Shapovalov's Day At The O2
Shapovalov's Day At The O2
Nov212017
The Australian Open will use a 25-second shot clock and players may be fined for retiring or performing “below professional standards” in the first round of Grand Slams from next season.
The shot clock, trialled at US Open qualifying and the Next Gen ATP Finals, is used in between points to ensure players serve within 25 seconds.
It is one of a number of changes decided by the Grand Slam Board (GSB).
The GSB is also intending to reduce Grand Slam seeds from 32 to 16 in 2019.
Other rule changes:
World number one Rafael Nadal has criticised the introduction of a shot clock and said it would ruin the sport as entertainment.
“If you don’t want a great show, of course it’s a great improvement,” he said in August.
The men’s tour, the ATP, introduced a rule at the start of 2017 that means a player can retire before a first-round match and retain their prize money.
At Wimbledon, there were total of eight retirements – seven in the men’s draw and one in the women’s – over the first two days of the Championships.
Australia’s Bernard Tomic was fined by the International Tennis Federation for unsportsmanlike conduct at Wimbledon, after saying he felt “bored” during his straight-set first-round defeat.
The new rule would see players fined part of their prize money for similar behaviour or first round retirements.
Wimbledon “will not be the same” following the death of former champion Jana Novotna, says the Duchess of Kent.
The Duchess provided a shoulder to cry on when the Czech player lost in the Wimbledon final in 1993, before presenting her with the trophy in 1998.
Novotna captured the nation’s hearts when she burst into tears following defeat to Steffi Graf.
In a tribute, the Duchess described her as “a brave, courageous, sweet lady with a wonderful sense of humour.”
“I am very saddened by the news of her death and all my feelings are with her family,” she added in a statement.
Novotna’s only singles Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon but she also won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles and four in mixed doubles.
She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
Former British number one, Annabel Croft, said her tough approach on the court went against her mild nature off-court.
“She was so utterly sweet and charming off the court, everybody loved her she was such a lovely person and also in terms of her tennis she was such a beautiful player,” she told BBC Radio 5 live.
“She was very, very athletic. She had a really aggressive game style, she had a lot of variety, she served and volleyed, she slice backhand, she made life very difficult but it was a game that took a long time to develop which I think is why everyone was so utterly thrilled for her when she finally realised those dreams of winning Wimbledon.”
“I think because she was so ruthless on the court and so competitive and so driven that I think that moment on Centre Court when she did break down in tears, you saw this really vulnerable side to her and somebody who was just so utterly crushed and devastated at coming so close to winning.
The Wimbledon win in 1998 saw Novotna become the oldest first-time Grand Slam singles winner in the Open era at 29 years and nine months.
Virginia Wade, who won the title at SW19 in 1977, said she envied the Czech’s forehand.
Wade said: “She had all the talents in the world, boy, was she talented, but she was a little bit self-effacing so it took her a while to put it all together and make it work but her talent was good enough, definitely, without any question to win more Grand Slams.
“She was a terrific person, she really was. She had a sort of quiet competitiveness. She was steely on the inside but she was always such a good sportsman and always polite. I know that emotional outburst with the Duchess of Kent, nobody will ever forget that.”
After more than 20 years competing on the ATP World Tour, Radek Stepanek has announced his retirement from professional tennis. The Czech star hangs up his racquet after winning five tour-level singles titles and 18 doubles trophies.
Stepanek got off to a good start in 2017, advancing to the quarter-finals in Doha before reaching the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier. But back surgery on 22 March to deal with a chronic condition stopped his season. And after months of recovery, rehab and an attempt to get back into proper playing shape, the Czech told his family and team that he was done.
“Every day has been a question mark. I had small pain every day and that was painful. I didn’t have days when the pain was going away and after conversations with the doctors I started to practise 50, 60, 70 per cent. But I didn’t get to more than that,” Stepanek told ATPWorldTour.com. “I realised that the body was showing me that it had had enough.”
Nevertheless, the 38-year-old accomplished plenty in his career, having reached a career-high in singles of No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings while also climbing to No. 4 on the doubles court. The only active players who have broken into the Top 10 (at separate times) in their careers are Jurgen Melzer, Jack Sock and Fernando Verdasco. Stepanek combined to win 697 tour-level matches in both disciplines, and earned more than $11 million in prize money.
“I’m very proud of my achievements and the whole team who helped me throughout my career, they definitely have their signature on that,” Stepanek said. “I think the [award] suitcase is packed. Obviously there is a trophy missing for a singles Grand Slam title, which I wasn’t that close to. But I’ve done a lot in my career, and it’s something that I can be proud of.”
The Monte-Carlo resident first entered the Emirates ATP Rankings in singles on 31 July 1995, when he was 16 and he broke into the Top 100 in 2002. At the tour-level stop that propelled him over that hurdle, in Gstaad, Stepanek defeated Roger Federer, who was ranked No. 11 at the time.
Stepanek earned his first singles title in 2006, raising the trophy in Rotterdam. He defeated Fabrice Santoro, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the victory.
Just months later, Stepanek would break into the Top 10 in singles after advancing to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, despite never previously passing the third round at a Grand Slam.
But Stepanek’s favourite tennis memory came almost exactly five years ago, when he clinched the Czech Republic’s first Davis Cup title in 32 years in a deciding fifth rubber against Spain’s Nicolas Almagro.
“You’re playing for your country,” said Stepanek, who was also proud to win the mixed doubles bronze medal with Lucie Hradecka at the 2016 Olympics. “That moment when my parents were alongside sitting there in the box, seeing me doing it with the biggest pressure I ever had in my life on the tennis court, and my dream came true, that was so special.”
In 2012, he earned his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in men’s doubles with Leander Paes. Stepanek also won the 2013 US Open with the Indian legend.
Stepanek might have had one of the funkiest games on tour, armed with unorthodox groundstrokes and a penchant for rushing the net, but it certainly was successful. He was one of the hardest workers on and off the court, keeping his body flexibile and agile well into his 30s, which helped prepare him to play virtually any shot at any time from anywhere on the court, all the while having one of the best pairs of hands in the sport. That propelled him to finish 11 seasons inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in both singles and doubles.
The Czech was also known for his fire and energy on the court, as he was never willing to back down from an opponent. His polos were also easily recognisable, from the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline shirts of his play at the US Open to apparel with a lion on it. All of that combined with Stepanek’s shotmaking ability and ensuing reactions made the Czech one of the most colourful players on tour.
The right-hander planned on playing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but his body did not allow that to happen.
“I realised that I wouldn’t be able to play on the level that I was used to. I either play tennis 100 per cent or I don’t,” Stepanek said. “I realised that I’d be going to tournaments with a question mark. ‘Would my body hold up? Would my body survive a match or two?’ That’s not the way I play tennis. I didn’t want to do it.”
But Stepanek’s retirement does not mean he will be stepping away from the sport. When considering what lies ahead, he asked himself one key question:
“In what department will I be better than I am in tennis? Will it be in business? Will it be opening a restaurant? Maybe a car dealership, what will it be?” Stepanek said. “The best I can be will always be in tennis. I think I know this sport up and down, inside out and I have incredible experiences throughout my career. I’ve met such great people, incredible people that I’ve learned from and I’m a student of the game. I believe that with what I’ve been through I can pass it to somebody one day, and we’ll see how it goes, but my intention is to definitely be part of the game.”