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Smyczek Ties The Knot

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

Smyczek Ties The Knot

Tim Smyczek weds Ana Pier in Irving

Tim Smyczek enjoyed a career year in 2015, but the American’s most memorable moment came off the court, marrying girlfriend Ana Pier on 21 November in Irving, Texas.

The 27 year old, who reached a career-high World No. 68 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in April, was joined by friends and fellow players Denis Kudla, Rhyne Williams, Alex Kuznetsov, Scott Oudsema, Brendan Evans and Phillip Simmonds, along with coach Billy Heiser.

“This weekend I married the woman of my dreams,” Smyczek posted on his Facebook page. “It was great to have our families and friends join together for the special occasion. Happy to say Ana and I are already looking forward to our honeymoon. See everyone back on court Down Under after the New Year.”

The ceremony was held at the Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas, the venue of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Irving, where Smyczek reached the final in March. Wedding bells rang often in 2015, with Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Nicolas Almagro, Lukas Rosol, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Marc Lopez and Martin Emmrich also tying the knot.

Smyczek claimed a pair of ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2015, winning on home soil in Dallas and Tiburon. He also won tour-level matches at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells, Miami, Delray Beach and Nottingham.

Photo by Jacqui Cole Photography (jacquicole.com)

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Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers: Djokovic, Karlovic Top The Tables

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers: Djokovic, Karlovic Top The Tables

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows that Novak Djokovic and Ivo Karlovic were the clear return and service leaders in 2015 on the ATP World Tour

Return With Interest

Novak Djokovic built his historic 2015 season on the foundation of his imposing return game. Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers reveals that the World No. 1 placed in the Top 2 of the three key return game categories. 

The Serb won more return games than any other player both in raw and percentages terms. Djokovic won 364 return games (in 87 matches), 64 more than second-placed Andy Murray, who won 300 return games (in 77 matches).

Djokovic’s winning percentage was also better than any other player. He won 34.43 per cent of all return games played, finishing well clear of second-placed David Ferrer, who won 33.61 per cent of return games played. (Figures in the return-of-serve charts below have been rounded.)

Player Return Games Won % Return Games Won Matches
Novak Djokovic 34% 364 87
David Ferrer 34% 274 69
Rafael Nadal 31% 297 80
Andy Murray 31% 300 77
Gilles Simon 31% 244 63

Djokovic also finished second on the list of points won returning first serve:

Player First Serve Returns Won % Points Won Matches
David Ferrer 34% 1,117 69
Novak Djokovic 33% 1,403 87
Rafael Nadal 33% 1,261 80
Roger Federer 33% 1,159 72
Andy Murray 32% 1,277 77

And Djokovic topped the list of points won returning second serve, with a success rate of 57 per cent.

Player Second Serve Returns Won % Points Won Matches
Novak Djokovic 57% 1,607 87
Andy Murray
 55% 1,367 77
David Ferrer 55% 1,211 69
Gilles Simon 55% 1,143 63
Tomas Berdych 54% 1,224 79

Ace Is The Place

For the first time since records were kept in 1992, three players this year hit more than 1,000 aces in the same season. Ivo Karlovic (1447), John Isner (1260) and Kevin Anderson (1,074) all made it to four figures. Karlovic finished just 30 aces shy of countryman Goran Ivanisevic’s all-time season record of 1,477. The Croat topped the aces list for the fifth time (2007-2009 and 2014).

Player Aces Matches
Ivo Karlovic 1,447 63
John Isner 1,260 68
Kevin Anderson 1,074 70
Gilles Muller 765 55
Milos Raonic 743 47

Record Setter

Karlovic shattered the previous record for percentage of service games won in a season. ‘Dr. Ivo’ won 96 per cent of his service games in 2015, topping his own record of 94 per cent in 2007.

Player Service Games Won % Service Games Won Total Service Games
Ivo Karlovic
 96% 873 914
Milos Raonic 94% 608 647
John Isner 93% 846 907
Roger Federer 92% 818 890
Novak Djokovic 89% 968 1,082

So what happens when the world’s best returner meets the world’s best server? In the first week of the 2015 season, Karlovic upset Djokovic 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 in the first round of Doha. In their first meeting in seven seasons, Djokovic won just 15 per cent of first-serve return points (well below his 2015 average of 33%) and 50 per cent of his second-serve return points (below his season average of 57%).

Karlovic boosted his chances of victory by putting 74 per cent of first serves into play.

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Williams Wins Battle Of No.1s

Williams Wins Battle Of No.1s

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

The International Premier Tennis league played its last night in Manila’s Mall of Asia Arena, and with the WTA’s singles and doubles year-end No.1s set to go head-to-head, it was sure to be an exciting night.

Serena Williams’ Philippine Mavericks enjoyed a home crowd advantage against a team yet to lose a match this season in Sania Mirza’s Micromax Indian Aces. After splitting the first two sets, Williams and Mirza played a rousing set of mixed doubles – Williams with Treat Huey, Mirza with Rohan Bopanna – but it was Mirza’s superior doubles sensibilities winning the day and the 22 minute set, 6-3.

Undaunted, Williams remained on the court to play former World No.4 Samantha Stosur and win an all-important set of women’s singles by the same score to help turn the tide towards the Mavericks, who ultimately edged the Aces, 25-24.

The other match of the night saw former No.1 Ana Ivanovic play a nearly 40 minute set of women’s singles against Karolina Pliskova, who forced the Serb to a 6-5 tiebreak. Ivanovic’s teammate Kristina Mladenovic later stepped up in mixed doubles against good friend Belinda Bencic, who was partnering Nick Kyrgios. Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor went on to win their set, 6-4, as the OBI UAE Royals clinched a 26-23 win over the OUE Singapore Slammers.

Check out the best tweets of the night:

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Gavrilova: WTA Newcomer Of The Year

Gavrilova: WTA Newcomer Of The Year

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

When Daria Gavrilova and Maria Sharapova stepped on court for their second round meeting at this year’s Miami Open, nearly 100 places separated the players on the tennis ladder. However, it was clear early on that Gavrilova was in no way daunted by the challenge in front of her.

Haring after every ball she could reach – and plenty she could not – Gavrilova’s attitude immediately won over the crowd. There was inspiration to complement this perspiration, too, the former junior No.1 marrying defense with attack to shock her childhood idol in a result that reverberated around the tennis world.

This was the most high-profile performance in an impressive 2015 campaign that ended with the 21-year-old being crowned WTA Newcomer Of The Year.

Since recovering from torn anterior cruciate ligament a few years back, Gavrilova’s career has been on an upward trajectory. The work invested into the technical and physical sides of her game whilst off the tour really started to pay off this January, as she came racing out of the traps with strong performances in her adopted homeland of Australia.

Better was to come in spring, the youngster following the upset of Sharapova by coming through qualifying to reach the semifinals in Rome. While she was unable to quite match these feats in the second half of the year, now perched inside the Top 50 it is safe to say the best is yet to come.

Gavrilova credits much of her improvement to the off-court structure implemented by her coach Nicole Pratt. “I’m more professional now,” Gavrilova told WTA Insider during the US Open. “I know how it works now. I look at the players and I understand that’s what everyone does. Two years ago I had no idea what you needed to do to achieve what I wanted to achieve.

“First of all I didn’t have any base. I didn’t have any structure. Now I have a good base. I have a fitness coach, I have Nicole, I always have a coach on the road. I always know what I’m doing. I have a plan for every match. Even in training I know what I want to achieve.”

Gavrilova adds her name to a select band of players to have won the WTA Newcomer Of The Year, with Tracy Austin, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario, Jennifer Capriati, Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki among her predecessors.

The WTA Awards are voted for by a combination of media and fans. Gavrilova received 68% of media votes and 36% of fan votes (Daria Kasatkina was next with 33%).

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Murray tennis centre plan rejected

Murray tennis centre plan rejected

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015
Tayside and Central Scotland

Murray tennis centre plan near Dunblane rejected

  • 8 December 2015
  • From the section Tayside and Central Scotland
Park of Keir development Image copyright Park of Keir
Image caption The development was being promoted by Judy Murray, mother of tennis players Andy and Jamie

Councillors in Stirling have rejected plans for a controversial sports and housing development near Dunblane.

The greenbelt development was being promoted by Judy Murray in the face of strong local opposition.

Planning officers at the council had earlier recommended that the Park of Keir application be refused.

Councillors said they had decided to reject the bid after carefully considering the arguments for and against the project.

The proposed development, between Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, would have included tennis and golf facilities along with a visitor centre and museum, all set in a new country park.

The plans also included luxury homes to help pay for the scheme.

But planning officers said the application should be refused because it was sited on greenbelt land.

They also said there was not enough affordable housing proposed and added the residential element was contrary to Scottish planning policy, because residents would have to travel for basic amenities and services.

The scheme had received high-profile support from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and golfer Colin Montgomerie.

‘Wrong location’

However, campaigners said the loss of greenbelt land to the development was too high a price to pay. There were more than 1,000 objections to the scheme and only 45 in support.

Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green Party councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan, spoke against the proposal at Tuesday morning’s hearing on the plans.

Following the decision, Mr Ruskell said: “I’m delighted that this proposal has been rejected. It would have been totally wrong to rip up our democratically-agreed local plan to make room for executive housing on this treasured greenbelt area.

“For over 25 years, local communities have fought against development at Park of Keir. Judy Murray had a good idea but it was in completely the wrong location – I’m sure that sporting legacy can be secured elsewhere.”

Ms Murray said on Friday that she wanted to leave a legacy to the success of her two sons, tennis players Andy and Jamie Murray.

A spokeswoman for Stirling Council said: “Having carefully considered and discussed extensively all the arguments for and against this proposal, Stirling Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel has today refused the application for a development at Park of Keir.”

More on this story

  • Sir Alex Ferguson plea over new Dunblane sports centre
    4 December 2015

Related Internet links

  • Park of Keir

  • Stirling Council

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Sharapova & Friends Set To Shine In LA

Sharapova & Friends Set To Shine In LA

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA – Maria Sharapova and a host of other tennis players and celebrities are set to light up Los Angeles this coming weekend at Maria Sharapova & Friends, presented by Porsche.

Three of the WTA’s brightest young stars – Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Laura Robson – will join Sharapova at the event, as will ATP stars Kei Nishikori, Jack Sock, Andy Roddick and Michael Chang. Comedy stars Chelsea Handler and Will Arnett will partner with the pros in mixed doubles.

“It’s been a long-term goal of mine to host my own tennis event and bring professional tennis back to Los Angeles,” Sharapova said of the event, which will take place at the UCLA Tennis Center. “I want to thank my great partner Porsche for believing in this project from the beginning, along with the players, entertainers and sponsors that are supporting Maria Sharapova & Friends. I hope the fans enjoy the highly competitive tennis, comedy and entertainment, and walk away having had a great weekend.”

The line-up for Saturday, December 12 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Roddick & Robson vs Chang & Keys)
Men’s Singles (Roddick vs Chang)
Women’s Singles (Sharapova vs Keys)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Will Arnett vs Roddick & Chelsea Handler)

The line-up for Sunday, December 13 includes:
Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Nishikori vs Robson & Sock)
Women’s Singles (Keys vs Stephens)
Men’s Singles (Nishikori vs Sock)
Celebrity Mixed Doubles (Sharapova & Chelsea Handler vs Sock & TBD)

Tennis Channel coverage begins live at 2pm PT/5pm ET both days – check out their TV schedule here.

Additionally, a portion of the proceeds from the event will go towards the Maria Sharapova Foundation, which raises money for underprivileged kids around the world. Read more about the foundation here.

And come back to wtatennis.com this weekend for coverage from Maria Sharapova & Friends!

Maria Sharapova

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Top 100 Quotes Of 2015: Part 1

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

Top 100 Quotes Of 2015: Part 1

ATP World Tour Season In Review: Quotebook

ATPWorldTour.com looks back on the year in the words of those who made it all happen. Here’s the wit, the wisdom (and some occasional wackiness) from today’s top players, our Top 100 Quotes of 2015. Our first installment, Nos. 1-50:

1. “It’s the best year of my life, no question about it.” — Novak Djokovic

2. “Once you find that peace, that place of peace and quiet, harmony and confidence, that’s when you start playing your best.” — Roger Federer

3. “You don’t play someone’s reputation.” — John Millman on the prospect of facing Roger Federer in Brisbane

4. “I’m always sort of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘That’s who I have to compare myself to: to myself.’” — Milos Raonic

5. “My brother is telling me that ‘Anything is Pospisil’ is trending on Twitter. That’s always nice to hear.” — Vasek Pospisil

6. “I feel more comfortable living in Japan. They have much better food.” — Kei Nishikori

7. “It’s important to know your limitations as a player so you don’t pull off shots that are totally stupid.” — Roger Federer

8. “I like all the surfaces, to be honest. I don’t discriminate any of them.” — Grigor Dimitrov

9. “Pressure is part of what we do. It’s always present.” — Novak Djokovic

10. “I was never pegged to be the next great American tennis player by any means. I wasn’t a prodigy. I’m a late-bloomer. Whatever happens, I’m proud of what I’ve done.” — John Isner

11. “I was assured that it’s gluten-free, it’s not processed, completely organic and natural and I could eat it.” — Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic on the Centre Court grass at the All England Club

12. “Nobody had ever touched a tennis racquet in my family, so it was a sign of destiny. God and life have arranged things for me to play this sport.” — Novak Djokovic

13. “Was the guy from One Direction here?” — Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Queen’s Club

14. “One thing I do have is guts. I will go for it. My whole life is about perseverance, just trying to find a way to succeed. Sometimes the chips are against you; sometimes they fool you.” — Leander Paes

15. “Scared? I don’t like this word. I don’t like to say we have fear. There are moments when it’s more difficult than others when we are looking for solutions, but we are not scared. We are not afraid.” — Gael Monfils

16. “From when you walk onto the court, you start every match as equal.” — Andy Murray

17. “It’s this crazy number. It’s just so long and it looks so good, looks so great, so grand and everything. Now we’re on to 2,000, right?” — Roger Federer, who reached the 1,000-win milestone in Brisbane

18. “Twenty-seven titles: Brugnon, Lacoste, Borotra, Cochet — oh là là.” — Pierre-Hughes Herbert on France’s legendary Four Musketeers, who combined for 27 Grand Slam doubles championships

19. “I love the back-against-the-wall situation.” — Lleyton Hewitt

20. “I’ve won much more than I ever dreamed.” — Rafael Nadal

21. “I don’t like revenge. It doesn’t come from positive emotion.” — Novak Djokovic

22. “I won’t be turning into Novak anytime soon.” — John Isner on his return game

23. “I have two lives, and all the problems I might have, I feel like I drop them once I step on to the match court.” — Roger Federer

24. “‘If’ doesn’t exist in sport.” — Rafael Nadal

25. “You go through the pain barrier out there on the court.” — Lleyton Hewitt

26. “Try your best. Fight hard until the last point. That’s all that you can do on the court.” — Tomas Berdych

27. “There are no shortcuts. Play your best tennis, give your heart out and anything can happen.” — Grigor Dimitrov

28. “You cannot shy away from entering the long, grueling points and moving your opponent side to side and him doing the same with you. If you’re scared of that, you won’t go very far.” — Roger Federer

29. “It’s simple: just keep fighting and keep believing; try not to show weakness out there.” — John Isner

30. “Success is being happy. It’s not about winning every single tournament.” — Andy Murray

31. “When you win, when you lose, it’s not because of the racquet. Never. It’s because of yourself.” — Rafael Nadal

32. “Tennis is a funny sport sometimes; you can be up winning, and all of a sudden it can change with one shot.” — Bernard Tomic

33. “I’m not trying to be anyone else. I’m just myself.” — Nick Kyrgios

34. “I’m a country boy. I always wanted to play on the big courts. That was my dream. Now I’m living that dream.” — Sam Groth

35. “Tennis is an extremely difficult sport.” — Andy Murray

36. “In this sport you always can fall down.” — Rafael Nadal

37. “The serve is the only thing you know about yourself when you play tennis. Nobody can touch you when you serve. Nobody can disturb you. You have the ball in hand.” — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

38. “If you enjoy the sport, respect the game, the game will give back to you.” — Bernard Tomic

39. “For me, a finalist trophy is not the same. Everybody knows that.” — Roger Federer

40. “We shouldn’t spend too many words about him. We all know how good he is. He’s the greatest ever.” — Novak Djokovic on Roger Federer

41. “Sometimes you make mistakes, but it’s important to get out of those crisis times as soon as possible.” — Novak Djokovic

42. “Let’s make another 500, you know? Let’s try to chase Roger now.” — Tomas Berdych after winning his 500th career match in Dubai

43. “Every day is a different day. Every day is a chance for me to improve.” — Rafael Nadal

44. “You can lose concentration at any time in a match.  We, as humans, do that all the time, and it’s really about how quickly you can get it back.” — Andy Murray

45. “He does everything the best. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on.” — John Isner on Novak Djokovic

46. “The game is bigger than any athletes we’ve ever had.” — Roger Federer

47. “You are the hunted one.” — Novak Djokovic on life at No. 1

48. “Sometimes your game is not there.” — Grigor Dimitrov

49. “It’s not so simple to just stay in the moment and trust your game and your strength that you can turn it around.” — Roger Federer

50. “I believe in old-school hard work.” — Roger Federer

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Daily Insider: Super Serena

Daily Insider: Super Serena

  • Posted: Dec 08, 2015

– Serena the Superhero: espnW and Marvel Comics collaborated on this project to turn 25 women into superheroes. Serena Williams is included as Super Galactic Slam.

– Han Xiyun wins the Australian Open wildcard: Han defeated Wang Yafan 6-1, 6-0, on Sunday to win the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff, earning a main draw wildcard at the Australian Open in January.

– Drama defined the 2015 WTA Season: Christopher Clarey for The New York Times takes a closer look at how the 2015 season played out for the women.

“I just thought it was a really good year for women’s tennis,” said Pam Shriver, a former star who is now an ESPN analyst. “A lot of it had to do with Serena, but there were also some other really interesting runs. In a lot of the big events, I thought the women matched the men’s story lines or even bettered them for the first time in many years.”

– Caroline Wozniacki goes Ballin’: First Eugenie Bouchard, now Caroline Wozniacki. Ballers is really picking up the tennis cameos:

– The evolution of on-court coaching: Pat Cash talks to Darren Cahill (Simona Halep), Sam Sumyk (Garbiñe Muguruza) and Rob Steckley (Lucie Safarova) about on-court coaching and how its best optimized for the players.

– Cross-training with Kvitova: Petra Kvitova is doing a little bit of everything to get ready for the 2016 season:

– Calling all Arrested Development fans: Will Arnett will team up with Maria Sharapova at the Maria Sharapova and Friends event this weekend.

– Get them shiny, Nick Kyrgios: Belinda Bencic gets the treatment before a recent IPTL match for the Singapore Slammers.

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Muguruza To Headline Mallorca Debut

Muguruza To Headline Mallorca Debut

  • Posted: Dec 07, 2015

SANTA PONSA, Spain – Mallorca, a popular holiday destination for tourists all over Europe – and home to former ATP No.1 Rafael Nadal – will now become even more appealing with the staging of the premier edition of the Mallorca Open from the 11th to 19th of June in 2016.

The $250,000 WTA event will be played at the Santa Ponsa Tennis Club in Calvià, where the tennis women will find ideal conditions to prepare for the Wimbledon Championships.

During the recent groundbreaking ceremony on site, World No.3 Garbiñe Muguruza said she is convinced that the new tournament on grass will be a perfect fit for her after reaching the 2015 Wimbledon final against Serena Williams.

“It’s always very special to compete in a tournament on home soil. I am very happy to be part of the first edition of the Mallorca Open next year,” said the two-time WTA tournament winner.

Traditionally a hotbed for clay court tennis, Spain will host its first ever grass court tournament as Muguruza aims to be the first Spanish woman to win Wimbledon since Conchita Martínez stunned nine-time champion Martina Navratilova in 1994.

“We are very proud to present a strong players field in the first tournament edition with Garbiñe Muguruza in the lead plus other international top players,” explained Edwin Weindorfer, CEO and founder of e|motion. “This guarantees a highly attractive programme for tourists and residents of the island – especially with the night sessions.” e|motion also hosts an ATP tournament in Stuttgart, the MercedesCup.

“The Santa Ponsa resort venue is a premium destination for our fans and players to experience and enjoy the fast, aggressive and spectacular tennis that is unique to this surface,” said WTA CEO Steve Simon. “I would like to thank our Tournament Promoter, e|motion, for their exceptional efforts in building this new event and also the All England Lawn and Tennis Club and the Community of Calvia for their exceptional support. We look forward to an incredible inaugural event.”

Garbiñe Muguruza

While at the groundbreaking, Muguruza was on hand for photos with Weindorfer, Tournament Ambassador (and uncle to Rafael Nadal) Toni Nadal, and Tournament Director Peer Zebergs (pictured from left to right).

Garbiñe Muguruza

The big news for Muguruza and Mallorca has already grabbed headlines in Spanish press.

Garbiñe Muguruza

All photos courtesy of e | motion.

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