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Murray, Nadal Set To Battle In Barcelona

Apr222017

Scot will go for his first Barcelona title

Andy Murray is wasting no time getting back on the clay after his third-round exit from the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The Scot has accepted a late wild card into the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell and will be the top seed at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament this week.

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Murray joins an already must-see field in the Spanish city. Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal will be going for his 10^th title, and World No. 9 Dominic Thiem and Monte-Carlo semi-finalist David Goffin also will be looking to hone their games on the red dirt. #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev will be making his second appearance in Barcelona after also accepting a late wild card.

Murray won’t have to worry about Nadal until the final but Thiem has been drawn in Murray’s half. The World No. 1 could meet Aussie Bernard Tomic or “Hot Shot Machine” Dustin Brown in the second round, and a third-round meeting against 16^th seed Feliciano Lopez could await.

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In the quarter-finals, one of two Spanish clay-court mavens could meet Murray, either Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who has reached the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final, or sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. The fourth-seeded Thiem is the on-paper favourite to meet Murray in the semi-finals.

Nadal could face compatriot and longtime friend David Ferrer in the third round. Barcelona fans could see Nadal face Zverev in the quarter-finals, which would be their third FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this season and fourth overall. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-0.

The fifth-seeded Goffin could meet 11^th seed Pablo Cuevas in the third round. Both players are coming off strong runs in Monte-Carlo, with Goffin reaching his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final and Cuevas knocking off World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka before falling in the quarter-finals.

Sharapova's agent criticises 'journeyman' rivals

Posted: Apr 22, 2017

Maria Sharapova’s agent has accused “journeyman” rivals of trying to prevent the Russian playing at next month’s French Open because it is their “last chance to win a Slam”.

Sharapova, 30, is set to return from a 15-month doping ban at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart on Wednesday.

Her wildcard entry was called “disrespectful” to other players by ex-world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

Agnieszka Radwanska said Sharapova should not be invited to Grand Slams.

Sharapova plays Roberta Vinci of Italy in the first round in Stuttgart, and victory over the world number 35 could set up a second-round tie with Radwanska, who faces Ekaterina Makarova.

Britain’s Johanna Konta is in the other half of the draw and will start against a qualifier.

Sharapova, twice a winner at the French Open and a former world number one, is currently unranked and will require a wildcard to compete at Roland Garros, with the France’s tennis federation yet to announce its decision.

Referring to Radwanska and Wozniacki, Sharapova’s agent Max Eisenbud said the “next generation [is] passing them” and that they are “smart to keep Maria out of Paris” in a statement released to tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

Neither Polish world number eight Radwanska, 28, nor 26-year-old Dane Wozniacki have won a Grand Slam title, but both have competed in Grand Slam finals.

Eisenbud added that if there was “no Serena [Williams], no Maria [Sharapova], no Victoria [Azarenka], no Petra [Kvitova]” at the French Open, it would be the “last chance” for “journeyman” players like Radwanska and Wozniacki to claim a Grand Slam.

World number two and 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams will miss the tournament after announcing her pregnancy, while former world number one Azarenka gave birth to her first child in December and is expected to return to competition at the end of July.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has said she has a “chance” of making a shock return at the French Open next month as she recovers from a career-threatening hand injury sustained when she was stabbed by an intruder in December.

Sharapova was given a two-year ban last year, backdated to 26 January 2016, after testing positive for heart disease drug meldonium at the Australian Open.

Her suspension was reduced to 15 months in October, following her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

Eisenbud also said other players “have no clue” about Sharapova’s case because they have not read paragraphs 100 and 101 of the Cas ruling.

Paragraph 100 states the panel accepts Sharapova “did not endeavour to mask or hide her use of mildronate [meldonium]”, while paragraph 101 adds that “under no circumstances, therefore, can [Sharapova] be considered to be an ‘intentional doper'”.

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Rafael Nadal beats David Goffin to reach Monte Carlo Masters final

Posted: Apr 22, 2017

Rafael Nadal overcame Belgium’s David Goffin in straight sets to reach the final of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The world number seven had to fight back from a break down in the first set but went on to win it 6-4 in controversial circumstances.

The chair umpire, Cedric Mourier, examined the wrong mark and incorrectly called a long Nadal shot in, which handed the momentum to the Spaniard.

That appeared to frustrate Goffin who then lost 6-1 in the second set.

Nadal said after the match that he was “very happy to be in the final of such an important competition – the first of the season on clay”.

“I found a way to create some damage on David because at the beginning of the match he was dominating,” he added.

Compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas stands between him and his 10th Monaco Masters title in Sunday’s final.

“It will certainly be a tough final – Albert has beaten Andy Murray to be here so I will have to play my best to win – he is playing fantastic at the moment”.

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Lopez/Lopez Surge To First Masters 1000 Final

Apr222017

Spaniards knock out defending champions

Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez advanced to their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team doubles final on Saturday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. They will now face Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas or wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys in a bid to win their third tour-level team title.

The Spaniards reached their fourth title match (2-1 overall) after they defeated second-seeded French duo and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 7-6(4) in 78 minutes. Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo were the last Spanish team to capture the prestigious title in 2008, when they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-3, 6-3 in the final.

Feliciano Lopez has a 3-9 record in doubles finals, while Marc Lopez is 13-16 lifetime (3-3 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals). The pair clinched the Roland Garros title (d. Bryan-Bryan) in May 2016.

Lopez and Lopez secured their first break on a deciding deuce point on Mahut’s serve at 1-1, when Herbert struck a volley into the net. The Spaniards’ power helped them to break Herbert to love for a 4-1 lead, and they converted their second set point chance when Marc Lopez forced a Mahut backhand volley error to clinch the 23-minute opener.

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Feliciano Lopez recovered from 0/30 to win the first game of the second set and the Spaniards went on to break Herbert for a 3-1 lead, when Herbert hit a backhand volley into the net at 30/40. Once Lopez and Lopez led 4-1, the French duo sparked into life with clever inter-play and Herbert, particularly, finding his range on the forehand. They clinched Feliciano Lopez’s serve to 30 for 4-5, when an aggressive Herbert struck a backhand volley winner.

Team Lopez gained a 3/1 lead in the tie-break, but were quickly pinned back. When Mahut served at 4/5, Marc Lopez struck a forehand return down the line that Herbert mis-timed on the volley. Herbert then committed another volley error on match point and team Lopez improved to a 6-6 record on the season.

Last week, Marc Lopez reached the Grand Prix Hassan II doubles final with another Spaniard Marcel Granollers, losing to Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.

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