Tennis News

From around the world

Latest Study Shows Roger Federer Most Marketable Athlete in the World

Latest Study Shows Roger Federer Most Marketable Athlete in the World

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2015

Roger Federer

In a new study conducted by the London School of Marketing, it has been determined that 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer is the “most marketable sports star in the world.”

The study is remarkable considering Federer ranks six spots ahead of the player who defeated him at the Wimbledon Championships final this season, Novak Djokovic. He remains, according to the study, one of the most “influential” figures in all sports.

According to the SportsBusinessDaily.com:

Despite his loss in the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, Federer “is considered one of the most influential persons in the world.” London School of Marketing faculty member Jacques de Cock said, “He may not have won Wimbledon this year, but it’s Federer’s personal characteristics which sponsors find so attractive.”

There were several other tennis players sprinkled throughout the Top 20 list. Djokovic took the 7th spot, while Nadal was placed in the 8th slot. Maria Sharapova was the highest ranked female athlete at No. 12.

Serena Williams, the player who is one major title away from winning the Calendar Grand Slam, sat at No. 20.

The entire list is available below:

1. Roger Federer — Tennis
2. Tiger Woods — Golf
3. Phil Mickelson — Golf
4. LeBron James — Basketball
5. Kevin Durant — Basketball
6. Rory McIlroy — Golf
7. Novak Djokovic — Tennis
8. Rafael Nadal — Tennis
9. Mahendra Singh Dhoni — Cricket
10. Cristiano Ronaldo — Football
11. Kobe Bryant — Basketball
12. Maria Sharapova — Tennis
13. Lionel Messi — Football
14. Usain Bolt — Track
15. Neymar — Football
16. Andy Murray — Tennis
17. Kei Nishikori — Tennis
18. Derrick Rose — Basketball
19. Floyd Mayweather — Boxing
20. Serena Williams — Tennis

Source link

John McEnroe suggests competitive tennis career nearing end

John McEnroe suggests competitive tennis career nearing end

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2015

McEnroe

Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe revealed that it is almost time to call it quits on his tennis career.

McEnroe, 56, is scheduled to face Jim Courier in an exhibition match on August 28th in New Haven, as part of a legends tournament to boost attendance at the Connecticut Open. Ahead of the match, the Hall of Famer told reporters on a conference call that he is unlikely to play there professionally again.

McEnroe’s main reason for this was that he is getting older and the newly retired players are far younger, which makes it difficult for him to be competitive.

“There’s a point where those people in the next wave of seniors … that gap is too much,” he said. “It’s almost too much, it’s tough enough when I’m playing a guy like Jim Courier.

“It’s getting to be where every match that I play now I try to appreciate, because I don’t know how much longer I can stay out there,”

While he has not officially set a retirement date, it is clear that McEnroe is contemplating the option seriously.

“Ultimately you want to sort of show people that you can still play to some degree,” McEnroe said during a conference call on Tuesday with state media. “It’s an exhibition, so you want to also have some fun. But I think ultimately people want to see players compete. It’s not like the Globetrotters. I would like to be able to feel like I’m going all out. I mean, I need to go all out to even stay close to guys like (Jim) Courier.”

Source link

Davis Cup World Group Playoffs Announced for September

Davis Cup World Group Playoffs Announced for September

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2015

Davis-Cup

Just a few days following the entertaining Davis Cup quarter-final round for the World Group, the Draw for the 2015 Davis Cup  World Group play-offs was held at the ITF headquarters in London.

The winning nations in the World Group play-offs will qualify for the 2016 World Group, while the losing nations will compete in their respective Zone Group I events in 2016. In the World Group semifinals, Great Britain will be at home to Australia, and Belgium will be at home to Argentina.

2015 World Group play-offs (18-20 September)

India (c) v Czech Republic (s)
Switzerland (s) (c) v Netherlands
Russia (c) v Italy (s)
Uzbekistan (c) (*) v USA (s)
Colombia (c) v Japan (s)
Dominican Republic (c) (*) v Germany (s)
Brazil (c) v Croatia (s)
Poland (c) v Slovakia (s)

The World Group play-offs will take place on 18-20 September alongside the World Group semifinals.

Source link

Laura Robson Uses Protected Ranking to Gain US Open Main Draw Entry

Laura Robson Uses Protected Ranking to Gain US Open Main Draw Entry

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2015

Laura Robson

The BBC announced that former British No. 1 Laura Robson has been entered into the main draw of August’s United States Open.

The Brit used her protected ranking, which allowed her to enter up to eight tournaments based off the ranking she had before a long-term spell on the sidelines with an injury.

Robson was forced onto the sidelines in January with a left wrist injury and watched her hard work and ranking deteriorate whilst other competitors rose to prominence over the year. Having not played tennis since her first round loss to Kirsten Flipkens in the opening round of the Australian Open, Robson returned to court last week at the Eastbourne qualifying tournament, where she lost to one of the tour’s rising competitors Daria Gavrilova. She then arrived at SW19, where she lost in the opening round of the tournament against Evgeniya Rodina.

Determined to get back on track, Robson took part in the ITF tournament in Canada this week, where she won her first match in nearly two years. The 21-year-old defeated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 at the Granby National Bank Challenger. It was her first win since September 2013.

Robson reached a career-high of No. 27 on the tour and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon Championships, as well as the third rounds of the Australian Open the French Open and the U.S. Open. However, since her absence from the tour, she has dropped from No. 27 to No. 913.

The US Open is scheduled to begin Monday, August 31st.

Source link

Rafael Nadal to Play Hamburg Ahead of US Open Series

Rafael Nadal to Play Hamburg Ahead of US Open Series

  • Posted: Jul 24, 2015

Rafael Nadal Monte Carlo Masters

Although Rafael Nadal was not originally scheduled to take part in an event between Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup in Montreal, it appears the Spaniard has opted to take part in one more clay court tournament to help bolster his ranking prior to the final Grand Slam of the season.

The tournament that Nadal opted to take part in is the Bet-at-home Open in Hamburg, Germany, which begins on Monday, July 27th. The news was officially announced by tournament director Michael Stich and was followed up by an official tweet.

It is Nadal’s first time in seven year playing that particular event. That time was in 2008, when the Hamburg tournament still fell under the Masters Series. He defeated Federer in the final to claim the title.

The world No. 10 will be joined by his compatriot David Ferrer, who is recovering from an elbow injury that sidelined him during Wimbledon, as well as Borna Coric, Fabio Fognini, Juan Monaco, Tommy Robredo and Gilles Simon.

After losing just his second match ever at the French Open this year to be denied a 10th title at Roland Garros, Nadal began his grass court season by claiming the Stuttgart title following a straight sets victory against Victor Troicki. He won the match 7-6(3), 6-3 to earn his first title on grass since the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. However, he followed that up with a opening round loss to Alexandr Dolgopolov at the Aegon Championships and then suffered a second round loss to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon.

The bet-at-home Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, 27th of July in Hamburg.

Source link

Ram Topples Karlovic to Claim Second Newport Title

Ram Topples Karlovic to Claim Second Newport Title

  • Posted: Jul 22, 2015

Ram

The International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships saw the crowning of Rajeev Ram for the second time in his professional career, as he toppled towering Croat Ivo Karlovic on Sunday evening.

It was an incredible conclusion to a startlingly solid week for Ram, who started his week with an opening round win against top seed John Isner and a quarter-final win against fifth seed Adrian Mannarino in the final eight.

“To say that I felt like I’d be the winner at the end of the week… I had no idea,” said Ram, who will move into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. “The first win was more elation, this one is more satisfaction just because I did it again.”

Karlovic finished runner-up at Newport for the second consecutive year, as he lost to Lleyton Hewitt at last year’s tournament final. He was bidding to win his seventh title on the ATP World Tour.

“It was a difficult match,” said Karlovic. “In the end, he was a little bit better. Like last year, it was a really tight match. I could have won both years. There’s always next year.”

Ram earned $84,250 and 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points for his efforts.

Click here for free tennis live streaming of ATP & WTA matches.

Source link

Johanna Larsson Wins First Career Title on Home Soil in Bastad

Johanna Larsson Wins First Career Title on Home Soil in Bastad

  • Posted: Jul 22, 2015

Larsson

In a storybook ending to an impressive week on the WTA tour, Swedish No. 1 Johanna Larsson claimed her first title on the professional tour and got the privilege of doing so in front of a boisterous hometown crowd in Bastad.

Larsson defeated Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-6(2) to win the Collector Swedish Open. She had to rally back from an early break down in the first set and later faced two more such incidents before edging past her durable opponent in straight sets.

“I’m extremely happy,” Larsson said. “I think I played really well today and I tried to concentrate on taking it point by point. Mona is playing very aggressive tennis so I think my spin really paid off.

“Coming into this tournament I had not won many matches,” the Swedish No.1 added. “But I tried to just play my game and stick with my topspin, which is my strength out there. In the end of the match I don’t know how it happened, but I won the last point, and of course that’s the most important point!

“I’m just really living in the moment right now and I’m happy with this victory today. Hopefully this can pay off later in the season, but right now I am just going to enjoy my first career WTA title.”

Not only was it Larsson’s first win in four attempts against Barthel, but it was also her first title in four final attempts over the past five years. Following a grueling wait, she became the first player this year to win both the singles and doubles titles at the same event.

Click here for free tennis live streaming of ATP & WTA matches.

Source link

Serena Williams maddness in September on its way

Serena Williams maddness in September on its way

  • Posted: Jul 20, 2015

Serena Williams won Wimbledon 2015 to complete a 2nd Serena Slam (Non-Calendar Slam)

Serena Williams is three-fourths of the way to one of the greatest accomplishments in tennis history. The 33-year-old won the Wimbledon 2015 title with a 6-4, 6-4 score over the inspired 21-year-old Garbine Muguruza. This was her sixth Wimbledon title, her 21st Slam overall.

This earned the American her second Serena Slam, as the defending champion of all four major titles, and it also marked the first time in her legendary career that she won the first three majors of the year. In less than two months in New York, Serena will be aiming to be the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win the Calendar Slam. Also up for grabs at the U.S. Open? Serena’s 22nd Grand Slam title, which would tie her with Graf for first on the list of career Slams in the Open Era.

Over the next two months, this is the most important sports story to watch. The Serena vs. Steffi debate for the moniker of “greatest of all time” has been raging for years, long before Serena was in reach of the German’s trophy haul. But now, with Serena so close to achieving these two huge milestones on the precipice of her 34th birthday, and with two Serena Slams on her resume more than 12 years apart, the debate is close to being over.

If Serena can come away with the victory in New York, she will be the undisputed GOAT.  Some experts believed the dispute was already over before this fortnight began. Chris Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam champion herself, told Time last month that Serena’s 20-4 record (now 21-4) in major finals and her dominance over the other top women of her generation give her an edge over Graf:

After watching her matches and watching her closely, these players get close, they’re doing really well, and then she’ll get to another level where she slaps winners and she starts acing people. It’s not one level. All of a sudden, she’s up two or three levels better than the field. It’s not about the other women. It’s about how good Serena is.

Pam Shriver, Evert’s ESPN colleague and a former WTA player herself, agrees with that sentiment. “I include her doubles record, her Olympic record, even throw in the mixed doubles, her longevity, her weeks at No. 1, the oldest player to ever be No. 1,” Shriver told Susie Arth of espnW after the French Open. “When you throw all that together, she’s better than Graf and better than Margaret Court.”

With a victory at Flushing Meadows in Sep, Serena will tie Steffi Graf at 22 majors (the Open-Era Record). She will also complete the 1st Calendar Slam since Steffi’s Calendar Golden Slam in 1988.

Of course, it’s worth noting that there are plenty of categories where Serena still trails Graf. She only has 247 weeks at No. 1, compared to Graf’s 377, and she has only finished as the year-end No. 1 four times, compared to Graf’s eight. However, Serena is still No. 1 and counting, so she’s sure to narrow that gap a considerable amount before all is said and done.

Serena also significantly trails Steffi in stats such as number of overall matches won (Graf 900; Serena 723) and singles titles (Graf 107; Serena 68). But the game is so much more physical these days and the fields are so much deeper that we’re likely never to see individual numbers like Graf’s again. (For some perspective, Martina Navratilova won 1,442 matches and 167 singles finals.)

The most important numbers in tennis are Slams, and that is where Serena is making the biggest impact in 2015 thanks to her longevity. She won the Australian Open despite not playing her best tennis and despite an onslaught from Maria Sharapova in the final. She won the French Open despite having the flu and being down a set and a break on multiple occasions.  This week at Wimbledon, after surviving a scare from Brit Heather Watson in the third round, Serena was faced with some of the greatest players of her generation back to back to back: Venus Williams in the fourth round, Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals and Sharapova in the semis. In those three matches combined, she hit 40 aces and only five double-faults, and she hit 111 winners with only 40 unforced errors. She wasn’t quite as sharp in the final, but despite her obvious nerves and the power and competitiveness of her Spanish opponent, Serena came through to win her first Wimbledon title since 2012.

Serena defeated Spain’s Garbine Muguruza to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish for the 1st time since 2012 (her 6th Wimbledon title overall).

Now she gets to turn her focus to her next task, making the ultimate history at her hometown Slam. A Calendar Slam and No. 22 will make all of those other comparisons insignificant. So the question remains: Can she do it? Talent-wise, absolutely. She is playing the best tennis of her career. And while the pressure could potentially overwhelm her, Serena seems to have the perfect team around her to keep her calm and focused. “I’m having so much fun out here, I never dreamt I’d be out here still, let alone winning still,” she said during the trophy presentation at Wimbledon after her victory. “Every day is a pleasure.”

Serena’s greatness has long been an indisputable fact, but finally, with her late-career surge, she’s racking up the numbers that her talent and work ethic deserve. Her doubt-defying resume is almost complete.

So keep your calendar open this summer, particularly for the weeks surrounding Labour Day. We’re about to witness something special.

Source link

Davis Cup results: Great Britain into Semi-finals for first time since 1981

Davis Cup results: Great Britain into Semi-finals for first time since 1981

  • Posted: Jul 20, 2015

Davis-Cup51

Following the magical Wimbledon Championships, players dispersed around the world to take part in their nation’s team for the World Cup of tennis, the Davis Cup tournament. The quarter-finals brought with them some interesting results, as Australia is through to the semi-finals, as is Belgium and Great Britain – teams that do not usually make it this far into the draw.

Check out the complete results below:

World Group Results:

GREAT BRITAIN def. FRANCE 3-1
Venue: The Queen’s Club, London, GBR (grass – outdoor)

Gilles Simon (FRA) d. James Ward (GBR) 64 64 61
Andy Murray (GBR) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 75 76(10) 62
Andy Murray/Jamie Murray (GBR) d. Nicolas Mahut/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 46 63 76(5) 61
Andy Murray (GBR) def. Gilles Simon (FRA) 46 76(5) 63 60

BELGIUM defeated CANADA 5-0
Venue: Sportpark Krokodiel, Middelkerke (Ostend), BEL (clay – outdoor)

Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Frank Dancevic (CAN) 36 61 75 63
David Goffin (BEL) d. Filip Peliwo (CAN) 64 64 62
Ruben Bemelmans/Kimmer Coppejans (BEL) d. Daniel Nestor/Adil Shamasdin (CAN) 75 36 64 63

AUSTRALIA def. KAZAKHSTAN  3-2
Venue: Marrara Sporting Complex, Darwin, AUS (grass – outdoor)

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) d. Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 64 63 63
Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) d. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 76(5) 67(2) 76(5) 64
Samuel Groth/Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) d. Andrey Golubev/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) 64 76(4) 62
Sam Groth (AUS) v Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(6)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) v Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) 7-6(2) 6-2 6-3

ARGENTINA defeated SERBIA 3-1
Venue: Tecnopolis, Buenos Aires, ARG (clay – indoor)

Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d. Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 64 62 61
Federico Delbonis (ARG) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 26 26 64 64 62
Carlos Berlocq/Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d. Viktor Troicki/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 62 64 61

 

Source link

Ivo Karlovic vs Jack Sock Preview – ATP Newport 2015 SF

Ivo Karlovic vs Jack Sock Preview – ATP Newport 2015 SF

  • Posted: Jul 18, 2015

KARLOVIC

An interesting semi-final contest takes place on Saturday afternoon at the international Tennis Hall of Fame Championships, as towering Croat Ivo Karlovic clashes with young American Jack Sock for the fourth time on the professional tour. Karlovic leads the head-to-head series 2-1, yet Sock won their most recent meeting on clay in Houston last season. This will mark their first meeting on a grass cour

Up first in Newport, the tournament’s second seeded Ivo Karlovic defeated Dustin Brown in straight sets to advance to the semi-final stage of the tournament. He fired 23 aces en route to the 7-6(3), 6-3 win.

“When a guy hits 23 aces and doesn’t let you see any second serves, it’s going to be impossible to break him,” said Brown. “Then he had four aces, one return winner and one service winner in the tie-break. So there really wasn’t much I could do. Even in the second set. I double-faulted after he hit three return winners to get broken. In any other service game I could double-fault and nothing would have happened. You expect this going into the match, but it’s still very tough to lose a match like this.”

In a much shorter outing later on in the day, Jack Sock reached the semi-final round when his opponent Jan Hernych retired with a knee injury during the second game of the match.

This marks the fourth time that Karlovic and Sock will meet on the professional tour, with Karlovic leading the series 2-1. The Croat won the first encounter 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-2 last year in Indian Wells and followed up with a 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3 victory last season in the Memphis quarter-final round. However, Sock found his way into the series when he beat the towering foe in straight sets on the clay courts in Houston. It will be interesting to see who holds the advantage on grass, as both men have played impressive tennis thus far.

Source link