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Peralta Reinvents His Career In Challengers

  • Posted: May 04, 2016

Peralta Reinvents His Career In Challengers

Twelve years after walking away from the sport, Peralta is producing the best results of his career

At an age when many of his peers have either retired or are winding down their tennis careers, Julio Peralta is at the peak of his.

Under the watchful eye of coach Dan Grossman, who he credits as an integral part of his newfound success, the 34-year-old from Chile has transformed himself into a doubles specialist over the past 12 months and currently sits at a career-high Emirates ATP Doubles Ranking of No. 65. In addition to winning his first ATP World Tour doubles title this February in Sao Paulo with Horacio Zeballos, he has also won three ATP Challenger Tour doubles title this year with three different partners. At last week’s $50,000 event in Tallahassee, Florida, he successfully defended his title with Dennis Novikov.

“Doubles is completely different. I know I can play good tennis, but it involves different strategy,” said Peralta during last month’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Sarasota, Florida. “I’m still learning a lot and feeling great right now.”

Not even Peralta himself could have anticipated the path his tennis career would take. He turned pro in 1999 and won his first and only ATP Challenger Tour singles title in 2003 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Just as his career was making inroads, injuries forced him off the tour at just 23 years old in 2004.

“I thought I had a decent level to do well in singles,” he admitted. “My injuries prevented me from playing three months a year for the first four years on tour. That was very tough for me, so I decided to step aside.”

Peralta went back to school and began taking civil engineering classes in Chile, but stopped to dabble in money tournaments and on the pro tour in 2007 and 2008. He then moved to the U.S. to finish his degree in business and economics at USC Upstate, while also serving as an assistant coach. After graduating, he took a job with a startup business selling organic paint for baby rooms.

Despite being years removed from being a full-time pro, Peralta never lost his game. In 2011, he decided on a whim to enter the prestigious ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Braunschweig, Germany, where he defeated David Goffin on his way to qualifying and reaching the second round.

“My fiancée said that she’s never seen me play a big event. We were in Europe and Braunschweig was only 90 minutes away,” said Peralta. “I was totally out of the circuit at the time, but could still beat some good players.”

Peralta moved away from baby rooms and back to the tennis court shortly after, coaching junior players at an academy in California for nearly two years. After signing Grossman on as his coach, he decided to give pro tennis another try as a doubles specialist in September 2014 and immediately began having success, winning four Futures doubles titles in his first three months back. In April 2015, he won his first ATP Challenger Tour doubles title in Tallahassee with Novikov and went on to win three more that year.

Perhaps most importantly, Peralta has remained injury-free apart from the minor aches and pains that simply come with the job. As he continues to achieve new milestones like his Davis Cup debut in March, and looks forward to new ones that will include playing all the remaining Grand Slams this year, he has no plans to hang up his racquets again anytime soon.

“At this point, it’s all about the level of my game more than my age,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you play if you really love the game?”

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Remembering Tim Gullikson… 20 Years On

  • Posted: May 04, 2016

Remembering Tim Gullikson… 20 Years On

Today, on the 20th anniversary of his passing, family members and leading figures in the tennis world pay tribute to Tim Gullikson

Husband. Father. Twin. Brother. Son. Mentor. Sportsman. Coach. Tim Gullikson impacted so many lives. His smile, his presence radiated and made anyone feel special. He had tremendous integrity, principles and uncommon decency.

Tim never asked, ‘Why me?’ as he underwent 42-day bouts of chemotherapy to shrink brain tumours. He maintained such a good, positive attitude. As his health worsened, he wasn’t bitter, angry or did not pity himself. He never gave up.

He loved life.

“He lived with brain cancer, he didn’t die from it,” says his identical twin, Tom Gullikson. “He was the best friend I’ll ever have, and 20 years on it’s still painful. I miss him. We were so close.”

“Timmy and Tommy were really blessed,” remembers Rosemary, Tim’s widow. “They were the best of friends, with no agenda, unconditional love. Two sides of the same coin.

“Their mother, Joyce, once told the story of how Timmy and Tommy once received the same shirts as presents. They had a rocking chair in their bedroom and Tom used to put Tim’s shirt underneath to hide it. Tom would wear his shirt, then put Tim’s shirt on once it got dirty. After a few washes, there was a noticeable difference in quality. When Tim found out, he wasn’t concerned.”

It was perhaps inevitable the twins became sportsmen. Eight tennis courts and a practice wall lay across the road from their house in La Crosse, Wisconsin. “Perhaps relieved to get rid of twins with a lot of energy, our mother signed us up at age five to the local summer tennis programme, behind the 25-foot high fencing,” recalls Tom, five minutes older than Tim. “We’d play basketball in the winter, also baseball and football, but from the age of five to eight we played tennis all day in the summer and became very good.” Adds Rosemary, “They hated to lose to one another.” In their pro careers, they finished 2-2. Even. No scope for teasing.

Tim and Tom didn’t receive any formal lessons growing up, they didn’t enter any national championship. But they later received full scholarships to Northern Illinois University, where they played Division I tennis. In late 1973 as Rosemary, one year younger, continued her studies, Tim moved to Dayton to take up a teaching pro’s role at the Kettering Tennis Center. “It was the first time we were separated,” admits Tom. “After graduating in December 1973, I stuck around for a year coaching the college team at Northern Illinois, prior to going to Chicago and a tennis club near Crystal Lake.

“Tim was winning all the local tournaments for teaching pros and came across Hank Jungle, who dominated the 35 & over division. He told Tim, ‘You’re too good to be a teaching pro, without trying to make it on the main tour.’ Hank organised sponsors and got him out on tour. After quitting his job in 1975, Tim went from teaching to the Top 100 in 12 months.

“At that time, I was teaching at a Club and my wife and I were saving money for a house. When I saw what Tim had done, I thought I had a shot too, so I used the deposit money and sponsored myself to play on tour. I quit my job in May 1976 and by May 1977 I was in the Top 50. I think Tim and I are the only players, who have been teaching pros, to break into the Top 100.”

Rosemary, who’d met Tim over lunch with friends in the student union at Northern Illinois, recalls, “Tim and Tom drove to most places in the States. I gave up as a registered nurse once we married and picked up work in press rooms as part of the Colgate and Volvo Grand Prix circuits. I wrote a column for Tennis Magazine and worked for Thomas Cook, organising travel for various players.”

Together, ‘TimTom’ or ‘Gully’, if you were unsure of who you were speaking to, captured a then brothers’ record of 10 tour-level titles, came through a ‘divorce’ in 1981 and later reached the 1983 Wimbledon final, where they lost to Peter Fleming and John McEnroe. “The twin thing is very real,” says Tom. “You have an extra sense, an intuition; when we were on court together we knew what shot the other would play.”

Individually, 26-year-old Tim was named ATP Newcomer of the Year in 1977 and two years later, with his wonderful serve and volley game, he beat McEnroe en route to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. He attained a career-high No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 1 October 1979, and won a total of four singles and 16 doubles titles prior to retiring after the 1986 US Open.

Tom remembers, “He liked to have consistency in his lifestyle. At times he was a little extreme, but he felt it was right for him. He wanted to be a better player and searched for his tennis game.” Says Rosemary, “When he was playing he wanted to learn about the game as much as he could. He has so much competitive spirit. He was very disciplined and achieved a level of focus, an insatiable quest to be a great player, to play a great game and ultimately coach.”

Coaching was a natural progression. Tim was a natural, inquisitive and caring, professional and prepared. “Tim had great coaching instincts, built on relationships, trust and mutual respect,” recalls Tom, who carved out his own highly successful coaching career. “It’s about caring for the player. Often you get a player’s respect by not just telling them how much you know, but how much you care. Tim had the most amazing personality and charm. If you spoke to him for 30 minutes, you’d think he was your best friend. He was so outgoing.”

“Tim always wanted to be a coach, teaching was in his blood,” says Rosemary. “I remember so many dinners when he’d end up demonstrating to someone with a spoon how to hit a forehand.”

“We both did a lot of corporate events and I remember an outing in Indian Wells,” says Tim. “We had been scheduled to finish at 11:30 a.m., and I had left the court. But where was Tim? He was on court with one from the group, helping him strike a forehand. His proudest moment was being a Dad to Erik, who took foreign studies at Northwestern, and now lives in Cork, Ireland, and Megan, who is married. But his proudest tennis moment was probably having the ability to make a player out of anyone.”

Tim was always in demand. “He studied psychology, picked the minds of Jim Loehr, Robert Lansdorp and others to get better, to learn,” says Rosemary. “There was never a lull.” Barbara Potter, his first pro pupil, once stated, “The only thing that is arrogant about Tim is that he feels he can make anyone better.”

Martina Navratilova looked to Tim in 1987, at a time when she was aiming to usurp a German teenager, Steffi Graf, at No. 1 in the WTA Rankings. “I worked with Tim for a year as I was without a coach after my work with Dr Renee Richards and Mike Estep. I think Tim was too nice – too nice a guy to play tennis. He was such a gentleman. I kept having to ask him to work me harder – like I said – too nice. But what I learned from Tim was that I didn’t have to be perfect all the time and to be nice to myself!”

Tim went on to work with Mary Joe Fernandez and for four years with Aaron Krickstein. “Tim helped me with my net game and serve,” remembers Krickstein. “He forced me to be more aggressive, giving me the outlook that I could challenge for a Grand Slam title one day. He pushed me, but he wasn’t a task master. I knew his personality and we liked to hang out together on the practice court, at meals. Tim was an all-round good guy and character. He was a great coach and friend, and had a positive attitude.”

Then came Pete.

Read: Remembering Tim… 20 Years On (Part II)

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Murray advances at Madrid Open

  • Posted: May 03, 2016

Britain’s Andy Murray started the defence of his Madrid Open title with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-1 win over world number 148 Radek Stepanek.

It took Murray two hours and 16 minutes to see off the 37-year-old Czech.

“Not a lot of the match was played on my terms. It was very tough,” said the Scot, 28, who will now face 16th seed Gilles Simon or Pablo Carreno Busta in the third round on Thursday.

Earlier Spain’s Rafael Nadal beat Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3 6-3.

Nadal was beaten by world number two Murray in last year’s final but the pair are on course to meet in the semi-finals this time.

World number one Novak Djokovic plays Croatia’s Borna Coric on Wednesday.

Never want to miss the latest tennis news? You can now add this sport and all the other sports and teams you follow to your personalised My Sport home.

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How Del Potro Beat Thiem In Madrid 2016

  • Posted: May 03, 2016

How Del Potro Beat Thiem In Madrid 2016

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ATP World Tour Uncovered Estoril 2016 Scene Set

  • Posted: May 03, 2016

ATP World Tour Uncovered Estoril 2016 Scene Set

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Murray heads strongest Queen's line-up

  • Posted: May 03, 2016
Aegon Championships
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 13-19 June
Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, online, tablets, mobiles and BBC Sport app

The Aegon Championships will this year have its strongest ever field, with 16 of the world’s top 30 players set to compete at Queen’s Club in June.

Britain’s world number two and defending champion Andy Murray will be joined by four other top 10 players in Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic.

Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro, Richard Gasquet, John Isner and Nick Kyrgios will also be competing.

The tournament runs from 13-19 June.

Scotsman Murray, 28, will be aiming to become the first player to win five titles at the pre-Wimbledon event.

Wimbledon begins on 27 June this year, running until 10 July.

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Bautista Has Final Word In Madrid 2016 Hot Shot

  • Posted: May 03, 2016

Bautista Has Final Word In Madrid 2016 Hot Shot

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Former Champs Nadal, Murray Open Madrid Campaigns

  • Posted: May 03, 2016

Former Champs Nadal, Murray Open Madrid Campaigns

ATPWorldTour.com previews Tuesday’s action at the Mutua Madrid Open

The second round commences and first round concludes at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday as four-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Andy Murray begin their campaigns. Nadal enters on a 10-match and 11-set winning streak with clay-court titles at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. The Spaniard has victories over No. 2 Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Kei Nishikori during his unbeaten run. He opens against in-form Andrey Kuznetsov, who has won a career-best 16 matches already this season and is a career-high No. 39 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Murray has the distinction of winning the last Madrid title on a hard court in 2008 and on a clay court in 2015, when he dropped only five games against Nadal in the final. Should the Brit defend his title this week, he will capture his first ATP World Tour crown of the season. Murray meets 37-year-old qualifier Radek Stepanek at 8 pm on Manolo Santana. Stepanek has lost 17 of his past 18 matches against Top 10 opponents, upsetting then-No. 5 Murray to reach the 2014 London/Queen’s Club quarter-finals.

Also on the schedule are five players who competed in finals on Sunday: Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber and runner-up Dominic Thiem, Estoril champion Nicolas Almagro and runner-up Pablo Carreño Busta, and Istanbul runner-up Grigor Dimitrov. Thiem seeks an ATP-best 30th win of the season against former World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro, who is playing in Madrid for the first time since reaching the 2012 semi-finals. In other matches, new World No. 10 Milos Raonic faces Alexandr Dolgopolov and No. 13 seed Gael Monfils meets Kevin Anderson, who is returning from knee, shoulder and ankle injuries.

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