ATP Tour 2010 Finals – Funny Questions
Here is a little clip from the 2010 ATP year end finals in London. I love it when they ask players funny and embarrassing questions.. makes them a little bit more human and you can relate.
Archive for: atp tour
Differences Between Sampras and Federer: From Sampras
Pete Sampras has just released a very interesting list of what seperates him from Roger Federer.
- I never dropped F or S bombs – EVER.
- Never argued with the referee despite the absence of Hawk-Eye to the extent that it got out of control.
- Was always gracious in defeat.
- Always respected the players box residents from the opposing camp.
- Never berated my arch rival – Agassi – publicly.
- Had kids – WITHOUT a condom – AND AFTER marriage.
- Overall a far classier career.
- Never paid more than $20 for a hair cut – including the tip.
- Despite Safin’s presence, I never waivered from which opening I was after.
- I have two BOYS who are far better looking than those ordinary looking twin GIRLS.
- My nose doesn’t get to places 10 minutes before my arrival.
- I don’t dream of going shopping on my off days.
- I retired while still on top – kind of – after beating my arch rival in the finals.
- I have a prettier wife.
- I can still beat Federer in a street fight – with one hand – to match his condition – to level the field.
Roger Federer vs David Nalbandian 2005: Amazing ATP Finals Final
This has been by far the best ATP tour end final. Roger Federer and David Nalbandian played a classic match back in 2005. This would be a career turning point especially for Nalbandian, but turning in the wrong direction.
Roger Federer Fourth Player to Qualify for Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
There are now four who have qualified for the year ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Roger Federer has joined Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
(Based on Year-to-Date 2011 ATP Rankings points as of Monday, 29 August, 2011)
1. N. Djokovic (SRB) 11,295
2. R. Nadal (ESP) 7,785
3. A. Murray (GBR) 4,730
4. R. Federer (SUI) 4,450
5. D. Ferrer (ESP) 3,420
6. M. Fish (USA) 2,505
7. N. Almagro (ESP) 2,270
8. T. Berdych (CZE) 2,260
9. R. Soderling (SWE) 2,080
10. J. Tsonga (FRA) 2,080
1. Bryan (USA)/Bryan (USA) 9,120
2. Llodra (FRA)/Zimonjic (SRB) 5,340
3. Mirnyi (BLR)/Nestor (CAN) 4,990
4. Bhupathi (IND)/Paes (IND) 3,970
5. Lindstedt (SWE)/Tecau (ROU) 3,165
6. Bopanna (IND)/Qureshi (PAK) 2,590
7. Butorac (USA)/Rojer (AHO) 2,340
8. Melzer (AUT)/Petzschner (GER) 1,920
9. Isner (USA)/Querrey (USA) 1,780
10. Kas (GER)/Peya (AUT) 1,575
Bold denotes qualification
The Case for a Longer Grass Court Season
Wimbledon is often considered sacred ground from the perspective of a professional tennis player. Victory on these revered lawns presents the ultimate tennis glory. A majority of professional tennis players would sight Wimbledon as the most desirable title in all of tennis. There is a distinct, indescribable eminence that comes with claiming the Wimbledon trophy.
No player better represents not only the brilliance but pure elegance that is characteristic of a Wimbledon champion than Roger Federer. The graceful nature with which Federer plays the game is of no comparison and is truly visible on grass. It is on this surface that Federer’s fluidity and variety really provide him with the upper hand against virtually every opponent.
Unfortunately, the beauty associated with grass court tennis is only seen for an abbreviated time span. The grass court season begins the Monday following the French Open and ends around a month later. With four warm up tournaments over a span of two weeks, transitioning from the slow, high bouncing clay courts to the fast, low bouncing grass courts presents a formidable challenge. Many players such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have even opted to skip these warm up tournaments and jump into Wimbledon cold.
For the surface on which the most striking and highly technical tennis is played, it would seem a just exploit to the tennis world to extend the season much beyond its current length. The Clay court season, which spans from February to June, is four months of relentless back court grinding that presents an extremely demanding physical challenge. The Hard court season, which lasts from July to the end of November, arguably takes an even bigger physical toll on players. A prime example of this is Rafael Nadal. Nadal plays the game with a never say die attitude, but unfortunately because of this he has encountered various knee problems throughout his career due the incredible effort and grit he puts into every single point. The toll taken on his knees on grass is not nearly as severe as the aggravation experienced on the hard and clay courts.
With this being said the grass courts are considerably less destructive to the body and allow the players to focus more on what’s being done on the court as opposed to what the court is doing to their body. Despite all of this, I am in full recognition that there are obvious obstacles in the way of extending the grass court season such as a lack of venues and scheduling. If the ATP is in fact able to extend the life of the grass court season, it would not only be a positive improvement for the health of the players but it would also be nothing short of a gift to tennis fans all around the world.
Ryan Harrison Throws Out First Pitch at Cincinnati Reds Game
Im not exactly Ryan Harrison’s biggest fan, but he was at the Cincinnati Red’s game yesterday to throw out the first pitch. He was very nervous and as you can see in the video he actually gets it right!
Harrison is currently ranked No. 78 this week on the ATP computer. He is the youngest American in the Top 100.
Radek Stepanek: Solid Results to Win the ATP Washington Tournament
Radek Stepanek has performed amazingly well and has found a way to win the ATP Tour title in Washington.
Stepanek was a little lucky as Mardy Fish had to withdraw from the tournament, but he had a string of very solid wins, including the final where he beat Gael Monfils 6-4 6-4 to take the title.
This is Stepanek’s fifth title and his first ATP 500 win. At 32, he is the oldest player in the top 100.
Thomas Must Knocked Out With Ease at Kitzbuhel ATP Tournament
Thomas Muster wasnt able to pull off a good performance on his comeback against Philipp Kohlschreiber at Kitzbuhel. Muster was defeated in the first round by Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-0.
Muster hasnt been performing very well on his comeback only winning one out of 15 main-draw matches on the lower-tier Challenger tour.
Thomas, I know you love playing the game at a high level, but it is time to play on the seniors tour!
The result means that Jimmy Connors remains the oldest player to win an ATP match after reaching the quarterfinals in Halle, Germany, in 1995 at age 42.
ATP Tour August 1st 2011
Here are the updated ATP Tour rankings as at the 1st August 2011. There seems to be a growing gap between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
| Rank | Player & Nationality | Pts This Week | Rank Diff | # Of Trn | |||
| 1 | Djokovic, Novak (SRB) | 13,155 | 0 | 18 | |||
| 2 | Nadal, Rafael (ESP) | 11,270 | 0 | 22 | |||
| 3 | Federer, Roger (SUI) | 9,530 | 0 | 20 | |||
| 4 | Murray, Andy (GBR) | 6,705 | 0 | 19 | |||
| 5 | Soderling, Robin (SWE) | 4,325 | 0 | 25 | |||
| 6 | Ferrer, David (ESP) | 4,210 | 0 | 24 | |||
| 7 | Monfils, Gael (FRA) | 2,695 | 0 | 22 | |||
| 8 | Fish, Mardy (USA) | 2,550 | 1 | 21 | |||
| 9 | Berdych, Tomas (CZE) | 2,470 | -1 | 27 | |||
| 10 | Almagro, Nicolas (ESP) | 2,165 | 0 | 26 | |||
| 11 | Simon, Gilles (FRA) | 2,155 | 0 | 29 | |||
| 12 | Roddick, Andy (USA) | 2,110 | 0 | 20 | |||
| 13 | Gasquet, Richard (FRA) | 2,000 | 0 | 24 | |||
| 14 | Youzhny, Mikhail (RUS) | 1,990 | 0 | 26 | |||
| 15 | Troicki, Viktor (SRB) | 1,970 | 0 | 26 | |||
| 16 | Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) | 1,945 | 0 | 23 | |||
| 17 | Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI) | 1,935 | 0 | 23 | |||
| 18 | Melzer, Jurgen (AUT) | 1,875 | 0 | 22 | |||
| 19 | Verdasco, Fernando (ESP) | 1,705 | 1 | 27 | |||
| 20 | Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG) | 1,670 | -1 | 23 | |||
| 21 | Dolgopolov, Alexandr (UKR) | 1,575 | 5 | 29 | |||
| 22 | Mayer, Florian (GER) | 1,465 | 0 | 28 | |||
| 23 | Chela, Juan Ignacio (ARG) | 1,440 | -2 | 25 | |||
| 24 | Cilic, Marin (CRO) | 1,395 | 7 | 27 | |||
| 25 | Tipsarevic, Janko (SRB) | 1,390 | -2 | 25 | |||
| 26 | Baghdatis, Marcos (CYP) | 1,375 | -1 | 27 | |||
| 27 | Nalbandian, David (ARG) | 1,365 | 1 | 21 | |||
| 28 | Lopez, Feliciano (ESP) | 1,345 | -4 | 27 | |||
| 29 | Raonic, Milos (CAN) | 1,344 | -2 | 21 | |||
| 30 | Davydenko, Nikolay (RUS) | 1,295 | -1 | 26 | |||
ATP Tour 2011 Schedule
| Start Date | Tournament | Venue | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 2011 | |||
| 2nd | ATP Brisbane International | Brisbane, Australia | Robin Soderling |
| 3rd | ATP Qatar ExxonMobil Open | Doha, Qatar | Roger Federer |
| 3rd | ATP Aircel Chennai Open | Chennai, India | Stanislas Wawrinka |
| 10th | ATP Heineken Open | Auckland, New Zealand | David Ferrer |
| 10th | ATP Medibank International | Sydney, Australia | Gilles Simon |
| 17th | Australian Open | Melbourne, Australia | Novak Djokovic |
| 31st | ATP PBZ Zagreb Indoors | Zagreb, Croatia | Ivan Dodig |
| 31st | ATP SA Tennis Open | Johannesburg, South Africa | Kevin Anderson |
| 31st | ATP Movistar Open | Santiago, Chile | Tommy Robredo |
| February 2011 | |||
| 7th | ATP ABN AMRO World Tennis | Rotterdam, NED | Robin Soderling |
| 7th | ATP SAP Open | San Jose, California, USA | Milos Raonic |
| 7th | ATP ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Robin Soderling |
| 7th | ATP Brasil Open | Costa do Sauipe, Brazil | Nicolas Almagro |
| 14th | ATP Regions Morgan Keegan Championships | Memphis, Tennessee, USA | Andy Roddick |
| 14th | ATP Tour Open 13 | Marseille, France | Robin Soderling |
| 14th | ATP Copa Claro | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Nicolas Almagro |
| 21st | ATP Delray Beach International Tennis Championship | Delray Beach, Florida, USA | Juan Martin Del Potro |
| 21st | ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Novak Djokovic |
| 21st | ATP Abierto Mexicano Telcel | Acapulco, Mexico | David Ferrer |
| March 2011 | |||
| 10th | ATP BNP Paribas Open | Indian Wells, California, USA | Novak Djokovic |
| 23rd | ATP Sony Ericsson Open | Miami, Florida, USA | Novak Djokovic |
| April 2011 | |||
| 4th | ATP Grand Prix Hassan II | Casablanca, Morocco | Pablo Andujar |
| 4th | ATP US Men’s Claycourt Championships | Houston,Texas, USA | Ryan Sweeting |
| 18th | ATP Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell | Barcelona, Spain | Rafael Nadal |
| 24th | ATP BMW Open | Munich, Germany | Nikolay Davydenko |
| 25th | ATP Estoril Open | Estoril, Portugal | Juan Martin Del Potro |
| 25th | ATP Serbia Open | Belgrade, Serbia | Novak Djokovic |
| May 2011 | |||
| 1st | ATP Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open | Madrid, Spain | Novak Djokovic |
| 8th | ATP Internazionali BNL d’Italia | Rome, Italy | Novak Djokovic |
| 15th | ATP Open de Nice Cote d’ Azur | Nice, France | Nicolas Almagro |
| 15th | ARAG ATP Power Horse World Team Championships | Dusseldorf, Germany | Team Event |
| 22nd | French Open | Roland Garros, Paris, France | Rafael Nadal |
| June 2011 | |||
| 6th | ATP AEGON Championships | London, England | Andy Murray |
| 6th | ATP Gerry Weber Open | Halle, Germany | Philipp Kohlschreiber |
| 12th | ATP UNICEF Open | ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands | Dmitry Tursunov |
| 13th | ATP AEGON International | Eastbourne, England | Andreas Seppi |
| 20th | All England Lawn Tennis Championships | Wimbledon, England | Novak Djokovic |
| July 2011 | |||
| 4th | ATP Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships | Newport, Rhode Island, USA | John Isner |
| 11th | ATP Mercedes Cup | Stuttgart, Germany | Juan Carlos Ferrero |
| 11th | ATP SkiStar Swedish Open | Bastad, Sweden | Robin Soderling |
| 18th | ATP Atlanta Tennis Championships | Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Mardy Fish |
| 18th | ATP German Open Tennis Championships | Hamburg, Germany | Gilles Simon |
| 25th | ATP Credit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad | Gstaad, Switzerland | |
| 25th | ATP Farmers Classic | Los Angeles, California, USA | |
| 25th | ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag | Umag, Croatia | |
| 31st | ATP Bet-At-Home Cup Kitzbuhel | Kitzbuhel, Austria | |
| August 2011 | |||
| 1st | ATP Legg Mason Tennis Classic | Washington D.C, USA | |
| 8th | ATP Rogers Cup | Montreal, Canada | |
| 14th | ATP Masters Series Western & Southern Financial Group Masters | Cincinnati, Ohio, USA | |
| 22nd | ATP Winston-Salem Open | Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA | |
| 29th | US Open | Flushing Meadows, New York, USA | |
| September 2011 | |||
| 19th | ATP BCR Open Romania | Bucharest, Romania | |
| 19th | ATP Tour Open de Moselle | Metz, France | |
| 26th | ATP PTT Thailand Open | Bangkok, Thailand | |
| 26th | ATP Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | |
| October 2011 | |||
| 3rd | ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 3rd | ATP China Open | Beijing, China | |
| 10th | Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, Presented by Rolex | Shanghai, China | |
| 17th | ATP Kremlin Cup | Moscow, Russia | |
| 17th | ATP Tour Stockholm Open | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| 24th | ATP Tour St. Petersburg Open | St. Petersburg, Russia | |
| 24th | ATP Bank Austria Tennis Trophy | Vienna, Austria | |
| 30th | ATP Valencia Open 500 | Valencia, Spain | |
| 31st | ATP Swiss Indoors Basel | Basel, Switzerland | |
| November 2011 | |||
| 20th | Barclays ATP World Tour Finals | O2 Arena, London, England | |
ATP Tour Prizemoney To Increase to Over $90 Million Per Year
The ATP have announced that they will be raising their prizemoney for tournament by 30 percent over the next three years. The tour will be offering over $90 million in prizemoney per year.
Prize money at the World Tour Finals will go up from $5 million to $6.5 million.
“We are privileged to be experiencing a golden era in men’s professional tennis and it is fitting that the commitment and excellence of the players is recognized and rewarded in this way,” ATP executive chairman and president Adam Helfant said.
Andy Roddick Out of French Open and ATP Made a Big Mistake Last Week
The other day we reported about Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish receiving a fine because they didnt play their doubles final in Rome, this was all due to Roddick’s shoulder injury. It seemed at the time that they were only fined because the ATP thought Andy was faking in injury to make sure he could play the French Open.
Well it has turned out that Andy was in fact injured and is now not even able to play at the French Open starting tomorrow.
Ohhhh this seems to yet be another big mistake from the ATP! Its about time that actually talked to the players more and took some advice.
Roger Federer and Pete Sampras are Best Friends
It seems like Roger Federer has a new best friend. I think I have heard of this guy, Pete Sampras!
Playing on the practice court, on the basketball court and even going to watch NBA games.
Often Find Tennis Events Very Unprofessional: Malaysian Open 2010
Sometimes I find tennis events very unprofessional. I recently came across this video of the Malaysian Open ATP Tour event draw, the draw seemed like it was conducted in a shopping mall with the present having to read everything off cue cards (even the players names).
Im a firm believer in only doing something if its done right and in this case they probably should have just done the draw behind closed doors or at least in a conference room.
USTA to Purchase Majority Stake in Cincinnati
The USTA today announced that it has reached an agreement with Tennis Cincinnati to acquire a majority interest in the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – the second-highest-attended summer tennis event in the U.S. after the US Open.
Additionally, the USTA and Tennis Cincinnati are in discussions to potentially secure a top women’s tournament for a future combined men’s and women’s event.
Under the new arrangement, Tennis Cincinnati will retain an ownership position in the tournament, and Paul Flory (Tournament Chairman), Bruce Flory (Tournament Director), Elaine Bruening (Tournament COO) and the current tournament staff will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the tournament.
I still find the tennis business structure a little funny. There is currently a lot of talks about about the ATP and WTA Tour structures and key to this is the current antitrust suit against the ATP. Currently, there is limited money in tennis as is, and all these corporations are too busy trying to fight each other, instead of thinking about ways to get the sport back to the top.
