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Djokovic Wins Paris Masters

anthony — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:22:34 +0000

Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils on Sunday to win the Paris Masters for the first time.

The victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last Sunday.

The third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in Paris and will be a strong favorite when he’ll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.

The former Australian Open winner fell on his knees and screamed on the center court when Monfils double-faulted on the first match point to give Djokovic his 16th career title.

Losing only three points on his serve in the first set, Djokovic pumped his fist when he took a 5-2 lead with a forehand winner down the line. He won the set in the next game when Monfils hit his first double-fault.

But Djokovic made 21 unforced errors in the second set and Monfils finally gave his supporters something to cheer by converting his first break point of the match in the fifth game after Djokovic missed an easy backhand volley.

Monfils then leveled at 3-3 and kept the pressure on Djokovic, failing to convert three other chances to break before taking the Serb’s service with a return winner for a 6-5 lead.

In the final set, Djokovic broke in the fourth game with a little help from Monfils, who lost his serve with his third double-fault of the match. Djokovic also double-faulted on Monfils’ break point in the seventh game and the 15th-seeded Frenchman leveled at 4-4 and eventually force a tiebreaker

Wilander Out As Davis Cup Captain In Sweden

anthony — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:58:18 +0000

Mats Wilander has quit as captain of Sweden’s Davis Cup team.

Wilander, who was briefly ranked No. 1 in the 1980s, led Sweden to the Davis Cup semifinals in 2007. The Swedes also reached the quarterfinals three times under Wilander and assistant coach Joakim Nystrom.

Swedish Tennis Federation chief Henrik Kallen on Tuesday thanked them both and said a search will begin for their replacements.

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Tennis Players Seek Sex In Sweden – Busted

anthony — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:30:51 +0000

Two men, identified only as foreign citizens, were detained as they entered a hotel in Stockholm early Sunday with their escorts. Both players were set to compete in the tournament, which started Monday.

Organizers said in a brief statement that it would be inappropriate to comment because the investigation was ongoing.

Tournament spokesman Pelle Hjertquist said that the investigation wouldn’t stop anyone from competing in the tournament, which has a 32-player singles draw and prize money of $600,000.

A prosecutor in the case had issued a so-called summary punishment, which allows someone suspected of a minor offense to avoid a trial by signing a confession. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the players had signed the document.

Sweden’s prostitution law is highly unusual because it punishes those who pay for sex but not the prostitutes.

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Nadal in Final

anthony — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:10:24 +0000

Rafael Nadal advanced to the Shanghai Masters final on Saturday after Feliciano Lopez became the ninth player to retire from the tournament.

The unseeded Lopez said he woke up with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set. He was trailing 6-1, 3-0 when he retired.

The top-seeded Nadal will play in Sunday’s final against sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

“He’s playing very well today,” said Nadal, who holds a 4-2 advantage over Davydenko in their previous meetings. “He has a lot of rhythm, and he’s playing with a lot of intensity. It’s going to be a really tough match.”

Nadal only lost four points in the five service games he played against Lopez in the semifinal, which he gained when Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia retired with a left hip injury.

The Spaniard is looking for his sixth title of the year, and the first since returning from an injury layoff to recover from knee tendinitis, which prevented him from defending his Wimbledon title. He also struggled with a stomach muscle injury at the U.S. Open.

“I’m in a final and that’s very important,” Nadal said. “It’s my first final since I’ve been back and that’s a good result for me.”

Davydenko reached his fourth final of the year after a hard-fought match that lasted more than three hours. The Russian dominated the final tiebreaker, racing out to a 5-0 lead before sealing the win.

Djokovic had saved all three break points he faced in the first set, before breaking Davydenko with his second set point when the Russian smacked a crosscourt backhand wide.

Davydenko then took control of the second by breaking for a 4-3 lead when Djokovic’s forehand sailed long at 15-40. The Russian had two set points on Djokovic’s serve in the ninth game but couldn’t convert either. Instead, he served it out in the next game with two aces.

Davydenko has won all three finals he has played this year, in Hamburg, Umag and the Kuala Lumpur tournament two weeks ago.

Sharapova Goes Down in China

anthony — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:39:11 +0000

Maria Sharapova was eliminated from the China Open on Wednesday, losing to Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the quarterfinals by beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Peng broke Sharapova twice in the first set, and then again in the sixth game of the second as the former top-ranked Russian appeared to show the strain of her three-set comeback victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus the night before. Sharapova did save two match points at 5-4 before losing.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova outplayed Bondarenko for much of the match and next faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-4, 6-4.

In addition, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Li Na of China 6-2, 6-0.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced in the men’s field, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-0. Davydenko will face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.

Second-seeded Novak Djokovic trounced Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-0, while Fernando Verdasco defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-4.

Serena back on top, after flop by Safina

anthony — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:28:33 +0000

Serena Williams is going back to the top of the WTA rankings.

Williams needed to win her second-round match at the China Open to reclaim the No. 1 ranking, because the nuumber 1 player, Dinara Safina, couldn’t get past that early round at the tournament.

Williams won with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

Safina’s loss made No. 226 Zhang the lowest-ranked woman to defeat a No. 1. Julie Coin of France was ranked 188th when she beat then-No. 1 Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 U.S. Open.

In other action, Maria Sharapova rallied for a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and Peng Shuai of China upset defending champion Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Melinda Czink of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3.

Williams has spent a total of 72 weeks as No. 1. The American said her focus for the rest of the year would be the WTA Tour Championships in Doha at the end of October.

Sharapova, who last week won the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo for her first tournament victory since returning from a 10-month injury layoff, recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the final set, winning five games in a row as ninth-ranked Azarenka struggled.

Jankovic, who retired in last week’s Tokyo final, said her arm and wrist still bother her. She said it was especially apparent in the third set.

Safina survives – barely

Sharapova, the only one true to form

anthony — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:49:11 +0000

Maria Sharapova overwhelmed Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-0, 6-1 Tuesday in the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

The former top-ranked Russian, who has been struggling since returning from a 10-month injury layoff, will face Alisa Kleybanova, who defeated sixth-seeded Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Sharapova won her first tournament as a professional at the Japan Open in 2003 and won in Tokyo in 2005. With more seeded players losing Tuesday, including third-seeded Elena Dementieva, she is positioned well for another shot at a title.

Li Na of China beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 7-5, 6-0.

Sharapova’s shoulder

Davis Cup 2010 – Nadal v. Federer?

anthony — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:41:45 +0000

The full draw for the 2010 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group is as follows:

SPAIN (s)(c) v SWITZERLAND

GERMANY (s) v FRANCE (c)

RUSSIA (s)(c) v INDIA

ARGENTINA (s) v SWEDEN (c)

ECUADOR v CROATIA (s)(c)(*)

SERBIA (c)(*) v USA (s)

CHILE (c) v ISRAEL (s)

BELGIUM (c) v CZECH REPUBLIC (s)

First Round ties to be played on 5-7 March 2010.

Key
(s) = seeded nation
(c) = choice of ground
(*) = choice of ground decided by lot

Czech Mate!

Anna Chakvetadze sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks

anthony — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:30:59 +0000

World No.59 Anna Chakvetadze is expected to skip all the tournaments in the next four to six weeks due to a stress fracture in her right foot. The 22-year-old Russian said: The doctors gave me this boot that I have to use for the next three or four weeks. I must admit having them on is like weird and funny. I feel like I’m a pirate.

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Roger Ready For Lasagna

anthony — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:30:25 +0000

The World No. 1, and U.S. Open runner up, arrived in Genoa, Italy today to begin practice for Switzerland’s Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie on the red clay of the 4,200-seat Valletta Cambiaso Club.

Federer joins Stansislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudunelli, Michael Lammer and Stephane Bohli on the Swiss squad. Host Italy fields Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli, Fabio Fognini and Potito Starace.

It marks Federer’s first Davis Cup appearance since the 2008 World Group Playoffs when he won a singles match and partnered Stanislas Wawrinka to win the doubles in a win over Belgum. Federer owns a 35-11 Davis Cup record overall, including a 25-6 mark in singles.

Czech Mate!