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Ferrer & Isner Play With A Fountain View

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

Ferrer & Isner Play With A Fountain View

It hasn’t all been about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.

Follow all the latest off-court action on MyATP! Download the app for iPhone or Android or visit MyATP.com.

Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open – Geneva, Switzerland

David Ferrer and John Isner played some tennis on a mini court nearby Lake Geneva and the famous Jet d’eau fountain. View Photo 

Stan Wawrinka visited HUG hospital with the Let it Beat Foundation, which helps children with heart disease.

“This is a cause I care a lot about,” said Wawrinka. “I want to thank the hospital and the doctors for all the great work and effort. I enjoyed visiting those kids who are fighting hard and doing much better after the treatment they get here. It’s a pleasure to see them smile.” 

Marin Cilic, Matwe Middelkoop, Wesley Koolhof, Marcus Daniell, Artem Sitak, Julian Knowle and Oliver Marach were among the stars to attend the tournament party at the Swissotel Sunday night.

Mariusz Fyrstenberg, Santiago Gonzalez and Pablo Carreno Busta participated in kids’ day activities.

Cilic, Federico Delbonis, Steve Johnson, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Albert Ramos-Vinolas met with fans and sponsors on site. 

Moet and Chandon off-court news 

Open de Nice Cote D’Azur – Nice, France

Second seed Gilles Simon attended the FFT Centre inauguration with Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi.

Defending champion Dominic Thiem and NextGen star Taylor Fritz visited with many children from local schools at the Promenade des Anglais for a clinic. View Photo

Kevin Anderson visited the Emirates booth as he went on a tour of the site with ATP World Tour Uncovered. View Photo 

Anderson, Alexander Zverev and Quentin Halys met with their young fans to sign autographs.

Juan Sebastian Cabal, Robert Farah, Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom participated in kids’ clinics.

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Simon FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

Simon FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

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Cilic, Isner Return With Mixed Results

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

Cilic, Isner Return With Mixed Results

Ferrer, Delbonis advance in Geneva

Lukas Rosol withstood 29 aces and outlasted John Isner in two hours and 22 minutes to spoil the American’s return to the ATP World Tour on Wednesday at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. Rosol prevailed 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

Fourth-seeded Isner gained the match’s only service break at 6-5 in the first set, but the unseeded Rosol took the second set to even the contest. At 5-all in the third set tie-break, Isner sailed a forehand long to give Rosol a chance to serve for the match. The Czech capitalised on his first opportunity with a service winner.

It was Isner’s first match since April 10. The 6’10” 30 year old missed the season’s three earlier ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events on clay because of a knee injury.

Rosol, No. 68 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will face Andrey Kuznetsov in the quarter-finals. The Russian defeated seventh-seeded American Steve Johnson 7-5, 6-4. The 25 year old Kuznetsov improved to 18-9 and has now reached four quarter-finals this season, including the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, the Open 13 Provence and the Barcelona Open BancSabadell.

Marin Cilic enjoyed a more pleasant return to tour-level play. The Croat dismissed Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 7-6(5). Cilic had been out since March 27 because of an injury to his right knee. “Very happy to be back, especially after such a long break. I didn’t play any tournaments on clay, and considering this is the first match, I feel that I played a very high level of tennis,” Cilic said. “I’m extremely happy with the way I was moving on the court.”

Cilic will play the sixth seed Federico Delbonis, who swept Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-0. Delbonis, currently a career-high No. 33 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is trying to reach his third consecutive semi-final (BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy, TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open). Cilic won their lone previous FedEx Head2Head meeting, on clay in 2012 in Hamburg.

Denis Istomin was up 6-3, 3-2 on No. 2 seed David Ferrer when the Uzbekistani had to retire because of a right buttock strain.

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Challenger Chronicles: Weintraub On The Comeback Trail

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

Challenger Chronicles: Weintraub On The Comeback Trail

Amir Weintraub provides the first installment of the Challenger Chronicles, writing about life on the ATP Challenger Tour

After a long period of not writing, I recently posted on my Facebook page about the ups and downs of life on tour and about all the places I never thought I’d ever get to. When I am on the road, I have plenty of time to think and reflect on my career to date, my attempt to return from injuries and about life in general.  

Last week, I was in Uzbekistan playing both singles and doubles at an ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Samarkand. I know many people are curious about life on tour and a behind the scenes look. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts, experiences and funny stories.

I will begin with my injury. In a 2014 Davis Cup match against Slovenia, on clay, just towards the end of the fifth set, I felt my leg hurting badly in my groin area and heard a “click.” I knew right away that something was not right, but I had no idea just how bad! I played on for two more points and won the match. It was a good thing my opponent didn’t see what had happened or he would surely have taken advantage and won.

From that moment, I have been fraught with crises and bad luck but, as they say, “Everything comes together”—and it really does.

I was newly married at the time of my injury and suddenly I was home with no idea what is happening to me. I had my first operation in Israel and went through a long recovery period which included a lot of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractors and other treatments.  After about six months, I still didn’t feel totally fine.

I next flew to Belgium to see a very famous doctor and professor. I wasn’t able to escape having a second operation.  It was so frustrating undergoing all of the same post-op treatments again and sitting at home all day, not knowing what will be with me and if I will ever return to playing tennis.  My wife and my whole family had to suffer through my periods of frustration.

I endured 19 shots in the groin, two surgeries and a divorce until I finally returned to playing tennis exactly 12 months later. I came back with the realisation that I am 28 years old, my ranking had fallen and that I have to start over from scratch.  

My first tournament back was the Raanana Challenger in Israel.  Just my luck! I had to face my friend and countryman Dudi Sela in the first round. Even though it is not the way I would want to win a match, I guess luck smiled on me—Dudi got sick and had to retire.

My leg still didn’t feel right and I began thinking that I might need another surgery. I decided to wait a bit more before making a decision. I rested for about two weeks after the tournament in Raanana and suddenly I began to feel better.

I almost don’t believe what amazing things have happened to me in the past 13 months since returning to the tour. I would have never believed that I could reach No. 190 in the Emirates ATP Rankings so quickly. My coach, Shlomo Zoreff, was with me every step of the way, and through all the hard times, and he made sure that the return to tennis was quick and seamless. With Shlomo’s help, I have changed my training and my game a bit in order to protect my leg—and it almost never hurts.  

My family, my close friend, Tal, and my other friends were with me every step of the way. They believed in me and made me believe in myself. The support of the Israel Tennis Association in general, and with respect to the treatments I received helped, me get back on my feet. Finally, the right mental attitude was a big factor in my return.  

I won five Futures tournaments In Israel, but the big turning point was reaching the final of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Nanchang, China—after three years of not reaching a final. The Israel Tennis Association helped me with coaching support (providing me with the coach who had been with me every step of the way). With their support, I reached the Challenger final in China, which was my fourth. I have still never won a tournament in my career. It remains a big goal of mine.

And now, I just keep going! Life on the ATP Challenger Tour is filled with challenges and funny stories. For example, the trip from Taipei City to Karshi, Uzbekistan, via Hong Kong and Moscow was torture!  I had to decide between spending a few hours at a hotel in Hong Kong for $400—or sleeping on a park bench—before my next flight! I landed in Tashkent at 2:45 am on a Sunday, had to wait hours to get a visa, pick up luggage and get on the road—and drive seven hours in a scary cab to Uzbekistan! Then, I went right to the practice court on Sunday, in preparation for my first match on Monday!

Visit Amir’s Facebook page for behind-the-scenes videos

And there are many funny moments. At our most recent tournament in Samarkand, it rained on Wednesday. My friend from Israel, Bar Tzuf Botzer and I were both in the main draw. In fact, we were lucky to make it here alive!  Once there, it was raining all day for two days and we had no gym to work out and practice—so we both were running from place to place for practice—praying we’d get there on time.

I reached the quarter-finals of the $50,000 event in Samarkand and I am looking forward to the spring and summer tournaments. I hope and pray that I will qualify for the French Open at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.

I will cover a lot of miles, sleep in a lot of hotel rooms, eat in a lot of restaurants, and get to see a lot of amazing cities. And when I have a few minutes of down time, I look forward to talking to friends and family on WhatsApp, catching up with a few of my favourite TV series on the computer, and taking videos of funny things from the tour.

It’s amazing that I’m rising up the rankings, but I try not to look at it too much and worry about where I will be in a day, a week, a month or a year. I am just happy that I am I’m doing the work that I love most and will keep doing so with love—as long as my body holds out!

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Harrison Shares The "Last Time"…

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

Harrison Shares The "Last Time"…

The American shares the last concert he went to, among other tidbits

Speaking during last month’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Tallahassee, Florida, American Ryan Harrison reveals the last time… 

I missed a flight?

It was about a month ago. We were on our way to the airport and the airport in Austin [Texas] is not too big, so usually an hour before is pretty safe. We were a mile away from the airport and there was a massive construction stop with only one lane and we couldn’t get through. We just barely missed the flight.

I lost something important?

I was flying back two years ago from Wimbledon and I left my driver’s license at a restaurant, but someone actually mailed it back to me. I’m not sure how, but it was someone from Chicago. I had the return address, so I sent them a Wimbledon towel in return.

I paid money to rent a court or buy tennis balls?

I have to do that every time I go home. I know the guys really well at the club I practise at and they’ve always been great about courts, but we always buy the balls.

Being famous helped me?

Probably last week at Bonefish Grill. We went for dinner for my fiancee’s birthday. Someone who had affiliation with the [ATP Challenger Tour] tournament in Savannah snuck us ahead on the waitlist.

I strung a tennis racquet?

I do that pretty frequently too. I have a stringer at the house.

I cooked for myself or others?

Last week. I have a grill at the house and all of our friends are pretty good about knowing that when I’m off the road, I usually don’t really want to go out but still would like to see them. Every time I’ve been gone for three or four weeks, we’ll have our friends over and I’ll grill and get something together.

I met a childhood idol?

I met Phil Mickelson at the PGA event in Austin. He was playing against a friend of mine at a match play event, so it was just briefly in passing. I watched Phil growing up, though, so that was pretty cool.

I shared a hotel room with another player?

Austin Krajicek and I shared housing, if that counts. It was the ATP Challenger Tour event in Winnetka last year.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?

I can honestly say that I’ve never done that.

I went to a concert?

I saw Jake Owen and Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett for my 21st birthday almost three years ago.

I got upgraded on a flight?

I got upgraded coming from Australia back to Los Angeles this year. I was very, very lucky. We were trying to buy the flight upgrade and the woman at the ticket counter couldn’t get it processed in time because something happened with her computer, so she just printed the upgrade and gave it to us. 

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#NextGen Stars Soar Into Second Round Of Roland Garros Qualifying

  • Posted: May 18, 2016

#NextGen Stars Soar Into Second Round Of Roland Garros Qualifying

Six #NextGen stars in total are one step closer to qualifying for Roland Garros

Day two of qualifying at Roland Garros saw a trio of #NextGen stars win their opening round matches on Tuesday, including Elias Ymer of Sweden, and Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.

No. 11 seed Ymer moved into the second round of qualifying by defeating Dmitry Popko of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-3. The Swede successfully qualified for all four Grand Slams last year and will look to replicate that feat this year at Roland Garros. Next up for Ymer is Matteo Donati of Italy.

No. 12 seed Khachanov made his debut at Roland Garros a memorable one by scoring a convincing win over Australian Brydan Klein, 6-3, 6-3. The Russian won his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the year last week in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. He’ll now play Jordi Samper-Montana of Spain for a place in the final round of qualifying. 

Rublev, also making his debut at Roland Garros, came out on the winning end of a lengthy battle against Jan Satral of Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4. The 18-year-old has good memories of France, having won his first ATP Challenger Tour title this February in the city of Quimper. Rublev has another tough match waiting for him on Thursday when he plays No. 4 seed Jan-Lennard Struff. 

Both the upset and comeback of the day went to 17-year-old French wild card Geoffrey Blancaneaux, who saved two match points in defeating Hiroki Moriya of Japan, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1. Federico Gaio of Italy prevailed in what was by far the longest match of the day, hitting a backhand lob winner on match point to advance past Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus, 7-6(3), 6-7(6), 9-7.

All second-round qualifying matches will take place on Wednesday, with one of the feature matches pitting former Top 10 player Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic against Australian Matthew Barton.

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Anderson Opens Nice Stay With Win

  • Posted: May 17, 2016

Anderson Opens Nice Stay With Win

Granollers, Seppi also advance on Tuesday

Kevin Anderson knocked out a 2016 titlist and earned his third match win of the season on Tuesday at the Open de Nice Cote d’ Azur in France. The South African hit seven aces and won 70 per cent of his service points to dismiss Diego Schwartzman, the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open champion, 7-6(4), 6-3.

After winning the first-set tie-break, Anderson broke the Argentine to go up 3-1. The No. 3 seed then erased both second-set break points to advance.

Anderson has dealt with left knee and right shoulder problems and underwent minor ankle surgery on 15 March. The World No. 20 has extra incentive to stay healthy this week: He turns 30 on Wednesday. In the third round, he will face No. 5 seed Joao Sousa. The Portuguese overcame a one-set deficit to beat Victor Estrella Burgos 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sousa earned two early breaks in the third set and later served for the win.

World No. 63 Adrian Mannarino needed only 52 minutes to win an all-French battle and dispatch fourth seed Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-0. It’s the second time this year Mannarino has beaten Paire, No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, in straight sets. The left-hander won 6-1, 6-3 at the BNP Paribas Open.

Marcel Granollers spoiled Brian Baker’s return to Nice by beating the American 6-3, 6-1. Baker was playing in Nice for the first time since reaching the final as a qualifier in 2012 (l. to Almagro). Granollers will face #NextGen player Alexander Zverev in the second round. The 30-year-old Spaniard won their previous meeting, a three-set triumph at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters last month.

Seventh seed Andreas Seppi outlasted Daniel Munoz de la Nava 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 32 minutes. Seppi erased a match point at 4-5 in the second set. In the second round, Seppi will face Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat #NextGen player Hyeon Chung 7-6(3), 6-3.

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Bellucci FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

  • Posted: May 17, 2016

Bellucci FedEx ATP Player Profile 2016

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Sharapova set for drug ban hearing

  • Posted: May 17, 2016

Maria Sharapova, the five-time tennis Grand Slam winner, will face an anti-doping panel in London on Wednesday after taking the banned drug meldonium.

The 29-year-old Russian failed a doping test at the Australian Open in January.

Meldonium, a heart disease drug, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list on 1 January.

The International Tennis Federation panel could issue a four-year-ban – but experts say a six to 12 month punishment is more likely.

That is because Wada admitted in April that there was a lack of scientific evidence about how long meldonium stayed in the system and it suggested athletes who tested positive for the substance before 1 March could avoid bans, provided they had stopped taking it before 1 January.

However, Sharapova said she had continued taking it past that date as she was unaware it had been added to the banned list as she knew it by another name – mildronate.

The former world number one also admitted she had failed to properly read advice sent out by anti-doping authorities ahead of the ban.

READ MORE: What is meldonium and what are the benefits?

After admitting she had failed the drug test, Sharapova revealed she had been taking the meldonium for 10 years on the recommendation of her doctor for medical reasons.

“It is very important for you to understand that, for 10 years, this medicine was not on Wada’s banned list and I had been legally taking that medicine for the past 10 years,” she said.

The Latvian-made drug is said to benefit athletes by increasing stamina and endurance. It was widely used by sportsmen and women in eastern Europe, in particular, ahead of its prohibition.

A recent study suggested almost 500 athletes may have been taking meldonium at the 2015 European Games in Baku.

Sharapova has been the highest-earning female athlete in the world in each of the past 11 years, according to the Forbes list.

Her case has been the most high-profile relating to meldonium since the ban was brought in – there have been almost 300 positive samples so far this year, according to Wada.

They included Belarusian tennis player Sergey Betov, who also tested positive at the Australian Open. The doubles specialist was last month cleared by the International Tennis Federation on the grounds that he had stopped taking it before 2016.

Sharapova is expected to argue that the health reasons she cited for taking the drug should qualify her for a backdated therapeutic use exemption (TUE).

We’ve launched a new BBC Sport newsletter ahead of the Euros and Olympics, bringing all the best stories, features and video right to your inbox. You can sign up here.

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Wawrinka Rolls In Home Tournament

  • Posted: May 17, 2016

Wawrinka Rolls In Home Tournament

World No. 4 looking for third title of season

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka made the home crowd happy on Tuesday at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. The World No. 4 took only 53 minutes to bypass Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 6-1 and move into the quarter-finals of his home tournament. Wawrinka, the No. 1 seed, received a first-round bye.

He improved to 6-0 against Ramos-Vinolas, No. 53 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Wawrinka has won two titles so far this season, the Aircel Chennai Open in January and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February. But the defending Roland Garros champion has failed to string three consecutive wins together since Dubai.

He’ll next face Pablo Carreno Busta, who beat Inigo Cervantes 6-2, 6-4. Wawrinka won their previous meeting, a three-set contest on clay in 2013.

Reigning Geneva champion Thomaz Bellucci looked eager to defend his title. Bellucci erased all three break points and slid past Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-1. The Brazilian will face sixth seed Federico Delbonis. The Argentine leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-2, all of which have been played on clay.

Rajeev Ram improved to 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Evgeny Donskoy. The American hit 10 aces and prevailed against the Russian qualifier 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and seven minutes. Ram broke Donskoy at 3-2 in the final set and later served for the win. The 32 year old will face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Denis Istomin ended Florian Mayer’s good luck in Geneva. Mayer, who was a lucky loser, lost to Istomin for the third time, 6-2, 6-3. Istomin erased the lone break point faced and won in 57 minutes. He’ll play No. 2 seed David Ferrer, who received a first-round bye. Ferrer leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1, including a clay-court win in 2013 at the Mutua Madrid Open.

DAY 4 PREVIEW: No. 3 seed Marin Cilic and No. 4 seed John Isner return to the ATP World Tour on Wednesday when they play in the second round of the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open. The 6-foot-6 Cilic and 6-foot-10 Isner missed ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events at Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome due to knee injuries. Isner, whose last match came on April 10, begins play against Lukas Rosol. Cilic, who has not played since March 27, opens against fellow 27-year-old Ernests Gulbis.

Also on Court Central, Ferrer makes his Geneva debut against Istomin. Ranked 12th, Ferrer is outside the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings this week for the first time since October 10, 2010. Though the 34-year-old Spaniard is 16-9 in 2016, he has yet to play in a final – his longest drought to start a season since 2006. Istomin, too, is struggling by his standards. The Uzbek is 4-12 in 2016 and has not reached a quarter-final since St. Petersburg last September.

Bellucci was also off to a slow start this season, losing seven straight matches after advancing to the Quito final. Last week in Rome, the Brazilian beat Gael Monfils and Nicolas Mahut before falling to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Though he lost the match, Bellucci became the first player since Roger Federer at Cincinnati in 2012 to sweep six games in a set from the Serb.

Bellucci meets Delbonis in the second match on Court Central. All eight players competing on Court Central have captured an ATP World Tour title, though Delbonis is the only one to do so in 2016. He won a clay-court championship at Marrakech on April 10 and is fifth among all players in clay-court wins this season.

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