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Double Dive Volley Kicks Off Challenger Grass Season

  • Posted: Jun 01, 2016

Double Dive Volley Kicks Off Challenger Grass Season

Liam Broady and Sergiy Stakhovsky took their leaps of faith at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester

Wild card Liam Broady of Great Britain and No. 6 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine got the 2016 grass court season off to a memorable start with a pair of dive volleys during their matches at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Manchester, England.

With Broady serving down 3-4 in the final set of his match against No. 7 seed and defending champion Sam Groth of Australia, a well-placed forehand forced the Brit to desperately try and stay in the point with a dive backhand volley. As he tumbled to the ground, the ball comfortably made its way well inside the court for a winner. Despite Broady’s efforts, Groth prevailed in the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Stakhovsky’s dive volley didn’t reap the same benefits as Broady’s. Up 6-5 in the first set and with three set points against qualifier Marinko Matosevic of Australia, his leaping effort in response to a backhand passing shot sat up for Matosevic to comfortably hit a winner into the open court. However, the Ukranian went on to take the set and eventually the match, 7-5, 7-6(6).

Groth next plays American Dennis Novikov in the second round, while Stakhovsky will square off against qualifier Edward Corrie of Great Britain.

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Serving Under Pressure? No Problem For Federer

  • Posted: Jun 01, 2016

Serving Under Pressure? No Problem For Federer

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers examines which players serve best under pressure

Double faults are a necessary evil of our game.

Missing a second serve tends to sting a lot more than missing a forehand or a backhand, especially if the double fault occurs at an influential moment during a match. Double faulting on break point represents the worst timing, but it still happens even at the elite level of our sport.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of double faults, and their timing in a match, illuminates an incredible strength of former World No. 1 Roger Federer -– the ability to get his second serve in the box under pressure.

From the beginning of the 2015 season up to Roland Garros this year, Federer was committing a double fault on break point only once every 22 matches. That is head and shoulders above his peers in the Elite Eight, and speaks equally to his fluent, graceful motion as well as the mental fortitude required to get the ball in play with the match on the line.

Below is a table outlining double faults on break points for the current Top Eight players in the world.

No.  Player Double Faults On Break Point / Match
1 Roger Federer 21.8
Novak Djokovic  11.4
Kei Nishikori 7.4
Stan Wawrinka 6.5
Rafael Nadal 5.5
Andy Murray 5.2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4.3
8 Tomas Berdych 4.0

In the past 52 weeks, Federer is averaging only 1.9 double faults per match, which is identical to his career average. He has been a Top 10 performer in this specific area in 10 of the past 13 years, since he won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003.

Federer’s record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances stopped at Roland Garros this year, as he was not able to compete with a back ailment. He is scheduled to return to the tour next week in Stuttgart and then Halle the following week, where he is an eight-time champion.

Federer’s ability to not beat himself is a major key to his success. The Swiss maestro typically targets the opponent’s backhand jam location with his second-serve delivery, staying away from the more potent forehand return, and equally as important, staying away from the singles sideline and center line, where second serves can easily miss wide.

Federer is ranked No. 1 all-time with second-serve points won at 57 per cent through 1,254 matches. Nobody can totally eliminate double faults, but Federer is the best in the business at minimising them, particularly in the big moments where legend status in our sport is forged.

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Pundits Preview Week Two At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Pundits Preview Week Two At Roland Garros

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Herbert/Mahut In Danger At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Herbert/Mahut In Danger At Roland Garros

Top seeds trailing Lopez/Lopez

Home favourites Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are three games away from being upset by Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez at Roland Garros on Tuesday. The top-seeded Frenchmen trailed 6-7(7) 0-3 before rain interrupted play. If the pair can come back to win the match, Mahut will become the new No. 1 player in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, replacing Marcelo Melo.

Herbert/Mahut are the hottest doubles team of 2016, sweeping the first three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of the season (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo). Herbert has never reached the quarter-finals in Roland Garros, while Mahut was a finalist in 2013 (partnering Llodra).

Defending champion Ivan Dodig and Melo teamed up to reach the quarter-finals, downing Chris Guccione and Andre Sa 6-3, 6-2. The third seeds stuck eight aces and broke Guccione/Sa three times on as many opportunities.

Also in action are Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who led 4-3 against Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes before play was interrupted.

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Thiem Battles Granollers, Rain At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Thiem Battles Granollers, Rain At Roland Garros

Fourth-round match deadlocked on Court 2 

The fourth-round match opposing Dominic Thiem, seeded No. 13, and unseeded Marcel Granollers was interrupted by rain tied 6-2, 6-7(2) at Roland Garros on Tuesday. Both players are aiming to reach their first Roland Garros quarter-final.

Spain’s Granollers was well-rested entering the match, having not hit a ball in match conditions since the second round. Last Thursday, he saw off Nicolas Mahut before moving into the fourth round after Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal due to a wrist injury. Thiem took advantage of his opponent’s five-day layoff, racing to a 4-1 lead before rain stopped play for a first time with the Austrian serving for the set at 5-2. After a two-hour interruption, Thiem secured the opening set on his fifth attempt.

The players exchanged breaks at the start of the second set, but the wily Granollers, who had yet to beat Thiem in three FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, found his range. Rushing the net at strategic moments, the 2014 doubles finalist won a one-sided tie-break before inclement weather stopped the match again.

The winner of the match will face Ernests Gulbis, a semi-finalist two years ago, or 12th seed David Goffin in the quarter-finals. Gulbis, No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, made a quick start and led 3-0 before rain interrupted play. On the eve of the tournament, he parted ways with coach Gunther Bresnik, who currently works with Thiem.

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Behind The Scenes At Roland Garros 2016

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Behind The Scenes At Roland Garros 2016

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Emirates ATP Rankings 30 May 2016

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Emirates ATP Rankings 30 May 2016

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Norwell boosts Glos victory hopes

  • Posted: May 31, 2016
Specsavers County Championship Division Two, New Road
Worcestershire v Gloucestershire, day three
Worcestershire 439 & 151-5: Mitchell 55, Kervezee 39; Norwell 3-28
Gloucestershire 364-6 dec: Van Buuren 172*, Miles 60*, Roderick 60
Worcestershire lead by 226 runs
Worcestershire 7 pts, Gloucestershire 7 pts
Match scorecard

Three Liam Norwell wickets ignited Gloucestershire’s chances of a final-day push for victory at Worcester.

The visiting seamer took 3-28, bowling first-innings centurion Tom Kohler-Cadmore, as the hosts stumbled to 151-5 in their second innings to lead by 226.

Rain curtailed play at 16:40 BST, but all three results are still possible.

Earlier, Graeme van Buuren carried his overnight 104 to 172 not out, in tandem with Craig Miles (60 not out), as the visitors declared on 364-6.

Gloucestershire caused a surprise by pulling out at lunch still 75 runs behind after the unbroken 134-run stand between Van Buuren and Miles.

Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell told BBC Hereford & Worcester:

“The game has opened up with them declaring. It was a good move. Hopefully that will create something exciting.

“We are all sick of boring draws, so let’s hope we have got a game of cricket on.

“The closer they got to our total, it would have made it more difficult to play a proper game. We’ve got to start trying to win and they are in the same boat.”

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson:

“We’ve got five wickets down and if we can get a couple of early wickets, we will put the pressure back on them.

“Was the declaration on the spur of the moment? We had to see how we batted. And Graeme van Buuren and Craig Miles put us in a position where we could make that decision.

“The partnership they put on actually put us into a position where we could dictate things.”

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Djokovic Fights Back As Rain Stops Play At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 31, 2016

Djokovic Fights Back As Rain Stops Play At Roland Garros

Two rain delays keep Djokovic and Bautista Agut waiting in Paris

Top seed and three-time former finalist Novak Djokovic leads No. 14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 on Tuesday, when rained stopped play at Roland Garros. Play was officially cancelled for the day at 5:50 p.m. local time.

Djokovic is bidding to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam championships for the 28th successive time, while Bautista Agut is looking to reach his first quarter-final in his 15th major appearance.

Play had been originally set to begin at 11 a.m. local time, but it did not start until 12:10 p.m. at Stade Roland Garros, in south-west Paris.

After an early exchange of service breaks, Bautista Agut took a 4-2 lead by striking cleanly down the lines. Although Djokovic broke back for 3-4, Bautista Agut responded to win two games in a row and wrap-up the 37-minute opener. Djokovic had previously won the first set in 20 straight Grand Slam championships matches and 37 of 38 Grand Slam matches since 2014.

Heavy rain returned at 12:46 p.m., which resulted in a lengthy delay. In spite of light rain, play resumed at 3:28 p.m. with fans under umbrellas.

Djokovic returned to Court Philippe Chatrier, adopting a new game plan: playing safe down the middle and striking through the ball. Bautista Agut came under pressure on serve, but managed to save five break points in his first two service games. With Djokovic leading 3-2, there followed five straight breaks of serve. Much to his relief, Djokovic converted his second set point opportunity.

By now, neither player trusted their footing on the crushed brick. But play continued into the third set, with Djokovic saving one break point in the first game. The World No. 1 then broke Bautista Agut in the fourth game en route to a 4-1 lead, before organisers stopped at 4:51 p.m. local time.

Bautista Agut is 0-4 against players at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and 5-27 versus Top 10 stars overall.

There was no play due to rain on Monday, which represented the first washout since 30 May 2000.

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Djokovic losing when rain halts play

  • Posted: May 31, 2016
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

World number one Novak Djokovic lost the first set to Roberto Bautista Agut before rain returned to again delay play at the French Open.

Spain’s Bautista Agut, the 14th seed, led Serb Djokovic 6-3 when their fourth-round match was halted in Paris.

Serena Williams is set to play Elina Svitolina after that match, before Britain’s Andy Murray faces Richard Gasquet in the first quarter-final.

Monday saw the first washout at Roland Garros since 2000.

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