Isner In Disbelief After This Murray Pass In Paris
Isner In Disbelief After This Murray Pass In Paris
Nov062016
Andy Murray says he did not expect to be world number one this year after winning his first Paris Masters title.
Pairing heads into London on a roll
Henri Kontinen and John Peers continued their late-season surge on Sunday, winning their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team title at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
The unseeded Kontinen/Peers knocked off top-seeded Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in front of a partisan French crowd. The Finnish/Australian duo struck 11 aces and outplayed Herbert/Mahut in the Match Tie-break, leading 9-4 before Peers clinched the title with a forehand volley.
“It was amazing to actually get the first Masters [1000] title for both of us. I know we’ve put in a lot of hard work together and it’s something to cap off a really good year, just before we head into London,” Peers said.
Kontinen/Peers had reached the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters last month but fell in straight sets to Americans Jack Sock and John Isner. With the Paris title, they’ll climb one spot to No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London. They’ll also enter the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals later this month as one of the hottest doubles teams on tour, having dropped only one set en route to their maiden Masters 1000 crown.
“We’ve just been really building all year, and I believed it was just a matter of time until we really got in sync and started to actually back it up match after match,” Peers said. “We’ve been able to get some really good matches here and there throughout the year but it’s actually been a challenge for us to back it up every day. I think we’re starting to learn how to do that as a team and also as individuals so it’s been really good to be able to do that.”
Kontinen/Peers will make their team debut at the season finale, to be held 13-20 November at The O2 in London. They will receive 1,000 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings and split €222,150 in prize money for winning the Paris title.
“It’s a point here and there, and today we got a couple of lucky ones in the Match Tie-break and that obviously helped us in the end,” Kontinen said.
Herbert/Mahut were trying to win their fourth Masters 1000 crown of the season after securing back-to-back-to-back Masters 1000 titles to start the year (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo). The Frenchmen still head to London with a barrel of momentum, having also reached the semi-finals in Basel (l. to Granollers/Sock) and the final in Antwerp (l. to Nestor/Roger-Vasselin) last month.
Herbert/Mahut will receive 600 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings Points and split €108,750 in prize money.
Britain’s Andy Murray celebrated his rise to world number one by beating American John Isner 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 to win his first Paris Masters title.
The victory brought Murray his sixth ATP title of a memorable 2016.
The Scot, 29, also added his second Olympic and Wimbledon titles on his way to the top of the rankings.
On Monday he will be officially confirmed as Britain’s first singles number one since computerised rankings were introduced in 1973.
Murray’s ascent was confirmed by Milos Raonic’s withdrawal from Saturday’s semi-final with a leg injury, but the hype around his accomplishment did nothing to knock his concentration.
He now heads to the season-ending World Tour Finals as top seed for the first time – but if previous number one Novak Djokovic wins every match at the Finals he will reclaim the top ranking he held for 122 weeks.
The draw for that competition takes place on Monday at 15:00 GMT.
After double-faulting on the first point of the first game, Murray soon clicked into gear, breaking for a 4-2 lead, and showing watertight defence to close the door on Isner when the American created two break points of his own in the next game.
Murray managed only six points on his opponent’s serve in the set, but that was enough to take it in 35 minutes.
The unseeded Isner continued to put pressure on Murray in the second, showing an increasing deftness at the net to take the second set to a tie-break.
And the 6ft 8in 31-year-old had too much for the Scot in the decider, serving imperiously to take the breaker 7-4.
Twice in Isner’s first two service games of the third set Murray saw break points snatched away by his opponent’s huge serve.
But Murray was not be denied, and he finally forced a break at 5-4, firing in a rapid backhand that Isner could only dig into the net, to take the third set and the match.
Murray: “To my team and my family, this has been an incredible journey to get to the top of the rankings. I could not have done it without you. They make a lot of sacrifices to allow me to compete and travel the world. I will work as hard as I can to continue getting better.”
Isner: “Well done to Andy Murray for the title and getting to number one in the world. What an incredible achievement.
“Every single week I am in the same locker room as you, and see how how hard you work, you deserve it.”
Simon Briggs, Daily Telegraph tennis correspondent on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra
It is extraordinary the way the whole season has switched. Novak Djokovic was in the ascendancy, but Andy Murray is number one in every way.
He is dominant in the play, in aura, in the locker room and on the points table. No-one wants to play him; they would rather play Novak and it has been shown why today.
There has not been too much to warrant criticism for him this season. He lost in the second round of Miami and Indian Wells following the birth of baby Sophia. He said it gave him a better perspective on the world and this is a baby bounce.
Six-time Olympic champion cyclist Sir Chris Hoy says compatriot and new tennis world number one Andy Murray is Scotland’s “greatest ever sportsperson”.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-2 to win the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China.
The former world number two overcame a sluggish start to win five successive games to take the opening set.
She controlled the second as Svitolina failed to find the form that beat Johanna Konta in the semi-finals.
Kvitova, 26, will play for the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup final against France starting on Saturday.
The WTA Elite Trophy featured the leading 12 players who did not qualify for last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore.
A tennis tournament at any level becomes truly special when it transcends individual achievement and, at the core of its culture and heart of its identity, represents something greater than what transpires between the lines.
On Sunday, the Charlottesville Men’s Pro Challenger, a $50,000 event on the ATP Challenger Tour, concludes its eighth edition with American teen Reilly Opelka facing Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans for the title. But it was what happened exactly seven days ago at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, located just outside the campus of the University of Virginia, that set the tone for the entire week of world-class tennis.
Since 2013, the tournament has reveled in a unique relationship with the Special Olympics, partnering with the organisation that encourages inclusion for intellectually disabled individuals through sports. Last Sunday, the Charlottesville Challenger held their annual pro-am, giving Special Olympics tennis players the opportunity to take the court and engage with today’s ATP stars.
“It was fantastic to play with him,” Irish doubles player David O’Hare said of top tennis Special Olympian Jonathan Fried. “He plays so well and he’s 54 years of age. It was just great to talk with him. It’s something different that you don’t get on the tour. Playing for such a good cause and having fun for a couple hours is great. For everything this tournament has done for the Special Olympics is pretty nice. Credit to them.”
Ten years ago, in conjunction with Charlottesville tournament director Ron Manilla and the Boar’s Head Sports Club, a tennis competition called the Xperience was established for the top Special Olympics players. With the local community heavily involved, the tournament became a big success and it soon found a partner in the ATP Challenger Tour event at the same venue. The Special Olympics receives $10,000 of the tournament’s proceeds each year and that money goes towards funding the Xperience.
“I could run all these other tournaments, but there is nothing that comes close to reaching into the deepest parts of my heart,” said Manilla. “It’s beyond rewarding. It not only got me hooked, but the whole club and the community. After a few years, it became a community event. The vibe is unreal.
“A few years ago, we were looking to make this Challenger bigger and better. We decided we needed to partner with somebody and no other name or organization even came to mind. We already had established such a great relationship with the Special Olympics Virginia.”
Manilla stresses that this relationship gives the Challenger its energy and drives its success. The warm, inclusive culture that he and the Boar’s Head staff have fostered has created a strong sense of community through tennis and gives today’s ATP Challenger Tour players the opportunity to grow both on and off the court.
Britain’s Andy Murray will be the dominant force in tennis now he is world number one, Tim Henman says.
The Scot, 29, is the first British singles player to reach top spot since computerised rankings began in 1973.
“I don’t think Andy was ever going to settle for second best,” former British number one Henman told BBC Radio 5 live’s Sportsweek.
“Now he’s reached number one I don’t think for any moment in time he’s going to take his foot off the gas.”
Murray, who plays American John Isner in Sunday’s Paris Masters final, will be confirmed as number one on Monday when the latest rankings are published.
“If Andy stays fit and healthy, I can see him being the dominant force going forward,” Henman said.
“If you’re going to put a number on it, you’d like him to get to 52 weeks at the top. Who knows from there?”
Murray ended Novak Djokovic’s 122-week stint at the top of the world rankings after Milos Raonic withdrew from his Paris Masters semi-final against the Briton with an injury on Saturday.
His rise to the top comes after he claimed his second Wimbledon title in June, defended his Olympic singles title in Rio in August and helped Great Britain to their first Davis Cup win since 1936 last November.
“Playing in the toughest era there has ever been, for him to have three Grand Slams, two Olympic golds and now the world number one, it’s an incredible achievement,” Henman said.
“It’s testament to his perseverance when you reflect over the last decade and you talk about those players he has been up against.
“I spoke to him on Saturday and he’s so level-headed. He is able to keep a pretty even keel.”
Jamie, the older of the two Murray brothers at 30, became the first Briton under the modern system to top the doubles rankings in March 2016.
He also claimed the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 2007, six years before his younger brother won his first singles title at the All England Club.
“For an average family from a small town (Dunblane) in Scotland, what they have managed to achieve is quite extraordinary,” their mother Judy said.
“After we found out we were looking back over the years and talking about how Jamie had made number one first and won Wimbledon first. As the older brother, it was an order that was meant to be.”
She added that the sport had “never been easy” for either player but that it had forced both players to work harder.
“This sport is very unforgiving, the circuit is relentless and the strength and depth in the men’s game is huge.
“With tennis being a minority sport in Scotland you have to travel down south and they are long journeys.
“There’s the expense, the time, leaving the social side. I’m glad it’s been tough because it makes you work harder.”
There were no big celebrations for Murray when the news was confirmed, according to coach Jamie Delgado.
“We just went for a nice dinner. There was no partying or drinking,” Delgado added.
“It took time to sink in but it was a strange moment when Raonic came in and told us. We were silent and then there were huge congratulations.”
As Andy Murray becomes the world’s top male tennis player he could be set to capitalise off-court.
Watch Paris singles final live on TennisTV.com (2pm GMT, 9am ET)
FINAL PREVIEW: The BNP Paribas Masters championship on Sunday features the hottest player on the ATP World Tour and the new No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Andy Murray, against unseeded John Isner, who is trying to capture the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career.
Murray has won the seven previous meetings (18-3 in sets), including just over a week ago in the quarter-finals of Vienna where the British superstar won 61 63 en route to the title. They also met on May 29 at Roland Garros with Murray winning the 4R encounter 76 64 63.
Murray is the 26th player in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since Aug. 23, 1973) to hold the coveted No. 1 ranking. By reaching the final, the 29-year-old Briton surpassed Novak Djokovic and ended the Serb’s streak of 122 consecutive weeks at No. 1 (since July 7, 2014). Murray is five points ahead of Djokovic (see pg. 2) and he
will pick up an additional 400 points if he wins his eighth title of the season. Murray enters on an 18-match winning streak and in his ATP World Tour-best 12th final in 2016 (7-4). Since May he has compiled a 59-5 match record, reaching 11 finals in 12 tournaments (winning seven titles). Murray is attempting to win a personal-best third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season and 14th in his career (13-7 record). This would be his seventh different ATP Masters 1000 title in his career. He is also trying to become the third British player to win the BNP Paribas Masters title, joining Tim Henman (2003) and Greg Rusedski (1998).
Isner will finish as the top American for the fifth straight year and in the Top 20 for a seventh consecutive season. The 31-year-old American will move to No. 19 by reaching the final and to No. 15 if he wins his first ATP Masters 1000 title. He is also trying to extend his ATP World Tour title streak to seven years in a row. Isner is 10-11 in ATP World Tour finals and eight of his titles have come in the U.S. (other two in Auckland). This is his second career European final (2010 Belgrade, l. to Querrey). Isner is 1-6 in finals against Top 10 opponents (d. No. 7 Berdych in 2012 Winston-Salem). His previous ATP Masters 1000 finals came at 2012 Indian Wells (l. to Federer) and 2013 Cincinnati (l. to Nadal). The last American to earn an ATP Masters 1000 singles title was Andy Roddick in Miami in 2010 (d. Berdych). Isner is the first American to reach the final in Bercy since Andre Agassi won the title in 1999 (d. Safin). Isner, who leads the tournament with 88 aces, will finish as the Infosys ATP Scores & Stats aces leader this season for the fourth time in his career, the first since 2013. He has 1,141 aces, ahead of Ivo Karlovic (1,131 aces).