Archive for: atp

Novak Djokovic Meets Alberto Tomba

Novak Djokovic was lucky enough to spend some time with his childhood idol over the weekend, Alberto Tomba. Tomba is one of the best skiers of all time!

Terrible Conditions at ATP Tournament in Casablanca

Robin Haase and other top players had an awful time at the ATP tournament in Casablanca.

“At the tournament, the bathrooms are so dirty that you want to keep your clothes and shoes on when taking a shower,” Haase wrote on his website. “Some players don’t shower at all and decide to take one at the hotel in the evening. If the showers are that disgusting, I hope you can image yourself how the toilets are. Some players even take their own toilet paper with them.”

Haase also claimed that he and other players were robbed. “Fortunately not my computer or other valuables which however did happen to other players.”

ATP you really need to sort this out ASAP.

ATP Monte Carlo 2012 R1 Juan Ignacio Chela vs Alexandr Dolgopolov

ATP Monte Carlo 2012 R1 Juan Ignacio Chela vs Alexandr Dolgopolov.

ps. Sorry the commentary is in Russian.

ATP Monte Carlo 2012 R1 Lukasz Kubot vs Jurgen Melzer

ATP Monte Carlo 2012 round 1 between Lukasz Kubot vs Jurgen Melzer.

Michael Llodra Fine to Possible Rise and Further Action Taken Over Racial Slur

There has been a lot of press around the Michael Llodra racial insult scandal. The ATP Tour has just announced that the Michael Llodra investigation isnt closed and it is still ongoing.

Originally Llodra was fined $2,500, but apparently that fine could go higher, or other measures could be taken.

ATP vs WTA: Who Are The Best Dancers

Rafael Nadal Pushing for Two Year ATP Tour Ranking System

Rafael Nadal seems to be pushing for a change in the ATP ranking system. At the moment the ATP rankings take in 1 year of results, but Nadal wants to see 2 years used instead (which is used in Golf). Nadal has said the change would lengthen careers by allowing big names to play less often and better protecting injured players. This all makes sense, but there are a lot of downsides. If players want to play less and earn as much money, the only person to lose out is the fans. Fans will only have limited opportunities to see their favourite players play, which I think will drive fans away from tennis and towards more active top player sports (such as Football).

Ohh.. and did I mention that Rafael Nadal would be the main player to benifit from the change. He would becoming world number 1 again!

p.s. Is it about time someone else started a new tour?

Bob and Mike Bryan Finish Number 1 Doubles Pair in 2011

Bob and Mike Bryan are going to finish 2011 the number 1 doubles pair in the world. This a record seventh time they will finish the number 1 pair in the world.

Since 2003, the Bryans have only twice failed to finish No. 1—in 2004 and 2008.

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.

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 State of Men’s Tennis in America

If you were to ask the casual tennis fan to name as many American male tennis players off of the top of their head as possible, most would easily name Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and John Isner.  After these three, a blank would be drawn.  The lack of resurgence from American male players since the end of the Sampras-Agassi era has been disappointing in the eyes of many fans to say the least.  The only two American players to have reached a Grand Slam semifinal since 2003 are Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.  In the defense of American players, the male game has become very top heavy in recent years with Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic becoming fixtures in the final four of majors.

The letdown of American male tennis players in the last 5-7 years is often viewed the wrong way.  Many have been led to believe that there simply has been a lag in American talent.  This statement is easily falsifiable.   Currently, there are 10 Americans in the top 100 in the world.   This is the most of any country apart from Spain, which has 13 men ranked in the top 100.

Now this begs question of has there actually been a letdown of talent or a failure of high expectations?   I think undoubtedly the latter is the answer.  Following the legacies of greats such as Agassi, Sampras,  and Courier is no short task.  It would be unreasonable to expect any group of any players from any country during any time period to achieve on the same level as these Americans did during the 80s’ and 90s.

If you go back in history, the only county since the beginning of the open era (1968) to achieve something comparable to what the Americans of the 1990′s achieved were Swedes in the 70s and 80s.  Wilander, Borg, and Edberg combined for 24 grand slams over an 18 year period.  The combination of Agassi, Sampras, Courier, collected 27 grandslams in 13 years.

A prime example of a player that has “failed” in the eyes of many Americans is Donald Young.  When Donald Young was 15 people were sighting him as the next big star and a shoe in as a future number one based on his success at Junior National Championships in Kalamazoo which he was winning.    Currently ranked 89th in the world, Young is 22 and already considered a bust.  It is extremely premature to declare the career of a 22 year old a disappointment.   Recently, many players have enjoyed their greatest successes near the end of their careers.  Two examples of this are Mardy Fish, who has surged to a career high ranking of number 7 at age 29 and Jurgen Melzer, a journeymen Austrian who made his deepest career run in every single major coincidentally at the age of 29.

With players on the rise such as  Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, John Isner, Alex Bogomolov Jr. , and Ryan Sweeting the future of American tennis appears to be very promising.  And while this group of players will unlikely achieve the greatness of those in the 1990s, it would be wise to hold off on the bust word for a while.

Robin Haase Wins First ATP Tour Title in Kitzbuhel

Robin Haase has had the week of his life! Haase won his first ATP tour title defeating Albert Montanes 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in Kitzbuhel in Austria. Haase beat some great players in Kitzbuel such as Feliciano Lopez and Andreas Seppi.

After battling for two hours a disapointed Montanes said; “After winning the second set I started feeling a bit tired. The last few days were very intense; I played two matches during one day and against Juan  it was a hard match too. I couldn’t maintain my rhythm in the end and I have to congratulate Robin for a spectacular week here in Kitzbühel. I wish him the best for the future.”

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.

Australia Lead Davis Cup Tie Against China: Hewitt and Guccione Win the Doubles

Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione have been able to push Australia ahead in their Davis Cup tie against China. The pair defeated Maoxin Gong and Zhe Li 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Australia now lead the tie 2-1.

Friday’s Results:

Bernard Tomic d Zhang Ze 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-4.
Di Wu d Marinko Matosevic 4-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-4

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.

What is it Like to be a Stringer at a Grand Slam or Roland Garros

Here is a quick look inside the stringers world at a Grand Slam event. At Roland Garros and other Grand Slam events stringers have to do at the very least 38 racquets per day and they all need to be perfect.

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.

Donald Young Tells the USTA to F*** Off

It seems as though Donald Young isnt very happy with the USTA.

I’m not exactly sure on the final details, but it seems as though other players have also been getting involved. Now Amer Delic has commented.

It now seems as though Donald Young has now appologised for his outburst and has deleted his Twitter account.

p.s. If you know any more details make sure you drop them below in the comments.

Gael Monfils Playing Some Great Tennis and Now in Stuttgart Final

Gael Monfils seems to be in great form at the moment, as he has just booked himself a place in the Stuttgart ATP World Tour final. Gael defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-4 4-6 6-0. He will now face Albert Montanes in the final. Montanese has been playing some great clay court tennis and he defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 7-6 to make the final.

Official Professional Tennis Players Twitter List

Twitter is already a huge medium for players to reach their fans online. Twitter provides a little personal touch and allows players and the general public to communicate in a simple way. I have been wondering for a while now, which players are actually already using Twitter!

So here is our official WTA and ATP Tour players Twitter List! (if you know of any players we have missed please let us know via email) Follow The Tennis Times on Twitter!

Marcos Baghdatis: Twitter.com/marcosbaghdatis
Bob and Mike Bryan: Twitter.com/bryanbros
Pat Cash: Twitter.com/therealpatcash
Thiemo de Bakker: twitter.com/thiemodebakker
Amer Delic: Twitter.com/amerdelic
Juan del Potro: twitter.com/delpotrojuan
Taylor Dent: Twitter.com/taylordent81
Somdev Devvarman: Twitter.com/sdevvarman
Fernando Gonzalez: twitter.com/fergonchile
John Isner: twitter.com/johnisnertennis
Henri Kontinen: twitter.com/henrikontinen
Filip Krajinovic: twitter.com/filipkrajinovic
Jesse Levine: Twitter.com/jesselevine7
Patrick McEnroe: Twitter.com/patrickmcenroe
Juan Monaco: twitter.com/picomonaco
Gael Monfils: Twitter.com/monfilsgael
Andy Murray: Twitter.com/andy_murray
David Nalbandian: twitter.com/nalbandiandavid
Kei Nishikori: Twitter.com/keinishikori
Philipp Petzschner: twitter.com/petzsche
Sam Querrey: Twitter.com/samquerrey
Andy Roddick: Twitter.com/andyroddick
Robin Soderling: Twitter.com/rsoderling
Vince Spadea: Twitter.com/vincespadea
Donald Young: Twitter.com/dyplaya

Sofia Arvidsson: twitter.com/sofia_arvidsson
Victoria Azarenka: Twitter.com/vika7
Dominika Cibulkova: Twitter.com/Cibulkova
Kim Clijsters: Twitter.com/clijsterskim
Lindsay Davenport: Twitter.com/LDavenport76
Gisella Dulko: twitter.com/giseyfer
Anna-Lena Groenefeld: Twitter.com/annagroenefeld
Daniela Hantuchova: Twitter.com/dhantuchova
Justine Henin: Twitter.com/Justine_Henin
Jelena Jankovic: Twitter.com/Jelena_Jankovic
Anne Keothavong: twitter.com/annekeothavong
Maria Kirilenko: twitter.com/mkirilenko
Alisa Kleybanova: Twitter.com/akleybanova
Sabine Lisicki: Twitter.com/sabinelisicki
Michaella Krajicek: Twitter.com/MisaKrajicek
Svetlana Kuznetsova: Twitter.com/SvetlanaK27
Sania Mirza: Twitter.com/MirzaSania
Bethanie Mattek-Sands: Twitter.com/bmattek
Melanie Oudin: Twitter.com/melanie_oudin
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: Twitter.com/nastia_pav
Shahar Peer: Twitter.com/shaharpeer
Andrea Petkovic: twitter.com/andreapetkovic
Laura Robson: twitter.com/laurarobson5
Arina Rodionova: twitter.com/arinarodionova
Dinara Safina: Twitter.com/Dinarik27
Tamarine Tanasugarn: Twitter.com/TaMmyTaMarine
Heather Watson: twitter.com/mizwatson92
Serena Williams: Twitter.com/serenajwilliams
Venus Williams: Twitter.com/venuseswilliams
Caroline Wozniacki: Twitter.com/CaroWozniacki