Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 1 May 2016.

The Mutua Madrid Open made history on Sunday morning by setting a new Guinness World Record for the most people bouncing tennis balls on racquets at the same time for 10 seconds.

ATP Tour stars Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga took to the Manolo Santana court at Caja Mágica along with Tournament Director Santana and owner Ion Tiriac to take part in the record attempt. With help from a host of spectators, the Mutua Madrid Open beat the record of 767 people set at the China Open last year.

In total, according to the official count from the assistant judges and the official Guinness World Record judge Anna Orford, the number achieved in Madrid was 1,474, giving the Mutua Madrid Open a new record.

On International Workers’ Day, the Mutua Madrid Open ran the event in celebration of 15 years of employment at the tournament and to recognise the more than 8,000 workers who have in some way contributed to this event.

“It is important that the people know that we create a huge number of jobs every year,” said Santana. “It would have been impossible for the Mutua Madrid Open to reach 15 years without the great workers we have had and that is why this Guinness record was a great tribute to all of them.”

LONDON: The ATP today announced a partnership with the world’s leading online learning platform Coursera to provide ATP players around the world with access to over 4,000 courses. This will allow players to learn new skills during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has currently forced the suspension of play on the Tour, and even after the crisis when competitive play resumes.

Players can choose from a variety of courses across business, technology, data science, personal development, and mental well-being, learning new skills that will serve them throughout their playing and non-playing careers. Courses are taught by the world’s top university and industry educators such as Imperial College London, the University of Pennsylvania, and IBM.

Supporting the mental and physical wellness of players is a key priority for ATP. The partnership is going live at a particularly relevant moment in parallel with Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. Through course offerings such as The Science of Well-Being from Yale University, players will have access to highly relevant mental wellness content.

“Our partnership with Coursera gives players the chance to develop valuable new skills and knowledge that will be of benefit to them for the rest of their lives,” said ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. “We have a duty of care to our players and this is an excellent opportunity for them to think long-term beyond their playing careers. The online format and versatility offered by the Coursera platform is a perfect fit not only while at home, but also on the road once the Tour resumes.”

“Coursera, along with its community of partners, is proud to serve hard-working athletes who bring so much joy and inspiration to our lives,” said Kim Caldbeck, CMO of Coursera. “ATP players can now learn new skills from the best online courses in the world during this disruption and in between their commitments once the Tour resumes.”

Starting May 7, 2020, players will receive an email invitation to start learning. After setting up a profile on Coursera, they will be able to enroll in unlimited courses for free. Players will also have access to curated course collections in business, technology, and data science to help navigate Coursera’s expansive course catalog.

Former World No. 1 Patrick Rafter and WTA World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty visited frontline healthcare workers at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Queensland on Tuesday to show their appreciation and support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pair met with David Rosengren, Executive Director of the RBWH, and had a surprise hit at a pop-up court on the hospital’s helipad with clinical nurse consultants from the Infection Prevention and Monitoring Service Trish Hurst and Michelle Doidge.

“Being in that environment, it’s pretty tricky. You can’t thank these guys enough for what they’re doing,” said Rafter.

Barty, whose sister Sara is a midwife and mum Josie also works in the medical field, came up with the initiative, and she and Rafter also toured the hospital, including the Emergency and Infections Unit, where the most Queensland COVID-19 cases have been treated. The pair also joined a video conference with other members of the medical team to express their thanks.

“It was really incredible to come into one of the COVID wards and just to see how it all works and how it’s sectioned off,” said Barty.

“There were a lot of people and a lot of unsung heroes who are going unnoticed at the moment who are doing a lot of work to keep us safe, keep the community safe and to keep us tracking in the right direction.”

Rosengren said the visit from two of the country’s most popular athletes was uplifting for everyone dealing with the pandemic.

“Being the largest hospital in Queensland, we often have to bear the brunt of lots of the hard work and lots of the complexity,” said Rosengren.

“It is so good to be able to just spend five minutes and look at the bright side of life and to get some recognition. We have plenty of Pat and Ash fans here and the smile on their faces around the hospital has been exceptional.”

David Naldbandian earned a 0.35 winning percentage (11-20) against the ‘Big Three’ of Novak Djokovic (1-4), Roger Federer (8-11) and Rafael Nadal (2-5) in his career. But over the course of three magical days in 2007, the Argentine beat them consecutively.

Entering that year’s Mutua Madrid Open — which at the time was held in October — Nalbandian had only made one quarter-final all season, and that came more than five months earlier on Barcelona’s clay. The ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid was played on hard through 2008.

 

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Madrid 2007: @nalbandiand makes history on the ATP Tour ? #MMOPEN

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But Nalbandian defeated Arnaud Clement, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro to gain momentum, and what he did for the rest of the tournament remains in the history books.

Nalbandian became the first player to defeat Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the same tournament, doing so to win his first Masters 1000 title. First up was Nadal, who he had never previously faced. The Spaniard was World No. 2, and Nalbandian was unseeded, but the Argentine broke five times en route to a 6-1, 6-2 quarter-final win after only 71 minutes.

“Everything went right for me today,” Nalbandian said, according to Reuters. “I took advantage of all Rafa’s errors and he never felt comfortable, but I felt I played really well.”

Djokovic, who had recently cruised past Nalbandian in Montreal, was next. But Nalbandian was in far better form this time around.

“Sometimes you play bad and he was on a roll. He won against Rafa and a lot of good players this week, so obviously he had a lot of confidence on the court and you could see that,” Djokovic said.

Nalbandian earned his only victory of their ATP Head2Head series, saving the two break points he faced in a 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph. The 2005 Tennis Masters Cup champion earned another shot at maiden Masters 1000 glory, after falling short on three previous occasions.

“This is a very important win for me as I haven’t had a good year,” Nalbandian said. “I had some physical problems this year but I’ve been working hard, regained confidence, and today I got the reward on the court.”

It would not get any easier against Federer, who had won their previous five matches. But Nalbandian had a date with destiny, rallying past the top seed 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 for the trophy.

“I was very focussed, knowing I’d have to play incredibly to win and everything went right for me,” Nalbandian said. “It was a big boost for me to beat so many good players here this week.”

To this day, nobody else has beaten the ‘Big Three’ at the same tournament. Even then, Federer knew it was an impressive accomplishment.

“I guess when you beat Nadal and Djokovic back-to-back you come into the final feeling better than ever,” said Federer. “It was a pity I couldn’t stop him today.”

Roger Federer has announced that his foundation will donate $1m to provide meals for young children and their families in Africa while schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 103-time tour-level titlist took to Twitter to spread the message of the Roger Federer Foundation’s pledge, which will feed 64,000 vulnerable people affected by the crisis.

Now more than ever we must come together to help families in need ? https://t.co/c8fhhyRBIi

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) May 6, 2020

The Foundation is working through its normal local partner organisations in Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi to provide the extra meals for the next two months.

“The normally provided school meals are often the only nutritious meal children get,” said Janine Haendel, CEO of the Roger Federer Foundation. “With schools now closed, children no longer have access to these meals. Hunger is a problem, in particular in the countries with lockdowns where vulnerable families have no reserves.”

Founded in 2003, the Roger Federer Foundation supports educational projects located in southern Africa and Switzerland. The programmes on the African continent focus on the improvement of the quality of early learning and basic education and in Switzerland on the promotion of extra-curricular activities for children affected by poverty. All activities are realised and implemented by local non-governmental authorities in close collaboration with the local communities.

Since sharing the post on Twitter, Federer’s followers have been quick to praise the 38-year-old’s work. Ruth (@ruth_rf) said, ‘Beautiful work Roger! These strange times make us think about what really matters. Mar (@sheeriow) from Peru said, ‘Thank you for being so heartwarming and humble during this situation’ and Em (@emzitto_) from South Africa added, ‘God bless you’.

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 10 May 2017.

Diego Schwartzman had a far more eventful warm-up than he would have liked against Kei Nishikori on Wednesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, with a shot from the sixth seed hitting him directly in the groin. 

Both Schwartzman and Nishikori had a laugh at the incident and the crowd even gave Schwartzman a sympathetic round of applause as he briefly collected himself. But the most crushing blow that Nishikori delivered was a backhand winner to wrap up a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 second-round win in exactly two hours.

Nishikori next plays local favourite David Ferrer in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova, two of tennis’ biggest stars, jumped on Instagram Live Tuesday to chat about everything from tennis and their mindsets to life off the court. One of the session’s funniest moments came when Sharapova recalled her first memory of the current World No. 1.

“I remember we played this little exhibition. I was young, you were young, way before you had any Grand Slam titles. I don’t know if you’d even won a tournament at that point,” Sharapova recalled. “You said that if you’d win, I would have to pay dinner. I was like, ‘Okay, whatever, who is this kid?’ You won and you were like, ‘We have dinner tonight. We’re going to the Japanese place!’ I was like, ‘Are you serious? You and me, going to dinner, tonight?’ So we did. We ended up going to dinner and it was so funny because you pulled out I think it was an old Kodak camera and you asked the waiter to take a photo of us… and here we are.”

“Maria is saying the truth,” Djokovic said.

“I think you were fanboying,” Sharapova replied.

Djokovic added that he lost the camera — and with it, that picture — but he wasn’t done with the story.

“You have to admit to everyone here that you lost on purpose!” he said, joking.

At one point, Djokovic discussed some of his hobbies, including reading and watching videos about health and wellness, mental health, spiritual health and so on. That was when Sharapova chimed in.

“It’s really admirable to watch you gain this interest throughout the years because I will say, and you’ll probably admit to it, but at the beginning of your career you struggled so much with your body and the length of matches,” Sharapova said. “I remember watching you on the clay and all the cramping and being like, ‘Are you ever going to get your s*** together?’ To see you make a transformation, what I loved about this sport… our game and our results really did the talking for us.”

Djokovic, who is in Spain, has seen some videos of Sharapova working out at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led him to some reflection.

“When you’re an athlete and used to these things, it’s such an integral part of your day, that it’s almost impossible to think about days when you’re not doing something, even if it’s stretching, yoga, whatever it is. I’ve been trying to do that. But there have been some days where I just haven’t done much physical activity at all. And that’s fine,” Djokovic said. “At the end of the day, we have to slow down and I think this whole thing that is happening, on a brighter side, allowed us to have time to reflect on ourselves and our lives, really understand how we want to move forward because we don’t know what’s going to happen, what are the ramifications of coronavirus on the tennis world.

“What we can do is we can encourage ourselves to take matters into our own hands and really try to learn new skills and work on ourselves, on every aspect of our being, and do some things that attract us, that are our hobbies… that we never had time to do.”

Although far from classing himself a master chef, Djokovic says he enjoys preparing one meal each day.

“I must admit my wife does more cooking for me. I am more of a breakfast, brekkie as they like to say in Australia, kind of person. I like to make juices, smoothies, breakfast bowls, those types of things. Avocado and toast, stuff like this with tomatoes,” Djokovic said. “We have been spending a lot of quality time with each other.”

The governing bodies of world tennis have come together to raise in excess of US $6 million to create a Player Relief Programme aimed at supporting players who are particularly affected by the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative has seen the ATP, WTA, the four Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, The Championships, Wimbledon and the US Open – and the ITF, unite in a show of support to players who are facing unprecedented challenges due to the global impact of COVID-19. Professional tennis is currently suspended until 13 July 2020.

In addition to contributions of their own, the ATP and WTA will administer the financial distributions of the Player Relief Programme, which sees respective contributions from the four Grand Slam tournaments and ITF split equally between men and women. The Player Relief Programme will target a total of approximately 800 ATP/WTA singles and doubles players collectively, in need of financial support. Eligibility for the Player Relief Programme will take into account a player’s ranking as well as previous prize money earnings according to criteria agreed by all stakeholders.

The move by the seven stakeholders provides the financial backbone of the Programme, with opportunities for additional contributions to follow. Funds raised through initiatives such as auctions, player donations, virtual tennis games and more, will provide opportunity for further support of the Programme moving forward and are welcomed.

The creation of the Player Relief Programme is a positive demonstration of the sport’s ability to come together during this time of crisis. We will continue to collaborate and monitor the support required across tennis with the aim of ensuring the long-term health of the sport in the midst of this unprecedented challenge to our way of life, and our thoughts remain with all those affected at this time.

Your favourite players are all at home, but they’re finding plenty of ways to occupy their time. From Stan Wawrinka’s fun in the kitchen, to Kevin Anderson testing his abilities in Mario Tennis, find out how the world’s best players are keeping busy.

Wawrinka made the most of his calorie splurge by baking homemade muffins.

Can’t eat these all by myself…anyone care to join me ? ??????‍♂️ #sundayfunday #nutella #muffin #stantheman #fattystan pic.twitter.com/gKbiVAmdZG

— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) May 3, 2020

Kevin Anderson teamed up with NFL star Ryan Tannehill in the Stay at Home Slam, a celebrity Nintendo tennis event featuring pro tennis players pairing up with other professional athletes or celebrities to raise money for charity.

Warming up before the @IMGTennis #StayAtHomeSlam ? Watch live 4pm ET on @FacebookGaming as I play with @ryantannehill1 for @CTAOP https://t.co/g9SCUGyq3y pic.twitter.com/1JlxCsym9g

— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) May 3, 2020

Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae defeated Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki in the final of the event, and Fritz had the tweet of the day in jokingly acknowledging his record in real life against Nishikori.

We were lucky to get out of that one ?? Thank you Kei…… still trying to repay you for 2016 Memphis & 2020 Barcelona/Rome ?. #0-3 https://t.co/GxBWMiL61D

— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) May 3, 2020

Boris Becker raised money for charity in a different way by participating in an online poker tournament.

Charity poker tourney raising funds for Covid 19 at 8pm CET ⁦@GGPokerOfficial⁩ pic.twitter.com/4txbLP81kn

— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) May 3, 2020

Dominic Thiem took part in the Wings For Life World Run, a global charity race to raise money for research to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

Tennis titan Dominic Thiem @ThiemDomi is in the mix! ? pic.twitter.com/RtKNpd5NOE

— WFL World Run (@WFLWorldRun) May 3, 2020

John Isner joined members of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes for the Zoom chat show ‘Checking In With Tripp’.

Huge Caniac @JohnIsner swings by to catch up with the boys pic.twitter.com/7vYWxKmhAi

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 3, 2020

Richard Gasquet revealed some impressive racquet flipping skills.

Mind-blowing stuff from our 2015 champion @richardgasquet1 ?#EstorilOpen | @atptour pic.twitter.com/TiApigZ13R

— Millennium #EstorilOpen (@EstorilOpen) May 3, 2020

Diego Schwartzman showed off his dance moves on TikTok.

¿Qué tal el ‘swing’ de @dieschwartzman? ?? #tennisathome pic.twitter.com/FqPcb1sQ0p

— ATP Tour en Español (@ATPTour_ES) May 4, 2020

Fabio Fognini successfully completed his weekend workout.

Buon Primo Maggio ??#workout done ✔️#lunchtime is coming ?#laborday #stayhome pic.twitter.com/FBPiLyzb3f

— Fabio Fognini (@fabiofogna) May 1, 2020