Tennis News

After six odds weeks of gruelling boredom in the off-season, tennis fans can rejoice, as 2015 will officially kick off with the traditional Mubadala World Tennis Championships from Abu Dhabi. The tournament features some of the ATP World Tour’s top stars, all of whom want to begin their respective seasons with some early momentum.

Up first in the opening round of the tournament is a match-up between Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez. The British No. 1 remains undefeated with a 9-0 record in the head-to-head series.

Following a particularly difficult first half of the year with little to show for it, world No. 6 Andy Murray appeared to have gotten over his injuries late in the season, after he took part in a cramped six week run on the tour that included title wins in Shenzhen, Valencia and Vienna in order to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Final. That ended in a bludgeoning from Roger Federer – Murray lost 6-0, 6-1 – and closed out his season in disappointing fashion.

However, he appears to have gotten things in order, and has finally had some solid training time with his new coach Amelie Mauresmo.

“We had a lot of good conversations with me and the whole team when I was in Miami. Everyone agreed on the things that I should be doing moving forward in terms of how I’m going to try to approach matches, how I’m going to play the game, how I’m going to play in practice,” Murray told Reem Aulleil of Sports360.

“Because it’s one thing, there’s a certain game style you want to play on the match court but you’re lazy with it in practice, you’re not doing it all the time. If you want to make changes it needs to be consistent, you need to do it all the time through practice and through matches. Everyone I think has bought into that. I don’t want to say exactly all of the things we’ve been working on but I feel like it went very well in Miami and hopefully I can start the year well.”

Once he completes his stay in Abu Dhabi, Murray will head to the Hopman Cup, where he will team up with Heather Watson to represent Great Britain. He will follow up with an appearance in Auckland before final preparation for the Australian Open.

Feliciano Lopez took part in an impressive 2014 season on the professional tour, as he compiled a 39-26 record on the tour with one title to his name. The world No. 14 will look to pick up where he left off with a strong showing against Murray – a competitor he is yet to defeat.

Prediction: Andy Murray in Three Sets

After six odds weeks of grueling boredom in the off-season, tennis fans can rejoice, as 2015 will officially kick off with the traditional Mubadala World Tennis Championships from Abu Dhabi. The tournament features some of the ATP World Tour’s top stars, all of whom want to begin their respective seasons with some early momentum.

The opening round of the tournament will feature an interesting, albeit predictable, contest between Swiss star Stan Wawrinka and Spain’s Nicolas Almagro. Of their 10 previous professional encounters, Wawrinka leads the series 7-3. However, since this is an exhibition, neither man’s success on Thursday will impact the current head-to-head record.

After taking part in undoubtedly his best season to date – one that included his maiden Grand Slam title, his first Masters 1000 title, and his first Davis Cup crown – Stan Wawrinka will be hard pressed to improve upon that in 2015. He has to defend his Chennai Open and Australian Open titles in the coming weeks, which will be a remarkably difficult task for the world No. 4.

However, one can expect that Wawrinka, who is playing the Mubadala tournament for the third time, will be looking for a strong start to his year.

Once ranked as high as No. 9 in 2011, Nicolas Almagro has had a turbulent season in 2014. A plague of injuries would see him retire in the first round of the French Open and sit out the remainder of the season. He has since dropped to No. 71 in the rankings and finished the season with a 14-9 record.

This marks the 11th time that these two competitors will cross paths in competition, with Wawrinka leading the professional head-to-head 7-3. While Almagro has been gifted the potentially easier side of the draw, his lack of activity makes him an unlikely pick for success as this early stage of the year.

Prediction: Stan Wawrinka in Three Sets

Tournament officials announced the dates, venues and fields for the 2015 PowerShares Series tennis circuit that will feature 2014 tour champion John McEnroe defending his crown versus a group of legends led by Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier.

The North American tennis circuit for champion tennis players will visit 12 cities in 2015, kicking off on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 in Salt Lake City and concluding Saturday, May 2 in Vancouver. Players competing on the 2015 circuit are McEnroe, Roddick, Agassi, Sampras, Courier, James Blake, Michael Chang and Mark Philippoussis. Each one-night event will feature two one-set semifinal matches, followed by a one–set championship match.

In 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Champions Series tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte. McEnroe was followed in the points standings by Blake in second place and Roddick in third place.

“We are excited once again to present the PowerShares Series and bring this entertaining brand of tennis to many new markets,” said Jon Venison, Partner at InsideOut Sports & Entertainment. “It was quite something to see John McEnroe win the PowerShares Series points title last year against his much younger competition, but I know the younger generation, led by Andy Roddick and James Blake, will want to steal his thunder in the upcoming season.”

The full 2015 PowerShares Series schedule with field of players are as follows:

2015 PowerShares Series Schedule

Tuesday, March 24: Salt Lake City, Utah (Huntsman Center at the University of Utah) “Champions Shootout” featuring Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, James Blake, Mark Philippoussis

Wednesday, March 25: Los Angeles, Calif., (Galen Center at USC) “SoCal Honda Dealers Helpful Cup” featuring Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Wednesday, April 1: Lincoln, Neb., (Pinnacle Bank Arena at University of Nebraska) “Champions Cup Presented by Woods Park Tennis” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Thursday, April 2: Chicago, Ill. (Sears Centre) “PowerShares QQQ Challenge” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Thursday, April 16: Austin, Texas (Cedar Park Center) “Champions Shootout” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Friday, April 17: Little Rock, Ark. (Jack Stephens Center at the UALR) “Champions Cup” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis

Saturday, April 18: Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum at SMU) “Champions Showdown” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis

Wednesday, April 22: Boston, Mass. (Agganis Arena at Boston University) “Champions Cup” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Thursday, April 23: Richmond, Va., (Siegel Center at VCU) “Champions Challenge” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, James Blake

Wednesday, April 29: Minneapolis, Minn. (Target Center) “Champions Shootout” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, James Blake

Thursday, April 30: Cincinnati, Ohio (Cintas Center at Xavier) “Champions Showdown” featuring John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, James Blake

Saturday, May 2: Vancouver, Canada (Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC) “Champions Showdown” featuring Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Michael Chang, Mark Philippoussis

Novak Djokovic becomes Men’s World Champion for the fourth time after reclaiming the No. 1 ranking in 2014. The 27-year-old won his seventh Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, and was also a finalist at Roland Garros and semifinalist at the US Open. He won a total of seven titles during the year including the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals. Djokovic is one of only four men to be named World Champion four or more times, alongside Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Serena Williams is named Women’s World Champion for the fifth occasion, after maintaining the No. 1 ranking throughout the year. The 33-year-old captured her 18th Grand Slam title at the US Open to equal the achievements of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. She won six other titles during the year, including the season-ending WTA Finals. Williams is the oldest player ever to be named an ITF Singles World Champion.

Williams said: “I’m so honored to be named ITF World Champion for the fifth time. This was a year of challenges and triumphs, so to win another Grand Slam and retain my year-end No. 1 ranking is an accomplishment I’m very proud of. I’m grateful to have the support of the tennis community in every way possible. I can’t wait for 2015.”

Bob and Mike Bryan become Men’s Doubles World Champions for the 11th time after capturing their 16th Grand Slam title and 100th title overall at the 2014 US Open. They won a total of ten titles during the year, including the ATP World Tour Finals, taking their total career titles to 103. They were also runners-up at Wimbledon. The brothers now stand within two trophies of the record of wheelchair tennis star Esther Vergeer, who was named World Champion 13 times.

Mike Bryan said: “The 2014 season was one of our best seasons on tour and it’s one we’ll fondly remember for a lot of reasons. We look forward to the awards dinner in Paris and sharing the stage with all the other world champions.”

Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci are only the second pair to be named Women’s Doubles World Champions on three occasions. The Italians completed the career Grand Slam with their first victory at Wimbledon, and were also champions at the Australian Open and runners-up at Roland Garros. They won a total of five titles during the year and finished 2014 co-ranked No. 1 on the WTA doubles rankings.

Errani and Vinci said: “We are both really happy to be Women’s Doubles World Champions for the third consecutive year. It is a great pleasure and honour to have finished this year as number one in the doubles ranking again. Our goal for 2015 is to defend our Australian Open and Wimbledon titles.”

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “All of our World Champions have demonstrated great consistency at the top of the game in one of the strongest eras for our sport. Serena Williams is one of the toughest competitors of all-time, while Novak Djokovic’s performances at the biggest events make him a deserving winner. Bob and Mike Bryan’s remarkable achievement is a testament to their continued drive and determination, while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have shown the importance of teamwork both on and off court.”

Catherine “CiCi” Bellis is the second American in three years to become ITF Girls World Champion, and is the youngest world champion since 2006. The 15-year-old won four singles title during the year, sealing the year-end No. 1 ranking at last week’s Orange Bowl. She also led the United States to victory in the Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, one year after being a member of the USA’s 14-and-under ITF World Junior Tennis winning team.

Bellis said: “It was my goal to be the year-end No. 1 from when I started playing in the juniors two years ago and I am ecstatic that I was able to reach this milestone as a 15-year-old. It is an honour to be in such great company with all of the amazing and legendary juniors before me.”

Andrey Rublev is the first Russian male in any category to be named ITF World Champion after achieving the year-end No. 1 boys’ junior ranking. The 17-year-old was the most consistent performer on the ITF Junior Circuit, winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, and capturing singles bronze and doubles silver at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. He reached a total of five singles finals during the year, winning two titles.

Rublev said: “I am happy to finish this year as World Champion. I thank my family, coaches and team for all the support I was getting all the time. I also understand that this is just the first step and will do my best to score further victories.”