Archive for: davis cup
Mario Ancic has ruled himself out of Wimbledon and the Davis Cup tie against the USA. Ancic has still not completely healed from his mononucleosis which he first got two years ago and he has opted to take a break from tennis.
“Don’t ask me when I’ll return, because I don’t even know the answer myself. Health is most important. I have to listen to my body. The fact that I cancelled my favourite tournament (Wimbledon) and an important match with Americans, tells it all about the seriousness of the situation.”. said Mario Ancic.
Former Australian tennis star Mark Philippoussis is currently facing financial collapse as he is unable to pay his mortgage on his Williamstown home in bayside Melbourne.
Philippoussis earned more than $8 million dollars on court over the years, but is now being sued for failing to pay the mortgage and not just for a small amount, for about $1.3 million.
“Money came in left, right and centre; you just thought that’s how it was for everyone and that’s how it will always be,” he said.
“It’s the toughest time of my life right now, but it’s also the best time because I’ve woken up to so many things in my life.
“When I get back up from this I’ll appreciate so many things so much more. I’ve fallen down and I’ll get back up. This is how it is. It’s life.”
The Australian Davis Cup team has just escaped suspension from the Davis Cup and instead will be fined $12,800 AUD by the ITF.
The ITF’s five-member Davis Cup committee held talks about what penalties Australia should face for refusing to travel to Chennai for the May 8-10 tie because of security concerns.
“The ITF’s Davis Cup committee … decided that Australia would not be suspended from the 2010 competition or relegated from Asia/Oceania zone group 1,” the ITF said in a brief statement.
“Australia will lose choice of ground for their next home tie regardless of the opponent and will pay a fine of $US10,000.
“Australia will also be liable for costs to both the ITF and to the All India Tennis Association to be determined at a later date.”
Tennis Australia had asked for the event to be moved to a neutral venue but the ITF insisted it should go ahead as scheduled.
India’s tennis chiefs have urged the ITF to punish Australia, saying they would have been aware of the potential consequences of forfeiting the tie.
The boycott gave India automatic qualification for the World Group play-offs in September.
The Internation Tennis Federation (ITF) has scheduled to make a final decision today about whether to suspend the Australian Davis Cup team for next year. This all has to do with Australia not wanting to play their Davis Cup match which was scheduled on May 8 – 10 because of security concerns.
In an interview with ABC News Australia, the former world number one doubles player said that ITF should consider the fact that the team made the decision for valid reasons. Aside from the one year ban, Tennis Australia could be fined up to $100,000.
Tennis Australia has announced that they will not play their Davis Cup tie in India next month. We reported this story after Todd Woodbridge stated that the ITF were being irresponsible.
The International Tennis Federation turned down a request to move the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I third-round tie from Chennai, despite Tennis Australia saying India was too dangerous a venue.
“Davis Cup is very important to us but some things are more important than tennis” – Geoff Pollard
“We asked for the tie to be moved because we have major security concerns for the players, particularly during the [Indian] election,” Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said. “The ITF decision has left us with no other option. We cannot send the team. It is extremely disappointing. It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk.
“Davis Cup is very important to us but some things are more important than tennis,” Pollard said.
It is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Rafael Nadal will miss Spain’s Davis Cup final against Argentina because of a knee injury.
The top-ranked Nadal said Monday he was still struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment.
“The knee said no,” the 22-year-old said.
Spain team doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said Nadal would need three to six weeks to recover from the injury.
“These are very difficult moments, but I have done all that I could to be ready for the final,” he said. “It was a huge objective, and I’m used to playing with pain, but this is a distinct, new pain that I couldn’t control.”
Nadal’s absence deals a big blow to Spain’s bid for a third Davis Cup title since 2000. Spain captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario has until Tuesday to name his team.
Spain plays Argentina on indoor hard court at Mar del Plata from Nov. 21-23.
“We’re sorry for him, but it’s good news. Spain is one thing with Nadal and another thing without him,” Argentine captain Alberto Mancini told Buenos Aires-based radio station Continental.
Argetine Davis Cup player Juan Martin del Potro is said to be very happy with Mar del Plata as the venue for the Davis Cup Final. Argentina will play Spain in the 2008 final, and not all players are happy with choice of venue. David Nalbandian would have rather the final be played in Cordoba.
“For me it’s the same. I’m happy to play in Mar del Plata. It’s a big city, a beautiful city and I think it’s a good choice,” the 20-year-old insisted after his 6-0 6-4 Paris Masters second-round win over Croatia’s Mario Ancic.
AIG will not be renewing their U.S. Davis Cup sponsorship. The American International Group Inc. said they wont be renewing their contract which expires at year’s end.
With AIG serving as the U.S. Tennis Association’s only year-round national sponsor for Davis Cup, the relationship has been worth millions of dollars since it began in 1999.
The sponsorship included promotional rights attached to the U.S. team, including an AIG patch on players’ warmup suits and TV advertising time.
Croatia was penalized points and fined an undisclosed amount for playing Davis Cup matches against Brazil on a court that was considered too fast.
Croatia will lose 2,000 points as part of the Davis Cup Committee’s ruling reached in Madrid on Sept. 23, the International Tennis Federation said Thursday. Croatia’s victory over Brazil will stand.
The head of Croatian Tennis Federation said she was “surprised and annoyed” by the decision.
“We will not accept the penalty,” said Marina Mihelic, the head of Croatian Tennis Federation.
Croatia returned to the elite World Group with a 4-1 playoff victory over Brazil in the Sept. 19-21 series on an indoor hard court at the new Sportski Centar Visnjik stadium at Zadar.
The ITF said Croatia violated the federation’s “court pace rating rule,” which assesses the speed of surfaces other than grass and clay. It’s the first such case involving the rule, which was implemented this year.
“There is a maximum and minimum pace that you are allowed to have,” ITF spokeswoman Barbara Travers said. “The Croatian court had a number that was just over the limit.”
Mihelic said the ITF checked the court three days before the matches started on Sept. 19 and concluded that the speed of surface was indeed above the maximum, but only minimally. Mihelic said she consulted ITF again and it suggested that the court surface didn’t need another layer because it would postpone the matches.
“It was never ever our intention to manipulate with the speed of the surface,” she told The Associated Press.
The ITF rejected Brazil’s appeal to have Croatia disqualified, the victory awarded to Brazil and financial compensation paid to Brazil.
The committee said the appeal was turned down because “the court was playable and the … Brazilian Federation did not appeal until well into the second day of the tie.” Brazil can still appeal the decision to the ITF’s board of directors.
Andy Murray appeared to place a question-mark against his own future Davis Cup participation after Britain’s relegation from the elite World Group.
US Open finalist Murray won both his singles matches but was powerless to prevent a 3-2 defeat against Austria at Wimbledon today, which saw Britain demoted to amongst the also-rans in the Europe/Africa zone.
Murray did all he could to maintain Britain’s place in world tennis’s top 16 nations with a 6-4 5-7 6-3 6-1 victory over Jurgen Melzer.
But then British No.2 Alex Bogdanovic once more lost a Davis Cup match, beaten 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 by Alexander Peya as Austria won the tie in the final rubber.
It left Murray questioning the resolve of his team-mates.
“If I make a sacrifice I think every single person in the team should be willing to make those sacrifices and say they will give it all they’ve got,” said the world No.4.
“I want them to say they are physically able to play even if they have to play three days of five-set matches. Then I know everyone on the team wants to play as badly as I do.”
His comments are bound to lead to speculation as to whether Murray is willing to give up his time to play the minnows of world tennis if he feels he is not going to get sufficient support from his compatriots.
The Scot said the rest of the team needed to demonstrate greater intensity.
“In both my matches I showed a lot of emotion and got the crowd involved. You have to do that in Davis Cup, especially when you have home ties.
“The guys in the other matches didn’t get the crowd involved as much as I would have liked.”
Murray’s criticisms might have carried greater force had he stayed in the stands to cheer on Bogdanovic, rather than watching the match on television to relay messages on technical issues to coach Paul Annacone.
Bogdanovic’s defeat meant he had lost his sixth straight ‘live’ Davis Cup tie to go with seven consecutive first round defeats at Wimbledon.
Murray didn’t play in the doubles, which Britain lost on Saturday to go 2-1 down in the tie, with brother Jamie partnered by Ross Hutchins.
At the time, British team captain John Lloyd defended his selection policy by saying Murray had a slight knee injury that needed rest ahead of the final-day singles.
However, after today’s defeat, Lloyd – himself a former grand slam singles finalist – admitted: “If Andy had played the doubles it would have been closer and I’d like another go at it.
“But it was my decision and you’re wrong sometimes and other times you are right.”
Source: (Tennis Australia)
