Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Select your timezone:
Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time on Friday as the 30th seed beat American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2 at the Australian Open.
Bouchard, 19, became the first Canadian woman to reach the round of 16 in Australia since Maureen Drake in 1999. Alexsandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., got this far at the French Open in 2009 before losing to Serena Williams.
"I thought I played well, tried to be aggressive, really tried to control the point," said Bouchard.
Davis, No. 68 on the WTA's singles list, lost in 70 minutes as both players battled on the fifth day of a record heat wave and temperatures in the mid-40s C.
"It was definitely hot today, the hottest I felt in any of my matches so far," said Bouchard. "I was happy to win in straight sets."
Bouchard, the 30th seed, will next play unseeded Australian Casey Dellacqua, who beat Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 6-4.
Bouchard earned her quick win on a second match point, which she set up with a forehand winner in the corner after a 16-shot rally.
The Montrealer took a 5-1 lead in the opening set yet failed to serve out in the next game, with Davis climbing to 2-5. Bouchard took the opener in the next game before taking control and running out the victory.
Bouchard ended the match with four aces, breaking on five of eight chances, with 18 winners and 23 unforced errors.
"I always want to do better, I think it's just a step in the process," Bouchard said of her fourth-round achievement.
"I'm trying to always improve on the court. I think I played better today, that's what I'm most happy about."
Dellacqua, unseeded in Melbourne and ranked No. 120 in the world, said she will face a battle against what she called Bouchard's great serve.
"It's going to be another challenge for me," Dellacqua said. "I know it will be tough against Eugenie."
Bouchard also won her opening doubles match with last-minute partner Vera Dushevina of Russia. They defeated beating Yalena Solovieva and Elena Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 in a meeting of unseeded pairs.
Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., the 11th seed, will play his third round match on Saturday against No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
Eugenie Bouchard reaches 4th round at Australian Open - CBC Sports - Tennis
Bouchard, 19, became the first Canadian woman to reach the round of 16 in Australia since Maureen Drake in 1999. Alexsandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., got this far at the French Open in 2009 before losing to Serena Williams.
"I thought I played well, tried to be aggressive, really tried to control the point," said Bouchard.
Davis, No. 68 on the WTA's singles list, lost in 70 minutes as both players battled on the fifth day of a record heat wave and temperatures in the mid-40s C.
"It was definitely hot today, the hottest I felt in any of my matches so far," said Bouchard. "I was happy to win in straight sets."
Bouchard, the 30th seed, will next play unseeded Australian Casey Dellacqua, who beat Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 6-4.
Bouchard earned her quick win on a second match point, which she set up with a forehand winner in the corner after a 16-shot rally.
The Montrealer took a 5-1 lead in the opening set yet failed to serve out in the next game, with Davis climbing to 2-5. Bouchard took the opener in the next game before taking control and running out the victory.
Bouchard ended the match with four aces, breaking on five of eight chances, with 18 winners and 23 unforced errors.
"I always want to do better, I think it's just a step in the process," Bouchard said of her fourth-round achievement.
"I'm trying to always improve on the court. I think I played better today, that's what I'm most happy about."
Dellacqua, unseeded in Melbourne and ranked No. 120 in the world, said she will face a battle against what she called Bouchard's great serve.
"It's going to be another challenge for me," Dellacqua said. "I know it will be tough against Eugenie."
Bouchard also won her opening doubles match with last-minute partner Vera Dushevina of Russia. They defeated beating Yalena Solovieva and Elena Svitolina of the Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 in a meeting of unseeded pairs.
Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., the 11th seed, will play his third round match on Saturday against No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
Eugenie Bouchard reaches 4th round at Australian Open - CBC Sports - Tennis
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Serena Williams' long winning streak came to an end in a stunning fourth-round defeat to Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open on Sunday.
Ivanovic hadn't won a set in her four previous matches against Williams, who had been a hot favorite to win a sixth Australian Open crown for her 18th Grand Slam title. Williams later admitted she'd been bothered by a back problem in practice in recent days and considered pulling out of the tournament.
The No. 14-seeded Ivanovic set up the 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win by attacking the best serve in women's tennis. She frequently stood well inside the baseline to receive, she took big swipes on her forehand and generally put Williams off her rhythm.
"It's not easy playing such a champion ... but she is also just a human,'' said Ivanovic, who beat Venus Williams in the final of the WTA event at Auckland, New Zealand earlier this month. ``I just went out there swinging at the ball.''
Williams hadn't lost a match since August, one of only four defeats in 2013, and came into the fourth round with 25 straight wins. It was her 70th match at Melbourne Park, a record in the Open era, and she'd already set the mark for most match wins ever at the Australian Open with her third-round victory.
"It wasn't the best,'' Williams said after being told her coach had released news of her back problem.
"Again, I don't want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit,'' Williams added. "I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her shots. It's not like I gave her the match.''
Williams has been almost perfect after winning the first set in Australian Open matches, losing only once in 52 previous matches after winning the opening set. That single previous defeat was against fellow American Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals last year.
Ivanovic got on top early in the second set with some powerful forehand winners and never really let Williams back into the contest.
The 2008 French Open champion had 33 winners, including 20 on her forehand side.
Williams hit 22 winners but made 31 unforced errors, with most coming uncharacteristically on her backhand side.
"I made a tremendous amount of errors, shots ... I haven't missed since the `80s,'' Williams said.
Ivanovic advanced to a quarterfinal against the winner of Sunday's later match between Australian wild-card entry Casey Dellacqua and No. 30-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
The other quarterfinal on this half will feature two women who'll turn 32 next month, with two-time finalist Li Na beating No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-0 and No. 28 Flavia Pennetta upsetting No. 9 Angelique Kerber 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Tennis: Ivanovic ends Williams' streak at Aussie Open - Sport - NZ Herald News
Ivanovic hadn't won a set in her four previous matches against Williams, who had been a hot favorite to win a sixth Australian Open crown for her 18th Grand Slam title. Williams later admitted she'd been bothered by a back problem in practice in recent days and considered pulling out of the tournament.
The No. 14-seeded Ivanovic set up the 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win by attacking the best serve in women's tennis. She frequently stood well inside the baseline to receive, she took big swipes on her forehand and generally put Williams off her rhythm.
"It's not easy playing such a champion ... but she is also just a human,'' said Ivanovic, who beat Venus Williams in the final of the WTA event at Auckland, New Zealand earlier this month. ``I just went out there swinging at the ball.''
Williams hadn't lost a match since August, one of only four defeats in 2013, and came into the fourth round with 25 straight wins. It was her 70th match at Melbourne Park, a record in the Open era, and she'd already set the mark for most match wins ever at the Australian Open with her third-round victory.
"It wasn't the best,'' Williams said after being told her coach had released news of her back problem.
"Again, I don't want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit,'' Williams added. "I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her shots. It's not like I gave her the match.''
Williams has been almost perfect after winning the first set in Australian Open matches, losing only once in 52 previous matches after winning the opening set. That single previous defeat was against fellow American Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals last year.
Ivanovic got on top early in the second set with some powerful forehand winners and never really let Williams back into the contest.
The 2008 French Open champion had 33 winners, including 20 on her forehand side.
Williams hit 22 winners but made 31 unforced errors, with most coming uncharacteristically on her backhand side.
"I made a tremendous amount of errors, shots ... I haven't missed since the `80s,'' Williams said.
Ivanovic advanced to a quarterfinal against the winner of Sunday's later match between Australian wild-card entry Casey Dellacqua and No. 30-seeded Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
The other quarterfinal on this half will feature two women who'll turn 32 next month, with two-time finalist Li Na beating No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-0 and No. 28 Flavia Pennetta upsetting No. 9 Angelique Kerber 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
Tennis: Ivanovic ends Williams' streak at Aussie Open - Sport - NZ Herald News
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Moments before she started pounding the first of her many winners past Serena Williams at the Australian Open, Ana Ivanovic listened intently to the announcer on Rod Laver Arena outlining the extraordinary accomplishments of the woman soon to be across the net from her.
Williams, a five-time champion at Melbourne Park, won 78 of her 82 matches in 2013, and was coming into the fourth round on the second-longest winning streak of her career 25 matches.
It was her 70th match at the Australian Open, a record in the Open Era. And then, of course, there's the 17 major singles championships.
"When we were starting the match and they were talking about all her Grand Slam titles, it was quite impressive," Ivanovic said, recalling the pre-match introductions. "But I didn't think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get overwhelming."
True to her word, Ivanovic, who had never won a set against Williams in four previous meetings, took on the biggest serve in women's tennis without fear. And she hit pinpoint forehands 20 of 33 winners were on that side to all areas of the court. Williams, who later revealed she was carrying a back injury, didn't even bother trying to chase some of them down.
Just under two hours later, it was game, set and match: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and an upset victory to put Ivanovic into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time since her run to the final in 2008.
"It's not easy playing such a champion ... but she is also just a human," said Ivanovic. "I just went out there swinging." Williams never got into the swing of things, at least not to way Ivanovic expected. She noticed from the outset that Williams' serve seemed to lack its usual zip. Williams also made some very uncharacteristic errors on her backhand, a telltale sign of back pain.
"It wasn't the best," Williams admitted later, sounding surprised when asked about the back injury. Her coach had let it slip after the players walked off the court that Williams had been experiencing back pain for days.
"Again, I don't want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit," Williams added. "I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her shots. It's not like I gave her the match." Ivanovic will next play 19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who had a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0 win over local hope Casey Dellacqua.
The other quarterfinal in Ivanovic's half will feature two-time finalist Li Na, who beat No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-0, and No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, who defeated No. 9 Angelique Kerber 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
The men's draw progressed more according to rankings when three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and No. 3 David Ferrer advanced to the quarterfinals, along with No. 7 Tomas Berdych and No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka.
Djokovic continued his bid for a fourth straight Australian title with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini. Ferrer beat Florian Mayer 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 and will next play Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist.
Djokovic will play Wawrinka, who finished off the Sunday night program at Rod Laver with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) win over Tommy Robredo.
"I've been elevating my game as the tournament is going on," said Djokovic, who later entertained the crowd with an impersonation of his new coach, Boris Becker. "The general feeling on the court, all the shots, using the court position really well, being aggressive, playing my style of the game."
Tomorrow, Djokovic's major threats to the title top-seeded Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and 17-time Grand Slam singles winner Roger Federer will play their fourth-round matches. Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka and No. 3 Maria Sharapova are in action on the women's side.
Ivanovic will have the day off she's planning a celebratory dinner with some of her Serbian relatives who live in Melbourne.
Asked if having Williams out of any Grand Slam makes a difference, Ivanovic said it "definitely" did, then explained why in effusive terms.
"I think she's done so much for the sport, and she's still doing it," Ivanovic said. "She's such a great athlete and a great person to have on tour. We want her, because it pushes us."
With the challenge met on Sunday, Ivanovic, at the urging of several fans, attempted to throw a souvenir towel into the stands. The breeze blew it back at her.
She was plainly off the mark, perhaps for the only time all day.
Ana Ivanovic stuns the tennis world - Tennis News | TVNZ
Williams, a five-time champion at Melbourne Park, won 78 of her 82 matches in 2013, and was coming into the fourth round on the second-longest winning streak of her career 25 matches.
It was her 70th match at the Australian Open, a record in the Open Era. And then, of course, there's the 17 major singles championships.
"When we were starting the match and they were talking about all her Grand Slam titles, it was quite impressive," Ivanovic said, recalling the pre-match introductions. "But I didn't think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get overwhelming."
True to her word, Ivanovic, who had never won a set against Williams in four previous meetings, took on the biggest serve in women's tennis without fear. And she hit pinpoint forehands 20 of 33 winners were on that side to all areas of the court. Williams, who later revealed she was carrying a back injury, didn't even bother trying to chase some of them down.
Just under two hours later, it was game, set and match: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and an upset victory to put Ivanovic into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time since her run to the final in 2008.
"It's not easy playing such a champion ... but she is also just a human," said Ivanovic. "I just went out there swinging." Williams never got into the swing of things, at least not to way Ivanovic expected. She noticed from the outset that Williams' serve seemed to lack its usual zip. Williams also made some very uncharacteristic errors on her backhand, a telltale sign of back pain.
"It wasn't the best," Williams admitted later, sounding surprised when asked about the back injury. Her coach had let it slip after the players walked off the court that Williams had been experiencing back pain for days.
"Again, I don't want to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit," Williams added. "I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her shots. It's not like I gave her the match." Ivanovic will next play 19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who had a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0 win over local hope Casey Dellacqua.
The other quarterfinal in Ivanovic's half will feature two-time finalist Li Na, who beat No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-0, and No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, who defeated No. 9 Angelique Kerber 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
The men's draw progressed more according to rankings when three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and No. 3 David Ferrer advanced to the quarterfinals, along with No. 7 Tomas Berdych and No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka.
Djokovic continued his bid for a fourth straight Australian title with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini. Ferrer beat Florian Mayer 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 and will next play Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist.
Djokovic will play Wawrinka, who finished off the Sunday night program at Rod Laver with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) win over Tommy Robredo.
"I've been elevating my game as the tournament is going on," said Djokovic, who later entertained the crowd with an impersonation of his new coach, Boris Becker. "The general feeling on the court, all the shots, using the court position really well, being aggressive, playing my style of the game."
Tomorrow, Djokovic's major threats to the title top-seeded Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and 17-time Grand Slam singles winner Roger Federer will play their fourth-round matches. Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka and No. 3 Maria Sharapova are in action on the women's side.
Ivanovic will have the day off she's planning a celebratory dinner with some of her Serbian relatives who live in Melbourne.
Asked if having Williams out of any Grand Slam makes a difference, Ivanovic said it "definitely" did, then explained why in effusive terms.
"I think she's done so much for the sport, and she's still doing it," Ivanovic said. "She's such a great athlete and a great person to have on tour. We want her, because it pushes us."
With the challenge met on Sunday, Ivanovic, at the urging of several fans, attempted to throw a souvenir towel into the stands. The breeze blew it back at her.
She was plainly off the mark, perhaps for the only time all day.
Ana Ivanovic stuns the tennis world - Tennis News | TVNZ
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Eugenie Bouchard is the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in 30 years after a stunning upset of Ana Ivanovic at the Australian Open.
Bouchard, the 30th seed, overcame Serbia's Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Monday, making the Montreal native just the second Canadian to ever compete in a Grand Slam singles semi.
The last Canadian to go to the semis at a major was Toronto's Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open.
Bouchard's final-four spot is the first for a Canadian in Melbourne. The 19-year-old did it in just under two and a half hours.
"We had a tough match, she was playing well at times," said Bouchard. "When she did there was not much I could do. I kept fighting, played aggressive and stepped it up in the second and third sets.
"The most important thing is to enjoy it out there and that's what I've been doing. I tried to stay calm and go for my short, that's when I play my best."
Bouchard will play next against China's Li Na, the fourth seed, after the former French Open champion defeated Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2.
"I played (Li) in Montreal in 2012, we had a tough battle but I was not so experienced back then," said Bouchard. "This time I'll be ready. She won't give me many chances so I'll have to take any that I get."
Bouchard's ranking should rise into the top 20 as a result of her success, according to WTA calculations. She also beat Ivanovic, a former world No. 1 and 14th seed, last year in the second round of Wimbledon.
Bouchard stayed calm under pressure from an opponent who won the 2008 French Open but was treated repeatedly for thigh injuries, ending with seven breaks of serve and 47 winners.
Bouchard made a charging start with a love game and saved a pair of break points in the third game for 2-1. But she lost her way in the seventh game to begin what turned into a run of five consecutive breaks.
From 5-5 when she saved two break points Bouchard lost 8-of-9 points, six through unforced errors.
The experienced Ivanovic broke for 6-5 and finally claimed the set after 47 minutes on her fourth chance, with Bouchard saving a third set-winner on an Ivanovic error before netting a backhand.
In the second set, Bouchard kept calm as she began to make up ground, taking a 3-1 lead on a break. But Ivanovic showed her own fight in a 10-minute seventh game, which the Serb won to break back 4-5 after six deuces.
Ivanovic was then taken off court by a trainer for treatment on a thigh, with Bouchard forced to wait for more than seven minutes. As she waited, Bouchard's approximately dozen-strong, Aussie-born "Genie Army" chanted. They've presented her with a new stuffed animal doll after each match.
Bouchard came straight back when play resumed, breaking Ivanovic to love with a winner to the corner but again failed to hold the break, with Ivanovic coming back for 4-5 and serving to five-all.
Bouchard levelled at a set each as Ivanovic double-faulted twice in the final game to hand over a 7-5 result.
Bouchard began the third set with another double and went down a break 1-3, then reached 5-2 as she sent Ivanovic chasing helpless to the far corner of the court in pursuit of a winner.
She closed out victory with a forehand winner to the corner for a seventh break of serve.
Eugenie Bouchard advances to Australian Open semifinals - CBC Sports - Tennis
Bouchard, the 30th seed, overcame Serbia's Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Monday, making the Montreal native just the second Canadian to ever compete in a Grand Slam singles semi.
The last Canadian to go to the semis at a major was Toronto's Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open.
Bouchard's final-four spot is the first for a Canadian in Melbourne. The 19-year-old did it in just under two and a half hours.
"We had a tough match, she was playing well at times," said Bouchard. "When she did there was not much I could do. I kept fighting, played aggressive and stepped it up in the second and third sets.
"The most important thing is to enjoy it out there and that's what I've been doing. I tried to stay calm and go for my short, that's when I play my best."
Bouchard will play next against China's Li Na, the fourth seed, after the former French Open champion defeated Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2.
"I played (Li) in Montreal in 2012, we had a tough battle but I was not so experienced back then," said Bouchard. "This time I'll be ready. She won't give me many chances so I'll have to take any that I get."
Bouchard's ranking should rise into the top 20 as a result of her success, according to WTA calculations. She also beat Ivanovic, a former world No. 1 and 14th seed, last year in the second round of Wimbledon.
Bouchard stayed calm under pressure from an opponent who won the 2008 French Open but was treated repeatedly for thigh injuries, ending with seven breaks of serve and 47 winners.
Bouchard made a charging start with a love game and saved a pair of break points in the third game for 2-1. But she lost her way in the seventh game to begin what turned into a run of five consecutive breaks.
From 5-5 when she saved two break points Bouchard lost 8-of-9 points, six through unforced errors.
The experienced Ivanovic broke for 6-5 and finally claimed the set after 47 minutes on her fourth chance, with Bouchard saving a third set-winner on an Ivanovic error before netting a backhand.
In the second set, Bouchard kept calm as she began to make up ground, taking a 3-1 lead on a break. But Ivanovic showed her own fight in a 10-minute seventh game, which the Serb won to break back 4-5 after six deuces.
Ivanovic was then taken off court by a trainer for treatment on a thigh, with Bouchard forced to wait for more than seven minutes. As she waited, Bouchard's approximately dozen-strong, Aussie-born "Genie Army" chanted. They've presented her with a new stuffed animal doll after each match.
Bouchard came straight back when play resumed, breaking Ivanovic to love with a winner to the corner but again failed to hold the break, with Ivanovic coming back for 4-5 and serving to five-all.
Bouchard levelled at a set each as Ivanovic double-faulted twice in the final game to hand over a 7-5 result.
Bouchard began the third set with another double and went down a break 1-3, then reached 5-2 as she sent Ivanovic chasing helpless to the far corner of the court in pursuit of a winner.
She closed out victory with a forehand winner to the corner for a seventh break of serve.
Eugenie Bouchard advances to Australian Open semifinals - CBC Sports - Tennis
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Novak Djokovic continued an upsetting trend at the Australian Open. The three-time defending champion joined Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as unexpected early departures from the season's first major with a quarterfinal loss Tuesday night to Stanislas Wawrinka.
Djokovic came into the match with 28 consecutive wins since losing last year's U.S Open final to Rafael Nadal, and 25 in a row at Melbourne Park since 2010.
But the figure that really mattered was 14 the number of consecutive matches in which Djokovic had beaten Wawrinka back to 2007, including two five-set wins the last time they met in Grand Slam matches last year at the Australian and U.S Opens.
Djokovic held off Wawrinka 12-10 in the fifth set in a 5-hour, 2-minute fourth-rounder here last year the longest Grand Slam match of the season.
All those streaks ended in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 win Tuesday by Wawrinka, Roger Federer's sometimes Swiss doubles partner and who is into the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
"Fourteen is enough," Wawrinka said. "After losing two times against him in Grand Slam in five sets, I'm really happy to take that one."
Federer, who will play Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in a quarterfinal on Wednesday, tweeted: "So deserving for Stan the man ..."
The match, which included a five-minute rain delay with Wawrinka serving at 5-5 in the deciding set, lasted exactly four hours and featured long rallies that tested the resolve, patience and shot-making ability of both players.
At the end, it was a mis-hit from Wawrinka on a service return that set up match point. Djokovic chased it to the net but his cross-court drop shot was too wide. He then missed a volley on match point.
"Didn't want to let him win that one," Warwinka said. "Got a little bit lucky in the last one. He missed easy shots. But in general in the fifth set I think I went for it."
Djokovic was quick to praise Wawrinka, heading to his media interview obligations just minutes after the match ended.
Djokovic said the final points were disappointing, but he gave his all.
"This is sport. I mean, he showed his mental strength and he deserved to win,'' Djokovic said.
"I know that I (fought) all the way through and laid my heart out there.
"It's a battle. One of us has to lose.''
"He took his opportunities. He deserved his big win today," Djokovic said. "There's nothing I can say. I gave it my best, I gave it my all. It wasn't to be this time. He showed his mental strength and he deserved to win."
After reaching the semifinals at back-to-back majors for the first time, the 28-year-old Wawrinka will be playing for a place in his first Grand Slam final in 36 attempts dating back to 2005 when he meets No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat third-ranked David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Eugenie Bouchard is playing in just her fourth major, and already has advanced to the last four in the tournament. The 19-year-old Bouchard became the first Canadian to make the semifinals of the Australian Open and only the second player from her country to make the semis of any Grand Slam when she beat Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. It was a big win, considering Ivanovic had knocked Williams out in the fourth round on Sunday.
Bouchard next plays No. 4-seeded Li Na on Thursday for a chance to reach the final. Li, the 2011 French Open champion and two-time Australian finalist, beat Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2 in the first of the quarterfinals.
Despite the relative speed of her Grand Slam progression, Bouchard said she wasn't surprised by her win.
"It's something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for," she said. "I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done."
Victoria Azarenka, who is attempting to win her third consecutive title here, plays her quarterfinal match against Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday. Simona Halep will play Dominika Cibulkova in another quarterfinal.
The top half of the men's draw plays its quarterfinals on Wednesday when top-ranked Rafael Nadal takes on 22-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Murray plays 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
The lopsidedness of the draw played out into the second week with three of the quarterfinalists in the top half Federer, Nadal and Murray combining for 32 Grand Slams. With Djokovic gone from the bottom half and only Wawrinka and Berdych remaining, the Grand Slam total from that side is zero.
Tennis: Djokovic makes shock exit - Sport - NZ Herald News
Djokovic came into the match with 28 consecutive wins since losing last year's U.S Open final to Rafael Nadal, and 25 in a row at Melbourne Park since 2010.
But the figure that really mattered was 14 the number of consecutive matches in which Djokovic had beaten Wawrinka back to 2007, including two five-set wins the last time they met in Grand Slam matches last year at the Australian and U.S Opens.
Djokovic held off Wawrinka 12-10 in the fifth set in a 5-hour, 2-minute fourth-rounder here last year the longest Grand Slam match of the season.
All those streaks ended in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 9-7 win Tuesday by Wawrinka, Roger Federer's sometimes Swiss doubles partner and who is into the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
"Fourteen is enough," Wawrinka said. "After losing two times against him in Grand Slam in five sets, I'm really happy to take that one."
Federer, who will play Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in a quarterfinal on Wednesday, tweeted: "So deserving for Stan the man ..."
The match, which included a five-minute rain delay with Wawrinka serving at 5-5 in the deciding set, lasted exactly four hours and featured long rallies that tested the resolve, patience and shot-making ability of both players.
At the end, it was a mis-hit from Wawrinka on a service return that set up match point. Djokovic chased it to the net but his cross-court drop shot was too wide. He then missed a volley on match point.
"Didn't want to let him win that one," Warwinka said. "Got a little bit lucky in the last one. He missed easy shots. But in general in the fifth set I think I went for it."
Djokovic was quick to praise Wawrinka, heading to his media interview obligations just minutes after the match ended.
Djokovic said the final points were disappointing, but he gave his all.
"This is sport. I mean, he showed his mental strength and he deserved to win,'' Djokovic said.
"I know that I (fought) all the way through and laid my heart out there.
"It's a battle. One of us has to lose.''
"He took his opportunities. He deserved his big win today," Djokovic said. "There's nothing I can say. I gave it my best, I gave it my all. It wasn't to be this time. He showed his mental strength and he deserved to win."
After reaching the semifinals at back-to-back majors for the first time, the 28-year-old Wawrinka will be playing for a place in his first Grand Slam final in 36 attempts dating back to 2005 when he meets No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat third-ranked David Ferrer 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Eugenie Bouchard is playing in just her fourth major, and already has advanced to the last four in the tournament. The 19-year-old Bouchard became the first Canadian to make the semifinals of the Australian Open and only the second player from her country to make the semis of any Grand Slam when she beat Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. It was a big win, considering Ivanovic had knocked Williams out in the fourth round on Sunday.
Bouchard next plays No. 4-seeded Li Na on Thursday for a chance to reach the final. Li, the 2011 French Open champion and two-time Australian finalist, beat Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2 in the first of the quarterfinals.
Despite the relative speed of her Grand Slam progression, Bouchard said she wasn't surprised by her win.
"It's something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for," she said. "I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done."
Victoria Azarenka, who is attempting to win her third consecutive title here, plays her quarterfinal match against Agnieszka Radwanska on Wednesday. Simona Halep will play Dominika Cibulkova in another quarterfinal.
The top half of the men's draw plays its quarterfinals on Wednesday when top-ranked Rafael Nadal takes on 22-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Murray plays 17-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
The lopsidedness of the draw played out into the second week with three of the quarterfinalists in the top half Federer, Nadal and Murray combining for 32 Grand Slams. With Djokovic gone from the bottom half and only Wawrinka and Berdych remaining, the Grand Slam total from that side is zero.
Tennis: Djokovic makes shock exit - Sport - NZ Herald News
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Canadian tennis phenom Eugenie Bouchard was talking to her fraternal twin sister Thursday as she prepared for her potentially historic semi-final match at the Australian Open, when she dropped her cell phone in an ice bath and the line went dead. Her sister, Beatrice, tells CBC's As It Happens that she chalked it up to Eugenie being a klutz, saying she doubted her sister was nervous or jittery.
Bouchard will try to steer Canadian tennis into uncharted territory when she faces China's Li Na Thursday (tonight in Canada, 9:30 ET) in Melbourne. Bouchard is seeking to become the first Canadian woman to reach a Grand Slam final. She's already just the second female singles player from Canada to advance this far at a major. The other was Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open.
Montreal's Bouchard has been preparing for the Australian Open semifinal her entire life, her sister said.
"I took an early retirement when I was seven, but she's so passionate about it, and I think my parents knew that," Beatrice said. "I would get bored and want to do something else, but she would want to keep hitting tennis balls for hours. She never got sick of it. She could play for hours."
Bouchard became the first Canadian woman to reach a Grand Slam semi in three decades with her 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 quarter-final win over former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic on Monday.
"This is something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for," Eugenie said earlier this week. "So it's not exactly a surprise. I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done. I have a match on Thursday. I'm just looking forward to that."
Twin telepathy
Beatrice says she and Eugenie have twin telepathy. Even though her sister is on the other side of the world, they think of things at the same, text each other at the same moment, or simultaneously crave the same food.
"I send her telepathic messages from the couch," Beatrice said. "Tonight I will be telling her to keep herself focused, and do what she was doing the other night, which was great. Her mental strength is outstanding to me. She came back after losing the first set and I was very impressed by that."
The semifinal pairing of the 19-year-old Bouchard versus the 31-year-old Li, who won the 2011 French Open, has captured the attention of tennis fans around the world. Li has played two of the last three finals at Melbourne Park.
That kind of reputation does not bother the confident Bouchard, whose ad-hoc Genie Army of a dozen or so Aussie fans will surely be out in full force for the showcase event.
"Li's a great champion, she's won a Slam, as well, it's going to be really tough," said Bouchard, playing in the main draw of a major for only the fourth time. "I played her once in Montreal two years ago. We had a close match, one of my first bigger matches.
"It will be interesting to play her. I know she's very solid, very good from the back. It's going to be hard, but I'm looking forward to it."
Beside her tennis, it's Bouchard's bubbly personality that has captured fan fancy, with commentators already labelling her the next breakout women's star.
The Canadian extrovert, who confesses to possessing a Type A, get-it-done personality — especially on the court — is dealing with the expectations well.
"I'm a really focused person, really driven. Off the court, I'm almost impatient in a way," said Bouchard. "On the court I'm the same way. I really just want to play my game, be aggressive, take it to my opponent, and not just wait around and wait for opportunities.
Not intimidated by the big stage
"I think it's a good thing to take my chances when I'm on the court."
Bouchard's not intimidated by the big stage of a Grand Slam tournament, either.
"The matches I had last year on the big courts, like (Maria) Sharapova at the French Open, Ivanovic at Wimbledon, just being on those big stages gave me a lot of experience," she said. "Now walking out on centre court in Australia, I feel like I've been here before. I've been able to perform on big stages as well. It gives me that extra confidence."
While she won't make any predictions about her match with Li, Bouchard is fairly certain that her supporters will be tossing another stuffed Aussie animal onto the court after the match, bringing her tournament total to five.
The bulky mementos have a special place in her heart, with Bouchard bringing each new one to post-match media availability and sitting it proudly next to the microphone.
Getting the growing menagerie back to Quebec should not be a problem for the resourceful Bouchard.
"I have a koala, and kangaroo, a kookaburra, and a wombat," she said. "I will create luggage space. It's worth it to take my wombat home."
Eugenie Bouchard aims to make Canadian tennis history - CBC News - Latest Canada, World, Entertainment and Business News
Bouchard will try to steer Canadian tennis into uncharted territory when she faces China's Li Na Thursday (tonight in Canada, 9:30 ET) in Melbourne. Bouchard is seeking to become the first Canadian woman to reach a Grand Slam final. She's already just the second female singles player from Canada to advance this far at a major. The other was Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open.
Montreal's Bouchard has been preparing for the Australian Open semifinal her entire life, her sister said.
"I took an early retirement when I was seven, but she's so passionate about it, and I think my parents knew that," Beatrice said. "I would get bored and want to do something else, but she would want to keep hitting tennis balls for hours. She never got sick of it. She could play for hours."
Bouchard became the first Canadian woman to reach a Grand Slam semi in three decades with her 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 quarter-final win over former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic on Monday.
"This is something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for," Eugenie said earlier this week. "So it's not exactly a surprise. I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done. I have a match on Thursday. I'm just looking forward to that."
Twin telepathy
Beatrice says she and Eugenie have twin telepathy. Even though her sister is on the other side of the world, they think of things at the same, text each other at the same moment, or simultaneously crave the same food.
"I send her telepathic messages from the couch," Beatrice said. "Tonight I will be telling her to keep herself focused, and do what she was doing the other night, which was great. Her mental strength is outstanding to me. She came back after losing the first set and I was very impressed by that."
The semifinal pairing of the 19-year-old Bouchard versus the 31-year-old Li, who won the 2011 French Open, has captured the attention of tennis fans around the world. Li has played two of the last three finals at Melbourne Park.
That kind of reputation does not bother the confident Bouchard, whose ad-hoc Genie Army of a dozen or so Aussie fans will surely be out in full force for the showcase event.
"Li's a great champion, she's won a Slam, as well, it's going to be really tough," said Bouchard, playing in the main draw of a major for only the fourth time. "I played her once in Montreal two years ago. We had a close match, one of my first bigger matches.
"It will be interesting to play her. I know she's very solid, very good from the back. It's going to be hard, but I'm looking forward to it."
Beside her tennis, it's Bouchard's bubbly personality that has captured fan fancy, with commentators already labelling her the next breakout women's star.
The Canadian extrovert, who confesses to possessing a Type A, get-it-done personality — especially on the court — is dealing with the expectations well.
"I'm a really focused person, really driven. Off the court, I'm almost impatient in a way," said Bouchard. "On the court I'm the same way. I really just want to play my game, be aggressive, take it to my opponent, and not just wait around and wait for opportunities.
Not intimidated by the big stage
"I think it's a good thing to take my chances when I'm on the court."
Bouchard's not intimidated by the big stage of a Grand Slam tournament, either.
"The matches I had last year on the big courts, like (Maria) Sharapova at the French Open, Ivanovic at Wimbledon, just being on those big stages gave me a lot of experience," she said. "Now walking out on centre court in Australia, I feel like I've been here before. I've been able to perform on big stages as well. It gives me that extra confidence."
While she won't make any predictions about her match with Li, Bouchard is fairly certain that her supporters will be tossing another stuffed Aussie animal onto the court after the match, bringing her tournament total to five.
The bulky mementos have a special place in her heart, with Bouchard bringing each new one to post-match media availability and sitting it proudly next to the microphone.
Getting the growing menagerie back to Quebec should not be a problem for the resourceful Bouchard.
"I have a koala, and kangaroo, a kookaburra, and a wombat," she said. "I will create luggage space. It's worth it to take my wombat home."
Eugenie Bouchard aims to make Canadian tennis history - CBC News - Latest Canada, World, Entertainment and Business News
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
In men's tennis these days there are the big four and only the big four.
Since the 2005 Australian Open, only one man not named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray has taken home the hardware at a Grand Slam, and while that trend could be in jeopardy this week with both Murray and Djokovic getting bounced early, it is the semifinal match that should be circled on every sports calendar around the world.
Nadal and Federer is what we deserve. It is what they deserve. The two could go down as arguably the two best male tennis players ever and this rivalry has the chance to be one of the best ever in professional tennis so why wouldn't you be excited to watch them in a semifinal of a Grand Slam they both need?
Why is it so important? Because after 2013 it looked like we might never see another meaningful match between these two late in the second week of a Grand Slam. Federer spent last season struggling mightily with his game while Nadal was coming back from injury.
Last year was the first time since 2002 that Federer failed to make a Grand Slam final, going out in the second round of Wimbledon, a tournament he has won seven times, and getting bounced in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, his first exit from New York before the quarterfinals since '03.
But Federer said he wasn't done with the game, and at 32-years-old we all had to smile politely at the 17-time Grand Slam winner while internally we were sarcastically thinking, "Sure you aren't."
This matchup is a chance to see two titans of the games, living legends in professional tennis, go at it with whomever comes out victorious becoming the obvious favorite in the finals against Stanislas Wawrinka.
The history between these two leans heavily in Nadal's favor, with the Spaniard holding a 22-10 record against Federer over the course of his career including a five-set semifinal win on this same court back in 2012. Nadal has won the last four meetings between these two and is 2-0 all-time at the Australian Open playing against Federer.
The reason this match is so important isn't as much Nadal as it is Federer. When Roger was lifting that Wimbledon trophy up in 2012 a lot of us thought it would be the last time we saw this great champion win a Grand Slam, and as Father Time continues to beat up on Federer, it's his resilience that has been the most impressive as he continues to make changes to his game to keep up with the names listed above.
This will be a match that has historians rooting for Federer, hoping to see the once nearly unbeatable champion do what Pete Sampras did at the 2002 U.S. Open, but it is also a chance for Nadal to add to a resume that has just one Australian Open victory.
A win for Nadal on Friday and a win in the finals would put him just three Grand Slams behind Federer for most all-time and it would tie him with Sampras at 14 for his career. Along with that, a win in Melbourne would make Nadal just the third player ever to win every Grand Slam twice, something Federer has yet to do with that lone French Open title.
Basically this match is everything that we love about sports, about tennis and about the players we root for. If you set your alarm early for one tennis match this year, Federer-Nadal in Melbourne should be it.
Y! SPORTS
Since the 2005 Australian Open, only one man not named Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray has taken home the hardware at a Grand Slam, and while that trend could be in jeopardy this week with both Murray and Djokovic getting bounced early, it is the semifinal match that should be circled on every sports calendar around the world.
Nadal and Federer is what we deserve. It is what they deserve. The two could go down as arguably the two best male tennis players ever and this rivalry has the chance to be one of the best ever in professional tennis so why wouldn't you be excited to watch them in a semifinal of a Grand Slam they both need?
Why is it so important? Because after 2013 it looked like we might never see another meaningful match between these two late in the second week of a Grand Slam. Federer spent last season struggling mightily with his game while Nadal was coming back from injury.
Last year was the first time since 2002 that Federer failed to make a Grand Slam final, going out in the second round of Wimbledon, a tournament he has won seven times, and getting bounced in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, his first exit from New York before the quarterfinals since '03.
But Federer said he wasn't done with the game, and at 32-years-old we all had to smile politely at the 17-time Grand Slam winner while internally we were sarcastically thinking, "Sure you aren't."
This matchup is a chance to see two titans of the games, living legends in professional tennis, go at it with whomever comes out victorious becoming the obvious favorite in the finals against Stanislas Wawrinka.
The history between these two leans heavily in Nadal's favor, with the Spaniard holding a 22-10 record against Federer over the course of his career including a five-set semifinal win on this same court back in 2012. Nadal has won the last four meetings between these two and is 2-0 all-time at the Australian Open playing against Federer.
The reason this match is so important isn't as much Nadal as it is Federer. When Roger was lifting that Wimbledon trophy up in 2012 a lot of us thought it would be the last time we saw this great champion win a Grand Slam, and as Father Time continues to beat up on Federer, it's his resilience that has been the most impressive as he continues to make changes to his game to keep up with the names listed above.
This will be a match that has historians rooting for Federer, hoping to see the once nearly unbeatable champion do what Pete Sampras did at the 2002 U.S. Open, but it is also a chance for Nadal to add to a resume that has just one Australian Open victory.
A win for Nadal on Friday and a win in the finals would put him just three Grand Slams behind Federer for most all-time and it would tie him with Sampras at 14 for his career. Along with that, a win in Melbourne would make Nadal just the third player ever to win every Grand Slam twice, something Federer has yet to do with that lone French Open title.
Basically this match is everything that we love about sports, about tennis and about the players we root for. If you set your alarm early for one tennis match this year, Federer-Nadal in Melbourne should be it.
Y! SPORTS
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Former world number one Roger Federer says his best tennis this year is still to come after losing his Australian Open semi-final to Rafael Nadal.
The 32-year-old Swiss was beaten in straight sets by current number one Nadal in Melbourne on Friday.
Federer said: "This is a very good start to the season - I played some really good tennis.
"I still feel my best tennis is only ahead of me right now - hopefully by April I'm going to be 100% again." Federer's defeat by Nadal was his 23rd in 33 encounters between the pair and he will drop to eighth in the world rankings when they are released on Monday.
He will also be overtaken by fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka as the country's number one player - the first time he has not been Switzerland's top player since 2001.
Wawrinka, who reached his first Grand Slam final by defeating Tomas Berdych, will face Nadal on Sunday and Federer added: "I wish I could have won tonight and given an all-Swiss final. That's something I'll regret for a long time."
However, Federer is taking heart from his more attacking performance in Melbourne, where he beat Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after a back injury hampered him for much of 2013 and led to him winning only one title - his lowest haul in a year since 2001.
"What I like to do is I like to take it to the guy, I like to be in command," he said. "That's what I was able to do now the last couple of weeks, so that's very encouraging. "That's why I'm not too disappointed tonight because I feel it's been a good start.
"I've come from far back. I didn't have surgery like Murray had or like Rafa, being out seven months.
"But I played with something that has been going on for a while. This is a step in the right direction, and that's the way I want to go. I have a belief this could be a very good year for me again."
Federer complained to the umpire about Nadal's grunting during the match, but added afterwards that while he found it distracting at times, it had not affected the result.
"It is not distracting when he does it every point," he said. "But it goes in phases. One point he does and he doesn't. That's just what I was complaining about.
"It had no impact on the outcome of the match."
When Nadal was asked whether he knew he was putting Federer off with his grunting, the Spaniard said: "I really didn't know that.
"When I am playing, when I am hitting the ball during the point, the last thing that I am thinking is trying to bother the opponent.
"The only thing that I am focusing is try to hit my ball well. That's it."
BBC Sport - Roger Federer claims best tennis still ahead of him
The 32-year-old Swiss was beaten in straight sets by current number one Nadal in Melbourne on Friday.
Federer said: "This is a very good start to the season - I played some really good tennis.
"I still feel my best tennis is only ahead of me right now - hopefully by April I'm going to be 100% again." Federer's defeat by Nadal was his 23rd in 33 encounters between the pair and he will drop to eighth in the world rankings when they are released on Monday.
He will also be overtaken by fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka as the country's number one player - the first time he has not been Switzerland's top player since 2001.
Wawrinka, who reached his first Grand Slam final by defeating Tomas Berdych, will face Nadal on Sunday and Federer added: "I wish I could have won tonight and given an all-Swiss final. That's something I'll regret for a long time."
However, Federer is taking heart from his more attacking performance in Melbourne, where he beat Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after a back injury hampered him for much of 2013 and led to him winning only one title - his lowest haul in a year since 2001.
"What I like to do is I like to take it to the guy, I like to be in command," he said. "That's what I was able to do now the last couple of weeks, so that's very encouraging. "That's why I'm not too disappointed tonight because I feel it's been a good start.
"I've come from far back. I didn't have surgery like Murray had or like Rafa, being out seven months.
"But I played with something that has been going on for a while. This is a step in the right direction, and that's the way I want to go. I have a belief this could be a very good year for me again."
Federer complained to the umpire about Nadal's grunting during the match, but added afterwards that while he found it distracting at times, it had not affected the result.
"It is not distracting when he does it every point," he said. "But it goes in phases. One point he does and he doesn't. That's just what I was complaining about.
"It had no impact on the outcome of the match."
When Nadal was asked whether he knew he was putting Federer off with his grunting, the Spaniard said: "I really didn't know that.
"When I am playing, when I am hitting the ball during the point, the last thing that I am thinking is trying to bother the opponent.
"The only thing that I am focusing is try to hit my ball well. That's it."
BBC Sport - Roger Federer claims best tennis still ahead of him
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Toronto's Daniel Nestor and French partner Kristina Mladenovic won the Australian Open mixed doubles title Sunday over India's Sania Mirza and Romanian Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-2.
The 58-minute victory marks the fourth mixed title for the 41-year-old Nestor and second for his team in the last three grand slams.
He and Mladenovic won the Wimbledon title last summer after finishing runner-up at the French Open eight months ago.
"We've been playing our best tennis here," said Nestor. "It's great to win this title.
"I have what I believe is the best partner in mixed. Kristina helps me out and I have to cover less of the court — that's good at my age."
Nestor now owns three Melbourne mixed titles, winning with Elena Likhovtseva in 2007 and repeating three years ago with Slovenian Katerina Srebotnik. Nestor and Mladenovic beat Mirza and Tecau at Wimbledon last summer on the way to their title together.
Nestor's team beat the sixth seeds with five aces 14 winners, 24 unforced errors and four breaks of serve.
Mladenovic converted on a third match point as she sent a passing shot past Tecau to take the victory.
"Australia's a great place to be at this time of year," Nestor said of a match played in 26 Celsius summer conditions, "It's certainly a bit colder in Canada.
"Leaving home at around Christmas time is always a blessing."
Nestor was accompanied on his trip by his family, which had to return home this week for school.
The Canadian will travel to Tokyo for next week's Davis Cup tie with Japan.
Daniel Nestor wins mixed doubles final at Australian Open - CBC Sports - Tennis
The 58-minute victory marks the fourth mixed title for the 41-year-old Nestor and second for his team in the last three grand slams.
He and Mladenovic won the Wimbledon title last summer after finishing runner-up at the French Open eight months ago.
"We've been playing our best tennis here," said Nestor. "It's great to win this title.
"I have what I believe is the best partner in mixed. Kristina helps me out and I have to cover less of the court — that's good at my age."
Nestor now owns three Melbourne mixed titles, winning with Elena Likhovtseva in 2007 and repeating three years ago with Slovenian Katerina Srebotnik. Nestor and Mladenovic beat Mirza and Tecau at Wimbledon last summer on the way to their title together.
Nestor's team beat the sixth seeds with five aces 14 winners, 24 unforced errors and four breaks of serve.
Mladenovic converted on a third match point as she sent a passing shot past Tecau to take the victory.
"Australia's a great place to be at this time of year," Nestor said of a match played in 26 Celsius summer conditions, "It's certainly a bit colder in Canada.
"Leaving home at around Christmas time is always a blessing."
Nestor was accompanied on his trip by his family, which had to return home this week for school.
The Canadian will travel to Tokyo for next week's Davis Cup tie with Japan.
Daniel Nestor wins mixed doubles final at Australian Open - CBC Sports - Tennis
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
What makes fans boo sportspeople?
In footy, players who change clubs, or get involved in biffo, are fair game. And anyone who is perceived to have too big an opinion of themselves. Perceived disloyalty and perceived injustice (usually liberally interpreted) generally determine the bulk of jeering. Then there is the absurd Australian tendency to boo a champion opponent just because they are exceptional. Collingwood fans used to boo James Hird; Essendon fans would boo Nathan Buckley. Those hoots are a curious expression of tall poppy syndrome, greatness instinctually threatening and frightening emotional partisans.
The best thing about footy in Melbourne is that there is genuine competition between fans in the outer – any such jeering is contested by cheers from the fans of the attacked player. You don't get away with attacking an individual without a vociferous response. Yes, people get carried away, but it is ritualistic and fans move on quickly. The action is consistently distracting, and the game is played by teams, not individuals, so there is a bigger story beyond the booing of the anointed villains.
Tennis is different. Sure, fans choose a player to follow. But the allegiance is, on the whole, temporary, nothing like the life-long connection of a footy fan to a club. Tennis fans don't know who will be playing when they buy tickets to the final. They are there for the event – they know no Aussie is likely to be playing, so their passionate embrace of the occasion depends on the game provided on the night. They want their money's worth, and they have shelled out plenty of it in the hope of a memorable entertainment product. They feel entitled to an epic that sport's fates cannot guarantee.
At a tennis tournament, the demand for silence creates a theatrical atmosphere that exposes the immature, annoying and opportunistic voices often drowned out at continuously loud events like AFL games. There are long gaps between bursts of action. The focus, on just two figures, is fiercer. A tennis match lurches from quiet to loud like a Pixies song, the atmosphere enhanced by the shock of a crowd going from 0 to 100 decibels. There is a tension, a volatility, to this dynamic – some people cannot sit quietly for long. Some are fearful that a banal or embarrassing interjection will ruin the ambience. Many follow the mood of the room, dominated by the loudest voices, in the moment. It is dramatic theatre.
The opportunities for idiots to be heard are greater.
And the unique intimacy of tennis highlights the hysterical edge of the crowd groupmind.
In the tournament's first week, Australian prospect Bernard Tomic was booed for pulling out of a match. He was injured so badly that he will not play for weeks. At least there was a pre-existing prejudice - well-founded or not - against poor Bernie.
But during Sunday night's men's final, why did such a large part of the crowd boo world number one Rafael Nadal after he took an injury timeout? This group decided, without evidence, that one of the most competitive sportspeople ever to bounce a ball, was resorting to blatant gamesmanship when a set down in a major championship watched by millions.
Yes, Nadal pushes the rules to the brink in terms of time-wasting, but he is a fighter, an admirable role model, renowned for his tenacity.
Jake Niall reported that Nadal refused to blame his injury for his loss, and "understood the visceral reaction" of the crowd.
"I tried to finish the match as good as I can, for the crowd, for the opponent, for me," Nadal said at game's end.
On Monday morning, SEN's Patrick Smith said a large portion of the crowd were "morons" for booing Nadal, and they had "made fools of themselves" by their actions. Station-mate Kevin Bartlett defended the crowd's right to express themselves as they saw fit, saying "You can understand why people get irritated" when players use injury timeouts.
Many talkback callers were unrepentant, claiming Nadal uses whatever tactics he can in big games when he falls behind.
Earlier on the same station, Australian sporting legend Andrew Gaze said that it was "gut-wrenching" to listen to the jeering of Nadal. He said it was "burning in his belly" that we were booing a champion, and that he had wanted to go on court and announce that "This is not what we are about as a country".
The booing reveals that there is a significant portion of fans who are about thinking the worst of the best. They are about being judgmental. They are about being unfair, presumptive, contemptuous. They are about being small-minded.
Such an element is in the midst of every gathering of barrackers, but exposed by the particulars of tennis.
Gaze suggested that tennis players be granted a couple of timeouts per match, so there would be no need for "injury" timeouts to be faked, as they undoubtedly are on occasion.
Such a sensible suggestion might prevent a repeat of the Nadal jeers.
Perhaps better communication of what was happening to Nadal might have tempered some of the booing.
But maybe not. The loudmouths, the abusers, are in every large gathering. It's just that at the tennis, everyone can hear them.
Read more: Booing Nadal: Why tennis exposes the idiot in every crowd
In footy, players who change clubs, or get involved in biffo, are fair game. And anyone who is perceived to have too big an opinion of themselves. Perceived disloyalty and perceived injustice (usually liberally interpreted) generally determine the bulk of jeering. Then there is the absurd Australian tendency to boo a champion opponent just because they are exceptional. Collingwood fans used to boo James Hird; Essendon fans would boo Nathan Buckley. Those hoots are a curious expression of tall poppy syndrome, greatness instinctually threatening and frightening emotional partisans.
The best thing about footy in Melbourne is that there is genuine competition between fans in the outer – any such jeering is contested by cheers from the fans of the attacked player. You don't get away with attacking an individual without a vociferous response. Yes, people get carried away, but it is ritualistic and fans move on quickly. The action is consistently distracting, and the game is played by teams, not individuals, so there is a bigger story beyond the booing of the anointed villains.
Tennis is different. Sure, fans choose a player to follow. But the allegiance is, on the whole, temporary, nothing like the life-long connection of a footy fan to a club. Tennis fans don't know who will be playing when they buy tickets to the final. They are there for the event – they know no Aussie is likely to be playing, so their passionate embrace of the occasion depends on the game provided on the night. They want their money's worth, and they have shelled out plenty of it in the hope of a memorable entertainment product. They feel entitled to an epic that sport's fates cannot guarantee.
At a tennis tournament, the demand for silence creates a theatrical atmosphere that exposes the immature, annoying and opportunistic voices often drowned out at continuously loud events like AFL games. There are long gaps between bursts of action. The focus, on just two figures, is fiercer. A tennis match lurches from quiet to loud like a Pixies song, the atmosphere enhanced by the shock of a crowd going from 0 to 100 decibels. There is a tension, a volatility, to this dynamic – some people cannot sit quietly for long. Some are fearful that a banal or embarrassing interjection will ruin the ambience. Many follow the mood of the room, dominated by the loudest voices, in the moment. It is dramatic theatre.
The opportunities for idiots to be heard are greater.
And the unique intimacy of tennis highlights the hysterical edge of the crowd groupmind.
In the tournament's first week, Australian prospect Bernard Tomic was booed for pulling out of a match. He was injured so badly that he will not play for weeks. At least there was a pre-existing prejudice - well-founded or not - against poor Bernie.
But during Sunday night's men's final, why did such a large part of the crowd boo world number one Rafael Nadal after he took an injury timeout? This group decided, without evidence, that one of the most competitive sportspeople ever to bounce a ball, was resorting to blatant gamesmanship when a set down in a major championship watched by millions.
Yes, Nadal pushes the rules to the brink in terms of time-wasting, but he is a fighter, an admirable role model, renowned for his tenacity.
Jake Niall reported that Nadal refused to blame his injury for his loss, and "understood the visceral reaction" of the crowd.
"I tried to finish the match as good as I can, for the crowd, for the opponent, for me," Nadal said at game's end.
On Monday morning, SEN's Patrick Smith said a large portion of the crowd were "morons" for booing Nadal, and they had "made fools of themselves" by their actions. Station-mate Kevin Bartlett defended the crowd's right to express themselves as they saw fit, saying "You can understand why people get irritated" when players use injury timeouts.
Many talkback callers were unrepentant, claiming Nadal uses whatever tactics he can in big games when he falls behind.
Earlier on the same station, Australian sporting legend Andrew Gaze said that it was "gut-wrenching" to listen to the jeering of Nadal. He said it was "burning in his belly" that we were booing a champion, and that he had wanted to go on court and announce that "This is not what we are about as a country".
The booing reveals that there is a significant portion of fans who are about thinking the worst of the best. They are about being judgmental. They are about being unfair, presumptive, contemptuous. They are about being small-minded.
Such an element is in the midst of every gathering of barrackers, but exposed by the particulars of tennis.
Gaze suggested that tennis players be granted a couple of timeouts per match, so there would be no need for "injury" timeouts to be faked, as they undoubtedly are on occasion.
Such a sensible suggestion might prevent a repeat of the Nadal jeers.
Perhaps better communication of what was happening to Nadal might have tempered some of the booing.
But maybe not. The loudmouths, the abusers, are in every large gathering. It's just that at the tennis, everyone can hear them.
Read more: Booing Nadal: Why tennis exposes the idiot in every crowd
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
For nine years now, four players have defined an era of men’s tennis, their play so consistent the rest of the ATP World Tour seemed to exist on another planet. There was Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, and then there was everybody else.
So when someone outside the Big Four managed to win a Grand Slam singles title, as Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland did at the Australian Open on Sunday night, the inclination will always be to look for cracks in the hierarchy. To see if, perhaps, more than four players can maintain residency in the upper echelon, or can rent to buy, at least.
That is the temptation and, in some quarters, the hope. But there remains one problem with the idea of a shake-up, even in the wake of Wawrinka’s triumph — four problems, actually. Federer may never win another Grand Slam title, but the others are all still very much in their primes, and it will take an unusual confluence of events for the Wawrinkas of the tennis world to seize more than the occasional major tournament trophy.
That is not a knock on Wawrinka, who played the best tournament of his life the past two weeks. It is a nod to the Big Four, as dominant and steady as any four in the history of tennis. They did not combine to win 34 of 35 majors before Sunday for any other reason.
Those who disagree with that, or find the premise to be disrespectful to Wawrinka, need only listen to his words from Sunday night. No one was more surprised at what happened than Wawrinka himself.
“I saw Roger winning so many Grand Slam in the past,” he said, adding: “If you look the past 10 years, it’s only the top four guys who was winning all the Grand Slams. So, yeah, I will need time to realize what I did in these two weeks.”
For that, Wawrinka should be applauded. He toppled the No. 2 seed and defending champion in Djokovic. He bullied the baseline bully in Nadal, the tournament’s top seed. He continued to build on momentum that started last year, with a semifinal appearance at the United States Open.
He won the Australian Open title. He did not back into it.
And yet, there is no ignoring what happened here. Murray, Federer and Nadal landed in the same half of the draw. Murray recently returned from back surgery. Federer competed with a larger racket head and a new coach, Stefan Edberg. Nadal fought through the bracket with a nasty blister on his left hand and, in the final, a problem with his back.
Again, pointing out Nadal’s injuries is not meant to steal credit from Wawrinka. He played Big Four tennis throughout the tournament. But these events were not meaningless.
“Before today, for me, it wasn’t a dream,” Wawrinka said. “I never expect to play a final. I never expect to win a Grand Slam. And right now, I just did.”
That Wawrinka did win a major tournament, that he did join Juan Martín del Potro, the 2009 United States Open champion, in interrupting the Big Four’s streak, was no doubt good for tennis. The four men who hog all the Grand Slam singles trophies are known across the world.
What Wawrinka did throughout this tournament is become more known outside tennis. He introduced himself to the casual sports fan. That sports fan knows Rafa and Roger, knows Djoker and Andy, but follows tennis only sometimes. That sports fan is at least more likely to know Wawrinka now, to join in an international game of “Words With Friends” in which players can make up only words that use “Stan” — “Stanimal” and “Stan-dard” and “Stantastic” among them.
That is important for far more than Wawrinka. That is important for tennis, which is popular but in most places not a mainstream sport. The same players meeting in all the finals can build the game through rivalries, but the occasional interloper helps to break the monotony.
“The top four have been so great for the sport, but they’ve also been so greedy,” said Justin Gimelstob, a member of the ATP board of directors. “They’ve hoarded all the championships. One of the challenges for our tour has been for the public to understand that if one of those guys isn’t there, it’s still an important tennis tournament. There’s real value in that.”
Gimelstob was careful to qualify that he while he considered a new winner a positive development, he felt for Nadal, and he wished Wawrinka’s play and not Nadal’s injury would be the takeaway from the tournament. Gimelstob also noted that perhaps Wawrinka’s victory, with wins over Djokovic and Nadal in the process, would have a ripple effect, giving players in that second tier — like David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and del Potro — confidence in future Grand Slams.
Of course, there were similar hopes after del Potro won the United States Open. But it took nearly five years before another player outside the Big Four vanquished the top tier.
Besides tennis, Wawrinka also provided a boost to the Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Last March, Wawrinka got a tattoo of Beckett’s prose on his left forearm, and as he continued to win, as he continued to climb the ATP rankings, where he reached No. 3 on Monday, the ink got as much ink as Wawrinka did.
www-nytimes-com/2014/01/28/sports/tennis/did-wawrinka-crack-tenniss-big-four-or-just-dent-it-html?_r=0
So when someone outside the Big Four managed to win a Grand Slam singles title, as Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland did at the Australian Open on Sunday night, the inclination will always be to look for cracks in the hierarchy. To see if, perhaps, more than four players can maintain residency in the upper echelon, or can rent to buy, at least.
That is the temptation and, in some quarters, the hope. But there remains one problem with the idea of a shake-up, even in the wake of Wawrinka’s triumph — four problems, actually. Federer may never win another Grand Slam title, but the others are all still very much in their primes, and it will take an unusual confluence of events for the Wawrinkas of the tennis world to seize more than the occasional major tournament trophy.
That is not a knock on Wawrinka, who played the best tournament of his life the past two weeks. It is a nod to the Big Four, as dominant and steady as any four in the history of tennis. They did not combine to win 34 of 35 majors before Sunday for any other reason.
Those who disagree with that, or find the premise to be disrespectful to Wawrinka, need only listen to his words from Sunday night. No one was more surprised at what happened than Wawrinka himself.
“I saw Roger winning so many Grand Slam in the past,” he said, adding: “If you look the past 10 years, it’s only the top four guys who was winning all the Grand Slams. So, yeah, I will need time to realize what I did in these two weeks.”
For that, Wawrinka should be applauded. He toppled the No. 2 seed and defending champion in Djokovic. He bullied the baseline bully in Nadal, the tournament’s top seed. He continued to build on momentum that started last year, with a semifinal appearance at the United States Open.
He won the Australian Open title. He did not back into it.
And yet, there is no ignoring what happened here. Murray, Federer and Nadal landed in the same half of the draw. Murray recently returned from back surgery. Federer competed with a larger racket head and a new coach, Stefan Edberg. Nadal fought through the bracket with a nasty blister on his left hand and, in the final, a problem with his back.
Again, pointing out Nadal’s injuries is not meant to steal credit from Wawrinka. He played Big Four tennis throughout the tournament. But these events were not meaningless.
“Before today, for me, it wasn’t a dream,” Wawrinka said. “I never expect to play a final. I never expect to win a Grand Slam. And right now, I just did.”
That Wawrinka did win a major tournament, that he did join Juan Martín del Potro, the 2009 United States Open champion, in interrupting the Big Four’s streak, was no doubt good for tennis. The four men who hog all the Grand Slam singles trophies are known across the world.
What Wawrinka did throughout this tournament is become more known outside tennis. He introduced himself to the casual sports fan. That sports fan knows Rafa and Roger, knows Djoker and Andy, but follows tennis only sometimes. That sports fan is at least more likely to know Wawrinka now, to join in an international game of “Words With Friends” in which players can make up only words that use “Stan” — “Stanimal” and “Stan-dard” and “Stantastic” among them.
That is important for far more than Wawrinka. That is important for tennis, which is popular but in most places not a mainstream sport. The same players meeting in all the finals can build the game through rivalries, but the occasional interloper helps to break the monotony.
“The top four have been so great for the sport, but they’ve also been so greedy,” said Justin Gimelstob, a member of the ATP board of directors. “They’ve hoarded all the championships. One of the challenges for our tour has been for the public to understand that if one of those guys isn’t there, it’s still an important tennis tournament. There’s real value in that.”
Gimelstob was careful to qualify that he while he considered a new winner a positive development, he felt for Nadal, and he wished Wawrinka’s play and not Nadal’s injury would be the takeaway from the tournament. Gimelstob also noted that perhaps Wawrinka’s victory, with wins over Djokovic and Nadal in the process, would have a ripple effect, giving players in that second tier — like David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and del Potro — confidence in future Grand Slams.
Of course, there were similar hopes after del Potro won the United States Open. But it took nearly five years before another player outside the Big Four vanquished the top tier.
Besides tennis, Wawrinka also provided a boost to the Irish writer Samuel Beckett. Last March, Wawrinka got a tattoo of Beckett’s prose on his left forearm, and as he continued to win, as he continued to climb the ATP rankings, where he reached No. 3 on Monday, the ink got as much ink as Wawrinka did.
www-nytimes-com/2014/01/28/sports/tennis/did-wawrinka-crack-tenniss-big-four-or-just-dent-it-html?_r=0
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
She may not have won a major tournament yet, but emerging tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, is being tipped as the next marketing face of the women's game.
After an Australian Open in which the 19-year-old Canadian unexpectedly reached the semi-final, there is as much debate about her career off the court as on it.
Her appearance and composure, not to forget tennis talent, have seen her touted as the next Maria Sharapova, the world's highest-paid female athlete, and four times Grand Slam winner.
The teenager's agent, Sam Duvall, says the player known as "Genie" has the personality, game and looks to surpass the Russian's commercial success.
And the global boss of the women's tennis circuit agrees about the financial potential.
'Media exposure'
"She is an incredibly talented athlete, and a very marketable brand ambassador for any company that wants to get involved with her," Stacey Allaster, chief executive of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), tells the BBC business website. "I do believe that with her winning form and continued success that many brands will look to Genie for partnerships."
At present Bouchard has only a handful of brand associations, mostly tennis equipment-related, albeit of a high-profile nature.
Last year Nike asked Maria Sharapova which other WTA player she wanted to wear the clothing line she had designed for the firm, and the Russian chose Genie.
Ms Allaster says her fellow Canadian's attributes - "gracious, humble, confident, smart and funny, she is the whole package" - make Bouchard an ideal fit for partnerships in marketing "categories that play well for our athletes" such as:
fashion
entertainment
lifestyle
cars
financial services
consumer packaged goods
Bouchard shot up from 31st spot to enter the top 20 in the WTA rankings for the first time this week, in 19th place. This time a year ago she was ranked 137th.
"One of the exciting things of my job is to see the juxtaposition between established stars such as Serena [Williams], Maria [Sharapova], Li Na, and the rising stars such as Genie, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend - without question they will be the future faces of the WTA," says Ms Allaster.
"It is nice to see her stepping forward on the Grand Slam stage, where we have the most fan interest and maximum media exposure, with both groups now set to follow Genie on to future events."
Fan attraction
One of the features of the Australian Open, was the self-styled Genie Army of Australian young, mostly male fans, who attended her games decked out in the red and white of Canada, and showered her with presents of cuddly toys.
During the Australian Open, Bouchard also added some 100,000 new "likes" to her Facebook page, taking that total to 243,000. In addition she has 107,000 followers on Twitter.
"Genie is giving something back, interacting with fans," says Allaster. "That is why she is going to be a massive success.
"And the Genie Army is going to continue throughout the rest of the year.
"It is great for women's tennis as a whole, because it is all about the fans - we are only in business because of the fans." When she was 12, Bouchard was the recipient of the Stacey Allaster Tennis Scholarship, set up when the tennis administrator moved from Tennis Canada to the helm of WTA.
"I said to her then I wanted to see another Canadian on the tour, and even then at that young age she assured me that she was going to be be on it," Ms Allaster says.
She adds that when the WTA signed a new three-year partnership deal with Usana sporting supplements in October 2013, the firm asked for Bouchard to be one of the brand ambassadors, even before her breakthrough success in Australia.
'Marketing-savvy'
One sports marketing expert believes more commercial opportunities will soon by spinning Bouchard's way.
"There is not a huge pool of female sporting talent in the world which is globally recognised," says Nigel Currie, of agency Brand Rapport. "There is a big of a void in that area. Anyone who can get into the top two or three tennis players is of appeal."
He also believes Bouchard has the talent to back up the image, unlike 1990s icon Anna Kournikova, whose commercial deals and celebrity status were never matched by her winning a WTA title.
"I think things are different now, brands want to be associated with winning athletes, and there is no doubt that Bouchard has playing ability," says Mr Currie.
And according to WTA chairman and chief executive Ms Allaster, Bouchard also has one very important attribute for a modern sports star.
"She is very marketing-savvy."
BBC News - Courting the golden girl of tennis
After an Australian Open in which the 19-year-old Canadian unexpectedly reached the semi-final, there is as much debate about her career off the court as on it.
Her appearance and composure, not to forget tennis talent, have seen her touted as the next Maria Sharapova, the world's highest-paid female athlete, and four times Grand Slam winner.
The teenager's agent, Sam Duvall, says the player known as "Genie" has the personality, game and looks to surpass the Russian's commercial success.
And the global boss of the women's tennis circuit agrees about the financial potential.
'Media exposure'
"She is an incredibly talented athlete, and a very marketable brand ambassador for any company that wants to get involved with her," Stacey Allaster, chief executive of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), tells the BBC business website. "I do believe that with her winning form and continued success that many brands will look to Genie for partnerships."
At present Bouchard has only a handful of brand associations, mostly tennis equipment-related, albeit of a high-profile nature.
Last year Nike asked Maria Sharapova which other WTA player she wanted to wear the clothing line she had designed for the firm, and the Russian chose Genie.
Ms Allaster says her fellow Canadian's attributes - "gracious, humble, confident, smart and funny, she is the whole package" - make Bouchard an ideal fit for partnerships in marketing "categories that play well for our athletes" such as:
fashion
entertainment
lifestyle
cars
financial services
consumer packaged goods
Bouchard shot up from 31st spot to enter the top 20 in the WTA rankings for the first time this week, in 19th place. This time a year ago she was ranked 137th.
"One of the exciting things of my job is to see the juxtaposition between established stars such as Serena [Williams], Maria [Sharapova], Li Na, and the rising stars such as Genie, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Taylor Townsend - without question they will be the future faces of the WTA," says Ms Allaster.
"It is nice to see her stepping forward on the Grand Slam stage, where we have the most fan interest and maximum media exposure, with both groups now set to follow Genie on to future events."
Fan attraction
One of the features of the Australian Open, was the self-styled Genie Army of Australian young, mostly male fans, who attended her games decked out in the red and white of Canada, and showered her with presents of cuddly toys.
During the Australian Open, Bouchard also added some 100,000 new "likes" to her Facebook page, taking that total to 243,000. In addition she has 107,000 followers on Twitter.
"Genie is giving something back, interacting with fans," says Allaster. "That is why she is going to be a massive success.
"And the Genie Army is going to continue throughout the rest of the year.
"It is great for women's tennis as a whole, because it is all about the fans - we are only in business because of the fans." When she was 12, Bouchard was the recipient of the Stacey Allaster Tennis Scholarship, set up when the tennis administrator moved from Tennis Canada to the helm of WTA.
"I said to her then I wanted to see another Canadian on the tour, and even then at that young age she assured me that she was going to be be on it," Ms Allaster says.
She adds that when the WTA signed a new three-year partnership deal with Usana sporting supplements in October 2013, the firm asked for Bouchard to be one of the brand ambassadors, even before her breakthrough success in Australia.
'Marketing-savvy'
One sports marketing expert believes more commercial opportunities will soon by spinning Bouchard's way.
"There is not a huge pool of female sporting talent in the world which is globally recognised," says Nigel Currie, of agency Brand Rapport. "There is a big of a void in that area. Anyone who can get into the top two or three tennis players is of appeal."
He also believes Bouchard has the talent to back up the image, unlike 1990s icon Anna Kournikova, whose commercial deals and celebrity status were never matched by her winning a WTA title.
"I think things are different now, brands want to be associated with winning athletes, and there is no doubt that Bouchard has playing ability," says Mr Currie.
And according to WTA chairman and chief executive Ms Allaster, Bouchard also has one very important attribute for a modern sports star.
"She is very marketing-savvy."
BBC News - Courting the golden girl of tennis
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Li Na brimmed with gratitude after winning the Australian Open on Jan. 25. China’s most charismatic and popular athlete thanked her agent for making “me rich.” She praised her husband (and former coach) for his support, noting with a grin that he was also “so lucky to find me.” But in a rare omission for an athlete churned out by China’s state-run sports machine, Li neglected to extol her motherland. Meanwhile her match opponent, Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, used her own runner-up speech to laud a landlocked country of 5.4 million people. Multiple times.
A day after Li’s Australian Open victory, Xu Zhiyong, a Chinese legal scholar once eulogized in the local edition of Esquire, gave another public statement. The atmosphere in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court was rather less celebratory than at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Xu had just been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on charges of assembling a crowd to disrupt order at public places. Unlike Li, whose silence on the Chinese state carried its own message, Xu directly addressed the authorities dictating his fate. “This is actually an issue of fears you all carry within,” he said. “Fear of a public trial, fear of a citizen’s freedom to observe a trial, fear of my name appearing online and fear of the free society nearly upon us.” The judge did not allow Xu to finish his closing statement, deeming it “irrelevant” to the proceedings, according to his lawyer.
Li and Xu are both fighters. They have, however, chosen divergent ways to battle the absurdities and rigidities of the Chinese state. In 2008, Li broke with the national sports system, which had both created and threatened to destroy her career. Negotiating her exit was traumatic; Li had retired once before rather than take on China’s sports czars, who claimed the bulk of her winnings and expected obeisance for molding a 5-year-old into a future tennis ace. Yet her independence paid off. Li’s two Grand Slam titles came only after she began to “fly solo,” as her former tennis overlords call her escape from state sports. At the twilight of her career, the soon-to-be 32-year-old is playing the best tennis of her life.
Xu, by contrast, worked scrupulously within the confines of the Chinese legal system, calling for the protection of rights guaranteed by China’s own constitution. Two of the main causes he championed — pushing for officials to disclose their assets and campaigning for the education of migrants’ children — limned the publicly stated goals of China’s leadership. Still, Xu’s freedom was doomed by his defense of the disenfranchised and his co-founding of a New Citizens’ Movement dedicated to upholding the legal rights of ordinary Chinese. The nation’s President Xi Jinping once promoted the glories of China’s constitutional underpinnings. Now China’s state-linked media warn of the perils of “constitutionalism” and attack Xu as a dissident who stirs up “ fierce friction with mainstream society.”
Li too has been berated for her individualism and refusal to constantly play patriot. Last July, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily denigrated her “unbridled willfulness” and wondered “who will be there to restrain it?” On Jan. 28, in an editorial lambasting Western governments’ support for Xu and his fellow rights crusaders, the Communist Party–linked Global Times noted that “Beijing remains backward in soft power compared with Western countries.” That’s true. But it is precisely because the Chinese government and its propagandists tear down individuals like Li Na and Xu Zhiyong that Beijing’s reputation languishes overseas. China’s top tennis star and its jailed legal advocate are both heroes. Many Chinese, especially those who don’t make the mistake of confusing patriotism with blindly supporting unelected leaders, recognize that. Can China’s government, amid one of the most concerted human-rights crackdowns in years, ever do the same?
Read more: China: What Tennis Ace Li Na and Activist Xu Zhiyong Have in Common | TIME-com China: What Tennis Ace Li Na and Activist Xu Zhiyong Have in Common | TIME-com
A day after Li’s Australian Open victory, Xu Zhiyong, a Chinese legal scholar once eulogized in the local edition of Esquire, gave another public statement. The atmosphere in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court was rather less celebratory than at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Xu had just been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on charges of assembling a crowd to disrupt order at public places. Unlike Li, whose silence on the Chinese state carried its own message, Xu directly addressed the authorities dictating his fate. “This is actually an issue of fears you all carry within,” he said. “Fear of a public trial, fear of a citizen’s freedom to observe a trial, fear of my name appearing online and fear of the free society nearly upon us.” The judge did not allow Xu to finish his closing statement, deeming it “irrelevant” to the proceedings, according to his lawyer.
Li and Xu are both fighters. They have, however, chosen divergent ways to battle the absurdities and rigidities of the Chinese state. In 2008, Li broke with the national sports system, which had both created and threatened to destroy her career. Negotiating her exit was traumatic; Li had retired once before rather than take on China’s sports czars, who claimed the bulk of her winnings and expected obeisance for molding a 5-year-old into a future tennis ace. Yet her independence paid off. Li’s two Grand Slam titles came only after she began to “fly solo,” as her former tennis overlords call her escape from state sports. At the twilight of her career, the soon-to-be 32-year-old is playing the best tennis of her life.
Xu, by contrast, worked scrupulously within the confines of the Chinese legal system, calling for the protection of rights guaranteed by China’s own constitution. Two of the main causes he championed — pushing for officials to disclose their assets and campaigning for the education of migrants’ children — limned the publicly stated goals of China’s leadership. Still, Xu’s freedom was doomed by his defense of the disenfranchised and his co-founding of a New Citizens’ Movement dedicated to upholding the legal rights of ordinary Chinese. The nation’s President Xi Jinping once promoted the glories of China’s constitutional underpinnings. Now China’s state-linked media warn of the perils of “constitutionalism” and attack Xu as a dissident who stirs up “ fierce friction with mainstream society.”
Li too has been berated for her individualism and refusal to constantly play patriot. Last July, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily denigrated her “unbridled willfulness” and wondered “who will be there to restrain it?” On Jan. 28, in an editorial lambasting Western governments’ support for Xu and his fellow rights crusaders, the Communist Party–linked Global Times noted that “Beijing remains backward in soft power compared with Western countries.” That’s true. But it is precisely because the Chinese government and its propagandists tear down individuals like Li Na and Xu Zhiyong that Beijing’s reputation languishes overseas. China’s top tennis star and its jailed legal advocate are both heroes. Many Chinese, especially those who don’t make the mistake of confusing patriotism with blindly supporting unelected leaders, recognize that. Can China’s government, amid one of the most concerted human-rights crackdowns in years, ever do the same?
Read more: China: What Tennis Ace Li Na and Activist Xu Zhiyong Have in Common | TIME-com China: What Tennis Ace Li Na and Activist Xu Zhiyong Have in Common | TIME-com
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Japan beat Canada 3-1 in their best-of-five Davis Cup tennis series when Frank Dancevic was forced to retire in the first reverse singles match early Sunday.
Dancevic, ranked 119th in the world, was trailing 18th-ranked Kei Nishikori 6-2, 1-0. On Saturday, Dancevic and Daniel Nestor lost in doubles.
Canada will next play in a World Group playoff in September.
Dancevic, ranked 119th in the world, was trailing 18th-ranked Kei Nishikori 6-2, 1-0. On Saturday, Dancevic and Daniel Nestor lost in doubles.
Canada will next play in a World Group playoff in September.
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
The abiding memory is of Roger Federer dropping to his knees and raising his arms in celebration. It was 9:30 p.m. in Melbourne, on 30 January 2004, and he had just beaten his rival for No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the Australian Open semi-finals. The victory proved to be enough for Federer to become the world’s premier player for the first time. Federer confessed, “I wanted to enjoy this moment. You only get to be No. 1 once.”
Three days later, after outclassing a resurgent Marat Safin for his second Grand Slam championship title, the ranking was official and his place in tennis history was assured. Remarkably, seven years earlier, as a 15 year old at the Swiss National Tennis Centre at Ecublens, Federer had written down his sporting goals: to break into the Top 10 and then become No. 1.
Federer soon carried the weight of expectation as a member of the ATP World Tour’s ‘New Balls Please’ campaign — launched in August 2000 — that also featured Gustavo Kuerten, Lleyton Hewitt, Jan-Michael Gambill, Tommy Haas, Nicolas Lapentti, Mariano Zabaleta and Ferrero. But his rise to the summit of men’s professional tennis was as a result of hard work and dedication. Between 2001 and 1 February 2004, he compiled a 192-60 match record (.733), which included 12 titles.
Once at World No. 1, Federer established a dictatorship and exerted a relentless hunger and consistency. In the first of his three stints at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he held No. 1 continuously for a record 237 weeks until 16 August 2008. His supporters became legion, readily complimenting his fluidity, economy of movement and gracefulness, but also his manner and diplomacy that evoked memories of a player from the amateur era. He regained the No. 1 crown on two further occasions in 2010 and 2012, for a further 65 weeks, before closing out his 302nd week — 16 more weeks than Pete Sampras’ mark — on 4 November 2012. That year, Federer won his 17th Grand Slam title.
Federer won 421 matches and lost just 53 times (.888) as the world’s best. He went 50-18 in finals, which included 11 Grand Slam titles and 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies. In comparison to the two players who followed him to No. 1, Rafael Nadal — another all-time great who is about to start his 120th week at No. 1 – currently has a 161-26 match record (.861) and a 45-5 finals record. Novak Djokovic went 125-21 (.856) and 9-6 in championship matches in his 101 weeks at No. 1.
As we celebrate the anniversary of Federer first becoming World No. 1, his legacy is that he will forever be ranked among the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. For ever since 2 February 2004, Federer has been the standard-bearer for a generation of players and, one decade on, remains a key protagonist in the age of superstar tennis. Federer completed 2013 in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the 12th year in a row. Now at No. 8, Federer hunts down his rivals with his new coach, Stefan Edberg, another ATP World Tour aristocrat, in search of further joy (and silverware) from a sport he transcended long ago.
BY THE NUMBERS: FEDERER AT NO. 1
Here is a look at Federer's achievements during his 302 total weeks as No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 2 February 2004:
Statistics - Federer at No. 1
Total Weeks at No. 1 302
Longest Streak at No. 1 237
Year-end Rankings at No. 1 5 (2004-07, '09)
Years Ranked at No. 1 8
Match Winning Pct. at No. 1 .888
Match Record at No. 1 421-53
- in 2004 67-6 (.918)
- in 2005 81-4 (.953)
- in 2006 92-5 (.948)
- in 2007 68-9 (.883)
- in 2008 47-12 (.797)
- in 2009 21-6 (.778)
- in 2010 23-7 (.767)
- in 2012 22-4 (.846)
Grand Slam Winning Pct. at No. 1 .918
Grand Slam Record at No. 1 135-12
Finals Record at No. 1 50-18 (.735)
Grand Slam Titles at No. 1 11
ATP Masters 1000 Titles at No. 1 15
Federer was ranked No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for a total of 302 weeks.
Dates No. of Weeks
2 Feb 2004 - 16 Aug 2008 237
15 Jul 2009 - 6 Jun 2010 48
9 Jul 2012 - 4 Nov 2012 17
Here are the numbers when Federer was not ranked No. 1:
Statistics - Federer Not at No. 1
Match Winning Pct. .756
Match Record 510-164
Grand Slam Winning Pct. .813
Grand Slam Record 130-30
Finals Record 27-19 (.587)
Grand Slam Titles 6
ATP Masters 1000 Titles Not at No. 1 6
ATP Heritage: Federer Marks 10 Years Since Rising To No. 1 - Tennis - ATP World Tour
Three days later, after outclassing a resurgent Marat Safin for his second Grand Slam championship title, the ranking was official and his place in tennis history was assured. Remarkably, seven years earlier, as a 15 year old at the Swiss National Tennis Centre at Ecublens, Federer had written down his sporting goals: to break into the Top 10 and then become No. 1.
Federer soon carried the weight of expectation as a member of the ATP World Tour’s ‘New Balls Please’ campaign — launched in August 2000 — that also featured Gustavo Kuerten, Lleyton Hewitt, Jan-Michael Gambill, Tommy Haas, Nicolas Lapentti, Mariano Zabaleta and Ferrero. But his rise to the summit of men’s professional tennis was as a result of hard work and dedication. Between 2001 and 1 February 2004, he compiled a 192-60 match record (.733), which included 12 titles.
Once at World No. 1, Federer established a dictatorship and exerted a relentless hunger and consistency. In the first of his three stints at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, he held No. 1 continuously for a record 237 weeks until 16 August 2008. His supporters became legion, readily complimenting his fluidity, economy of movement and gracefulness, but also his manner and diplomacy that evoked memories of a player from the amateur era. He regained the No. 1 crown on two further occasions in 2010 and 2012, for a further 65 weeks, before closing out his 302nd week — 16 more weeks than Pete Sampras’ mark — on 4 November 2012. That year, Federer won his 17th Grand Slam title.
Federer won 421 matches and lost just 53 times (.888) as the world’s best. He went 50-18 in finals, which included 11 Grand Slam titles and 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies. In comparison to the two players who followed him to No. 1, Rafael Nadal — another all-time great who is about to start his 120th week at No. 1 – currently has a 161-26 match record (.861) and a 45-5 finals record. Novak Djokovic went 125-21 (.856) and 9-6 in championship matches in his 101 weeks at No. 1.
As we celebrate the anniversary of Federer first becoming World No. 1, his legacy is that he will forever be ranked among the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport. For ever since 2 February 2004, Federer has been the standard-bearer for a generation of players and, one decade on, remains a key protagonist in the age of superstar tennis. Federer completed 2013 in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the 12th year in a row. Now at No. 8, Federer hunts down his rivals with his new coach, Stefan Edberg, another ATP World Tour aristocrat, in search of further joy (and silverware) from a sport he transcended long ago.
BY THE NUMBERS: FEDERER AT NO. 1
Here is a look at Federer's achievements during his 302 total weeks as No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 2 February 2004:
Statistics - Federer at No. 1
Total Weeks at No. 1 302
Longest Streak at No. 1 237
Year-end Rankings at No. 1 5 (2004-07, '09)
Years Ranked at No. 1 8
Match Winning Pct. at No. 1 .888
Match Record at No. 1 421-53
- in 2004 67-6 (.918)
- in 2005 81-4 (.953)
- in 2006 92-5 (.948)
- in 2007 68-9 (.883)
- in 2008 47-12 (.797)
- in 2009 21-6 (.778)
- in 2010 23-7 (.767)
- in 2012 22-4 (.846)
Grand Slam Winning Pct. at No. 1 .918
Grand Slam Record at No. 1 135-12
Finals Record at No. 1 50-18 (.735)
Grand Slam Titles at No. 1 11
ATP Masters 1000 Titles at No. 1 15
Federer was ranked No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for a total of 302 weeks.
Dates No. of Weeks
2 Feb 2004 - 16 Aug 2008 237
15 Jul 2009 - 6 Jun 2010 48
9 Jul 2012 - 4 Nov 2012 17
Here are the numbers when Federer was not ranked No. 1:
Statistics - Federer Not at No. 1
Match Winning Pct. .756
Match Record 510-164
Grand Slam Winning Pct. .813
Grand Slam Record 130-30
Finals Record 27-19 (.587)
Grand Slam Titles 6
ATP Masters 1000 Titles Not at No. 1 6
ATP Heritage: Federer Marks 10 Years Since Rising To No. 1 - Tennis - ATP World Tour
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Great Britain's victory over USA in the Davis Cup will boost participation at grassroots level, according to the chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, Mike Downey.
Britain advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in 28 years on Sunday following Andy Murray's victory over Sam Querrey, giving Leon Smith's side an unassailable 3-1 lead and securing a tie against Italy.
Britain will travel to Italy in April, for a match that is set to be played once again on clay. Downey, who was recently appointed to the LTA following a role with Tennis Canada, believes the win in America will have already reaped significant benefits for participation because of the emotive nature of the Davis Cup.
He said:"From my experience in Canada I think success at Davis Cup and [women's] Fed Cup is very important to the health of the sport in the country. It's about motivation, pride and the country doing well, and tennis is getting far more coverage today than it normally would and it will again when we play Italy.
"It is also really very special in that this is a team event, and you are representing your country, and it makes it even more special to beat the Americans to advance to the first quarter-final for more than 25 years away, and dealing with a pretty unruly crowd.
"The emotive nature of the Davis Cup indirectly helps things like participation, and I think that was one of the things we maybe didn't have enough focus on."
Murray, who withdrew from Davis Cup duty in 2010 before Britain's match against Lithuania, when they were languishing in Euro-African group II, believes the team can go on to win the tournament, following a victory that contained a surprise win over Querrey for James Ward.
"This is the first time I've been involved in Davis Cup that we've had a chance of winning the competition," Murray said. "It's good for me to play on the clay. Often going into the clay season I haven't played any matches on it for 11 months."
Downey said: "We have a good chance in Italy especially with Andy playing – and playing so well – as it helps raise the game of the other players."
Andy Murray's Davis Cup success will boost grassroots tennis, says LTA | Sport | The Guardian
Britain advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in 28 years on Sunday following Andy Murray's victory over Sam Querrey, giving Leon Smith's side an unassailable 3-1 lead and securing a tie against Italy.
Britain will travel to Italy in April, for a match that is set to be played once again on clay. Downey, who was recently appointed to the LTA following a role with Tennis Canada, believes the win in America will have already reaped significant benefits for participation because of the emotive nature of the Davis Cup.
He said:"From my experience in Canada I think success at Davis Cup and [women's] Fed Cup is very important to the health of the sport in the country. It's about motivation, pride and the country doing well, and tennis is getting far more coverage today than it normally would and it will again when we play Italy.
"It is also really very special in that this is a team event, and you are representing your country, and it makes it even more special to beat the Americans to advance to the first quarter-final for more than 25 years away, and dealing with a pretty unruly crowd.
"The emotive nature of the Davis Cup indirectly helps things like participation, and I think that was one of the things we maybe didn't have enough focus on."
Murray, who withdrew from Davis Cup duty in 2010 before Britain's match against Lithuania, when they were languishing in Euro-African group II, believes the team can go on to win the tournament, following a victory that contained a surprise win over Querrey for James Ward.
"This is the first time I've been involved in Davis Cup that we've had a chance of winning the competition," Murray said. "It's good for me to play on the clay. Often going into the clay season I haven't played any matches on it for 11 months."
Downey said: "We have a good chance in Italy especially with Andy playing – and playing so well – as it helps raise the game of the other players."
Andy Murray's Davis Cup success will boost grassroots tennis, says LTA | Sport | The Guardian
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Australia is beginning to rebound from the dark years when only Lleyton Hewitt could hold a candle to the world's elite after the promise shown by next-generation players such as Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
And South Australian Rasheed, who coaches world No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov, said remaining in the world group would make an enormous difference to their progress.
Australia, having lost the first round to France, needs to win a qualifying round in September to remain in the top draw or a year will be wasted playing against tennis minnows in front of small crowd.
Rasheed agreed with what the Spaniards and Frenchmen on tour have said for years: internal competition, time spent together and the pressure of playing for one's country at the highest level has no peer in a player's development.
During a break from ambassadorial duties at the USD$50,000 Charles Sturt Adelaide International at West Lakes, Rasheed also spoke of the importance of having a group of players coming through at the same time for an Australian resurgence in men's tennis.
"Until we see that whole thickness of players, and obviously with Bernie back in the mix and the two Special Ks, then it looks pretty good,'' Rasheed said. "But I'm really keen about the next ones, what's underneath that.
"Are there six to 12 guys who are in the same space who can push each other along?
"It looks like Nick and Thanasi are pushing each other, one's chasing the other and that's what you want.
"So I'm hoping there's of that type of athlete more at this level.''
Rasheed warned against being seduced by good results during the Australian summer.
To make it, players needed not only an X-factor that could set them apart from others seeking to break into the main tour, they also needed the resilience to do it overseas and week after week. "When you see them for the month in Australia, it's all bells and whistles because everyone's at home, everyone's comfortable,'' Rasheed said.
"It's tougher to actually get yourselves on the road, in somebody else's country.
"That's where the toughness of the world tour starts. Physically, mentally, to go out and compete with an enormous amount of players who can hit the ball as well as you do.
"What's going to set you apart?''
Davis Cup - in particular in the world group - would be the perfect preparation.
Rasheed said the experience of a live Davis Cup rubber could transform a player.
"That week leading in, those 10 days, the fact that you have those players around you at those certain times of the year can create a support system.
"And you can't replicate the Davis Cup experience - not even in Grand Slam tennis.
"It gives you different emotions leading in.
"You're not representing yourself anymore; you're representing your country and all of those sitting on the sidelines.
"You're lot more accountable for what you're doing. As a schooling tool for the younger players, it's brilliant.
"To have the energy of a home crowd against you make you more resilient. Some players' tennis has excelled because of their Davis Cup experiences.
"Just the mental value that Davis Cup brings; it's going to make you a better player.''
No Cookies | Fox Sports News, Live Sport, Sports | Fox Sports
And South Australian Rasheed, who coaches world No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov, said remaining in the world group would make an enormous difference to their progress.
Australia, having lost the first round to France, needs to win a qualifying round in September to remain in the top draw or a year will be wasted playing against tennis minnows in front of small crowd.
Rasheed agreed with what the Spaniards and Frenchmen on tour have said for years: internal competition, time spent together and the pressure of playing for one's country at the highest level has no peer in a player's development.
During a break from ambassadorial duties at the USD$50,000 Charles Sturt Adelaide International at West Lakes, Rasheed also spoke of the importance of having a group of players coming through at the same time for an Australian resurgence in men's tennis.
"Until we see that whole thickness of players, and obviously with Bernie back in the mix and the two Special Ks, then it looks pretty good,'' Rasheed said. "But I'm really keen about the next ones, what's underneath that.
"Are there six to 12 guys who are in the same space who can push each other along?
"It looks like Nick and Thanasi are pushing each other, one's chasing the other and that's what you want.
"So I'm hoping there's of that type of athlete more at this level.''
Rasheed warned against being seduced by good results during the Australian summer.
To make it, players needed not only an X-factor that could set them apart from others seeking to break into the main tour, they also needed the resilience to do it overseas and week after week. "When you see them for the month in Australia, it's all bells and whistles because everyone's at home, everyone's comfortable,'' Rasheed said.
"It's tougher to actually get yourselves on the road, in somebody else's country.
"That's where the toughness of the world tour starts. Physically, mentally, to go out and compete with an enormous amount of players who can hit the ball as well as you do.
"What's going to set you apart?''
Davis Cup - in particular in the world group - would be the perfect preparation.
Rasheed said the experience of a live Davis Cup rubber could transform a player.
"That week leading in, those 10 days, the fact that you have those players around you at those certain times of the year can create a support system.
"And you can't replicate the Davis Cup experience - not even in Grand Slam tennis.
"It gives you different emotions leading in.
"You're not representing yourself anymore; you're representing your country and all of those sitting on the sidelines.
"You're lot more accountable for what you're doing. As a schooling tool for the younger players, it's brilliant.
"To have the energy of a home crowd against you make you more resilient. Some players' tennis has excelled because of their Davis Cup experiences.
"Just the mental value that Davis Cup brings; it's going to make you a better player.''
No Cookies | Fox Sports News, Live Sport, Sports | Fox Sports
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Don't tell Grigor Dimitrov that he is tennis' next big superstar. The 22-year-old Bulgarian knows he must keep improving. He is forging his talent through grueling work and painful defeat, aware that his career journey will prosper so far as his mental resilience will take him.
Only then will he be ready to win Grand Slam titles against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Sports fans can be impatient waiting for young players to don a superhero's cape. Often, the burden of great expectations can harm developing athletes before they've reasonably accumulated the experiences of competing at the world's highest level.
"They [expectations] play in my head sometimes," Dimitrov said in USA Today Sports.
So much of this pressure comes from tennis fans who want him to succeed. They see his talent and marvel at his potential. It would be a shame for someone so gifted to never figure it out, or to drift away from the challenges that demand no less than total commitment.
They watch and wait for him to burst into stardom. They hope to escort him into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where he will one day sit at the exclusive table for its greatest legends. He's just too good not to get there someday, right?
They don't want to see him get beat down for nearly a decade and then finally win his first Grand Slam at age 28. See, he should have done this years ago.
Five-Tool Player
In Major League Baseball, the most well-rounded athletes are called "five-tool players." This is a player that can hit for a high batting average, hit with home-run power, run the bases with speed, field with exceptional range and throw with powerful accuracy. These are players like Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr., rare even amongst baseball legends.
We can apply this five-tool standard to tennis:
Does he have a great service game to pick up easy points?
Does he possess great hands at the net and creative shot-making touch?
Does his footwork set up big baseline weapons, ideally both forehand and backhand?
Does he have the vision and speed to be a great returner and defensive player?
Does he have the mental toughness and competitive drive to dominate the sport?
Even the greatest tennis players of all time do not perfectly possess all of these five-tool qualities, but they should be great with at least three of them.
Take Rafael Nadal. He does not dominate with the first two qualities listed, but he has worked hard at adapting these skills as good complements to his game. His dominance is clearly built on the final three standards, with standard No. 5 as perhaps his defining quality.
Roger Federer? Even the Swiss Maestro is not flawless. He dominates with the first three standards, though the stature of his backhand is fiercely debated. His footwork has always been exceptional. Most tennis fans would say Federer is still very good with the final two standards, but he is defined by a combination of the first three standards.
The great Pete Sampras could have improved standard No. 4, and it took him a few more years after his 1990 U.S. Open title to become a mentally tough and dominating player. But Sampras was defined by the first two standards. Dimitrov could one day master all five standards. His Australian Open quarterfinals loss to Rafael Nadal was a breathtaking glimpse of his all-courts talent, and may have foreshadowed the arrival of The Great Grigor, The Bodacious Bulgarian or King Dimitrov I.
He served with power, sometimes clocking in at 130-136 mph. His accuracy was solid, effectively serving wide and pulling Nadal off of the deuce court.
Several times in the match, Dimitrov's long arms produced sweeping inside-out forehands. These forehands produced a smooth, heavy thwack that had Nadal scampering and flailing to stay in the point, or forcing the Spaniard to cut an all-or-nothing up-the-line special.
A lot gets mentioned about Dimitrov's beautiful backhand (even though his forehand is a better finisher), but it's the control and variety he produces that makes it effective. It also holds up well against Nadal's high topspin.
Best of all, Dimitrov has gorgeous touch around the net. He is learning when to volley, and he can drop feathery, wicked spin. Once in the first set, he took a high floater at net and cut a hard slice; it sailed crosscourt and landed gently on Nadal's side, before darting sideways like a frantic hummingbird.
Dimitrov has a champion's footwork. At times he charged inside the baseline to pick up the ball early and dictate the action. At other times, he tracked down some of Nadal's best punches, running several meters beyond the baseline, retrieving high bounces and sending them back with low, deep slice to reset his positioning.
There is no question Dimitrov has the special tools to be great. So, what is stopping him?
How Grigor Dimitrov Is Developing into the Next Tennis Superstar | Bleacher Report
Only then will he be ready to win Grand Slam titles against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Sports fans can be impatient waiting for young players to don a superhero's cape. Often, the burden of great expectations can harm developing athletes before they've reasonably accumulated the experiences of competing at the world's highest level.
"They [expectations] play in my head sometimes," Dimitrov said in USA Today Sports.
So much of this pressure comes from tennis fans who want him to succeed. They see his talent and marvel at his potential. It would be a shame for someone so gifted to never figure it out, or to drift away from the challenges that demand no less than total commitment.
They watch and wait for him to burst into stardom. They hope to escort him into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where he will one day sit at the exclusive table for its greatest legends. He's just too good not to get there someday, right?
They don't want to see him get beat down for nearly a decade and then finally win his first Grand Slam at age 28. See, he should have done this years ago.
Five-Tool Player
In Major League Baseball, the most well-rounded athletes are called "five-tool players." This is a player that can hit for a high batting average, hit with home-run power, run the bases with speed, field with exceptional range and throw with powerful accuracy. These are players like Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr., rare even amongst baseball legends.
We can apply this five-tool standard to tennis:
Does he have a great service game to pick up easy points?
Does he possess great hands at the net and creative shot-making touch?
Does his footwork set up big baseline weapons, ideally both forehand and backhand?
Does he have the vision and speed to be a great returner and defensive player?
Does he have the mental toughness and competitive drive to dominate the sport?
Even the greatest tennis players of all time do not perfectly possess all of these five-tool qualities, but they should be great with at least three of them.
Take Rafael Nadal. He does not dominate with the first two qualities listed, but he has worked hard at adapting these skills as good complements to his game. His dominance is clearly built on the final three standards, with standard No. 5 as perhaps his defining quality.
Roger Federer? Even the Swiss Maestro is not flawless. He dominates with the first three standards, though the stature of his backhand is fiercely debated. His footwork has always been exceptional. Most tennis fans would say Federer is still very good with the final two standards, but he is defined by a combination of the first three standards.
The great Pete Sampras could have improved standard No. 4, and it took him a few more years after his 1990 U.S. Open title to become a mentally tough and dominating player. But Sampras was defined by the first two standards. Dimitrov could one day master all five standards. His Australian Open quarterfinals loss to Rafael Nadal was a breathtaking glimpse of his all-courts talent, and may have foreshadowed the arrival of The Great Grigor, The Bodacious Bulgarian or King Dimitrov I.
He served with power, sometimes clocking in at 130-136 mph. His accuracy was solid, effectively serving wide and pulling Nadal off of the deuce court.
Several times in the match, Dimitrov's long arms produced sweeping inside-out forehands. These forehands produced a smooth, heavy thwack that had Nadal scampering and flailing to stay in the point, or forcing the Spaniard to cut an all-or-nothing up-the-line special.
A lot gets mentioned about Dimitrov's beautiful backhand (even though his forehand is a better finisher), but it's the control and variety he produces that makes it effective. It also holds up well against Nadal's high topspin.
Best of all, Dimitrov has gorgeous touch around the net. He is learning when to volley, and he can drop feathery, wicked spin. Once in the first set, he took a high floater at net and cut a hard slice; it sailed crosscourt and landed gently on Nadal's side, before darting sideways like a frantic hummingbird.
Dimitrov has a champion's footwork. At times he charged inside the baseline to pick up the ball early and dictate the action. At other times, he tracked down some of Nadal's best punches, running several meters beyond the baseline, retrieving high bounces and sending them back with low, deep slice to reset his positioning.
There is no question Dimitrov has the special tools to be great. So, what is stopping him?
How Grigor Dimitrov Is Developing into the Next Tennis Superstar | Bleacher Report
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
Andy Murray has been confirmed as an entrant for next week's ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
The Wimbledon champion has been given a wildcard for the event, which is also set to feature Juan Martin Del Potro - the defending champion - and Tomas Berdych.
The Scot's entry suggests his back remains in a good condition following his return from surgery and a gruelling schedule over the last month consisting of the Australian Open and the Davis Cup.
Murray is scheduled to play in Acapulco later this month before the higher-profile tournaments of Indian Wells and Miami.
'Last week I contacted Andy Murray and his management,' said Rotterdam tournament director Richard Krajicek.
'Because he didn't have a tournament planned between Australian Open and Acapulco and came back from Australia free from physical issues, it seemed like a good idea to both of us if he came to Rotterdam.
'After consultation with his coach Ivan Lendl he decided. Obviously this is a great addition to our already very strong field. An excellent opportunity.'
Read more: Andy Murray enters ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
The Wimbledon champion has been given a wildcard for the event, which is also set to feature Juan Martin Del Potro - the defending champion - and Tomas Berdych.
The Scot's entry suggests his back remains in a good condition following his return from surgery and a gruelling schedule over the last month consisting of the Australian Open and the Davis Cup.
Murray is scheduled to play in Acapulco later this month before the higher-profile tournaments of Indian Wells and Miami.
'Last week I contacted Andy Murray and his management,' said Rotterdam tournament director Richard Krajicek.
'Because he didn't have a tournament planned between Australian Open and Acapulco and came back from Australia free from physical issues, it seemed like a good idea to both of us if he came to Rotterdam.
'After consultation with his coach Ivan Lendl he decided. Obviously this is a great addition to our already very strong field. An excellent opportunity.'
Read more: Andy Murray enters ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Join:
2006/12/07
Messages:
29893
.png?v=1.014689135)
Melbourne, where the tournament is held, is seeing a third consecutive day of heat above 40C, with temperatures of 41.7C (107F) on Thursday.
Australia's Climate Council says in a report that the number of hot days in the country has "more than doubled".
2013 was recently declared Australia's hottest year on record.
The Climate Council report attributed the development to climate change, caused by greenhouse gases.
Fire bans are in place across the states of Victoria and South Australia, as firefighters battle bushfires.
In Victoria, several fire emergency warnings have been issued, as fires in the Northern Grampians area merged into one "out of control" bushfire and residents were urged to evacuated.
'Extreme heat policy'
Australian Open organisers said their extreme heat policy was in force, with matches on outside courts being suspended at the end of their sets.
Matches at Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena would continue with a closed roof, they said in a statement.
Play was scheduled to resume on outside courts at 18:00 local time (07:00 GMT).
Tournament officials say temperature, wind direction and humidity are taken into account when implementing the extreme heat policy.
The announcement came mid-afternoon with the hottest part of the day approaching, the BBC's Jon Donnison in Melbourne reports.
On Tuesday, a tennis player and a ball boy fainted in the heat during the tournament. Organisers were criticised for allowing the tournament to continue.
Melbourne resident James Hickey told the BBC: "The past couple of nights have been insanely hot."
"In my suburb of Brunswick we lost power for about three hours on Tuesday night because it was so hot. The traffic lights were out, nobody could run their air conditioning or watch TV."
BBC News - Heatwave halts Australian Open tennis matches