Tennis News

In a new study conducted by the London School of Marketing, it has been determined that 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is the “most marketable sports star in the world.”

The study is remarkable considering Federer ranks six spots ahead of the player who defeated him at the Wimbledon Championships final this season, Novak Djokovic. He remains, according to the study, one of the most “influential” figures in all sports.

According to the SportsBusinessDaily.com:

Despite his loss in the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, Federer “is considered one of the most influential persons in the world.” London School of Marketing faculty member Jacques de Cock said, “He may not have won Wimbledon this year, but it’s Federer’s personal characteristics which sponsors find so attractive.”

There were several other tennis players sprinkled throughout the Top 20 list. Djokovic took the 7th spot, while Nadal was placed in the 8th slot. Maria Sharapova was the highest ranked female athlete at No. 12.

Serena Williams, the player who is one major title away from winning the Calendar Grand Slam, sat at No. 20.

The entire list is available below:

1. Roger Federer — Tennis
2. Tiger Woods — Golf
3. Phil Mickelson — Golf
4. LeBron James — Basketball
5. Kevin Durant — Basketball
6. Rory McIlroy — Golf
7. Novak Djokovic — Tennis
8. Rafael Nadal — Tennis
9. Mahendra Singh Dhoni — Cricket
10. Cristiano Ronaldo — Football
11. Kobe Bryant — Basketball
12. Maria Sharapova — Tennis
13. Lionel Messi — Football
14. Usain Bolt — Track
15. Neymar — Football
16. Andy Murray — Tennis
17. Kei Nishikori — Tennis
18. Derrick Rose — Basketball
19. Floyd Mayweather — Boxing
20. Serena Williams — Tennis

Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe revealed that it is almost time to call it quits on his tennis career.

McEnroe, 56, is scheduled to face Jim Courier in an exhibition match on August 28th in New Haven, as part of a legends tournament to boost attendance at the Connecticut Open. Ahead of the match, the Hall of Famer told reporters on a conference call that he is unlikely to play there professionally again.

McEnroe’s main reason for this was that he is getting older and the newly retired players are far younger, which makes it difficult for him to be competitive.

“There’s a point where those people in the next wave of seniors … that gap is too much,” he said. “It’s almost too much, it’s tough enough when I’m playing a guy like Jim Courier.

“It’s getting to be where every match that I play now I try to appreciate, because I don’t know how much longer I can stay out there,”

While he has not officially set a retirement date, it is clear that McEnroe is contemplating the option seriously.

“Ultimately you want to sort of show people that you can still play to some degree,” McEnroe said during a conference call on Tuesday with state media. “It’s an exhibition, so you want to also have some fun. But I think ultimately people want to see players compete. It’s not like the Globetrotters. I would like to be able to feel like I’m going all out. I mean, I need to go all out to even stay close to guys like (Jim) Courier.”

Just a few days following the entertaining Davis Cup quarter-final round for the World Group, the Draw for the 2015 Davis Cup  World Group play-offs was held at the ITF headquarters in London.

The winning nations in the World Group play-offs will qualify for the 2016 World Group, while the losing nations will compete in their respective Zone Group I events in 2016. In the World Group semifinals, Great Britain will be at home to Australia, and Belgium will be at home to Argentina.

2015 World Group play-offs (18-20 September)

India (c) v Czech Republic (s)
Switzerland (s) (c) v Netherlands
Russia (c) v Italy (s)
Uzbekistan (c) (*) v USA (s)
Colombia (c) v Japan (s)
Dominican Republic (c) (*) v Germany (s)
Brazil (c) v Croatia (s)
Poland (c) v Slovakia (s)

The World Group play-offs will take place on 18-20 September alongside the World Group semifinals.

The BBC announced that former British No. 1 Laura Robson has been entered into the main draw of August’s United States Open.

The Brit used her protected ranking, which allowed her to enter up to eight tournaments based off the ranking she had before a long-term spell on the sidelines with an injury.

Robson was forced onto the sidelines in January with a left wrist injury and watched her hard work and ranking deteriorate whilst other competitors rose to prominence over the year. Having not played tennis since her first round loss to Kirsten Flipkens in the opening round of the Australian Open, Robson returned to court last week at the Eastbourne qualifying tournament, where she lost to one of the tour’s rising competitors Daria Gavrilova. She then arrived at SW19, where she lost in the opening round of the tournament against Evgeniya Rodina.

Determined to get back on track, Robson took part in the ITF tournament in Canada this week, where she won her first match in nearly two years. The 21-year-old defeated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 at the Granby National Bank Challenger. It was her first win since September 2013.

Robson reached a career-high of No. 27 on the tour and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon Championships, as well as the third rounds of the Australian Open the French Open and the U.S. Open. However, since her absence from the tour, she has dropped from No. 27 to No. 913.

The US Open is scheduled to begin Monday, August 31st.

Although Rafael Nadal was not originally scheduled to take part in an event between Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup in Montreal, it appears the Spaniard has opted to take part in one more clay court tournament to help bolster his ranking prior to the final Grand Slam of the season.

The tournament that Nadal opted to take part in is the Bet-at-home Open in Hamburg, Germany, which begins on Monday, July 27th. The news was officially announced by tournament director Michael Stich and was followed up by an official tweet.

It is Nadal’s first time in seven year playing that particular event. That time was in 2008, when the Hamburg tournament still fell under the Masters Series. He defeated Federer in the final to claim the title.

The world No. 10 will be joined by his compatriot David Ferrer, who is recovering from an elbow injury that sidelined him during Wimbledon, as well as Borna Coric, Fabio Fognini, Juan Monaco, Tommy Robredo and Gilles Simon.

After losing just his second match ever at the French Open this year to be denied a 10th title at Roland Garros, Nadal began his grass court season by claiming the Stuttgart title following a straight sets victory against Victor Troicki. He won the match 7-6(3), 6-3 to earn his first title on grass since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. However, he followed that up with a opening round loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Aegon Championships and then suffered a second round loss to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon.

The bet-at-home Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, 27th of July in Hamburg.