Davis Cup: Carlos Ramos umpires first match since Serena Williams row

Posted: Sep 14, 2018

Carlos Ramos returned to the umpire’s chair for the first time since being called a “thief” by Serena Williams, overseeing a Davis Cup match on Friday.

He was in charge as Marin Cilic became Croatia’s most successful Davis Cup player, giving his country a 2-0 lead over the USA in the World Group semis.

Happily for Portugal’s Ramos, there were no controversies as Cilic beat Frances Tiafoe 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Borna Coric won the opening singles 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 against Steven Johnson.

It means Croatia are firmly in charge of the best-of-five-match tie in Zadar going into Saturday’s doubles and Sunday’s reverse singles matches.

World number six Cilic’s victory over world number 40 Tiafoe took him past the 36 Davis Cup rubbers won by Ivan Ljubicic.

Former US Open champion Cilic broke twice in the first set and three times in the second before the young American, making his Davis Cup debut, pushed him harder in the third.

All eyes had been on Ramos, who docked Williams a game for verbal abuse – having already given her a point penalty for smashing her racquet and a code violation for coaching – in her US Open final defeat by Naomi Osaka on Saturday.

The series of incidents had led to some of the most remarkable scenes in a Grand Slam final as Williams accused Ramos of being a “liar” and a “thief”.

Elsewhere, France‘s Benoit Paire beat Spain‘s Pablo Carreno-Busta 7-5 6-1 6-0 to help his country to a 2-0 lead.

Paire, who was also making his Davis Cup debut for the defending champions, outplayed the injured Spaniard in Lille.

“In my head, sometimes I could become crazy and the team couldn’t be confident to call me into the team,” Paire had said before his match. “But now I feel good, I feel fresh and confident.”

Compatriot and French number one Lucas Pouille prevailed in a five-set battle with Roberto Bautista Agut after losing the first set.

The world number 19 came back to win 3-6 7-5 (7-5) 6-4 2-6 6-4.

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Coric Gives Croatia Early Lead In Davis Cup Semi-finals

Sep142018

Croatia bids to reach final for second consecutive year

CROATIA 1, UNITED STATES 0
Sportski Centar Visnjik, Zadar – Clay (Outdoors)

Borna Coric gave 2005 champion Croatia a 1-0 lead on Friday in its Davis Cup semi-final against United States in Zadar after defeating Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3 in two hours and 24 minutes.

Coric recorded his 30th match win of the season, hitting 23 winners and winning 81 per cent of his first-service points. The 21-year-old lifted his second ATP World Tour title at the Gerry Weber Open (d. Federer) in June.

World No. 6 Marin Cilic now looks to extend 2017 finalist Croatia’s lead against Frances Tiafoe, who is making his debut as the 141st player to represent the United States.

FRANCE 1, SPAIN 0
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy, Lille, FRA (hard – indoor)

French captain Yannick Noah’s decision to blood Benoit Paire paid off on Friday when the 20-year-old debutant overcame Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 in one hour and 54 minutes. Paire struck 37 winners, including 16 aces, to give defending champion France an early advantage.

Roberto Bautista Agut will now attempt to get five-time titlist Spain back to 1-1 overnight with victory over Lucas Pouille in the second singles rubber.

Read & Watch: Tecau Shares Life Lessons With Youth Through Children's Book

Posted: Sep 13, 2018

Read & Watch: Tecau Shares Life Lessons With Youth Through Children’s Book

Sep132018

The Romanian received an ATP ACES For Charity grant earlier this year

It is no secret that ATP World Tour players learn plenty from their experiences in professional tennis. Horia Tecau, the 2017 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award winner, is using those lessons to help the youth.

Tecau donated hundreds of copies of a children’s book he wrote, Life Is Like A Tennis Game, at this year’s US Open in large part thanks to an ATP ACES For Charity grant. In conjunction with the Fundatia Curtea Veche, Tecau received €15,000 earlier in 2018 to support the cause.

“When I first started thinking about making this book, it was a passion and I wanted to share it with more and more kids. I launched it in 2016 in Romanian,” Tecau said. “Because of the funds that we got from the ATP, we were able to translate it, to ship it, and to donate it here at Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

“I think that’s very important for a country like Romania. Seventy to 80 per cent of the country is rural. And a lot of the families in those rural places don’t have books in their houses. So together with the foundation, we’re trying to donate a lot of books in this area and raise the educational level of the country.”

The grant Tecau received is projected to benefit 5,000 children. The Romanian uses his experiences from life on the ATP World Tour to give insight to youngsters around the world through his writing.

You May Also Like: ATP ACES For Charity: Horia Tecau

“A lot of these lessons, I had to go through a few times until I learned them,” said Tecau of trying to figure out how to balance schoolwork with playing tennis. “What I learned from my experience is that you can really do both. It just takes more time, more effort, but you need to make the effort to organise your time really well.”

Tecau’s book helps show children the importance of key values like honesty, teamwork, fair play, adherence to rules, respect for themselves and more. It also provides a guide for young people to learn how to deal with competition and how to cope with both winning and losing.

“Tennis is a learning game. You learn a lot more from your losses than when you win,” Tecau said. “So you have to approach a tennis match like you just want to make a better player, a better man out of you every day. The moment you stop doing that, you’re not doing your job as a tennis player.”

Learn More About The ATP ACES For Charity Programme

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