Tennis News

Following a turbulent week that culminated in a historic first title for Switzerland, it appears the drama is far from over. It is being reported that shortly after the title celebration on Sunday, Stan Wawrinka and members of the French Davis Cup team were involved in a heated quarrel in the bathroom.

Notable French sports daily newspaper l’Équipe reported that six members of the French team – Julien Benneteau, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, and two other staff members – confronted Stan Wawrinka in the bathroom and explained their feelings regarding some comments he had made to the media ahead of the final.

While Wawrinka’s remarks were not particularly insulting, he said things along the lines of “I thought I was the stronger player on the court. I’m not No. 4 for nothing.”

“The boys told him they didn’t appreciate his statements. There was five minutes of explanations, man to man. They never raised their tone, but it was direct, and frank,” Benneteau told l’Équipe.

It appears the tone remained moderate and respectful but Richard Gasquet, the unfortunate player who had to take part in the losing fourth rubber against Roger Federer, was particularly aggressive. This came as quite a surprise considering he was generally described as a timid and reserved member of the team.

Gael Monfils seemingly interfered, squashed the beef and made room for Wawrinka to apologize.

Following his relatively impressive year on the tour, Marcos Baghdatis did not shy away from the suggestion that he is capable of returning to the ATP Word Tour’s Top 10 within the next 4-5 years.

Speaking to Indian newspaper The Asian Age, Baghdatis explained that his main deterrent over the past couple of years was his health issue and injuries. The Cypriot was troubled by a shoulder injury recently but claims to be feeling much better about it now.

“This year, towards the end of the year I am feeling better. I think I can finish the next year in the top 50 and in 4-5 years try and finish in the top 10”.

With no nagging injuries to pester his performances, Baghdatis believes still has several years of tennis left in him.

“I think I have another 4-5 years (of tennis) in my body. The last two years I have been struggling with health problems and injuries so it’s been tough”.

The 29-year-old also explained that he wants to be “more aggressive” in his game and find confidence against the top players. As a former Australian Open finalist, Baghdatis has no intention of retiring before he claws his way back to the upper echelon of the tour.

“ I need to start being more aggressive again and start finding confidence. Because of the injury I lost a lot of confidence so it is tough to be aggressive when your body is letting you down a bit. I am going to try to get to the top 10. That’s the main goal for me so I can finally retire.”

On Monday evening, a grand jury opted not to indict Darren Wilson, a Ferguson police officer who was responsible for the fatal shooting of unarmed African American youngster Michael Brown.

The shooting itself led to violent protests and clashes on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, and the grand jury’s decision only rekindled the anger. Even notable celebrities and athletes have come forward publicly on twitter to condemn the decision, including world No. 1 Serena Williams.

Wow. Just wow. Shameful. What will it take???

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) November 25, 2014

Williams concluded her 2014 season with her third consecutive WTA Finals title win in Singapore. Her win guaranteed her the year-end No. 1 ranking. The 18-time Grand Slam champion won seven titles overall this season, including the US Open title. She was awarded the WTA Player of the Year award for her accomplishments.

“It’s been a really difficult year for me. I don’t think I’ve had such an up and down year,” she said. “I started out well with Brisbane; then didn’t do well in Australia; then I did well again in Miami. It was really up and down. I ended the year well.”