09 | April | 2017 | Tennis Courts Map Directory

Goffin Fires Belgium Past Italy

Apr092017

ATPWorldTour.com recaps Davis Cup World Group quarter-final play on Sunday

BELGIUM 3, ITALY 1
Spiroudome de Charleroi, Charleroi, BEL (hard – indoor)

World No. 14 David Goffin wasted no time in sending Belgium to the Davis Cup semi-finals, ousting Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour and 52 minutes on Sunday.

In front of the partisan Belgian crowd in Charleroi, Goffin sent the host nation back to the semis for the second time in three years, improving to 13-1 in his last 14 singles rubbers. The 2015 runners-up will welcome Australia in September.

“When you see the score it was comfortable, but inside it was not,” said Goffin. “You have to stay focused. Especially when you win the first two sets and you think it’s the end, but it’s not. I’m really happy with how I finished.

“I just give my best on the court. I just want to play for my team and my country. I love to play at home, with the atmosphere in front of my own fans.”

Goffin fired a forehand winner – his 29th of the match – to claim victory on Sunday. It was his second straight-set singles win of the tie, having defeated Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday.

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FRANCE 4, GREAT BRITAIN 1
Kindarena, Rouen, France (Indoor Clay)

A day after taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, France completed a 4-1 victory over Great Britain. Jeremy Chardy downed Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday, after the Brits got on the board with a 6-1, 6-2 win for Daniel Evans over Julien Benneteau.

SERBIA 4, SPAIN 1
Aleksandar Nikolic Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (Indoor Hard)

Spain narrowly avoided a whitewash at the hands of Serbia, with Albert Ramos-Vinolas claiming the dead rubber victory over Nenad Zimonjic 6-2, 6-1. Earlier in the day, Dusan Lajovic rallied past Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Davis Cup is not fan friendly says GB captain Leon Smith

Posted: Apr 09, 2017

Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain Leon Smith says the competition’s format is not “fan or player friendly”.

Reforms were endorsed in March to reduce the current five-set format to three sets played over two days.

GB’s Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund both played best-of-three sets in their singles rubbers against France as the hosts secured a 4-1 victory on Sunday.

“It’s a tough ask for children to come in and watch two five-setters in one sitting,” Smith told BBC’s Sportsweek.

“It’s simply too long. It’s not fan friendly and it’s not player friendly.”

Smith – who admitted on Saturday that GB’s squad “lacked depth” – said the existing format could stop the world’s top players from competing.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was the only player ranked in the top 10 to appear for any of the nations in the quarter-finals.

“If you’re playing a hectic schedule, you know you have to come in and play a five-set match on the Friday, potentially the doubles then another best of five, that is too much,” Smith added.

“That already puts the decision into a player’s head that that is too much and they can’t play.

“You change that to three and for fans, they sit through two best-of-three matches; that’s much more realistic in the time frame.”

France took an unassailable 3-0 lead over GB after victory in Saturday’s doubles, but Evans and Edmund played Julien Benneteau and Jeremy Chardy respectively on Sunday.

Evans beat Benneteau 6-1 6-2 in just 43 minutes before Edmund lost 6-4 6-4 to world number 68 Chardy.

Evans entertains in dead rubber

Evans and Benneateu approached their singles rubber as though it was an exhibition match, with both players playing up to the Rouen crowd.

The Brit took his aggressive hard court game onto the clay, winning 30 points as he wrapped up the first set in 21 minutes.

Benneateu was then joined on court by his doubles partner Nicolas Mahut, and briefly by France captain Yannick Noah, as Evans played the three players at once, much to the crowd’s amusement.

However Evans – who, prior to this weekend, had not played a match on clay in two years – won the match in 43 minutes.

“Our fans come and watch us everywhere. They pay their hard-earned money, and it’s not cheap, so we wanted to put a show on for them,” Evans told BBC Sport after the match.

Edmund, 22, continued his impressive showing on clay as he pushed Chardy’s backhand, but the Frenchman’s ease on clay ensured he registered victory in just over an hour.

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WTA Finals: Manchester shows interest in hosting from 2019

Posted: Apr 09, 2017

Manchester representatives have shown an interest in hosting the WTA Finals from 2019.

The season-ending event with the best eight female players has one year of a five-year deal with Singapore to run.

“Manchester is one of several destinations that have reflected an initial interest in learning more about the opportunity,” the WTA said.

London’s O2 Arena has hosted the men’s equivalent since 2009 and will do so until at least 2018.

The WTA Finals – which began in 1972 – was held in the United States until 2000 and has also taken place in Munich, Madrid, Doha and Istanbul.

It has not been held in Europe since 2013 but seven of the world’s current top eight are European.

Manchester Arena was the preferred choice for Great Britain’s 2015 Davis Cup semi-final, but the tie was held in Glasgow due to a music concert.

Analysis

Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent

The WTA’s presence in Asia has expanded dramatically in recent years, but Europe seems a more likely destination for the Finals from 2019.

Manchester remains an ambitious sporting city and, with the rise of Johanna Konta, I can understand their early interest.

Tennis has been very well supported, both indoors and out, in the UK in recent years. But this would still represent something of a gamble given the lesser pull of the women’s game currently – and the difficulty of predicting which eight players would qualify for the Finals.

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Kyrgios Powers Australia Into Davis Cup SFs

Apr092017

ATPWorldTour.com recaps Davis Cup World Group quarter-final play on Sunday

Nick Kyrgios guided Australia back into the Davis Cup semi-finals with a 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sam Querrey on Sunday.

The World No. 16 fired down 21 aces to secure an unassailable 3-1 lead for Lleyton Hewitt’s side at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.

The United States swapped Jack Sock for Querrey, a move that could have been prompted by the towering 29 year old’s win over Kyrgios en route to taking the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title in February. However, Kyrgios dictated play, fighting back from a 1-4 deficit in the third set to clinch the tie on home soil.

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“It’s a lot of relief we got through, a tough third set out there,” said Kyrgios, who won both singles matches this weekend in straight sets against Top 30 opponents. “Obviously a lot of emotions close to the finish line, I’ve been looking forward to this tie for a long time now.”

Later on Sunday, John Isner overcame Sam Groth 7-6(5), 6-3 in the dead fifth rubber.

Australia last made the semi-finals in 2015, losing to eventual champions Great Britain in Glasgow. “There is no greater honour than wearing the green and gold,” said Australia’s captain Hewitt. “I couldn’t be prouder of my boys. They’ve put so much hard work and effort into this campaign. They did absolutely everything we asked of them. The coaching staff too, so many sacrifices made. That’s what representing Australia is all about.”