Frenchman launches ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
Gael Monfils launched the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in style on Monday as he played his part in a daring stunt in the city of Rotterdam.
The Frenchman, who is seeded fifth at the ATP World Tour 500 indoor hard-court tournament, took to the roof of a hotel to fire balls across the street to suspended stunt “ball kids”, who were dangling in front of a vertical tennis court.
“It was different, it was fun,” said Monfils. “It was cool that we tried something new. But they didn’t catch the ball, so I’m pretty disappointed! With the wind, it was tough for me to be precise, but I think it’s tough for them to catch it. But it was cool. It was a good try.”
Monfils was joined in the stunt by Tournament Director Richard Krajicek, who did manage to hit one of the balls into the outstretched hand of the ball kid. “I’m happy I’m on this side of the street, because there was talk that I would be there trying to catch the ball! It was great and a good way to start the tournament.”
Monfils opens his campaign on Tuesday evening against qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
Gael Monfils and Tommy Robredo feature in the evening session
Gilles Muller will take on second seed and 2014 runner-up Marin Cilic in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament second round after beating Andreas Seppi for the first time in their fourth tour-level meeting. Muller, who has already reached two ATP World Tour semi-finals this year, hit 19 aces to beat Seppi 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes on Tuesday. Last week, Muller lost to eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut in the Sofia semi-finals.
Another player who performed well in the Bulgarian capital, Philipp Kohlschreiber, improved to 6-0 lifetime against Julien Benneteau with a 6-4, 6-4 win in 90 minutes. Benneteau, the 2013 finalist, struck 14 aces. Kohlschreiber goes onto face qualifier Ivan Dodig in the second round.
Elsewhere, 19-year-old Hyeon Chung battled past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. He’ll next face Sofia finalist and eighth seed Viktor Troicki or qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov.
Top seed Richard Gasquet withdrew from the ATP World Tour 500 tournament due to viral illness (flu) and was replaced in the main draw by lucky loser Evgeny Donskoy.
Two umpires have been banned by the International Tennis Federation and four more are being investigated over allegations of fixing.
The ITF has revealed it barred Kazakhstani Kirill Parfenov for life in February 2015 and suspended Croatia’s Denis Pitner for a year last August.
Four others are being investigated for allegedly taking bribes to manipulate scores on the Futures Tour.
This follows BBC and BuzzFeed claims of match-fixing at tennis’ top level.
That joint investigation uncovered files showing that, over the past 10 years, 16 high-ranking players have been repeatedly flagged to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) over suspicions they have thrown matches.
It led to the announcement of an independent review into tennis’ anti-corruption practices.
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In a joint statement, the TIU and ITF said: “Kirill Parfenov of Kazakhstan was decertified for life in February 2015 for contacting another official on Facebook in an attempt to manipulate the scoring of matches.
“Separately, Denis Pitner of Croatia had his certification suspended on 1 August 2015 for 12 months for sending information on the physical well-being of a player to a coach during a tournament and regularly logging on to a betting account from which bets were placed on tennis matches.”
The Guardian newspaper, whose investigation brought the latest suspensions to light, says the umpires involved on the Futures Tour, the lowest rung of professional tennis, are, in effect, accused of an act known as ‘courtsiding’.
It is a practice whereby gamblers attend sporting events live and bet on scores before bookmakers have up-to-date information.
Umpires at smaller tournaments update the scoreboard themselves after each point, and this information is transmitted to live-score sites and bookmakers.
The umpires being investigated are alleged to have deliberately delayed updating the scores for up to 60 seconds – allowing gamblers to place bets on events they knew the outcome of.
All four have been suspended until investigations are complete.
The Guardian also says some umpires are alleged to have sent text messages to gamblers before updating the score on their tablet computer.
World number five Rafael Nadal will compete at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s club this summer.
The Spanish 14-time Grand Slam champion has played in the Wimbledon warm-up event on six previous occasions, winning the title in 2008.
The 29-year-old said the grass court tournament offered “perfect conditions” in preparation for Wimbledon, which will start a week later on 27 June.
Last month Andy Murray confirmed he will defend his Queen’s title in June.
The 28-year-old, whose wife Kim has given birth to a girl this week, will attempt to win a record fifth title.
The Aegon Championships will be held between 13-18 June in London.
Buenos Aires centre court renamed in honour of Vilas
A host of past and present Argentine tennis greats gathered at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club on Monday to unveil the newly named Court Central Guillermo Vilas.
Argentina’s most decorated player, Vilas reached a career-high No.2 in the world in 1975 and won 62 ATP World Tour titles, including the Tour Finals in 1974. Vilas won four majors – the Australian Open in 1978 and 1979, as well as the French and US Opens in 1977.
“I have spent many years of my life in this club and I have played a lot of matches on this court. I would like to thank a lot of people who were very important to me throughout my career. Firstly, the person who made me into a tennis player – my first coach, Felipe Locicero,” Vilas said. “I would also like to thank my physio Carlos Belfonte, whose training allowed me to win at the Grand Slam level. I feel very happy and it is an honour to have this court named after me, and I’m very grateful”.
He was joined on court on Monday by current ATP World Tour player Juan Monaco and former greats, including Alberto Mancini, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio, Jose Luis Clerc and Martin Jaite as well as former WTA Tour players Paola Suarez, Gabriela Sabatini and Norma Baylon.
Tennis star Andy Murray’s wife Kim Sears has given birth to a girl, the BBC understands.
Nadal trains with Ferrer in Buenos Aires ahead of second round match
Top seed Rafael Nadal has had his first hit out ahead of his Argentina Open title defence, practising with compatriot David Ferrer in Buenos Aires on Monday.
It was the first look at Nadal in action since his first-round exit to another of his countrymen, Fernando Verdasco, at this year’s Australian Open. The Spaniard downed his good friend Juan Monaco to claim last year’s title in the Argentine capital and the pair could be set for a rematch in the second round provided Tandil native Monaco wins his first match.
“I didn’t like at all the defeat in Australia, but that I cannot solve,” Nadal said. “It was a bad tournament. [It] just did not work out despite having prepared very well. So I’m in Buenos Aires to give my best and try to make a better presentation.
“Every season is different, but with the same purpose to fight in every tournament and finish as high as possible in the ranking. I’m happy to return to Argentina, because every time I left this country I did it with a lot of positive energy. They treat me very well here, like few places in the world.”
World No. 5 Nadal has a first-round bye, while Monaco can set up an eighth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with his occasional doubles partner should he get past Italian qualifier, Marco Cecchinato. The pair won the 2015 Doha doubles title together, and finished runners-up at Vina Del Mar in 2013.
“Monaco was injured a long time, so we have to wait if he can eliminate Cecchinato,” Nadal said. “I hope that Juan can win because he is my friend and a victory would benefit him after many days without playing. Anyway, it will be a difficult match for me.”
Future of American tennis on show in Memphis
A tournament record five American teenagers are competing in this year’s Memphis Open presented by ServiceMaster. Overall there are 13 Americans in the 28-player draw, the most in Memphis since 2010 when there were 14.
Taylor Fritz (18), Tommy Paul (18), Frances Tiafoe (18), Michael Mmoh (18) and Jared Donaldson (19) posed together in front of the Racquet Club’s Memphis Open 40th anniversary tournament sign. Mmoh and Donaldson qualified on Sunday into the main draw. The other three players are wild cards.
The five American teenagers in the draw surpassed the previous tournament record of four in 1989. That foursome featured future Grand Slam tournament champions Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras.
The last time an ATP World Tour tournament featured at least five American teenagers in the main draw was in Stratton Mountain in August 1989 when there were six teenagers: Agassi, Steve Bryan, Chang, Courier, Jared Palmer and Sampras.