Dimitrov, The Morning After 'I Never Lost The Faith'
Dimitrov, The Morning After 'I Never Lost The Faith'
Nov222017
Michael Joyce, who was a major part of Maria Sharapova’s team for six years, has emerged as a strong contender to coach Johanna Konta.
BBC Sport understands that Britain’s world number nine was seen in discussion with Joyce at The All England Club in Wimbledon.
A deal with the American, who has been working with Victoria Azarenka this year, appears to be close.
Azarenka’s return to tennis has stalled because of a custody dispute.
The two time Australian Open champion only played two events in 2017 – in Mallorca and at Wimbledon – and says she is currently unwilling to leave California, where a judge has ruled her 11-month old son Leo must stay until his future is decided. She has, though, received a wildcard to play at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January.
Konta reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon and won the prestigious Miami Open while working with Belgian coach Wim Fissette this year. But their partnership ended soon after Konta narrowly failed to secure a place in the WTA Finals in Singapore following a run of five defeats.
After a holiday and a chance to rest a lingering foot problem, Konta only returned to light training last week in the grounds of the All England Club, where she is a member.
Joyce reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the top 100 as a player, but is best known for his role in Sharapova’s coaching team for six seasons from 2005. In that time Sharapova won the US Open and the Australian Open and became world number one.
They split in January 2011 when Thomas Hogstedt joined the team, In her recent biography ‘Unstoppable’ Sharapova wrote: “He was a great coach and an even better friend. We’d been together through everything, all the good and all the bad, but I think we became almost too close. Over time, he felt less like a coach than a brother.
“With great sadness, we sent Michael away. It was one of the toughest choices I’ve ever had to make.”
Joyce spent the next five years coaching the American Jessie Pegula before linking up with Azarenka earlier this year.
Konta is yet to announce her next move, but said last month she would like to appoint a new coach “as soon as possible” but added “the focus will be on making the right decision rather than a quick decision”.
The Australian Open will use a 25-second shot clock and players may be fined for retiring or performing “below professional standards” in the first round of Grand Slams from next season.
The shot clock, trialled at US Open qualifying and the Next Gen ATP Finals, is used in between points to ensure players serve within 25 seconds.
It is one of a number of changes decided by the Grand Slam Board (GSB).
The GSB is also intending to reduce Grand Slam seeds from 32 to 16 in 2019.
Other rule changes:
World number one Rafael Nadal has criticised the introduction of a shot clock and said it would ruin the sport as entertainment.
“If you don’t want a great show, of course it’s a great improvement,” he said in August.
The men’s tour, the ATP, introduced a rule at the start of 2017 that means a player can retire before a first-round match and retain their prize money.
At Wimbledon, there were total of eight retirements – seven in the men’s draw and one in the women’s – over the first two days of the Championships.
Australia’s Bernard Tomic was fined by the International Tennis Federation for unsportsmanlike conduct at Wimbledon, after saying he felt “bored” during his straight-set first-round defeat.
The new rule would see players fined part of their prize money for similar behaviour or first round retirements.
Wimbledon “will not be the same” following the death of former champion Jana Novotna, says the Duchess of Kent.
The Duchess provided a shoulder to cry on when the Czech player lost in the Wimbledon final in 1993, before presenting her with the trophy in 1998.
Novotna captured the nation’s hearts when she burst into tears following defeat to Steffi Graf.
In a tribute, the Duchess described her as “a brave, courageous, sweet lady with a wonderful sense of humour.”
“I am very saddened by the news of her death and all my feelings are with her family,” she added in a statement.
Novotna’s only singles Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon but she also won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles and four in mixed doubles.
She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
Former British number one, Annabel Croft, said her tough approach on the court went against her mild nature off-court.
“She was so utterly sweet and charming off the court, everybody loved her she was such a lovely person and also in terms of her tennis she was such a beautiful player,” she told BBC Radio 5 live.
“She was very, very athletic. She had a really aggressive game style, she had a lot of variety, she served and volleyed, she slice backhand, she made life very difficult but it was a game that took a long time to develop which I think is why everyone was so utterly thrilled for her when she finally realised those dreams of winning Wimbledon.”
“I think because she was so ruthless on the court and so competitive and so driven that I think that moment on Centre Court when she did break down in tears, you saw this really vulnerable side to her and somebody who was just so utterly crushed and devastated at coming so close to winning.
The Wimbledon win in 1998 saw Novotna become the oldest first-time Grand Slam singles winner in the Open era at 29 years and nine months.
Virginia Wade, who won the title at SW19 in 1977, said she envied the Czech’s forehand.
Wade said: “She had all the talents in the world, boy, was she talented, but she was a little bit self-effacing so it took her a while to put it all together and make it work but her talent was good enough, definitely, without any question to win more Grand Slams.
“She was a terrific person, she really was. She had a sort of quiet competitiveness. She was steely on the inside but she was always such a good sportsman and always polite. I know that emotional outburst with the Duchess of Kent, nobody will ever forget that.”
After more than 20 years competing on the ATP World Tour, Radek Stepanek has announced his retirement from professional tennis. The Czech star hangs up his racquet after winning five tour-level singles titles and 18 doubles trophies.
Stepanek got off to a good start in 2017, advancing to the quarter-finals in Doha before reaching the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier. But back surgery on 22 March to deal with a chronic condition stopped his season. And after months of recovery, rehab and an attempt to get back into proper playing shape, the Czech told his family and team that he was done.
“Every day has been a question mark. I had small pain every day and that was painful. I didn’t have days when the pain was going away and after conversations with the doctors I started to practise 50, 60, 70 per cent. But I didn’t get to more than that,” Stepanek told ATPWorldTour.com. “I realised that the body was showing me that it had had enough.”
Nevertheless, the 38-year-old accomplished plenty in his career, having reached a career-high in singles of No. 8 in the Emirates ATP Rankings while also climbing to No. 4 on the doubles court. The only active players who have broken into the Top 10 (at separate times) in their careers are Jurgen Melzer, Jack Sock and Fernando Verdasco. Stepanek combined to win 697 tour-level matches in both disciplines, and earned more than $11 million in prize money.
“I’m very proud of my achievements and the whole team who helped me throughout my career, they definitely have their signature on that,” Stepanek said. “I think the [award] suitcase is packed. Obviously there is a trophy missing for a singles Grand Slam title, which I wasn’t that close to. But I’ve done a lot in my career, and it’s something that I can be proud of.”
The Monte-Carlo resident first entered the Emirates ATP Rankings in singles on 31 July 1995, when he was 16 and he broke into the Top 100 in 2002. At the tour-level stop that propelled him over that hurdle, in Gstaad, Stepanek defeated Roger Federer, who was ranked No. 11 at the time.
Stepanek earned his first singles title in 2006, raising the trophy in Rotterdam. He defeated Fabrice Santoro, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the victory.
Just months later, Stepanek would break into the Top 10 in singles after advancing to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, despite never previously passing the third round at a Grand Slam.
But Stepanek’s favourite tennis memory came almost exactly five years ago, when he clinched the Czech Republic’s first Davis Cup title in 32 years in a deciding fifth rubber against Spain’s Nicolas Almagro.
“You’re playing for your country,” said Stepanek, who was also proud to win the mixed doubles bronze medal with Lucie Hradecka at the 2016 Olympics. “That moment when my parents were alongside sitting there in the box, seeing me doing it with the biggest pressure I ever had in my life on the tennis court, and my dream came true, that was so special.”
In 2012, he earned his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in men’s doubles with Leander Paes. Stepanek also won the 2013 US Open with the Indian legend.
Stepanek might have had one of the funkiest games on tour, armed with unorthodox groundstrokes and a penchant for rushing the net, but it certainly was successful. He was one of the hardest workers on and off the court, keeping his body flexibile and agile well into his 30s, which helped prepare him to play virtually any shot at any time from anywhere on the court, all the while having one of the best pairs of hands in the sport. That propelled him to finish 11 seasons inside the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings in both singles and doubles.
The Czech was also known for his fire and energy on the court, as he was never willing to back down from an opponent. His polos were also easily recognisable, from the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline shirts of his play at the US Open to apparel with a lion on it. All of that combined with Stepanek’s shotmaking ability and ensuing reactions made the Czech one of the most colourful players on tour.
The right-hander planned on playing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but his body did not allow that to happen.
“I realised that I wouldn’t be able to play on the level that I was used to. I either play tennis 100 per cent or I don’t,” Stepanek said. “I realised that I’d be going to tournaments with a question mark. ‘Would my body hold up? Would my body survive a match or two?’ That’s not the way I play tennis. I didn’t want to do it.”
But Stepanek’s retirement does not mean he will be stepping away from the sport. When considering what lies ahead, he asked himself one key question:
“In what department will I be better than I am in tennis? Will it be in business? Will it be opening a restaurant? Maybe a car dealership, what will it be?” Stepanek said. “The best I can be will always be in tennis. I think I know this sport up and down, inside out and I have incredible experiences throughout my career. I’ve met such great people, incredible people that I’ve learned from and I’m a student of the game. I believe that with what I’ve been through I can pass it to somebody one day, and we’ll see how it goes, but my intention is to definitely be part of the game.”
In his debut at the season ending event, Grigor Dimitrov is the champion of the ATP Finals with a three set win over David Goffin.…
When Grigor Dimitrov lifted the trophy on Sunday at the Nitto ATP Finals, it marked the conclusion of the ATP World Tour season. But one week remains on the tennis calendar in 2017, with the ATP Challenger Tour finale featuring four tournaments on three continents.
Critical Emirates ATP Rankings points are up for grabs, as players jockey for position to cement themselves in the year-end Top 100. In fact, six players are poised to battle for coveted Top 100 spots this week, as they hope to secure direct entry into ATP World Tour events in 2018.
The eight-week South American swing concludes at the Rio Tennis Classic in Rio de Janeiro. Top seed Rogerio Dutra Silva eyes a title on home soil, while Saturday’s Santiago champion Nicolas Jarry looks to cap his season with back-to-back victories. Jarry became the first Chilean to feature in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since Paul Capdeville in 2011. At No. 99, the 22-year-old is also one of the biggest movers to the Top 100 this year, having opened his campaign at No. 303.
Jarry is joined by fellow Rio de Janeiro competitors Dutra Silva (No. 101), Roberto Carballes Baena (No. 107) and Gastao Elias (No. 114) as players in contention for year-end Top 100 berths. Elias opened the eight-week South American swing with a title in nearby Campinas, Brazil.
Two events feature on Asian soil, with the inaugural Bengaluru Open in Bangalore set to cap a two-week Indian swing and the $150,000 EA Hua Hin Open Challenger, in Hua Hin, Thailand. In Bangalore, last week’s Pune champion Yuki Bhambri looks to go back-to-back on home soil as he continues to push towards a Top 100 return.
The third seed is up 352 spots since the start of the year to No. 122, in his comeback from an elbow injury. He is joined by top seed and World No. 102 Blaz Kavcic as players vying to secure their Top 100 standings. #NextGenATP Swede Elias Ymer is also in the field, on the heels of his first hard-court title in Mouilleron-le-Captif, France.
In Hua Hin, top seed Matthew Ebden is up to No. 80 after clinching the title in Toyota, Japan. The Aussie is guaranteed to finish in the year-end Top 100, completing a stunning 615-spot climb after concluding 2016 at No. 695 following knee surgery. Countrymen Akira Santillan and John Millman are other contenders in Hua Hin.
Andria, Italy, maintains its traditional season-ending tournament on the indoor hard courts of the ASD Pro Tennis Andria. The event has been a staple of the final week of the season since its debut in 2013. Home hope Stefano Travaglia is the top seed, with 2014 champion Ricardas Berankis seeded second.
The final week of the 2017 #ATPChallenger season is here. Four events on three continents and one place to watch the action ?: https://t.co/BSGzRUzoZi
Bangalore ??
Hua Hin ??
Andria ??
Rio de Janeiro ?? pic.twitter.com/JDh7OJDSll— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 20, 2017
