February 2009 Archives
Former star Andre Agassi to play World Team Tennis this summer
NEW YORK AP — Andre Agassi will pick up a racket again, playing two matches for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the World Team Tennis league.
Agassi will compete for the Freedoms on July 10 in Philadelphia and July 17 in Newport Beach, Calif., the WTT announced Thursday.
"Team play is a terrific way to showcase tennis, especially for kids," Agassi said in a statement released by the league. "WTT is competitive, it's fun and there's a really great energy from the fans."
The coed professional league, co-founded by Billie Jean King, is entering its 34th season. Agassi, who retired in 2006 with eight career Grand Slam titles, played for WTT from 2002-04.
Tennis fans will get a chance to watch other stars in the 10-team league that runs from July 2-26.
Serena Williams (Washington D.C.) Venus Williams (Philadelphia), John McEnroe (New York), Anna Kournikova (St. Louis), Michael Chang (Sacramento), Bob and Mike Bryan (Kansas City) and Martina Navratilova (Boston) will play during the season.
Top-ranked Serena Williams will make road appearances in Boston (July 9), New York City (July 10) and Philadelphia (July 13) before her home debut on July 14.
Kournikova will play six matches for the Aces, and McEnroe will be the featured player for the New York Sportimes, who moved from Marmaroneck to Randall's Island in Manhattan.
On July 15, McEnroe's team will host Boston and Navratilova, who returns for a league-record 20th season.
The Eastern and Western conference champions will play for the King trophy on July 26. The winner will be recognized at the U.S. Open.
$1,226,500 ATP WORLD TOUR 500
Memphis, TN, U.S.A.
February 16-22, 2009
Surface: Indoor Hard
(-6 hours GMT)
RESULTS - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2009
Singles - Final
[1-WC] A Roddick (USA) d [5] R Stepanek (CZE) 75 75
Doubles - Final
[4] M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) d T Parrott (USA) / F Polasek (SVK) 76(7) 61
FINAL NOTES - RODDICK CAPTURES FIRST MEMPHIS TITLE SINCE 2002
- Top seed and wild card entrant Andy Roddick captured his first ATP World Tour title of the season over No. 5 seed Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5, in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, an ATP World Tour 500 tournament, in Memphis on Sunday.
- Roddick collects $300,000 and 500 South African Airways ATP Rankings points, boosting his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
- The 26-year-old American, who was appearing in his fourth Memphis final, earned his second tournament title (2002) and the 27th of his career. He has won at least one ATP World Tour for nine straight years, the best streak among active players. He also improved his match record to 17-3 on the season.
- Stepanek was attempting to capture his third ATP World Tour title of the season and second in a row. Last week he won the SAP Open in San Jose, defeating Roddick in the semi-finals and Mardy Fish in the final, both in three sets. The top Czech Republic player is off to a career-best 16-3 start in 2009.
- The 30-year-old Czech Republic native was also trying to become the first player from his country to win the Memphis title since Ivan Lendl in 1991.
- Roddick broke in the second game of the opening set and jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Stepanek broke in the fifth game. Both players remained on serve until the 12th game when Stepanek hit a forehand long on set point.
- In the second set, both players held serve throughout, with Roddick saving two break points at 15-40 in the ninth game and one more break point in the 11th game with an ace. In the next game, Stepanek fell behind love-40 and after saving one match point, Roddick hit a forehand winner to secure the title.
- Roddick, who improved to 5-1 lifetime against Stepanek and avenged last week's semi-final loss in San Jose, hit eight aces to finish with a tournament-high 66 aces. He converted three of four break points while Stepanek converted on just one of four break point chances. Roddick won 74 to 71 total points in the one hour and 44-minute match.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Roddick: "I'm very satisfied and thought it was a very good level of tennis. We have a long year ahead of us and this is a nice start but there's a lot of work ahead. I am feeling good and I like coming here. It's nice to win again here and 2002 seems like a long time ago. I felt like I have left a couple of titles here out on the table."
On capturing first ATP World Tour title under coach Larry Stefanki: "Right now I'm looking at it as a process and it's great to win a title. It's nice to get it out of the way before it becomes an issue."
"A week ago (in San Jose) I felt like I was in control of the match but he played better when it counted on the big points. I played better today on the big points. His serve is tough to read."
Stepanek: "I had some break chances in the second set and couldn't convert and that was the difference. His game is based around his serve and he served really well when he had to. We had a great match and a lot of good rallies. The only difference was break points and I couldn't convert when I had chances."
"I am happy with the start of the year but not satisfied. I hope to keep playing well the rest of the season and I will continue to work hard."
DOUBLES FINAL - FISH-KNOWLES CAPTURE FIRST ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE TOGETHER
- No. 4 seeds Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles, playing together in only their second ATP World Tour tournament, capped off a successful week by defeating unseeded Travis Parrott and Filip Polasek 7-6(7), 6-1 in the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis on Sunday.
- It was the fifth ATP World Tour title for Fish and the 51st for Knowles, who tied is tied with Bob Bryan and Ilie Nastase for 19th place in Open Era doubles titles list. Fish and Knowles didn't drop a set during the week.
- Knowles earned his fourth title in Memphis with a third different partner. He won in 1996 and 2003 with former long-time partner Daniel Nestor and captured last year's crown with Mahesh Bhupathi. Fish was runner-up in Memphis in 2006 (w/Blake).
- Parrott and Polasek were making their third ATP World Tour final appearance together, having reached the final in Valencia and won the title in St. Petersburg last year. Parrott is 3-5 in his career in finals and Polasek is 2-2.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Fish: "He returns so well and we compliment each other really well. We only lost serve once in the tournament and that came today when I was serving for the first set (5-4). I really enjoy playing doubles and playing with someone like Mark who has such an insight for the game makes it a lot of fun. This is my fifth doubles title and I've had a lot of success so far this year."
Knowles: "I like coming to Memphis and I always feel at home here. It's great to have a lot of family and friends here and that's what makes it special. We played well from the start this week and winning the tie-break today was important. I never would have throught at the beginning of my career I would win 51 doubles titles. At this stage in my career everything is icing on the cake."
Venus takes down Serena and wins in
Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai, UAE
$2,000,000 (Premier)
Hard / Outdoors
February 15-21, 2009
Results - Saturday, February 21, 2009
Singles - Final
(6) Venus Williams (USA) d. Virginie Razzano (FRA) 64 62
Doubles - Final
(1) Black/Huber (ZIM/USA) d. Kirilenko/A.Radwanska (RUS/POL) 63 63
Final Facts
- Williams wins her 40th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title, the 12th player ever to reach that milestone (after Navratilova, Evert, Graf, Court, Goolagong, King, Wade, Davenport, Seles, Hingis and Henin).
- Williams has won seven of her last eight Tour singles finals; the only exception was Tokyo [Japan Open] in the fall of 2007 (losing to Razzano; she held three match points leading 6-3 in the second set tie-break before falling, 46 76(7) 64).
- Razzano earned the first two Top 5 wins of her career en route to the biggest Tour singles final of her career (she beat world No.2 Safina and world No.5 Zvonareva in the second round and quarterfinals); she is now 2-3 lifetime in Tour singles finals, having won titles in back-to-back weeks in the fall of 2007 at Guangzhou and Tokyo [Japan Open] and finished runner-up at Tashkent in 2004 (losing to Vaidisova) and Forest Hills in 2007 (losing to Dulko).
- Williams is projected to move into the Top 5 for the first time since the week of August 25, 2003 (she is expected to rise from No.6 to No.5); Razzano is projected to return to the Top 40 (from her current ranking of No.58); Williams' career-high is No.1 and Razzano's is No.24.
- Black and Huber win their second straight Tour doubles title (they won Paris [Indoors] last week) and the 24th Tour doubles title of their partnership; having won Dubai in 2007 and 2008, this is the first time they have won any tournament three times in a row.
Final Quotes
Venus Williams, 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships singles champion:
"I have to congratulate Virginie on such a great week - she beat so many Top 10 players and just played so well today. She really had a better week than I did. But it was a wonderful week for me too. I was able to win against the best player in the world in the semifinals, and I'm happy to have played such a good player in the final. I think I got a little lucky today."
"They do an excellent job at this tournament. They do care about the players and putting on a great event. Despite a very challenging week for everyone, we got a positive result in the end. We all worked together. Shahar was very brave and paved the way for what happened this week with the men's event, and hopefully all the right things will be in place when we come back."
Virginie Razzano, 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships singles runner-up:
"This was the best week of my career. I'm very proud of my results, the players I beat and the connection I made with the fans in Dubai. Now I'll take a week to recover and see my family, then get ready for Indian Wells."
Cara Black, 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships doubles champion:
"We really love coming to Dubai. We have such a great record here. We had tough opponents tonight and we fought hard, and in the end it's another great week for us so we're really pleased."
Liezel Huber, 2009 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships doubles champion:
"It's a great feeling to win our second title in a row. We played solid all week. We've both been a little under the weather the last few days but still got the job done tonight. We love the Gulf tournaments. We've had a lot of success here, winning here three times now and at the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha last November. The fans are really great to us whenever we play here."
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I would consider it to be a heartbreaking loss for Rafael Nadal, but he just won the Australian Open, and he deserves two seconds to regroup. He's still hands down the #1 player on tour. There seems to be a reoccurring theme: Andy Murray is stellar in warm up events, but can't beat the big guns when it counts (i.e. Grand Slam finals)....it's yet to be determined if he can get the monkey off his back in the majors.
€1,445,000 ATP WORLD TOUR 500
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
February 9-15, 2009
Surface: Indoor Hard
(+1 hour GMT)
RESULTS – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2009
Singles - Finals
[2] A Murray (GBR) d [1] R Nadal (ESP) 63 46 60
Doubles - Finals
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d [2] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) 62 75
FINAL NOTES – MURRAY CAPTURES ROTTERDAM TITLE
- ATP World No. 4 Andy Murray won the first ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournament of the season as he defeated an injured Rafael Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam on Sunday.
- The 21-year-old Murray becomes the first British winner in Rotterdam in the history of the tournament - after Tim Henman’s three final efforts in 1999 (l. to Kafelnikov), 2000 (l. to Pioline) and 2002 (l. to Escude) – and receives 500 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points.
- Both Murray and Nadal are early favourites to qualify for the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at London's O2 Arena in November.
- In an eagerly anticipated final at the Ahoy Stadium – the first to feature the top two seeds since 1984 (No. 1 Ivan Lendl and No. 2 Jimmy Connors) – Murray saved an early break point against World No. 1 Nadal before seizing the momentum as a rare unforced error from the Spaniard assisted Murray in breaking serve to lead 4-2. The Scot’s forehand was especially ferocious in the first set and there was little Nadal could do to prevent him from taking a one-set lead.
- However, an injury to Nadal’s right knee – suffered in the first game of the second set – was to set the tone for the rest of the match. In a bizarre turn of events, there were eight successive breaks of serve from 2-1 as Nadal struggled to serve and compensated by going for broke on Murray’s service games. The high-risk strategy paid dividends in the second set as Nadal levelled the match at one set all – and Murray later joked in the presentation ceremony that the Spaniard was so good as to have beaten him on one leg in the second set.
- As the match wore on though, Nadal suffered increasingly. With the Majorcan restricted in his movement and unable to unleash on his serves, Murray took full advantage. The Dunblane native maintained his focus and composure to keep the ball in play, keep Nadal moving and recorded a much higher percentage of first serves (63%) than in the second set (43%) to ease to a 6-0 third set score line after one hour and 50 minutes of play.
- The victory marks Murray’s second straight victory over Nadal, whom he also defeated in the 2008 US Open semi-finals (2-5 head-to-head). It is Murray’s seventh ATP World Tour indoor title; having also triumphed in St. Petersburg (2007-08), ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (2008), Marseille (2008) and San Jose (2006-07). The right-hander has a 7-2 indoor finals record and an overall indoor match record of 64-16.
- It is the second ATP World Tour title of the season for Murray, who defeated Top 10 players Roger Federer and Andy Roddick in back-to-back matches to defend his title in Doha in the first week of the season. The Scot now improves to a 10-5 mark in tour-level finals. He won a British Open Era record five ATP World Tour titles last season – including his first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies at Cincinnati (d. Djokovic) and Madrid (d. Simon).
- Murray improved to a 13-1 match record on the season, tying in third place with Marin Cilic (also a two-time ATP World Tour titlist in 2009) and Rafael Nadal (13-2) on the 2009 ATP World Tour Match Leaders list. The Scot’s only loss came in a fourth round exit against Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open.
- The 22-year-old Nadal, who stands on a career-best 13-2 match record at the start of the season, was bidding for his second tour-level title of the season and his second career ATP World Tour indoor title.
- The Manacor resident toiled through three three-set encounters to reach the semi-finals in Rotterdam, before an improved semi-final performance saw him dismiss an ill Gael Monfils in straight sets to reach the final. He was hoping to become the first Spanish winner in Rotterdam and now joins Juan Carlos Ferrero (l. to Hewitt in 2004) as a runner-up.
- The 2008 ATP World Tour champion was contesting his first event since winning his sixth Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open with a five-set victory over Roger Federer two weeks ago.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Murray: “Obviously it's not the way you want to win as I could see Rafa had an injury. I thought the first set was good quality and then at the start of the second, when I saw that he was injured, my concentration and level of play dipped. He made it difficult as he was hitting the ball so hard and being aggressive on every shot to try and keep the points short. It just shows how he good he is that he can beat me on one leg!"
"It's been a great week here and I feel like I've played better as the week has progressed. After my ATP World Tour Masters 1000 wins, this has to count as one of my biggest victories. I've got a bit of a sore ankle so I'll get some rest this week before heading out to Dubai."
Nadal: “I had a problem with the injury but I don't want to talk about that. Andy played very well today and he deserved to win the tournament. I am very happy with my performance this week. I came here without the best preparation after Australia, so it was a great result for me to get to the final here and I am very happy with that."
DOUBLES FINAL – NESTOR-ZIMONJIC CLAIM FIRST ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE OF 2009
· Top seeds Nenad Zimonjic and Daniel Nestor won their first ATP World Tour doubles title of the season with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over second seeds Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes on Sunday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
· The 2008 ATP World Tour Champions now receive 500 ATP World Tour Ranking points and share €66,500 in prize money by winning the ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournament.
· The Serbian-Canadian duo saved all six break points they faced while also breaking serve three times – including in the final game of the match – to secure their fifth victory (5-0 record) over Dlouhy and Paes in 63 minutes at the Ahoy Stadium.
· Nestor and Zimonjic, currently eighth in the 2009 ATP Doubles Team Rankings, were contesting their third ATP World Tour final of the season after finishing runner-up at the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournaments in Doha (l. to Nadal-M. Lopez) and Sydney (l. to Bryan-Bryan) in the first two weeks of the season. They then suffered a disappointing second round loss at the Australian Open (l. to Kubot-Marach).
· The 36-year-old Nestor has now won 56 tour-level titles - the most among active players - while the 32-year-old Zimonjic clinched his 24th tour-level title. It is the first Rotterdam title for Nestor - after he finished runner-up in 2002 with former long-time partner Mark Knowles (l. to Federer-Mirnyi) – and the first for Zimonjic.
· In their first full season together in 2008, Nestor and Zimonjic lit up the ATP World Tour by winning five tour-level titles – including their first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (d. Bjorkman-Ullyett) – and finished the season as ATP World Tour Champions after defeating Bob and Mike Bryan in a winner-take-all final at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai (now re-named the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at London’s O2 Arena in November).
· Dlouhy and Paes were bidding for their second ATP World Tour title after capturing their first in Bangkok last year (d. Lipsky-Martin). They were contesting their first tournament since reaching the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Bryan-Bryan) and drop to a 7-3 match record on the season.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Nestor: “It's my first time winning in Rotterdam so it's a great feeling. I made the final here in 2002, losing to Federer & Mirnyi but hadn't really played well here since then. Nenad played great this week, especially in the last two matches. It's great to win the first ATP World Tour 500 event. We were pretty disappointed after Australia but hopefully we can get on a roll now."
Zimonjic: “It's always great to win the title. It's always great to play in a final but it's very disappointing if you don't win it - this was our third final of the year, and the first one we've won, so it feels great. After a disappointing Australian Open, this is a great bounce back for us. Hopefully it will give us a good confidence boost for our next tournaments. We improved with every match this week.”
"It's great to win the first ATP World Tour 500 event, and it's also our first tour-level title with both of us being parents - it means a lot. There was a great crowd out there today. This is one of the best indoor tournaments of the year and it's nice to see the crowd enjoying doubles as well."
Hello my great friends, tennis fans and Tennis Talk Colleagues! My prediction, Rafa wins over
Hot off of his dramatic/gutsy/heroic/Rocky Balboa like Australian Open victory, world #1, Rafael Nadal continued his "Iron Man Run" with a three set victory over the second hottest player, Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters of
ABN AMRO WORLD TENNIS TOURNAMENT
€ 1,445,000 ATP WORLD TOUR 500
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
February 9-15, 2009
Surface: Indoor Hard
(+1 hour GMT)
RESULTS – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
Singles - Quarterfinals
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [7] J Tsonga (FRA) 64 67(5) 64
[2] A Murray (GBR) d [LL] M Gicquel (FRA) 76(2) 46 30 ret. (left groin)
[5] G Monfils (FRA) d J Benneteau (FRA) 76(4) 61
M Ancic (CRO) d M Youzhny (RUS) 64 62
Doubles - Quarterfinals
T Berdych (CZE) / J Melzer (AUT) d [3] J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) 64 76(6)
ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009
CENTRE COURT start 2:00 pm
M Ancic (CRO) vs [2] A Murray (GBR)
[1] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) vs T Berdych (CZE) / J Melzer (AUT)
Not Before 7:30 PM
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [5] G Monfils (FRA)
[4] J Knowle (AUT) / A Ram (ISR) vs [2] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND)
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Dear Tennis Fans, Great Friends & Tennis Talk Colleagues.... I am very excited to report that we'll be at Madison Square Garden on March 2nd, in NYC, to cover the BNP Paribas Billie Jean King Cup. For those of you who didn't know, Serena, Venus, Jelena and Ivanovic will be competing in a one day tournament at the Garden (similar to when Sampras battled Federer last year). So I'll be there checking out the scene and getting interviews with the legends of the game, as well as the players...so stay tuned on NBCSports.com.. Catch up soon. GO TENNIS.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga could very well be hoisting a Grand Slam trophy within the next two years if this great improvement continues. He has a huge game, and all of a sudden he has the confidence to match. And congratulations to Jamie Cerretani for winning his second career ATP doubles crown...Jamie and I go back to the 14 & unders...he lost to Rutgers #4 singles player in our dual match a few years ago and now he's top 50 in the world [an example of how hard he has worked to make such leaps and bounds with his game]. Congrats to both ATP stars.
SA TENNIS OPEN
$500,000 ATP WORLD TOUR 250
Johannesburg, South Africa
February 2-8, 2009
Surface: Hard
(+2 hours GMT)
RESULTS – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2009
Singles - Finals
[1] J Tsonga (FRA) d [5] J Chardy (FRA) 64 76(5)
Doubles - Finals
J Cerretani (USA) / D Norman (BEL) d [4] R de Voest (RSA) / A Fisher (AUS) 67(7) 62 14-12 – Saved 2 M.P.
SINGLES FINAL – TSONGA WINS THIRD ATP WORLD TOUR TITLE
- Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated first-time finalist Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 7-6(5) in an all-French final at the SA Tennis Open on Sunday to win his third ATP World Tour title. Courtesy of winning the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament in Johannesburg, Tsonga collects 250 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking points and $79,000.
- World No. 14 Tsonga was contesting his fourth ATP World Tour final. The Le Mans native reached his first final at the 2008 Australian Open, where he lost out to No. 3 Novak Djokovic. However, he was able to avenge that defeat later in the season by defeating the Serbian to capture his first ATP World Tour title at Bangkok. One month later in November he won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Paris (d. Nalbandian) to clinch his spot at Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai.
- The 23-year-old Tsonga, who raced to the Johannesburg title without the loss of a set, made a strong start to his 2009 ATP World Tour campaign by reaching three consecutive quarter-finals at Brisbane (l. to Gasquet), Sydney (withdrew due to back injury against Nieminen) and the Australian Open (l. to Verdasco). However, his South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings dropped from No. 7 to No. 14 after his 2008 Australian Open final points dropped off.
- In the first all-French ATP World Tour final since Casablanca in May 2008, Tsonga was able to secure a one-set lead after breaking through in the 10th game to seal it 6-4. A fifth double fault from the right-hander gave Chardy a triple break-point chance at the start of the second set, however he was able to recover and hold for 1-0. Tsonga was presented with his first match point with Chardy serving at 4-5, but he failed to convert and the set went to a tie-break – which the older Frenchman won 7-5 after one hour and 48 minutes to improve to a 12-2 match record on the season. After his customary post-match celebration, Tsonga dropped to his hands and knees and kissed the court in jubilation.
- Tsonga, who saved all eight break points that he faced in the final, lost serve only twice in 48 service games in his five matches at the SA Tennis Open. He served 16 aces in Sunday’s championship match and lost only six points behind his first serve.
- Chardy, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Thursday, was bidding to become the first player to win his first ATP World Tour title this season; there were 11 first-time winners in 2007. The Pau native came through his semi-final on Saturday in dramatic fashion, saving three match points to defeat second seed David Ferrer.
- Chardy, currently a career-high No. 61 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, reached the quarter-finals in Sydney (l. to Gasquet) in the second week of the season before losing to defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open. He dropped to a 7-4 match record on the season.
- The right-hander enjoyed his first Top 100 finish at No. 73 in the South African Airways 2008 ATP Rankings last season after reaching two ATP World Tour quarter-finals and advancing to a Grand-Slam-best fourth round at Roland Garros.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Tsonga: “Every time I play [ATP World Tour] finals now my level is going up and I play great, so it is good.
“I think he played well today because it was really tough. I played a great match, I served very well and I think his inexperience was evident at 5-4 in the first set when he missed some easy shots. But now he has some experience and I hope he’s going to do well next time.
[On the SA Tennis Open] “I think for the first edition it was just amazing. Everything was fine, I have nothing negative to say. The court was perfect.”
Chardy: “I think I played a very good match, I’m very happy with my match and I have no regrets. I thought he played well on the important points. I had so many break points and I missed every time, I think that was the difference today."
DOUBLES FINAL – CERRETANI-NORMAN CAPTURE FIRST TEAM TITLE
- American James Cerretani and Dick Norman of Belgium won their first ATP World Tour title together on Sunday at the SA Tennis Open after saving two match points to defeat fourth seeds Rik de Voest and Ashley Fisher 6-7(7), 6-2, 14-12 in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament at the Montecasino in northern Johannesburg.
- Making their debut appearance on the ATP World Tour, Cerretani and Norman saved match points when trailing 8-9 and 10-11 in the match tie-break before clinching victory on their third opportunity after one hour and 51 minutes. The American-Belgian duo fired 10 aces and broke serve twice from six opportunities.
- The victory saw the 27-year-old Cerretani, currently No. 51 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, capture his second ATP World Tour doubles title. The Reading, Massachusetts native reached his first ATP World Tour final with Todd Perry at Casablanca (l. to Montanes-Ventura) in May 2008 before winning his first ATP World Tour trophy two months later with Victor Hanescu (d. Arnold Ker-O. Rochus) at Kitzbuhel.
- Norman, who will celebrate his 38th birthday on March 1, also won his second ATP World Tour title from his third final appearance. The left-hander finished runner-up with Fernon Wibier at 1995 Beijing (l. to Ho-Lareau) but had to wait 12 years before he captured his first ATP World Tour title at 2007 Chennai with compatriot Xavier Malisse (d. Nadal-Salva-Vidal).
- South African de Voest and Fisher of Australia were contesting their second ATP World Tour final together and slip to a 1-1 record after triumphing at Beijing (d. Haggard-Lu) in September 2007. Pretoria resident de Voest was chasing his second ATP World Tour title, while the 33-year-old Fisher was appearing in his eighth final (4-4 record) and was hoping to win his first title since 2008 Indianapolis (w/ Phillips). courtesy ATP media
South Africa is heating up...it's GREAT to see tennis in the beautiful country of RSA! JW Tsonga seems to be enjoying J-burg. My best memory of RSA tennis is playing in four ATP main draw doubles events with my great friend, Greg Schweitzer. He was a top South African Junior tennis player, went on to play for Rutgers and LOVES RSA sports more than anyone I know (needless to say, the country's players are grateful to have ATP tennis back on their soil)....great guy, along with my other colleague Wayne Ferreira.
SA TENNIS OPEN
$500,000 ATP WORLD TOUR 250
Johannesburg, South Africa
February 2-8, 2009
Surface: Hard
(+2 hours GMT)
RESULTS – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009
Singles – Semi-finals
[1] J Tsonga (FRA) d F Gil (POR) 63 64
[5] J Chardy (FRA) d [2] D Ferrer (ESP) 16 76(9) 76(4) – Saved 3 M.P.
Doubles – Semi-final
[4] R de Voest (RSA) / A Fisher (AUS) d [1] J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) 75 64
ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2009
CENTRE COURT start 1:00 pm
[4] R de Voest (RSA) / A Fisher (AUS) vs J Cerretani (USA) / D Norman (BEL)
Not Before 2:30 PM
[1] J Tsonga (FRA) vs [5] J Chardy (FRA)
This just in, from my good friend Randy Walker:
PETE SAMPRAS TO COMPETE IN DEL MAR DEVELOPMENT CHAMPIONS CUP IN LOS CABOS,
MEXICO
14-Time Major Singles Champion To Play Professionally In Mexico For The First
Time March 18-22
NEW YORK, February 4, 2009 - InsideOut Sports & Entertainment today announced
that Pete Sampras will join the six-player field at the Del Mar Development
Champions Cup to be held March 18-22 at the Palmilla Tennis Club in Los Cabos,
Mexico. The Del Mar Development Champions Cup is a first-year event on the 2009
Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players
age 30 and over.
Sampras will be playing in Mexico for the first time in his professional career
and will join two of his biggest rivals in Los Cabos – Jim Courier, whom he beat
to win his first Wimbledon title in 1993 and Patrick Rafter, whom he beat to win
his seventh and final Wimbledon title in 2000. The final three competitors in
the field will be announced at a later date. Sampras will open his 2009 Outback
Champions Series season next week at the Champions Cup Boston Feb. 13-15 at the
Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University.
Sampras, 37, established himself as arguably the greatest tennis player of all
time, winning a men’s record 14 major singles titles - seven Wimbledon titles
(1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000), five US Open titles (1990, 1993,
1995, 1996, 2002) and two Australian Open titles (1994, 1999). He won 64 career
ATP singles titles and was ranked No. 1 in the world for a record 286 weeks,
including a record six-year stretch as year-end No. 1 from 1993 to 1998. In
addition, Sampras helped the United States to Davis Cup titles in 1992 and in
1995. Since joining the Outback Champions Series in 2007, Sampras has won titles
in Boston, Charlotte and Athens, Greece.
The Del Mar Development Champions Cup is the third of eight events on the 2009
Outback Champions Series and will be contested on an outdoor hard court. The
tournament will feature a field of six champion players competing in a single
knock-out format event, vying for $150,000 in prize money and ranking points
that determine the year-end No. 1 ranked player in the Stanford Champions
Rankings on the Outback Champions Series.
The tournament will kick off on Wednesday, March 18 with a special "Mexico Day,"
featuring a children's clinic and an exhibition doubles match. Quarterfinal play
will be contested on Thursday, March 19 while the semifinals will be played on
Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. The final and third-place playoff will
take place Sunday, March 22. Ticket, travel and tournament information can be
found by visiting www.ChampionsSeriesTennis.com.
The 2009 Outback Champions Series will kick off Feb. 13-15 in Boston, Mass., at
the Champions Cup Boston. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will host the Rio Champions Cup
- the second event of the 2009 series - March 12-15. Following the Del Mar
Development Champions Cup, Outback Champions Series events will be staged in
Grand Cayman (April 24-26), Newport, R.I. (August 20-23), Charlotte, N.C. (Sept.
25-27), Surprise, Ariz. (Oct. 9-11), and Dubai, U.A.E. (Nov. 19-22).
Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features some of the biggest names
in tennis over the last 25 years, including 14-time major tournament champion
Pete Sampras, four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe, two-time French and
Australian Open champion Jim Courier and others. To be eligible to compete on
the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles
final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a
championship Davis Cup team. The year-end No. 1 ranked player on the Series will
receive a $100,000 bonus courtesy of Stanford Financial Group, the official
rankings sponsor of the Outback Champions Series.
About this blog
Harry Cicma tackles the hot topics in tennis, sharing his insight on the favorites, tournament news and players to watch. Harry was ranked for three years on the ATP Tour doubles circuit and played four years of NCAA Division-I tennis at Rutgers University. He now covers all sports as a TV producer/anchor on NBC in Southern New England.