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Thiem Reaches First Grand Slam Semi-Final

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Thiem Reaches First Grand Slam Semi-Final

The Austrian prevails over Goffin in four sets

No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem has achieved a career milestone in advancing to his first Grand Slam semi-final, fighting off a set point in the second set to defeat No. 12 seed David Goffin, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1.

He is only the third Austrian (joining Thomas Muster and Jurgen Melzer) to reach the final four at a major. Thiem is also guaranteed to make his debut inside the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings when next week’s standings are released and will finish no lower than No. 7.

“In the entire second set, I didn’t really think that I was going to win this match. He was the better player the first two sets or at least until the tie-break,” said Thiem. “I didn’t know what to do because he was returning well. He didn’t make any mistakes. I think the tie-break was the highest levels I’ve ever played and then things started to turn around.”

Goffin admitted he was left wondering what could have been had he converted on his set point in the tie-break.

“It would have been two sets for me and I was playing better than he was, so maybe the match would have been totally different,” said Goffin. “But he decided to hang on and he played better and better, even during the fourth set. Despite the rain and the very heavy conditions, he was hitting very strongly.”

The Belgian struggled on serve in the early stages of the match, dropping his first two service games and staring at a break point down 1-3. After holding serve, Goffin began to step into the court on his returns and put more pressure on Thiem, earning the break back with the Austrian serving at 4-3. With Thiem serving at 30/30 down 4-5, Goffin ripped a backhand return winner and then converted on his first set point opportunity.

A long game with Thiem serving at 3-4 in the second set saw both players have chances, but it was the Belgian who converted on his fifth break point after a backhand error from the Austrian. Goffin was unable to serve out the set at 5-3 and the Austrian went on to grab a commanding 5/2 lead in the tie-break, but couldn’t take advantage of a set point at 6/5. Goffin earned his own set point at 7/6, but Thiem erased it with a forehand and made good on his second set point at 8/7.

The third set once again saw significant shifts in momentum. Goffin regrouped strongly by breaking serve to start the third set, but Thiem eventually got even with a return winner to level the set at 4-4. Two games later, the Austrian earned set point with a backhand winner and took advantage of his opportunity to take a commanding lead.

Thiem appeared energized by having the momentum, extending his win streak to nine consecutive games with a 5-0 lead in the fourth set. The Austrian wrapped up the match on serve at 5-1.

He will now play No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday’s final. Djokovic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, with both wins coming in straight sets. The two players have won more matches than anyone else on tour this year, with Djokovic at 42 wins and Thiem at 41.

“It’s going to be unbelievably tough. I think he’s on a different level than all the other players, but I’m still in good shape and the match starts at 0-0,” said Thiem. “All I can do is give all I have and then we will see what happens.”

Spanish Duo Edges Former Champs

In quarter-final doubles action, No. 15 seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez of Spain saved six match points in beating 2014 champions Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau of France, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7). Lopez/Lopez were down 4-5, 0/40 in the second set and saved two more match points in the third-set tie-break. The win sets up a semi-final clash with No. 3 seeds and defending champions Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. Marc Lopez will aim to reach his second doubles final at Roland Garros, having finished runner-up (w/Marcel Granollers) two years ago.

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Live: Djokovic Leads Berdych

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Live: Djokovic Leads Berdych

Serb takes first set 6-3

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic leads Tomas Berdych 6-3 in their Roland Garros quarter-final on Wednesday.

The Serb broke through in the seventh game of the opener and broke the Czech again in the ninth game to take a one-set lead.

The 29-year-old Djokovic has won his past 10 meetings with Berdych and leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 23-2.

Djokovic is bidding to reach his 30th Grand Slam semi-final and his eighth at Roland Garros, where he has been runner-up three times, in 2012 (l. to Nadal), 2014 (l. to Nadal) and 2015 (l. to Wawrinka).

The Belgrade native is currently on a 25-match Grand Slam winning streak, with his last loss at a major coming 12 months ago in the Roland Garros final. He is looking to become the eighth man in history to complete the career Grand Slam with victory in Paris.

The 30-year-old Berdych is looking to make the semi-finals in Paris for the first time since 2010, when he lost to Robin Soderling.

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Murray sets sights on French Open title

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016
Andy Murray v Stan Wawrinka
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 3 June Time: Not before 14:00 BST
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

Andy Murray believes he can become the first British winner of the French Open since Fred Perry in 1935 as he prepares to face Stan Wawrinka in the last four.

Murray, 29, plays the defending champion from Switzerland on Philippe Chatrier after 14:00 BST on Friday.

“I believe I can win the event. It’s possible and only a couple of matches away now. I’ll just give everything I’ve got the next few days,” he said.

World number one Novak Djokovic plays Dominic Thiem in the other semi-final.

In the women’s draw, Serena Williams takes on Kiki Bertens and Garbine Muguruza plays Sam Stosur, with both matches getting under way at 12:00.

Murray seeking to overcoming last-four flaw

British number one Murray has been to the last four at Roland Garros on three previous occasions, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2011 and 2014 and Djokovic in five sets last year.

Murray has won eight out of 15 previous meetings with 31-year-old Wawrinka, but has lost their last three – and all three on clay.

However, Murray has improved significantly on the surface in the past two years and beat Djokovic in the Italian Open final before heading to Paris.

“Stan is obviously playing great tennis,” Murray said. “It is going to be extremely difficult [but] hopefully I can play my best tennis and reach my first final here.”

Wawrinka pays tribute to Murray

Third seed Wawrinka, who won the tournament last year and the Australian Open in 2014, still feels his career is inferior to Murray’s despite matching the Scot’s tally of two Grand Slam titles.

“Now that I’ve won a second Grand Slam people say I’m closer to him,” the Swiss said.

“If you were to compare our two careers, he’s well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, number two in the world.

“He’s in the ‘Big Four’ [along with Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer]. There is a reason for this. Maybe he has fewer titles than the other three, but he’s always been with them during the semis, the finals. His career is very, very impressive.”

Murray has racked up 36 titles, compared to Wawrinka’s 14.

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Djokovic beats Berdych to reach semis

  • Posted: Jun 02, 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.

Novak Djokovic swept past seventh seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets to reach the French Open semi-finals.

The world number one came through 6-3 7-5 6-3 and will face Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem in the last four.

Serb Djokovic, 29, is trying to win his first French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam.

The singles quarter-finals will be completed on Thursday as Serena Williams takes on Yulia Putintseva, and Timea Bacsinszky plays Kiki Bertens.

Thiem, 22, beat Belgian 12th seed David Goffin 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-1 to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final.

Djokovic through after racquet slip

Djokovic had won 23 of his previous 25 matches against Berdych of the Czech Republic, and was never seriously threatened after beginning their 26th meeting in commanding fashion.

Berdych appealed for officials to take action when the rain, which has dogged this tournament, returned – but the closest Djokovic came to a quarter-final exit was a potential disqualification in the third set.

He let his racquet slip out of his hand while angrily swiping at the ground and was relieved to receive just a code violation as it narrowly missed a line judge.

“I am aware that I have been lucky,” he said afterwards. “It was just some unfortunate bounce, but fortunate ending of the scenario. That’s all I can say.”

Djokovic was already two sets up after dominating for an hour and a half, and moments later he recovered Berdych’s early break of serve in the third set.

Berdych described the tournament director’s hesitance to halt play when the rain became heavier as “an absolute circus”, but the delay lasted a little over 10 minutes and Djokovic soon wrapped up victory on the resumption.

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Djokovic Qualifies Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2016

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Djokovic Qualifies Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2016

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Rain is no barrier to Murray's march

  • Posted: Jun 02, 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.

The mind tends to wander when the rain’s lashing down in Paris, as it has of late.

Against the pitter-patter rhythm of early summer showers dropping on to regularly called-for clay-court covers, the faces of champions past appear in the puddles for an instant before vanishing into the gathering gloom.

Nastase, Borg, Wilander, Lendl, Brugera, Moya, Kuerten. And almost certainly the greatest of them all, Rafa Nadal. He fought back tears in the media room when he had to withdraw, injured.

It was all too much for the tennis Gods, though: the heavens simply opened, releasing what seemed like an eternal deluge.

Rain is no stranger to a certain Scotsman, of course. Andy Murray grew up in Dunblane cursing the sight of the stuff.

How was he supposed to practise on the few courts that did exist when it was chucking it down? There are precious few indoor courts now, never mind in the mid-to-late 1990s, when he was honing his skills however he could.

And to get good on ‘terre battue’, as they call it here, how on earth is that possible for someone from Scotland, where serviceable clay courts are in short supply on the few days a year when the rain holds off? He went to Barcelona when he was 15 to learn his craft on the red dirt of the Sanchez Casal academy.

But, even at that point, he would have been at least 10 years behind his new rival Rafa, who one guesses pretty much fell on to a clay court from his cot.

Now a clay court contender

How remarkable, then, to think that Murray’s name could adorn the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy. A notion long-since banished from the realms of the fanciful. He started winning on clay last year and was only stopped from reaching a first French Open final in a five-set struggle with that rather handy journeyman from Serbia, Novak Djokovic.

On the red dirt this year, Murray mopped up another Masters series title – in Rome – having contested the final in Madrid and a semi-final in Monte Carlo. He’s a serial clay court contender these days, although it took him a while to find his feet on a more slippery than usual surface here at the Porte d’Auteuil.

As monsieurs Stepanek and Bourgue would attest, he did not play like a world number two against them in the first couple of rounds. What Murray displayed more than anything in those matches was desire and heart – as well as proving what is a fundamental truism in any kind of sport: a win is a win.

Much better tennis followed in the subsequent three rounds as his timing and confidence grew.

Stan stands in the way of final

So here he is at the semi-final stage, the Scot’s fourth appearance in the last four at Roland Garros – quite an achievement in itself. And no Rafa or, for now, Novak to worry about. Just the defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who, on his day, can blast anyone off any tennis court, whatever the surface.

Wawrinka was asked, having won as many Grand Slam titles as Murray (two), whether he and the Scot were roughly on the same level? “Oh no,” came the reply. “Andy’s way ahead of me.”

Mind games? Possibly. Modesty? Certainly. Or could it be that the Swiss has genuine admiration for Murray’s ability to sustain a high level of consistency at the majors over the past half-decade?

This is Murray’s 19th Slam semi-final. If he beats Wawrinka, he’d qualify for his 10th final. Those stats alone are worthy of celebration in this era of Roger Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all jockeying for position as the GOAT. (Greatest Of All Time. Come on, folks, keep up.)

Should Murray still be here for the weekend, he will have reached the final of all four Slams, on all three surfaces.

And if that does indeed come to pass then Dunblane’s finest might look to the Parisian skies and thank them for this week’s dreadful downpour.

It’s not just his sense of humour that’s been largely dry these past few days. Murray’s side of the draw has been relatively unaffected by the awful weather, meaning he’ll have an extra day’s rest before the final, should he reach it.

That is another reason why the name Murray might make it on to the famous old trophy and why it could be his reflection that may appear fleetingly to the wistful daydreamer in next year’s Roland Garros raindrops.

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The Top 10 Match: Thiem vs Goffin

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

The Top 10 Match: Thiem vs Goffin

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Federer Ranked Fifth Most Famous Athlete By ESPN

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Federer Ranked Fifth Most Famous Athlete By ESPN

Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Nishikori join Federer on Top 100 list

Roger Federer ranks among the top five most famous athletes in the world, according to a new list released by ESPN. The 34-year-old Swiss comes in at No. 5 in the ESPN World Fame 100, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

“Whenever you play, you are worshipped by those who think that watching one of your matches is like seeing Nureyev or Olivier on stage,” writes ESPN, describing why ‘It’s Good To Be’ Federer. “You can wear gold-trimmed white blazers to walk on court and still carry it off. Writers pen love letters to you, saying that seeing you play tennis is like a religious experience. Even your rivals can’t bring themselves to hate you, you’re so darn nice.”

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic rank inside the top 20, at respectively No. 10 and No. 16, while Andy Murray is No. 31 and Kei Nishikori is No. 47. Four WTA players – Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Sania Mirza and Venus Williams – are also on the list, making tennis the fourth-highest represented sport after basketball (20), soccer (17) and American football (16).

The ESPN World Fame 100 is based on a formula created by ESPN’s director of sports analytics Ben Alamar, and combines salary, endorsements, social media following and Google search popularity.

Federer is scheduled to return to the ATP World Tour next week at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, and will compete in Halle the following week as the three-time defending champion at the GERRY WEBER OPEN.

View ESPN World Fame 100 

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Montanes Returns To Scene Of The Climb In Furth

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Montanes Returns To Scene Of The Climb In Furth

The Spaniard is looking to do one better than his runner-up showing at last year’s tournament

After making a run back into Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this year, Albert Montanes is returning to the place where his most recent climb just began.

The Spaniard is competing this week at the $50,000 ATP Challenger in Furth, Germany, where he finished last year as runner-up. Ranked No. 155 at the time, he went on to reach two more ATP Challenger Tour finals over the next month in Padova, Italy and Prague, Czech Republic. Continuing to produce impressive results since then, Montanes is now ranked No. 95.

“Coming back into the Top 100 is always a positive thing,” said Montanes. “Now I can get into the main draw of many ATP World Tour events and also the Grand Slams. I changed my racquets and use Babolat now, which helped a lot with my game.

Montanes opened this year’s campaign in Furth with a first-round win over German wildcard Daniel Masur and then moved into the quarter-finals by defeating another German in Julian Reister. He credited the atmosphere around the grounds at Furth with contributing to his solid form this week.

“I have a good feeling here. The club is nice, the food is good and everything is well organised,” he said. “We have a really good situation this week.”

At age 35, Montanes is now in his 17th year as a professional. Although many of his peers when he first began competing have long since retired, he said he has no plans to join them anytime soon.

“I love this sport. I’m still feeling good and I can compete with the top players and the young guns,” said Montanes. “Most importantly, I’m still having fun on the court and that motivates me to keep going. I want to try and stay in the Top 100 for the rest of my career.”

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Jaziri Flies The Flag For Tunisia In Career-Best Season

  • Posted: Jun 02, 2016

Jaziri Flies The Flag For Tunisia In Career-Best Season

The 32-year-old has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year

After more than a decade on tour, Malek Jaziri is in the best form of his career and continuing to break ground for tennis in Tunisia.

The 32-year-old opened this year with a combined 1-7 record at ATP World Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events, but has dramatically turned his season around since then. He prevailed this March at the $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Guadalajara, Mexico, then won another $100,000 tournament in April in Le Gosier, Guadeloupe. Jaziri achieved a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking that same month of No. 64.

He’s now the top seed this week at the $50,000 ATP Challenger event in Furth, Germany. Jaziri opened his quest for a third ATP Challenger Tour title this year by defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain in the opening round.

“My best results in Challengers this year have been on hard courts, but I’ve had good results on clay as well,” said Jaziri. “Furth is a good tournament for me because they treat the players very well here. I hope to do well this week.”

Jaziri has remained the top-ranked tennis player in Tunisia for eight years and has been a fixture on its Davis Cup team since 2000. He said that being the only Tunisian to currently compete on either the ATP World Tour or ATP Challenger Tour has given him extra motivation to produce big results.

“I’m proud to play for Tunisia and be the top player in my country,” he said. “It’s an honour for me and also a result of very hard work on and off the court.”

Despite having his best year on tour so far, Jaziri still has much loftier aspirations that he’s still continuing to work towards.

“My goal is to be ranked in the Top 10,” he said. “And why not? I want to win a Grand Slam as well.”

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