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Serena Williams Wins First Title at Cincinnati; Roger Federer Wins His Sixth – Mondays with Bob Greene

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Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Roger Federer beat David Ferrer 6-3 1-6 6-2 to win the men’s singles at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Serena Williams beat Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-1 to win the women’s singles at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Lara Arruabarrena beat Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-3 to win the Seguros Boliva Open in Bogotá, Colombia

 

SAYING

“I’m really pleased with the week. Overall, it went from good to great. My game’s exactly where I want it to be.” – Roger Federer, following his victory over David Ferrer.

“I made the final. But I can never beat Roger, he’s too much for me. I’m still lucky to be playing with the best in the world. Roger deserved to win the title.” – David Ferrer.

“This is definitely a level that can take me to the (US Open) title. I still have a lot of work to do. It’s definitely a better level than I’ve played all year, to be honest.” – Serena Williams, after beating Ana Ivanovic to win the Western & Southern women’s singles title.

“I really felt she was really solid today. Not only on her serve, but on the groundstrokes I felt like she was dominating. I did have chances, especially when we started the rallies, but I just couldn’t get the serve back.” – Ana Ivanovic.

“When I finish my career and when I will be sitting at home and talking with friends, I will remember days like this.” – Tommy Robredo, after upsetting top-ranked Novak Djokovic at the Western & Southern.

“I didn’t play well in Toronto, didn’t play well here. Hopefully, it’s going to be different in New York (at the US Open).” – Novak Djokovic, after losing in Cincinnati.

“I had lost a few close matches – matches like that – over the last few months, so it was important for me to come through. You know, it was completely packed crowd from the first point right until the end, as well. So it was a really good atmosphere to get ready for the rest of the tournament, but also the US Open as well. It was very good.” – Andy Murray, after beating John Isner 3-6 (3) 6-4 7-6 (2).

“I knew it was going to be a good match. I mean, I didn’t imagine myself blowing him off the court, and vice versa, I didn’t imagine him blowing me off the court.” – John Isner, after losing to Andy Murray,

“I just kind of close my eyes and serve. When you think about it too much you get kind of crazy.” – Serena Williams, after slamming 12 aces in her victory over Ana Ivanovic.

“I think I got a lesson on how to serve today. Maybe after you retire you can give me some tips.” – Ana Ivanovic, at the post-match awards ceremony.

 

SWISS MASTER

There’s a love affair going on between Roger Federer and the Western & Southern Open. “I don’t know, I just really enjoy myself here,” Federer said after winning the Masters 1000 title for the sixth time. This time the Swiss star beat David Ferrer in a match that wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Federer improved his career record to 16-0 against his Spanish opponent, who took advantage of Federer’s lull in the second set. “The third set, he served unbelievable,” Ferrer said. “He played really good and I was a little bit tired. But anyway, with Roger it’s difficult, no?” It’s difficult yes, especially on the hard courts at Mason, Ohio, USA, a Cincinnati suburb. Every time Federer reaches the Western & Southern Open title match, he wins. It was his 22nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown as he became just the third player in the Open Era to win 80 titles. Federer trails only Jimmy Connors, who finished his career with 109 titles, and Ivan Lendl, who had 94. He also increased his match-win lead this season on the ATP World Tour to 49 victories, five more than Rafael Nadal. It was Federer’s biggest title since he won Cincinnati in 2012, the same year he also won Wimbledon. “I finally got a big trophy for the kids,” said the father of two sets of twins. “I’ve been bringing home some smaller ones. I keep telling them they are still trophies, but this one should satisfy them.”

 

SPARKLING SERENA

Where Roger Federer has made Cincinnati his personal stomping ground, Serena Williams has had problems at the Ohio stop on the WTA tour. No more. The world’s top-ranked woman won her first Western & Southern Open on his sixth try, needing only 62 minutes to subdue Ana Ivanovic. “I love this moment,” she said. “I love holding up the trophy.” Williams played the best match of her summer in besting the much-improved Ivanovic. It didn’t show at the start as Ivanovic broke Serena’s serve to begin the match, then held to go up 2-0. The Serbian right-hander won just three more games as Williams started moving better and dominated with her serve, hitting 12 aces. “It felt like way more,” Ivanovic said. It was the fifth title of the year for the 32-year-old American, who also won in Stanford, Rome, Miami and Brisbane. But she has had problems at the Grand Slam tournaments this year, and Cincinnati is her final tune-up before the year’s final major, the US Open, which begins later this month. “Definitely my best performance of the summer,” Williams said. “Hopefully not the last.” Even with the loss, Ivanovic moved back into the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time in five years. “It’s been a great week for me in Cincinnati,” she said. “It’s the biggest final I’ve been in in a while. It feels good to be part of it. There are still a few points in my game that I feel I need to work on for the US Open and also for the end of season. Definitely exciting times.”

 

SIBLINGS STOP STREAK

After starting their partnership in record-breaking style, Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock finally lost. In a highly-anticipated men’s doubles match, brothers Bob and Mike Bryan defeated Pospisil and Sock 6-3 6-2 to successfully defend their Western & Southern Open crown, their 99th team title in their 150th final. Pospisil and Sock had won their first 14 matches as a team, including beating the Bryan brothers in the Wimbledon final. That topped the 12-0 start by Christo van Rensburg and Paul Annacone in 1984-85. This time, the American twins dominated Pospisil and Sock in just 53 minutes.  “It was amazing to walk out to a packed house today,” Bob Bryan said. “It was an incredible atmosphere and once again the Cincy crowds have brought out the best in us. Mike and I were really sharp right from the first ball and are extremely excited about this victory.” The win gave the Bryan brothers a record 30 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victories, including five at the Western & Southern Open. “Hats off to Jack and Vasek on their impressive run this summer,” Mike Bryan said. “It’s great for doubles to have another marketable team competing for the biggest titles and we look forward to having more competitive battles against them in the future.”

 

SHOCKER

It wasn’t the first time Tommy Robredo has knocked off the world’s number-one player. But it had been a while since it happened the first time. The Spaniard upset Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (6) 7-5 in the round of 16 at the Western & Southern Open, ending Djokovic’s bid to win the Cincinnati event for the first time and become the first player to win all nine ATP World Tour Masters events during his career. “It’s disappointing that I’m finishing Cincinnati again with a tough loss, but it’s the sport,” Djokovic said. The last time Robredo knocked off the world’s top-ranked player was in 2003, when he beat Lleyton Hewitt at the French Open. This time, the Spaniard snapped a six-match losing streak against her Serbian opponent. “I knew that if I wanted to win I had to go for it and try to hope that he will not play his best match,” Robredo said. “Both things happen and then I could win.” Both things happened.

 

STAYING HOME

Former champion Juan Martin del Potro won’t be at this year’s US Open. The Argentine is still recovering from surgery on his left wrist, which he underwent in late March. He also underwent an operation on his right wrist after winning the US Open in 2009 and missed much of the next season.

 

SEES BONUS AHEAD

For the third time in four years, Serena Williams has clinched the Emirates Airline US Open Series women’s title. That means that if she win the US Open singles title, she would get a USD $1 million bonus. That, of course, would be in addition to the USD $3 million purse that goes to the US Open champion. The world’s top-ranked woman won both the Emirates Airline US Open Series title and the US Open last year, taking home a record USD $3.6 million, including the USD $1 million bonus. Williams is the only woman to win the Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge three times. No other woman has won it more than once.

 

SNAFU

When Elle Quebec ran a very flattering story on Eugenie Bouchard, they made a serious mistake. Accompanying the article on Canada’s newest tennis star were photos of Maria Sharapova. It was Genie Bouchard’s picture on the cover of the 25-year-old Canadian fashion magazine, fortunately, but not on the inside. In its September issue, the magazine admitted, “An error occurred in the publication of the photos accompanying the article about prodigious tennis player Eugenie Bouchard in our August issue. Here are the photos of the athlete that should have appeared in our pages. Our sincerest apologies.”

 

SKIPPING CINCINNATI

The record book is being revised seemingly every time Roger Federer steps onto the court. When Federer won his opening match at the Western & Southern Open, defeating Vasek Pospisil, he added another record to his long list of accomplishments. It was Federer’s 300th career victory in a Masters tournament, the first to do so. Rafael Nadal is second with 281 such wins. “It’s a nice, round number,” Federer said. “I’ve had some more important ones over the one today. Nevertheless, it’s nice to reach such milestones.”

 

SHORT DAY

Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears captured the women’s doubles title at the Western & Southern Open when their opponents had to retire because of a spine injury suffered by Kristina Mladenovic. The winners were leading 6-1 2-0 when Mladenovic and her partner, Timea Babos, stopped the match. “The few games that we played, we played well,” Kops-Jones said. “Unfortunately, one of our opponents was injured. It’s not fun to win that way, but we’ll take it.” Babos and Mladenovic were seeded sixth in the hard-court tournament, while the winning team had been seeded seventh. None of the top four seeded teams made it to the semifinals. “We had a few tough matches this week, even the ones where the scores didn’t appear close,” Kops-Jones said. “We learned a lot just playing a lot of matches. We love playing here. It’s really well-run and is one of the best facilities that we play at.” The winners now have 10 WTA titles as a team. Kops-Jones has won 12 WTA doubles titles and Spears has 14, including winning at Cincinnati in 2005 with Laura Granville.

 

SECURITY CONCERNS

The Davis Cup playoff tie between Israel and Argentina will be played in Sunrise, Florida, USA, in September. Because of security concerns linked to the conflict in Gaza, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) banned Israel from hosting the three-day completion on home soil. The neutral venue in Florida was proposed by the Israel Tennis Association (ITA) and will be played on an outdoor hard court. A total of eight World Group playoff ties will be held September 12-14, alongside the two World Group semifinals between France and Czech Republic in Paris, France, and Switzerland and Italy in Geneva, Switzerland.

Another World Group playoff – this one between Ukraine and Belgium – will also be moved to a neutral site because of security concerns. It was scheduled to have been held in Kiev, Ukraine.

STRAIGHT IN

Australia’s Bernard Tomic, Frenchman Michael Llodra and six Americans have been awarded wild card entries into the men’s singles main draw at this year’s US Open. Joining Tomic and Llodra with wild cards in the 128-player field will be Ryan Harrison, Tim Smyczek, 17-year-old Jared Donaldson, 2014 NCAA singles champion Marcos Giron, 2014 USTA Boys’ 18s national champion Noah Rubin and veteran Wayne Odesnik.

Eight others were given wild cards entries into the men’s singles qualifying tournament, which is being held this week at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. They are Americans Collin Altamirano, Ernesto Escobedo, Mitchell Frank, Taylor Fritz, Stefan Kozlov, Mackenzie McDonald and Francis Tiafoe along with Frenchman Mathias Bourgue.

Former world number one junior Taylor Townsend and 2011 US Open junior champion Grace Min head the eight wild card entries into the women’s singles main draw. Other Americans are Nicole Gibbs, Danielle Collins, Madison Brengle and CiCi Bellis. They will be joined by Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova and France’s Amandine Hesse.

Entering the women’s singles qualifying tournament on wild cards are Americans Tornado Alicia Black, Jennifer Brady, Samantha Crawford, Asia Muhammad, Bernarda Pera, Maria Sanchez and Katerina Stewart, as well as France’s Fiona Ferro, who earned her qualifying spot through a reciprocal agreement with the French Tennis Federation.

 

SALUTED

Tony Trabert, a two-time singles winner of the US National Championships – now the US Open – and a long-time voice of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament is the 2014 inductee into the US Open Court of Champions. Trabert will be inducted during an on-court ceremony in Arthur Ashe Stadium prior to the men’s singles final on Monday, September 8. A panel of international print and broadcast journalists selected Trabert from the roster of US champions based on their performances at the tournament and their impact on the game of tennis. He won five Grand Slam tournament singles titles, including the US National Championships in 1953 and 1955, and was ranked number one in the world. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1970.

 

SENIOR TOPPER

Fittingly, Xavier Malisse of Belgium won his first ATP Champions Tour title at the Optima Open in Knokke-Heist on Belgium’s North Sea coast. Malisse defeated Fabrice Santoro 6-2 6-3 in the final. “This feels great actually,” Malisse said. “I’m very happy to win, and just to play Fabrice because he is a fun guy to play. It’s very different to being on the ATP Tour but I have really enjoyed my time here this week and seeing all the guys again. I am so grateful to the crowd who stayed to watch us and cheer for us today because it’s not the nicest weather to sit and watch tennis.” The Champions Tour, featuring John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Michal Chang and Goran Ivanisevic, will stage its next event in Italy in October.

 

SIDELINED

Eighteen-year-old Victoria Duval won’t be competing at the US Open later this month. But she is on target to return to training sometime in September. Duval has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is scheduled for two more treatments over the next four weeks. The young American was diagnosed earlier this summer by London doctors through biopsies with the form of cancer in its earliest, most curable stages. The finding was confirmed after her first-round qualifying match in Wimbledon, but Duval decided to continue to play, winning two more qualifiers and her first-round match in the main draw over seeded player Sorana Cîrstea. Currently ranked 88th in the world, Duval said in a statement: “I intend to put up my best fight and have a full recovery. I picture myself healthy, stronger and competing again soon with even more appreciation for the game I so love.” Her business representative, Ben Crandall, an IMG executive, said Duval’s timetable for her to return to competitive tennis will be decided after the chemo treatments are complete.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Bogotá: Lara Arruabarrena and Florencia Molinero beat Melanie Klaffner and Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2 6-0

Cincinnati (men): Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan beat Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock 6-3 6-2

Cincinnati (women): Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears beat Timea Babos an d Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 2-0 retired

 

SURFING

Winston-Salem: www.winstonsalemopen.com/

 

New Haven: www.ctopen.org/

New York: www.usopen.org/

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$598,260 Winston-Salem Open, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, hard

WOMEN

$644,900 Connecticut Open presented by United Technologies, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN and WOMEN

US Open, New York, New York, USA, hard (first week)

 

 

Serena Williams
Serena Williams

 

Serena Williams Returns In Winning Form – Mondays with Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

STARS

Milos Raonic beat Vasek Pospisil 6-1 6-4 to win the Citi Open men’s singles in Washington, DC, USA

Serena Williams beat Angelique Kerber 7-6 (1) 6-3 to win the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA

David Goffin beat Dominic Thiem 4-6 6-1 6-3 to win the bet-at-home Cup in Kitzbühel, Austria

Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Kurumi Nara 6-3 4-6 6-4 to win the Citi Open women’s singles in Washington, DC, USA

Jarmila Gajdosova beat Lesia Tsurenko 3-6 6-3 7-6 (3) to win the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open women’s singles in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Marcos Baghdatis beat Farrukh Dustov 7-6 (6) 6-3 to win the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open men’s singles in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 

SAYING

“Every week is a new week and all I can do is try and improve. For me it’s all mental: being there, being positive and being good to myself.” – Serena Williams, after winning the Bank of the West Classic for the third time in four years, beating Angelique Kerber in the final.

“I gave everything I could out there. When she was down she started hitting the ball better. It’s a special thing she has. On the important points, she goes for it.” – Angelique Kerber, explaining how Serena Williams keeps winning.

“I couldn’t have asked, really, for more. I had a chance to break in every single game in that first set. Then I continued to play solid after that. All in all, a very good performance and an important moment for me.” – Milos Raonic, after beating fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil to win the Citi Open.

“He came out strong. He caught me off guard. He played so strong. I wasn’t 100 percent, but it wouldn’t have made much difference.” – Vasek Pospisil.

“It’s just an amazing feeling right now. I don’t believe it. Maybe in a few days I’ll realize what happened today.” – David Goffin, after winning his first ATP World Tour title.

“Frankly, if common sense won in this one, I passed 14 years of tests during my career. Common sense? It makes no sense whatsoever. It’s nonsensical.” – Andy Roddick, who will not be allowed to play doubles at the US Open because of drug rules that affect players who officially retire.

“Depending on the evolution of the injury that will be carefully followed by the doctors, including MRI tests, it will be decided then the return to competition, initially scheduled for the US Open.” – Rafael Nadal’s publicist, announcing a right wrist injury will force the Spaniard to miss two major US Open warm-up events.

“Unfortunately I injured myself … during practice and after checking with my doctors I will have to stay out of competition for at least 2-3 weeks.” – Rafael Nadal.

“Well at least I broke the world record for fastest serve.” – Sabine Lisicki, who hit a record-breaking 131 mph serve in a first-round loss to Ana Ivanovic at the Bank of the West Classic.

“I think it’s time it was broken. It’s a good thing.” – Venus Williams, after Sabine Lisicki hit the fastest serve ever recorded in women’s tennis, breaking the mark held by Venus.

“Thanks to Henri for playing great again. We haven’t had many chances to play together on the (ATP World) Tour level, but we’ve played many Davis Cups and hopefully we’ll get many more attempts to play together. It was fun.” – Jarkko Nieminen, after teaming with Henri Kontinen to win the doubles in Kitzbühel, Austria.

“I get the rule in place, the three-month rule. I feel like there should maybe be an appeal process. Listen, if I’m going to do performance-enhancing drugs and make a comeback, I promise you it’s not going to be for one doubles tournament at the US Open. That’s for sure.” – Andy Roddick, who will not be allowed to play doubles in this year’s US Open because of drug-testing rules and the fact that he officially retired.

“It’s great to still be feeling well enough to be playing on this tour, which is much more competitive than it was 20 years ago. To be looking pretty solid, too, that’s great. It’s been a long journey. I don’t know if at that age I would have envisioned I would still be playing now, but I’m glad I am. Because you get one shot at it, and then you fade to grace when someone else is better. So while I’m here, I’m going to go for it.” – Venus Williams, who played in the Bank of the West Classic, the same tournament where she began her career 20 years ago.

“I went out on my terms, playing high quality tennis. For me it was very good to know that I can still compete against these younger, stronger, fitter players who are playing well. Thanasi’s (Thanasi Kokkinakis) been doing really well lately. It was more of a celebration and enjoyment of a good career.” – Rik de Voest, announcing his retirement.

 

SERENA IS BACK

Playing in her first tournament since she had to retire during a doubles match at Wimbledon, Serena William won the Bank of the West title for the third time, stopping Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the final. But the world’s top-ranked player had to overcome a huge deficit to capture the match in straight sets. “I blinked my eye and I was down 1-5,” Williams said. “Angelique was playing well and I thought ‘What’s going on?’ I tried to relax, not think about anything and just do the right thing.” It worked. Kerber forced the tiebreaker, but Williams ripped off the first five points, winning it 7-1. Then, just like she did in her semifinal win over another German, Andrea Petkovic, the American put her A-game on display in the second set. “When I’m not playing great I know I can make some kind of comeback,” said Williams, who didn’t play well in any of the first sets during the week but always found a way to win. Williams extended her winning streak on the hard courts at Stanford to 13 matches as she captured the event for the third time in four years. “It just says how much I love to play here,” she said.

 

SIXTH TITLE A ROMP

In the ATP World Tour’s first all-Canadian final, Milos Raonic dominated the Citi Open to win his sixth tour title. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to lead into my most important part of the year,” Raonic said after crushing Vasek Pospisil 6-1 6-4. “I’m fortunate to have played so well at the starting stages. It’s tough after a few weeks away.” The Washington, DC, tournament was Raonic’s first event since reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, his best Grand Slam tournament showing. It was his first title since last September in Bangkok, Thailand. Pospisil was playing in his first ATP World Tour final, having upset top-seeded Tomas Berdych in the third round and Richard Gasquet in the semifinals. “I felt a little more pressure not to lose because of the situation, and I’m happy with how I handled it,” Raonic said, noting he felt the pressure of the historic moment for Canadian tennis. “All in all a good performance in a very important moment for me.” It was only the second ATP final between players born in the 1990s. At 23, Raonic is one year younger than Pospisil, who was the dominant player when the two played in the juniors. Pospisil teamed with American Jack Sock to win the Wimbledon doubles title last month.

 

SCRUBS NEW YORK TRIP

Australian Open champion Li Na will not be playing in the US Open this year because of a knee injury. Ranked second in the world, China’s biggest tennis star also has pulled out of hard court warm-up tournaments in Montreal, Canada, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Li wrote on her Facebook page that she has “been struggling” with her knee since March “and it is just not where I need it to be in order to play at the highest level.” Li won the Australian Open in January, but suffered a first-round loss at the French Open in May and was eliminated in the third round at Wimbledon in June. “My medical team has advised me that I need to take some time off to rest my knee,” Li said. She also won the French Open title in 2011, the only native of Asia to capture a Grand Slam tournament singles crown.

 

STATUS UP IN AIR

A wrist injury could cause defending champion Rafael Nadal to miss this year’s US Open. The Spaniard has pulled out of two tune-up events, the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, because of the injury to his right wrist. Nadal suffered the injury during practice and is scheduled to wear a cast on his wrist for two to three weeks. His publicist said Nadal felt pain during practice in Mallorca and tests revealed the injury. “I’m extremely disappointed that I am unable to defend my Rogers Cup title this year,” Nadal said. “Unfortunately I injured myself … during practice and after checking with my doctors I will have to stay out of competition for at least 2-3 weeks.” Nadal also is the defending champion at Cincinnati.

 

STREAKING

David Goffin is on a roll. The Belgian wild card won his 20th consecutive match and his first ATP World Tour title by beating hometown favorite Dominic Thiem in Kitzbühel, Austria. “It’s a great day for me, to win an ATP (World Tour) 250,” said the 23-year-old Goffin, whose winning streak began with three consecutive titles on the second-tier Challenger circuit. “You work so much in the fitness room and on the court for a moment like today. You play so many practices and so many matches to have this emotion, so when you win the match point you can’t control it.” Goffin is the first Belgian to win an ATP World Tour event since Xavier Malisse captured the title in Delray Beach, Florida, USA, seven years ago. His winning streak will put Goffin in the top 50 in the rankings after being outside the top 100 just a month ago. His last loss was to Andy Murray in the first round at Wimbledon. Both Goffin and the 20-year-old Thiem were playing in their first ATP World Tour final.

 

SCRATCHED

Japan’s Kei Nishikori has withdrawn from the Rogers Cup in Toronto because of an infected toe. Ranked 11th in the world, Nishikori appeared to have problems moving around the court when he lost to Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the Citi Open quarterfinals in Washington, DC. At the time, he insisted there was no health problem. In announcing his withdrawal from Toronto, the ATP World Tour gave the reason as an infected toe.

 

STOPPED BY DRUG RULES

In a strange twist of drug rules, Andy Roddick won’t be allowed to come out of retirement and play doubles at the US Open this year. That’s because Roddick, once ranked number one in the world, wasn’t in the sport’s drug testing pool for the required three months prior to this year’s final Grand Slam tournament. Roddick said he and his friend Mardy Fish had hoped to fulfill a dream they have had since they were 15 years old. But their plan was halted on a technicality. According to Roddick, Fish was only associating tennis with negative things. To break that cycle, Roddick suggested they play doubles. Fish agreed and Roddick went about trying to get a wild card into the Open. But Roddick learned he was ineligible for a wild card because players who come out of retirement have to be in the drug testing program for at least three month. The US Open begins its two-week run on August 25. Roddick is particularly displeased because by officially filing his retirement papers last year he was dropped from the rankings. If he had simply stopped playing and not retired, Roddick says he would have been eligible for the wild card.

 

SILENT HE ISN’T

Yevgeny Kafelnikov failed to read the entire letter before he told the world about being nominated for the International Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2015. If he had, he would have noticed the last paragraph asked that he “keep this information private” until the official announcement was made during the upcoming US Open. Not only did the Russian “out” himself, he also told the world the other candidates on the ballot will be Amélie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce and Sergi Bruguera, David Hall in the wheelchair category and Nancy Jeffett in the contributor category. The 40-year-old Kafelnikov won two Grand Slam tournament titles and was ranked as high as number one in the world. Mauresmo, currently the coach of Andy Murray, won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. Pierce captured the singles title at the Australian Open in 1995 and Roland Garros in 2000. Bruguera captured Roland Garros in 1993 and 1994.

 

SVETLANA A WINNER

It’s been a while since Svetlana Kuznetsova ended up with the biggest prize and a title. By beating Kurumi Nara of Japan at the Citi Open in Washington, DC, Kuznetsova won her 14th career title, but only her first since San Diego, California, in August 2010. She won the US Open in 2004 and Roland Garros in 2009. It was the first time the sixth-seeded Russian had played the hard-court warm-up event in Washington, DC.

Nara also came up second best in doubles as she and countrywoman Hiroko Kuwata lost the final to Shuko Aoyama and Gabriela Dabrowski 6-1 6-2.

 

SERB SURPRISE

Jelena Jankovic holds a unique record in women’s tennis. She’s the only player to have beaten both Serena and Venus Williams in the same tournament without having also won a Grand Slam tournament title. The Serbian right-handed knocked off the American sisters on the clay courts in Rome in 2010, being the last player to pull off the rare feat. Only six other players have beat both Williams sisters at the same tournament. Five of the six are already in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, and the sixth – Kim Clijsters, who did it twice – is almost a sure bet to be inducted. In order, they are Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario in Sydney in 1998; Steffi Graf, Sydney, 1999; Martina Hingis, 2001 Australian Open; Lindsay Davenport, Los Angeles, 2004; Justine Henin, 2007 US Open; and Clijsters, at the 2002 WTA Championships and the 2009 US Open. Only Graf beat both sisters by the quarterfinals, a testament to how dominant the two Americans have been in their careers. Graf won 22 Grand Slam tournament singles titles, Henin seven, Hingis five, Sánchez-Vicario and Clijsters four each, and Davenport three.

 

SABINE POWER

Sabine Lisicki is now the holder of the fastest-recorded serve in women’s tennis. The Germany blasted a 131 mph (211 kph) serve during a first-round loss at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA. The huge serve came in the 11th game of the first set against Ana Ivanovic, who won the match 7-6 (2) 6-1. The old record of 129 mph (208 kph) was set by Venus Williams at the 2007 US Open. “Well, at least I broke the world record for fastest serve,” Lisicki said. Williams, who is playing the same tournament, said she was happy she no longer held the record. “I’m not out there really trying to serve hard,” Williams said. “I used to, but now, when I really want the point, I try a medium serve somewhere above 110. I try more for placement these days. It take a lot of energy to serve. So if you can take 10 miles off and place it, it’s smarter.”

 

SEVERE AND BIZARRE

When Serena Williams retired under bizarre circumstances from her second-round doubles match at Wimbledon, she didn’t realize the severity of her condition. “It kind of reminded me of when I had my other illness a while ago,” Williams said, referring to her hospitalization in 2011 for a pulmonary embolism. “When you’re in the moment, you don’t realize how sick you are until you step back and you look at everything.” Williams appeared listless and disoriented at Wimbledon. The start of the match was delayed as doctors examined her and took her blood pressure. She then hit four consecutive double-faults while serving in the third game, some of her serves landing before the ball reached the net. The official reason given for the withdrawal was a viral illness, a diagnosis that was challenged by some commentators. Speaking to the media at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California, USA, Serena said her doubles partner, sister Venus Williams, urged her to stop. “She was totally like, ‘Serena, walk off the court.’ I think she almost punched me,” Serena remembered, laughing. “And I’m like, ‘No, it’s just half the court. I can do it, I can do it.’” After looking at replays of her performance, Serena said: “It’s weird. It’s like, ‘Is that me?’” Under doctor’s orders, she remained in London until the end of the tournament, then went to Croatia for a working vacation. The Stanford event was her first tournament since Wimbledon.

 

SURGERY STOPPER

Surgery on his right shoulder has caused Tommy Haas to withdraw from this year’s US Open. Currently ranked 26th in the world, the German right-hander is out for the remainder of the year after undergoing his fourth operation on his shoulder. The withdrawal by Haas opened up a spot in the main draw for Marcos Baghdatis, who was the runner-up at the Australian Open in 2006. Baghdatis’ best showing at the US Open was last year when he reached the third round.

 

STRONG PERFORMANCE

The players know that Venus Williams isn’t making it just on her history. For example, check out her second-round match at the Bank of the West Classic when the veteran out-slugged former world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-6 (1). While Azarenka has struggled this year, she showed off a strong game against Williams. It wasn’t strong enough, however. “Obviously, it’s always great to get a win against a player like Victoria because she’s a champion,” Venus said. “So it feels good. But she also hasn’t been playing as much, so I think she’s still looking for her range. But I think both of us played at a high level, and it just got better as the match went on.” Azarenka agreed completely. “It was a pretty good match, I think the level was pretty high,” Azarenka said. “We both came out with some great points and great fighting. I think Venus came out with a little bit better execution at the important moments.”

 

SUOMALAINEN SUCCESS

It didn’t take long for Henri Kontinen and Jarkko Nieminen to win their first ATP World Tour doubles title. The two Finns needed just 58 minutes to beat Daniele Bracciali and Andrey Golubev 6-1 6-4 to capture the bet-at-home Cup Kitzbühel crown. The two also won the 2013 Helsinki Challenger together and team up on Finland’s Davis Cup team. It was Nieminen’s fourth title in eight tour-level finals, while Kontinen is celebrating his first victory. It was also Bracciali and Golubev’s first doubles final as a team. Oh, yes. Finland is the Swedish name for the county; the Finnish name is Suomi, and Suomalianen means Finnish.

 

SET FOR MARATHON

Caroline Wozniacki will be taking a tour of New York City the hard way this November. The former world number one tennis player says she will compete in this year’s New York City Marathon. The 24-year-old Dane will run as a Team for Kids Ambassador along with reigning Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi. “When I cross the finish line in Central Park, it will be one of the most rewarding days of my life, not only because of the personal accomplishment, but also because it will help thousands of kids to get healthy and fit through sports,” Wozniacki said in a press release. She will be a rare non-runner athlete to compete in a marathon while still in her prime. Several others, including Amelie Mauresmo, Lance Armstrong and Apolo Anton Ohno, have run the marathon, but each after they had retired from their respective sports.

 

SAYONARA

Rik de Voest has called it a career. The 34-year-old South African retired after losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-4 in the second round of the Odlum Brown Van Open in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where he lives. “It had been a decision I thought about for a while. I knew it was coming and now that it’s here and done, I’ve had some time to accept it,” de Voest told ATPWorldTour.com. “I’ve been playing on tour (for a long time) and I see the game is changing and evolving and becoming more physical. I was struggling to keep up with the demands of a full schedule, combined with the fact that my wife and I had our first child, a little boy in March, and I just wanted to not be travelling as much. I didn’t want to be that guy on court that everyone is saying, ‘Why is he still playing?’ It ended up being here in Vancouver where I met my wife and I decided this would be a good spot to call it a day.” Born in Milan, Italy, de Voest moved to Pretoria, South Africa, at the age of one and eventually settled down in Vancouver. He specialized in doubles, where he won 37 ATP Challenger Tour titles and two ATP World Tour crowns, the China Open in 2007 with Ashley Fisher and Dubai in 2009 with Dimitry Tursunov.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Kitzbühel: Henri Kontinen and Jarkko Nieminen beat Daniele Bracciali and Andrey Golubev 6-1 6-4

Stanford: Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro beat Paula Kania and Katerina Siniakova 6-3 4-6 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Vancouver (men): Austin Krajicek and John-Patrick Smith beat Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak 6-3 4-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Vancouver (women): Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez beat Jamie Loeb and Allie Will 6-3 1-6 10-8 (match tiebreak)

Washington (men): Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau beat Sam Groth and Leander Paes 7-5 6-4

Washington (women): Shuko Aoyama and Gabriela Dabrowski beat Hiroko Kuwata and Kurumi Nara 6-1 6-2

 

SURFING

Toronto: www.rogerscup.com/men/english/home.php

 

Montreal: www.rogerscup.com/women/english/home.php

Aptos: http://seascapesportsclub.com/challenger

Cincinnati: www.cincytennis.com/

Bogotá: www.countryclubdebogota.com

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

MEN

$3,146,920 Rogers Cup, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, hard

$100,000 Comerica Bank Challenger, Aptos, California, USA, hard

WOMEN

$2,139,320 Coupe Rogers présentée par Banque Nationale, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

MEN

$3,079,555 Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, hard

WOMEN

$2,266,250 Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, hard

$100,000 Seguros Bolivar Open, Bogotá, Colombia, clay

 

Serena Williams
Serena Wiliams

Serbs and Czechs Win To Set Up Davis Cup Final – Mondays With Bob Greene

by

Mondays with Bob Greene

 

16 September 2013

 

STARS

 

US Open

Men’s Singles: Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1

 

OTHER

Lucie Safarova beat Marina Erakovic 6-4 6-3 to win the Bell Challenge inQuébecCity,Québec,Canada

Bojana Jovanovski beat Olga Govortsova 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) to win the Tashkent Open inTashkent,Uzbekistan

 

DAVIS CUP

 

World Group Semifinals

Serbia beat Canada 3-2 at Belgrade,Serbia

CzechRepublic beat Argentina 3-2 atPrague,Czech Republic

 

World Group Playoffs

(Winners are in 2014 World Group)

Spainbeat Ukraine5-0 at Madrid, Spain

 

NetherlandsbeatAustria5-0 atGroningen,Netherlands

Great BritainbeatCroatia4-1 atUmag,Croatia

Switzerlandbeat Ecuador4-1 at Neufchatel, Switzerland

Germanybeat Brazil4-1 at Warsaw, Poland

Belgium beat Israel 3-2 at Antwerp, Belgium

Japan beat Colombia 3-2 at Tokyo, Japan

 

Group I Second Round Playoff

Americas Zone: Chile beat Dominican Republic 4-1 at Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic; Asia/Oceania Zone: Chinese Taipei beat Indonesia 5-0 at Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

 

Group I First Round Playoff

Europe/Africa Zone: Slovenia beat South Africa 4-1 at Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

Group II Third Round

Americas Zone: Venezuela beat El Salvador 3-1 at Ciudad Merliot, El Salvador; Asia/Oceania Zone: New Zealand beat Philippines 3-2 at Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines; Europe/Africa Zone: Latvia beat Finland 3-2 at Riga, Latvia

 

SAYING

“This was like the World Cup for us.” – Novak Djokovic, after leading Serbia past Canada and into the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic.

“We would like to keep the trophy because it’s beautiful. This competition means a lot to us.” – Radek Stepanek, who teamed with Tomas Berdych to lead the Davis Cup defending champion Czech Republic team to a semifinal win over Argentina.

“I hope it’s not another five years until the next (title).” – Lucie Safarova, who won the Bell Challenge, her first WTA title in five years.

“I love playing here. I was too young when I came here for the first time, then last year I reached the quarterfinals, and now this. It’s a great feeling to do so well here after being here for the last three years in a row.” – Bojana Jovanovski, after winning in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“We’ve been working a lot over the last few years to play more as a team and less as individuals, and we really complemented each other well here in Québec. We really understand each other now.” – Anastasia Rodionova, after teaming with Alla Kudryavtseva to win the Bell Challenge doubles.

“To me he’s better than ever. He’s moving better, it was amazing to see how much he wanted it. His will to win … I’ve never seen anyone like it.” – John McEnroe, talking about Rafael Nadal’s US Open victory.

“I’ve had a tough year. I haven’t had too many matches, so it was good that I had to play the qualies. It’s great to finish this week on a good note. This title means a lot to me.” – Bojana Jovanovski, who won seven matches in eight days  to claim the title in Tashkent,Uzbekistan.

“At this moment, Italian women’s tennis is at its best with players like (Sara) Errani, (Roberta) Vinci, (Francesca) Schiavone, (Karin) Knapp, (Flavia) Pennetta and Camila (Giorgi) all in the Top 100. It has given players like me great motivation to keep improving. I feel like I want to prove myself too. Honestly, I really want to be there with them, I’m working hard, and hopefully sooner or later I’ll be there to share my name with all of them too.” – Nastassja Burnett.

“It was a very tough time to be out for nine months because of my knee and foot injuries – and it takes a lot of time to come back – but now I feel better and stronger with every passing day. My goal is to stay healthy and prevent any other injuries, and to get back into the Top 100 by the end of the year.” – Petra Cetkovska, who missed nearly nine months on the WTA Tour.

“Balancing marriage and tennis is hard but I’m thankful to my husband, who appreciates what I do. He knows playing tennis has always been my dream and he helps me a lot in my career, beyond doubt.” – Vesna Dolonc, on married life.

 

SPANISH REIGNS

When Rafael Nadal destroyed the world’s top-ranked player to win his second US Open and 13th Grand Slam tournament title, former players lined up to pay tribute to the Spanish left-hander. “It is one of the greatest years of all time and in my opinion it is probably the greatest year a tennis player has ever had,” John Lloyd said of Nadal’s return from a serious knee injury. Nadal has reached 12 finals this year, winning 10. He won all 22 matches he played on hard court in 2013 and posted a match record of 63-3 this year. Until Richard Gasquet broke Nadal in the semifinals at the year’s final major tournament, he had won 88 consecutive service games. The Spaniard is just one title away from Pete Sampras in the all-time list of male Grand Slam singles winners and four behind Roger Federer’s record of 17. “I think if he stays healthy he can easily win four or five more, no doubt about it,” said McEnroe, a seven-time major tournament champion. By winning the US Open, Nadal broke a tie with Roy Emerson and is now two titles ahead of two of the greatest champions in the sport, Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg. “Let’s hope that he stays healthy because it would be great for our sport – and somebody’s going to have to step up,” McEnroe said. Pat Cash, the 1987Wimbledon champion, said “Nadal could surpass Federer’s total of 17. That debate over who is the greatest is fun but pointless, but you can’t argue with eight French Opens and maybe more to come. … The only thing holding him back is his knees.”

 

SUSPENDED

Marin Cilic, once ranked as high as ninth in the world, has been handed a nine-month suspension for a doping violation. In making the announcement, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said the suspension was back-dated to May 1 and Cilic will be able to return to the ATP World Tour on January 31, 2014. Cilic tested positive for nikethamide, a stimulant, while he was at a tournament in Munich, Germany. The ITF said an independent tribunal found that Cilic ingested the stimulant inadvertently while taking glucose tablets “’and did not intend to enhance his performance in doing so.’” The 24-year-old from Croatia has not played since withdrawing from his second-round match at Wimbledon in June. He was ranked ninth in the world in early 2010 and is currently ranked 24th.

 

SECOND TITLE

Bojana Jovanovski could be excused if she was tired at the end of her stay in Uzbekistan. She had played – and won – seven matches in eight days. She was also jubilant, having won the Tashkent Open for her second WTA title. Jovanovski missed the main draw cut-off date, so had to play qualifying. She won both matches in straight sets to get into the main draw – and as the highest-ranked player in the field earned the top seeding. Playing seventh-seeded Galina Voskoboeva in the quarterfinals, Jovanovski was two points away from losing before the survived 1-6 6-4 7-6 (5). “I didn’t start well in the first set – it was so windy,” Jovanovski said. In the middle of the second set I got my rhythm and started being more aggressive. At the end I managed to win and I’m very happy about it.” In the final, Jovanovski bested unseeded Olga Govortsova in a match that lasted four minutes shy of three hours. “Anybody could have won this match today,” Jovanovski said. “It was a close match and all credit to Olga for an incredible battle. I’m so happy, and I didn’t really believe I could do it today.” Jovanovski won won atBakulast year. Govortsova has been in four finals, but has yet to win, losing to Lindsay Davenport inMemphisin 2008, to Francesca Schiavone inMoscow in 2009 and to Caroline Wozniacki in Ponte Vedra Beachin 2010.

 

SAFAROVA STOPS DROUGHT

It had been a long time since Lucie Safarova captured the big trophy. The Czech left-hander defeatedNew Zealand’s Marina Erakovic in the Bell Challenge final to capture her fifth WTA title, but her first in five years. “I hope it’s not another five years until the next (title),” Safarova said. The 26-year-old broke her opponent four times. “It was just about a few points today, but I was more consistent with my game and more aggressive, and I think that’s why I won,” said Safarova, who entered the tournament ranked 48th in the world. “My strategy was to try to go to her backhand side and just try to use my lefty shots as well as I could. I was a little bit nervous at the end because it was so long since my last WTA title.”

 

SWITCH IN THINKING

 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says Davis Cup should become “a mandatory event.”Great Britain’s top player “We’re told which events to play throughout the whole year,”Murray said. “They should make Davis Cup a mandatory event so it isn’t up for discussion.” Playing Davis Cup for the first time in two years, the Wimbledon champion led Great Britain past Croatia and back into the World Group for 2014. Now 26 years old, Murray played Davis Cup regularly when he was younger and is now unbeaten in 16 matches since losing to Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka in his debut. “It isn’t about prioritizing Davis Cup,”Murray said. “We, as tennis players, are told which tournaments to play. We don’t have much flexibility in our schedule at all, and that’s why I don’t understand why they don’t make Davis Cup a mandatory event. We are meant to play 18 mandatory events during the year, which is about 27, 28 weeks worth of tournaments, and we don’t get to decide which ones we do and don’t play.” The “mandatory events” count towards a player’s world rankings and includes the four Grand Slam tournaments – which aren’t actually mandatory – and the nine Masters 1000 events. Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the International Tennis Federation, said he found Murray’s suggestion “interesting.”

 

SWISS STARTER?

Now that Stanislas Wawrinka has led Switzerland back into the Davis Cup World Group, he would love to see Roger Federer join him for the 2014 international team competition. “My dream is that Roger would text me and say, ‘Go and win this tie and next year I’ll be a part of the team,’” Wawrinka said. Switzerland has never won the Davis Cup and Federer, the former world’s number one player, has only played one World Group level tie since 2004 – a 5-0 home loss to the United States in February 2012. Federer and Wawrinka teamed up to win the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

SCHOLARLY RUBIN

Remember Chanda Rubin? Winner of seven WTA titles and ranked as high as sixth in the world, the right-hander was inducted earlier this year into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Her fellow players remember that Chanda always had a book in her hands when she wasn’t playing. All of that studying has paid off. Rubin recently graduated cum laude from Harvard Extension School with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. At the recently concluded US Open, Rubin and Iva Majoli lost the Women’s Champion Doubles title to Martina Navratilova and Rennae Stubbs 6-2 6-4.

 

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Québec: Alla Kudryavtseva and Anastasia Rodionova beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4 6-3

Tashkent: Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova beat Olga Govortsova and Mandy Minella 6-3 6-3

 

SURFING

St. Petersburg: www.spbopen.ru

Metz: www.moselle-open.com

Szezecin: www.pekaoszczecinopen.pl

Seoul: www.kdbkoreaopen.com

Guangzhou: www.guangzhouopen.org/

Kuala Lumpur: www.malaysianopentennis.com

Bangkok: www.thailandopen.org

Tokyo: www.toray-ppo.co.jp

 

 

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)

 

MEN

$600,592 St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia, hard

$540,536 Moselle Open, Metz, France, hard
$140,339 Pekao Szczecin Open, Szczecin, Poland, clay

$125,000 Kaohsiung Tennis Challenger, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, hard

 

WOMEN

$500,000 KDB Korea Open, Seoul, Korea, hard

$500,000 GRC Bank Guangzhou International Women’s Open 2013,Guangzhou,China, hard

 

TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK

 

MEN

$875,500 Malaysian Open,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, hard

$567,530 Thailand Open,Bangkok,Thailand, hard

 

WOMEN

$2,369,000 Toray Pan Pacific Open,Tokyo,Japan, hard

 

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

Ferrer, Monaco and Nishikori through as Dolgopolov crashes out in Kuala Lumpur

by

Davydenko and Sijsling also move through to tomorrow’s singles quarterfinals;
Top three seeds in the doubles move into semifinals

Top seed Spaniard David Ferrer swept past Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes in today’s Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2012 second round match at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

The 29-year-old world No. 5 took some time to warm up to the courts before hitting his stride against the 27-year-old world No. 90 Russian. He struggled a little with his first serve at only 50% but took control with 76% of second service points won.

“It was a difficult match. The first set was close but after I won the set, I was better and more consistent,” said Ferrer, who will face surprise package Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands in the quarters.

“I have played him a few times. Few weeks ago, I beat him in the US Open and it was a tough match, so I will have to play really good against him,” said the Spaniard who is having the best year of his career in 2012 with five titles and numerous semifinal appearances.

Juan Monaco in action in Kuala Lumpur

Second seed world No. 11 Juan Monaco saw off the challenge of wild card Jimmy Wang 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 48 minutes to move into tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

Wang had a poor first serve percentage of 57% and double faulted four times, winning only 52% of points on serve. But 28-year-old Monaco, too, struggled a little for form with a number of poor serve returns and was still getting used to the indoor courts in his debut match here in Kuala Lumpur.

But whenever the 27-year-old Wang got into a decent position in the match, he would crumble under the nerves and struggled most with his backhand returns, which the Argentinean consistently attacked towards the end to take the victory.

“It’s my first match on indoor courts so overall it was an okay match for me. I am happy with the way I ended the match,” said Monaco, who is a clay court specialist.

Monaco will meet Canadian surprise package Vasek Pospisil tomorrow, whom he beat in the Rogers Cup last month, and said of the match: “It will be a difficult match as he has nothing to lose. We played a tough match in Toronto last month as well.”

Third seeded Japanese and Asian number one Kei Nishikori came from a set down to defeat world No.48 Ramos 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-1 in an epic two hour and 12 minute second round encounter.

In a first set peppered with long, high quality rallies, neither player was able to break the other’s serve game, and although 22-year-old Nishikori twice came back from 3-0 and 5-2 down in the first tie-break, he could not prevent the Spaniard from taking the first set.

After swapping breaks early in the second set, Nishikori got the decisive break in the sixth game en route to shutting his opponent out in the remainder of the set.

The pattern continued in the third set as the deflated 24-year-old Ramos was unable to match the court movement of his opponent and struggled to find the power serving form that saw him rack up 14 aces in the first round, only making two in the match.

In the end, Nishikori showed him how it was done with an ace on second serve to wrap the match up and set up his quarterfinal encounter with Davydenko.

Number four seeded Ukrainian world No. 20 Alexandr Dolgopolov’s much anticipated debut in the Malaysian Open 2012 fell short of expectations when he lost 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to Colombian Alejandro Falla in one hour and 31 minutes on Centre Court.

The 23-year-old Dolgopolov beat Falla in Brisbane earlier this year, but struggled to control his mercurial forehand as he acclimatised to the pace of the court, allowing mistakes to creep into his game.

“I started really bad and missed a lot of balls. I came back in the second set but it was an up and down match. I am not too happy with it,” said Dolgopolov after the match.

Falla, who is known as a little bit of a giant killer with nine Top 20 wins to his name (now ten), will meet Frenchmen Julien Benneteau tomorrow, and currently trails 2-1 head to head after defeats in 2006 and 2008.

In one of the closest fought singles matches in the tournament so far, Dutchman Igor Sijsling served a second round upset over fifth seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-2) in one hour and 31 minutes.

Both players played impeccably on serve, racking up 11 aces each, and neither was able to break each other’s serve throughout the match, except during the tie-breaks, where 31-year-old world No. 32 Lopez crumbled both times, allowing the lower ranked Sijsling (No. 97) to capitalise.

Malaysian Open 2009 champion and former world No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, moved into the quarterfinals for the third time in four attempts in this tournament after defeating Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 41 minutes.

In a match where both men struggled to hit their best form, the world No. 44 won the points that mattered against his opponent ranked just two spaces below at No. 46. As the 26-year-old Istomin mounted a late fight back in the tenth game of the second set, Davydenko saved the break point to end the contest in straight sets.

The Russian, who is coming in on good form after making the semifinal in Metz last week, lost to Nishikori in the second round of this year’s Olympics and said he would be pleased to face the Asian number one again.

“They are both good base line players. I lost to Nishikori in the Olympics and I would like to meet him again,” said the 31-year-old.

All singles quarterfinal matches take place tomorrow on Centre Court, starting from 2:15pm with Pospisil and Monaco kicking things off.

TOP THREE SEEDS IN DOUBLES MOVE INTO SEMIFINALS 

Meanwhile in the doubles quarterfinals, it was business as usual for the top three seeds.

Top seeded Polish pair Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg overcame a one set deficit to defeat the surprisingly effective scratch-pairing of Canadian Vasek Pospisil and Sanam Singh of India, with the super-tie breaker match ending 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in one hour and 25 minutes.

Second seeds Daniele Bracciali of Italy and Marcelo Melo of Brazil also booked their semifinal spot with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over the German pairing of Michael Khlmann and Frank Moser.

They will meet third seeded Austrian-Brazilian pair Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares, who moved on as expected into Saturday’s semifinal with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nikolay Davydenko and Belgian Dick Norman.

In the only upset, the Great Britain duo of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins ended the challenge of fourth seeded Austrian-Slovakian pairing of Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 super-tie breaker victory lasting one hour and 18 minutes. The Great Britons were strong on serve and served up eight aces in the course of victory.

In the only doubles semifinal clash taking place tomorrow, it will be the battle of Great Britain against Poland as Fleming and Hutchins attempt to prevent Matkowski and Fyrstenberg from making their third appearance in a Malaysian Open doubles final.

The tournament is supported by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and Tourism Malaysia and sponsors that include Rado, CNN International, the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Wilson, 100 Plus, the Albukhary Foundation, Astro and the ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Corona. The event is sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the official website, www.MalaysianOpenTennis.com.

Canadian Pospisil makes first ATP 250 quarterfinal as Lopez, Benneteau and Davydenko post first round wins

by

Singles draw kicks into high gear tomorrow as top four seeds Ferrer, Monaco, Nishikori and Dolgopolov start campaigns; Doubles top seeds move into quarters

Canadian number two and world No.122 Vasek Pospisil posted his first ever second round victory in an ATP 250 series tournament when he defeated qualifier Michael Yani of the USA 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 50 minutes on Centre Court to move into the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2012 held here at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil in Kuala Lumpur

Pospisil, who came into the tournament as the lowest ranked direct acceptance, is making the quarterfinal of an ATP 250 tournament for the first time, and will face the winner of the second round match between second seed world No. 11 Juan Monaco and wild card Jimmy Wang.

“It’s been a great tournament for me. I have had a few good matches and hopefully I can keep my level. I lost to Monaco in straight sets early this year but whomever I play, it will be tough and hopefully I play as well as I did today,” said the Canadian.

Fifth seed Feliciano Lopez also made it through to the second round after a hard fought 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Slovakian Lukas Lacko in one hour and 40 minutes on Centre Court.

Surprisingly, Lacko took an early lead and was up 3-0 in the first set before the world No. 32 Spaniard hit his stride and the Slovakian disintegrated to lose six straight games and the set.

In a tight second set, both men played at a very high level and with the excited crowd very much behind him, fifth seed Lopez held on to end the contest with an exquisite drop shot in the tenth point of the tie-break.

“I didn’t start very well and took some time to adjust. But after the third game I played better and better and took six games in a row. The second set was close as (Lacko) played well from the middle onwards,” said the 31-year-old, who celebrated his birthday last Thursday.

Lopez will meet Dutchman Igor Sijsling in tomorrow’s second round match, with the duo having never met before.

“I have not played him before but I am expecting another tough match because we have to accept that everyone plays very good at this level,” added Lopez.

Meanwhile, Frenchman Julien Benneteau served sweet revenge for his Indian Wells defeat earlier this year to Australia’s Matthew Ebden by winning 7-5, 6-2 in their second round singles encounter today that lasted one hour and 14 minutes.

Tournament seventh seed and world No.34 Benneteau is playing the tennis of his career and will pose a serious threat in the quarterfinal, where he will meet the winner of tomorrow’s encounter between fourth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov and Alejandro Falla.

The 2009 singles champ Nikolay Davydenko struggled a little in his first round match today against lucky loser Sanam Singh of India, but prevailed 7-5, 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes on Centre Court.

There were times it felt the 31-year-old Russian was still getting used to the court as he struggled to return the tenacious world No. 373 Indian’s serve, but when it mattered, his class showed as he wrapped up victory in straight sets.

“The Centre Court is a bit slow and you need time to have preparation. I made a lot of mistakes in control. Sometimes I have a few good shots, and then I make mistakes and I don’t know why,” said the slightly frustrated Russian after the match.

Davydenko will meet Uzbek Denis Istomin in tomorrow’s second round match, with the former world No.3 having beaten Istomin earlier this year on the clay courts of Nice in May.

“We played in Nice and I played a little bit better there. If I play tomorrow like how I played today, I have no chance. I will need to play better and be fit,” said Davydenko, who made the semifinals of the ATP 250 Moselle Open just last week.

Istomin had booked his path to the second round by easily disposing of sixth seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-2 in just 73 minutes, marking his second victory in 2012 over the Spaniard after February’s win on the hard courts of the Apia International in Sydney.

Colombian Alejandro Falla moved into the second round when American Rajeev Ram pulled out with an injury as their Centre Court match was poised at 7-6 (7-4), 4-2 in favour of the Colombian. Falla will face number four seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in tomorrow’s second round match.

Meanwhile, in the day’s first match on Court 1, world No. 90 Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia defeated qualifier and doubles specialist Dominic Inglot of Great Britain 7-5, 6-3 in just 66 minutes.

“He’s got a good serve and he places it well, but I didn’t face a break point against him so that was good,” said 29-year-old Bogomolov, who made the tough decision of switching nationalities from American to Russian this year to fulfill his dreams of playing in the Olympics and Davis Cup.

He will now face top seed David Ferrer for a spot in the quarterfinal and said of the match: “I’ve played a lot of top ten players this year. It is good and bad. Bad because someone has to go out, but positive also because we see how we match up against the top guys.”

STARS DESCEND TO COURT IN SECOND ROUND OF MALAYSIAN OPEN, KUALA LUMPUR

Top seeds David Ferrer, Juan Monaco, Kei Nishikori and Alexandr Dolgopolov will all take to centre court for the second round of the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2012 at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.

The first match on Centre Court scheduled for 1pm sees second seeded Argentinean world No. 11 Monaco make his long awaited Malaysian Open debut against wild card Jimmy Wang of Chinese Taipei.

Next up, in-form Denis Istomin, who beat sixth seed Pablo Andujar, takes on 2009 singles champion Russian Davydenko, who struggled a little with the pace of the Centre Court today, for a spot in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Fourth seed world No. 20 Ukrainian Dolgopolov will take on Colombian Alejandro Falla in the third centre court match starting not before 3pm, with the latter confident of matching his higher ranked 23-year-old opponent.

“Dolgopolov is a favourite but I feel I can play well against him. It was a close match the last time and we both know each other’s games. I have to play my best to beat him,” said 28-year-old Falla.

Next, third time participant and third seed Kei Nishikori of Japan plays his much anticipated second round encounter with Spaniard Albert Ramos, who showed terrific form in beating qualifier Julian Knowle in the first round. The match is scheduled to start not before 6.30pm.

Top seed world No. 5 David Ferrer makes his 2012 tournament debut against Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the day’s final and most anticipated match on Centre Court starting not before 7.30pm.

TOP SEEDS THROUGH IN DOUBLES AS ALL QUARTERFINAL MATCHES SET TO BE CONTESTED TOMORROW

In the doubles draw today, top seeds and 2009 tournament champions Mariusz Frystenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland eased into the quarterfinals with a straightforward 6-1, 6-3 win over Malaysian doubles wild card pairing of Mohd Assri Merzuki and Syed Mohd Agil Syed Naguib.

The top seeds rarely got out of second gear and allowed their teenage debutants to warm to the challenge and put up a good show for the home crowd, especially at the start of the second set.

The Polish duo will face the Canadian-Indian surprise package of Vasek Pospisil and Sanam Singh in tomorrow’s quarterfinal match.

German pairing of Michael Kohlmann and Frank Moser also moved into the doubles quarterfinals after a come from behind super tie-breaker victory over the Philippine-Great Briton pairing of Treat Conrad Huey and Dominic Inglot, winning 5-7, 6-3 (11-9) in one hour and 29 minutes.

The result could be considered an upset as Huey and Inglot are ranked higher in the ATP doubles ranking and the German duo have only played as a pair three times before back in 2008. They will meet second seeded Italian-Brazilian pairing of Daniele Bracciali and Marcelo Melo in tomorrow’s last match on Court 1.

In the first of the four quarterfinal doubles matches played tomorrow, fourth seeds Julian Knowle of Austria and Slovakian partner Filip Polasek take to Court 1 against the Great Briton pairing of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins.

In the only other final quarterfinal, Nikolay Davydenko and Belgium partner Dick Norman will attempt to beat the odds as they face third seeds Alexander Peya of Austria and Brazilian Bruno Soares.

Tickets for tomorrow are priced at RM15 (RM10 for students) for regular seating, RM20 for reserved seating and RM50 for VIP seats. Tickets can be purchased at the tournament official website www.malaysianopentennis.com.

The tournament is supported by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and Tourism Malaysia and sponsors that include Rado, CNN International, the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Wilson, 100 Plus, the Albukhary Foundation, Astro and the ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Corona. The event is sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia.

Yani and Pospisil star in day of first round upsets at the Malaysian Open

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Qualifier Michael Yani knocks out fellow American Brian Baker while Jurgen Melzer’s injury gifts Pospisil second round berth; Two of top four doubles seeds in action tomorrow

Singapore-born American Michael Yani pulled off the upset of the tournament so far when he defeated compatriot Brian Baker 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in one hour and 41 mins in the day’s final match on Centre Court here at the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur 2012 held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

Qualifying for the main draw of this tournament for the second time in three attempts, Yani is only ranked No. 238 in the ATP rankings, while 27-year-old Brian Baker has been having the season of his career after returning from a long term injury layoff, climbing up several hundred ranking spots up to No. 62 in the last year.

MIchael Yani in Kuala Lumpur

The match wasn’t to follow the script, however, as 31-year-old Yani took the first set convincingly, and although he was down 4-2 in the second, he broke Baker back to force the match into a tie-break.

With the tie-break finely poised at 3-5 with Baker on serve, the American took a tumble when trying to retrieve an excellent drop shot from the resurgent Yani. Following a three minute delay for treatment, Baker got back up to play but double-faulted immediately and allowed Yani to serve for a truly memorable victory.

Meanwhile, Canadian world No. 122 Vasek Pospisil moved on to the second round of the Malaysian Open after Austrian eight seed and world No. 37 Jurgen Melzer pulled out midway in the second set of their first round match that stood at 6-4, 2-0 after 54 minutes.

In their first time playing each other, the 22-year-old Pospisil controlled the match from the start by breaking the Austrian as early as the second game. Melzer completed the first set, but midway through the second, decided he could not compete further and retired with a left leg quadriceps injury.

“I had been playing well in practice and I wasn’t surprised when I took the first set as I was in good form,” said Pospisil, who is second only to Milos Raonic in Canada and hopes to break back into the top 100 by year end.

Pospisil will meet Michael Yani in the second round, guaranteeing at least one of them their best ever finish in an ATP 250 tournament this year.

Wild card entry and one of only two Asians left in the singles main draw, Jimmy Wang of Chinese Taipei overcame Italian qualifier and world No. 277 Riccardo Ghedin 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 27 minutes to move into second round.

Back in late 2010 from two wrist surgeries that kept him off the tour for close to three years, the No. 153 ranked Wang served well and had nine aces to his opponent’s one – and only got broken once, in the first set.

“It’s the first time I am playing him but I saw him play yesterday and maybe that helped a little,” said the 27-year-old.

Wang will need to pull off the upset of the tournament if he is to proceed past the second round, as he will be up against world No. 11 and singles second seed Juan Monaco of Argentina next.

“I have never played him before but watched him many times. He is a solid player and I’ll just do my best against him,” said Wang of his chances.

Meanwhile, in the day’s first match, teenage Malaysian wild card Ariez Elyaas Deen Heshaam put up a valiant effort but fell tamely in the end to world No. 97 Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands, losing 6-2, 6-1 in just 50 minutes on Centre Court.

Currently the country’s top ranked tennis player after picking up his first ATP ranking point last year, the 18-year-old is also the youngest participant in the tournament and is playing his first ever singles main draw match in an ATP 250 tournament.

“I started confidently and I think he was maybe a little nervous, but once he found his rhythm, it was very difficult for me to keep up,” said Ariez, who held serve in the first game and even broke his opponent in the fourth game of the first set.

“I think there is definitely improvement from last year. I don’t think it is impossible for me to play at this level. Physically, I have to be stronger, and if I keep going I know I can get there,” he added.

The 25-year-old Sijsling will meet the winner of the match between Spain’s eighth seeded Feliciano Lopez and Slovak Lukas Lacko in the second round.

Three more first round singles matches tomorrow as doubles main draw also gets underway

Doubles specialist Julian Knowle of Austria takes on in-form Spaniard Albert Ramos in the first Centre Court match tomorrow.

Knowle, playing singles for the first time since 2005, is not likely to put up much of a challenge in his first match-up against 24-year-old world No. 48 Ramos, who reached his career high of No. 38 in July when he made the quarterfinal of the ATP 250 SkiStar Swedish Open and the ATP 500 German Tennis Championships. Ramos was also a finalist at the ATP 250 Grand Prix Hassan II held in Casablanca this April.

Seventh seeded Julien Benneteau will take on Argentinean Carlos Berlocq in their first round match, with the duo having last met back in the 2007 Roland Garros, where Berlocq came from a set down to defeat the Frenchman in the first round.

However, both players reached their career best rankings earlier this year, with Bennetaeu currently ranked higher at No. 34 and Berlocq at No. 49.

Bennetaeu can probably boast the better form with some great matches this year, including leading Roger Federer by two sets to nil in the Wimbledon third round, before succumbing to the world number two.

Twenty-year-old Russian Philip Davydenko, the final remaining wild card and nephew of 2009 tournament champion Nikolay Davydenko, will take on Matthew Ebden on Court 1 tomorrow for the only other first round singles match being contested.

The Russian, ranked outside the top 1000, is likely to find the going tough against the No. 64 ranked 24-year-old Australian, who is playing the best tennis of his career this year. The winner of this tie will meet with the winner of the match between Benneteau and Berlocq.

The doubles main draw also kicks off tomorrow with five of the eight first round matches being contested and two of the top four seeded pairings in play.

The second seeded pairing of Daniele Bracciali of Italy and Brazilian Marcelo Melo will take on the American duo of Rajeev Ram and Brian Baker in the day’s last match on Court 1.

Rajeev Ram is fresh from winning his first doubles title of the year at the St. Petersburg Open in Russia just last week, together with Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic.

Meanwhile, third seeds Bruno Soares of Brazil and Austrian partner Alexander Peya will play wildcard duo Jimmy Wang and Malaysian veteran Si Yew Ming on Centre Court not before 6.30pm.

Tournament singles champion in 2009, Nikolay Davydenko will take to court for his doubles campaign tomorrow, partnering Belgium’s Dick Norman as they face the Russian-Uzbek pairing of Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin in the first round.

Colombian Alejandro Falla and Igor Sijsling are up against Great Briton duo Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins, with the tie scheduled for 2pm on Court 1.

Meanwhile, Melzer, who will have an MRI in the morning, may still return to the court in his doubles match, partnering second seeded singles Juan Monaco of Argentina, and playing against the US-Australian pairing of James Cerretani and Matthew Ebden in the day’s last match scheduled for Centre Court.

Both David Ferrer and Juan Monaco arrived in KL today ahead of their singles debuts on Thursday.

The tournament is supported by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia and Tourism Malaysia and sponsors that include Rado, CNN International, the DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur, Wilson, 100 Plus, the Albukhary Foundation, Astro and the ATP World Tour’s Premier Partner Corona. The event is sanctioned by the Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia.