollers beat Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 4-6 7-5 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Moscow (women): Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova beat Maria Kondratieva and Klara Zakopalova 6-2 6-2

Stockholm: Bruno Soares and Kevin Ullyett beat Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley 6-4 7-6 (4)

Luxembourg: Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat Vladimira Uhlirova and Renata Voracova 1-6 6-0 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Orleans: Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski beat Sebastian Grosjean and Olivier Patience 6-1 6-1

Santiago: Diego Cristin and Eduardo Schwank beat Juan Pablo Brzezicki and David Marrero 6-4 7-5

SITES TO SURF

Doha: www.sonyericsson-championships.com/

Lyon: www.gptennislyon.com/

Vienna: www.bankaustria-tennistrophy.at/

St. Petersburg: www.spbopen.ru/eng/index.html

Chuncheon: www.tennis.co.kr

Poitiers: www.itfpoitiers.over-blog.org

Ortisei: www.itfvalgardena.com

Bali: www.commbanktennis.com/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

ATP

$966,000 Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, Lyon, France, hard

$855,000 Bank Austria TennisTrophy, Vienna, Austria, hard

$750,000 St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard

$125,000 Flea Market Cup Chuncheon Challenger Tennis, Chuncheon, Korea, hard

WTA

$4,550,000 Sony Ericsson Championships, Doha, Qatar, hard

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

$100,000 Internazionali di Tennis Val Gardena/Sudtirol, Ortisei, Italy, carpet

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

ATP

$3,032,000 Valencia Open 500, Valencia, Spain, clay

$2,636,000 Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Basel, Switzerland, hard

WTA

$600,000 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, Bali, Indonesia, hard

$100,000 OEC Taipei Ladies Open, Taipei, Taiwan, hard

Roger Federer’s First of Five US Open Titles

August 28, 2009 by WTM

Roger Federer is no doubt the King of the US Open. He will be seeking his sixth straight men’s singles title in 2009, equaling the effort by Bill Tilden, who won six straight titles from 1920-1925. The all-time tournament record for consecutive men’s singles titles came when Richard Sears won the first seven U.S. titles, but Sears only had to win one match – the challenge round – to win the last six of his titles.

Roger Federers First of Five US Open Titles — Roger Federer's First of Five US Open Titles

Roger’s reign in Flushing began in 2004, highlighted by an incredible five-set win over Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals and a decisive “double bagel” over Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Swiss journalist and author Rene Stauffer summarizes Roger’s first US Open title in his book THE ROGER FEDERER STORY: QUEST FOR PERFECTION ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.RogerFederer Book.com), excerpted below.

Federer had little trouble advancing into the quarterfinals, where he faced Agassi, now age 34. After a European summer highlighted by physical problems and unexpected defeats, Agassi found his groove on the American hard courts, defeating both Roddick and Hewitt to win the title in Cincinnati—his first title in over a year. Agassi’s confidence was high.

In one of the US Open’s celebrated night matches, Federer and Agassi battled on Wednesday evening, September 8, and Federer immediately found his rhythm. He was leading 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 when it began raining and play was postponed. The match resumed the following afternoon and the players were greeted with gale force winds—as part of the weather front that swept through New York as a leftover from Hurricane Frances that battered Florida earlier in the week. Federer described the wind swirls as being the worst conditions that he ever played under. “Just five years ago I would have gone nuts playing in such a wind,” he said.

The wind forced Federer to change tactics. He no longer tried to go for winners and display his usual aggressive style, but concentrated on getting the ball and his serves over the net and simply into play—which in the windy conditions was itself a challenge. “I played just like at practice and that was the right recipe,” he said. A 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Agassi put him into the semifinals of the US Open for the first time, where he would face an old acquaintance, Tim Henman. The 30-year-old Brit won six of his eight career matches with his Swiss rival, but Federer was a different player than many of the previous matches, with more self-confidence and stamina. As in March in Indian Wells, Federer encountered little resistance with Henman, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to advance into the championship match at the US Open for the first time.

Awaiting him in the final was another of his past nemeses, Lleyton Hewitt, the 2001 US Open champion. The Australian skipped the Olympic Games, but won the two ATP tournaments played concurrently to the Olympics in Washington, D.C. and in Long Island. Entering his match with Federer, he won his last 16 matches and did not surrender a set in his six-match run to the final.

[amazon-product align=”left”]0942257391[/amazon-product]It only took 17 minutes for Federer to hand Hewitt his first lost set of the tournament, losing only five points in a near perfect execution of tennis. When Hewitt won his first game of the match after Federer led 6-0, 2-0, the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium gave him a standing ovation. Federer continued to be the much stronger player, until a lapse of concentration and a run of errors and missed serves allowed Hewitt to win four straight games after trailing 2-5 in the second set.

“If he had managed to win the second set, it would have turned out to be an entirely different match,” Federer said. “I forced myself to keep positive. I said to myself that I only got this break because I was playing against the wind and I was serving with old balls. When I changed sides, everything actually did go easier.”

Federer held serve at 5-6 to force the tiebreak and won that 7-3. The two-set lead broke Hewitt’s resistance and Federer plowed through the final set 6-0 to win his first US Open championship.

“First I was surprised that Lleyton was no longer getting to the ball,” Federer said of his moment of victory. “Then I was suddenly lying on my back, looking into the sky at the lights of the stadium. I thought, ‘That’s unbelievable.’ Once again I was close to tears.”

Roger Federer’s victory at the 2004 US Open provided new content for the record books of tennis. Statisticians and historians of the game quickly discovered that he was only the second man in the “Open Era” of professional tennis (since 1968) to win a Grand Slam final with two 6-0 sets. The other was the Argentinean Guillermo Vilas, who dominated American Brian Gottfried 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 at Roland Garros in 1977. The last time a player won a final at the U.S. Championships with two 6-0 sets came back in 1884 in only the fourth edition of the U.S. national championship and in the days of tennis infancy.

In the United States, 6-0 sets are referred to as “bagels” with a “double bagel” being considered the bitterest variety when a match is lost 6-0, 6-0. In German-speaking countries, these whitewashes are called a “bicycle.” Although, Lleyton Hewitt was able to force a second-set tie-break against Federer in the US Open final, he was not spared the shame of the “double bagel” or “the bicycle.” The Australian Associated Press (AAP) exaggerated that Hewitt’s loss was “the greatest humiliation in the history of Grand Slam finals.” One reporter in the post-match press conference even had the audacity to ask Hewitt if it was difficult to swallow a “double bagel.”

More importantly in historical significance was that Federer, with his victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, became only the fourth man in the Open Era of tennis to win at least three of the four Grand Slam titles in a calendar year. Mats Wilander from Sweden was the last man to manage such a feat in 1988, as did Rod Laver, who won all four Grand Slams in 1969, and Jimmy Connors, who won the Australian, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1974. Don Budge was the first player to win all four major titles in the same year—the Grand Slam—in 1938. The term “Grand Slam” was first coined when American tennis writer Allison Danzig suggested in 1938 that Budge scored a Grand Slam of victories—like a winning bridge player—at the four most prestigious championships of the year.

Laver, a left-hander given the nickname the “Rockhampton Rocket,” even managed to win the Grand Slam twice—once in 1962 as an amateur and again in 1969 as a professional. In Laver’s time, however, this accomplishment had a different value and was less significant than today as three of the four Grand Slam events were played on grass courts, unlike the four different surfaces of today’s game.

In women’s tennis, three players have won the Grand Slam—the American Maureen Connolly (1953), the Australian Margaret Smith Court (1970), as well as Steffi Graf (1988). The German, who married Andre Agassi after her tennis career, also won at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 giving her the distinction of winning what is called the “Golden Slam.” Martina Hingis, like Federer, won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 1997, narrowly missing the Grand Slam, with her surprising loss to Iva Majoli in the French final preventing her from joining this elite club.

In New York, Federer once again proved his ability to amplify his performance in the final stages of the tournament. He became the first professional player to win all of his first four Grand Slam tournament finals. It was almost equally amazing that in this feat, he lost only one set in his eight matches in the semifinals and finals. In the meantime, Federer’s US Open final marked the 11th straight victory in a tournament final. For Federer, a tournament final proved to be his greatest motivation. His attitude was simple—what’s the use of all the effort and match victories if you ultimately lose in the final? Winners stay, losers go.

The coup at Flushing Meadows transformed him into a sports star on Broadway. The American media celebrated him lavishly and some journalists even asked the question at such a pre-mature stage if he would be the man who would break Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Federer remained grounded and modest in the hour of his greatest achievement in the United States. “I honestly never expected to win the US Open,” he said. “Until a year ago, I always had problems in the United States. The Americans always play with more confidence in their home tournaments than anywhere else. Conditions are difficult with the high heat and humidity.”

But he admitted something else; “I had a strange feeling before the final because everybody was talking about how long it had been since anybody had won his first four Grand Slam finals. I knew that I only had this one chance to do this.” Some were already talking that Federer was in a position to achieve the Grand Slam, but he didn’t allow these musings of grandeur to mislead him. “I would be really happy if I were to win one of the four Grand Slams next year,” he said the day after his US Open triumph during an extended interview session with a select group of journalists. “I know that I have to work hard for each match and for each title. It’s crazy what’s happening to me now. It’s out of this world.”

Federer’s US Open title generously extended his points lead on the No. 1 ranking. His margin between him at No. 1 and Roddick, his next challenger at No. 2, was extended from 1390 points to 2990 points—the equivalent of three Grand Slam titles. It would be impossible for any player to overtake him before the end of the year, even if Federer lost every match for the rest of the year. In the last four years, the year-end Tennis Masters Cup was the final determining tournament to decide the year-end No. 1 player. However, 2004 was not a normal year and thanks to the US Open, the year-end No. 1 was already in the books.

The Monday after the US Open brought Federer to the realization that the clocks tick differently in the American media world. He was chauffeured in a stretch limousine from one television station to another—7:45 am at ESPN’s show “Cold Pizza,” then at 8:30 am to the “CBS Early Show” and then at 9:30 am at “Live with Regis and Kelly,” followed by a photo shoot in Times Square, and a meeting with a select group of print journalists at the Hard Rock Café. At 2:30 pm, he was a guest on John McEnroe’s television talk show, and finally he appeared on the “Charlie Rose Show.” He had to prove his dexterity at ping-pong at two of his television appearances. Many things are possible in the United States, but setting up a tennis court in a television studio is not one of them.