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.
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.
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
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 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.”
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 | |||
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
It is now official, the ATP have just released their new rankings and Rafael Nadal is now officially World Number 1. After winning his fifth Roland Garros title over the weekend, he has passed Roger Federer yet again. I cant see Nadal dropping from this position for a while, as he has no points to defend at Wimbledon!
Visitors to Disneyland Paris today had a big surprise when they saw Mickey Mouse playing a game of doubles with invited children against professional tennis players Gael Monfils and Stansilas Wawrinka.
The court itself was a little short and had quasi-official dimensions, but that didn’t matter when the children had such a great event.
Disneyland Paris invited 200 children from the French “Fête le Mur” association, founded by Yannick Noah, to participate in this more than unusual exchange.
The Fête le Mur association is set up in the heart of 25 under-privileged Urban Zones, allows the children of those neighborhoods to practice tennis, to train and perfect themselves, and some of them to later find a professional opening.
Marin Cilic is a young player from Croatia who currently finds himself at number 14 in the world singles rankings. Marin has had a very quick rise to the top. He was playing junior tennis up until 2006 in which he then received his highest ranking of the world number one junior. While at the same time as holding this junior ranking Marin was also trying to build up a senior career and as many points as possible.
After moving away from junior tennis in 2006 Marin focused on building up as many points as possible on the ATP and ITF tours so that he could really make a living from tennis and live up to his potential. Within his first season on the ITF tour he finished 2006 ranked 173 in the world. This season really pushed his career and pretty much put him where he is today. At the start of 2006 Marin was receiving a lot of wildcards into major tournaments in which he would not have received unless he was the top junior in the world, and he made the most of it. Following in 2007 Marin continued his rise to finish the year at 71 and to now be on the ATP tour fulltime. Finally the growth continued even further to finish 2008 at number 22 and top be now a top player who everyone else wants to beat.
It is amazing how Marin Cilic has risen in the world of tennis and this has really been a steady growth from the age of 16. Marin is now a top 20 player in the world who no matter what tournament he plays is seeded. Im a firm believer that when a player progresses from juniors to seniors they deserve a few wildcards in major tournaments to help them get experience and raise their rankings fast at the same time. However, at the same time the player needs to keep his eye on the ball and actually get strong results on the ITF tours, cause that is really where you learn as a player to fight for every point and every match.
According to the SportsBusiness Journal, the ATP is developing a new TV show hosted by Justin Gimelstob: “The ATP is developing a TV series titled “ATP World Tour Uncovered,” offering a behind-the-scenes look at the circuit. The show is being produced by British Telecom and IMG and will be sold by Pitch International, a British sales agency with soccer and rugby experience.”
Im not too sure however that providing more details about the tour is really going to help the profile of the sport. However, im keen to see how this develops and it would also be great to see a show about professional players on the lower level tennis tours.
More details coming soon!
New world number three Andy Murray hit back at number four Novak Djokovic on Thursday after the Serb said the current rankings system was cruel. Djokovic was leapfrogged by Murray in the rankings on Monday despite landing a second title of the year in Belgrade at the weekend and reaching the last three Masters Series finals.
“There always seem to be problems and now it’s obviously the rankings,” Murray told a news conference after beating Tommy Robredo in the third round of the Madrid Open. It’s great that Novak’s done well the last few weeks but the first three or four months of the year I played a lot better than him so I think the rankings reflect very well how the guys are playing. Until this week I’ve never heard anyone complain. I think maybe only in the last week it’s become a problem for Novak.”
Players on the ATP tour have to defend the points they earned during the same week a year earlier, so the reigning champion at an event can only maintain his points tally, not improve it. “Playing three Masters Series finals in a row and winning a 250 event is incredible success and even then you are dropping a spot down in the rankings,” Djokovic said on Wednesday. “That shows how cruel the ranking system is in this sport.”
The ATP has released a new live screensaver. The screensaver is completely free and it provides some of the latest photos and videos from the Tour. With updates made automatically to the Screensaver, tuning into the ATP World Tour has never been so easy.
The screensaver runs on Windows 2000, XP and Vista only and it requires a minimum 1024×768 pixel resolution.
Some of the worlds top players including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, all played exhibition matches at the Rome Masters last weekend to remember and raise money for Fedelux. Fedelux is a leukemia foundation established in the memory of former player Federico Luzzi, who died of the disease last year aged 28 last year.
Most of the players wore shirts of the event which had the image of Luzzi on the front. Other players who participated were Tommy Robredo, Marat Safin, Potito Starace, Andreas Seppi, Simone Bolelli and Filippo Volandri.
It was great to see that the players pulled together for a great charity event.
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