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Mathieu Bids Adieu In Paris

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2017

Mathieu Bids Adieu In Paris

35-year-old wants to spend more time with his family

Four-time ATP World Tour titlist Paul-Henri Mathieu has played his final singles match. The 35-year-old Frenchman announced his retirement on Sunday, following his defeat to Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-4 in the final round of qualifying at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Mathieu turned professional in 1999 and reached a career-high of No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2008.

“I knew that when I started the year it was going to be my last one, because I’m 35 and I’ve had a lot of injuries. I have a family. When you have one kid you can manage it a little bit, try to make them come. But when you start to have two kids, it’s too complicated,” Mathieu said.

“I’m 35. Ten, 15 years ago I would have never thought I would have played that late. I’m lucky playing until this age. I think it’s time. One year or more is not going to change anything for me, and I want to spend time with the family.”

Mathieu enjoyed his breakout season in 2002, winning his first two ATP World Tour titles in back-to-back weeks. Mathieu won Moscow, beating World No. 4 Marat Safin in the semi-finals, and then headed to Lyon, where he beat Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten for the title.

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“It was two crazy weeks. I was young at this age. It was a great moment,” Mathieu said.

The 21-year-old Mathieu also reached the fourth round of his home Grand Slam, Roland Garros in 2002, and led American Andre Agassi two sets to one before falling in five.

Mathieu’s peers honoured him as the 2002 ATP World Tour Newcomer of the Year. “It was a big year for me,” Mathieu said.

Five years later the right-hander would double his title haul, again winning two titles in the same season – in Gstaad and Casablanca, both on clay. The third and fourth titles of his career would help him ascend to his career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 12 in April 2008. Mathieu finished 4-6 in ATP World Tour title matches.

“It’s difficult to feel when you are in the peak of the career. You always hope for more. When you’re 12 I was hoping for 10, and when you’re 10 you hope for 5. It never ends I think,” Mathieu said.

Injuries hobbled Mathieu throughout his career, but never more so than from 2010-12. He missed 14 months because of an injury to his left knee that required surgery.

Mathieu said he may stay involved in the tennis industry but for the immediate future, he plans to spend more time with his wife, Quiterie, and their two children, Gabriel, 5, and Ines, who is seven months old.

The Frenchman isn’t finished with tour-level action just yet. He will play doubles at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Paris, partnering countryman Benoit Paire.

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Swiss Indoors: Roger Federer beats Juan Martin del Potro to win his eighth Basel title

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2017

Switzerland’s Roger Federer beat Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro to win the Swiss Indoors and narrow the gap on world number one Rafael Nadal.

Federer’s 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 win moves him within 1,460 points of the Spaniard before next week’s Paris Masters, the final regular-season event.

The 36-year-old claimed an eighth crown in Basel and his seventh title of 2017.

Victory for Del Potro would have moved him into the final qualifying place for the ATP finals in London.

Having won in Stockholm last week, the world number 19 was targeting back-to-back titles in Basel but it was not to be for the 29-year-old, who remains one place behind Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

Del Potro must reach at least the semi-finals in Paris to claim the final spot.

“It’s unbelievable how well Roger is playing,” said Del Potro. “I hope to be in such shape when I’m his age. But I doubt I will be.”

In Vienna, Frenchman Lucas Pouille secured a comfortable 6-1 6-4 victory over compatriot Jo Wilfried-Tsonga to claim his third title of the season.

Tsonga, another contender for the finals in London, is now 295 points behind Carreno Busta with the two remaining places to be decided in the Paris.

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Federer shows frustration

Federer and Del Potro had met on four previous occasions in 2017, with the latter winning their last meeting – a US Open quarter-final last month.

In a tight opening set, Federer had the chance to take it on serve, only for Del Potro to break, and the Swiss player then lost five points in a row to surrender the tie-break.

Federer’s frustrations came to a head in the fourth game of the second set when he blew the chance to stamp his authority back on the match.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion carved out a break point and took control of the rally at 30-40, only to send a simple backhand volley wide.

It triggered an angry outburst as Federer smashed his racquet into the net in a rare show of emotion.

However, he regained his composure to break in the final game of the set, before wrapping up the victory with two further breaks in the third.

Federer now has 95 career titles, with American Jimmy Connors leading the all-time list on 109.

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Wozniacki beats Williams to win WTA Finals

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2017

Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki beat Venus Williams to claim the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Williams – at 37, the oldest woman to ever reach the final – lost 6-4 6-4.

After a tight first set, number six seed Wozniacki stormed into a 5-0 lead in the second.

Williams then won four straight games but Wozniacki, 27, converted her second Championship point to beat the American for the first time.

“It feels amazing, I can’t believe I am here as the winner,” she told BT Sport.

“Venus Williams is a great champion and she made it very, very difficult for me. This is my biggest title to date.”

Simona Halep will end 2017 as world number one, becoming the 13th women to earn the honour.

The Romanian first moved top of the rankings during the China Open at the beginning of October and was assured of her position when closest challenger Karolina Pliskova lost to Wozniacki in Saturday’s semi-finals.

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Wozniacki finally beats Williams

Fifth seed Williams went into Sunday’s final with a 7-0 record against Wozniacki stretching back to 2007, and having won just one set against the American.

The world number five has been in fine form this year and was a finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

But the veteran will finish 2017 without a title after Wozniacki prevented her from regaining the Finals trophy she won nine years ago.

Former world number one Wozniacki saw huge success on her serve on the slow surface in Singapore, ending with a tournament-leading 21 aces.

And the Dane backed that fine serving up with only eight unforced errors in the final.

It appeared to be one-way traffic in the second set, with Williams looking heavy in the legs and no longer able to attack Wozniacki at the net.

But the 37-year-old rallied to produce some of her best tennis and turn the tide.

With Wozniacki serving for the title at 5-3, Williams outlasted her younger opponent in a gruelling rally before then hitting a sublime forehand passing shot to get back on serve.

But it was Wozniacki’s day though and, after hitting her first Championship point long, a perfect backhand saw her break serve and seal her second title of 2017 following last month’s Pan-Pacific Open in Tokyo.

It completes a fine comeback season for the two-time Grand Slam finalist, who endured an injury-marred 2016 and finished ranked number 19, her lowest position since 2007.

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Federer & Delpo To Clash In Epic Basel Showdown

  • Posted: Oct 29, 2017

Federer & Delpo To Clash In Epic Basel Showdown

Tsonga seeks to increase London chances in all-French Vienna final

The Swiss Indoors Basel final on Sunday is a blockbuster match-up between top seed and seven-time champion Roger Federer against 2012-13 winner and No. 4 seed Juan Martin del Potro. There is a lot at stake for both players with 200 Emirates ATP Ranking points on the line going to the champion (500 for the week). If Federer wins, he will trail No. 1 Rafael Nadal by 1,460 points going into ATP Masters 1000 Paris. If del Potro wins, he will move into the final spot for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London.

This is their 24th meeting, the fourth in 2017 between the two superstars. Federer holds a 17-6 head-to-head advantage, including 12-6 on hard courts. Del Potro is 3-1 in finals. This is their fourth Basel meeting, third in a final. Federer won here in the second round in 2007 and del Potro won three-set finals in 2012-13. In their last meeting on Oct. 14 in the semi-finals at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai, Federer won 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Federer won the first meeting this season in the third round in Miami on March 27 before the Argentine won in the quarter-finals at the US Open on September 6.

Federer  is appearing in his 13th Basel final (7-5), the most tournament title matches in his career.  The 36-year-old Basel native has only been broken once this week (36 of 37 games held), that coming in the first set against Adrian Mannarino on Friday. He is making his eighth final showing of the season (6-1) and 144th in his career (94-49 in finals). If he captures his 95th title, he will be in 2nd place alone on the Open Era titles list. Ivan Lendl also has 94 titles. Halle (9) and Wimbledon (8) are the other tournaments Federer has won at least eight times.

Del Potro is making his third Basel final appearance and he won back-to-back titles in 2012-13. Last Sunday he won his 20th tour-level title in Stockholm and became the third Argentine in the Open Era with at least 20 titles, joining Guillermo Vilas (62) and Jose-Luis Clerc (25). The 29-year-old Argentine is trying to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 2012 when he captured titles in Vienna and Basel.

Del Potro, who was 47th in the Emirates ATP Race to London on August 28, will move into the final qualifying position for the Nitto ATP Finals in London with a title. He is 18-3 since the start of the US Open and 46-73 lifetime vs. Top 10 opponents (6-10 in 2017). The last time he beat Top 10 opponents in the semi-finals and final was the 2009 US Open, where he defeated No. 3 Nadal and No. 1 Federer in the last two rounds to pick up his biggest career title.

Tsonga Continues Nitto ATP Finals Push In Vienna Final Against Pouille 
The Erste Bank Open 500 championship on Sunday is an all-French match-up as eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2011 champion, takes on Lucas Pouille. This is the first all-French final in tournament history (since 1974) and the second this season on the ATP World Tour. Tsonga defeated Pouille in Marseille in February.

This is the third meeting between the Frenchmen — Tsonga won both matches 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2016 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and in this year’s Open 13 Marseille final. Both players have accounted for all six French titles on the ATP World Tour this season, with Tsonga capturing four trophies and Pouille two.

Tsonga is appearing in his fifth ATP World Tour final of the season (4-0) and is trying to become the first Frenchman to win at least five singles titles in a year since Guy Forget won six in 1991. The 32-year-old Frenchman is appearing in his third Vienna final, having won the 2011 title (d. del Potro) and reaching the final last year (l. Murray). Tsonga, comes in with an ATP World Tour-best 20-2 indoor record this season, which includes titles in Rotterdam, Marseille and Antwerp.

Tsonga can pick up 200 points and improve to 2,510 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings, leaving him 95 points behind Pablo Carreno Busta, who holds the final spot going into Sunday. Juan Martin del Potro is in the Basel final and could move past the Spaniard with a title. If Tsonga wins, it would also be the 13th time this season a player has won an ATP World Tour title saving match point(s) (Dzumhur, 1 m.p. second round).

Pouille is appearing in his career-best fourth ATP World Tour final (2-1) of the season and is trying to become the first player this season to win titles on three different surfaces. He won on clay in Budapest (d. Bedene) and on grass in Stuttgart (d. Lopez) in June. This is his sixth career ATP World Tour final (3-2).

The 23-year-old has dropped only one set en route to his first Vienna final, in the semi-finals against Kyle Edmund. Pouille has 33 wins in 2017 and if he captures the title will equal last year’s career-best total.

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